Absolute Bodhicitta The mind that has become completely pure through accomplishing all the levels of training and which, consequently, sees the na-ture of reality directly, without question or wavering.
Amygdala A small, almond-shaped group of neurons that determine the emotional content of experience.
Application Bodhicitta The path of practice aimed at awakening other people to their full potential. See also Bodhicitta, Absolute Bodhicitta, Aspira-tion Bodhicitta
Aspiration Bodhicitta Cultivating the heartfelt desire to raise all sentient beings to the level at which they completely recognize their true nature. See al-so Bodhicitta, Absolute Bodhicitta, Application Bodhicitta
Attachment Fixed mental and emotional formations about the way things are or should be. See also Dzinpa
Aversion The tendency to avoid or eliminate experiences considered un-pleasant.
Awareness The capacity to recognize, register, and, in a sense “catalogue” experience. See also Pure Awareness, Conditioned Awareness
Bare Attention A light, gentle awareness of the present moment.
Bindu Sanskrit (Tibetan: tigle): Drops or dots, of vital energy propelled through the channels. See also Nadi, Prana
Bodhicitta Sanskrit: The “mind of awakening or “awakened mind,” a compound term that combines two Sanskrit terms, bodhi—which comes from the Sanskrit root verb budh, which may be translated as “to become awake, to be come aware, to notice, or to understand” and the word citta, which is usual-ly translated as “mind” or sometimes as “spirit” in the sense of “inspiration.” See also Absolute Bodhicitta, Aspiration Bodhicitta
Buddha Sanskrit: One who is awake to his or her full potential. As a formal title, it usually refers to Gautama Siddhartha.
Buddha Nature The heart or essence of all living beings; an unlimited po-tential of wisdom, capability, loving-kindness, and compassion.
Capability The power to raise ourselves and others from any condition of suffering.
Clarity A fundamental awareness that allows us to recognize and distin-guish among phenomena, it is also a basic characteristic of buddha nature, in-separable from emptiness.
Compassion The aspiration to relieve everyone from the fundamental pain and suffering that stems from not knowing his or her basic nature and the effort we put forth toward achieving relief from that fundamental pain.
Conditioned Awareness A perspective colored by mental and emotional habits arising from ignorance, desire, aversion, and grasping. - See also Three Poisons, Tanha, Trishna, Dzinpa
Desire A craving to acquire or keep whatever we determine as pleas-ant.
Drenpa Tibetan: To become conscious. See also Bare Attention, Mindful-ness.
Dukkha (pronounced doo-ka) Pali/Sanskrit: A general term for suffering, both extreme and subtle.
Dzinpa Tibetan: Grasping or fixation. See also Attachment Emptiness A rough translation of the Sanskrit shunyata and the Tibetan tongpa-nyi. An in-finitely open space or background that allows for anything to appear, change, disappear, or reappear.
Enlightenment Awakening to the light or potential within us. See also Buddha Nature
Four Great Rivers of Suffering Birth, aging, illness, and death.
Four Noble Truths The name applied to the first set of teachings given by the Buddha after he attained enlightenment, which form the basis of all Bud-dhist traditions. See also Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
Gom Tibetan: The common term for meditation; literally, “to become fa-miliar with.”
Gross Continuous Impermanence The kinds of changes resulting from causes and conditions that are readily observable. See also Impermanence, Subtle Impermanence
Hippocampus A neuronal structure in the brain involved in forming ver-bal and spatial aspects of memory.
Ignorance Mistaking of distinctions such as “self”, “other”, “object,” “good,” “bad,” and other relative distinction as independently, inherently exit-ing. See also Aversion, Desire, and Three Poisons
Impermanence The constant change arising from the ceaseless interplay of multiple causes and conditions. See also Gross Continuous Impermanence and Subtle Impermanence
Khorlo Tibetan: The Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit term Samsara. Of-ten interpreted literally as spinning around a wheel.
Kshatriya Sanskrit: The “warrior” class of the Indian caste system.
Lhaktong Tibetan: Literally, “superior seeing” or “seeing beyond.” A medi-tation technique aimed at developing insight into the nature of reality. See also Vipashyana
Limbic system A layer of the brain primarily responsible for distinguish-ing between pain and pleasure, determining emotional responses, and provid-ing a foundation for learning and memory.
Loving-Kindness The desire for everyone to achieve happiness in this life and the effort we put forth to achieve that goal.
Mala Sanskrit: A set of beads used to count repetitions of
Mantra Sanskrit: Special combinations of ancient syllables that form a sort of prayer or invocation.
Meditative Awareness Approaching thoughts and emotions as . objects of focus through which we can achieve a state of mental stability.
Mindfulness The practice of gently welcoming thoughts, emotions, and sensations. See also Bare Attention, Drenpa
Nadi Sanskrit (Tibetan: tsa): The channels through which the energy of the body moves. See also Prana, Bindu.
Natural Suffering The pain and discomfort we can't avoid in life, birth, aging, illness, and death, as well as natural calamities and un unexpected events such as the loss of a friend or loved one. See also Four Great Rivers of Suffering and Self-Created Suffering.
Neurons Sensory and nervous system cells.
Nirvana Sanskrit: Realization, through direct experience, of our inherent-ly free nature. See also Nyang-day
Nyang-day Tibetan: The Tibetan synonym for the Sanskrit term nirvana. Often translated as a state of complete bliss, free from suffering. See also Nirva-na
Optic Nerve The group of nerve cells that sends messages from a visual system to the visual cortex.
Ordinary Awareness The process of simply noticing phenomena without any express purpose or intention.
Pervasive Suffering The nagging, often unconscious discomfort experi-enced through moment by moment fluctuations in experience.
Phurba Tibetan: A ritual knife representing the stability of awareness.
Prana Sanskrit (Tibetan: lung): The energy that keeps things moving throughout the body. See also Bindhu, Nadi.
Puja A religious ritual of devotion
Pure Awareness unaffected by causes and conditions or the effects of the Three Poisons. See also Clarity, Conditioned Awareness, Boundless Wisdom
Samsara Sanskrit (Tibetan: khorlo): Literally, a wheel. In Buddhist terms, the wheel of suffering; spinning around in the same direction, expecting a dif-ferent result.
Self-Created Suffering The mental and emotional constructs that we de-velop in response to natural suffering.
Shamatha Sanskrit: Abiding in calmness; a meditation method for set-tling the mind. See also Shinay
Shinay Tibetan: Literally, abiding in peace or calmness. A meditation technique aimed at allowing the mind to rest. See also Shamatha
Stimulus The object of perception.
Stupa Sanskrit: A Buddhist religious monument chiefly representing the enlightened mind of the Buddha, and often including relics of great Buddhist masters.
Subtle Impermanence Changes that occur on a level frequently below that of conscious awareness or perception.
Suffering of Change The discomfort experienced from attachment to pleasurable experience.
Suffering of Suffering The immediate and direct experience of any sort of pain or discomfort.
Sutras Sanskrit: Conversations considered to be actual exchanges be-tween the Buddha and his students.
Tanha Pali: Craving, the cause of suffering. See also Trishna and Dzinpa
Thalamus A neuronal structure located near the center of the brain, where many of the messages from the senses are sorted before send to other ar-eas of the brain.
Three Poisons Habits relating to our experience through ignorance, de-sire, and aversion that cloud or “poison” awareness.
Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma A progressive set of insights into the nature of experience that the Buddha delivered at different stages of his teaching career.
Trishna Sanskrit: Thirst, the Sanskrit term for the cause of suffering.
Vipashyana Sanskrit: Literally, “superior seeing” or “seeing beyond.” A meditation technique aimed at developing insight into the nature of reality. See also Lhaktong
Visual cortex The area of the brain that translates visual messages re-ceived through the optic nerve.