Samye Library
Buddhist reference Materials for everyone
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Great Masters
སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ཨོ་རྒྱན།
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist master of both the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages. After leaving Tibet he settled at Nagi Gompa hermitage in Nepal. Urgyen Rinpoche was considered one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of his time.
Last updated on March 20, 2023
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Terminology
མི་དགེ་བ་བཅུ།
The Ten Nonvirtues or Unwholesome Activities are actions of body, speech, and mind that are motivated by negative emotions and that cause harm to others and to oneself. Avoiding these ten nonvirtues is the practice of ethics (Skt. Śīla).
Last updated on March 15, 2023
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Deities
སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་བླ།
Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabha is the proper name of the buddha of healing, the Medicine Buddha. He is renowned for his 12 great aspirations made to benefit beings. Several of these vows specifically promise relief from suffering due to illness and poor health. Throughout the Mahayana Buddhist world practitioners recite his name or dhāraṇī to protect against sickness and disease.
Last updated on March 10, 2023
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Dakinis, Chokling Tersar
རྡོ་རྗེ་སྡེར་མོ།
Vajra-Claw Dakini (Dorjé Dermo) is a wrathful activity ḍākinī whose dhāraṇī is recited to protect practitioners from obstacles and terrifying death and to bring about both worldly and spiritual accomplishments.
Last updated on March 3, 2023
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Terminology
ལོ་གསར།
Losar literally means 'New Year' in Tibetan. Tibetans celebrated a New Year harvest festival prior to the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. Many elements of the ancient harvest festival remain, however Buddhist rituals easily incorporated these ancient practices.
Last updated on February 3, 2023
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Great Masters, Lineages
མི་ལ་རས་པ།
Jetsün Milarepa is one of the most famous yogis in the history of Tibet. His life story is an inspiration for laypeople and monastics alike. His namtar relates the story of a great sinner who attains enlightenment in one lifetime. Milarepa is considered one of the patriarchs of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Last updated on January 25, 2023
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Great Masters
ལྷ་བཙུན་ནམ་མཁའ་འཇིགས་མེད།
Lhatsün Chenpo Namkha Jikmé revealed a cycle known as The Life-Force Practice of the Vidyādharas (Rigdzin Sokdrup) received in a pure vision while he was in retreat in Sikkim. This cycle includes the smoke-offering purification practice of Riwo Sangchö.
Last updated on January 25, 2023
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Terminology
རྣམ་ཐར་སྒོ་གསུམ།
The three doors or gateways of liberation are taught in both foundational Buddhism and in the Mahayana. A practitioner is instructed to meditate on three realities or features. Correct penetration of these factors leads to complete liberation as all clinging, to reality, to the path, and to the result, is relinquished.
Last updated on January 24, 2023
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Terminology
ས་བཅུ།
The ten bhūmis literally mean the “grounds” or levels of bodhisattvas in which the qualities of their training unfold. With the attainment of the tenth bhūmi, one arrives at and eventually reaches perfection at complete enlightenment.
Last updated on January 23, 2023
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