yidam
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Chakrasamvara_Vajravarahi.jpg/220px-Chakrasamvara_Vajravarahi.jpg)
Etymology
from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Tibetan ཡི་དམ (yi dam), (Sanskrit: समादान (samādān)[1] or སམཱདཱནི (samādāni))[2]
The word is said to be a contraction of ཡིད་ཀྱི་དམ་ཚིག (yid kyi dam tshig), which means to bind one’s mind ཡིད (yid)་ by promise་དམ་ཚིག (dam tshig).་
Noun
yidam (plural yidams)
- (Tibetan Buddhism) A type of deity associated with tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind.
- 2004, Chogyam Trungpa, The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa[1], volume 7:
- Yidams are not to be equated with the patron saints or guardian angels found in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.
References
- ^ Template:cite
- ^ སཾ་བོད་རྒྱ་གསུམ་ཤན་སྦྱར་གྱི་ཚིག་མཛོད། (Sanskrit-Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary)(p 615)