English-Tibetan
Dictionary of Key Spiritual Terms


Previous | Next | English Index | Tibetan Index | Abbreviations | Contents
Wylie | Tibetan

father

  1. yab/ 

    [hon.]

    Biblical: father: ab ra ham nga cag gi yab yin/  Abraham is our father (Mt. 3:9), khyod tsho'i nam mkha'i yab/  your heavenly Father (Mt. 5:48).

    Buddhist: Spiritual fatherhood is recognized in Bsm; hence the honorific term yab/  may be applied to: 1) lamas: rje yab sras gsum/  are the three 14th century monks rje bdag nyid chen po/  Tsong Khapa, rgyal tshab dar ma rin chen/  Darma Rinchen, and mkhas grub dge legs dpal bzang /  Gelek Palsang (SGC 266); 2) the Dalai Lama/Chenresi kun mkhyen yab sras brgyud pa rin po che/  the precious lineage of the all-knowing father and son (HTE 208); 3) male tantric deities (TRI 248) adorned with six ornaments, the so-called yab kyi phyag rgya drug (CNG 83); 4) as well as being an honorific term for biological father: pan chen rin po che nyid kyi yab/  the father of the Panchen Lama (MHP 8).

  2. pha/ 

    Biblical: the ordinary written and spoken term for father: pha ze bad ya mnyam du gru'i nang na/  with their father Zebedee in a boat (Mt. 4:21), sngon du nga'i pha dur du 'jug par 'gro ba'i dgongs pa gnong /  first let me go and bury my father (Mt. 8:21).

    Secular: khong gi pha ni na pho lun gyi lag 'og gi dmag dpon chen po zhig yin/  his father was a general in Napoleon's army (SBC-1 61).