Knowra Yidam Yidam A meditational deity in Vajrayana Buddhism, visualized in deity yoga as a focus for practice and realization. A yidam may represent awakened qualities rather than an independent creator god.
Deity yoga : A Vajrayana Buddhist practice that visualizes a deity and its mandala as a means of realizing awakened nature. The practice in which a yidam becomes the central focus of visualization and identification.
Vajrayana : A form of Buddhism that uses tantric methods, including initiation, mantra, visualization, and ritual, to pursue awakening. Yidam practice belongs to this broad Buddhist tradition.
Chenrezig : The Tibetan Buddhist form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva associated with compassion. Chenrezig is a widely practiced yidam associated with compassion.
Buddha : An awakened being who has attained complete liberation and understanding in Buddhist traditions. A yidam may appear as a buddha, but the term emphasizes its role in meditation.
Generation stage : The tantric practice stage in which practitioners generate a deity, its environment, and their own identity as the deity. This stage constructs the yidam’s form and mandala in meditation.
Tantra in Buddhism : A body of Buddhist teachings and practices using ritual, mantra, visualization, and other methods transmitted through initiation. Yidam practice is one expression of Buddhist tantric methods.
Tara : A female bodhisattva revered in Tibetan Buddhism, especially as a figure of compassionate activity and protection. Tara serves as a yidam in practices centered on compassionate activity.
Deva : A godlike being in Indian religions, including Buddhism, generally still subject to cyclic existence. A yidam is not simply a worldly deity inhabiting a heavenly realm.
Completion stage : A phase of highest yoga tantra practice that works with subtle-body energies and the dissolution of constructed appearances. It follows deity generation by dissolving its appearance and working with subtler experience.
Abhisheka : A tantric Buddhist initiation or empowerment that authorizes and introduces a practitioner to a particular practice. Yidam practice is generally undertaken after the relevant empowerment.
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