Help:Style Sheet

Draft Style Sheet for the DRL based on the DNZ Translation Project Style Sheet

Explanation and Source of This Style Sheet

This Style Sheet is designed for use on Tsadra Foundation wikis created by the Research Department and is based on the style sheets used by translators for the DNZ project. The DNZ project style sheet is based on the Style Manual of The Library of Tibetan Classics of Thupten Jinpa. That, in turn, was based on the Wisdom Publications style sheet for Classics of Indian Buddhism and was the basis for the BLHP Guidelines for Translators ("84,000 Project"). See those documents for comparison and modifications. The current document is the result of a general discussion in Boulder with Elizabeth Callahan, Eric Colombel, Sarah Harding, Marcus Perman, and Ngawang Zangpo; a detailed document editing with Elizabeth and Sarah; and a subsequent meeting with Sarah and Raphael.

General Style Rules

Tsadra Foundation uses the Chicago Manual of Style (www.chicagomanualofstyle.org) for its default style. When in doubt, please consult this. The rules below include some of the most common issues that come up, as well as some specific to Buddhist texts. Copyeditors and especially proofreaders should consult the editors and translators first before making a global change to a text that consistently uses a style that differs from the usage recommended below.

General Editorial Guidelines

Translation of Terms and Tibetan Phonetics

Certain Sanskrit and Tibetan terms which have already entered mainstream English usage, or should, may be used, such as karma, mandala, nirvana, dharma, yoga, bardo, and so on. Any term that has entered a major English dictionary such as the most recent Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (recommended by Chicago Manual) may be used as it appears there.

Those Tibetan terms that must be retained, such as the names of people, places, and schools, will be provided in a standardized easy phonetics. See below for the phonetic system employed in the DNZ series.

Paragraphs in the DRL

Wikitext allows you to create paragraph breaks by the use of a double line break. Specifically, this will wrap your new text in paragraph tags <p></p>, which will in turn add a little padding at the top and bottom. If you'd rather just bring your text to the next line, you can use a <br> tag, which will not add space between paragraphs. For stylistic reasons, we suggest using "double enter/return" to separate paragraphs when writing descriptions and other paragraphs to be entered as metadata for library items.

Capitalization

We encourage the parsimonious use of capitalization for this purpose, and this applies to both English and non-English terms. This is the current convention in Buddhist publishing.

Capitalize:

• lineages (Kadampa, Shangpa Kagyu)
• schools (Sautrāntika school, New Translation school, Mind Only school)
• vehicles (Great Vehicle, Pāramitāyāna, Mantrayāna)
• personal names and their titles (Buddha Maitreya, Ācārya Nāropa)
• the Tripiṭaka (Vinaya, Sūtra Piṭaka, and Abhidahrma) when talking about canonical collections. Caps are not necessary when talking about literary genres or monastic curriculum subjects.

Don’t capitalize:

• generic holy beings (śrāvakas, arhats, buddhas)
• sutra, tantra, and secret mantra (unless followed by "Vehicle", “Piṭaka,” or part of a title)
• buddha bodies (rūpakāya, dharmakāya)
• exalted states (enlightenment, nirvana, profound illumination)
• realms (form realm, hell realm)
• enumerations (four truths of the noble ones, three principal aspects of the path)
• practices (mahāmudra, lamrim)
• epithets (the future buddha, the bodhisattva of compassion (but not the Buddha of Infinite Light, which is the translation of a name))
• words simply because they are foreign or exalted (your guru or lama, buddha nature)

The word dharma need not be capitalized when referring to Buddhism, since it will be translated as "phenomena" in other cases.

Sometimes confusion arises because some practices and general terms are also names of lineages, as in mahāmudra, dzokchen, zhije, rime, middle way, and lamdre. In this case, we advise trying to be sensitive to context, but if there is still confusion, then a choice should be made one way or the other, usually to capitalize, and then consistently implemented.

Titles

Capitalize the initial letter of each word in titles, excepting articles, prepositions, and conjunctions, but including personal pronouns. This applies to chapters, tables, and A-level subheads.

Italicize primary titles, such as sutras or shāstras. Collections of works should not be italicized, e.g., the Kangyur and Tengyur, the Majjhima Nikāya, the Tripiṭaka, the Upanișhads and Vedas.

Italics

As a general style rule, foreign words are italicized, but because Buddhist literature makes such extensive use of foreign technical terms, italicizing every instance would be excessive. In the series in general, technical terms should be translated, but there may be cases where the foreign word is preferable. Here are some rules of thumb:

• If a word appears in English dictionaries it does not require italics (e.g., mantra, karma, nirvana).
• If a word appears multiple times and thereby becomes part of the naturalized lexicon for the book, it does not require italics, except as per other rules below.
• Proper names do not require italics (Vaibhāșhika, Tangtong Gyalpo).
• Words, no matter what language, should be italicized when referred to as a word or when singled out (“this is what we call metta,” or “in this context, the term calm abiding refers to…”)
• Foreign words in non-Asian languages are generally italicized (joie de vivre, res extensa)
• All punctuation marks should appear in the same font—roman or italic—as the main or surrounding text, except for punctuation that belongs to a title in a different font (usually italics).
• Foreign renderings in parentheses following a translated term should be italicized. (“Morality (shīla) is essential.”) Don’t include the foreign equivalent multiple times for the same English term, especially in close proximity. Use of this practice in general should be minimized in DNZ volumes.
• If a foreign word occurs rarely and not in close proximity with its other occurrences in a text, it can be italicized each time.

The Parts of a Book

Most of the elements that Tsadra Foundation has included in published hardcover books are to be provided by the translators. These are as follows:

Title page, including title, subtitle, and translator (the Indian and/or Tibetan authors and translators should appear with each individual text).

Special Acknowledgments (if applicable).

Table of Contents

Foreword (this might be the same for every volume).

Introduction

a. General introduction to the whole series, approximately five pages. This also might be the same for every volume and will just be added in.

b. A specific introduction to the particular volume, also approximately five pages, written by the translator[s]. This might include information on the particular lineage, central doctrines, and important texts, and perhaps a note on Kongtrul's choice of these texts.

c. Short introductions to each text (described below).

Translator’s acknowledgments (at the conclusion of the introduction)

Technical Note. This also may be the same or similar for everyone. It will include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. Tibetan text name and catalog number

b. Explanation that all Tibetan names in the text are rendered phonetically (except in endnotes) and that there is a correspondence table in the back where transliterated spellings can be found. An explanation of unusual pronunciations, such as ö, etc.

c. A note that Sanskrit diacriticals are used throughout, except for naturalized Sanskrit terms such as mandala and nirvana, and the exceptions noted below. Also, a note on the pronunciation of certain letters such as ñ and ṛ, etc.

The Translation

Each unique text within the volume will be preceded by a section-opening containing the following information:

a. Title, with endnote including title in Tibetan Wylie transliteration and diacritical Sanskrit (if applicable), as well as page range, etc., within the Tibetan volume (Shechen edition of DNZ, and any other editions that the translator uses).

b. Author, including endnote with dates and other pertinent information

c. Translator (if a multi-translator work)

d. Short introduction (suggest a few paragraphs) on the individual work and its author/translators. Examples of such individual introductions can be seen in Karl Brunnhölzl, Straight from the Heart, or Sarah Harding, Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Any annotations in these introductions will be in footnotes.

e. Some of the individual commentaries may have an outline embedded in the Tibetan text in typical commentarial style. As well as serving as headings within the text, these will be extracted to form a Western-style literary outline/contents and placed at the beginning of the particular translation. The format is standard numerals and letters. As headings, the numbers and letters will come first (1. Brief presentation. 2. Extensive explanation, etc.) rather than at the end. In the extracted, structural outline, the levels will be indicated by spacing. Levels beyond this can be indicated with italics, repeating from A):

I.

A.

1.

a.

i.

A)

1)

a)

i)

(A)

(1)

(a)

(i)

Appendices. This might include such things as diagrams, lineage charts, etc.

Notes

There has been considerable discussion on the use of endnotes, representing a full range of preferences and possibilities. We anticipate less need for extensive annotation in a work of this kind, and in some cases, such as sādhanās and other liturgies, readable and unencumbered editions may be desirable. However, annotations are a chance to inform and expand our knowledge and are an invaluable source of information for everyone. Therefore translators are encouraged to annotate whenever they feel additional information is helpful, as well as when required by standards of scholarship.

a) Technical notes, or notes that are of benefit or interest exclusively to specialists: The first occurrence of text titles will be noted in Wylie and diacritical Sanskrit, with their location, author, and other information. All quotations will be cited in this way. Any quotation from the Kangyur or Tengyur must be located and noted as to edition (Derge if possible), folio[s], side, and line range. Quotations from noncanonical sources will be located if possible in a similar way, and if not located this should be stated in the note. The endnote marker for text titles will be placed directly after the quotation itself (rather than after the text title), which is the CM preferred style. Another use of the technical note is to indicate variations and/or mistakes in the Tibetan text. Where variations in different editions of the text have a significant effect on the meaning of the text, information on the comparative readings will be included in the endnotes. However, this is not the place to create a critical edition, so every du rather than tu need not be noted. Remember that a bilingual edition with Tibetan and English side-by-side will ultimately be available, so it is not necessary to reprint long tracks of the Tibetan in the endnotes. Another use of technical notes would be to show the Wylie and/or Sanskrit for technical terms, though some translators may prefer to enter them in parentheses in the text itself, which is greatly appreciated by most readers. In either case, the Wylie transliteration system for Tibetan will be used for now, and it is easily convertible into Tibetan font later in the electronic publication (i.e. we'll decide later).

b) General interest notes: these are explanatory notes that are essential for helping the reader to unravel the meaning of the text. They might include background information, historical references, information from other commentaries, enumerations, controversies, exegetical supplements, and anything that gives context to the work and that was not included in the brief introduction. Endnotes should be numbered consecutively, beginning with 1, for each chapter/text. A list of abbreviations used in the notes and bibliography should appear in either front matter or back matter, as appropriate. Use shortened references, referring readers to the bibliography for full publication details. See below for sample entries.

Bibliography. This has three sections:

I. The Translated Texts

a. Source volumes of the DNZ

b. The individual translations

II. Works Cited in the Texts

a. Kangyur/ Scriptures

b. Tengyur/ Treatises

c. Tibetan works

III. Reference Bibliography

a. Indic texts

b. Tibetan texts

c. Other works and translations

For scriptures and Sanskrit treatises, the translator will provide the Tohoku catalog number for individual texts with the original Sanskrit title, romanized with diacritics, as well as the Tibetan equivalent. For the Tibetan and modern works, full bibliographic details will be cited. The provision of the bibliographic details for modern works is the sole responsibility of the translator. For details and samples of formatting of entries, see below. Index: this is not the responsibility of the translators, though lists of important subjects and names may be helpful for the indexer.

Punctuation

Quotation Marks

• Following the American convention, use double quotation marks, never single ones (except per below).
• As noted above, words as terms should be indicated by italics, not by quotation marks (e.g., This suffering cycle of death and rebirth is what is called samsara). One exception is when giving a literal rendition (Kālachakra literally means “wheel of time”). The other exception is when quoting the usage in a particular text (By “mind training” in this passage, Dromtönpa is referring to a method for…).
• Use double quotation marks to set off unusual or ironic usage (“Dharma lite”) and to indicate speech. Avoid excessive use of quotes for irony.
• Indirect discourse and rhetorical questions do not require quotes (What am I doing here? she thought), but they may be utilized for clarity.
• Single quotation marks enclose quotes within quotes.
• Block quotes and excerpts should not be enclosed in quotation marks, but should be indented, with a line space before and after. Do not italicize block quotes.
• Commas and periods always fall inside the closing quote mark.

Commas

• Use the serial comma (e.g., “ethics, meditation, and wisdom”). • Independent clauses are always separated by a comma unless they are particularly short. (“He came and he went.”) • The abbreviations e.g. and i.e. are followed by commas (e.g., like this), but please spell out as “for example” and “in other words” when doing so is sensible.

Dashes and Ellipses

• Date and page ranges are set off by n-dashes (not hyphens), e.g., ca. 1914–25, pp. 348–49. Here are some rules for abbreviating the second number in a range. Never abbreviate numbers under 100 (e.g., do not write 62–6 but always 62–66). When first number is an even hundred, second number should not be abbreviated, e.g., 100–106. When both first number and second number are in the 01–09 range, then second number can be a single digit, e.g., 101–6. For all other abbreviations, the second number should be at least two digits, e.g., 101–12, 267–69, 267–92, 1802–76. • M-dashes are used to set off phrases—like this one—from the rest of a sentence. There is no space on either side of the dash. • Your computer has a special keystroke to make an ellipsis (…). No space is required before and after an ellipsis character. It can, however, be followed by a period and a space to indicate that the text following comes from a different sentence, but this practice is optional.

Spelling

American Usage

• Use “that” rather than “which” for restrictive clauses. Restrictive clauses do not take a comma, whereas nonrestrictive clauses do. Notice the difference in meaning:

"The book that became a bestseller was less expensive." "The Book, which became a bestseller, was inexpensive."

• Skillful is spelled with two l's in the middle. Traveler with one.
• Toward, forward, backward, etc., have no "s" on the end. Amid and among have no "st."
• Color rather than colour, practice rather than practise, recognize rather than recognise, center rather than centre, etc. (but do no modify spellings in quotes of published material!)

Hyphenation

Avoid hyphenation when other options are valid, either dividing terms into two or contracting them into one. Common instances to pay attention to: nondual, threefold, counterclockwise. However, if it is an odd or newly coined negative compound use a hyphen (non-obtainment, non-possession).

Compound modifiers take a hyphen (eighth-century master, two-day retreat) except when the first word ends in “ly” (hopelessly vague prose). When the main element being modified is itself compound, then the hyphen should be replaced with an n-dash (e.g., pre–World War II).

Hyphenation of Sanskrit text names is discouraged, and translators should feel free to avoid hyphens entirely, e.g., Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra. Translators who insist, however, may use hyphens to set off the genre of a text, e.g., Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, as long as this is done consistently. Also, in the body of a translation (not in the notes or bibliography), the word “Sūtra” can be set as a separate word within a title, e.g., Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra. Again, this must be applied consistently. Tibetan transliteration should not employ any hyphens whatsoever.

Treatment of Numbers

• Numbers under one hundred and round numbers are spelled out, within reason (“at age fifty-nine,” “for two thousand years,” but “the 84,000 delusions.”) • Ordinals are usually spelled out ("on the fifth of June, in the nineteenth century). • Percentages are rendered with numerals: “86 percent.” • Chapter and part numbers are not spelled out. The word "chapter" is not capitalized. (e.g., “We will examine this concept in section 3, part 2, chapter 1"). • Numbered lists run in within a paragraph should be arabic numerals surrounded by parentheses. When each number in a list begins a new paragraph, use arabic numerals followed by a period. Don’t use roman numerals for such lists unless the numbers are drawn from a particular outline.

Abbreviations

Use the following abbreviations, followed by a space, within parenthetical citations and within notes. Spell out words within sentences (e.g., We’ll discuss this again in chapters 15 and 16.).

• chaps. chapters
• vols. volumes
• pp. pages
• vv. verses
• ff. folios
• ca. circa
• b. born
• d. died
• fl. flourished
• Small caps and periods are used for the abbreviations B.C., B.C.E, A.D., C.E, A.M., and P.M.

Sample Note Citations and Bibliographic Entries

Scriptures (Kangyur)

Note: Vajramaṇḍalālaṃkāra-tantra. rDo rje dkyil ‘khor gyi rgyan, (Toh. 490), Kangyur, rgyud, tha, f. 419a2. (Text name unnecessary if mentioned in the body of the text.) Biblio: Vajra Mandala Ornament Tantra. Vajramaṇḍalālaṃkāra-tantra. rDo rje dkyil ‘khor rgyan. Dg.K. rgyud, tha (Toh. 490) (P123). (Note absence of breaks in Sanskrit title. Also citing multiple editions—Toh. and P, etc.—is optional).

Treatises (Tengyur)

Note: Bodhicaryāvatāra. Byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa, ch. 8, v. 113 (Toh. 3871) Tengyur, dbu ma, la, f. 28a1. (Author name unnecessary if mentioned in the body of the text. Note, however, that most text titles within the body of the text are translated into English, so you may want to provide the Sanskrit and Tibetan transliteration in the note.)

Biblio: Shāntideva. A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Bodhicaryāvatāra. Byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa. Dg.T. dbu ma, la (Toh. 3871). English translations include Stephen Batchelor, Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1979), the Padmakara Translation Group, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1997), and Alan and Vesna Wallace, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1997).

Tibetan Works Note: Je Tsongkhapa, Vajra Verses, Collected Works, vol. da, ff. 1a3–2b4. Biblio: Tsongkhapa, Je. Vajra Verses on the Six Yogas. sByor drug rdo rje tshigs bchad pa. Collected Works, da.

(Sometimes later Tibetan texts will have both Arabic numerals as well as the Tibetan folio numbering. It is recommended to use p. and pp. for the former and f. and ff. (folio[s]) for the latter, depending on which one you choose to cite.)

Reference Bibliography Note: McGovern, A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy, pp. 39–48. Biblio: McGovern, William Montgomery. A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy. Lucknow: Oriental Reprinters, 1976; first published, London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1923.

Tibetan works cited by the translator should be included in the final section of the bibliography along with bibliographic details for edition cited, e.g.: Goram Sonam Senge (1429–89). Ocean of Wonders: The Liberating Life of the Great Mu Master. rJe mus pa chen po’i rnam par thar pa ngo mtshar rgya mtsho. In Lamdre Cycle of Texts (Lam ’bras chos skor), vol. ka, pp. 56b–74a. Rajpur: Sakya College, 1983.

Treatment of Tibetan and Sanskrit

Translations should use English renderings of foreign terms in most cases, and those renderings should follow common conventions whenever possible. Text titles should likewise be translated into English in the body of the translation. Occasional exceptions might be when the text is commonly and widely known in Sanskrit or Tibetan, or is simply untranslatable. There will occasionally be a need to use a Sanskrit or Tibetan term, and person and place names will also need to be rendered in phoneticized spellings. In addition, some transliteration will be employed in the annotation and bibliography. What follows are some general guidelines for rendering Tibetan and Sanskrit in the DNZ.

Diacritics

The DNZ will use diacritics on Sanskrit words, with some exceptions which are accepted in current scholarship and make pronunciation easier for the lay reader. These are that ś may be rendered as sh, ṣ as ṣh, c as ch, ṛ as ṛi, and ḷ as ḷi . As mentioned, the preferred font is Charis SIL. We can send you those fonts. If you are using a different unicode diacritical font, please send Marcus a sample first so that we can make sure your file will translate onto our system.

Capitalization

Only proper names and texts are capitalized. Capitalize the root letter, whether it is first or not (rDo rje, not Rdo rje), since this at least gives the reader a shot at pronunciation. Only the initial letter in text titles is capitalized, e.g., Legs bshad rin po che’i gter mdzod. In personal names, each title or prefix is capitalized, but only the root letter in the main name is, for example, Khyung po bLa ma Nam mkha’ ’od zer and lCang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje.

Tibetan Phonetics

This guide will show where phonetic spellings diverge from Wylie spelling. The overall idea is to be as simple, easy and recognizable as possible.

Consonants

Some consonants differ from their Wylie transliteration. (Here Wylie is given in capitals throughout.):

• CA (and CHA) become cha
• TSHA (and TSA) become tsa
• KHA remains the same, but
• PHA and THA become pa and ta
• DZA becomes za, except at the beginning of a word (thus Tenzin, but Dzigar)
• ZA and ZHA remain za and zha.
• Final consonants
  • Final G becomes k. Thus DGE LUGS becomes Geluk, not Gelug.
  • Final B becomes p. Thus THUB BSTAN becomes Tupten, not Thubten.
  • Final D and S consonants should be absent in phonetic spellings.

Vowels

• • Vowels fronted by D, L, N, S change as follows:
  • Fronted O becomes ö, thus BON becomes Bön. (But U does not need to be ü)
  • Fronted A becomes e when fronted by a D, N, or S. But when an A is fronted by an L, it remains an a. For example RGYAL MTSHAN becomes Gyaltsen and DPAL LDAN becomes palden.
  • I and E never change. Use of the French é is deemed unnecessary. On the rare occasion that a word could be wildly mispronounced, such as RIS MED, the translator can find a creative solution, such as ri-me.
  • A-CHUNG is omitted from phonetic spelling except when carrying the gigu, in which case it is represented by an i. For example, SRID PA'I 'KHOR LO becomes sipai khorlo.
  • The wasur is omitted from phonetic spelling, but see not about Sanskrit words below.

Consonant clusters

• • Unvoiced gutterals and labials with rata (KRA, KHRA, PRA, PHRA) BECOME TRA. For example, KHRI becomes tri (except for the name Tashi). Voiced gutterals and labials with rata (GRA, BRA) become dra. For example, SGROL MA becomes Drolma. SRA, however, is rendered sa.
  • KYA, KHYA, GYA remain kya, khya, gya.
  • PYA and PHYA become cha, and BYA becomes ja.
  • MYA becomes nya.
  • ZLA becomes da.
• SUPERSCRIBED letters are not transcribed phonetically, with the exception of L in the syllable LHA, which remains lha.

Syllables

We group Tibetan words into syllable pairs, avoiding hyphens. A third syllable can be added to the pair if it is the nominalizing particle ma/mo or pa/po, for example, Tsongkhapa, Namgyalma, Naljorma.

Nasalization

In compounds with nasal onset voice stops, we insert the labial nasal (m) before the labial voiced stop (b) and the dental nasal (n) before other voiced stops. Thus STAG LA ME 'BAR becomes Takla Membar, and DGE 'DUN CHOS ’PHEL becomes Gendun Chöpel.

Doubled consonants

When the above rules give rise to -nng- or -ngg-, the doubled nn or gg is better rendered single. Thus Senge instead of Senggé, Sangye instead of Sanggyé, and Chengawa instead of Chenngawa.

Modern Names

A contemporary Tibetan name should be rendered as the person themself does, e.g., Rinpoche Nawang Gehlek (rather than the standardized Ngawang Gelek Rinpoche).

Sanskrit Words

Sanskrit terms and mantras that appear in Tibetan texts should be rendered as they appear in Sanskrit, e.g., ācārya, svāhā, vajra, padma rather than "atsarya", "soha", "benza", or "pema".

Examples

The following list should demonstrate the application of the above rules, as well as illustrating how we have dealt with syllable breaks. Exceptions from the rules, for words that can be found in English-language dictionaries or are otherwise ubiquitous spellings, are marked with an asterisk (*)

(N.B. This system of phoneticized Tibetan is similar, but not identical, to that developed by the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, which is described in detail at www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#essay=/thl/phonetics/s/b1.)

• *Amdo
• bardo
• Bönpo
• Butön
• Chakna Dorje
• Changkya Rölpai
• Dorje
• Chengawa
• Chekawa
• Chenrezik
• Chöpel
• chöten
• Desi Sangye Gyatso
• Do Khyentse Yeshe
• Dorje
• Döndrup
• Dorje Chang
• Dorje Drolö
• Dorje Naljorma
• Dorje Purpa
• Dorje Sempa
• Drakpa Gyaltsen
• Drepung Losaling
• Drigung
• drilbu
• Drölma
• Dromtönpa
• Drukpa
• Dukyi Khorlo
• dzokchen
• dzokrim
• Geluk
• Ganden
• Jangtse
• Ganden
• Shartse
• Gendun Chöhel
• Gongpa Rapsal
• Gyalpo
• Gyaltsap Je
• gyalwa
• gyu
• jangchup sempa
• Jamgön Kongtrul
• Lodrö Taye
• Jampalyang
• Jamyang Shepa
• Jonang
• Kadam
• Kagyu
• Kangyur
• Karmapa
• khandroma
• Khedrup Je
• Khorlo Demchok
• Khyentse
• könchok sum
• Kunga
• kyilkhor
• lama
• lamdre
• lamrim
• Lekden
• Lhasa
• Lhundrup
• Lodrö Gyaltsen
• Losang Drakpa
• Machik Lapdrön
• Marpa
• Mikyö Dorje
• Milarepa
• Mindröling
• Mipam Gyatso
• Mitrukpa
• Nakpopa
• Namgyalma
• Namkhai Nyingpo
• Namtöse
• Naro Khachö
• ngöndro
• Nyima Özer
• Nyingma
• nyungne
• Palden Lhamo
• *Panchen Lama
• *Panchen Losang
• Chökyi Gyaltsen
• Pema Gyalpo
• Pema Jungne
• Padampa Sangye
• Pakmodrupa
• Pakpalha
• Puntsok
• Purba
• Ralpachen
• rikpa
• rime
• Rinchen
• *Rinpoche
• Sachen Kunga
• Nyingpo
• Śākya Chokden
• Sakya Paṇḍita
• Sangye
• Sangye Menla
• Senge Dradok
• Shangpa Kagyu
• Zhije
• Zhiwalha
• Sipai Khorlo
• Songtsen Gampo
• Taklung
• *tashi delek
• Tengyur
• Tenzin
• tangka
• Tangtong Gyalpo
• Tupten
• Tuken Chökyi
• Nyima
• Tokme Zangpo
• tonglen
• Trinle
• Trisong *Detsen
• trulku
• tsampa
• tsatsa
• Tsepakme
• Tsewang Rikzin
• tsok
• Tsongkhapa
• Tsultrim Nyima
• Yangchenma
• Yeshe Tsogyal
• Yönten Gyatso

The Treasury of Precious Instructions Cataloging Project: Tsadra Foundation's Treasury of Precious Instructions cataloging project includes the full text of all eighteen volumes of the Shechen Publications edition of Jamgon Kongtrul's gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod. http://dnz.tsadra.org/

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism.

Literally, "without duality," it refers to that which is indivisible, in that it is not divided into two.

A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses.

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama.

The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century.