Prayer Wheel A prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel (འཁོར་ལོ།, ‘khor lo) on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or coarse cotton, widely used in Tibet and areas where Tibetan culture is predominant. Traditionally, a mantra is written in Ranjana script or Tibetan script, on the outside of the wheel. The mantra Om mani padme hum is most...
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist Zhenyan ( 真言, “true word”, “mantra“) tradition from 716 to 720 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It employed mandalas,...
Vajrayana Vajrayāna, Vajrayana, Mantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Tibetan Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism are terms referring to the various Buddhist traditions of Tantra and “Secret Mantra“, which developed in medieval India and spread to Tibet, Bhutan, and East Asia. In Tibet, Buddhist Tantra is termed Vajrayāna, while in China it is generally known as Tángmì Hanmi (“Chinese Esotericism”) or Mìzōng (“Esoteric Sect”), in Pali it is...
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also Indo-Tibetan Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet where it is the dominant religion. It is also found in the regions surrounding the Himalayas (such as Bhutan, Ladakh, and Sikkim), much of Chinese Central Asia, the Southern Siberian regions such as Tuva, as well as...
Endless Knot The endless knot or eternal knot (śrīvatsa; 盘长结; 盤長結; pánzhǎng jié; དཔལ་བེའུ། dpal be’u; Түмэн өлзий) is a symbolic knot and one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. It is in important symbol in both Jainism and Buddhism. It is an important cultural marker in places significantly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism such as Tibet,...
Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་) is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives as a refugee in India. See Also: Dalai Lama...
Ghosts In Tibetan Culture There is a widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist religion as they were in Indian Buddhism, occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after...
Kangyur The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur (‘The Translation of the Word’) and the Tengyur or Tanjur (Tengyur) (‘Translation of Treatises’). The Tibetan Buddhist Canon Main article: Tibetan Buddhist canon In addition to earlier foundational...