Ani / ani-la: Tibetan term for nun.
Bardo: Tibetan Buddhist term for the intermediate state or gap experienced between death and the next rebirth. Tibetan Buddhists believe this bardo can take up to 49 days; so prayers and other ceremonies are performed every day for 49 days after death. The term bardo also refers to the gap or space experienced between any two states in which the old reality is lost and a new reality has not formed yet.
Bodhisattva: enlightenment-being who has vowed to dedicate his/her life to the sake of all beings.
Butter tea: traditional Tibetan drink made by boiling strong tea and adding milk, yak butter, and some salt. Traditionally Tibetan people have Tibetan butter tea and tsampa roasted
barley flour) together for breakfast.
Chuba: ankle-length, crossover robe that is adjusted at the waist with a long sash and pulled up to different degrees according to sex, rank, or region.
Dakini: a “sky dweller” or “sky dancer,” the most sacred aspect of the feminine principle in Tibetan Buddhism, embodying both humanity and divinity in feminine form. The dakini appears during transitions: moments between worlds, between life and death, in visions between sleep and waking, in cemeteries and charnel grounds.
Divination: Mo, or dice divination, is an ancient predictive technique that is part of the Tibetan culture. The Tibetans consult Mo whenever making important decisions about their health, their family, property, personal matters, spiritual practice, friends and relationships, business, and travel. The answers of a divination come in the form of statements, advice, and instructions regarding practices or prayers suggested. While there are different forms of Mo divination, the form the ngakpa uses in this book (two six-sided dice with Tibetan letters on) is described in the book Mo: The Tibetan Divination System (2000) by Jamgon Mipham (published by Snowlion).
Dri: A female yak
Dzomo: A female crossbred between a Tibetan yak and a domestic cow.
Gen / Gen-la: Tibetan word for teacher.
Karma dakini: a specific dakini appearing to the Buddhist practitioner to mirror one’s delusions, energize one’s meditation practice, and activates one’s realization.
Khata: traditional ceremonial scarf made of silk. The khata symbolizes purity and compassion and is presented on many ceremonial occasions, including temple visits, births, weddings, and the arrival or departure of guests. Most khatas are white, symbolizing purity, auspiciousness, and prosperity. There are also khatas in other colors: blue referring to the sky, green symbolizing water, red representing the space of protective deities, and yellow signifies the earth.
Khatvanga staff: ritual instrument held in the crook of the left arm of advanced Tantric Buddhist practitioners during ceremonies. The staff symbolizes the triumph of wisdom
over illusion.
Kora: transliteration of the Tibetan word “Skor ra,” meaning “circumambulation” or “revolution.” The kora is performed by the pilgrim walking around the sacred site in the circumambulation in a clockwise direction, according to the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. By circumambulating with the correct motivation, a person can purify their negative karma and can generate the seeds of enlightenment.
-la: the suffix “la” is a term of respect which can be affixed to the end of a title, as in ani-la (respected nun) or gen-la (respected teacher) or can be affixed to the end of a personal name, as in Ghedun-la.
Lama: Tibetan term used for a respected monk or high teacher.
Mala: a string of 108 prayer beads, one for each of the delusions (or worries) that afflict human life.
Mani stones: stone plates or rocks that are carved with the Tibetan Buddhism six-word mantra Om Mani Padme Hum or other mantras. Mani stones, or Jewel stones, as they are
called, dot the entire Tibetan landscape. They are placed near monasteries, beside villages, along roadsides, along rivers and along long walls.
Mantra: phrases of words and syllables recited as an aid to concentration on a beneficial state of mind, in order to protect the mind from negative states. Mantras are spoken aloud or sounded internally in one's thoughts, and can be repeated continuously for some time or just sounded once. In the Buddhist practice, specific mantras like the Tara mantra (Om Tare Tu Tare Ture Soha) or the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion (Om Mani Padme Hung) can be used to bring the mind greater compassion, better clarity or deeper understanding.
Momos: a type of steamed dumpling with a meat or vegetable filling.
Prostration: placing your body flat on the ground, face down, in a submissive position. Prostrations are often performed before meditation or teachings, and believed to be a eans of purifying one’s body, speech and mind.
Sentient beings: term used in Buddhism to refer to the totality of living, conscious beings.
Sky burial: technically not a burial but a death ritual which entails taking the body to a designated site in the mountains, the charnel grounds, where it is left to feed vultures. The
custom is known as “jhator” in Tibetan, which means “giving alms to the bird.” The Buddhists in Tibet believe that the soul is immortal and death is only the beginning of a new life. Instead of letting the body vanish naturally, it is better for almsgiving to another kind of life and liberates the soul from the body, enabling it to gain entry into rebirth.
Tara: female Bodhisattva, known as the “Mother of Liberation,” and representing the virtues of success in work and achievements.
Thangka: Tibetan silk painting with embroidery, depicting a Buddhist deity, famous scene, or mandala.
Tsampa: ground-up, roasted barley flour. Traditionally, the tsampa is mixed with tea and a little butter from yak’s milk.
Thenthuk: hand-pulled noodle soup whereby the dough is not modelled into noodles, but is flattened and added only when the vegetables and meat are well boiled.
Weisang: ritual of burning branches of pine, cypress, and juniper trees to pray for blessings and offering gifts to gods. Weisang is done on many occasions, such as celebration of birth, wedding and harvest, warding off attacks by enemies, ensuring safety on a road trip, fending off illnesses, eliminating any evil, purify the air and attracting good luck.
Yak: long-haired, short-legged domesticated cattle, probably domesticated in Tibet and introduced wherever there are people at elevations of 4,000–6,000 meters (14,000–20,000 feet) in the Himalayas - China, Central Asia, Mongolia and Nepal.