The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism

Rhys Davids, Caroline Augusta Foley. (1857–1942). A prominent scholar of Pāli Buddhism and wife of THOMAS WILLIAM RHYS DAVIDS. Caroline Augusta Foley attended University College in London, where she studied Pāli language and literature. She later became a fellow at University College and worked as a Pāli reader at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Known to be a brilliant Pāli scholar and teacher, Rhys Davids had many dedicated students when she lectured in Indian philosophy at Manchester University. In 1894, at the age of thirty-six, she married T. W. Rhys Davids. They had three children together. In 1922, Rhys Davids became the president of the PĀLI TEXT SOCIETY, which had been founded by her husband, and served as president for twenty years. Rhys Davids published more than twenty-five monographs and translations. Two of her most famous books are Gotama the Man and Sakya or Buddhist Origins.

Rhys Davids, Thomas William. (1843–1922). Preeminent British scholar of Pāli Buddhism, Thomas William Rhys Davids was born in Colchester, the son of a Congregationalist minister. He attended secondary school in Brighton and then went on to the University of Breslau in Germany, where he studied Sanskrit. He received a PhD from the University of Breslau before taking a position as a judge in the Ceylon Civil Service in 1864. He resigned from this position in 1872 and became a lawyer in 1877. Instead of practicing law, Rhys Davids turned to researching and writing about Pāli literature. His first book, The Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon, was published in 1877, after which he began to publish regularly in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. In 1880, he translated the NIDĀNAKATHĀ. His 1881 Hibbert Lectures became quite famous, and at the second lecture, Rhys Davids announced the creation of the PALI TEXT SOCIETY. the first learned society in the West to focus on Pāli language and literature. In 1882, Rhys Davids became a professor of Pāli at University College, London. From 1885 to 1904, he also worked for the Royal Asiatic Society. In 1904, he became professor of comparative religion at Victoria University, Manchester. In 1894, Rhys Davids married Caroline August Foley (see RHYS DAVIDS, CAROLINE AUGUST FOLEY); the two worked and published together for the rest of their lives. Rhys Davids published many works, including a Manual of Buddhism, the first two volumes of the “Sacred Books of the Buddhists” series, and the first volume of a Pāli-English Dictionary. The Rhys Davidses together translated the DĪGHANIKĀYA between 1910 and 1921.

Ri bo che. (Riwoche). A branch monastic seat of the STAG LUNG subsect of the BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism, located near Chab mdo in eastern Tibet. Ri bo che’s founder, Sangs rgyas dbon (Sangye Ön, 1250/1–1296) better known as Dbon po bla ma (Önpo Lama), previously served a brief period as abbot of Stag lung monastery, the subsect’s main seat in central Tibet. According to traditional sources, Sangs rgyas dbon left central Tibet in order to fulfill the prophecy that he would construct an even greater monastic institution in the east. His departure, however, may have been hastened by political pressure exerted by Stag lung monastery’s political patrons, who favored a rival abbot. Sangs rgyas dbon established Ri bo che in 1276, and while it originally served as a branch of Stag lung monastery, it later developed a strong, nearly independent tradition. With its grand, imposing structure, Ri bo che was renowned as one of the great centers of Buddhist learning in eastern Tibet, possessing an impressive library of religious works. Its monks were highly esteemed for their expertise in meditation.

Ri bo dpal ’bar. (Riwo Palbar). A mountain in Skyid grong (Kyirong) county of southwestern Tibet on the Nepalese border believed to have been a retreat location of both the Indian sage PADMASAMBHAVA and the Tibetan YOGIN MI LA RAS PA. According to the latter’s biography, the village of Ragma at the mountain’s base was home to many of the yogin’s patrons and the site of his meditation cave called Byang chub rdzong (Jangchup Dzong), “The Fortress of Enlightenment.” Near the summit lies a small chapel, now in partial ruins, housing the relics of the great RNYING MA scholar and historian KAḤ THOG RIG ’DZIN TSHE DBANG NOR BU.

rig pa. The standard Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term VIDYĀ, or “knowledge.” The Tibetan term, however, has a special meaning in the ATIYOGA and RDZOGS CHEN traditions of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, where it refers to the most profound form of consciousness. Some modern translators of Tibetan texts into European languages consider the term too profound to be rendered into a foreign language, while others translate it as “awareness,” “pure awareness,” or “mind.” Unlike the “mind of clear light” (PRABHĀSVARACITTA; ’od gsal gyi sems) as described in other tantric systems, rig pa is not said to be accessible only in extraordinary states, such as death and sexual union; instead, it is fully present, although generally unrecognized, in each moment of sensory experience. Rig pa is described as the primordial basis, characterized with qualities such as presence, spontaneity, luminosity, original purity, unobstructed freedom, expanse, clarity, self-liberation, openness, effortlessness, and intrinsic awareness. It is not accessible through conceptual elaboration or logical analysis. Rather, rig pa is an eternally pure state free from the dualism of subject and object (cf. GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA), infinite and complete from the beginning. It is regarded as the ground or the basis of both SAṂSĀRA and NIRVĀṆA, with the phenomena of the world being its reflection; all thoughts and all objects of knowledge are said to arise from rig pa and dissolve into rig pa. The ordinary mind believes that its own creations are real, forgetting its true nature of original purity. For the mind willfully to seek to liberate itself is both inappropriate and futile because rig pa is already self-liberated. Rig pa therefore is also the path, and its exponents teach practices that instruct the student how to distinguish rig pa from ordinary mental states. These practices include a variety of techniques designed to eliminate karmic obstacles (KARMĀVARAṆA), at which point the presence of rig pa in ordinary experience is introduced, allowing the mind to eliminate all thoughts and experiences itself, thereby recognizing its true nature. Rig pa is thus also the goal of the path, the fundamental state that is free from obscuration. Cf. LINGZHI.

Rin chen bzang po. [alt. Lo tsā ba chen po, Lo chen] (Rinchen Sangpo) (958–1055). A Tibetan translator of Sanskrit Buddhist texts who helped to initiate the revival of Buddhism in Tibet known as the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of the dharma. He was born in the western Tibetan region of GU GE. According to traditional histories, at the age of seventeen, he was sent to India together with a group of twenty other youths by King YE SHES ’OD to study Sanskrit and Indian vernacular languages. Rin chen bzang po made several trips to India, spending a total of seventeen years in Kashmir and the monastic university of VIKRAMAŚĪLA before returning the Tibet. During the last years of his life, he collaborated with the Bengali master ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA at THO LING monastery. Rin chen bzang po’s literary career concentrated on new and revised translations of important Indian Buddhist works; he is credited with 178 translations spanning the SŪTRAs, TANTRAs, and commentarial literature. Apart from his literary activities, he also brought with him numerous artisans and craftsmen from Kashmir and, with their aid, was highly active in the construction of new monasteries, temples, and shrines across western Tibet. These institutions, and the artwork they house, were strongly influenced by the artistic styles and religious practices of northwest India and now serve as important records of a tradition otherwise nearly lost. Most important among these temples are Tho ling, KHA CHAR, and NYAR MA, although tradition ascribes him with founding 108 buildings in all. Rin chen bzang po is still considered a local hero in the regions of western Tibet, Ladakh, Lahul, Spiti, and Kinnaur, and the current reincarnation, LO CHEN SPRUL SKU, maintains his monastic seat at Kyi monastery in Spiti.

rin chen gter mdzod. (rinchen terdzö). In Tibetan, “treasury of precious treasure teachings”; a collection of root texts, liturgical and ritual works, meditation manuals (SĀDHANA), commentarial, and supplemental literature pertaining to the genre of discovered treasure teachings (GTER MA) of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The collection was compiled and edited by the nineteenth-century savant ’JAM MGON KONG SPRUL BLO GROS MTHA’ YAS and forms one of his five treasuries (KONG SPRUL MDZOD LNGA). Kong sprul’s motivation for this massive project, resulting in sixty-three volumes of literature (over one hundred in modern redactions), was complex. The compilation preserves many systems of instruction that were in danger of being lost or forgotten, but it also forms a canonical collection of authoritative treasure texts—one of the first projects of its kind.

rin po che. In Tibetan, lit. “of great value,” hence “precious one”; most commonly an honorific added to the name of a Tibetan BLA MA (lama), which is also used as a term of respect for addressing and referring to one’s own or another’s lama or teacher. The term may be used for any lama, but the term is most commonly used for incarnate lamas (SPRUL SKU), in which case it is often affixed to the name of the lineage, for example, Rgyal ba rin po che (a common appellation of the DALAI LAMA), Paṇ chen rin po che (the PAṆ CHEN BLA MA), mkhan rin po che (“precious abbot”), and so on. In ordinary Tibetan parlance, to refer to someone as a rin po che means that he (rarely she) is a sprul sku (incarnate lama).

Rinzaishū. ( image/

濟宗). In Japanese, “Rinzai School”; one of the major Japanese ZEN schools established in the early Kamakura period. The various branches of the Japanese Rinzai Zen tradition trace their lineages back to the Chinese CHAN master LINJI YIXUAN (J. Rinzai Gigen) and his eponymous LINJI ZONG; the name Rinzai, like its Chinese counterpart, is derived from Linji’s toponym. The tradition was first transmitted to Japan by the TENDAISHŪ monk MYŌAN EISAI (1141–1215), who visited China twice and received training and certification in the HUANGLONG PAI collateral line of the Linji lineage on his second trip. Eisai’s Zen teachings, however, reflected his training in the esoteric (MIKKYŌ) teachings of the Tendai school; he did not really intend to establish an entirely new school. After Eisai, the Rinzai tradition was transferred through Japanese monks who trained in China and Chinese monks who immigrated to Japan. Virtually all of the Japanese Rinzai tradition was associated with the YANGQI PAI collateral line of the Linji lineage (see YANGQI FANGHUI), which was first imported by the Japanese vinaya specialist Shunjō (1166–1227). According to the early-Edo-period Nijūshiryū shūgen zuki (“Diagrammatic Record of the Sources of the Twenty-Four Transmissions of the Teaching”), twenty-four Zen lineages had been transmitted to Japan since the Kamakura period, twenty-one of which belonged to the Rinzai tradition; with the exception of Eisai’s own lineage, the remaining twenty lineages were all associated with the Yangqi collateral line. Soon after its introduction into Japan, the Rinzai Zen tradition rose to prominence in Kamakura and Kyōto, where it received the patronage of shōguns, emperors, and the warrior class. The Rinzai teachers of this period included monks from Tendai and SHINGONSHŪ backgrounds, such as ENNI BEN’EN (1202–1280) and SHINCHI KAKUSHIN (1207–1298), who promoted Zen with an admixture of esoteric elements. Chinese immigrant monks like LANXI DAOLONG (J. Rankei Dōryu, 1213–1278) and WUXUE ZUYUAN (J. Mugaku Sogen, 1226–1286) also contributed to the rapid growth in the popularity of the Rinzai tradition among the Japanese ruling classes, by transporting the Song-style Linji Chan tradition as well as Song-dynasty Chinese culture more broadly. With the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate in 1338, the major Zen temples were organized following the Song Chinese model into the GOZAN (five mountains) system, a tripartite state control system consisting of “five mountains” (gozan), “ten temples” (jissetsu), and several associated “miscellaneous mountains” (shozan). The powerful gozan monasteries located in Kamakura and Kyōto functioned as centers of classical Chinese learning and culture, and continued to influence the ruling classes in Japan until the decline of the Ashikaga shogunate in the sixteenth century. The disciples of Enni Ben’en and MUSŌ SOSEKI (1275–1351) dominated the gozan monasteries. In particular, Musō Soseki was deeply engaged in both literary endeavors and political activities; his lineage produced several famous gozan poets, such as Gidō Shūshin (1325–1388) and Zekkai Chūshin (1336–1405). Outside the official gozan ecclesiastical system were the RINKA, or forest, monasteries. DAITOKUJI and MYŌSHINJI, the two principal rinka Rinzai monasteries, belonged to the Ōtōkan lineage, which is named after its first three masters NANPO JŌMYŌ (1235–1309), SŌHŌ MYŌCHŌ (1282–1337), and KANZAN EGEN (1277–1360). This lineage emphasized rigorous Zen training rather than the broader cultural endeavors pursued in the gozan monasteries. After the decline of the gozan monasteries, the Ōtōkan lineage came to dominate the Rinzai Zen tradition during the Edo period and was the only Rinzai line to survive to the present. Despite the presence of such influential monks as TAKUAN SŌHŌ (1573–1645) and BANKEI YŌTAKU (1622–1693), the Rinzai tradition began to decline by the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The monk credited with revitalizing the Rinzai tradition during the Edo period is the Myōshinji monk HAKUIN EKAKU (1685–1768). Hakuin systematized the KŌAN (see GONG’AN; KANHUA CHAN) method of meditation, which is the basis of modern Rinzai Zen practice; it is also through Hakuin and his disciples that most Rinzai masters of today trace their lineages. The Rinzai tradition is currently divided into the fifteen branches named after each of their head monasteries, which represents the influence of the head and branch temple system designed in the Edo period. Of the fifteen branches, the Myōshinji branch has largely eclipsed its rivals and today is the largest and most influential of all the Rinzai lines.

ris med. (ri me). In Tibetan, lit. “unbounded,” “unlimited,” or “impartial”; often translated as “nonsectarian” or “eclectic” in conjunction with a religious ideal that appears to have gained widespread currency in the early nineteenth century, most famously in the Khams SDE DGE kingdom in eastern Tibet. The origins of the movement are traced to the founding of DPAL SPUNGS monastery, established in 1727 by the eighth TAI SI TU CHOS KYI ’BYUNG GNAS, a great BKA’ BRGYUD scholar, historian, and linguist, with support from Sde dge’s ruler Bstan pa tshe ring (Tenpa Tsering, 1678–1738), who sponsored the carving and printing of the Sde dge edition of the Tibetan BKA’ ’GYUR and BSTAN ’GYUR. Si tu revitalized the study of Sanskrit and stressed the importance of older traditions that had fallen into decline after the rise to power of the DGE LUGS sect. The revitalization of religious learning in Sde dge spread to the Bka’ ’brgyud and RNYING MA institutions in the region and reached its peak in the middle of the nineteenth century. When the Dpal spungs-based revitalization began to disturb the traditional SA SKYA affilation of the Sde dge royal family (from the time of ’PHAGS PA,’ 1235–1280), such leading figures as ’JAM MGON KONG SPRUL BLO ’GRO MTHA’ YAS, ’JAM DBYANG MKHYEN BRTSE DBANG PO, and MCHOG GYUR GLING PA responded to the danger of conflict among powerful Sde dge clans by using impartial liturgies that did not stress one tradition over another. There is some evidence that another great ris med lama, DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE, extended the spirit to include even Dge lugs traditions. The frequency of the occurrence of the term ris med in Tibetan literature from that era has given rise in the West to the notion that something akin to a “nonsectarian movement” occurred in eastern Tibet in the nineteenth century, one in which scholars of the Rnying ma, Bka’ brgyud, and Sa skya sects not only read and benefited from each other’s traditions (as had long been the case), but also studied the works of the politically more powerful Dge lugs sect, which had been at odds with both Rnying ma and Bka’ brgyud at various points since the seventeenth century. This idea that such a “movement” occurred has been largely drawn from preliminary studies of ’Jam mgon kong sprul. This Bka’ brgyud lama (who was born into a BON family and initially ordained into a Rnying ma monastery) achieved a remarkable breadth and depth in his scholarship. In several collections of liturgical texts and lengthy treatises, he set forth a vision of a nonsectarian ideal in which intersectarian exchanges were valued, yet strict separations between the multiple lineages and orders were carefully upheld. Still, the notion that ’Jam mgon kong sprul, ’Jam dbyang mkhyen brtse, and Dpal sprul Rin po che were at the center of a “nonsectarian movement,” in the sense that there was a widespread institutional reformation in their lifetimes, is not historically accurate. It is perhaps better to speak of the nonsectarian ideal and their own lives as models of its expression. That model was indeed much imitated in the early twentieth century, and the ris med ideal appears to have become a standard motif for the social and political unification of the Tibetan exile community since 1959. The current DALAI LAMA, for example, is known to use the metaphor of the five-fingered hand (the four main Buddhist orders and the Bon religion) to describe a Tibetan society as fundamentally united yet respectful of its differences.

Risshō Kōseikai. (立正佼成会). In Japanese, “Society for Establishing Righteousness and Peaceful Relations,” one of Japan’s largest lay Buddhist organizations. Risshō Kōseikai was founded in 1938 by NIWANO NIKKYŌ (1906–1999), the son of a farming family in Niigata prefecture, and NAGANUMA MYŌKŌ (1889–1957), a homemaker from Saitama prefecture. In 2007, it claimed 1.67 million member households, with 239 churches in Japan and fifty-six churches in eighteen countries outside of Japan. Originally formed as an offshoot of REIYŪKAI, Risshō Kōseikai is strongly influenced by NICHIRENSHŪ doctrine, although it bears no organizational ties with the latter school. In terms of its ethos and organizational structure, it embodies many of the characteristics of Japan’s so-called new religions. Risshō Kōseikai emphasizes worship of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) as a means for self-cultivation and salvation as well as for the greater good of humanity at large. Religious practice includes recitation of chapters from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra every morning and evening and chanting of the Japanese title of the sūtra, or DAIMOKU, viz., NAMU MYŌHŌRENGEKYŌ. As is common among schools associated with worship of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, Risshō Kōseikai believes that people share karmic links with their ancestors. Through recitation of Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra passages and its title, along with repentance for one’s past transgressions, one can transfer merit to one’s ancestors. This transference aims to subdue the troubled spirits of ancestors who did not attain buddhahood, as well as to eliminate any negative karmic bonds with them. Risshō Kōseikai is headquartered in Tōkyō. However, its organization is largely decentralized and it has no priesthood. This structure places more value and responsibility on its laity, who are presumed to be capable of transferring merit and conducting funerals and ancestral rites on their own. Group gatherings generally address counseling issues for individuals and families alongside the study of Buddhist doctrine. In contrast to Reiyūkai, which emphasizes devotional faith to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra without the need for detailed doctrinal understanding of Buddhism, adherents of Risshō Kōseikai, in line with the school’s founders, include the analytic study of doctrine as complementary to their faith.

Risshū. [alt. Ritsushū] (律宗). In Japanese, “School of Discipline,” one of the so-called six schools of the Nara tradition of early Japanese Buddhism (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF); the term is also sometimes seen transcribed as RITSUSHŪ. Although its origins are uncertain, a decree by the Grand Council of State (J. Daijōkan) in 718 acknowledged Risshū as one of major schools of Buddhism in the Japanese capital of Nara. The school is dedicated to the exegesis and dissemination of the rules of Buddhist VINAYA, especially those associated with the SIFEN LÜ (“Four-Part Vinaya”) of the DHARMAGUPTAKA school. Rather than an established religious institution, the Risshū, like the other contemporaneous schools of the Nara period (710–974), should instead be considered more of an intellectual tradition or school of thought. Risshū arose as an attempt to systematize monastic rules and practices on the basis of Chinese translations of Indian vinaya texts. Throughout the first half of the eighth century, Japanese monks relied on the Taihō Law Code (701), a set of government-mandated monastic regulations, to guide both their ordination ceremonies (J. jukai) and their conduct. Realizing that Japan lacked proper observance of the vinaya, Nara scholars who had studied monastic discipline in China sought the aid of GANJIN (C. Jianzhen; 687–763), a well-known Chinese master of the NANSHAN LÜ ZONG (South Mountain School of Discipline), the largest of the three vinaya traditions of China. Their attempts to use Ganjin to establish an orthodox ordination ceremony in Japan met with considerable resistance, first from the Chinese court, which did not want to part with Ganjin, and second with entrenched interests in Nara, which had grown accustomed to the Taihō regulations. After five failed attempts to travel to Japan at these monks’ invitation, Ganjin finally arrived in Japan in 754. Then sixty-six and blind, Ganjin finally established an ordination platform that summer at the great Nara monastery of TŌDAIJI. Soon thereafter, two more ordination platforms were erected under the jurisdiction of Risshū: one at Yakushiji in Shimotsuke province (in present-day Tochigi prefecture), and one at Kanzeonji in Chikuzen province (in present-day Fukuoka prefecture). In his later years, Ganjin also founded the monastery of TŌSHŌDAIJI in Nara, where he trained monks according to his own codification of the rules. Risshū and the other Nara schools fell into a period of decline over the course of the Heian period (794–1185), which ultimately set the stage for a restoration of Risshū in the early Kamakura period (1185–1333). Under the leadership of the Tendai priest Shunjō (1166–1227), who had studied in China, a group of monks with interests in vinaya assembled at Sennyūji in Kyōto. They would later become identified as the Hokkyō, or “northern capital,” branch of the Risshū school, in contrast to the Nankyō (southern capital) branch in Nara. Monks in Nara also attempted to restore Risshū, as exemplified by Kakujō’s (1194–1249) move to Tōshōdaiji and the efforts of Eizon (1201–1290), who incorporated esoteric practice (see MIKKYŌ) in his restoration of Risshū at Saidaiji in Nara. Today, Risshū survives in the two monasteries of Tōshōdaiji and Saidaiji, although the latter was officially joined with the SHINGONSHŪ during the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912).

rje. (je). A Tibetan title or honorific, lit. “one to be followed,” hence “leader.” It is affixed at the beginning or the end of a name, to indicate the person’s importance. The three founders of the DGE LUGS sect, for example, commonly have the title affixed to their names: Rje RIN PO CHE is TSONG KHA PA; Rgyal tshab rje is RGYAL TSHAB DAR MA RIN CHEN, and Mkhas grub rje is MKHAS GRUB DGE LEGS DPAL BZANG; this triumvirate is commonly referred to be the abbreviation rje yab sras gsum (je yabse sum) (“triumvirate of the lord father and the [two] sons”). See also RJE BSTUN; RJE BTSUN DAM PA.

rje ’bangs nyer lnga. (jebang nyernga). In Tibetan, lit. “the twenty-five, king and subjects,” referring to the twenty-five chief disciples of the eighth-century Indian adept PADMASAMBHAVA during his activity in Tibet. The king refers to the Tibetan ruler KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN, who was responsible for inviting Padmasambhava to Tibet to aid in the founding of BSAM YAS monastery. According to some lists, the remaining twenty-four disciples are:

1. Nam mkha’i snying po (Namke Nyingpo)

2. Sangs rgyas ye shes (Sangye Yeshe)

3. Rgyal ba mchog dbyangs (Gyalwa Chokyang)

4. Mkhar chen bza’ (Karchensa)

5. Dpal gyi ye shes (Palgyi Yeshe)

6. Dpal gyi seng ge (Palgyi Senge)

7. Bai ro tsa na (VAIROCANA)

8. Gnyags Jñānakumāra (Nyak Jñānakumāra)

9. G.yu sgra snying po (Yudra Nyingpo)

10. Rdo rje bdud ’joms (Dorje Dudjom)

11. Ye shes dbyangs (Yeshe Yang)

12. Sog po Lha dpal (Sokpo Lhapal)

13. Zhang YE SHES SDE (Shang Yeshe De)

14. Dpal gyi dbang phyug (Palgyi Wangchuk)

15. Ldan ma rtse mang (Denma Tsemang)

16. Ska ba DPAL BRTSEGS (Kawa Paltsek)

17. Shud bu dpal gyi seng ge (Shubu Palgyi Senge)

18. Rgyal ba’i blo gros (Gyalwe Lodrö)

19. Khye’u chung lo (Khye’u Chunglo)

20. ’O bran Dpal gyi dbang phyug (Odran Palgyi Wangchuk)

21. Rma Rin chen mchog (Ma Rinchen Chok)

22. Lha lung Dpal gyi rdo rje (Lhalung Palgyi Dorje)

23. Lang gro Dkon mchog ’byung gnas (Langdro Könchok Jungne)

24. La gsum rgyal ba byang chub (Lasum Gyalwa Jangchub)

rje btsun. (jetsün). In Tibetan, “lord” or “reverend,” a Tibetan honorific used especially for revered religious figures. The term is perhaps most commonly used to as a term of respect for MI LA RAS PA, so much so that the term rje btsun alone in Tibetan often refers to him. The word btsun (tsun) (S. and P. bhadanta) is usually reserved for monks, but by extension applies also to saintly persons; RJE means one to be followed. The feminine form of the term is rje btsun ma (jetsünma), often used to refer to TĀRĀ, or to saintly women; it is used as a prefix to show respect to nuns or prominent female teachers.

Rje btsun dam pa. (Jetsün Dampa). In Tibetan, “excellent lord,” the Tibetan name of the Khalkha Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the lineage of incarnate lamas who serve as head of the DGE LUGS sect in Mongolia, also known as Bogd Gegen. The lineage was established by the fifth DALAI LAMA, who, after his suppression of the JO NANG sect, declared that the renowned Jo nang scholar TĀRANĀTHA had been reborn in Mongolia, thus taking an important line of incarnations from a rival sect and transferring it to his own Dge lugs sect. The first Rje btsun dam pa was Blo bzang bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1635–1723), known in Mongolian as Bogdo Zanabazar or simply Zanabazar. He was the son of the Mongol prince Gombodorj, the Tosiyetu Khan, ruler of the Khan Uula district of Mongolia, and himself became the head of the Khalkha Mongols. He and the second Rje btsun dam pa lama were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Zanabazar was ordained at the age of five and recognized as the incarnation of Tāranātha, this recognition confirmed by the fifth Dalai Lama and first PAṆ CHEN LAMA. He spent 1649–1651 in Tibet where he received initiations and teachings from the two Dge lugs hierarchs. Zanabazar is remembered especially as a great sculptor who produced many important bronze images. He was also a respected scholar and a favorite of the Manchu Chinese Kangxi emperor. During the Qing dynasty, the Rje btsun dam pa was selected from Tibet, perhaps in fear that a Mongol lama would become too powerful. During the Qing, it was said that the Qing emperor, the Dalai Lama, and the Rje btsun dam pa were incarnations of MAÑJUŚRĪ, AVALOKITEŚVARA, and VAJRAPĀṆI, respectively. When northern Mongolia sought independence, the eighth Rje btsun dam pa (1869–1924) assumed the title of emperor of Mongolia, calling himself Boghda Khan (also “Bogd Khan”). He was the head of state until his death in 1924, after which the Communist government declared the end of the incarnation line. However, ’Jam dpal rnam grol chos kyi rgyal mtshan was recognized in LHA SA as the ninth Rje btsun dam pa; he fled into exile in India in 1959.

rlung rta. (lung ta). In Tibetan, the word for “luck,” lit. “wind horse”; in its secondary meaning, it is commonly referred to in English as a “prayer flag.” It is a colored square of cloth, usually about one foot square, and often imprinted with a prayer. These flags are then attached to poles, the rooftops of monasteries and dwellings, or are strung from the cairns found at the summits of mountain passes. The wind is said to carry the benefits requested by the prayer imprinted on the fluttering flag, both to the person who flies the flag as well as to all beings in the region. The prayer flag has in its center an image of a deity or auspicious symbol usually two or three inches square, set within a single-line frame; the female bodhisattva TĀRĀ is commonly depicted, as is the “wind horse” itself, a horse carrying a jewel on its back. The prayer itself (often a series of mantras) appears on the flag as if on a sheet of paper, with lines breaking in the middle of the flag to accommodate the central image. Prayer flags are made from a wooden block print. The block is inked and the piece of cloth then laid across it and pressed with a roller to transfer the words and picture onto the cloth. With many prayer flags, there is a brief statement after the prayer of the benefits that will accrue from its flying.

Rma chen spom ra. (Machen Pomra). A Tibetan mountain god whose seat is A MYES RMA CHEN in A mdo (today the Qinghai region of China) where he is the chief SA BDAG, or “earth lord,” of the region. As with other pre-Buddhist Tibetan mountain deities, Rma chen spom ra was converted to Buddhism, in his case by PADMASAMBHAVA. The mountain was inserted into a Tibetan list of the twenty-four PĪṬHA from the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA, and is further understood to be a three-dimensional Cakrasaṃvara MAṆḌALA. The cult of Rma chen spom ra was introduced to central Tibet by TSONG KHA PA, a native of the region; he made Rma chen spom ra the chief DHARMAPĀLA of DGA’ LDAN monastery. That monastery used to remove his image from the monastery each night to a small shrine outside the walls: since the god is a layman and has a female consort, by the rules of the monastery he cannot sleep inside the walls. Later the practice was replaced with a formal daily request to the god to leave the monastery for the night. He is golden, wears a golden cuirass and a helmet, carries a lance with a flag, a sack made from the skin of a mongoose and rides a white horse. His consort is the sman mo (menmo) Gung sman ma (Gungmenma). The DGE LUGS sect considers the god Phying dkar ba (Chingkarwa) to be an emanation of Rma chen spom ra.

Rme ru snying pa. (Meru Nyingpa). A Tibetan monastery on the northeast side of the JO KHANG in the Tibetan capital of LHA SA; one of six institutions constructed by the Tibetan king RAL PA CAN, purportedly on the site where Thon mi Sambhoṭa (c. seventh century) developed the Tibetan script. The Indian master ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA refurbished the monastery and it was later converted to the DGE LUGS sect in the sixteenth century under the third DALAI LAMA, BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO. Me ru rnying pa is dedicated primarily to RDO RJE GRAGS LDAN, one of Tibet’s central protector deities and the spirit that possesses the medium of GNAS CHUNG, the state oracle of Tibet.

rnam thar. (namtar). In Tibetan, “complete liberation,” translating the Sanskrit VIMOKṢA. In the Tibetan context, rnam thar refers to a widespread literary genre of sacred biography or autobiography. As its translation suggests, the term usually indicates an emphasis on the stereotypically Buddhist aspects of the subject’s life, including his or her religious training, practice of meditation, and eventual liberation. Such works often incorporate elements of the fabulous and the fantastic and have parallels with the genre of hagiography. Three types of rnam thar are often enumerated: the “outer autobiography” (phyi’i rnam thar), which narrates the important events of daily life, including travels and meetings with prominent persons; the “inner autobiography” (nang gi rnam thar), which describes religious teachings received and relationships with teachers and disciples; and the “secret autobiography” (GSANG BA’I RNAM THAR), which describes religious experiences, with the author often writing from the perspective of a transcendental subject.

Rngog Blo ldan shes rab. (Ngok Loden Sherap) (1059–1110). A Tibetan scholar and translator, nephew of RNGOG LEGS PA’I SHES RAB. After studying under his uncle and participating in the “Council of THO LING” in GU GE, he left for India at the age of eighteen with a group of companions, including RWA LO TSĀ BA. He spent seventeen years pursuing the study of Buddhist texts, including the SŪTRAS, TANTRAS, and Buddhist sciences; his main teacher of PRAMĀṆA was the Kashmiri logician Bhavyarāja. At the age of thirty-five, he returned to Tibet to become the second abbot of GSANG PHU NE’U THOG monastery near LHA SA. He translated numerous works still found in the BKA’ ’GYUR and BSTAN ’GYUR sections of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. These include the PRAMĀṆAVINIŚCAYA of DHARMAKĪRTI, the five works of MAITREYA, and the major works of what would be dubbed the YOGĀCĀRA SVĀTANTRIKA school. He also composed a number of works himself, which do not seem to have survived. Along with RIN CHEN BZANG PO, he is often referred to as a “great translator” (lo chen); in later works sometimes simply as bdag nyid chen po (S. mahātma). Because of the influence of his translations and his own substantial writings, he is considered along with SA SKYA PAṆḌITA to be a founding figure of Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism.

Rngog Legs pa’i shes rab. (Ngog Lekpe Sherap) (fl. eleventh century). Tibetan scholar and translator venerated as an important founder of the BKA’ GDAMS sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The exact year of his year of birth is unclear, although it is known that he was born in the western Tibetan region of GU GE. According to Tibetan histories, he was one of twenty-one young scholars sent to India by the region’s king, YE SHES ’OD, to study Sanskrit, Buddhist philosophy, and TANTRA. He returned to Tibet and became an important disciple of the Bengali master ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA. He also studied under and collaborated with the famed translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO. Together with Atiśa and ’BROM STON RGYAL BA’I ’BYUNG GNAS, Ngog Legs pa’i shes rab is considered an important Bka’ gdams forefather. In 1073, he laid the foundations for an early monastic center for Buddhist learning, GSANG PHU NE’U THOG, south of LHA SA. He is also known as Rngog lo tsā ba (Ngog, the translator) and Rngog lo chung (Ngog, the junior translator) in distinction to Rin chen Bzang po, the great translator (lo chen).

Rnying ma. (Nyingma). In Tibetan, “Ancient,” the name of one of the four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The name derives from the sect’s origins during the “early dissemination” (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet and its reliance on translations of TANTRAs made during that period; this is in distinction to the new (GSAR MA) sects of BKA’ BRGYUD, SA SKYA, and DGE LUGS, all of which arose during the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) and make use of newer translations. The Rnying ma is thus “ancient” in relation to the new sects and only began to be designated as such after their appearance. The sect traces its origins back to the teachings of the mysterious figure of PADMASAMBHAVA, who visited Tibet during the eighth century and is said to have hidden many texts, called “treasures” (GTER MA), to be discovered in the future. In addition to the Buddhist canon accepted by all sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the Rnying ma adds another collection of tantras (the RNYING MA’I RGYUD ’BUM) as well as the discovered “treasure” (GTER MA) texts to their canonical corpus, works that in many cases the other sects regard as APOCRYPHA, i.e., not of Indian origin. Rnying ma identifies nine vehicles among the corpus of Buddhist teachings, the highest of which is known as ATIYOGA or, more commonly, the “great perfection” (RDZOGS CHEN). These teachings describe the mind as the primordial basis, characterized by qualities such as presence, spontaneity, luminosity, original purity, unobstructed freedom, expanse, clarity, self-liberation, openness, effortlessness, and intrinsic awareness. It is not accessible through conceptual elaboration or logical analysis. Rather, the primordial basis is an eternally pure state free from the dualism of subject and object, infinite and perfect from the beginning, and ever complete. The technique for the discovery of the ubiquitous original purity and self-liberation is to engage in a variety of practices designed to eliminate karmic obstructions, at which point the mind eliminates all thoughts and experiences itself, thereby recognizing its true nature. The rdzogs chen doctrine does not seem to derive directly from any of the Indian philosophical schools; its precise connections to the Indian Buddhist tradition have yet to be established. Some scholars have claimed an historical link and doctrinal affinity between rdzogs chen and the CHAN tradition of Chinese Buddhism, but the precise relationship between the two remains to be fully investigated. It is noteworthy that certain of the earliest extant rdzogs chen texts specifically contrast their own tradition with that of Chan. In comparison to the Dge lugs, Bka’ brgyud, and Sa skya, the Rnying ma (with some important exceptions, notably at the time of the fifth DALAI LAMA) remained largely uninvolved in state politics, both within Tibet and in foreign relations. Although they developed great monasteries, such as SMIN GROL GLING, RDZOGS CHEN, and RDO RJE BRAG, the Rnying ma also maintained a strong local presence as lay tantric practitioners (sngags pa) who performed a range of ritual functions for the community. The Rnying ma produced many famous scholars and visionaries, such as KLONG CHEN RAB ’BYAMS, ’JIGS MED GLING PA, and MI PHAM. In the nineteenth century, Rnying ma scholars played a key role in the so-called nonsectarian movement (RIS MED) in eastern Tibet, which produced many important new texts.

Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum. (Nyingme Gyübum). A compendium of the tantras and tantric exegetical literature of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism; considered apocryphal by the redactors of the Tibetan Buddhist canon (BKA’ ’GYUR), the collection thus represents an alternative or supplementary Rnying ma canon of tantric scriptures. Numerous editions are extant, including the SDE DGE edition (twenty-six volumes), the Gting kye (twenty-six volumes), the Skyi rong (thirty-seven volumes), the Tsham brag (forty-six volumes), and the Vairo rgyud ’bum (eight volumes). All but the last divide the tantras into the standard Rnying ma doxographical categories of MAHĀYOGA, ANUYOGA, and ATIYOGA, although within those categories differences emerge (the Vairo rgyud ’bum, for example, includes only atiyoga). Further editions include those recently discovered in Kathmandu and the so-called Waddell edition, a close relative to the Gting kye. All but the Sde dge are manuscripts. Catalogues of Buddhist texts were made as far back as the eighth century, but the roots of the Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum go back to the second propagation of Buddhism in Tibet (roughly the eleventh to thirteenth centuries). In opposition to the new translation sects (GSAR MA) that developed around newly imported tantras, adherents of the earlier translations coalesced into the Rnying ma, or “ancients,” sect. There is evidence that ’Gro mgon Nam mkha’ ’phel, the son of one of the earliest proponents of the Rnying ma sect, NYANG RAL NYI MA ’OD ZER, arranged a collection of early tantras in eighty-two volumes, which is no longer extant. The Vairo rgyud ’bum also may date as far back as the twelfth century, although its origins are unclear. When BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB edited the Tibetan Buddhist canon in the fourteenth century, he excluded the tantras found in the Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum on the basis that he could find no Indic originals with which to authenticate them. Bu ston’s position has been shown by Tibetan and Western scholars to have been partisan and inconsistent, and several tantras he excluded, such as the VAJRAKĪLAYA tantras, are accepted by other sects. Some excluded tantras do in fact appear to be early combinations of Indic and Tibetan material, while others, especially later revelatory scriptures (GTER MA) are entirely of Tibetan composition. An early version of the Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum that may have influenced later editions was that of RATNA GLING PA, no longer extant. The Tshams brag appears to have been commissioned by Tsham brag bla ma Ngag dbang ’brug pa (1682–1748) and was based on a still earlier Bhutanese version. GTER BDAG GLING PA’s edition later became the basis for that of ’JIGS MED GLING PA, in twenty-five volumes, which was produced in 1772, and is known as the Padma ’od gling edition. This in turn was the basis for the Sde dge block-print edition, carved between 1794 and 1798 and overseen by Dge rtse paṇ chen ’Gyur med mchog grub (1761–1829) of KAḤ THOG monastery.

Rnying ma pa. (Nyingmapa). A person affiliated with the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Roerich, George (Yuri). (1902–1960). George (Yuri) Nikolaevich Roerich was the son of Russian painter and mystic Nikolai Roerich and Helena Ivanova, a Theosophist who translated Madame Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine into Russian. Roerich spent much of his childhood traveling the world. The family traveled to Urga, in the far western region of Siberia, and their journeys took them to Ladakh as well as later to Europe and America. He studied Asian languages at the University of London, at Harvard University, and at Paris, where he studied with SYLVAIN LÉVI. Nikolai Roerich believed that ŚAMBHALA was located in Central Asia, perhaps in the Gobi Desert, and from 1925 to 1928 he led an expedition through Chinese Turkestan, Mongolia, and Tibet, in search of evidence of the hidden kingdom of śambhala, the supposed abode of the mahātmas, the spiritual masters of all religions. In 1928, George and his father established the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute in Darjeeling, India, moving later to the Kullu Valley in the western Himalayas. George Roerich was a scholar in Tibetology and Mongolian studies, later serving as the first director of the Buddhist Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow. Roerich played a significant role in reviving Russian Orientalism after returning from exile in 1957. Under Khrushchev’s government, Roerich was able to revive the Biblioteca Buddhica Series, which had ceased publication in 1937. He worked with Bidiya Dandaron and GUNAPALA PIYASENA MALALASEKERA (1899–1973) and succeeded in printing the first Russian version of the DHAMMAPADA in 1960. He died suddenly from a heart attack that same year. Among his publications, his most important for Buddhist studies was his translation (with the assistance of DGE ’DUN CHOS ’PHEL) of the DEB THER SNGON PO (“Blue Annals”) by ’Gos lo tsā ba Gzhon nu dpal.

rōhatsu sesshin. (臘八攝心). In Japanese, lit. “retreat on the eighth [day] of the last [month],” typically refering to an intensive week-long session of meditation (SESSHIN) that ends on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (rōhatsu), the reputed day of the Buddha’s enlightenment according to the East Asian calendar. The retreat begins with a ceremony on the first of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the morning of the eighth with another ceremony, which usually consists of a lecture by the abbot known as the rōhatu jōdo, and offerings made to an image of ŚĀKYAMUNI emerging from the mountains (shussan Shaka). (Cf. PRĀGBODHI[GIRI].) The rōhatsu sesshin performed in the SAṂGHA hall (SENGTANG) at ZEN monasteries often entails nonstop meditative practice with little or no sleep. See also YONGMAENG CHŎNGJIN.

Rong ston Smra ba’i seng ge. (Rongtön Mawe Senge) (1367–1449). A Tibetan Buddhist master, especially revered within the SA SKYA sect, also known as Rong ston Shes bya kun rig Shākya rgyal mtshan (Rongton Sheja Kunrik Shākya Gyaltsen). Born into a BON family in Rgyal rong (Gyarong) in eastern Tibet, Rong ston traveled to the famed BKA’ GDAMS institution of SANG PHU NE’U THOG, where he received ordination and studied all the major branches of Buddhist learning. He furthered his education under numerous masters across central Tibet and became renowned for his writings on PRAMĀṆA and PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ. His two most famous students were SHĀKYA MCHOG LDAN and GO BO RAB ’BYAMS PA BSOD NAMS SENG GE, both prolific scholars known for polemical exchanges with early defenders of TSONG KHA PA. Rong ston founded NA LAN DRA monastery in ’Phan yul (Penyul), north of LHA SA, which later became an important Sa skya institution.

Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po. (Rongzom Chökyi Sangpo) (1012–1088). An important figure in the renaissance of the RNYING MA tradition in Tibet. His collected works in two volumes include the Rdzogs pa chen po’i lta sgom (“Instructions on Cultivating the View of the Great Perfection”) (see RDZOGS CHEN) and a seminal work on SDOM GSUM (“three codes”) Dam tshig mdo rgyas. He was learned in the older traditions based on earlier translations and in the new traditions that spread after the return of the translators RIN CHEN BZANG PO and RNGOG LEGS PA’I SHES RAB. Traditionally, he is said to be the recipient of teachings deriving from Heshang MOHEYAN, VAIROCANA, and VIMALAMITRA––important figures of the early dissemination (SNGA DAR)––and it is said that upon meeting ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA after his arrival in Tibet, Atiśa considered him a manifestation of his teacher Nag po pa (Kṛṣṇapāda). Rong zom instructed many important figures of the day, including the translator MAR PA, prior to his departure for India.

rōshi. (老師). In Japanese, lit. “old master,” an honorific typically used with reference to a senior Buddhist teacher or monk, sometimes interpreted to be a contraction of the compound rōdaishūshi (“elder teacher of the tradition”). In the Japanese ZEN schools, rōshi is a technical term used to designate a senior teacher who is authorized to offer spiritual guidance and to hold higher ecclesiastical positions. Within the RINZAISHŪ, rōshi specifically refers to a Zen master who has received certification to teach (J. inka; C. YINKE) from another rōshi and who is thereafter authorized to sanction the awakening of others during private interviews known as sanzen. In the SŌTŌSHŪ, one becomes a rōshi through a shihō or series of ordination ceremonies with one’s teacher, which acknowledge mastery of the precepts and receipt of dharma transmission, so that the recipient is then authorized to teach and receive appointment as abbot of a Sōtō monastery. Despite its literal denotation, the term rōshi may also be used as an honorary appellation for older monks who are not yet teachers, or even to refer to monks in general. Thus the term rōshi is not necessarily used to imply old age but rather respect or veneration.

Ṛṣipatana. (P. Isipatana; T. Drang srong lhung ba; C. Xianren duochu; J. Sennin dasho; K. Sŏnin t’ach’ŏ 仙人墮處). In Sanskrit, lit. “Place where Holy Men Descend”; referring specifically to the Ṛṣipatana (P. Isipatana) MṚGADĀVA (Deer Park), located just northeast of the city of Vārāṇasī, where the Buddha spoke his first sermon, the “Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma” (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA; P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA); this site is also commonly known as the Deer Park (Mṛgadāva) in SĀRNĀTH. Explanations for the name Ṛṣipatana generally involve slight variations of a story set in the time of the previous buddha KĀŚYAPA. Just before the advent of Kāśyapa, five hundred PRATYEKABUDDHAs were said to be living in the hills of the park. When they heard of the coming of this Buddha, they flew into to the air, attained NIRVĀṆA, and manifested the fire element; the fire burned their material bodies, which fell as ashes to the park below. Thus, the site came to be called “the place where holy men descend.” Others argue that Ṛṣipatana is instead a variation of Ṛṣipattana, meaning “gathering place of holy men.”

rtsod grwa. (tsödra). In Tibetan, lit. “debating institution,” particularly a large DGE LUGS monastery where a central part of the monastic complex is the chos ra (chöra), literally “fenced enclosure for dharma,” hence “debate courtyard,” often an enclosed open space close to the main assembly hall where monks who study scriptures assemble to debate points of doctrine. The term mtshan nyid grwa tsang (tsenyi dratsang) is often used in place of rtsod grwa. The origins of the rtsod grwa may go back to the model of study followed in BKA’ GDAMS monasteries like GSANG PHU NE’U THOG, although such debate was also a part of the curriculum in the large monastic universities of northeast India, such as VIKRAMAŚĪLA, NĀLANDĀ, and ODANTAPURĪ. The rtsod grwa is sometimes contrasted with teaching institutes (BSHAD GRWA) and places given over to meditation (sgrub khang), although most monasteries have parts dedicated to those activities as well. The best-known rtsod grwa are the six great Dge lugs monasteries of pre-1959 Tibet where the calendar year had strict debating periods; debate was raised to a high level there, forming a central part of the curriculum. For a month during the winter, ’Jang phu monastery to the southwest of LHA SA was the site of an intensive debate called the ’Jang dgun chos (Janggünchö) attended by students from the major Dge lugs monasteries in the greater Lha sa area, where debate focused particularly on the PRAMĀṆAVĀRTTIKA of DHARMAKĪRTI.

rūpa. (T. gzugs; C. se; J. shiki; K. saek 色). In Sankrit and Pāli, “body,” “form,” or “materiality,” viz., that which has shape and is composed of matter. The term has two primary doctrinal denotations. More generally, rūpa refers to materiality, which serves as objects of the five sensory consciousnesses (VIJÑĀNA): visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile. This is the meaning of rūpa as the first of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), where it includes all the physical constituents of the person. The second sense is more limited; the colors and shapes that serve as objects of the visual consciousness (CAKṢURVIJÑĀNA) are designated as rūpa (and this accounts for the Chinese translation of the term as “color”); this second denotation is a subset of the first, and much more limited, referring only to the objects of the visual consciousness (CAKṢURVIJÑĀNA). It is in this second sense that rūpa is counted among the twelve ĀYATANA and eighteen DHĀTU. In formulations of the person as “name and form” (NĀMARŪPA), viz., an individual’s mental and physical constituents, “name” (NĀMA) subsumes the four mental aggregrates (SKANDHA) of sensation (VEDANĀ), perception (SAṂJÑĀ), conditioning factors (SAṂSKĀRA), and consciousness (VIJÑĀNA), while “form” (rūpa) refers to the materiality aggregate (RŪPASKANDHA), viz., the physical body. In some MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, rūpādi (“form, and so on”) means all dharmas because form is the first in the all-inclusive list of SAṂKLIṢṬA and VYAVADĀNA dharmas that are declared to be empty of an essential identity (SVABHĀVA).

rūpadhātu. (T. gzugs khams; C. sejie; J. shikikai; K. saekkye 色界). In Sanskrit and Pāli, the “realm of subtle materiality” or “form realm,” which together with the sensuous, or desire, realm (KĀMADHĀTU) and the immaterial, or formless, realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) constitute the three realms (TRAIDHĀTUKA) of SAṂSĀRA; the term is synonymous with rūpāvacara. The subtle-materiality realm is located above the heavens of the sensuous realm, which are situated on and above Mount SUMERU. This realm is divided into four meditative heavens associated with the four meditative concentrations of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA). These meditative heavens are places of rebirth in saṃsāra and are accessible only through mastery of a specific rūpāvacaradhyāna; the beings reborn there are classified as BRAHMĀ gods. Rebirth in these meditative heavens is the result of a specific kind of virtuous action, called an “immovable action” (S. ANIÑJYAKARMAN), in which the action has the definite and specific effect of bringing about rebirth in either the subtle-materiality or immaterial heavens. The immovable action that would result in rebirth in, for example, the second concentration of the subtle-materiality realm, is the achievement of that specific state of dhyāna as a human in the immediately preceding lifetime. This realm is called the “subtle-materiality realm” because the beings there are free of the desires of the sensuous realm yet retain at least some semblance of physicality, albeit extremely subtle, and have a vestigial attachment to form (RŪPA). Only three of the five sensory objects remain in the subtle-materiality realm: visual objects, auditory objects, and objects of touch; hence, the deities there have only three physical sense organs, of sight, hearing, and touch. Each of the four concentrations of the subtle-materiality realm has its own sublevels, with three levels in the the first heaven, three in the second, three in the third, and eight in the fourth, totaling seventeen. In each ascending level, the heaven is situated farther above Mount Sumeru, the height of its beings grows taller, and their life spans increase. Although the characteristics of the various heavens within the subtle-materiality realm are described in some detail, the greater emphasis in Buddhist literature is on the states of meditative absorption that characterize each, how they are achieved, and how they differ from each other, with particular attention paid to the highest of the four, the fourth dhyāna of the subtle-materiality realm. The first three absorptions are characterized by a feeling of physical rapture (PRĪTI) and mental ease or bliss (SUKHA), whereas the fourth and subtlest of these dhyānas is characterized by one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ) and equanimity (UPEKṢĀ). It is therefore considered an ideal state from which to achieve NIRVĀṆA: for example, when the Buddha entered PARINIRVĀṆA, his mind passed through each of the four subtle-materiality and immaterial absorptions before passing into nirvāṇa directly from the fourth absorption. The fourth absorption also received particular attention as a place of rebirth. While the first three concentrations each have only three divisions, the fourth concentration has eight, with the additional five reserved for those beings who become ĀRYA, or noble beings, through direct insight into the nature of reality. In the fourfold division of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA; viz., stream-enterer, once-returner, nonreturner, and ARHAT), the nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN) is defined as that noble person who is never again reborn in the sensuous realm. Such a person may be reborn in the subtle-materiality realm, however, and the upper five heavens of the fourth absorption are a special place of rebirth called the pure abodes (ŚUDDHĀVĀSA) that are reserved just for such beings. See also DEVA.

rūpakāya. (T. gzugs sku; C. seshen; J. shikishin; K. saeksin 色身). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “physical body,” a term that seems to have been used originally to refer to the physical body of the Buddha, as opposed to the body or corpus of the Buddha’s marvelous qualities, which were referred to as the DHARMAKĀYA. In the MAHĀYĀNA tradition, the rūpakāya refers to two specific visible forms of a Buddha: the NIRMĀṆAKĀYA, or “emanation body,” which is visible to ordinary beings, and the SAṂBHOGAKĀYA, or “enjoyment body,” which appears only to advanced bodhisattvas. When texts refer to the two bodies of a buddha, these refer to the rūpakāya and the dharmakāya. When texts refer to the three bodies (TRIKĀYA) of a buddha, these refer to the two types of the rūpakāya—the nirmāṇakāya and the saṃbhogakāya—along with the dharmakāya.

rūpaṃ śūnyatā śunyataiva rūpam. (T. gzugs stong pa’o stong pa nyid gzugs so; C. se jishi kong kong jishi se; J. shikisokuzekū kūsokuzeshiki; K. saek chŭksi kong kong chŭksi saek 色即是空空即是色). In Sanskrit, “form is emptiness, emptiness is form”; a famous line from PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ sūtras, known particularly from the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASŪTRA (“Heart Sūtra”). The line is widely commented upon in India, Tibet, and East Asia, but is generally presumed to describe the relationship between the objects of ordinary experience (represented by “form,” or RŪPA, the first of the five aggregates, or SKANDHA; see RŪPASKANDHA) and ultimate reality (here “emptiness,” or ŚŪNYATĀ). Some Sanskrit editions of the sūtra read the first phrase as “form is empty,” a reading reflected also in the Tibetan translation. In brief, the line might be interpreted to mean that the nature of the objects of ordinary experience is emptiness and that the ultimate truth cum emptiness is to be found in the objects of ordinary experience.

rūparāga. (T. gzugs la chags ba; C. se tan; J. shikiton; K. saek t’am 色貪). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “craving for existence in the subtle-materiality realm,” the sixth of ten “fetters” (SAṂYOJANA) that keep beings bound to SAṂSĀRA. Rūparāga is the desire to be reborn as a divinity (DEVA) in the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU) where beings are possessed of refined material bodies, are free from physical passions, and have minds that are perpetually absorbed in the rapture, ease, and equanimity of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). According to this interpretation, craving for subtle-material existence is permanently eliminated upon attaining the stage of an ARHAT, the fourth and highest degree of Buddhist sanctity (ĀRYAPUDGALA). Other schools of ABHIDHARMA use the name “free from attachment to form” (rūpavītarāga) to refer to a subset of nonreturners (ANĀGĀMIN) who eliminate all attachment to the subtle-materiality absorptions (RŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA) while in a sensuous-realm body, take rebirth in an immaterial state (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU), and go on to the BHAVĀGRA where they finally reach NIRVĀṆA.

rūpaskandha. (P. rūpakkhandha; T. gzugs kyi phung po; C. se yun; J. shikiun; K. saek on 色蘊). In Sanskrit, “materiality aggregate,” the first of the five aggregates (SKANDHA). It includes all material elements of the body, including the five sense objects of visual forms, sounds, tastes, odors, and tangible objects, and the five sense organs (INDRIYA).

rūpāvacaradhyāna. (P. rūpāvacarajhāna; T. gzugs na spyod pa’i bsam gtan; C. sejie ding; J. shikikaijō; K. saekkye chŏng 色界定). In Sanskrit, “meditative absorption associated with the subtle-materiality realm”; in some Buddhist schools, one of the two main classifications of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA), along with ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA, meditative absorption associated with the immaterial realm. In both cases, dhyāna refers to the attainment of single-pointed concentration of the mind on an object of meditation. The four absorptions of the subtle-materiality realm are characterized by an increasing attentuation of consciousness as one progresses from one stage to the next. By entering into any one of the dhyānas, the meditator temporarily allays the five hindrances (NĪVARAṆA) through the force of concentration, which puts in place the five constituents of absorption (DHYĀNĀṄGA). The five hindrances are (1) sensuous desire (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders the constituent of one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ); (2) malice (VYĀPĀDA), hindering physical rapture (PRĪTI); (3) sloth and torpor (STYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering applied thought (VITARKA); (4) restlessness and worry (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering mental ease and bliss (SUKHA); and (5) skeptical doubt (VICIKITSĀ), which hinders sustained thought (VICĀRA). These hindrances thus specifically obstruct one of the factors of absorption (dhyānāṅga), and once they are allayed the first subtle-materiality dhyāna will be achieved. In the first subtle-materiality dhyāna, all five constituents of dhyāna are present; as concentration deepens, these gradually fall away, so that in the second dhyāna, both types of thought vanish and only prīti, sukha, and ekāgratā remain; in the third dhyāna, only sukha and ekāgratā remain; and in the fourth dhyāna, concentration is now so rarified that only ekāgratā is left. Mastery of the fourth rūpāvacaradhyāna is required for the cultivation of the supranormal powers (ABHIJÑĀ) and also provides the foundation for the cultivation of the four dhyānas of the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). Mastery of any of the subtle-materiality absorptions can result in rebirth as a BRAHMĀ god within the corresponding plane of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU).

rūpāyatana. (T. gzugs kyi skye mched; C. sechu; J. shikisho; K. saekch’ŏ 色處). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “visual sense field,” i.e., visible form (RŪPA) as it occurs 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 form, the contact (SPARŚA) between the visual sense base (CAKṢURINDRIYA) and its corresponding visual sensory object (rūpa) leads to visual consciousness (CAKṢURVIJÑĀNA).

Rwa lo tsā ba Rdo rje grags. (Ra Lotsawa Dorje Drakpa) (1016–1128?). A prominent translator and YOGIN of the “later dissemination” (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. While still in his teens, he went to Nepal, where he received instructions and transmissions of a number of tantric cycles; he received the VAJRABHAIRAVA and VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ transmissions from the Nepalese master Bharo. Upon his return to Tibet, he attracted many students and received generous offerings from patrons, which he used for the support of the dharma; among his many projects was the rebuilding of BSAM YAS after it was destroyed by fire. He translated many tantric texts and is known especially for his translations of texts connected with YAMĀNTAKA. He also translated the KĀLACAKRATANTRA into Tibetan; the tradition deriving from his translation is known as the Rwa lugs. He was also a controversial figure, known to have little patience with those who opposed him; he is said to have used his tantric powers to “liberate” (i.e., kill) thirteen rivals, including according to some accounts, MAR PA’s son DAR MA SDO SDE.

Rwa lung. (Ralung). A principal monastic seat of the ’BRUG PA BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism, located southwest of LHA SA. The monastery was established in 1180 by the ’Brug pa founder GTSANG PA RGYA RAS YE SHES RDO RJE on a site consecrated by his master GLING RAS PA. According to traditional accounts, the site takes its name from a sacred goat whose milk was accidentally splashed on a rock. When the milk dried, the mantra oṃ aḥ hūṃ was found miraculously inscribed on the rock face. Gling ras pa took this as an important omen and called the site Rwa lung, lit. “Goat’s Omen.” Rwa lung was first directed by Gtsang pa rgya ras and later, beginning in the fifteenth century, by his successive reincarnations (SPRUL SKU) known as the ’BRUG CHEN INCARNATIONS.

Rwa sgreng. (Reting). A principal monastery of the BKA’ GDAMS sect in central Tibet, located in the region of ’Phan po north of LHA SA. The monastery was established in 1056 by ’BROM STON RGYAL BA’I ’BYUNG GNAS, foremost disciple of the Bengali master ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA. The institution was greatly expanded under the direction of ’Brom ston pa’s successors Rnal ’byor pa chen po and Po to ba (b. 1031), although it was sacked by Mongol invaders in 1240. In 1397, the eminent scholar TSONG KHA PA visited Rwa sgreng and experienced a vision of Atiśa, prompting him to compose his celebrated work LAM RIM CHEN MO there. The monastery subsequently became an important DGE LUGS institution. The monastery was severely damaged during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, but has since been partially rebuilt. From the time of the seventh DALAI LAMA, the abbots of Rwa sgreng became eligible to serve as regents during the interegnum between the Dalai Lama’s death and his reincarnation’s majority. The Rwa sgreng lamas served as regent two times: between the reigns of the eleventh and twelfth Dalai Lamas and between that of the thirteenth and fourteenth.

Ryōanji. [alt. Ryūanji] (龍安寺). In Japanese, “Dragon Peace Monastery,” located in northwest Kyōto and famous for its dry landscape garden (J. karesansui). Originally an estate of the Fujiwara clan, the site was converted into a ZEN temple in 1450 by order of the military leader Hosokawa Katsumoto (1430–1473), a vassal of the Ashikaga shōgun. He installed Giten Genshō, the fifth abbot of MYŌSHINJI, as its founding religious leader (see KAISAN); since that time the monastery has been affiliated with the Myōshinji branch of the RINZAISHŪ of Zen Buddhism. The site of bloody fighting during the Ōnin civil war (1467–1477), Ryōanji had to be rebuilt by Hosokawa Katsumoto’s son Hosokawa Masamoto between 1488 and 1499. Much of the monastery burned down in 1789 and was subsequently reconstructed. The monastery was a relatively obscure temple in the first half of the twentieth century, but the garden gained great fame in 1949 when it was used in a scene of Ozu Yasujirō’s film Banshun (Late Spring). Beginning in the 1950s, the garden began to be described as a “Zen garden” and has since come to be considered one of Japan’s cultural masterpieces. The garden has fifteen moss-covered boulders set in a sea of white pebbles. During the nineteenth century, the arrangement of the stones was called “tiger cubs crossing a river,” referring to a Chinese folktale, although many other interpretations have been offered in more recent decades. The temple grounds are the burial site of seven Hosokawa lords. Ryōanji was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Ryōben. [alt. Rōben] (良辨) (689–773). Founder of the Japanese Kegonshū (C. HUAYAN ZONG) during the Nara period (710–784) and the first abbot of TŌDAIJI, the major Kegon monastery and the headquarters of the KOKUBUNJI network of provincial temples. Ryōben originally studied the teachings of the Hossō (C. FAXIANG) school under Gien (d. 728) and resided at the monastery of Konshuji. Under the patronage of the emperor Shōmu (r. 724–749), Tōdaiji and its network of provincial temples was completed and the colossal NARA DAIBUTSU consecrated in 752; Ryōben was appointed the monastery’s first abbot and he formally established the Kegon school at the site. The Kegon school, one of the six major scholastic traditions of Nara Buddhism (see NARA BUDDHISM, SIX SCHOOLS OF), is said to date from 740, when Ryōben invited the Korean monk SIMSANG (J. Shinjō, d. c. 744), a disciple of FAZANG (643–712), to Konshōji to lecture on the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA to Emperor Shōmu. Simsang is therefore typically considered the first patriarch of the Kegon school and Ryōben the second.

ryōbu. (兩部). In Japanese, the “two groupings,” also known as ryōkai (“two realms”); referring to the TAIZŌKAI and KONGŌKAI systems and their related MAṆḌALAs in the esoteric tradition (MIKKYŌ) of Japan. See TAIZŌKAI and KONGŌKAI.

Ryōgen. (良源) (912–985). In Japanese, “Virtuous Fount”; a tenth-century exponent of the TENDAISHŪ during the Heian Period, also known posthumously as Jie Daishi. Born in Ōmi province (present-day Shiga prefecture), Ryōgen became the eighteenth appointed head (zasu) of the Tendai school in 966 and spent the last nineteen years of his life at ENRYAKUJI reforming monastic discipline, promoting doctrinal studies, and writing works of his own. He used strategic political alliances to help what was then a marginalized Tendai school become the most powerful religious institution in Japan; in addition, he raised funds both to reconstruct burned monastic buildings on HIEIZAN and to construct new monasteries within its precincts. In response to escalating disputes among regional monastic communities, Ryōgen also established in 970 the first permanent fighting force to defend and serve the interests of the Mt. Hiei monks. While this move appears to contradict a set of reforms he had previously issued that forbade his monks from carrying weapons, it seems that his first troops may actually have been hired mercenaries rather than “monk soldiers” (J. SŌHEI). Among Ryōgen’s disciples, perhaps the best known is GENSHIN (942–1017), the author of the influential ŌJŌ YŌSHŪ.

Ryōkan. (良寛) (1758–1831). In Japanese, “Virtuous Liberality”; Edo-period ZEN monk in the SŌTŌSHŪ, often known as Ryōkan Taigu (lit. Ryōkan, the Great Fool). Ryōkan was associated with a reformist group within the contemporary Sōtō monastic community that sought to restore formal meditative practice and the study of the writings of DŌGEN KIGEN. Ryōkan grew up in Echigo province (present-day Niigata prefecture), the son of a SHINTŌ priest. He became a novice monk at age seventeen at the nearby Sōtō monastery of Kōshōji and was ordained when he turned twenty-one under a Sōtō monk named Kokusen (d. 1791). He left for Kokusen’s monastery in the Bitchū province (present-day Okayama prefecture) and subsequently inherited the temple after Kokusen died. Soon afterward, however, he departed from the monastery, choosing instead to follow an itinerant lifestyle for the next several years. In 1804, he settled down for twelve years in a hut on Mt. Kugami, situated near his hometown. In 1826 Ryōkan met Teishin (d. 1872), a young nun who had been previously widowed, and the two remained close companions until Ryōkan’s death. Ryōkan eventually chose for himself a radically simple existence, living much of his life as a hermit, owning few possessions and begging for alms. He was well regarded for his love of children and his compassion for people from all social strata, including prostitutes. His expression of compassion was so extreme that he is even said to have placed lice inside his robes so they would not get cold and to have exposed his legs to mosquitoes while he slept. Ryōkan was a renowned calligrapher and poet (in both Chinese and vernacular Japanese). Most of his verses are written as thirty-one-syllable tanka, although he also wrote ninety chōka (long poems) and at least twenty other verses in nonstandard form. Ryōkan’s poetry addressed his common everyday experiences in the world in direct, humble terms. Ryōkan did not publish during his lifetime; rather, his verses were collected and published posthumously by his companion Teishin.

Ryōnin. (良忍) (1072–1132). In Japanese, “Virtuous Forbearance”; founder of the YŪZŪNENBUTSUSHŪ, an early PURE LAND school in Japan. Ryōnin traveled to HIEIZAN at the age of twelve to study the TENDAISHŪ (C. TIANTAI ZONG) teachings and was ordained at the age of fifteen. He retreated to Ōhara, a rural area north of Kyōto, in 1095, where he spent the next thirty years. There, Ryōnin at first studied the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA and the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA, but later concentrated on reciting the SUKHĀVATĪVYŪHASŪTRA. Through a revelation from the buddha AMITĀBHA that he received in 1117, Ryōnin began teaching his principle of YŪZŪNENBUTSU (perfect-interpenetration recitation of the Buddha’s name), in which every individual benefits from both his own and others’ chanting of the Buddha’s name (J. nenbutsu; C. NIANFO) through a mutual transfer of merit. In 1124, Ryōnin began traveling throughout Japan to spread the practice. His decision to begin teaching evokes Śākyamuni Buddha’s own life story: after realizing this principle, Ryōnin was content dwelling in solitude, but VAIŚRAVAṆA (J. Tabun tennō) appeared before Ryōnin to ask him to teach his revelation and disseminate the chanting practice among the people. As Ryōnin traveled around Japan, he carried with him a booklet in which he recorded the names of all the people who agreed to practice the chanting of the Buddha’s name everyday. Soon after beginning his campaign, Ryōnin received the imperial bell from the retired monarch Toba (r. 1107–1123), who also added his name to this register of adherents: both the bell and the register are now housed at Dainenbutsuji, the headquarters of the Yūzūnenbutsu school. Such a sign of imperial support for Ryōnin’s campaign attracted many new followers to his school. Ryōnin continued his evangelical efforts until his death in 1132 at Raigōin, one of the two cloisters (along with Jōrengein) that he established in Ōhara. Ryōnin also studied Buddhist “BRAHMĀ chanting” (J. bonbai; see C. FANBAI; K. pŏmp’ae) and founded his own lineage of bonbai chanting during his thirty years in Ōhara.