136. The Way of the Bodhisattva, I, 12.
137. Tib. mchod sdong, lit. “offering tree,” can mean a shrine or stupa to which the faithful make
offerings. The Bodhi tree is also referred to as “the great offering tree.”
138. The Way of the Bodhisattva, I, 9.
139. Tib. don yod, lit. “meaningful” or “significant,” i.e., it benefits beings (even if it does not
appear to be a positive action).
140. The Way of the Bodhisattva, I, 36.
141. These similes are to be found on page 352 et seq. of The Flower Ornament Scripture, Vol.
3, translated by Thomas Cleary, Boston: Shambhala, 1987. This work is a translation from the
Chinese of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
142. Tib. chos bzhi, lit. “four things” or “ways” (Skt. dharmas).
143. Tib. mtshams med du: kha’i las, lit. “actions for which there is no interval between the
action and its resultant suffering,” i.e., the five crimes with immediate retribution (mtshams med
lnga). See “The Five Crimes with Immediate Retribution.”
144. The hundred-syllable Heruka mantra reads O M VAJRA HERUKA SAMAYA MANU PALA YA,
VAJRA HERUKA TENOPA TISHTHA DRIDHO ME BHAWA . . . SARVA TATHAGATA VAJRA MAME
MUÑCHA VAJRI BHAVA MAHA SAMAYA HERUKA AH.
145. We have reproduced the mantra here slightly differently from its usual Tibetan transliteration in order to follow more closely its sense in Sanskrit. 146. I.e., fulfill all my wishes. 147. Tib. jo wo je lha gcig. Atisha Dipamkara (982–1054), who was known throughout Tibet as Jowo Je (Lord), was, for his disciples, the unique refuge (lha gcig). 148. Tib. zlas nyams (transgression by association) and zhor nyams (incidental transgression). 149. Jewel Garland, 212. 150. The term “alternative” (Tib. gzhan) is that used in the Kalachakra tantra, as explained by Jamgön Kongtrul in his Treasury of Knowledge. See Myriad Worlds, page 148. 151. Their names in English are literally Yoke Bearer (Tib. gnya’ shing ’dzin), Plow Bearer (gshol mda’ ’dzin), Forest of Acacia Trees (seng ldeng can), Lovely to Behold (lta na sdug), Horse’s Ear (rta rna), That Which Bows Down (rnam ’dud), and Rim (mu khyud ’dzin). 152. The shapes of these continents are said to reflect the appearance of their respective inhabitants when seated cross-legged. 153. The thirty-two weaknesses of womankind (Tib. bud med kyi skyon sum cu rtsa gnyis) may refer to thirty-two kinds of sickness to which women are prone and which interfere with spiritual practice.