Glossary

In Mahayana cosmology, the Akanishtha Heaven is the highest realm of the phenomenal world or samsara. Although beings reborn in the Akanishtha Heaven are not yet fully enlightened, the positive conditions of this realm allow them to rapidly attain release from birth and death. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Akanishtha Heaven is sometimes understood as the Pure Realm of the buddha Vairocana.

Baha and bahi are institutions in Newar Buddhism that have their origins in Indian Buddhist monasteries (Skt. vihara). By the twelfth-thirteenth century, celibate monasticism had gradually ceased to be practiced in Nepal. Descendants of monks known as Shakya, a name which references their kinship with Shakyamuni Buddha’s clan and monastic affiliation, retained control of the former monasteries (Newar “baha” and “bahi”) as family property passed down through paternal descent. Along with Vajracharya Buddhist priests, they comprise the Newar Buddhist sangha. The bahas and bahis remain the centers of Newar Buddhist life today, and usually consist of an open courtyard with a stupa at the center and a large temple building on the side opposite to the entrance.

Generally, bardo is the state in-between death and rebirth, but Tibetan traditions distinguish four or six bardos, which occur throughout life, such as the bardo of dreaming, and death. The bardos are junctures at which the possibility for awakening, or liberation, is amplified. The so-called “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” as well as other texts, provide guidance for navigating these states, so that the consciousness of the deceased can be born in fortunate realms of existence, or even enter into awakened state itself.

Beyul are concealed valleys said to be hidden throughout the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau. “Treasure revealers,” or terton, are able to discover these realms, providing refuge for their followers in times of danger. Several regions of the Himalayas, including Sikkim, are said to have been populated by Tibetans as part of this process.

Bodhgaya is the site where the historical Buddha Shakyamuni is said to have attained enlightenment. Located in what is now the Indian state of Bihar, Bodhgaya is the site of the Bodhi Tree, the “diamond throne” (vajrasana), and the Mahabodhi Temple. Bodhgaya is arguably the most important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.

The Bodhi Tree is the tree under which the historical Buddha Shakyamuni achieved enlightenment, located at Bodhgaya in what is now the Indian state of Bihar. The tree has been transplanted many times, and now many trees around the world claim to be descendants of the original tree.

In India and Tibet, a charnel ground is a place where dead bodies are brought for cremation or exposure to be consumed by vultures. In early Buddhism, practitioners would come to these places to meditate on death and impermanence. In tantric forms of Hinduism and in Vajrayana Buddhism, these charnel grounds became an important gathering place for yogins, and a source of transgressive imagery for iconographies of tantric deities and the siddhas who embody these practices.

The Copper-Colored Mountain (Zangdok Pelri) is said to be the dwelling place or mandala-palace of the legendary Vajrayana master Padmasambhava. This mountain-palace is depicted in many thangkas and constructed as temples and portable shrines used by manipa itinerant storytellers.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the “Dharma Realm” is the ultimate, empty reality as perceived by buddhas, also known as emptiness. The dharmadhatu encompasses all phenomena and is often described as a space where all things appear, abide, and dissolve. It is also synonymous with the nature of the awakened mind. Mandalas that represent the Dharmadhatu are found in Yoga tantras.

Every monastery has a dukhang, or assembly hall, in which all the monks can gather for daily recitations of prayers and rituals. These are often grand pillared halls with walls covered in murals, with buddha-images and a throne for the abbot.

A harmika is an architectural element that forms a square balustrade section on top of the dome (Sanskrit: anda) of a stupa, and encloses the spire (Sanskrit: yasti) that rises above it. The harmika represents a divine abode.

In Buddhism, the hell realms are the lowest portions of samsara, or the wheel of reincarnation. Different texts give different accounts of these realms, but a standard list says that there are eight cold and eight hot hells. Beings are reborn into these realms due to their negative karma, and although they may spend many eons there, eventually they will die and be reborn elsewhere.

Kailash is a mountain in far western Tibet. Tibetans call this mountain Kang Rinpoche (“Jewel of the Snows”). The rivers Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali all have their sources in the immediate area of this mountain. Among Hindus, Kailash is considered the abode of Shiva. Among Buddhists, Kailash is considered the site of Mount Meru on earth. Jains and Sikhs also consider the mountain sacred, and tens of thousands of pilgrims travel there every year to circumambulate the mountain. Mount Kailash is also an important sacred site for the Bon religion.

In Tibetan Buddhism, a labrang is the personal estate of a high lama, or tulku, including wealth, property, retainers, and serfs. Labrang is also the name of a famous Geluk monastery in Amdo.

In Tibetan, a lhakhang is any building (khang) that houses the image of a deity (lha). The word is roughly equivalent to English “temple” or “shrine.”

The Mahabodhi Temple is a temple at Bodhgaya, the site of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s awakening or enlightenment. The Mahabodhi temple is built near the Bodhi Tree under which Shakyamuni sat, marking that spot, known as the “diamond throne” (Skt. vajrasana) to commemorate his Awakening and its site. The peaked form of the temple dates from the Gupta period (fourth to sixth century CE), although the structure has been repaired and altered many times over the centuries. The Mahabodhi Temple is the most important Buddhist shrine and pilgrimage site. Large replicas, or representations of the Mahabodhi Temple have been built around the world and pilgrims took its small models to their home countries as souvenirs.

A monastery is a place where monks live, study, and perform ritual. It includes temples and other structures. Monasteries are central to Buddhism, and are also important in Bon, Hinduism, and Daoism. In Himalayan, Tibetan, and Inner Asian areas, some monasteries are enormous, wealthy, and powerful institutions, with branches of satellite monasteries forming networks across regions, often with thousands of monks, many decorated chapels, and huge holdings of land. Other monasteries, called hermitages, can be extremely simple, little more than a cave where hermits meditate. Generally, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery will have an assembly hall, several temples (Tib. lhakhang) for worship of specific deities, a protector chapel, as well as monks’ accommodations. A related institution in Newar Buddhism are the baha and bahi.

The monsoon is the yearly rain season in the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas. Depending on the area, the monsoon lasts roughly from midsummer to late autumn. Monsoon is the main source of water for the Kathmandu Valley and central to agrarian and ritual life of the Newars.

In Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain cosmologies Mount Meru is a mountain at the center of the world, the peaks of which contain heavens and divine realms. It is surrounded by many lakes, rings of mountains, and further out, the great ocean and four continents. Humans live on a southern continent called Jampudvipa. Buddhists interpret Jampudvipa corresponding to India, and Mount Meru is roughly equivalent to the Himalayas. Many Buddhists and Hindus identify Meru with Mount Kailash, a peak in western Tibet, as the focus of pilgrimage.

Mount Potalaka is a semi-mythical mountain in southern India, said to be the abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara on earth. Many sacred sites have been named after this mountain, including the Potala Palace of the Dalai Lamas (said to be emanations of Avalokiteshvara).

Pakmodru is a monastery in south-central Tibet, as well as a branch of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism associated with this monastery. The leader of Pakmodru, Changchup Gyeltsen (1302–1364), was able to take control of central Tibet in 1354, thus ending the hegemony of the Mongol Empire and the Sakya tradition in the Himalayas. The power of the Pakmodru faded due to internal conflicts in the fifteenth century.

In Hinduism, a pitha is a sacred place, generally a shrine where an image or emblem of a deity is worshiped. Pithas are especially associated with goddess worship, either of Sati/Parvati (the wife of Shiva), or of other forms of shakti, the divine female energy.

Most Tibetan monasteries will have a designated temple or chapel for the wrathful protector deities. Called “Gonkhang,” these chapels are often adorned with terrifying representations of ferocious spirits, flayed human bodies, and impure substances. These shrine spaces are used for rituals and offerings to protectors of the teachings and lineages, as well as local protectors who have been converted and bound by oath as protectors of Buddhism.

According to the Kalachakra Tantra, Shambhala is a sacred mythical land in the north where Buddhist kings rule. At the end of our eon, these kings are prophesied to ride out from their mountain-ringed kingdom to destroy enemies of the Buddhist Dharma. In Tibetan and Inner Asian contexts, these enemies are often understood to be Muslim, viewed as the destroyers of Buddhism in India, but the Shambhala myth has often adapted to contemporary crises, and have been reinterpreted to any threat to Buddhism, or the state, including British forces in the Boxer Rebellion, or the Communists. Many individuals and states in history, including Mongol khans, the Russian tsars, and even the emperor of Japan have been identified as the savior-kings described in these prophecies.

“Silk Roads” is a term broadly used to describe the long-distance trade routes across Central Asia that connected the Indian Subcontinent with East Asia and the Mediterranean world. These trade routes were highly important in transmitting both art and ideas across the Asian continent, including the Buddhist religion. There were many “silk roads”—some crossed the deserts of Central Asia, other maritime routes also connected Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South, Southeast, and East Asia.

In Mahayana Buddhism, Sukhavati is the paradisical realm of Buddha Amitabha, associated with the cardinal west direction. Many Buddhist lay people hope to be reborn in Sukhavati, from which enlightenment is easy to attain. These practices focused on Sukhavati and Amitabha, called “Pure Land” traditions, are very important in Chinese Buddhism and other East Asian traditions, and also exist in Tibetan Buddhism.

In Buddhist cosmology, the Trayastrimsha Heaven is one of the various heavens within samsara, said to be located at the peak of Mount Sumeru. The Trayastrimsha is the home of thirty-three gods ruled over by Indra.

In Buddhist cosmology, Tushita is the name of a heavenly realm, although still part of the wheel of reincarnation (Skt. samsara). Bodhisattvas destined to become buddhas, like Maitreya, are said to dwell in the Tushita Heaven before their final incarnation.

The Vajradhatu refers to the ritual space described in the Yoga tantras and represented in mandalas of the five buddhas of the five families, centered on Vairochana.