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Glossary

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Lam Rim

(tib.: lam rim) Usually translated as Graduated Path or Steps of the Path. It is a special set of instructions which is the essence of all that is taught by each and every Buddha, of past, present or future. Lam Rim presents these instructions in a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice Dharma. The Lam Rim was first formulated by great Indian teacher Atisha when he came to Tibet in 1042 and it was called Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (jang chub lam gyi dron me). Another Lam Rim, probably the most famous one, was written by Je Tsongkhapa and is called The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lam Rim Chen Mo).

Lama

(skt.: guru; tib.: lama) A spiritual guide or teacher. Literally, heavy - heavy with knowledge of Dharma. Lama is a highly advanced spiritual teacher, personifying all the three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Holy Sangha. One who shows and guides a disciple on the path to liberation and Enlightenment. Lama can be an ordained or a lay person, a man or a woman.

Lojong
(tib.: lo jong) Literally it means mind training. Mind training tradition came to Tibet with Atisha who regarded these teachings as most precious. They are instructions developing the Mind of Enlightenment and are adorned by three qualities:
- They are transforming selfishness into concern for others. (This way they are eliminating the core obstruction to our happiness and spiritual progress.)
- They are transforming adverse situations into advantages. (They see the real enemy in disturbing emotions.)
- They encourage us to watch all phenomena as like illusions.
Loving kindness

(skt.: maitri; tib.: jam pa) Je Tsongkhapa described loving kindness in his Lam Rim Chen Mo as: loving kindness is the wish that beings encounter happiness.

Lung
(tib.: lung) Literally wind or breath. It can refer to various meanings within the Tibetan Buddhism:
- oral transmission of a mantra or a text to a student by a lineage holder. The mere hearing of the syllables transmits their inner meaning.
- a subtle flow of energy (skt.: prana) in the bodily energy channels.
- one of the three functions or humors of the Tibetan medicine, connected to the element of air. It can also refer to a life force. It can stand for the ones energy imbalance or psycho-somatic disturbances.

Language

Words of Wisdom

"If the merit of Bodhichitta were to take physical form, even the whole of space itself would not contain its vastness."
- Buddha

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