English-Tibetan
Dictionary of Key Spiritual Terms


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Wylie | Tibetan

teacher [teacher of the law]

  1. slob dpon/ 

    Biblical: teacher: slob dpon las slob ma mi che/  a student is not above his teacher (Mt. 10:24), slob dpon byed nus pa/  able to teach (2 Tim. 2:24), slob dpon mang por ma gyur cig not many of you should presume to be teachers (Jas. 3:1).

    Buddhist: The Bst. scriptures encourage students to view their teachers as the Buddha himself and to overlook any flaws he may have (JPG 31). slob dpon/  1) a term of respect for an aged and wise teacher (AMD); 2) a spiritual master [Skt. acarya]: rgya gar nas slob dpon ku mar dang /,,bal yul gyi slob dpon shi la man ju zhu ba gdan drangs/  [he] invited the teacher Kumara from India and the teacher Silamanju from Nepal (TRC 113); slob dpon chen po pad ma 'byung gnas/  the great teacher Padmasambhava (TRC 113).

    Cognates: 1) slob mkhan/  teacher slob mkhan rnams la khrims lhag par dam po gcad par nges pas/  we who teach will be judged more strictly (Jas. 3:1); 2) slob 'khrid/  or 'khrid dpon/  lead teacher (TRC 51); 3) slob ma/  disciple.

  2. ston pa/ 

    Biblical: teacher: ston pa lags/  Teacher (Mt. 22:16).

    Buddhist: ston pa/  1) an honorific form used to refer to the founder of a religion such as Jesus or the Buddha (AMD): ston pa chen po rnams kyis rang gi rjes 'brangs slob ma rnams ma rig pas kun nas bslangs pa'i sdig spyod kyi lam las skyabs/  the great teachers wanted to lead their followers away from the paths of negative deeds caused by ignorance (DLP 18); 2) the Buddha (KTM): ston pa sangs rgyas/  or ston pa sha kya mu ni/  Buddha the teacher (TRC 76/112), ston pa phun sum tshogs pa/  an excellent teacher, one of the five excellences or phun sum tshogs pa lnga/  (TRI 172), ston pa yang dag pa/  the perfect teacher (TRC 73); 3) teachers of other Bst. schools: mu stegs pa'i ston pa drug the six teachers of the extremist school (TRC 27).

    Proverbs: 1) bla ma spyan ras gzigs dang dbyer med du/  [seeing] the teacher as not different from Chenresi (HTE 182); 2) dge rgan bzang po'i dge phrug from a good teacher come good children (TQP 64).