Glossary · Buddhist philosophy & practice
Kshitigarbha
Kshitigarbha (Sanskrit: क्षितिगर्भ, “Earth Treasury”; Tibetan: ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ, Sa'i Nyingpo) is known for the vow to stay with beings in states of grief and profound darkness rather than leave them behind.
As a method, the figure offers grounded presence for loss, including the grief that gets no funeral and no social recognition, a way to stay with a loss without freezing in it.
Sources
The term is rooted in the canonical sutras and traditional commentaries of Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism, where it is treated as a contemplative method for training the mind rather than an object of belief.
