THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription in the context of "Pemako"

Tibetans (Tibetan: བོད་པ་, Wylie: bod pa, THL: bö pa) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, as well as in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan.

The Tibetic languages are a branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family. The traditional or mythological explanation of the Tibetan people's origin is that they are the descendants of the human Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. It is thought that most of the Tibeto-Burman speakers in southwest China, including Tibetans, are direct descendants from the ancient Qiang people.

The Monpa (Tibetan: མོན་པ་, Wylie: mon pa, THL: mön pa, Chinese: 门巴族) are a major people of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India and one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China. Most Monpas live in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, with a population of 50,000, centered in the districts of Tawang and West Kameng. Of Monpas who live in Arunachal Pradesh, about 20,000 live in Tawang district, where they constitute about 97% of the district's population, and almost all of the remainder can be found in the West Kameng district, where they form about 77% of the district's population. A small number of them may be found in bordering areas of East Kameng and Bhutan (2,500). Monpas also share very close affinity with the Sharchops of Bhutan. The Monpa are sub-divided into six sub-groups based on the variations in their language.

The Monpa are believed to be the only nomadic tribe in Northeast India – they are totally dependent on animals like sheep, cow, yak, goats and horses.

A mudra (/muˈdrɑː/ ; Sanskrit: मुद्रा, IAST: mudrā, "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; Tibetan: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་, THL: chakgya) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.

As well as being spiritual gestures employed in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions, mudras have meaning in many forms of Indian dance, and yoga. The range of mudras used in each field (and religion) differs, but with some overlap. In addition, many of the Buddhist mudras are used outside South Asia, and have developed different local forms elsewhere.

A ḍākinī (Sanskrit: डाकिनी; Tibetan: མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་, Wylie: mkha' 'gro ma, THL: khandroma; Mongolian: хандарма; Chinese: 空行母; pinyin: kōngxíngmǔ; lit. 'sky-going mother'; alternatively 荼枳尼, pinyin: túzhǐní; 荼吉尼, pinyin: tújíní; or 吒枳尼, pinyin: zhāzhǐní; Japanese: 荼枳尼 / 吒枳尼 / 荼吉尼, dakini) is a type of goddess in Hinduism and Buddhism.

The concept of the ḍākinī somewhat differs depending on the context and the tradition. For example, in earlier Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, the term denotes a race of demonesses who ate the flesh and/or vital essence of humans. In Hindu Tantric literature, Ḍākinī is the name of a goddess often associated with one of the six chakras or the seven fundamental elements (dhātu) of the human body. In Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism, meanwhile, 'ḍākinī' (also wisdom ḍākinī) can refer to both what can be best described as fierce-looking female embodiments of enlightened energy, and to human women with a certain amount of spiritual development, both of whom can help Tantric initiates in attaining enlightenment.

Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit: धर्मधातु, romanized: Dharmadhātu, lit. 'Realm of Ultimate Reality'; Tibetan: ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས་, Wylie: Chos kyi dbying, THL: Chökyi Ying; Chinese: 法界) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality.Entire Dharmadhatu was filled with an infinite number of buddha-lands (Sanskrit: buddhakṣetra) with ineffable number of Buddhas. This realm is beyond of everything, and it is visible only to Buddhas and all other Bodhisattvas in existence.

The Ādi-Buddha (Tibetan: དང་པོའི་སངས་རྒྱས།, Wylie: dang po'i sangs rgyas, THL: Dangpö Sanggyé, Ch: 本佛, Jp: honbutsu, First Buddha, Original Buddha, or Primordial Buddha) is a Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to the most fundamental, supreme, or ancient Buddha in the cosmos. Another common term for this figure is Dharmakāya Buddha.

The term emerges in tantric Buddhist literature, most prominently in the Kalachakra. "Ādi" means "first", such that the Ādibuddha was the first to attain Buddhahood. "Ādi" can also mean "primordial", not referring to a person but to an innate wisdom that is present in all sentient beings.

Vajradhara (Sanskrit: वज्रधर, lit. 'Diamond-holder'; Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང, Wylie: rdo rje 'chang, THL: Dorje Chang; Chinese: 金剛總持; pinyin: Jīngāng Zǒngchí; Javanese: Kabajradharan; Japanese: 持金剛仏; Mongolian: Очирдар, romanized: Ochirdar; Vietnamese: Kim Cang Tổng Trì) is the ultimate primordial Buddha, or Adi-Buddha, according to the Sakya, Gelug and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also a name of Indra, because "Vajra" means diamond, as well as the thunderbolt, or anything hard more generally.

In the evolution of Indian Buddhism, Buddha Vajradhara gradually displaced Samantabhadra, who is the 'Primordial Buddha' in the Nyingma, or 'Ancient School.' However, the two are metaphysically equivalent. Achieving the 'state of Vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation.

The Angsi Glacier or Nangser Glacier (Tibetan: ངང་སེར་འཁྱགས་རོམ, Wylie: ngang ser 'khyags rom, THL: ngang ser khyak rom) is a glacier located on the northern side of the Himalayas in the Purang County in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. It is immediately to the east of the Indus-Tsangpo water divide at the eastern edge of the Purang County. One of the headwaters of the Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra), called Angsi Chu or Nangser Chu, originates in this glacier. Angsi Chu merges with the Chema-yungdung Chu within a short distance (30°24′14″N 82°16′37″E / 30.4038°N 82.277°E / 30.4038; 82.277 (Confluence of Angsi and Chema-yungdung streams)), and the combined river is called Chema-yungdung Chu.

Swami Pranavananda, an Indian ascetic and pilgrim, noted in 1939 that the Tibetan traditions regard the Chema-yungdung glacier as the source of Brahmaputra. He also noted that Kubi Chu, another source stream of Brahmaputra favoured by Sven Hedin, is larger, and that the Angsi Chu gives greater length.

Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर, Hunterian: Mānsarovara) also called Mapam Yumtso (Tibetan: མ་ཕམ་གཡུ་མཚོ།, Wylie: ma pham g.yu mtsho, THL: ma pam yu tso; Chinese: 瑪旁雍錯; pinyin: Mǎ páng yōng cuò) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of 4,600 m (15,100 ft), near the western trijunction between China, India and Nepal. It overflows into the adjacent salt-water lake of Rakshastal via the Ganga Chhu. The sources of four rivers: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali lie in the vicinity of the region.

The lake is sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the Bon religion. People from India, China, Nepal and other countries in the region undertake a pilgrimage to the region. The pilgrimage generally involves trekking towards Lake Manasarovar and a circumambulation of the nearby Mount Kailash.