Rinpoche

fee

Hi

Can anyone tell me what Rinpoche means? I see it on a lot of names and I am confused (nothing new there, then)

thanks

Jason

Rinpoche can be translated as 'great jewel' or 'great precious one' and is a term of address used towards lamas or spiritual teachers of status.

http://buddhism.about.com/cs/tibet/g/Rinpoche.htm

fee

Elohim, thanks for that. What an interesting site - now I'll know what it all means (the words, not enlightenment) and I won't have to ask silly questions.

Simonthepilgrim

Rinpoche is a title of affectionate respect that is given to all tulkus (reicarnated lamas). It is also given to some teachers who are not tulkus.

emmak

What is 'La'? Why is it added to the end of names?
Can we make this the stupid question thread? I think we need one...

_BeautifulSpringtime

fee wrote:

silly questions.

The only silly questions are unasked ones.

:uphand: :scratch: :uphand:

Simonthepilgrim

Fee,

"La" , as I understand it, is a suffix added to a name or title and implying affectionate respect.

emmak

I suspected so.

fee

Anyone care to tell me how you pronounce Rinpoche?

Is it rin-posh-ay or rin-posh?

Jason

I don't know for sure, I've only heard it once, but I believe it's more like Rin-po-chay.
If I am wrong I am sure that Simon, or the Venerable Palzang can correct me.

I don't think any questions are stupid. How else do we learn if not to ask questions?

Simonthepilgrim

You have it right, Elohim, although Tibetan is a much more gutteral language than English and phonetic transliteration is a problem. Rin-poch-ay is about as close as we can get.

fee

Thanks very much guys.

MoonLgt

Elohim or Simon,

I to have some difficulty knowing how to pronounce some of the words, Is there a dictionary or a book that can help?

Simonthepilgrim

I haven't found any book adequate. I usually go and ask a local Hindu teacher about Sanskrit words and nag online Tibetan friends about their words!

Tibetan, like Japanese, is a syllable-based language and, imho, a right bugger to learn! The story has it that the writing method was devised in the 7th century as a way of transliterating sacred Sanskrit texts.

Jason

I agree. I cannot pronounce Tibetan to save my life, or anybody elses for that matter. I thought Pali was difficult, but Tibetan is much more so for me. I'm not good with languages to begin with, and now I have all these gutteral and nasal sounds that English doesn't have. My tongue doesn't know what to make out of it all.

fee

So what language is most of the Buddhist text written in? Is it Pali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tibetan????

Is it a mix of all of them?

Oh no, so as well as trying to understand the noble truths, eightfold path, samsara etc etc etc - I will probably have to learn words from a number of different languages.


Help.......?

Jason

They are generally a mix of Pali (the Pali suttas of the Tipitaka), Sanskrit (the Sanskrit sutras of the Tripitaka, and the various individual suttas), Chinese (Suttas and sutras translated, few original works also), and Tibetan (Suttas and sutras tranlslated with added original works).

So we may say Awakening, Ceasation, or Enlightenment. That is translated from the Pali 'nibbana' or the Sanskrit 'nirvana'. Volitional actions of body, speech, and mind is the English equivalent to the Pali word 'kamma' or the Sanskrit version 'karma'. The Law or teaching of the Buddha is the English translation of the Pali word 'Dhamma' or the Sanskrit 'Dharma'. Lower case 'dhamma' and 'dharma' mean 'things'. As you can tell, the two languages are very similar.

You do not necessarily need to learn another language, but it helps to know where these words come from. Some translations do not carry the same meaning as the original, so comparing them can be benefitial. If it's too complicated though, just stick to the English.

fee

Thanks Elohim

I reckon I'll stick to the English. Funnily, it's the Sanskrit ones I recognise - I suppose they have been used more in the west?

Jason

You're welcome.

Yes. Most people are more familiar with the Sanskrit versions in the West. Zen and Tibetan Buddhism really made a big impact in the U.S. and Europe before the Theravada tradition did. All the books I read at the beginning were full of the Sankrit words. I find that I prefer the Pali though. It is thought that Pali (an earlier form of Magadhi related to Hindi and Sanskrit) was the language that the Buddha taught in. I cannot verify if this is true, but the differences are so small between the two languages that you can easily see the commonalities.

What is more important is that you get the basic idea that the words are trying to convey.

SteveSensei

Voice of America has pronunciation guides to help radio talent to properly pronounce names. Go here: http://names.voa.gov/, do a near search and type rinpoche.