wang (T): see empowerment

White Tara: Mother of all the Buddhas, bestows the gift of longevity through an elegant emanation. She energizes those who visualize her, and that energy can be invested in one’s spiritual practice. She is still and centered sitting in a full lotus with a blue utpala flower blooming to the left of her head. She has seven eyes: one each on the soles of her feet; one each on the palms of her hands; one each in the normal place on her face and one in the "third eye" position on her forehead. Several important White Tara practices have been passed down through the Karmapas and Dalai Lamas.

wisdom: T: yeshe / sherab. S: jnana / prajna. This single English word corresponds to two distinct words in both Tibetan and Sanskrit. The Tibetan (yeshe) is intuitive, non-conceptual wisdom which relates to the knowledge of what is. It is the domain of spiritual realization revealing the true nature of ultimate and primordial truth. Then there is the Tibetan she-rab,which translates as excellent cognition, (S. prajna) in reference to the analytic, discriminating awareness which correctly cognizes relative appearances. This wisdom is identified with knowing the variety of things.

Wu-tai Shan: China's sacred mountain of the north and a seat of Bodhisattva Manjusri. The pre-Buddhist tradition of sacred mountains in China stems partly from myths of the pillars of heaven and partly from sages and mystics who frequented the sparsely-populated heights. Interestingly, the Chinese word for pilgrimage means literally, paying ones respect to a mountain. In the 1st century ce., merchants returning from India via the Silk Route began the introduction of Buddhism into China. Later pilgrims returning from India with sacred texts and the desire for renunciate life founded hermitages and monasteries on or near peaks. Over time, Chinese Buddhists began to regard the five peaks as having primary sanctity, each associated with a different Bodhisattva.

Because of its isolated location in a range of northern China, Wu Tai Shan was barely touched by the ravages of the communist revolution and its child, the cultural revolution. The mountain, rising 10,000 feet above sea level, is actually a group of five flat topped peaks , which explains its name meaning Five Terrace Mountain. The first of over 50 temples were built in the 1st century ce. though all those remaining date from the late 7th century. These include10 Tibetan Lamaseries.

Wu Tai Shan was considered the center of Chinese Buddhism for 2,000 years and was widely known not only in China but also to Buddhists in Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet and Nepal. Many well-known and accomplished masters of these countries made long pilgrimages to study and meditate in these sanctified surroundings. There are numerous stories of sightings of Manjusri riding a blue lion high in the mountains above the monasteries. For one pilgrim’s experience of Wu-tai Shan, check:

http://www.sacredsites.com/2nd56/3343640.html (last paragraph)