Vidyadhara or Rigdzin (Skt. vidyadhara; Tib. ?????????, rigdzin; Wyl.

rig 'dzin)
while it is frequently translated as awareness holder, caution is necessary. The
Tibetan term rigdzin can indeed mean awareness holder, however the equivalent
Sanskrit term vidyadhara cannot. The reason is that the Sanskrit word vidya (Skt.
vidya) has a different range of meanings from its Tibetan counterpart rigpa (Tib.
rig pa). The Sanskrit term vidyadhara can refer to either of two things:

In Indian mythology and the sutric literature it mostly refers to a winged spirit
with magical powers.
In the tantric literatures it refers to a practitioner who has gained magical
abilities through his or her accomplishment in tantric practices.

Within the Dzogchen tradition, since approximately the 14th century, the Tibetan
term rigdzin was used to describe someone who, according to Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche, constantly abides in the state of pure awareness of 'rigpa. Thus,
depending on the context, there are three possible meanings for the Tibetan term:

A winged spirit (especially within early Tibetan literature)

An accomplished tantric practitioner with magical abilities

An accomplished Dzogchen yogi (especially with later Tibetan literature)

Current usage, back translating the Tibetan term rigdzin, when intending to refer
to an accomplished Dzogchen yogi, as vidyadhara is mistaken.

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Four vidyadhara levels

Four vidyadhara levels (Tib. rigdzin nampa shyi; Wyl. rig 'dzin rnam pa bzhi) the
four levels of a vidyadhara which are specific to the Dzogchen or Nyingma
tradition.

matured vidyadhara (Tib. namin rigdzin; Wyl. rnam smin rig 'dzin)

vidyadhara with power over life (Tib. tsewang rigdzin; Wyl. tshe dbang rig 'dzin)

mahamudra vidyadhara (Tib. chakchen rigdzin; Wyl. phyag chen rig 'dzin)

spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara (Tib. lhundrup rigdzin; Wyl. lhun grub rig
'dzin)

Related to the Five Paths

According to Longchenpa:

the matured vidyadhara is on the paths of accumulation and joining, which are known
collectively as the stage of aspiring conduct;

the vidyadhara with power over life has reached the path of seeing;
the mahamudra vidyadhara is on the path of meditation and

the spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara is on the path of no-more-learning.

Khenpo Ngakchung states:

Those who have the ability to purify the ordinary body with the fire of
concentration and transform it into a subtle body acquire the power of immortal
life and are called vidyadharas with power over life.

Those who have not been able to purify their bodies but whose minds have ripened
into the deitys body are known as matured vidyadharas.

Those who are on the second to the ninth bhumis are mahamudra vidyadharas.

Then, at the end of the path, at the moment buddhahood is reached, they are
spontaneously accomplished vidyadharas.

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Bhumi (Skt. bhumi; Tib. ??, Wyl. sa), stage or level the word bhumi literally
means ground. Just as the ground is the support for everything, both animate and
inanimate, the bhumis are said to be supports for enlightened qualities. [1]So
this term is used when referring to the stages a practitioner traverses on the path
to enlightenment. There are eight bhumis on the path of the basic vehicle, the ten
bhumis of the bodhisattva path, with the eleventh being buddhahood, and thirteen in
the Tantrayana. The Dzogchen teachings sometimes speak of sixteen bhumis.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche has said:

What makes a bhumi? Simply, it is a combination of wisdom and method. In Sanskrit,

bhumi literally means earth, land or country it can refer to many things. For
example, in Indonesia, the language has a lot of Sanskrit influence. In their
official forms, they use words like bhumiputra when they talk of citizenship. We
use the name bhumi for the combination of wisdom and method because the ground or
earth acts like a container for all things to function. For example, you can hoist
this tent because of the ground. Likewise, all the enlightened qualities can grow
on the base of the combination of wisdom and method.[2]

Translation

Although bhumi is often translated literally as "ground", it has been questioned

whether it makes sense in English to speak of a first ground, second ground and so
on.[3] For this reason, some translators prefer to translate it as "stage" or
simply to leave it untranslated.

Notes

Jump up ? The Two-Volume Lexicon explains that a bhumi is so called because it is

the support for attaining the qualities of the next level while also being the
ground of qualities at any given stage. (sa gong ma'i yon tan thob par bya ba'i
rten du 'gyur zhing/ sa de nyid yon tan gyi gzhi yin pas na sa zhes bya)

Jump up ? Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Introduction to the Middle Way, Khyentse

Foundation, 2003, p.24

Jump up ? "...the translations "ground, earth," etc. for bhumi may be examples of
Buddhist Hybrid English (I am not sure "the first bodhisattva ground" makes much
sense). The Skt. word means essentially the surface of the earth, any habitable
surface, or one on which one can stand, hence it also means the floor of a house or
building, hence, "story" (as in British "storey") or "level," and then,
metaphorically as in English, "stage" or "ranking." I realize that saying that a
bodhisattva progresses through ten levels or stages does not sound very poetical,
but going through "ten grounds" is not poetical either." Luis O. Gmez, 'The Way of
the Translators: Three Recent Translations of Sntideva's Bodhicaryvatra'.
Buddhist Literature I (1999) p.310.