GLOSSARY OF RECURRENT TIBETAN AND SANSKRIT TERMS

Glossary of Recurrent Tibetan Terms (Except Proper Names)

Wylie Transliteration Phonetic English Translation or Defijinition of of Tibetan Terms Transliteration Tibetan Terms of Tibetan Terms ’brug pa bka’ brgyud Drukpa Kagyü a major branch within the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism ’byung ba jungwa element, mostly referring to the fijive elements ’byung ba lnga jungwa nga fijive elements: earth, water, fijire, wind, and space ’byung rtsis jungtsi ‘elemental calculation,’ also known as ‘Chinese divination’ or nag rtsis ’cham cham ritual mask dance ’chi ltas chitä signs of death, death omens ’chi med chime deathlessness ’chi med srog thig chime sogtik ‘Life drop of deathlessness,’ name of a longevity practice of the Nyingma tradition of Dudjom Rinpoche ’chi med tshe yi dngos chime tseyi the siddhi of longevity and grub ngödrup immortality ’khyams pa khyampa ‘wandering,’ a term used to describe the bla when lost; also vagrants that wander around without any fijixed seasonal abode ’pho ba lung powa lung name of an empowerment and a practice regarding the transfer- ence of consciousness at death to a higher realm of existence ’phreng ba trenga rosary am chi amchi Mongolian-derived word for a or or Tibetan medical practitioner, em chi emchi widely used across the Himala- yas bad kan bekan one of the three nyes pa, often translated as ‘phlegm’ Baidūrya dkar po Baidūrya karpo ‘White Beryl,’ the brief title of Desi or Sangye Gyatso’s work on astrol- Baiḍūr dkar po Baidūr karpo ogy, completed in 1685 318 glossary

Table (cont.) Wylie Transliteration Phonetic English Translation or Defijinition of of Tibetan Terms Transliteration Tibetan Terms of Tibetan Terms Baidūrya sngon po Baidūrya ngonpo ‘Blue Beryl,’ the brief title of a or medical Baiḍūr sngon po Baidūr ngonpo commentary of the Rgyud bzhi by Desi Sangye Gyatso, com- pleted in 1688 bar chad barchä obstacle, misfortune bar chad lam sel barchä lamsel ‘Clearing the obstacles of the path,’ name of a prayer text bar do bardo intermediate state (usually, between death and rebirth) bdud rtsi thun dütsi tüntsam ‘auspicious conjunction of time,’ mtshams the astrological calculated ‘nectar-hour’ indicating a favourable time for medical treatment bka’ brgyud Kagyü one of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools bla la the subtle life-essence or ‘soul,’ also one of the fijive factors in Tibetan astrology; see appendix 1 bla ’gugs tshe ’gugs lakug tsekug name of a ritual to summon lost life-forces, especially bla bla ’khyams pa la khyampa ‘wandering bla,’ a term used to describe the loss of bla bla g.yu layu turquoise stone bla gnas lanä the thirty places in the body where the bla moves through according to the moon cycle, also sacred landscapes, objects, or persons embodying the bla; see appen- dix 1 bla gza’ laza ‘life-essence day,’ a favourable day in the ‘vitality table’ bla ma lama spiritual teacher and ritual master; see Sanskrit guru bla rtsa latsa special method of pulse analysis to prognosticate the life-span bla tshe latse a term indicating both the subtle life-essence and the life-span bod pa pöpa generally translated as ‘Tibetan,’ but actually denotes diffferent people for diffferent groups of Tibetans