visualisation

• Visualisation


  The formation of a mental image of something.
• Buddhas

  Enlightened beings.
• Bodhisattvas

  Future Buddhas. As the ideal types for Mahayana Buddhism, beings who have experienced enlightenment but, motivated by compassion, stop short of entering nirvana so as to help others achieve it.
• Deity visualisation

  Tibetan Buddhists will visualise a deity (an enlightened being not a god), focusing on the visual features and spiritual qualities. They may imagine themselves as that deity in order to absorb their spiritual qualities. It helps awaken their Buddha nature.
• Buddha Nature

  The idea that everyone has the essence of a Buddha inside them.
• Medicine Buddha

  Visualised to reduce suffering and promote healing.
• Avalokiteshvara


  Bodhisattva of compassion. Visualised to help develop a sense of compassion.
• Buddha Amitabha


  Buddha associated with Pure Land Buddhism. Visualised in the hope he'll help them be reborn in the Pure Land.
• Thangka

  A detailed painting of a Buddha or Bodhisattva.
• Mandala

  A sacred diagram of the Buddha's teachings, symbolising the universe, a Buddha, a Bodhisattva or a paradise. It has colourful circle-shaped patterns. They are highly intricate and can take weeks to complete. In Tibetan monasteries, they are made from coloured sand.
• Nibbana

  A state of complete enlightenment, happiness and peace.
• Anicca

  Impermanence. Demonstrated on mandalas which are brushed away on completion.