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Dictionary of Key Spiritual Terms


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Wylie | Tibetan

light

'od/ 

Biblical: light: 1) physical light: 'od de'i gzi brjid/  the light's brilliance (Acts 22:11), mar me'i 'od/  the light of a lamp (Rev. 18:23); 2) light in figurative senses: dkon mchog ni 'od lags/  God is light (1 Jn. 1:5), 'od de mun pa'i nang du shar/  the light shines in the darkness (Jn. 1:5), khyod tsho 'jig rten gyi 'od yin/  you are the light of the world (Mt. 5:14), nam mkha' nas 'od cig a light from heaven (Acts 9:3), phrin bzang gi 'od/  the light of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4), 'od kyi pho nya/  angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14); 3) 'od gsal/  [lit. clear light] is used as a metaphor for spiritual understanding: bden pa'i 'od gsal/  the true light (Jn. 1:9), 'od gsal du gyur pa'i rjes su/  after [you] received the light (Heb. 10:32).

Buddhist: 1) Light is also a frequent metaphor for knowledge and understanding in Bsm. It is often associated with gods and boddhisattvas, e.g. in the third, fourth, and tenth of the ten boddhisattva grounds: 'od byed pa/  "illuminating", 'od 'phro ba/  "radiant", kun tu 'od/  "omnipresent light" (KBT 66), snying rje'i mtsho mo 'od kyis khengs/  the sea of compassion, full of light (KPU 2); 2) 'od gsal/  or "clear light" is a type of consciousness employed in advanced tantric meditation (TRI 244) and a common name.