A class of forceful beings, tamed by Buddha or a spiritual lineage master such as Guru Rinpoche, and made to take an oath to protect the Dharma and its practitioners. They may be either ordinary worldly beings (non-aryas) or highly realized aryas, and some may act as oracles, speaking through a medium in trance. In some cases, they are emanations of a Buddha, appearing in the form of a Dharma protector.
Tibetan: ཆོས་སྐྱོང་། སྲུང་མ། chos-skyong; srung-ma
Sanskrit: dharmapāla
Synonyms: Protector
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