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Tibet / China: 'The Fifth Dalai Lama's Descent from the Pure Lands' (18th century). Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), was a political and religious leader in seventeenth-century Tibet. Ngawang Lozang Gyatso was the ordination name he had received from Panchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen who was responsible for his ordination.<br/><br/> He was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet, and is frequently referred to as the 'Great Fifth Dalai Lama'.
Guan Yu (-220 CE), style name Yunchang, was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.<br/><br/> As one of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan's true life stories have largely given way to fictionalised ones, most of which are found in the historical novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' or passed down the generations, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been lionised. Guan is respected as an epitome of loyalty and righteousness.<br/><br/> Guan was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still worshipped by many Chinese people today, especially in southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among many overseas Chinese communities. He is a figure in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to Guan are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.
Bon or Bon Po (Bonpo) is a sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It developed in the eleventh century onward and established its scriptures mainly from <i>terma</i> (hidden treasures) and visions by tertons (discoverers of ancient texts) such as Loden Nyingpo.
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism.<br/><br/> Buddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche ordered the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen to have 108 temples built all over the Himalayas. Doing so would aid in subduing a demoness and allow for the construction of Samye Temple in neighbouring Tibet.
Jarāmaraṇa is Sanskrit and Pāli for 'old age' (jarā) and 'death' (maraṇa). In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of saṃsāra.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Mandarava is, along with Yeshe Tsogyal, one of the two principal consorts of Padmasambhava and is considered a female guru-deity in Buddhism. Mandarava, born a princess in Mandi, Himachel Pradesh, India in the 8th Century CE, renounced her royal birthright in order to practice the Dharma, and became a fully realized spiritual adept and great teacher.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
The Bhavacakra (Sanskrit; Devanagari: भवचक्र; Pali: bhavacakka) or 'Wheel of Becoming' is a symbolic representation of continuous existence in the form of a circle, used primarily in Tibetan Buddhism.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.
Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo (Tibetan: ཕག་མོ་གྲུ་པ་རྡོ་རྗེ་རྒྱལ་པོ; Wylie: phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po), was one the three main disciples of Gampopa Sonam Rinchen who established the Dagpo Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism; and a disciple of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158) one of the founders of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.<br/><br/> He was the elder brother of Kathog Dampa Deshek (1122-1192), who founded Kathog monastery and the Kathog branch of the Nyingma school.
Kalachakra (Sanskrit: Kālacakra) is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means 'time-wheel' or 'time-cycles'.<br/><br/> The Kalachakra tradition revolves around the concept of time (kāla) and cycles (chakra): from the cycles of the planets, to the cycles of human breathing, it teaches the practice of working with the most subtle energies within one's body on the path to enlightenment.<br/><br/> The Kalachakra deity represents a Buddha and thus omniscience. Since Kalachakra is time and everything is under the influence of time, Kalachakra knows all. Whereas Kalachakri or Kalichakra, his spiritual consort and complement, is aware of everything that is timeless, untimebound or out of the realm of time. In Yab-yum, they are temporality and atemporality conjoined. Similarly, the wheel is without beginning or end.
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the other three being the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug.<br/><br/> 'Nyingma' literally means 'ancient', and is often referred to as the 'school of the ancient translations' or the 'old school' because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century.<br/><br/> The Tibetan script and grammar was actually created for this endeavour. In modern times the Nyingma lineage has been centered in Kham in eastern Tibet.
Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर lit. 'Lord who looks down') is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism.<br/><br/> The original name for this bodhisattva was Avalokitasvara. The Chinese name for Avalokitasvara is Guānshìyīn Púsà (觀世音菩薩), which is a translation of the earlier name 'Avalokitasvara Bodhisattva'. This bodhisattva is variably depicted as male or female, and may also be referred to simply as Guānyīn in certain contexts.<br/><br/> In Sanskrit, Avalokitesvara is also referred to as Padmapāni ('Holder of the Lotus') or Lokeśvara ('Lord of the World'). In Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara is known as Chenrezig, སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ (Wylie: Spyan ras gzigs) and is said to be incarnated in the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa and other high lamas.<br/><br/> Mahāyāna Buddhism relates Avalokiteśvara to the six-syllable mantra: 'oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ'. Due to his association with this mantra, in Tibetan Buddhism Avalokiteśvara is also called Shadakshari, which means 'Lord of the Six Syllables'. Recitation of this mantra along with prayer beads, is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism.
Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan: Rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in the Mahayana tradition who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the 'mother of liberation', and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tarani Bosatsu, and less well known as Tuoluo in Chinese Buddhism.<br/><br/> Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.
In the practice of the Guhyasamāja Tantra, the central deity of the Guhyasamāja is blue-black Akshobhyavajra, a form of Akshobhya, one of the five transcendent lords (pañcatathāgata).<br/><br/> Akshobhyavajra holds a vajra and bell (ghanta) in his first two hands, and other hands hold the symbols of the four other transcendent lords: wheel of Vairocana and lotus of Amitabha in his right hands, and gem of Ratnasambhava and sword of Amoghasiddhi in his left hands.<br/><br/> The maṇḍala consists of thirty-two deities in all.
Mikyö Dorje (1507–1554), also Mikyo Dorje, was the eighth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.<br/><br/> Mikyö Dorje was born in Satam, Kham. According to the legend, he said after being born: 'I am Karmapa', and was recognized by Tai Situpa. In this case there was another child from Amdo who also claimed to be Karmapa. Gyaltsab Rinpoche, the regent of the region, thought of a test to decide who was the real Karmapa. This was the first time that a test was used to determine a reincarnation. Later this became the standard method for all major lamas.<br/><br/> Mikyö Dorje left numerous Buddhist writings on Madhyamaka, Abidharma, Tantric and Mahamudra texts, poetry (verses of profound wisdom) and even linguistics. He introduced special Guru yoga in four sessions, which is very basic for Karma Kagyu today. He was also a skillful painter and metal craftsman producing many famous thangkas and statues.
Onpo Lama Rimpoche was the fourth abbot of Taklung Gompa (Taklung stag-lung, Taklung Yarthang Monastery, Pel Taklug Tang), a Kagyu Buddhist monastery about 120 km north of Lhasa.<br/><br/> The monastery was founded in 1180 (or 1178) CE by Taklung Thangpa Tashi Pal (1142–1210), on a site previously inhabited by a famous Kadampa lama, Potawa, who was a disciple of Dromton (1005–1064), Atisha's chief disciple. It is the main seat of the Taklung Kagyu, one of the four chief schools of the Kagyu sect.<br/><br/> Through the efforts of Taklung Thangpa Tashi Pal, and his immediate successors, the number of monks eventually increased to 7,000. The main temple known as the Tsuklakhang (the Jokhang of Taklung) was completed in 1228.
Padmasambhava, (Sanskrit Padmakara; Tibetan Pemajungné; Chinese Liánhuāshēng) or 'Lotus Born', was a guru from Oḍḍiyāna (modern Swat) who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century.<br/><br/> In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru') or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).<br/><br/> He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as a second Buddha. He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism.<br/><br/> Buddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche ordered the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen to have 108 temples built all over the Himalayas. Doing so would aid in subduing a demoness and allow for the construction of Samye Temple in neighbouring Tibet.
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism.<br/><br/> Buddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche ordered the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen to have 108 temples built all over the Himalayas. Doing so would aid in subduing a demoness and allow for the construction of Samye Temple in neighbouring Tibet.
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism.<br/><br/> Buddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche ordered the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen to have 108 temples built all over the Himalayas. Doing so would aid in subduing a demoness and allow for the construction of Samye Temple in neighbouring Tibet.
Kalachakra (Sanskrit: Kālacakra) is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means 'time-wheel' or 'time-cycles'.<br/><br/> The Kalachakra tradition revolves around the concept of time (kāla) and cycles (chakra): from the cycles of the planets, to the cycles of human breathing, it teaches the practice of working with the most subtle energies within one's body on the path to enlightenment.<br/><br/> The Kalachakra deity represents a Buddha and thus omniscience. Since Kalachakra is time and everything is under the influence of time, Kalachakra knows all. Whereas Kalachakri or Kalichakra, his spiritual consort and complement, is aware of everything that is timeless, untimebound or out of the realm of time. In Yab-yum, they are temporality and atemporality conjoined. Similarly, the wheel is without beginning or end.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Dorje Pakmo (pronounced 'Dorje Phakmo'; Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī, a form of Vajrayogini; Wylie Tibetan script transliteration: Rdo-rje phag-mo; English: 'The Diamond Sow'), also known as Sera Kandro, is believed to be the reincarnation of the consort of the wrathful deity Demchok (Heruka).<br/><br/> She is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third-highest ranking person in the Lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China.<br/><br/> Her seat, Samding (literally, 'the temple of soaring meditation') was in many ways unique in that about half of the inhabitants were monks and the other half were nuns, while the head of the monastery with all its branches was (and still is) a woman. It is a Geluk Ani gompa (or nunnery) - which also housed some monks - and is built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yamdrok Tso.