The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism

Rabten, Geshe. (1920–1986). A Tibetan monk-scholar of the DGE LUGS sect who played an important role in the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. He was born into a farming family approximately fifty miles south of Dar rgyas (Dargye) monastery in the Tre hor region of Khams. At the age of seventeen Geshe Rabten began his studies at SE RA monastery in LHA SA; he later became the teacher of the five-year-old incarnate lama Dgon gsar rin po che (Gonsar Rinpoche), who would remain his close disciple throughout Geshe Rabten’s life. Geshe Rabten and Dgon gsar followed the DALAI LAMA into exile where he received his DGE BSHES lha ram pa degree in 1963 at the age of forty-three. He attracted many students, was appointed religious assistant (mtshan zhabs) to the DALAI LAMA, and began to teach Western students in 1969. He started Tharpa Chöling Center of Higher Tibetan Studies near Lausanne, Switzerland, later in 1977. His full name is Dge bshes Rta mgrin rab brtan (Geshe Tamdin Rabten).

Rādha. (C. Luotuo; J. Rada; K. Rada 羅陀). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an eminent ARHAT deemed by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples who were able to inspire speech in others. According to the Pāli account, Rādha was an aging brāhmaṇa who was neglected by his children in his old age and sought to enter the order of monks (SAṂGHA) for refuge. He initially went to a monastery in RĀJAGṚHA, where he performed chores, but was refused ordination by the monks because of his advanced age. Out of disappointment, Rādha began to grow thin. The Buddha, realizing that Rādha had the potential to achieve arhatship, summoned the monks and asked if any of them remembered any act of kindness performed for them by Rādha. ŚĀRIPUTRA recalled once receiving a ladle of food from Rādha’s meager meal while on alms rounds in Rājagṛha, so the Buddha ordered Śāriputra to ordain him and soon afterward, he became an arhat. Śāriputra was pleased with Rādha’s gentle behavior and kept him as an attendant; he also served for a time as an attendant to the Buddha. It was during that time that he was recognized for preeminence in inspiring others. His power even influenced the Buddha, who said that whenever he saw Rādha, he felt inclined to speak on subtle aspects of doctrine because of Rādha’s wealth of views and his constant faith.

rāga. (T. ’dod chags; C. tan; J. ton; K. t’am 貪). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “passion,” or “desire,” one of the six root afflictions (MŪLAKLEŚA) and typically listed along with aversion (DVEṢA) and ignorance (MOHA) as one of the three poisons (TRIVIṢA) that cause suffering. Rāga is defined as a mental factor that perceives an internal or external contaminated phenomenon to be pleasant and then seeks it. It is closely synonymous with “greed” (LOBHA). In this denotation, rāga is also sometimes called KĀMARĀGA. In Buddhist psychology, when contact with objects is made “without proper comprehension” or “without introspection” (ASAṂPRAJANYA), passion, aversion, and delusion arise. Passion—which is a psychological reaction that is associated with the pursuing, possessing, or yearning for a pleasing stimulus and with being discontent with unpleasant stimuli—may target a host of possible objects. Scriptural accounts list these objects of passion as sensual pleasures, material belongings, loved ones, fame, the five aggregates (SKANDHA), ideologies and views (DṚṢṬI), the meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA) of the “subtle materiality” and “immaterial” realms, the future “rebecoming” of the “self” (S. bhavarāga), and “nonexistence,” viz., the future “annihilation” of the “self” (S. abhavarāga). It is noteworthy that the object of desire must be contaminated (SĀSRAVA), which in this context means that the object must be one whose observation results in an increase in such afflictions as hatred, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. This fact is relevant in light of the common question about whether the desire for enlightenment is a form of desire: it is not, because the object of that desire—NIRVĀṆA or buddhahood—is not a contaminated object. See also RŪPARĀGA.

Rāhula. (T. Sgra gcan ’dzin; C. Luohouluo; J. Ragora; K. Rahura 羅睺羅). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “Fetter”; proper name of the ARHAT who was the Buddha’s only child, born on the day his father renounced the world. According to the Pāli account, as soon as Prince SIDDHARTHA learned of the birth of his son, he immediately chose to become a mendicant, for he saw his son as a “fetter” binding him ever more tightly to the household life. In a famous scene, the prince looks at his sleeping wife and infant son before departing from the palace to seek enlightenment. He wishes to hold his son one last time but fears that he will awaken his wife and lose his resolve. In the MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA version of the story, Rāhula was conceived on the night of his father’s departure from the palace and remained in gestation for a full six years, being born on the night that his father achieved buddhahood. After his enlightenment, when the Buddha accepted an invitation to visit his father’s palace, Rāhula’s mother (RĀHULAMĀTĀ) YAŚODHARĀ sent her son to her former husband to ask for his inheritance, whereupon the Buddha ordered ŚĀRIPUTRA to ordain the boy. Rāhula thus became the first novice (ŚRĀMAṆERA) to enter the order. Knowing Yaśodharā’s grief at the loss of her son, the Buddha’s father, King ŚUDDHODANA, requested that in the future no child should be ordained without the consent of his parents; the Buddha accepted his request and a question about parental consent was incorporated into the ordination procedure. Rāhula is described as dutiful and always in search of instruction. In one sermon to the young boy, the Buddha warns him never to lie, even in jest. Rāhula often accompanied the Buddha or Śāriputra on their alms rounds (PIṆḌAPĀTA). The meditation topic the Buddha assigned to Rāhula was intended to counter the novice’s strong carnal nature. When his mind was ready, the Buddha taught him the Cūḷa-Rāhulovādasutta, at the end of which Rāhula attained arhatship. Rāhula was meticulous in his observation of the monastic regulations, and the Buddha declared him foremost among his disciples in his eagerness for training. According to Chinese sources, Rāhula was also renowned for his patience. One day in ŚRĀVASTĪ, he was harshly beaten and was bleeding badly from a head wound, but he bore his injury with composure and equanimity, which led the Buddha to praise him. Rāhula was also foremost in “practicing with discretion” (C. mixing diyi), meaning that he applied himself at all times in religious practice but without making a display of it. Rāhula passed away before both Śāriputra and the Buddha during a sojourn in TRĀYASTRIṂŚA heaven. In previous lives, Rāhula had many times been the son of the bodhisattva. He was called “lucky Rāhula” by his friends and Rāhula himself acknowledged his good fortune both for being the Buddha’s son and for attaining arhatship. In the MAHĀYĀNA, Rāhula appears in a number of sūtras, such as the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, where his father predicts that he will become a buddha. Rāhula is also traditionally listed as eleventh of the sixteen ARHAT elders (ṢOḌAŚASTHAVIRA), who were charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He is said to reside in Biliyangqu zhou (a Sanskrit transcription that supposedly means “land of chestnuts and grains”) with 1,100 disciples. In CHANYUE GUANXIU’s standard Chinese depiction, Rāhula is portrayed sitting on a rock in wide-eyed meditation, with his right finger held above his chest, pointing outward, and his left hand resting on his left knee.

Rājagṛha. (P. Rājagaha; T. Rgyal po’i khab; C. Wangshe cheng; J. Ōshajō; K. Wangsa sŏng 王舍城). Sanskrit name for the capital of the kingdom of MAGADHA during the time of the Buddha. Rājagṛha was known by several other names, including Girivraja, Vasumati, Bṛhadrathapura, Kuśāgarapura, Magadhapura, and Bimbisārapura. During the Buddha’s lifetime, Rājagṛha was the capital city of King BIMBISĀRA, the ruler of Magadha and the first royal patron of the Buddha and his SAṂGHA. The Buddha’s first visit occurred prior to his enlightenment, when he passed through the city shortly after his renunciation. He was watched on his alms round by Bimbisāra, who offered him half of his kingdom. The prince refused but promised to visit the city after he achieved his goal. When the Buddha returned to the city in the first year after his enlightenment, Bimbisāra donated a grove for the use of the Buddha and his monks during the rains retreat (VARṢĀ). It was called VEṆUVANAVIHĀRA, or “Bamboo Grove Monastery,” and the Buddha spent several rains retreats after his enlightenment there (according to several sources, he spent his second, third, fourth, seventeenth, and twentieth rains retreat there). The Buddha received ŚĀRIPUTRA and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA into the order in Rājagṛha. GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA, or “Vulture Peak,” the site where the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ sūtras, among many others, were delivered, was located outside the city. Together with ŚRĀVASTĪ, Rājagṛha was one of the two most important centers of the Buddha’s activities. The Buddha made a final visit to the city shortly before his death. After his cremation, the city received a share of the Buddha’s relics (ŚARĪRA) and AJĀTAŚATRU, Bimbisāra’s son and successor, erected a STŪPA to house them. It is said that Ajātaśatru later gathered seven of the shares of the Buddha’s relics and enshrined them in a single stūpa, from which AŚOKA later obtained the relics for the eighty-four thousand stūpas he is said to have erected. The first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) took place at Rājagṛha, during the first rains retreat immediately following the death of the Buddha. The great monastic university of NĀLANDĀ was located on the outskirts of Rājagṛha. Rājagṛha was in a dilapidated condition by the time the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG visited the area in the seventh century CE.

rājalīlāsana. (T. rgyal po rol pa’i stabs). In Sanskrit, “posture of royal ease,” a seated pose (ĀSANA) similar to LALITĀSANA, formed with the right knee bent vertically and left knee horizontally, with the heels lightly touching on the seat. The leg positions may be reversed and one arm often rests atop the lifted knee with the other pushing up from the ground. This pose is characteristically found in certain bodhisattva images of AVALOKITEŚVARA or MAÑJUŚRĪ, and in representations of the Tibetan religious kings. See also ĀSANA.

rakṣā. [alt. rākṣā] (P. rakkhā; T. srung ba; C. yonghu; J. ōgo; K. ongho 擁護). In Sanskirt, “protection,” “safeguard,” referring to ritual actions or practices that are intended to ward off baleful and impure influences. These protective acts are often performed as a preliminary step in constructing a MAṆḌALA, performing an initiation ritual (ABHIṢEKA), or cultivating meditative practices. The ritual is performed by inviting or imagining deities who purify the body, speech, and mind of the practitioner, and remove all inner and outer obstacles and evils; a common form of the Tibetan ritual utilizes a distinctive form of propitiatory offering (S. bali) called a GTOR MA (torma), small conical cakes. The officiating tantric master (VAJRĀCĀRYA) attracts the negative forces (T. gegs) to the offering, where they are propitiated or bound and led away from the assembly. Setting up a “wheel of protection” is an integral part of many ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA ritual practices (SĀDHANA) (see RAKṢĀCAKRA). A “protection cord” (rakṣāsūtra; T. srung skud) is ritually embued with protective power by a tantric master and given to each supplicant at the start of an initiation ritual; this is a piece of string or a narrow strip of cloth, usually red, that is tied around the neck, arm, or the wrist to protect the wearer. Tibetan religious figures often give visitors a “protection cord” as a gift. Small amulets (T. ga’u) housing protective buddhas, relics, or tightly rolled copies of ritual invocations or mantras believed to be particularly efficacious against harm are also carried on a belt or around the neck. See also PARITTA; RATANASUTTA.

rakṣācakra. (T. srung gi ’khor lo). In Sanskrit, “wheel of protection,” a figurative wheel used to destroy internal and external evils during tantric rituals and meditative practices. The wheel is created through ritual actions or visualization as a preliminary step in constructing a MAṆḌALA, performing an initiation ritual (ABHIṢEKA), or cultivating meditative practices. The wheel has various intents, including maintaining the faithfulness of the disciple toward one’s master, destroying the power of an enemy, preventing the intrusion of baleful influences, preventing infectious diseases, or averting a curse. For example, in the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, a practitioner visualizes a wheel with ten spokes, representing the ten directions (DAŚADIŚ). Each spoke is occupied by the ten wrathful deities (daśakrodha), who conquer enemies or inner hindrances, the names and the locations of which are as follows: YAMĀNTAKA (east), Prajñāntaka (south), Padmāntaka (west), Vighnāntaka (north), ACALA (northeast), Ṭakkirāja (southeast), Nīladaṇḍa (southwest), Mahābala (northwest), Uṣṇīṣacakravartin (zenith), and Sumbha (nadir). The practitioner then imagines demonic beings filling the areas between the spokes, so that, as the wheel turns, the spokes destroy the demons. In a more detailed explanation, the demons are also bound by ropes and put in well-like cells in the ground. This wheel is also called “wheel of the ten spokes” (daśacakra).

rākṣasa. [alt. rakṣas] (P. rakkhasa; T. srin po; C. luocha; J. rasetsu; K. rach’al/nach’al 羅 images

). In Sanskrit, “ogre”; a species of demigod in Buddhist mythology (the female form is an “ogress,” or rākṣasī) usually described as a flesh-eating demon that is able to fly, run like the wind, and possess superhuman strength during the night. According to numerous Buddhist texts, including the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) and the ABHINIṢKRAMAṆASŪTRA, the island of Sri Lanka is inhabited by ogres, who are able to shape-shift and seduce human beings in order to eat them. In the MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA, the king of the gods, INDRA, is said to have assumed the form of a rākṣasa in order to test the spiritual resolve of a young ascetic—ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha in one of his previous lifetimes. Rākṣasas are also described as horse- or ox-headed wardens of a hell, who torture the hell denizens (NĀRAKA); in this case, they are often identified with YAKṢA. In the Buddhist pantheon, there is a rākṣasadeva (C. luocha tian), or lord of the rākṣasa, who presides over the southwest as one of the twelve directional guardians; this deva is also called NIRṚTI. The deva appears on the outer perimeter of the two MAṆḌALAs, the VAJRADHĀTU and GARBHADHĀTU maṇḍalas, at the bottom right side, representing the southwesterly direction. In Tibetan Buddhist accounts of the early spread of Buddhism (SNGA DAR), the land of Tibet is described as the supine body of a female ogress (rākṣasī; T. srin mo) who has to be pinned down with a series of temples (MTHA’ ’DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG) built over strategic places on her body.

Ral pa can. (Ralpachen) (r. 815–838). The name by which Khri gtsug lde btsan (Titsuk Detsen), the forty-first ruler of the Tibetan dynastic period, is best known. He is considered to be the third of three great religious kings (chos rgyal) of Tibet, together with his predecessors SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO and KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. All three are regarded as human incarnations of the bodhisattva AVALOKITEŚVARA. Ral pa can is remembered as an enthusiastic patron of Buddhism, especially for raising the position and prestige of monks by establishing a tax to sustain their needs. He was so devoted to the SAṂGHA that he is said to have allowed monks to sit on his long locks of hair; his sobriquet “ral pa can” means “having long locks.” He patronized the translation of Buddhist texts from a wide range of materials, including TANTRAs and ŚĀSTRAs that were not transmitted to other countries in East or Southeast Asia. The first standard Sanskrit–Tibetan lexicon, the MAHĀVYUTPATTI, was also completed during his reign. In addition to his support for Buddhism, Ral pa can is known for his military conquests, which expanded the territory of the Tibetan empire to its largest extent, conquering regions of China, India, Nepal, Khotan, Turkestan, and Gansu. After Tibetan armies attacked Yanzhou in modern Shandong Province, the Chinese sued for peace. A peace treaty in 821 set the boundaries between the two countries, marking a period of peaceful relations along the border. Three great bilingual steles bearing the inscription of this treaty were fashioned. One, erected in 823, still stands in front of the JO KHANG temple. Ral pa can’s Buddhist sympathies eventually garnered the resentment of the aristocracy. In 838, he was assassinated by his elder brother, GLANG DAR MA, thus ending the period of the religious kings and the early propagation (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet. According to Buddhist accounts, his death initiated a period of persecution of Buddhism.

Rāma IV. (Mongkut) (1804–1868). Thai monarch who spent twenty-seven years as a monk before becoming king of Siam. As a monk between 1824 and 1851 (his ordination name was Vajirañāna), Mongkut’s studies led him to conclude that the VINAYA was not being strictly observed by the Thai SAṂGHA and that many rituals performed by monks did not derive from the Buddha’s teachings. In 1830, he organized a small group of reformist monks called the THAMMAYUT nikai (P. Dhammayuttikanikāya), “the group that adheres strictly to the dharma,” in contrast to what came to be known as the MAHANIKAI (P. Mahānikāya), the “great congregation” of monks who continued to follow the then-normative practices of Thai Buddhism. To establish this new reform tradition of Thai Buddhism, Mongkut drew on what he considered to be a pure ordination lineage from the Mon people of Burma (Myanmar). Prince Mongkut also sought to produce an authentic recension of the Pāli canon after finding the extant editions deficient and incomplete. His new movement emphasized study of the tipiṭaka (S. TRIPIṬIKA) as the basis for understanding Buddhist doctrine and rejected as unorthodox many Buddhist texts popular in Thai Buddhism (such as the Traiphumikatha as well as the JĀTAKA tales). The Thammayut movement also stressed proper monastic discipline, particularly details such as the correct way of wearing the robes (TRICĪVARA) and carrying the alms bowl (PĀTRA), as well as the proper demarcation of monastic space (SĪMĀ). Mongkut’s reforms began a trend that led to the SAṄGHA ADMINISTRATION ACT, passed in 1902, establishing uniform practices for all monks throughout the country. Mongkut had considerable interaction with Western missionaries and was sensitive to their bias regarding Christianity’s supposed superiority over Buddhism because of its affinities for science and technology. In possible response to this European influence, Mongkut and the Thammayut movement also emphasized the rational aspects of Buddhism that sought to make their religion compatible with science and modernity. Mongkut eventually became abbot of WAT BOWONNIWET (Wat Bovoranives) in the Thai capital of Bangkok, which continues to be the headquarters of the Thammayut sect. After Mongkut ascended to the throne, the Thammayut continued to be closely associated with the royal court; the majority of Thai monks, however, have remained in the Mahanikai order. Rāma IV, to the chagrin of many Thais, is the historical (if fanciful) figure behind Anna Leonowens’s memoir about her experience in the Thai court as tutor to Mongkut’s children, which became the inspiration for Margaret Landon’s book Anna and the King of Siam and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I.

Rāma V. (Chulalongkorn) (1853–1910). Thai monarch revered for his efforts to modernize the country; credited with moving Thailand into the modern age and maintaining close relations with the European colonial powers, while protecting the independence of his kingdom. He was known in Thai as the Royal Buddha (“Phra Phutta Jao Luang”). Like his father, RĀMA IV, he was a strong patron of Buddhism. In 1893, he had the Pāli tipiṭaka (S. TRIPIṬAKA) published in thirty-nine volumes and distributed to five hundred monasteries of the kingdom. This was the first time that a Buddhist canon had been printed in codex form. In 1895, he sent sets to 260 academic institutions and libraries around the world. Rāma V founded both of Thailand’s public Buddhist universities, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya (affiliated with the MAHANIKAI fraternity) and Mahamakut Buddhist University (affiliated with the THAMMAYUT fraternity), in 1887 and 1893, respectively. Since the late 1980s, Rāma V has been the object of popular devotion. Books, portraits, amulets, and chanting of khatha (magic formulae) are among the manifestations of this reverence, which culminates on Chulalongkorn Day (October 23), a national holiday commemorating the monarch’s death.

Rāmañña Nikāya. Pāli name of one of the three predominant monastic fraternities (P. NIKĀYA) within the Sinhalese THERAVĀDA SAṂGHA, the others being the majority SIYAM NIKĀYA and the AMARAPURA NIKĀYA. The Rāmañña Nikāya is the smallest of these three, their monastic population being a third that of the Siyam Nikāya and half that of the Amarapura Nikāya. The Rāmañña Nikāya was one of several reform schools that appeared in Sri Lanka in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time, the dominant Siyam Nikāya only ordained members of the elite Goyigama caste. The Goyigama caste was concentrated in the interior highlands of Sri Lanka, which was governed by the Kandyan king. The lower castes—comprised of toddy tappers and cinnamon peelers (salāgama), who formed the majority population in the British-controlled coastal lowlands—were at most given lower ordination (P. pabbajjā; see S. PRAVRAJITA) as novices (P. sāmaṇera; S. ŚRĀMAṆERA). This discrimination led to the formation of as many as thirty religious orders whose members came from lower or rising castes. Members of the cinnamon-peeler caste sponsored delegations of religious aspirants who traveled to Burma (Myanmar) in order to receive ordination in an established lineage, ordination they could not receive in Sri Lanka. One such aspirant from the salāgama caste was Ambagahawatte Saranankara, who was ordained on June 12, 1861, by Venerable Gneiyadharma Sangharāja of the Ratnapunna Vihāra in Burma. In 1864, Ambagahawatte Saranankara returned to Sri Lanka and established the Rāmañña Nikāya order. (Rāmañña is the Pāli name for the region of south-coastal Burma.) The Rāmañña Nikāya was established not only in response to caste discrimination but also as an attempt to reform the practices of the Sri Lankan saṃgha. Indeed, the Rāmañña Nikāya’s official status as an institution that makes no distinction between castes is portrayed as a return to the Buddha’s acceptance of all strata of the Indian caste system. The Rāmañña Nikāya is particularly strong in the southwestern coastal regions of Sri Lanka, where it was founded.

Ra mo che. One of the two oldest and most important religious institutions of LHA SA, together with the JO KHANG temple. Constructed during the same period as the Jo khang, the Ra mo che temple was originally intended as the repository of the famed JO BO SHĀKYAMUNI statue brought to Tibet by King SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO’s Chinese bride, WENCHENG. According to legend, when the statue was being transported into the city, the cart became stuck and the princess stated that the temple should be built at that spot. That statue was later moved to the Jo khang and replaced in Ra mo che by the statue that had originally been in the Jo khang, a statue of the Buddha called JO BO MI BSKYOD RDO RJE, which had been brought to Tibet by BHṚKUṬĪ, the Nepalese wife of Srong btsan sgam po. Prior to 1959, Ra mo che was the site of RGYUD STOD, a tantric college of the DGE LUGS sect.

Rang ’byung rdo rje. (Rangjung Dorje) (1284–1339). A Tibetan Buddhist master recognized as the third KARMA PA, renowned for his erudition and his knowledge of practice traditions based on both new translation (GSAR MA) and old translation (RNYING MA) tantras. He was born either in the Skyid rong Valley or in the western Tibetan region of Ding ri and, according to traditional sources, as a child, was known for his exceptional perspicacity. The DEB THER SNGON PO (“Blue Annals”) records that as a five-year-old boy, he met O RGYAN PA RIN CHEN DPAL, his principal guru, who recognized the young boy as the reincarnation of his teacher KARMA PAKSHI when the child climbed up on a high seat that had been prepared for O rgyan pa Rin chen dpal and declared himself to have been Karma Pakshi in his previous life (this was before the institution of incarnate lamas was established in Tibet). Rang ’byung rdo rje trained first at MTSHUR PHU monastery. He also studied with teachers from GSANG PHU and JO NANG. His collected works include explanations of the major YOGĀCĀRA and MADHYAMAKA treatises and commentaries and rituals based on the CAKRASAṂVARA, HEVAJRA, GUHYASAMĀJA, and KĀLACAKRA tantras. According to his traditional biographies, while in retreat, he had a vision of VIMALAMITRA and PADMASAMBHAVA in which he received the complete transmission of the Rnying ma tantras. He received instructions on the RDZOGS CHEN doctrine from Rig ’dzin Gzhon nu rgyal po, and wrote short works on rdzogs chen. He also discovered a treasure text (GTER MA), known as the Karma snying thig. He was a renowned poet and wrote important works on GCOD practice. The third Karma pa was also a skilled physician and astrologer. He developed a new system of astrology known as Mtshur rtsi, or “Mtshur phu astrology,” on the basis of which a new Tibetan calendar was formulated and promulgated at Mtshur phu monastery. In 1331, he was summoned to the court of the Yuan emperor Tugh Temür, but stopped enroute when he correctly interpreted portents that the emperor had died. He later traveled to the Mongol capital of Daidu (modern Beijing) during the reign of Togon Temür, for whom he procured an elixir of long life. After returning to Tibet, he was summoned once again to the Mongol capital, where he passed away while meditating in a three-dimensional Cakrasaṃvara MAṆḌALA. Rang ’byung rdo rje’s writings include the influential tantric work Zab mo nang don (“Profound Inner Meaning”). It is said that his image appeared in the full moon on the evening of his death, and illustrations of the third Karma pa often portray him seated amid a lunar disk.

Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje. (Rangjung Rikpe Dorje) (1924–1981). A renowned and influential Tibetan Buddhist master, recognized as the sixteenth Karma pa, principal leader of the KARMA BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in 1924 in the SDE DGE area of Khams, eastern Tibet, to an aristocratic family, and was recognized as the incarnation of the fifteenth Karma pa by the eleventh TAI SI TU. At the age of eight, the Karma pa was enthroned by the Tai Si tu at DPAL SPUNGS monastery in Khams. Soon after, he went to MTSHUR PHU monastery in central Tibet, where he undertook his studies. In his early years, he received many important Bka’ brgyud, SA SKYA, and RNYING MA teachings from eminent masters of the time. In his teenage years, the Karma pa divided his time between Mtshur phu and Dpal spungs monasteries, settling at Mtshur phu at the age of eighteen for several years of retreat. In 1947, the Karma pa took his first long pilgrimage and visited the holy sites of India, Nepal, and Sikkim. In 1954, he accompanied the fourteenth DALAI LAMA to Beijing in attempts to find a peaceful agreement between the nations of China and Tibet. The next year, the Karma pa returned to Khams, where he sought to mediate conflicts between Tibetan militias and the Chinese military, which was beginning to establish a presence in Tibet. By the spring of 1959, the Karma pa decided that it would be better for the preservation of his tradition’s religious heritage to leave his homeland and move into exile. After informing the Dalai Lama of his decision, the Karma pa left for Bhutan with an entourage of one hundred fifty laypeople, incarnate lamas (SPRUL SKU), and monks. He soon moved to Rumtek (Rum theg) monastery in Sikkim, which had been founded previously by the ninth Karma pa DBANG PHYUG RDO RJE. By 1966, the sixteenth Karma pa and his followers had restored Rumtek and formed a new seat in exile for the Karma Bka’ brgyud sect. Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje was renowned for his erudition in Buddhist philosophy as well as his mastery of meditation and his ability to work miracles. Beginning in 1974, the sixteenth Karma pa undertook numerous journeys to Europe and North America, where he founded several important Karma bka’ brgyud study and meditation centers. During this time, he traveled widely, attracting a great number of Western disciples. In 1981, the sixteenth Karma pa passed away in a hospital near Chicago. His attending physician attested to the fact that the Karma pa’s body remained warm for three days after being pronounced dead. Rang ’byung rig pa’i rdo rje was succeeded by the seventeenth Karma pa, O rgyan ’phrin las rdo rje (Orgyan Tinle Dorje).

rang stong gzhan stong. (rang dong shen dong). In Tibetan, lit. “self-emptiness, other-emptiness,” an important and persistent philosophical debate in Tibetan Buddhism, dating to the fifteenth century. The opposing factions are the DGE LUGS sect on one side and the JO NANG sect on the other, with support from certain BKA’ BRGYUD and RNYING MA authors. The debate concerns issues fundamental to their understanding of what constituted enlightenment and the path to its achievement. For the Dge lugs, the most profound of all Buddhist doctrines is that all phenomena in the universe are empty of an intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA), that the constituents of experience are not naturally endowed with a defining characteristic. Emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) for the Dge lugs is the fact that phenomena do not exist in and of themselves; emptiness is instead the lack of intrinsic existence. The Dge lugs then, are proponents of “self-emptiness,” and argue that the hypostatized factor that an object in reality lacks (i.e., is empty of) is wrongly believed by the unenlightened to be intrinsic to the object itself. Everything, from physical forms to the omniscient mind of the Buddha, is thus equally empty. This emptiness is described by the Dge lugs as a non-affirming or simple negation (PRASAJYAPRATIṢEDHA), an absence with nothing else implied in its place. From this perspective, the Dge lugs judge the sūtras of the second of the three turnings of the wheel of the dharma as described in the SAṂDHINIRMOCANASŪTRA, “the dharma wheel of signlessness” (ALAKṢAṆADHARMACAKRA), to contain the definitive expression of the Buddha’s most profound intention. By contrast, the Jo nang look for inspiration to the third turning of the wheel, “the dharma wheel for ascertaining the ultimate” (PARAMĀRTHAVINIŚCAYADHARMACAKRA; see also *SUVIBHAKTADHARMACAKRA), especially to those statements that describe the nonduality of subject and object to be the consummate nature (PARINIṢPANNA) and the understanding of that nonduality to be the highest wisdom. They describe this wisdom in substantialist terms, calling it eternal, self-arisen, and truly established. This wisdom consciousness exists autonomously and is thus not empty in the way that emptiness is understood by the Dge lugs. Instead, this wisdom consciousness is empty in the sense that it is devoid of all afflictions and conventional factors, which are extraneous to its true nature. Hence, the Jo nang speak of the “emptiness of the other,” the absence of extrinsic and extraneous qualities. The Dge lugs cannot deny the presence of statements in the MAHĀYĀNA canon that speak of the TATHĀGATAGARBHA as permanent, pure, blissful, and endowed with self. But they argue that such statements are provisional, another example of the Buddha’s expedient means of attracting to the faith those who find such a description appealing. The true tathāgatagarbha, they claim, is the emptiness of the mind; it is this factor, present in all sentient beings, that offers the possibility of transformation into an enlightened buddha. This is the view of CANDRAKĪRTI, they say, whom they regard as the supreme interpreter of the doctrine of emptiness. The Jo nang do not deny that this is Candrakīrti’s view, but they deny Candrakīrti the rank of premier expositor of NĀGĀRJUNA’s thought. For them, Candrakīrti teaches an emptiness which is a mere negation of true existence, which they equate with nihilism, or else a preliminary stage of negation that precedes an understanding of the highest wisdom. Nor do they deny that such an exposition is also to be found in Nāgārjuna’s philosophical corpus (YUKTIKĀYA). But those texts, they claim, do not represent Nāgārjuna’s final view, which is expressed instead in his devotional corpus (STAVAKĀYA), notably the DHARMADHĀTUSTAVA (“Praise of the Sphere of Reality”), with its more positive exposition of the nature of reality. Those who would deny its ultimate existence, such as Candrakīrti, they classify as “one-sided Madhyamakas” (phyogs gcig pa’i dbu ma pa) as opposed to the “great Madhyamakas” (DBU MA PA CHEN PO), among whom they would include the Nāgārjuna of the four hymns and ĀRYADEVA, as well as thinkers whom the Dge lugs classify as YOGĀCĀRA or SVĀTANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA: e.g., ASAṄGA, VASUBANDHU, MAITREYANĀTHA, and ŚĀNTARAKṢITA. The Dge lugs attempt to demonstrate that the nature of reality praised by Nāgārjuna in his hymns is the same emptiness that he describes in his philosophical writings.

rasa. (T. ro; C. wei; J. mi; K. mi 味). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “taste,” sensory objects of the tongue; the contact (SPARŚA) between the gustatory sense organ (JIHVENDRIYA) and the gustatory sensory object leads to gustatory consciousness (JIHVĀVIJÑĀNA). Six types of taste are enumerated in the ABHIDHARMA: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.

rasanā. (T. ro ma). In tantric physiology, the channel (NĀḌĪ) that runs from the left nostril to the base of the spine in males and from the right nostril to the base of the spine in females. It is one of three main channels, together with the central channel (AVADHŪTĪ) and the LALANĀ, the left channel in females and the right channel in males. According to some systems, seventy-two thousand channels are found in the body, serving as the conduits for subtle energies or winds (PRĀṆA). The most important of these channels are the avadhūti, the lalanā, and the rasanā. The central channel runs from the place between the eyebrows to the crown of the head and down in front of the spinal column, ending at the genitals. The right and left channels run parallel to the central channel on either side. These two channels wrap around the central channel at various points, of which as many as seven are enumerated. These points, called wheels (CAKRA), are located between the eyes, at the crown of the head, at the throat, at the heart, at the solar plexus, at the base of the spine, and at the tip of sexual organ. In ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, especially in practices associated with the “stage of completion” (NIṢPANNAKRAMA), much emphasis is placed on loosening these knots in order to cause the winds to flow freely through the central channel.

rasāyatana. (T. ro’i skye mched; C. weichu; J. misho; K. mich’ŏ 味處). In Sanskrit, “taste sense field” or “gustatory sense field,” i.e., tastes or flavors (RASA) as they occur in the list of twelve sense faculties or “bases of cognition” (ĀYATANA), which serve as the bases for the production of consciousness, viz., the six internal sense bases, or sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), and the six external sense objects (forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and mental phenomena). In the case of taste, the contact (SPARŚA) between the gustatory sense organ (JIHVENDRIYA) and its gustatory sensory object leads to gustatory consciousness (JIHVĀVIJÑĀNA).

Ras chung pa Rdo rje grags. (Rechungpa Dorje Drak) (1083/4–1161). A close disciple of the Tibetan sage MI LA RAS PA and an early master of the BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in the southwest Tibetan region of Gung thang and, while herding cattle at the age of eleven, met Mi la ras pa, who was meditating in a nearby cave. Much to the consternation of his family, Ras chung pa left his home to follow the YOGIN, subsequently spending many years serving and training under his GURU. As one of Milarepa’s youngest disciples, he earned the name Ras chung pa, lit. “little cotton-clad one.” He was later dispatched to India in order to retrieve several transmissions of the LUS MED MKHA’ ’GRO SNYAN RGYUD CHOS SKOR DGU (“nine aural lineage cycles of the formless ḌĀKINĪs”); Mi la ras pa’s teacher MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS had only received five of these nine cycles during his own studies in India. Ras chung pa acquired these teachings from the brāhmaṇa-adept TI PHU PA in India and, returning to Tibet, spent many years in solitary meditation. He eventually taught numerous disciples of his own. Although Ras chung pa was not a central part of the Bka’ brgyud sect’s institutional development, a role played by Mi la ras pa’s other well-known disciple SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, he figures prominently in the MI LA’I MGUR ’BUM (“Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa”), the collected verse instructions of Mi la ras pa. He also transmitted an important tradition of tantric instructions that were redacted as the RAS CHUNG SNYAN BRGYUD (Aural Lineage of Ras chung). These teachings gained some importance over the next several centuries and were later revived during the fifteenth century by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA at a religious center founded at one of Ras chung pa’s principal meditation caves, RAS CHUNG PHUG.

Ras chung phug. (Rechung puk). A Tibetan hermitage and monastic center founded around a principal retreat cave of RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS, after whom the cave and complex are named. Located near the Yar klungs and Chong gye valleys of central Tibet, Ras chung phug housed over one thousand monks at the height of its florescence, although it was completely destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During the fifteenth century, GTSANG SMYON HERUKA, the so-called madman of Gtsang, spent time there and helped to revive the religious tradition of Ras chung pa known as the RAS CHUNG SNYAN BRGYUD (aural lineage of Ras chung).

Ras chung snyan brgyud. (Rechung nyengyu). In Tibetan, lit. “the aural lineage of Ras chung,” referring to RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS, a principal disciple of the BKA’ BRGYUD founder MI LA RAS PA. Although called an aural lineage (snyan brgyud), it comprises a system of liturgies, ritual manuals, and tantric commentaries, together with their oral instructions, based primarily on the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA. The lineage began with the LUS MED MKHA’ ’GRO SNYAN RGYUD CHOS SKOR DGU (“nine aural lineage cycles of the formless ḌĀKINĪs”) promulgated by the Indian adepts TILOPA and NĀROPA. Five of these were subsequently transmitted in Tibet by the Bka’ brgyud founders MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS and Mi la ras pa. Ras chung pa received them from Mi la ras pa and then journeyed to India, where he obtained the remaining instructions from the tantric master TI PHU PA. The system of teachings that Ras chung pa subsequently passed on became known as the “aural lineage of Ras chung pa.” The fifteenth-century YOGIN GTSANG SMYON HERUKA later codified these teachings, together with those of Mi la ras pa’s other prominent disciples, SGAM PO PA BSOD NAM RIN CHEN and Ngan rdzongs ras pa (Ngendzong Repa), into the SNYAN BRGYUD SKOR GSUM (“three cycles of aural lineage instructions”).

Rāṣṭrapāla. (P. Raṭṭhapāla; T. Yul ’khor skyong; C. Laizhaheluo; J. Raitawara; K. Noet’ahwara 賴

羅). In Sanskrit, an eminent ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples who renounced the world through faith. According to the Pāli account, he was born in Kuru as the son of a wealthy counselor who had inherited the treasure of a destroyed kingdom. He lived with his wives amid great luxury in his father’s house in the township of Thullakoṭṭhita. He went to listen to the Buddha preach when the latter was visiting his city and decided at once to renounce the world and become a monk in the Buddha’s dispensation. His parents refused to give their permission until he threatened to starve himself to death. They agreed on the condition that he return to visit their house as a monk. After his ordination, Rāṣṭrapāla accompanied the Buddha to ŚRĀVASTĪ (P. Sāvatthi) and there, through assiduous practice, attained arhatship. Having received the Buddha’s permission, Rāṣṭrapāla resolved to fulfill his promise to his parents and returned to Thullakoṭṭhita, where he lived in the park of the Kuru king. On his alms round the next morning, he stopped at entrance of his parents’ house. His father did not recognize him and mistook him for one of the monks who had enticed his son to abandon his home. He cursed Rāṣṭrapāla and ordered him away. But a servant girl recognized him and offered him the stale rice she was about to throw away and then announced his true identity to his father. His father, filled with joy and hope at seeing his son, invited him to receive his morning meal at his home the next day. When he returned at the appointed time, Rāṣṭrapāla’s father tried to tempt him to return to the lay life with a vulgar display of the family’s wealth and the beauty of his former wives. They taunted him about the celestial maidens for whose sake he had renounced the world. They fainted in disappointment when he addressed them as “sisters” in reply. At the end of his meal, he preached to his family about the impermanence of conditioned things, the uselessness of wealth, and the enticing trap of physical beauty. But even then they were not convinced, and it is said that Rāṣṭrapāla flew through the air to return to his abode after his father bolted the doors to keep him at home and had servants try to remove his robes and dress him in the garb of a layman.

Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā. (T. Yul ’khor skyong gis zhus pa; C. Huguo pusahui [jing]; J. Gokoku bosatsue[kyō]; K. Hoguk posal hoe [kyŏng] 護國菩薩會[經]). In Sanskrit, “The Questions of RĀṢṬRAPĀLA,” one of the earliest MAHĀYĀNA sūtras; the terminus ad quem for its composition is the third century CE, when DHARMARAKṢA (c. 233–310) translated the sūtra into Chinese (c. 270 CE), probably following a manuscript from the GANDHĀRA region in the KHAROṢṬHĪ script. (The extant Sanskrit recension is much later.) There are also two later Chinese translations, one made c. 585–600 by JÑĀNAGUPTA and other c. 980 by DĀNAPĀLA. The Raṣṭrapāla represents a strand of early MAHĀYĀNA (found also in such sūtras as the KĀŚYAPAPARIVARTA and the UGRAPARIPṚCCHĀ) that viewed the large urban monasteries as being ill-suited to serious spiritual cultivation because of their need for constant fund-raising from the laity and their excessive entanglements in local politics. The Rāṣṭrapāla strand of early Mahāyāna instead dedicated itself to forest dwelling (see ARAÑÑAVĀSI) away from the cities, like the “rhinoceros” (KHAḌGAVIṢĀṆA), and advocated a return to the rigorous asceticism (S. DHŪTAGUṆA; see P. DHUTAṄGA) that was thought to characterize the early SAṂGHA. To the Rāṣṭrapāla author(s), the Buddha’s own infinitely long career as a bodhisattva was an exercise in self-sacrifice and physical endurance, which they in turn sought to emulate through their own asceticism. The physical perfection the Buddha achieved through this long training, as evidenced in his acquisition of the thirty-two major marks of the superman (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA), receives special attention in the sūtra. This approach is in marked contrast to other early Mahāyāna sūtras, such as the AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, which were suspicious of the motives of forest dwellers and supportive of cenobitic monasticism in the towns and cities, where monks and nuns would be in a better position to serve the laity by preaching the dharma to them.

Ratanasutta. In Pāli, “Discourse on the Precious,” one of the best loved and most widely-recited Buddhist texts in the THERAVĀDA Buddhist world (there is no analogous recension in the Chinese translations of the ĀGAMAs). The Ratanasutta appears in an early scriptural anthology, the SUTTANIPĀTA, a later collection, the KHUDDAKAPĀṬHA, and in a postcanonical anthology of PARITTA (“protection texts”). The Pāli commentaries say that the discourse was first delivered to the Buddha’s attendant ĀNANDA, who then went around the city of the Licchavis reciting the text and sprinkling holy water from the Buddha’s own begging bowl (PĀTRA). Through this performance, the baleful spirits harassing the city were vanquished and all the people’s illnesses were cured. The text itself consists of a mere seventeen verses, twelve of which recount the virtues of the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) of the Buddha, DHARMA, and SAṂGHA. The Ratanasutta’s great renown derives from its inclusion in the Paritta anthology, texts that are chanted as part of the protective rituals performed by Buddhist monks to ward off misfortunes; indeed, it is this apotropaic quality of the text that accounts for its enduring popularity. Paritta suttas refer to specific discourses delivered by the Buddha that are believed to offer protection to those who either recite the sutta or listen to its recitation. Other such auspicious apotropaic suttas are the MAṄGALASUTTA and the METTĀSUTTA. In Southeast Asia, these paritta texts are commonly believed to bring happiness and good fortune when chanted by the saṃgha. See also RAKṢĀ.

Rathavinītasutta. (C. Qiche jing; J. Shichishakyō; K. Ch’ilch’a kyŏng 七車經). In Pāli, the “Discourse on the Relay Chariots,” the twenty-fourth scripture of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA version appears as the ninth sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, as well as a recension of uncertain affilation in the EKOTTARĀGAMA). This discourse recounts a dialogue between Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA) and Puṇṇa Mantāṇiputta (see PŪRṆA) concerning the seven stages of purification (see VISUDDHI) that must be traversed in order to attain final liberation in nibbāna (NIRVĀṆA), viz., the purification of (1) morality (SĪLAVISUDDHI); (2) mind (CITTAVISUDDHI); (3) views (DIṬṬHIVISUDDHI); (4) overcoming doubt (KAṄKHĀVITARAṆAVISUDDHI); (5) the purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path (MAGGĀMAGGAÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI); (6) knowledge and vision of progress along the path (PAṬIPADĀÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI); (7) knowledge and vision itself (ÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI). The seventh purification leads directly to final nibbāna. The seven stages are compared to a relay of seven chariots needed to transport the king of Kosala (KOŚALA) from his palace in Sāvatthi (ŚRĀVASTĪ) to his palace in Sāketa.

ratna. (P. ratana; T. rin chen/dkon mchog; C. zhenbao; J. chinbō; K. chinbo 珍寶). In Sanskrit, “jewel,” “valuable,” or “treasure,” the most common term for a precious object in Buddhist texts and regularly used in Buddhist literature as a metaphor for enlightenment, since jewels represent purity, permanence, preciousness, rarity, etc. TATHĀGATAGARBHA texts often call the tathāgatagarbha or buddha-nature the jewel-nature, since the preciousness of a jewel is unaffected even when it is sullied by mud (defilements); the TATHĀGATAGARBHASŪTRA, for example, specifically compares the tathāgatagarbha to a jewel buried in the dirt (see also RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA). In the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), the buddha-nature is described in a simile as a jewel that a rich man (the Buddha) has surreptitiously sown into the robes of his destitute friend (sentient beings). Such CHAN masters as GUIFENG ZONGMI (780–840) and POJO CHINUL (1158–1210) use jewels as metaphors to explain their theories of the buddha-nature. A jewel is also used to represent the pristine nature of the realm of enlightenment: in the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA, the bejeweled canopy of the king of the gods, INDRA (see INDRAJĀLA), is deployed to illustrate the mutual interdependence that pertains between all phenomena in the universe. Several different lists of jewels are found in Buddhist literature. The most important is the “three jewels” (RATNATRAYA; TRIRATNA) of the Buddha, DHARMA, and SAṂGHA; commentaries explain that these three are called jewels because they are difficult to find and, once found, are of great value. The Tibetan translation of “three jewels,” dkon mchog gsum (könchok sum) (lit. “three rare excellences”) reflects this meaning. There are also several different lists of “seven jewels” (saptaratna). One list describes the seven “valuables” that are essential to the successful reign of a wheel-turning monarch (CAKRAVARTIN): a wheel, elephant, horse, gems, a queen, an able minister or treasurer, and a loyal adviser. Another list of seven is of the jewels decorating SUKHĀVATĪ, the PURE LAND of AMITĀBHA; these are listed in the AMITĀBHASŪTRA (see also SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHASŪTRA) as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, agate, ruby, and carnelian. Finally, there are seven “moral” jewels listed in mainstream Buddhist literature, as in the Pāli list of morality (P. sīla; S. ŚĪLA), concentration (SAMĀDHI), wisdom (P. paññā; S. PRAJÑĀ), liberation (P. vimutti; S. VIMUKTI), the knowledge and vision of liberation (P. vimuttiñāṇadassana; S. vimuktijñānadarśana), analytical knowledge (P. paṭisambhidā; S. PRATISAṂVID), and the factors of enlightenment (P. bojjhaṅga; S. BODHYAṄGA).

Ratnagiri. (T. Rin chen ri bo). In Sanskrit, “Bejeweled Mountain,” also known as Ratnagiri Mahāvihāra, or “the great monastery Ratnagiri”; the name of an ancient monastery located in the Jajapur district of the contemporary Indian state of Orissa. The site was discovered and excavated in the mid-twentieth century. Ratnagiri was established sometime around the fifth or sixth centuries CE and flourished until the twelfth century. Both textual and archaeological evidence indicates that Ratnagiri, like NĀLANDĀ, was a prosperous and influential center of MAHĀYĀNA philosophy. Furthermore, the monastery appears to have played a significant role in the rise of VAJRAYĀNA and tantric Buddhism in India. The excavation of this site revealed two main monastic complexes, one of which was two stories high. The main reliquary mound (STŪPA) is nearly twenty feet high and fifty feet across at the base. Hundreds of smaller STŪPAs surround it on the main campus. The remains are decorated by carved depictions of buddhas, BODHISATTVAs, and a variety of deities from the Mahāyāna pantheon.

Ratna gling pa. (Ratna Lingpa) (1403–1478). An important treasure revealer (GTER STON) of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, credited with discovering twenty-five collections of treasure texts (GTER MA). As a youth, he was identified as the reincarnation of Lang gro Dkon mchog ’byung gnas, one of the twenty-five disciples of PADMASAMBHAVA. According to traditional sources, he is said to have uncovered in a single lifetime the treasures ordinarily discovered in three lifetimes, and therefore is known under three names: Zhig po gling pa (Shikpo Lingpa), ’Gro ’dul gling pa (Drodul Lingpa), and Ratna gling pa. The treasures included RDZOGS CHEN teachings, peaceful and wrathful guru SĀDHANAs, AVALOKITEŚVARA practices, and MAHĀMUDRĀ texts. He also searched extensively for ancient tantras and oral traditions and compiled an extensive RNYING MA’I RGYUD ’BUM, a compendium of the tantras and tantric exegetical literature of the Rnying ma sect; that compendium is no longer extant, but it served as the basis of the rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum of ’JIGS MED GLING PA.

Ratnagotravibhāga. [alt. Ratnagotravibhaṅga] (T. Dkon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba; C. Jiujing yisheng baoxing lun; J. Kukyō ichijō hōshōron; K. Kugyŏng ilsŭng posŏng non 究竟一乘寶性論). In Sanskrit, “Analysis of the Lineage of the [Three] Jewels,” a seminal Indian MAHĀYĀNA ŚĀSTRA on the doctrine of the “embryo of the tathāgatas” (TATHĀGATAGARBHA), probably dating from the fourth century CE. Its full title is Ratnagotravibhāga-Mahāyāna-Uttaratantra and the treatise is often referred to simply as the Uttaratantra, or “Sublime Continuation.” The Sanskrit recension is extant, along with Chinese and Tibetan translations. (RATNAMATI’s Chinese translation was finished in 508.) The Chinese tradition attributes the work to Sāramati (C. Jianyi), while the Tibetan tradition attributes the core verses of the text to MAITREYA/MAITREYANĀTHA and its prose commentary entitled the Uttaratantravyākhyā to ASAṄGA. It is one of the “five books of Maitreya,” which, according to legend, were presented by the future buddha Maitreya to Asaṅga during the latter’s visit to the TUṢITA heaven. The primary subject of the Ratnagotravibhāga is the tathāgatagarbha or buddha-nature; this is the element (DHĀTU) or lineage (GOTRA) of the buddhas, which is present in all beings. The text offers an extensive overview of the tathāgatagarbha doctrine as set forth in such sūtras as the TATHĀGATAGARBHASŪTRA and the ŚRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIṂHANĀDASŪTRA. Like the Śrīmālā Sūtra, the treatise describes the tathāgatagarbha as being both empty (śūnya) of the afflictions (KLEŚA) but nonempty (aśunya) of the buddhas’ infinite virtues. In ordinary beings, the tathāgatagarbha may be obscured by adventitious defilements, but when those defilements are removed, the state of enlightenment is restored. In proving this claim, the treatise examines in detail the “body of the tathāgata,” an alternate name for the buddha-nature, which is said to have four perfect virtues (GUṆAPĀRAMITĀ): permanence, bliss, selfhood, and purity. Those who have not realized the buddha-nature make two fundamental mistakes about emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ): either viewing emptiness as annihilation (see UCCHEDADṚṢṬI), assuming that the experience of NIRVĀṆA requires the extinction of the phenomenal world; or substantiating emptiness by presuming that it is something distinct from materiality (RŪPA). Instead, the Ratnagotravibhāga asserts that the tathāgatagarbha is free from all the various types of afflictions, but fully contains the myriad inconceivable attributes of a buddha. The treatise also examines the specific deeds the buddhas perform for the welfare of all sentient beings. See also FOXING.

Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā. (T. Yon tan rin po che sdud pa tshigs su bcad pa; C. Fomu baodezang bore boluomi jing; J. Butsumo hōtokuzō hannya haramitsukyō; K. Pulmo podŏkchang panya paramil kyŏng 佛母寶德藏般若波羅蜜經). In Sanskrit, “Verses on the Collection of Precious Qualities,” the longer title is Prajñāpāramitāratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā, or “Verses on the Collection of the Precious Qualities of the Perfection of Wisdom.” The Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā epitomizes the early MAHĀYĀNA in its emphasis on the emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) of the aggregates (SKANDHA) and its praise of the path of the BODHISATTVA over that of the ARHAT. The text is considered to be of particular importance in the history of the Mahāyāna because many of its verses, particularly those that appear early in the text, may represent some of the earliest expressions of Mahāyāna philosophy and may date as far back as 100 BCE. Another indication of the text’s antiquity is that it was translated into Chinese as early as the second century CE. The only extant Sanskrit version is that edited in the eighth century by HARIBHADRA to conform to the structure of the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, making the precise order of the original verses difficult to determine. Many Mahāyāna sūtras are composed of alternating verse and prose. The verses of the Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā are written in an ancient meter, suggesting to some that they constitute part of an original sūtra, with the AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ (“Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines”) supplying the prose section. However, because the verses that appear in the Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā are not in all cases identical to those in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, the Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā may have originally been a separate work. It appears as the verse recapitulations in the Chinese translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā and as the eighty-fourth chapter of the Aṣṭadaśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā (“Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines”) in its Tibetan translation.

Ratnākaraśānti. (T. Shān ti pa/Rin chen ’byung gnas zhi ba) (c. late-tenth to early-eleventh century). Sanskrit proper name of an Indian scholar philosophically affiliated with the YOGĀCĀRA school, who resided and later taught at the monastic university of VIKRAMAŚĪLA in the northern region of ancient MAGADHA (modern Bengal). At Vikramaśīla, he studied under RATNAKĪRTI and JITĀRI and eventually become a prolific scholar of enormous breadth, who wrote significant works on logic, MADHYAMAKA and PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, Yogācāra, and TANTRA. Ratnākaraśānti composed at least thirteen works in Sanskrit. His writings on tantra are particularly noteworthy for their attempt to present a systematic view of tantric philosophy and practice from the perspective of Buddhist scholasticism. His works on logic include the Antarvyāptisamarthana, on “pervasion” or “concomitance” (VYĀPTI). He wrote commentaries on the eight-thousand- and twenty-five-thousand-line PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ SŪTRAs (entitled Sārottamā and Śuddhamati, respectively). His tantric works included commentaries on both the HEVAJRATANTRA and GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, as well as a work on the three vehicles, the Triyānavyavasthāna. During his tenure as a teacher at Vikramaśīla, he held the position of eastern gatekeeper. He was a teacher of ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA, and he offered instruction to Tibetan students, including the translator ’BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES, who transmitted the LAM ’BRAS (path and result) teachings to the ’Khon family, who founded the SA SKYA sect. Ratnākaraśānti’s fame was so widespread that he was even invited by the Sinhalese king to travel to Sri Lanka and preach. In Tibetan sources, a Shānti pa (a common Tibetan abbreviation of the name Ratnākaraśānti) is reported to have been a student of the renowned tantric adept and scholar NĀROPA (1016–1100), and is listed as one of the eighty-four masters (SIDDHAs) in the CATURAŚĪTISIDDHAPRAVṚTTI (“History of the Eighty-Four Siddhas”).

Ratnakīrti. (T. Dkon mchog grags pa). Eleventh-century YOGĀCĀRA logician and student of Jñānaśrīmitra at VIKRAMAŚĪLA monastery. He is the author of ten extant treatises on logic, including the Apohasiddhi, or “Proof of Exclusion.” The work deals with the topic of APOHA, the theory that words refer to concepts rather than to objects in the world and that these concepts are the exclusion of their opposite, i.e., that one’s idea of a table, for example, is not that of a specific table but rather a generic image of everything that is “non-nontable,” i.e., not not a table. Buddhist logicians considered the question of the negative and positive aspects of the meaning of words as well as their sequence; Ratnakīrti argued that they are simultaneous. The Ratnakīrtikalā, a commentary to the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, is attributed to Ratnakīrti, but its author may be a different scholar of the same name.

ratnakula. (T. rin chen rigs; C. baobu; J. hōbu; K. pobu 寳部). In Sanskrit, “jewel family,” one of the “five lineages” or “five families” (PAÑCAKULA; PAÑCATATHĀGATA) of tantric Buddhism. The five are usually given as the TATHĀGATAKULA, VAJRAKULA, PADMAKULA, ratnakula, and the KARMAKULA (different tantras have different lists of these families). Those in the ratnakula become enlightened in the form of the buddha RATNASAMBHAVA. Each of the five families is associated with one of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), five wisdoms (JÑĀNA), five afflictions (KLEŚA), five elements, and five colors. For the ratnakula, the skandha is sensation (VEDANĀ), the wisdom is the wisdom of equality (SAMATĀJÑĀNA); the affliction is pride, the color yellow, and the element earth.

Ratnakūṭasūtra. (T. Dkon mchog brtsegs pa’i mdo; C. Dabaoji jing; J. Daihōshakukyō; K. Taebojŏk kyŏng 大寶積經). In Sanskrit, “The Jewel-Heap Sūtra”; often known also as the Mahāratnakūṭasūtra, or “The Great Jewel-Heap Sūtra.” Despite its title, this is actually not one SŪTRA but rather an early collection of forty-nine independent MAHĀYĀNA sūtras. The texts contained in this collection cover a broad range of important MAHĀYĀNA topics, including detailed discussions of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), PURE LAND practices, skillful means (UPĀYA), the importance of cultivating both compassion (KARUṆĀ) and wisdom (PRAJÑĀ), and other significant subjects. Many of the texts embedded in the collection are seminal to the Mahāyāna tradition. In this collection, we find treated such influential figures as the buddhas AMITĀBHA and AKṢOBHYA, the BODHISATTVA MAÑJUŚRĪ, and the ARHAT MAHĀKĀŚYAPA. Its KĀŚYAPAPARIVARTA chapter was widely cited in MADHYAMAKA treatises. The collections also contain pure land texts, including the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHASŪTRA as well as the AKṢOBHYATATHĀGATASYAVYŪHA on the pure land of Akṣobhya. The Trisaṃvaranirdeśaparivarta explains the bodhisattva VINAYA and how it differs from the vinaya of the ŚRĀVAKAs. Excerpts from the Ratnakūṭasūtra were translated into Chinese as early as the second century CE. While the entire collection is available in Chinese and Tibetan, only portions of it survive in Sanskrit. The Ratnakūṭasūtra occupies six volumes of the Tibetan canon (BKA’ ’GYUR) (with fifty-two separate works in the SDE DGE edition, some with the same title but different content). In Chinese, the best-known recension of the Ratnakūṭasūtra is a massive 120-roll translation made by BODHIRUCI between 703 and 716 during the Tang dynasty; it incorporates in the collection some earlier translations of individual texts by DHARMARAKṢA, KUMĀRAJĪVA, ŚIKṢĀNANDA, etc. There are also two shorter renderings of portions of the text, one attributed to AN SHIGAO in the latter half of the second century CE, the second to Jñānagupta (523–600) in 595 CE, both in only one roll.

Ratnamati. (Rin chen blo gros; C. Lenamoti; J. Rokunamadai; K. Nŭngnamaje 勒那摩提) (fl. c. 508 CE). In Sanskrit, “Bejeweled Intelligence,” name of an Indian scholar and Chinese translator who lived during the fifth and sixth centuries CE. He was especially renowned for his prodigious memory of a great many SŪTRA verses. In 508 CE, Ratnamati traveled from India to the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang, where he began to work on a translation of VASUBHANDU’s “Treatise on the Ten Stages” (S. DAŚABHŪMIVYĀKHYĀNA; C. SHIDIJING LUN) with BODHIRUCI and Buddhaśānta (d.u.). However, disagreements between the collaborators over the nature of the ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA (viz., whether it was pure, impure, or both) led them to produce different translations. Those who studied Bodhiruci’s rendering came to be known as the Northern DI LUN ZONG, while the followers of Ratnamati’s version were known as the Southern Di lun zong. The Southern Di lun school was represented by Ratnamati’s foremost pupil, Huiguang (468–537), who advocated that the ālayavijñāna was an ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and coextensive with the buddha-nature (FOXING), which thus was in fact innate. Ratnamati subsequently went on to collaborate with other scholars on the translation of other works, including the RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA, and the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa attributed to VASUBANDHU. ¶ Ratnamati is also the name of a bodhisattva who appears in various MAHĀYĀNA sūtras.

Ratnameghasūtra. (T. Dkon mchog sprin gyi mdo; C. Baoyun jing; J. Hōungyō; K. Poun kyŏng 寶雲經). The “Cloud of Jewels,” an important Mahāyāna sūtra, perhaps dating from the third or fourth century CE. It opens with the Buddha residing on the peak of Mt. Gayāśīrṣa when the BODHISATTVA SARVANĪVARAṆAVIṢKAMBHĪ approaches the Buddha and asks him more than one hundred questions ranging from the practice of giving (DĀNA) and the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) to the means of swiftly attaining ANUTTARASAMYAKSAṂBODHI. The Buddha’s answers to these questions are widely quoted in later ŚĀSTRAS. In China, during the Ming dynasty, there were charges that interpolations were made in the sūtra during the reign of the Empress WU ZETIAN in order to legitimize her usurpation of the throne. These interpolations included the story of Prince Moonlight (Yueguang tongzi), who received a prediction from the Buddha that he would later become a great queen in China.

Ratnapāṇi. (T. Lag na rin chen; C. Baoshou pusa; J. Hōshu bosatsu; K. Posu posal 寶手菩薩). In Sanskrit, lit. “Bejeweled Hand” i.e., “one whose hand holds a jewel”; the name of a BODHISATTVA who is most often associated with the buddha RATNASAṂBHAVA, one of the five TATHĀGATAs (PAÑCATATHĀGATA) who are associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA’s VAJRADHĀTU and GARBHADHĀTU MAṆḌALAs. Ratnapāṇi is usually depicted as seated with his right hand in the “gesture of generosity” or “boon-granting gesture” (VARADAMUDRĀ); his left hand sits in his lap and holds a wish-fulfilling gem (CINTĀMAṆI).

Ratnasambhava. (T. Rin chen ’byung gnas; C. Baosheng rulai; J. Hōshō nyorai; K. Posaeng yŏrae 寶生如來). In Sanskrit, “Born of a Jewel,” one of the PAÑCATATHĀGATAs. He is the buddha of the ratna family (RATNAKULA) and his pure land is located in the south. He is often accompanied by the bodhisattva RATNAPĀṆI and his NIRMĀṆAKĀYA is KĀŚYAPA. He is depicted as golden in hue, displaying the VARADAMUDRĀ with his right hand (often with jewels pouring forth), and a CINTĀMAṆI in his left hand; these jewels suggest his ability to both provide material wealth and to enrich one’s knowledge of the dharma. He is sometime depicted riding a horse or a pair of lions. When depicted with a consort, it is either Locanā or Māmakī. The least developed of the five tathāgatas, Ratnasambhava is rarely depicted alone and does not seem to have become the object of cultic worship.

ratnatraya. [alt. triratna] (P. ratanattaya/tiratana; T. dkon mchog gsum; C. sanbao; J. sanbō; K. sambo 三寶). In Sanskrit, the “three jewels,” also translated into English as the “triple gem” or the “three treasures”; the term is also often given as triratna. In the Buddhist tradition, RATNATRAYA refers to the three principal objects of veneration: the Buddha, the DHARMA, and the SAṂGHA. One of the most common practices that define a Buddhist is “taking refuge” (see ŚARAṆA) in the three jewels. This formula, which accompanies many lay and monastic rituals, involves a formal declaration that the practitioner “goes to” each of the three jewels for refuge (śaraṇa) or protection. The Sanskrit formula is as follows: “Buddhaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi. Dharmaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi. Saṃghaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi.” meaning “I go to the Buddha for refuge. I go to the dharma for refuge. I go to the saṃgha for refuge.” By repeating this formula three times, one identifies oneself as a Buddhist. (See also TRIŚARAṆA.) The precise meanings of these three terms, how they relate to one another, and exactly how each one is to be venerated are all subjects of extensive commentary within the tradition. The term buddha refers first, and most obviously, to the historical Buddha, GAUTAMA or ŚĀKYAMUNI, the sage of ancient India who realized and then taught the way to end all suffering. But the Buddha may also refer to any number of buddhas found in the extensive MAHĀYĀNA pantheon. In some varieties of the Mahāyāna, buddha may even refer to the inherent state of buddhahood that is the fundamental characteristic of all sentient beings. The term dharma refers to the teachings of a buddha, which can take a variety of possible forms including specific beliefs, texts, or practices; the dharma is sometimes divided into the scriptural dharma (ĀGAMADHARMA) and the realized dharma (ADHIGAMADHARMA). In the context of the three jewels, one is said to go for refuge in the latter. However, dharma may also refer to the pervasive, universal truth that is realized by a buddha, particularly as enshrined in the teaching of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). Some commentators specify that in the context of the three jewels, the dharma refers to the third and fourth of the four truths, the truth of cessation (NIRODHASATYA) and the truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA), and most specifically to the truth of cessation. The term saṃgha refers to the community that seeks to realize and enact the teachings of a buddha for the sake of its own liberation and the liberation of others. Saṃgha is usually understood to include only those followers who have renounced the life of a householder (PRAVRAJITA) and taken up the life of a monk (BHIKṢU) or nun (BHIKṢUNĪ). However, the saṃgha is also sometimes interpreted to include both laymen (UPĀSAKA) and laywomen (UPĀSIKĀ) as well. In the context of refuge, the saṃgha is generally said to refer to those members of the community who are ĀRYAPUDGALA. See ĀRYASAṂGHA.

Ratnāvalī. (T. Rin chen phreng ba; C. Baoxingwang zheng lun; J. Hōgyō ō shōron; K. Pohaengwang chŏng non 寶行王正

). In Sanskrit, “Garland of Jewels,” a Sanskrit work by the MADHYAMAKA philosopher NĀGĀRJUNA. The work consists of five hundred verses arranged in five chapters. While the Ratnāvalī contains many of Nāgārjuna’s fundamental philosophical ideas, grounded primarily in the notion of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), the work is more focused on issues of ethics. The Ratnāvalī is addressed to King Gautamīputra of ĀNDHRA, a friend and patron of Nāgārjuna, and much of the text discusses the proper conduct of the laity, particularly those in administrative positions such as ministers and kings. In particular, the fourth chapter is devoted to an exploration of kingship and the proper management of a kingdom. The work also contains a defense of the Mahāyāna as the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA), an exposition of the collection of merit (PUṆYASAṂBHĀRA) and the collection of wisdom (JÑĀNASAṂBHĀRA), a description of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHŪMI) based on the DAŚABHŪMIKASŪTRA, and a correlation of the practice of specific virtues with the achievement of the thirty-two marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA). There are complete versions of the work extant in Tibetan and Chinese translations, but only parts survive in the original Sanskrit.

raurava. (P. roruva; T. ngu ’bod; C. jiaohuan [diyu]; J. kyōkan[jigoku]; K. kyuhwan [chiok] 叫喚[地獄]). In Sanskrit, “crying” or “weeping,” the name of the fourth of the eight hot hells, described as a land of red-hot iron where the denizens constantly weep because of their horrendous suffering.

ṛddhi. (P. iddhi; T. rdzu ’phrul; C. shenli; J. jinriki; K. sillyŏk 神力). In Sanskrit, “psychic powers,” any number of supernatural powers regarded as a by-product of deep states of meditation (DHYĀNA). When listed as one of the six supranormal powers (ABHIJÑĀ; see also ṚDDHIVIDHĀBHIJÑĀ), these psychic powers include: (1) the ability to replicate one’s body and, having done so, to make it one again; (2) the ability to pass through solid objects, such as walls and mountains, as if they were air; (3) the ability to walk on water as if it were solid earth; (4) the ability to fly through the air like a bird, even with one’s legs crossed; and (5) the ability to touch the sun and the moon with one’s hand. Such powers may be attained by any YOGIN, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, and are not in themselves an indicator of enlightenment. The Buddha is said to have generally dissuaded his monks from the display of such powers, although Buddhist texts are replete with accounts of such displays, including by the Buddha himself.

ṛddhipāda. (P. iddhipāda; T. rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa; C. si shenzu; J. shijinsoku; K. sasinjok 四神足). In Sanskrit, “bases of psychic powers,” the four qualities that are regarded as prerequisites for the attainment of magical power. They are aspiration (CHANDA), thought (CITTA), effort (VĪRYA), and analysis (mīmāṃsā).

ṛddhividhābhijñā. (P. iddhividhābhiññā; T. rdzu ’phrul mngon shes; C. shenjing zhizhengtong; J. jinkyōchishōtsū; K. sin’gyŏng chijŭngt’ong 神境智證通). In Sanskrit, “psychic supranormal powers,” referring to a set of five mundane (LAUKIKA; P. lokiya) supranormal powers (ABHIJÑĀ; P. abhiññā) produced through the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). These psychic powers (ṚDDHI) include (1) the ability to replicate one’s body and, having done so, to make it one again; (2) the ability to pass through solid objects, such as walls and mountains, as if they were air; (3) the ability to walk on water as if it were solid earth; (4) the ability to fly through the air like a bird, even with one’s legs crossed; and (5) the ability to touch the sun and the moon with one’s hand. See also ṚDDHI.

Rdo grub chen. (Do Drupchen). An important monastic seat of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The first Rdo grub chen lama, ’Jigs med phrin las ’od zer (Jigme Tinle Öser, 1742–1821) founded the monastery of Yar klungs Padma bkod in the Mgo log region of A mdo in 1810. His successor, ’Jigs med phun tshogs (Jikme Puntsok), founded another monastery in the same region at Rdo stod. The third Rdo drub chen lama, ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma (Jikme Tenpe Nyima, 1865–1926), a student of the RIS MED masters ’JAM DBYANGS MKHYEN BRTSE’I DBANG PO and ’JAM MGON KONG SPRUL BLO GROS MTHA’ YAS, constructed a seminary there, attracting a large number of students.

1. ’Jigs med phrin las ’od zer (1745–1821)

2. ’Jigs med phun tshogs ’byung gnas (1824–1863)

3. ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma (1865–1926)

4a. Rig ’dzin bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1927–1961)

4b. Thub bstan phrin las dpal bzang (b. 1927)

The first incarnation, ’Jigs med phrin las ’od zer (Jikme Tinle Öser), was born in the Rdo valley of Mgo log, in eastern Tibet, and for this reason was later known as Rdo grub chen, the “great adept (grub chen) of Rdo.” Despite the fact that he was not recognized as an incarnate lama (SPRUL SKU) at a young age, his youth is described as having been filled with visionary experiences of his past lives. He spent his early life studying under numerous masters throughout eastern, central, and southern Tibet, although it was only at the age of forty-one that he met his principal GURU, ’Jigs med gling pa, from whom he received the entire RNYING MA transmissions of BKA’ MA and GTER MA and by whom he was certified as the principal lineage holder of the klong chen snying thig tradition. His fame as a spiritual luminary spread and traveled widely among the great monastic communities of eastern Tibet, teaching many of the great Rnying ma masters of his day and establishing the monastic center of Yar klungs Padma bkod in eastern Tibet. The second incarnation, ’Jigs med phun tshogs ’byung gnas (Jikme Puntsok Jungne), was known for his ability to perform miraculous feats, and he continued many of the traditions of his predecessor. He also laid the foundations for what would later become the famed Rdo grub chen monastery. The third incarnation, ’Jigs med bstan pa’i nyi ma (Jikme Tenpe Nyima), was born into a prominent family in the Mgo log region of eastern Tibet: his father was Bdud ’joms gling pa (1835–1903), a famed treasure revealer (GTER STON), and his seven younger brothers were all recognized as incarnate lamas. He studied under many great Rnying ma masters, including DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE and ’JAM DBYANGS MKHYEN BRTSE DBANG PO. Two individuals were recognized as the fourth incarnation and were enthroned simultaneously at Rdo grub chen monastery in about 1930. They continued their education together until the age of twenty. The first, Rig ’dzin bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan, was imprisoned during the Chinese invasion of Tibet and died in a prison labor camp. In 1957, the second incarnation, Thub bstan phrin las dpal bzang, escaped into exile in Sikkim where he established a permanent residence. He later became a representative at the Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok and traveled widely throughout Europe and the United States.

Rdo rje brag. (Dorje Drak). The monastic seat for the BYANG GTER or “Northern Treasure” tradition of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, located on the Gtsang po (Tsangpo) River in central Tibet. The Byang gter tradition originated with the treasure revealer Dngos grub rgyal mtshan (Ngödrup Gyaltsen), better known as RGOD LDEM CAN. His subsequent reincarnations, called the Rdo rje brag rig ’dzin (“the VIDYĀDHARAs of Dorje Drak”), became the institution’s principal teacher. Rdo rje brag monastery was established in its present location in the sixteenth century by the third Rdo rje brag rig ’dzin Ngag gi dbang po (Ngaki Wangpo, 1580–1639), together with his master Bkra shis stobs rgyal (Tashi Topgyal, 1550?–1603). It was greatly expanded by the fourth Rdo rje brag rig ’dzin Padma ’phrin las (Pema Trinle, 1641–1717), but was subsequently destroyed (and Padma ’phrin las himself killed) during the Dzungar Mongol invasion. It was again demolished during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and has since been rebuilt. The monastery takes its name, lit. “vajra cliffs,” from the shape of the surrounding rock face, said to resemble the shape of a VAJRA. Rdo rje brag is one of the six major Rnying ma monasteries; besides SMIN GROL GLING in central Tibet, they are KAḤ THOG, ZHE CHEN, RDZOGS CHEN, and DPAL YUL in Khams.

Rdo rje gling pa. (Dorje Lingpa) (1346–1405). A Tibetan Buddhist master, identified as the third of the five kingly treasure revealers (GTER STON RGYAL PO LNGA), and considered to be an emanation of the Tibetan king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. As a youth, he took monastic ordination and studied both the ancient (RNYING MA) and new (GSAR MA) traditions of the sūtras and tantras. At age thirteen he discovered his first treasure text (GTER MA) behind a miracle-performing image of TĀRĀ in the KHRA ’BRUG temple. He considered himself to be the incarnation of the translator VAIROCANA and was guided by visions of him. When doubts were raised about the authenticity of his treasures, he began discovering texts and sacred objects in public settings. In addition to his discoveries, he was famous for his eccentric behavior and spontaneous songs. Rdo rje gling pa is said to have unearthed forty-three sets of treasure, foremost of which was the Bla rdzogs thugs gsum (“Trio of the Guru, Great Perfection, and Great Compassionate One”).

Rdo rje grags ldan. (Dorje Drakden). A Tibetan DHARMAPĀLA associated with PE HAR RGYAL PO as his “minister” (T. blon po) who also takes possession of Pe har’s medium, the GNAS CHUNG chos rje (Nechung Chöje), the “state oracle” of Tibet. One version of the origin of the oracle is that Rdo rje grags ldan, wishing to rise above his present status, began to appear to the monks of Tshal gung thang. Rather than inviting the god to take up residence at the monastery, they trapped him in a box, which they threw into the river. This box made its way to Gnas chung, where he escaped. The monks there thought it appropriate to invite the chief deity of the emanation, and thus Pe har was brought to the monastery to serve as the oracle. Elsewhere, it is explained that because Pe har will soon attain enlightened status as a supramundane protector (’jig rten las ’das pa’i srung ma), he is increasingly reluctant to answer questions pertaining to mundane matters. For this reason, he occasionally sends Rdo rje grags ldan to speak for him through the Gnas chung cho rje.

Rdo rje gro lod. (Dorje Drolö). One of the eight forms of PADMASAMBHAVA, that in which he subdued harmful spirits at Spa ro stag tshang (Paro Taktsang) and established Buddhism in Bhutan. He is wrathful with one face with three eyes, holds a VAJRA and a dagger (PHUR PA), and rides a tiger.

rdo rje gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub. (dorje sumgyi nyendrup). A rare Tibetan Buddhist tradition, lit. “propitiation and achievement of the three adamantine states,” closely related to the KĀLACAKRATANTRA. It was originally promulgated by the great Tibetan adept O RGYAN PA RIN CHEN DPAL, who is said to have received the instructions directly from VAJRAYOGINĪ while traveling through northwest India. O rgyan pa’s disciples composed several commentaries on the teaching, but it seems to have since fallen into obscurity.

Rdo rje legs pa. (Dorje Lekpa). A Tibetan deity who was subdued by PADMASAMBHAVA at ’O yug bge’u tshang and became a DHARMAPĀLA. He is a member of the gter gyi srung ma sde bzhi, “the four guardians of treasure,” who guard the treasures of the four quarters of the world; he occupies the southern quarter and guards gold. He is depicted riding a goat and wearing a broad-brimmed hat. His origin legends include being born from the union of two demons (BDUD) as well as being the spirit of a learned but sinful Indian monk from NĀLANDĀ. He is said to take possession of numerous mediums.

Rdo rje shugs ldan. (Dorje Shukden). A protector of the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism. According to his legend, he is the spirit of Grags pa rgyal mtshan (Drakpa Gyaltsen), an alternate candidate for the position of fifth DALAI LAMA and a distinguished scholar who later was either assassinated or committed suicide. Grags pa rgyal mtshan was himself said to be the reincarnation of Paṇ chen Bsod nams grags pa (Sönam Drakpa), an important abbot of ’BRAS SPUNGS monastery after the death of the third Dalai Lama. Following the death of Grags pa rgyal mtshan, numerous calamities struck the Tibetan capital and the person of the fifth Dalai Lama. The Tibetan government enlisted the aid of the abbot of SMIN SGROL GLING monastery, who successfully convinced the spirit to adopt the role of protector of the Dge lugs pa, in which role he is said to guard against the corrupting influences of other sects’ teachings, specifically those of the RNYING MA sect. He resides outside GNAS CHUNG monastery below ’Bras spungs monastery, outside of LHA SA, where the east gate is always locked to keep him from entering and displacing the state oracle, PE HAR RGYAL PO. He is depicted riding a snow lion. He has one face and three eyes and is holding a khaḍga and skull cup (S. KAPĀLA), with a mongoose and a golden goad (aṅkuśa) held in his left arm. Since the early twentieth century, Rdo rje shugs ldan became a widely worshipped protector of the Dge lugs pa due largely to the prominent Dge lugs cleric Pha bong kha pa (1878–1943). Both the thirteenth and fourteenth Dalai Lamas outlawed his worship on the grounds that he is in fact a harmful spirit, with the proclamations of the fourteenth Dalai Lama generating opposition from within the Dalai Lama’s own Dge lugs sect, especially from monks who had been close disciples of the Dalai Lama’s junior tutor Khri byang rin po che. In 1997, the principal of the School of Buddhist Dialectics in DHARMAŚĀLĀ, India, DGE BSHES Blo bzang rgya mtsho (Geshe Losang Gyatso), a supporter of the Dalai Lama’s position, was brutally murdered. The Indian authorities issued arrest warrants for six men, mainly from the Cha phreng region of eastern Tibet associated with a group supporting worship of Rdo rje shugs ldan.

Rdo rje tshig rkang. (Dorje Tsikang). In Tibetan, “VAJRA Verses,” a text whose content is said to have originated with the Indian adept VIRŪPA. The work forms a scriptural basis for the SA SKYA tradition of tantric theory and practice known as LAM ’BRAS (“path and result”). The work presents a summary of the entire tantric path to enlightment, from the most basic points of doctrine to the consummate tantric meditative practices. The text is said to have been transmitted in purely oral form for at least eight generations. According to traditional accounts, Virūpa received the content of these teachings as a direct visionary transmission from the deity NAIRĀTMYĀ, on the basis of which he formulated the condensed instructions known as the Rdo rje tshig khang. Virūpa first taught the verses to his disciple Kāṇha, who taught them to Ḍāmarupa. They were passed to Avadhūti and then to the master Gayadhara (d. 1103), who traveled to Tibet in 1041 and transmitted the teachings to the great Sa skya founder and translator ’BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES. The latter taught the work orally in Tibetan (translated from the Indian dialect) and it was memorized and transmitted in this fashion until the prominent Sa skya master SA CHEN KUN DGA’ SNYING PO promulgated them in written form.

rdzogs chen. (dzokchen). A Tibetan philosophical and meditative tradition, usually rendered in English as “great perfection” or “great completion.” Developed and maintained chiefly within the RNYING MA sect, rdzogs chen has also been embraced to varying degrees by other Tibetan Buddhist sects. The non-Buddhist Tibetan BON religion also upholds a rdzogs chen tradition. According to legend, the primordial buddha SAMANTABHADRA (T. Kun tu bzang po) taught rdzogs chen to the buddha VAJRASATTVA, who transmitted it to the first human lineage holder, DGA’ RAB RDO RJE. From him, rdzogs chen was passed to MAÑJUŚRĪMITRA and thence to ŚRĪSIṂHA, and the Tibetan translator Ba gor VAIROCANA, who had been sent to India by the eighth-century Tibetan King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. In addition to Vairocana, the semimythical figures of VIMALAMITRA and PADMASAMBHAVA are considered to be foundational teachers of rdzogs chen in Tibet. Historically, rdzogs chen appears to have been a Tibetan innovation, drawing on multiple influences, including both non-Buddhist native Tibetan beliefs and Chinese and Indian Buddhist teachings. The term was likely taken from the GUHYAGARBHATANTRA. In the creation and completion stages of tantric practice, one first generates a visualization of a deity and its MAṆḌALA and next dissolves these into oneself, merging oneself with the deity. In the Guhyagarbha and certain other tantras, this is followed with a stage known as rdzogs chen, in which one rests in the unelaborated natural state of one’s own innately luminous and pure mind. In the Rnying ma sect’s nine-vehicle (T. THEG PA DGU) doxography of the Buddhist teachings, these three stages constitute the final three vehicles: the MAHĀYOGA, ANUYOGA, and ATIYOGA, or rdzogs chen. The rdzogs chen literature is traditionally divided into three categories, which roughly trace the historical development of the doctrine and practices: the mind class (SEMS SDE), space class (KLONG SDE), and instruction class (MAN NGAG SDE). These are collected in a group of texts called the RNYING MA’I RGYUD ’BUM (“treasury of Rnying ma tantras”). The mind class is comprised largely of texts attributed to Vairocana, including the so-called eighteen tantras and the KUN BYED RGYAL PO. They set forth a doctrine of primordial purity (ka dag) of mind (sems nyid), which is the basis of all things (kun gzhi). In the natural state, the mind, often referred to as BODHICITTA, is spontaneously aware of itself (rang rig), but through mental discursiveness (rtog pa) it creates delusion (’khrul ba) and thus gives rise to SAṂSĀRA. Early rdzogs chen ostensibly rejected all forms of practice, asserting that striving for liberation would simply create more delusion. One is admonished to simply recognize the nature of one’s own mind, which is naturally empty (stong pa), luminous (’od gsal ba), and pure. As tantra continued to grow in popularity in Tibet, and new techniques and doctrines were imported from India, a competing strand within rdzogs chen increasingly emphasized meditative practice. The texts of the space class (klong sde) reflect some of this, but it is in the instruction class (man ngag sde), dating from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, that rdzogs chen fully assimilated tantra. The main texts of this class are the so-called seventeen tantras and the two “seminal heart” collections, the BI MA SNYING THIG (“Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra”) and the MKHA’ ’GRO SNYING THIG (“Seminal Heart of the ḌĀKINĪ”). The seventeen tantras and the “Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra” are said to have been taught by Vimalamitra and concealed as “treasure” (GTER MA), to be discovered at a later time. The “Seminal Heart of the Ḍākinī” is said to have been taught by Padmasambhava and concealed as treasure by his consort, YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL. In the fourteenth century, the great scholar KLONG CHEN RAB ’BYAMS PA DRI MED ’OD ZER systematized the multitude of received rdzogs chen literature in his famous MDZOD BDUN (“seven treasuries”) and the NGAL GSO SKOR GSUM (“Trilogy on Rest”), largely creating the rdzogs chen teachings as they are known today. With the man ngag sde, the rdzogs chen proponents made full use of the Tibetan innovation of treasure, a means by which later tantric developments were assimilated to the tradition without sacrificing its claim to eighth-century origins. The semilegendary figure of Padmasambhava was increasingly relied upon for this purpose, gradually eclipsing Vairocana and Vimalamitra as the main rdzogs chen founder. In subsequent centuries there have been extensive additions to the rdzogs chen literature, largely by means of the treasure genre, including the KLONG CHEN SNYING THIG of ’JIGS MED GLING PA and the Bar chad kun gsal of MCHOG GYUR GLING PA to name only two. Outside of the Rnying ma sect, the authenticity of these texts is frequently disputed, although there continue to be many adherents to rdzogs chen from other Tibetan Buddhist lineages. Rdzogs chen practitioners are commonly initiated into the teachings with “pointing-out instructions” (sems khrid/ngos sprod) in which a lama introduces the student to the nature of his or her mind. Two main practices known as KHREGS CHOD (breakthrough), in which one cultivates the experience of innate awareness (RIG PA), and THOD RGAL (leap over), elaborate visualizations of external light imagery, preserve the tension between the early admonition against practice and the appropriation of complex tantric techniques and doctrines. Extensive practices engaging the subtle body of psychic channels, winds, and drops (rtsa rlung thig le) further reflect the later tantric developments in rdzogs chen. ¶ RDZOGS CHEN is also used as the short name for one of the largest and most active Tibetan monasteries, belonging to the Rnying ma sect of Tibetan Buddhism, located in the eastern Tibetan region of Khams; the monastery’s full name is Rus dam bsam gtan o rgyan chos gling (Rudam Samten Orgyan Chöling). It is a major center for both academic study and meditation retreat according to Rnying ma doctrine. At its peak, the monastery housed over one thousand monks and sustained more than two hundred branches throughout central and eastern Tibet. The institution was founded in 1684–1685 by the first RDZOGS CHEN INCARNATION Padma rig ’dzin (Pema Rikdzin) with the support of the fifth DALAI LAMA NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO. Important meditation hermitages in the area include those of MDO MKHYEN RTSE YE SHE RDO RJE and MI PHAM ’JAM DBYANGS RNAM RGYAL RGYA MTSHO. DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE passed many years in retreat there, during which time he composed his great exposition of the preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism entitled the KUN BZANG BLA MA’I ZHAL LUNG (“Words of My Perfect Teacher”).

Rdzogs chen incarnations. A lineage of incarnate lamas (SPRUL SKU) associated with RDZOG CHEN monastery. The first Rdzog chen incarnation, Rdzogs chen Padma rig ’dzin (Dzokchen Pema Rikdzin), founded the monastery at the behest of the fifth DALAI LAMA. The lineage comprises:

1. Rdzogs chen Padma rig ’dzin (1625–1697);

2. Rdzogs chen ’Gyur med theg mchog bstan ’dzin (Dzokchen Gyurme Tekchok Tendzin, 1699–1758);

3. Rdzogs chen Nges don bstan ’dzin bzang po (Dzokchen Ngedön Tendzin Sangpo, 1759–1792);

4. Rdzogs chen Mi ’gyur nam mkha’i rdo rje (Dzokchen Mingyur Namkhe Dorje, b. 1793);

5. Rdzogs chen Thub bstan chos kyi rdo rje (Dzokchen Tupten Chökyi Dorje, 1872–1935);

6. Rdzogs chen ’Jigs bral byang chub rdo rje (Dzokchen Jikdrel Jangchup Dorje, 1935–1959);

7. Rdzogs chen ’Jig med blo gsal dbang po (Jikme Losel Wangpo) (b. 1964).

rdzogs chen sde gsum. (dzokchen desum). Three major divisions of RDZOGS CHEN teachings in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: the SEMS SDE (mental class), the KLONG SDE (space class), and the MAN NGAG SDE (instruction class). Of them, only the man ngag sde is now widely disseminated based on the tradition going back to KLONG CHEN PA.

Rdzong gsar. (Dzongsar). A Tibetan Buddhist monastery establised in 1253 by the illustrious SA SKYA hierarch ’PHAGS PA BLO GROS RGYAL MTSHAN in the SDE DGE region of eastern Tibet. It was greatly expanded during the nineteenth century by the great master ’JAM DBYANG MKHYEN BRTSE DBANG PO and his incarnation Rdzong gsar mkhyen brtse Chos kyi blo gros, who added a teaching institute (BSHAD GRWA). For the past several centuries, Rdzong gsar has been renowned as one of Tibet’s premier centers for intellectual study. Its full name is Rdzong gsar bkra shis lha rtse (Dzongsar Tashi Lhatse).

rebirth. An English term that does not have an exact correlate in Buddhist languages, rendered instead by a range of technical terms, such as the Sanskrit PUNARJANMAN (lit. “birth again”) and PUNARBHAVA (lit. “re-becoming”), and, less commonly, the related PUNARMṚTYU (lit. “redeath”). The Sanskrit term JĀTI (“birth”) also encompasses the notion of rebirth. The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism. It was not an innovation of the Buddha, being already common to a number of philosophical schools of ancient India by the time of his appearance, especially those connected with the ŚRAMAṆA movement of religious mendicants. Rebirth (sometimes called metempsychosis) is described as a beginningless process in which a mental continuum (see SAṂTĀNA) takes different (usually) physical forms lifetime after lifetime within the six realms (GATI) of SAṂSĀRA: divinities (DEVA), demigods (ASURA), humans (MANUṢYA), animals (TIRYAK), ghosts (PRETA), and hell denizens (NĀRAKA). The cycle of rebirth operates through the process of activity (KARMAN), with virtuous (KUŚALA) actions serving as the cause for salutary rebirths among the divinities and human beings, and unvirtuous (AKUŚALA) actions serving as the cause of unsalutary rebirths (DURGATI; APĀYA) among demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The goal of the Buddhist path has been traditionally described as the cessation of the cycle of rebirth through the eradication of its causes, which are identified as the afflictions (KLEŚA) of greed, hatred, and ignorance and the actions motivated by those defilements. Despite this ultimate goal, however, much traditional Buddhist practice has been directed toward securing rebirth as a human or divinity for oneself and one’s family members, while avoiding rebirth in the evil realms. The issue of how Buddhism reconciles the doctrine of rebirth with its position that there is no perduring self (ANĀTMAN) has long been discussed within the tradition. Some schools of mainstream Buddhism, such as the VĀTSĪPUTRĪYA or PUDGALAVĀDA, have gone so far as to posit that, while there may be no perduring “self,” there is an “inexpressible” (avācya) “person” (PUDGALA) that is neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (SKANDHA), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime. A more widely accepted view among the traditions sees the person as simply a sequence of mental and physical processes, among which is the process called consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). Consciousness, although changing every moment, persists as a continuum over time. Death is simply the transfer of this conscious continuum (SAṂTĀNA) from one impermanent mental and physical foundation to the next, just as the light from one candle may be transferred to the next in a series of candles. The exact process by which rebirth occurs is variously described in the different Buddhist traditions, with some schools asserting that rebirth occurs in the moments immediately following death, with other schools positing the existence of an “intermediate state” (ANTARĀBHAVA) between death in one lifetime and rebirth in another, with that period lasting as long as forty-nine days (see SISHIJIU [RI] ZHAI). This state, translated as BAR DO in Tibetan, became particularly important in Tibet in both funerary rituals and in tantric practice, especially that of the RNYING MA sect. The reality of rebirth is one of the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, which the religion claims can be empirically validated through direct spiritual insight (see YOGIPRATYAKṢA). Indeed, understanding the validity of this cycle of rebirth is associated with two of the three types of knowledge (TRIVIDYĀ) that are experienced through the enlightenment of an ARHAT or a buddha: the ability to remember one’s own former lives (PŪRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI) in all their detail and insight into the future rebirth destinies of all other beings based on their own actions (S. CYUTYUPAPĀDĀNUSMṚTI). See also SAṂSĀRA.

Red Hats. (C. hongmao 紅帽). A popular designation in both European languages and Chinese for the BKA’ BRGYUD and sometimes the RNYING MA sects of Tibetan Buddhism, whose lamas do indeed wear red hats. Although the term ZHWA DMAR, or “Red Hat,” is used to designate an important lineage of incarnate lamas within the KARMA BKA’ RGYUD sect, the Western and Chinese division of major Tibetan Buddhist sects into the YELLOW HATS, Red Hats, and BLACK HATS has no corollary within the Tibetan tradition and should be avoided.

reigen. (

驗). In Japanese, lit. “numinous verification,” a term used to refer to the miraculous efficacy of a prayer, vow, or religious praxis. The benefits are often understood as the result of the “sympathetic resonance” (C. GANYING) between buddhas and/or deities who are the objects of the prayer and the subject who engages in prayer. The term can also refer to the miraculous power and virtue of the buddhas and deities to respond to the prayers of people.

Reiyūkai. (霊友会/靈友會). In Japanese, lit. “Numinous Friends Society,” or “Society of Friends of the Spirits”; a Japanese Buddhist lay organization, deriving from the teachings of the NICHIRENSHŪ. It was founded in 1925 by KUBO KAKUTARŌ (1892–1944) and KOTANI KIMI (1901–1971), the wife of Kubo’s elder brother, who took over leadership of the organization and became president in 1944 upon Kubo’s death. Kubo insisted that everyone keep a family death register and give posthumous names to venerated ancestors; these activities were formerly the domain of monks, who would be paid for their services. His other ideas included the classical directive to convert the world into a PURE LAND for Buddhism and the need to teach others the truth. He particularly emphasized the ability of each individual to improve him or herself. Kubo’s ideas appealed to the poor and he began to attract converts quickly, including his brother Kotani Yasukichi and Kotani’s wife, Kotani Kimi. In 1971 after Kotani Kimi died, Kubo’s son Kubo Tsugunari took over as the leader of the group. For years he had prepared for this future, including studying Indian philosophy and Buddhism at Risshō University. Despite this preparation, Reiyūkai was rocked by what some viewed as his personal failings and political maneuverings and Kubo Tsugunari eventually lost his leadership post. More recent leaders have been elected democratically. Some noted activities in recent years include opening the Lumbinī International Research Institute in Nepal and the International College for Advanced Buddhist Studies in Tōkyō. The organization reached its peak during the years surrounding the Second World War, when it claimed some three million members, and was the source of numerous Nichiren-related new religious movements, of which the RISSHŌ KŌSEIKAI, founded in 1938, became the most prominent. Reiyūkai continues to be an active lay organization in both Japan and abroad. The Reiyūkai organization has no clergy and no formal affiliation with any other Buddhist school, but instead relies on volunteer lay teachers who lead informal group meetings and discussions. Reiyūkai focuses on the human capacity for lifelong self-cultivation in order to become ever more wise and compassionate. All its adherents must have a personal sponsor in order to join the order. The school stresses ancestor worship, believing that personal and social ills are the result of inadequate veneration of ancestor spirits who have been unable to attain buddhahood and instead became guardian spirits until the proper rites are performed so they may be liberated. Its followers believe that reciting the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) in abridged form during daily morning and evening services or a group meeting transfers merit to their ancestors.

Rennyo. (蓮如) (1415–1499). In Japanese, “Lotus Suchness”; proper name of the Japanese monk who played a crucial role in the consolidation of JŌDO SHINSHŪ tradition. Rennyo was born at the monastery of HONGANJI in the Higashiyama district of Kyōto. He was the son of Zonnyo (1396–1457), himself a descendent of SHINRAN and the seventh abbot of Honganji. Despite some opposition from his stepmother and her son Nyojō (1412–1460), Rennyo succeeded his father as abbot of Honganji after his father’s death in 1457. Rennyo began expanding his sphere of influence by proselytizing in the outskirts of Kyōto. In 1465, the monks of HIEIZAN (see ENRYAKUJI) destroyed Honganji in order to restrict the spread of Rennyo’s influence in regions under TENDAI control. Rennyo was able to save the portrait of Shinran (goei) from destruction and installed it temporarily at the temple of MIIDERA. After the attack, Rennyo wandered from region to region until he settled down far away from Mt. Hiei in Hokuriku (present-day Echizen), where he acquired a large following (of mostly peasants) through active proselytizing and the writing of pastoral letters (ofumi). In 1475, Rennyo returned to Kyōto, where he began the construction of a new Honganji in the district of Yamashina the following year. Rennyo also restored the hōonko memorial service for Shinran and established the nenbutsu (C. NIANFO; see NAMU AMIDABUTSU) inscriptions as an important object of worship. In his writings, Rennyo also systematized the teachings of Shinran and criticized priestly corruption and “heretical” teachings that did not emphasize exclusive faith in the buddha AMITĀBHA and his name. Under Rennyo’s tenure as abbot, the Honganji complex grew into one of the most powerful monasteries of its era, controlling a vast network of subtemples. This period is traditionally considered to represent the institutional formation of Jōdo Shinshū.

Renwang baigaozuo hui. (J. Ninnō hyakukōzae; K. Inwang paekkojwa hoe 仁王百高座會). In Chinese, lit., “Humane Kings assembly of one hundred high seats.” See RENWANG JING; HUGUO FOJIAO.

Renwang jing. (J. Ninnōgyō; K. Inwang kyŏng 仁王經). In Chinese, “Scripture for Humane Kings”; an influential indigenous Chinese scripture (see APOCRYPHA), known especially for its role in “state protection Buddhism” (HUGUO FOJIAO) and for its comprehensive outline of the Buddhist path of practice (MĀRGA). Its full title (infra) suggests that the scripture belongs to the “perfection of wisdom” (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) genre of literature, but it includes also elements drawn from both the YOGĀCĀRA and TATHĀGATAGARBHA traditions. The text’s audience and interlocutors are not the typical ŚRĀVAKAs and BODHISATTVAs but instead kings hailing from the sixteen ancient regions of India, who beseech the Buddha to speak this sūtra in order to protect both their states and their subjects from the chaos attending the extinction of the dharma (MOFA; SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA). By having kings rather than spiritual mentors serve as the interlocutors, the scripture thus focuses on those qualities thought to be essential to governing a state founded on Buddhist principles. The text’s concepts of authority, the path, and the world draw analogies with the “humane kings” of this world who serve and venerate the transcendent monks and bodhisattvas. The service and worship rendered by the kings turns them into bodhisattvas, while the soteriological vocation of the monks and bodhisattvas conversely renders them kings. Thus, the relationship between the state and the religion is symbiotic. The sūtra is now generally presumed to be an indigenous Chinese scripture that was composed to buttress imperial authority by exalting the benevolent ruler as a defender of the dharma. The Renwang jing is also known for including the ten levels of faith (ŚRADDHĀ) as a preliminary stage of the Buddhist path prior to the arousal of the thought of enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA). It is one of a number of Chinese Buddhist apocrypha that seek to provide a comprehensive elaboration of all fifty-two stages of the path, including the PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING and the YUANJUE JING. The Renwang jing is not known in Sanskrit sources, but there are two recensions of the Chinese text. The first, Renwang bore boluomi jing, is purported to have been translated by KUMĀRAJĪVA and is dated to c. 402, and the latter, titled Renwang huguo bore boluomiduo jing, is attributed to AMOGHAVAJRA and dated to 765. The Amoghavajra recension is based substantially on the Kumārajīva text, but includes additional teachings on MAṆḌALA, MANTRA, and DHĀRAṆĪ, additions that reflect Amoghavajra’s place in the Chinese esoteric Buddhist tradition. Furthermore, because Amoghavajra was an advisor to three Tang-dynasty rulers, his involvement in contemporary politics may also have helped to shape the later version. Chinese scriptural catalogues (JINGLU) were already suspicious about the authenticity of the Renwang jing as least as early as Fajing’s 594 Zhongjing mulu; Fajing lists the text together with twenty-one other scriptures of doubtful authenticity (YIJING), because its content and diction do not resemble those of the ascribed translator. Modern scholars have also recognized these content issues. One of the more egregious examples is the RENWANG JING’s reference to four different perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) sūtras that the Buddha is said to have proclaimed; two of the sūtras listed are, however, simply different Chinese translations of the same text, the PAÑCAVIṂŚATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA, a blunder that an Indian author could obviously not have committed. Another example is the scripture’s discussion of a three-truth SAMĀDHI (sandi sanmei), in which these three types of concentrations are named worldly truth (shidi), authentic truth (zhendi), and supreme-meaning truth (diyiyidi). This schema is peculiar, and betrays its Chinese origins, because “authentic truth” and “supreme-meaning truth” are actually just different Chinese renderings of the same Sanskrit term, PARAMĀTHASATYA. Based on other internal evidence, scholars have dated the composition of the sūtra to sometime around the middle of the fifth century. Whatever its provenance, the text is ultimately reclassified as an authentic translation in the 602 catalogue Zongjing mulu by Yancong and continues to be so listed in all subsequent East Asian catalogues. See also APOCRYPHA; SANDI.

Revata. (T. Nam gru; C. Lipoduo; J. Ribata; K. Ibada 離婆多). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an important ARHAT who was foremost among the Buddha’s monk disciples in mastery of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA; P. JHĀNA). He is typically known as “doubting Revata” (KĀṄKṢĀ-REVATA; P. Kankhā-Revata), to distinguish him from several other Revatas who appear in the literature, because prior to his enlightenment he is said to have been troubled by doubt concerning what was permissible and what was not. According to the Pāli account, Revata was born into a wealthy family in the city of Sāvitthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). One day he heard the Buddha preach in Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU) and resolved to renounce the world and enter the order. He attained arhatship by relying on dhyāna, and his exceptional skill in these meditative states won him distinction. Revata had resolved to attain this distinction in a previous life as a brāhmaṇa when, during the time of the buddha Padmottara, he heard the Buddha describe one of his disciples as preeminent in his attainment of dhyāna. In another famous story, the mother of Uttara had been reborn as a hungry ghost (S. PRETA, P. peta) and after fifty-five years of wandering, encountered Revata and begged him for relief. He relieved her suffering by making various offerings to the SAṂGHA in her name. ¶ There was a later monk named Revata who played a major role at the second Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, SECOND) held at VAIŚĀLĪ. Some one hundred years after the death of the Buddha, the monk YAŚAS was traveling in Vaiśālī when he observed the monks there receiving alms in the form of gold and silver directly from the laity, in violation of the prohibition against monks’ touching gold and silver. He also found that the monks had identified ten points in the VINAYA that were classified as violations but that they had determined were sufficiently minor to be ignored. Yaśas challenged the monks on these practices, but when he refused to accept their bribes to keep quiet, they expelled him from the order. Yaśas sought support of several respected monks in the west, including ŚĀṆAKAVĀSĪN and Revata, and together they traveled to Vaiśālī. Once there, Revata went to Sarvagāmin, the eldest monk of his era, who is said to have been a disciple of ĀNANDA, to question him about these ten points. At Revata’s suggestion, a jury of eight monks was appointed to adjudicate, with four representatives selected from each party. Revata was selected as one of four from the party declaring the ten practices to be violations, and it was Revata who publically put the questions to Sarvagāmin. In each case, the senior monk said that the practice in question was a violation of the vinaya. Seven hundred monks then gathered to recite the vinaya. Those who did not accept the decision of the council held their own convocation, which they called the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA, or “Great Assembly.” This event is sometimes said to have led to the first “great schism” within the mainstream Buddhist tradition, between the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, or Fraternity of the Elders, and the Mahāsāṃghika.

Revatī. (T. Nam gru ma). In Sanskrit and Pāli, a laywoman whose story illustrates the unsalutary consequences of niggardliness toward monks and the salutary power of taking delight (MUDITĀ) in the virtue of others. According to the Pāli account, Revatī was the daughter of a householder of Vārāṇasī, who had no faith in the Buddha and was extremely uncharitable. Her husband was the wealthy lay patron of the Buddha, Nandiya, who had her partake in his meritorious deeds. When he went abroad, he asked his wife to continue his meritorious deeds toward the SAṂGHA. Revatī did so for seven days but then stopped and began to abuse the monks who came to her house for alms (PIṆḌAPĀTA). As a consequence of their respective actions, upon her death, Revatī was reborn in hell, while Nandiya was reborn as a divinity in the TRĀYASTRIṂŚA heaven. When he saw with his divine eye (DIVYACAKṢUS) that his wife had become a denizen of hell, he went to her and asked her to take delight in his meritorious deeds. As soon as she did so, Revatī became a divinity herself and resided with Nandiya in that same heaven. In Buddhist TANTRA, particularly in the SA SKYA and DGE LUGS sects of Tibet, Śrīmatī Revatī (T. Dmag zor ma) (rendered “magical weapon army”) is a form of the protectress (T. srung ma) Śrīdevī (T. DPAL LDAN LHA MO).

Rgod ldem can Dngos grub rgyal mtshan. (Gödemchen Ngödrup Gyaltsen) (1337–1408). An important master and treasure revealer (GTER STON) of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, often venerated with the title rig ’dzin (S. VIDYĀDHARA). According to traditional accounts, three vulture feathers miraculously grew from the crown of his head at the age of twelve; five more appeared when he turned twenty-four. For this reason he is known as Rgod ldem can, the “vulture quilled.” He began his career as treasure revealer at twenty-nine, forming an important lineage known as the Northern Treasure (BYANG GTER) tradition. The Northern Treasures were eventually seated at RDO RJE BRAG monastery south of LHA SA, with Rgod ldem can’s subsequent incarnations, known as the Rdo rje brag rig ’dzin lineage, serving as the institution’s abbot.

Rgod tshang pa Mgon po rdo rje. (Götshangpa Gönpo Dorje) (1189–1258). A Tibetan Buddhist master revered as the founder of the upper (stod) branch of the ’BRUG PA BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in the LHO BRAG region of southern Tibet, and as a child was known for his pleasing appearance and his beautiful singing voice. In his youth, he studied under a number of tutors and finally reached RWA LUNG monastery, where he met his principal guru, the ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud founder GTSANG PA RGYA RAS YE SHES RDO RJE, from whom he received monastic ordination and extensive instruction. In accordance with his master’s advice, he spent much of his life as a wandering YOGIN, traveling across central, southern, and western Tibet and visiting numerous pilgrimage places including KAILĀSA, TSA RI, and Jālandhara (the modern Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh in northwest India). He also established several important retreat centers where he passed many years in meditation, including Rgod tshang near modern-day Rtsib ri in Gtsang, Steng gro, Bde chen stengs, and Bar ’brogs Rdo rje gling.

Rgya gar chos ’byung. (Gyakar Chöjung). In Tibetan, “History of the Dharma in India,” a detailed history of the development of Buddhism on the subcontinent written in 1608 by the Tibetan savant Kun dga’ snying po (1575–1634), better known as TĀRANĀTHA. The work’s complete title is Dam pa’i chos rin po che ’phags pa’i yul du ji ltar dar ba’i tshul gsal bar ston pa dgos ’dod kun ’byung. It is often consulted by Tibetan and Western scholars of Buddhism because of its judicious use of earlier traditional sources and its sense of the larger history of the subcontinent, perhaps fostered by the author’s access to Indian informants, unusual for such a late period in Indian Buddhist history. The work restricts itself largely to the history of Buddhism in India and follows a chronology that can be loosely characterized as historical: it is based on five time periods between the time of AJĀTAŚATRU and AŚOKA, five time periods from there to the time of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD), and remaining time periods covering the great MAHĀYĀNA masters, through the history of the Pāla dynasty. It ends with a history of Buddhism in different regions, a history of TANTRA, and of image making. Tāranātha’s Rgya gar chos ’byung is supplemented by his histories of PADMASAMBHAVA, the KĀLACAKRATANTRA, the TĀRĀ and YAMĀNTAKA lineages, and by his BKA’ ’BABS BDUN LDAN GYI RNAM THAR, “Biographies of the Seven Instruction Lineages.”

Rgyal rabs gsal ba’i me long. (Gyalrab Salwe Melong). In Tibetan, “The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies,” an important chronicle of the early Tibetan dynastic period, written in the fourteenth century by the SA SKYA hierarch BSOD NAMS RGYAL MTSHAN. Although its precise dating has long been in question, current scholarship suggests it was compiled in 1368. The work was regarded highly in Tibet and is often cited in later Tibetan literature.

Rgyal tshab Dar ma rin chen. (Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen) (1364–1432). One of the two principal disciples (together with MKHAS GRUB DGE LEGS DPAL BZANG) of the Tibetan Buddhist master TSONG KHA PA. Ordained and educated in the SA SKYA sect, Rgyal tshab (a name he would only receive later in life) studied with some of the great teachers of the day, including Red mda’ ba gzhon nu blo gros. Rgyal tshab was already an established scholar, known especially for his expertise in PRAMĀṆA, when he first met Tsong kha pa at Rab drong around 1400. According to a well-known story, Rgyal tshab sought to debate Tsong kha pa and asked a nun, “Where is Big Nose?” (impertinently referring to Tsong kha pa’s prominent proboscis). The nun rinsed out her mouth and lit a stick of incense before saying that the omniscient master Tsong kha pa was teaching in the temple. Rgyal tshab entered the temple and announced his presence, at which point Tsong kha pa interrupted his teaching and invited the great scholar to join him on the teaching throne. Rgyal tshab arrogantly accepted but as he listened to Tsong kha pa’s teaching, he became convinced of his great learning and edged away from the master, eventually descending from the throne and prostrating before Tsong kha pa and taking his place in the assembly. From that point, he would become Tsong kha pa’s closest disciple, credited with hearing and remembering everything that Tsong kha pa taught. He assisted Tsong kha pa in the founding of DGA’ LDAN monastery and upon Tsong kha pa’s death in 1419, Rgyal tshab assumed the golden throne of Dga’ ldan, becoming the first DGA’ LDAN KHRI PA or “Holder of the Throne of Dga’ ldan,” a position that would evolve into the head of the DGE LUGS sect. He was also called the “regent” (rgyal tshab) of Tsong kha pa, which became the name by which he is best known. He was a prolific author, known especially for his detailed commentaries on the works of DHARMAKĪRTI, as well as such important Indian texts as the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA, BODHICARYĀVATĀRA, RATNĀVALĪ, CATUḤŚATAKA, and RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA. Rgyal tshab figures in the most common image in Dge lugs iconography, the rje yab sras gsum, or “the triumvirate, the lord father, and the sons,” showing Tsong kha pa flanked by Rgyal tshab and Mkhas grub (with Rgyal tshab often shown with white hair). The collected works of these three scholars form something of a canon for the Dge lugs sect and are often printed together as the rje yab sras gsung ’bum or the “collected works of the lord father and the [two] sons.”

Rgyud smad. (Gyume). In Tibetan, the “Lower Tantric College,” one of two major DGE LUGS centers for tantric studies in LHA SA, together with RGYUD STOD. Prior to his death in 1419, TSONG KHA PA is said to have enjoined his disciple Rgyud Shes rab seng ge (1383–1445) to spread his tantric teachings. In 1432, he founded a tantric college in the Sras district of Gtsang called the Sras rgyud grwa tshang (the “tantric college of Se”) or as the Gtsang stod rgyud (the “tantric [college] of Tsang, the upper [region]”). The term stod, lit. “upper” in Tibetan, also means “western” and is sometimes used as a synonym for Gtsang, the province to the west of the central province of Dbus. In 1433, he returned to Lha sa and founded Rgyud smad grwa tshang, or the “tantric college of lower [Tibet]).” The term smad, literally “lower,” also means “eastern.” In 1474, Shes rab seng ge’s disciple, Rgyud chen Kun dga’ don grub, left Rgyud smad when he was not selected as the abbot. He later founded another tantric college in Lha sa, which he called Dbus stod ’Jam dpal gling grwa tshang or the “Garden of MAÑJUŚRĪ College of Upper Ü.” It eventually became known as Rgyud stod. Shortly after its founding, it moved to the RA MO CHE temple in Lha sa. Hence, the the standard translations “lower tantric college” for Rgyud smad and “upper tantric college” for Rgyud stod have no implications of hierarchy or curricular gradation, but refer simply to the geographical locations of the institutions from which they evolved. Monks from the three great Dge lugs monasteries of Lha sa (’BRAS SPUNGS, SE RA, and DGA’ LDAN) who had achieved one of the two higher DGE BSHES (geshe) degrees—the lha ram pa or the tshogs ram pa—could enter as a dge bshes bka’ ram pa. Which of the two tantric colleges a geshe attended was determined by his birthplace. The curriculum of both of the tantric colleges involved study of the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA, and VAJRABHAIRAVATANTRA systems. These were studied through memorization and debate, as in the sūtra colleges. Monks also received instruction in the performance of ritual, the use of MUDRĀ, the making of images, and the construction of MAṆḌALAs. Monks were also instructed in chanting; the deep chanting that has become famous in the West was taught at both Rgyud smad and Rgyud stod. Those who successfully completed the curriculum received the title of dge bshes sngags ram pa. Monks who were not already geshes of one of three monasteries could enter one of the tantric colleges to receive ritual instruction but received a lower degree, called bskyed rim pa. Becoming a dge bshes sngags ram pa and especially an officer of one of the tantric colleges (dge bskos or disciplinarian; bla ma dbu mdzad, lit. “chant leader” but the vice abbot; and mkhan po or abbot) was essential for holding positions of authority in the Dge lugs hierarchy. For example, the DGA’ LDAN KHRI PA was required to be a former abbot of Rgyud smad or Rgyud stod. After the Chinese takeover of Tibet, Rgyud smad and Rgyud stod were reestablished in exile in India.