TERMS STARTING WITH
Sarva: All; everything.
Sarvabhokta: All-enjoyer; an epithet of the Supreme Lord.
Sarvabhutantaratma: The Inner Self of all beings.
Sarvada (Sanskrit) Sarvada [from sarva all + the verbal root dā to give] He who gives all, the all-sacrificing; title of Buddha, who in a former birth sacrificed everything to save others. Also a title of Siva.
Sarvadesika: Pertaining to all places; present everywhere.
Sarva-duhkha-nivritti: Removal of all pains.
Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra
Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra. (T. Ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba'i rgyud; C. Zuisheng foding tuoluoni jingchu yezhang zhou jing; J. Saishobutchodarani jojogoshojukyo; K. Ch'oesŭng pulchong tarani chongje opchang chu kyong 最勝佛頂陀羅尼淨除業障呪經). In Sanskrit, "Tantra on the Complete Purification of All Negative Places of Rebirth," an important Indian tantra classified sometimes as a CARYĀTANTRA, but most commonly as a YOGATANTRA, associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA. In the text, sAKRA asks the Buddha sĀKYAMUNI about the fate of a deity named Vimalamaniprabha, who is no longer living in the TRĀYASTRIMsA heaven. The Buddha explains that he has been reborn in the AVĪCI hell. The gods then ask the Buddha how to avoid rebirth in the three "evil destinies" (DURGATI) of animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The Buddha sets forth a variety of rituals, including rituals for the four kinds of activities (sĀNTIKA, PAUstIKA, VAsĪKARAnA, ABHICĀRA) as well as rituals for the dead. The text was widely commented upon in Tibet, where it was a major source of rituals for the fortunate rebirth of the dead.
Sarvaga (Sanskrit) Sarvaga [from sarva all + ga going, permeating] The all-permeant; the spirit-substance of the world, hence its soul. Equivalent to the anima mundi, or in a more abstract sense to the supreme cosmic essence or Second or Manifest-unmanifest Logos, which in early Christianity was feminine and called the Holy Spirit.
Sarvagata: Present in all (things); omnipresent.
Sarva-himsa-vinirmukha: Against injury of all kinds.
Sarvajna: Omniscient; knowing everything.
Sarva-kalyana: All auspicious qualities.
Sarva-karana: Cause of everything; causality of creation, preservation and destruction.
Sarva-karana-karana: The cause of all other causes.
Sarva-karta: All-doer; doer of everything.
Sarvakartrtva: Sanskrit for all-makingness. Descriptive of the principle of all-powerfulness as the ultimate principle in the universe, conceived dynamically.
Sarvakartrtva: (Skr.) "All makingness", descriptive of the ultimate principle in the universe, conceived dynamically. -- K.F.L.
Sarvamandalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra
Sarvamandalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra. (T. Gsang ba spyi rgyud; C. Ruixiye jing; J. Suikiyakyo; K. Yuhŭiya kyong 蕤耶經). In Sanskrit, "Secret Tantra for the Common Ritual for all MAndALAs"; a text that belongs, according to Tibetan categorization of tantras, to the KRIYĀTANTRA class.
Sarva-mandala (Sanskrit) Sarva-maṇḍala [from sarva all, complete + maṇḍala globe, orb] The complete globe or orb; hence the Egg of Brahma or the universe, applicable to any of the numerous Eggs of Brahma, whether a galaxy, sun, planet, or even a nebula or comet.
Sarva-medha (Sanskrit) Sarvamedha [from sarva all, whole, universal + medha sacrifice] The universal sacrifice, spoken of in the Rig-Veda as being performed by Visvakarman, the cosmic architect or demiurge. It is a ten days’ sacrificial ceremony — the ten having reference not only to the ten cosmic planes, but to other decads in the universe, such as the ten primordial conscious forces, etc.
Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma (Sanskrit) Sarvam khalvidam brahma [from sarvam all + khalu indeed + idam this, the manifested universe + brahma the supreme mind or spirit of our universe] All this universe is indeed Brahman. Brahman is universal because the infilling, indwelling, and inspiring cosmic mind and consciousness of our home-universe; the reference is not to boundless infinitude or parabrahman (beyond Brahman).
Sarvam khalv idam brahma: (Skr.) "Indeed, all this is brahman", a famous dictum of Chan-dogya Upanishad 3.14.1, symptomatic of the monistic attitude later elaborated in Sankara's Vedanta (q.v.). -- K.F.L.
Sarvangasana: Pan-psychical pose of the Hatha-yogin; it influences the thyroid gland and through it the whole body and its functions.
Sarvani bhutani ::: "all things that have become", all becomings, all creatures.
Sarvanīvaranaviskambhin
Sarvanīvaranaviskambhin. (T. Sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba; C. Chugaizhang pusa; J. Jogaisho bosatsu; K. Chegaejang posal 除蓋障菩薩). In Sanskrit, "Blocking all Hindrances"; a BODHISATTVA who is the interlocutor of the KĀRAndAVYuHA; in the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, he is listed as one of the eight great bodhisattvas (see AstAMAHOPAPUTRA); he associated with the buddha AMOGHASIDDHI. See KĀRAndAVYuHA.
Sarvaniyantratma: The Inner Soul that controls everything.
Sarvantaryami: The Inner Ruler of everything.
Sarvapindavyapi: He who permeates all bodies and also who permeates the entire body.
Sarva-prani-hite-ratah: Ever rejoicing in the good of all beings.
Sarva-sakshi: Witness of everything.
Sarva-sakti-samanvita: With all powers; omnipotent.
Sarva-sankalpa-rahitah: Devoid of all thoughts or resolves.
Sarva-sastrartha-vetta: Knower of the meaning of all scriptures.
Sarvasti-vada: (Skr.) The doctrine (vada) of Hinayana Buddhism according to which "all is" (sarvam asti), or all is real, that which was, currently is, and will be but now is, potentially. -- K.F.L.
SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha
SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha. (T. De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi de kho na nyid bsdus pa; C. Yiqie rulai zhenshishe dasheng xianzheng sanmei dajiaowang jing; J. Issainyorai shinjitsusho daijogenshozanmai daikyoogyo; K. Ilch'e yorae chinsilsop taesŭng hyonjŭng sammae taegyowang kyong 一切如來眞實攝大乘現證三昧大敎王經). In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Principles of All the Tathāgatas"; one of the most important Buddhist tantras, whose influence extended through India, China, Japan, and Tibet. Likely dating from the late seventh century, the text presented a range of doctrines, themes, and practices that would come to be regarded as emblematic of tantric practice. These include the the view that sĀKYAMUNI Buddha did not actually achieve enlightenment under the BODHI TREE but did so through ritual consecration. The commentaries to the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha recount that Prince SIDDHĀRTHA was meditating on the banks of the NAIRANJANĀ River when he was roused by the buddha VAIROCANA and all the buddhas of the ten directions, who informed him that such meditation would not result in the achievement of buddhahood. He thus left his physical body behind and traveled in a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) to the AKANIstHA heaven, where he received various consecrations and achieved buddhahood. He next descended to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where he taught the YOGATANTRAs. Finally, he returned to the world, reinhabited his physical body, and then displayed to the world the well-known defeat of MĀRA and the achievement of buddhahood under the Bodhi tree. The tantra also include the violent subjugation of Mahesvara (siva) by the wrathful bodhisattva VAJRAPĀnI, suggesting competition between Hindu and Buddhist tantric practitioners at the time of its composition and the increasing importance of violent imagery in Buddhist tantra. Such important elements as the five buddha families (PANCATATHĀGATA) and the practice of visualizing oneself as a deity also appear in the text. The tantra is also important for the prominment role given to the buddha Vairocana. In East Asia, the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was particularly influential in the form of the VAJRAsEKHARA, the reconstructed Sanskrit title derived from the Chinese translations of the first chapter of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha made by VAJRABODHI and AMOGHAVAJRA during the Tang dynasty. This would become a central text for the esoteric traditions of China and Japan. The full text of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was not translated into Chinese until Dānapāla completed his version in 1015. Ānandagarbha (fl. c. 750) wrote an important commentary on the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha called Tattvālokakarī ("Illumination of the Compendium of Principles Tantra"), and sākyamitra (fl. c. 750) wrote a commentary called KosalālaMkāra ("Ornament of Kosala"). Ānandagarbha's mandala ritual called Sarvavajrodayamandalavidhi is a ritual text based on the first chapter of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha. The tantra was very influential in Tibet during both the earlier dissemination (SNGA DAR) and the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) periods. Classified as a yogatantra, it was an important source during the later period, for example, for such scholars as BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB and TSONG KHA PA in their systematizations of tantra.
Sarvatitavadi: Transcendentalist; one who argues that Truth is transcendental.
Sarvatmakatva: Universality; the state of being the soul of everything.
Sarvatva: State of being everything.
Sarvatyaga: Renunciation of everything.
Sarvavasu (Sanskrit) Sarvavasu [from sarva all + vasu one of the 12 adityas or solar divinities, rays, or logoi] One of the seven principal logoi or rays of the sun.
Sarvavit: All-knowing.
Sarvavyapi: All-pervading; omnipresent.
sarva. ::: all; everything; complete
sarva ::: all; the All; same as sarvaṁ brahma.
sarva ::: all, the All. sarvah [nominative, masculine] ::: sarvam [nominative, neuter] ::: sarvesu [locative plural], in all.
sarva ananta jñana ananda Kr.s.n.a (sarva ananta jnana ananda Krishna) ::: Kr.s.n.a as the fourfold brahman in its personal aspect. sarva ananta jñana
sarva-ananta ::: same as sarvam anantam. sarva-ananta-j ñana
sarvabhavena ::: in every way of his being. [Gita 15.19]
sarvabhutahite ::: in the good of all creatures. ::: [see the following]
sarvabhutahite ratah ::: busied with and delighting in the good of all creatures. ::: sarvabhutahite ratah [plural] [Gita 5.25; 12.4]
sarvabhuta-mahesvara ::: [the great Lord of all beings]. [cf. Gita 5.29]
sarvabhutanam hrddese ::: hidden in the heart of all existences. [Gita 18.61]
sarvabhutani ::: all existences.
sarvabhutani atmaivabhud vijanatah ::: it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge. [cf. Isa 7]
sarvabhutasthitam yo mam bhajati ekatvam asthitah ::: who loves Me in all and his soul is founded on (the divine) oneness. [Gita 6.31]
sarvabhutatmabhutatma ::: [one] whose self has become the self of all existences. [Gita 5.7]
sarvabhutesu ::: in all existences.
sarvabhūtes.u (ishwaradarshana sarvabhuteshu) ::: vision of the Lord in all existences.
sarvabhūtes.u (sarvabhuteshu) ::: in all beings. sarvabhutesu
sarva brahma; sarva brahman ::: same as sarvaṁ brahma.
sarvadarsana (sarvadarshana) ::: vision of all; especially, the vision of sarvadarsana ananda on every plane. sarvakarmas sarvakarmasamarthya
sarvadharman ::: all dharmas. ::: [see the following]
sarvadharman parityajya ::: [having abandoned all dharmas]. [Gita 18.66]
sarvagatam acalam ::: all-pervading, motionless. [cf. Gita 2.24]
sarvagatam brahma ::: the all-pervading brahman. ::: [cf. the following]
sarvagatam yajne pratisthitam ::: all-pervading, established in the sacrifice. [Gita 3.15]
sarva-guhyatamam ::: a most secret truth of all. [Gita 18.64]
sarvah ::: see under sarva
sarvair vedair aham eva vedyah ::: I am that which is known by all the Vedas. [cf. Gita 15.15]
sarvajna. ::: knowing everything; omniscience
sarvajnana-samarthya ::: [capacity for all knowledge]; integral capacity of the thinking intelligence.
sarva-jnana-vimudhan nastan acetasah ::: [the insensible, bewildered in all knowledge and (fated to be) destroyed]. [Gita 3.32]
sarvajNatājNāna. (P. sabbaNNutāNāna; T. thams cad mkhyen pa'i ye shes; C. yiqiezhi zhi; J. issaichichi; K. ilch'eji chi 一切智智). In Sanskrit, "omniscient knowledge"; a buddha's knowledge of all the grounds (vastu) of the knowledge of defiled (SAMKLIstA) and purified (visuddha, see VIsUDDHI) dharmas systematized in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and its commentarial tradition, sarvajNatājNāna also refers to the knowledge of the four noble truths in the mental continuum of a bodhisattva or buddha. See SARVAJNATĀ.
sarvajNatājNāna
sarvajNatā. (P. sabbaNNu; T. kun shes/thams cad mkhyen pa; C. yiqie zhi; J. issaichi; K. ilch'e chi 一切智). In Sanskrit, "all-knower," "all-knowledge," or "omniscience"; in early versions of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, the name for a buddha's knowledge; later, the term was used for the knowledge of a sRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA, in contrast to a buddha's knowledge of all aspects (SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ), which is reached by cultivating a bodhisattva's knowledge of the paths (MĀRGAJNATĀ). The "all" (sarva) means all the grounds (vastu) of the knowledge of defiled (SAMKLIstA) and pure (visuddha, see VIsUDDHI) dharmas systematized in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and VIMUKTISENA's commentary to that text, sarvajNatā has both a positive and a negative meaning. In the opening verses of the AbhisamayālaMkāra, for example, sarvajNatā is called the mother of the perfection of wisdom. In such cases it is a positive term for the part of a buddha's knowledge that is shared in common with srāvakas, and so on. In the third chapter of the same work, sarvajNatā is a negative term used to identify the absence of skillful means (UPĀYA) and the lack of the total absence of subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) in srāvakas, in order to point clearly to the superiority of the BODHISATTVA path.
sarvajNatā
sarvajnatva. ::: omniscience
sarvakarmani josayan ::: helping them to do all actions with joy and acceptance. [cf. Gita 3.26]
sarvakarmani samnyasya ::: [having given up all actions]. [Gita 5.13; 18.57]
sarvakarmani ::: works of all kinds.
sarvakrt ::: [doer of all (actions)].
sarvalokadr.s.t.i (sarvalokadrishti) ::: vision of all the worlds. sarvalokadrsti
sarvalokamahesvaram suhrdam sarvabhutanam ::: the Lord of all worlds (who is) the friend of all creatures. [Gita 5.29]
sarvam anantam anandaṁ brahma ::: sarvam anantam combined with anandaṁ brahma. sarvam anantam anandam anandaṁ brahma-purusa
sarvam anantam jnanam anandam brahma iti brahmacatustayam ::: see these words separately
sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandam ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandaṁ brahma.
sarvam anantaṁ jñanaṁ brahma ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam.
sarvam anantam ::: sarvaṁ brahma combined with anantaṁ brahma.
sarvamangalam ::: all good.
sarvamatma. ::: knower and the non-knower of the Self
sarvamaya ::: Kr.s.n.a seen "as the All, not only in the unique essence of things, but in the manifold form of things", the first degree of the third intensity of Kr.s.n.adarsana, a kind of vision of the divine Personality corresponding to sarvaṁ brahma in the impersonal brahmadarsana. sarva sarvam
sarvaṁ (brahma) ::: brahman as Bliss, as Knowledge, as the Infinite, as the All; the formula of the brahma catus.t.aya with its terms in reverse order. ananda purus ananda purusa
sarvam brahma ::: the brahman (that) is the All.
sarvam idam ::: all this, all that is here (the common phrase in the Upanisads for the totality of the phenomena in the mobility of the universe).
sarvam karmakhilam (partha) jnane parisamapyate ::: all the totality of works [O Partha (Arjuna)] finds its rounded culmination in knowledge. [Gita 4.33]
sarvam khalvidam brahma. ::: "All of this is Brahman"; "All of this, including me, is that absolute Reality"; one of the Mahavakyas
sarvam khalvidam (khalu idam) brahma ::: verily all this that is is the brahman. [Chand. 3.14.1]
sarvam ::: same as sarvaṁ brahma. sarvam anandam
sarvam ::: see under sarva
sarvananda ::: complete delight; a term for active / positive samata, sarvananda including all its three stages; universal ananda. sarv sarvarambhan
sarvani bhutani atmaiva abhut ::: the Self-Being [atman] became all Becomings. [Isa 7]
sarvani vijnana-vijrmbhitani ::: all things are self-deployings of the Divine Knowledge. [cf. Visnu Purana 2.12.39]
sarvapapaih pramucyate ::: is delivered from all sin. [Gita 10.3]
sarvapapam ::: all evil. [Kaivalya 1]
sarvarambhah ::: all inceptions. [Gita 18.48]
sarvarambha-parityagi ::: one who has flung away from him all initiation. [Gita 14.25]
sarvasaundaryabodha ::: the sense of universal beauty, "a delightperception and taste of the absolute reality all-beautiful in everything". sarvasaundarya darsana
sarvasaundaryam ::: see sarvasaundarya.
sarvasaundarya (sarvasaundarya; sarva-saundarya; sarvasaundaryam) ::: all-beauty; the "universal Beauty which we feel in Nature . and man and in all that is around us", reflecting "some transcendent Beauty of which all apparent beauty here is only a symbol"; short for sarvasaundaryabodha or sarvasaundarya darsana.
sarvasundara (sarvasundara; sarva-sundara) ::: (Kr.s.n.a as) the Allbeautiful.
sarvasunya. ::: the state devoid of all sense objects
SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA (vol. 18, no. 866)
sarvatati ::: the formation or "extension' of the universal being. [Ved.]
sarvatha vartamanopi ::: however -- even in all kinds of ways -- he lives and acts ... ::: [see the following]
sarvatha vartamanopi sa yogi mayi vartate ::: however -- even in all kinds of ways -- he lives and acts, that yogin lives and acts in Me. [Gita 6.31]
sarvatma bhava. ::: the state of experiencing the Self as all; abidance in oneness
sarvatra ::: everywhere.
sarvatragah ::: all-pervading. [Gita 9.6]
sarvatragahetu
sarvatragahetu. (T. kun 'gro'i rgyu; C. bianxing yin; J. hengyoin; K. p'yonhaeng in 遍行因). In Sanskrit, "allpervasive," or "universally active," "cause," the fifth of the six types of causes (HETU) outlined in the JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central text of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA. This type of cause refers to the fact that the unwholesome proclivities (ANUsAYA) of mind produce not only identical types of subsequent proclivities, but also serve as the root cause of all other types of afflictions, thus obstructing a person's capacity to understand the true nature of reality. The unwholesome cause and effect must occur in the same realm (such as the RuPADHĀTU), but the cause and effect can be different types of unwholesome states, e.g., ignorance can produce attachment.
sarvatraga
sarvatragati ::: (literally) going everywhere; same as visvagati. sarvavastus sarvavastusu
sarvatraga. (T. kun 'gro; C. bianxing; J. hengyo; K. p'yonhaeng 遍行). In Sanskrit, "all-pervasive" or "omnipresent"; referring specifically to the five omnipresent (sarvatraga) mental concomitants (CAITTA) that are present to varying degrees in all conscious states according to the analysis of the YOGĀCĀRA ABHIDHARMA. These five factors are: sensory contact (SPARsA), sensation (VEDANĀ), volition (CETANĀ), perception or discrimination (SAMJNĀ), and attention (MANASKĀRA). It is not possible to identify consciousness or mind (CITTA) except through these omnipresent factors; each has a specific mental function, and when these functions operate together they produce what is conventionally called a conscious state or mind. Thus manaskāra functions as a basic level of mental activity; cetanā functions to make consciousness nonarbitrary, giving consciousness intention relative to its object; sparsa functions to connect consciousness with its object; vedanā extends mere contact into the realm of sentient experience; and saMjNā functions to differentiate and identify a particular object. These five factors are included among the ten MAHĀBHuMIKA dharmas in the seventy-five dharmas of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school. In the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA, there are seven mental factors (P. cetisika) that are associated with all states of consciousness, these five together with concentration (SAMĀDHI) and mental vitality (JĪVITA).
sarvavid ::: all-knowing, a whole-knower. [Gita 15.19]
sarvavit sarvabhavena ::: that whole-knower ... with his whole being (in every way of his nature). [Gita 15.19]
TERMS ANYWHERE
13. all their physical actions are preceded by gnosis and remain in conformity with gnosis (S. sarvakāyakarmajNānapurvagamaM jNānānuparivarti; T. lus kyi las thams cad ye shes kyi sngon du 'gro shing ye shes kyi rjes su 'brang ba; C. yiqie shenye sui zhihui xing 一切身業隨智慧行)
13. emptiness of all dharmas (S. sarvadharmasunyatā; T. chos thams cad stong pa nyid; C. yiqiefa kong 一法空)
14. all their verbal actions are preceded by gnosis and remain in conformity with gnosis (S. sarvavākkarmajNānapurvagamaM jNānānuparivarti; T. ngag gi las thams cad ye shes kyi sngon du 'gro shing ye shes kyi rjes su 'brang ba; C. yiqie kouye sui zhihui xing 一切口業隨智慧行)
15. all their mental actions are preceeded by gnosis and remain in conformity with gnosis (S. sarvamanaḥkarmajNānapurvagamaM jNānānuparivarti; T. yid kyi las thams cad ye shes kyi sngon du 'gro shing ye shes kyi rjes su 'brang ba; C. yiqie yiye sui zhihui xing 一切意業隨智慧行)
1. all that is compounded is impermanent (S. sarvasaMskārāanityatāḥ; T. 'dus byas thams cad mi rtag pa; C. zhuxing wuchang 諸行無常)
1. five omnipresent mental functions (S. sarvatraga; T. kun 'gro; C. bianxing[xinsuo] 遍行[心所])
1. his knowledge of all phenomena (S. sarvadharmābhisaMbodhivaisāradya; T. chos thams cad mkhyen pa la mi 'jigs pa; C. zhufa xiandengjue wuwei 諸法現等覺無畏)
2. all that is contaminated is suffering (S. sarvasaMskārāduḥkhāḥ; T. zag cas thams cad sdug bsngal ba; C. yiqie jie ku 一切皆苦)
3. all phenomena are without self (S. sarvadharmā anātmānaḥ; T. chos thams cad bdag med pa; C. zhufa wuwo 諸法無我)
4. his realization of all the marvelous qualities that are to be achieved through completing the path to liberation (S. sarvasampadadhigamāyanairyānikapratipattathātvavaisāradya; T. phun sum tshogs pa thams cad thob par 'gyur bar nges par 'byung ba'i lam de bzhin du gyur ba la mi 'jigs pa; C. weizheng yiqie juzu chudao ruxing wuwei 為證一切具足出道如性無畏)
5. all-pervasive cause (S. sarvatragahetu; T. kun gro'i rgyu; C. bianxing yin 遍行因)
5. Sarvanīvaranaviskambhin (T. Sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba; C. Chu gaizhang pusa 除蓋障菩薩)
6. power of knowing the paths going everywhere (S. sarvatragāmanīpratipajjNāna; T. thams cad du 'gro ba'i lam mkhyen pa'i stobs; C. bianquxing zhili 遍趣行智力)
75. Sarvabhaksa (T. Thams cad za ba)
7. power of knowing absorption, liberation, concentration, trance, affliction, purification, and acquisition (S. sarvadhyānavimoksasamādhisamāpattisaMklesavyavadānavyutthānajNānabala; T. bsam gtan dang rnam thar dang ting nge 'dzin dang snyoms par 'jug pa dang kun nas nyon mongs pa dang rnam par byang ba dang ldan pa thams cad mkhyen pa'i stobs; C. jinglü jietuo dengchi dengzhi zhili 靜慮解等持等至智力)
Abhidhammatthasangaha. In PAli, "Summary of the Meaning of Abhidharma"; a synoptic manual of PAli ABHIDHARMA written by the Sri Lankan monk ANURUDDHA (d.u.), abbot of the Mulasoma VihAra in Polonnaruwa, sometime between the eighth and twelfth centuries CE, but most probably around the turn of the eleventh century. (Burmese tradition instead dates the text to the first century BCE.) The terse Abhidhammatthasangaha Has been used for centuries as an introductory primer for the study of abhidharma in the monasteries of Sri Lanka and the THERAVADA countries of Southeast Asia; indeed, no other abhidharma text has received more scholarly attention within the tradition, especially in Burma, where this primer has been the object of multiple commentaries and vernacular translations. The Abhidhammatthasangaha includes nine major sections, which provide a systematic overview of PAli Buddhist doctrine. Anuruddha summarizes the exegeses appearing in BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, though the two works could hardly be more different: where the Visuddhimagga offers an exhaustive exegesis of THERAVADA abhidharma accompanied by a plethora of historical and mythical detail, the Abhidhammatthasangaha is little more than a list of topics, like a bare table of contents. Especially noteworthy in the Abhidhammatthasangaha is its analysis of fifty-two mental concomitants (CETASIKA), in distinction to the forty-six listed in SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA. There is one major PAli commentary to the Abhidhammatthasangaha still extant, the PorAnatīkA, which is attributed to Vimalabuddhi (d.u.). The Abhidhammatthasangaha appears in the Pali Text Society's English translation series as Compendium of Philosophy.
Abhidharmadīpa. In Sanskrit, "Lamp of ABHIDHARMA"; an Indian scholastic treatise probably composed between 450 and 550 CE. Only fragments of the treatise (sixty-two of 150 folios) are extant; these were discovered in Tibet in 1937. The treatise is composed of two parts-the Abhidharmadīpa, written in verse (kArikA), and a prose autocommentary, the VibhAsAprabhAvṛtti-both of which were probably composed by the same anonymous author. The author, who refers to himself merely as the "DīpakAra" ("author of the Dīpa") may be Vimalamitra (d.u.), an otherwise-unknown disciple of SAMGHABHADRA. The structure of the text is modeled on that of the influential ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, and almost half of the kArikA verses included in the Abhidharmadīpa are virtually identical to those found in the Abhidharmakosa. Although borrowing freely from the Kosa, the DīpakAra launches a harsh critique of VASUBANDHU's (whom he calls the "KosakAra," or "author of the Kosa") AbhidharmakosabhAsya, from the standpoint of SARVASTIVADA abhidharma. Vasubandhu is criticized for the SAUTRANTIKA tendencies betrayed in his doctrinal analyses and also for being a MahAyAnist adherent of the teachings of the "three natures" (TRISVABHAVA). As such, the Abhidharmadīpa's author seems to have been a follower of SAMGHABHADRA's *NYAYANUSARA, and the text helps to clarify the positions of SaMghabhadra and the orthodox VAIBHAsIKAs. The DīpakAra shares the latter's concern with providing both a systematic exegesis of abhidharma theory and a vigorous polemical defense of SarvAstivAda doctrinal positions. Since it presents theories of other thinkers not covered in the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the Abhidharmadīpa serves as an important source for studying the history of Indian abhidharma. For example, in his discussion of the eponymous SarvAstivAda position that "everything exists" throughout all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, the DīpakAra also critiques three rival positions: the VIBHAJYAVADA and DArstAntikas, who maintain that only "part" exists (viz., the present); the Vaitulika and AyogasunyatAvAda, who say that nothing exists; and the PUDGALAVADA, who presume that existence is indeterminate (AVYAKṚTA).
*Abhidharmahṛdaya. (C. Apitan xin lun; J. Abidon shinron; K. Abidam sim non 阿毘曇心論). In Sanskrit, "Heart of ABHIDHARMA"; one of the first attempts at a systematic presentation of abhidharma according to the SARVASTIVADA school; the treatise is attributed to Dharmasresthin (Fasheng, c. 130 BCE), who hailed from the GANDHARA region of Central Asia. The text is no longer extant in Sanskrit but survives only in a Chinese translation made sometime during the fourth century (alt. 376, 391) by SaMghadeva and LUSHAN HUIYUAN. The treatise functions essentially as a handbook for meditative development, focusing on ways of overcoming the negative proclivities of mind (ANUsAYA) and developing correct knowledge (JNANA). The meditative training outlined in the treatise focuses on the four absorptions (DHYANA) and on two practical techniques for developing concentration: mindfulness of breathing (ANAPANASMṚTI) and the contemplation of impurity (AsUBHABHAVANA). The text is also one of the first to distinguish the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), which involves the initial insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, and the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), which eliminates all the remaining proclivities so that the adept may experience the stage of the worthy one (ARHAT).
AbhidharmakosabhAsya. (T. Chos mngon pa'i mdzod kyi bshad pa; C. Apidamo jushe lun; J. Abidatsuma kusharon; K. Abidalma kusa non 阿毘達磨倶舎論). In Sanskrit, "A Treasury of ABHIDHARMA, with Commentary"; an influential scholastic treatise attributed to VASUBANDHU (c. fourth or fifth century CE). The AbhidharmakosabhAsya consists of two texts: the root text of the Abhidharmakosa, composed in verse (kArikA), and its prose autocommentary (bhAsya); this dual verse-prose structure comes to be emblematic of later SARVASTIVADA abhidharma literature. As the title suggests, the work is mainly concerned with abhidharma theory as it was explicated in the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA, the principal scholastic treatise of the VAIBHAsIKAABHIDHARMIKAs in the SarvAstivAda school. In comparison to the MahAvibhAsA, however, the AbhidharmakosabhAsya presents a more systematic overview of SarvAstivAda positions. At various points in his expositions, Vasubandhu criticizes the SarvAstivAda doctrine from the standpoint of the more progressive SAUTRANTIKA offshoot of the SarvAstivAda school, which elicited a spirited response from later SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika scholars, such as SAMGHABHADRA in his *NYAYANUSARA. The AbhidharmakosabhAsya has thus served as an invaluable tool in the study of the history of the later MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. The Sanskrit texts of both the kArikA and the bhAsya were lost for centuries before being rediscovered in Tibet in 1934 and 1936, respectively. Two Chinese translations, by XUANZANG and PARAMARTHA, and one Tibetan translation of the work are extant. The Kosa is primarily concerned with a detailed elucidation of the polysemous term DHARMA, the causes (HETU) and conditions (PRATYAYA) that lead to continued rebirth in SAMSARA, and the soteriological stages of the path (MARGA) leading to enlightenment. The treatise is divided into eight major chapters, called kosasthAnas. (1) DhAtunirdesa, "Exposition on the Elements," divides dharmas into various categories, such as tainted (SASRAVA) and untainted (ANASRAVA), or compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA), and discusses the standard Buddhist classifications of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), twelve sense fields (AYATANA), and eighteen elements (DHATU). This chapter also includes extensive discussion of the theory of the four great elements (MAHABHuTA) that constitute materiality (RuPA) and the Buddhist theory of atoms or particles (PARAMAnU). (2) Indriyanirdesa, "Exposition on the Faculties," discusses a fivefold classification of dharmas into materiality (rupa), thought (CITTA), mental concomitants (CAITTA), forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), and the uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA). This chapter also has extensive discussions of the six causes (HETU), the four conditions (PRATYAYA), and the five effects or fruitions (PHALA). (3) Lokanirdesa, "Exposition on the Cosmos," describes the formation and structure of a world system (LOKA), the different types of sentient beings, the various levels of existence, and the principle of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) that governs the process of rebirth, which is discussed here in connection with the three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future. (4) Karmanirdesa, "Exposition on Action," discusses the different types of action (KARMAN), including the peculiar type of action associated with unmanifest materiality (AVIJNAPTIRuPA). The ten wholesome and unwholesome "paths of action" (KUsALA-KARMAPATHA and AKUsALA-KARMAPATHA) also receive a lengthy description. (5) Anusayanirdesa, "Exposition on the Proclivities," treats the ninety-eight types of ANUsAYA in relation to their sources and qualities and the relationship between the anusayas and other categories of unwholesome qualities, such as afflictions (KLEsA), contaminants (ASRAVA), floods (OGHA), and yokes (yoga). (6) MArgapudgalanirdesa, "Exposition on the Path and the [Noble] Persons," outlines how either insight into the four noble truths and carefully following a series of soteriological steps can remove defilements and transform the ordinary person into one of the noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA). (7) JNAnanirdesa, "Exposition on Knowledge," offers a detailed account of the ten types of knowledge and the distinctive attributes of noble persons and buddhas. (8) SamApattinirdesa, "Exposition on Attainment," discusses different categories of concentration (SAMADHI) and the attainments (SAMAPATTI) that result from their perfection. (9) Appended to this main body is a ninth section, an independent treatise titled the Pudgalanirdesa, "Exposition of the Notion of a Person." Here, Vasubandhu offers a detailed critique of the theory of the self, scrutinizing both the Buddhist PUDGALAVADA/VATSĪPUTRĪYA "heresy" of the inexpressible (avAcya) "person" (PUDGALA) being conventionally real and Brahmanical theories of a perduring soul (ATMAN). Numerous commentaries to the Kosa, such as those composed by VASUMITRA, YAsOMITRA, STHIRAMATI, and Purnavardhana, attest to its continuing influence in Indian Buddhist thought. The Kosa was also the object of vigorous study in the scholastic traditions of East Asia and Tibet, which produced many indigenous commentaries on the text and its doctrinal positions.
AbhidharmamahAvibhAsA. (T. Chos mngon pa bye brag bshad pa chen po; C. Apidamo dapiposha lun; J. Abidatsuma daibibasharon; K. Abidalma taebibasa non 阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論). In Sanskrit, "Great Exegesis of ABHIDHARMA," also commonly known as MahAvibhAsA; a massive VAIBHAsIKA treatise on SARVASTIVADA abhidharma translated into Chinese by the scholar-pilgrim XUANZANG and his translation bureau between 656 and 659 at XIMINGSI in the Tang capital of Chang'an. Although no Sanskrit version of this text is extant, earlier Chinese translations by Buddhavarman and others survive, albeit only in (equally massive) fragments. The complete Sanskrit text of the recension that Xuanzang used was in 100,000 slokas; his translation was in 200 rolls, making it one of the largest single works in the Buddhist canon. According to the account in Xuanzang's DA TANG XIYU JI, four hundred years after the Buddha's PARINIRVAnA, King KANIsKA gathered five hundred ARHATs to recite the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA). The ABHIDHARMAPItAKA of this canon, which is associated with the SarvAstivAda school, is said to have been redacted during this council (see COUNCIL, FOURTH). The central abhidharma treatise of the SarvAstivAda school is KATYAYANĪPUTRA's JNANAPRASTHANA, and the AbhidharmamahAvibhAsA purports to offer a comprehensive overview of varying views on the meaning of that seminal text by the five hundred arhats who were in attendance at the convocation. The comments of four major ABHIDHARMIKAs (Ghosa, DHARMATRATA, VASUMITRA, and Buddhadeva) are interwoven into the MahAvibhAsA's contextual analysis of KAtyAyanīputra's material from the JNAnaprasthAna, making the text a veritable encyclopedia of contemporary Buddhist scholasticism. Since the MahAvibhAsA also purports to be a commentary on the central text of the SarvAstivAda school, it therefore offers a comprehensive picture of the development of SarvAstivAda thought after the compilation of the JNAnaprasthAna. The MahAvibhAsA is divided into eight sections (grantha) and several chapters (varga), which systematically follow the eight sections and forty-three chapters of the JNAnaprasthAna in presenting its explication. Coverage of each topic begins with an overview of varying interpretations found in different Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, detailed coverage of the positions of the four major SarvAstivAda Abhidharmikas, and finally the definitive judgment of the compilers, the KAsmīri followers of KAtyAyanĪputra, who call themselves the VibhAsAsAstrins. The MahAvibhAsA was the major influence on the systematic scholastic elaboration of SarvAstivAda doctrine that appears (though with occasional intrusions from the positions of the SarvAstivAda's more-progressive SAUTRANTIKA offshoot) in VASUBANDHU's influential ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, which itself elicited a spirited response from later SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika scholars, such as SAMGHABHADRA in his *NYAYANUSARA. The MahAvibhAsa was not translated into Tibetan until the twentieth century, when a translation entitled Bye brag bshad mdzod chen mo was made at the Sino-Tibetan Institute by the Chinese monk FAZUN between 1946 and 1949. He presented a copy of the manuscript to the young fourteenth DALAI LAMA on the Dalai Lama's visit to Beijing in 1954, but it is not known whether it is still extant.
abhidharma. (P. abhidhamma; T. chos mngon pa; C. apidamo/duifa; J. abidatsuma/taiho; K. abidalma/taebop 阿毘達磨/對法). In Sanskrit, abhidharma is a prepositional compound composed of abhi- + dharma. The compound is typically glossed with abhi being interpreted as equivalent to uttama and meaning "highest" or "advanced" DHARMA (viz., doctrines or teachings), or abhi meaning "pertaining to" the dharma. The SARVASTIVADA Sanskrit tradition typically follows the latter etymology, while the THERAVADA PAli tradition prefers the former, as in BUDDHAGHOSA's gloss of the term meaning either "special dharma" or "supplementary dharma." These definitions suggest that abhidharma was conceived as a precise (P. nippariyAya), definitive (PARAMARTHA) assessment of the dharma that was presented in its discursive (P. sappariyAya), conventional (SAMVṚTI) form in the SuTRAS. Where the sutras offered more subjective presentations of the dharma, drawing on worldly parlance, simile, metaphor, and personal anecdote in order to appeal to their specific audiences, the abhidharma provided an objective, impersonal, and highly technical description of the specific characteristics of reality and the causal processes governing production and cessation. There are two divergent theories for the emergence of the abhidharma as a separate genre of Buddhist literature. In one theory, accepted by most Western scholars, the abhidharma is thought to have evolved out of the "matrices" (S. MATṚKA; P. mAtikA), or numerical lists of dharmas, that were used as mnemonic devices for organizing the teachings of the Buddha systematically. Such treatments of dharma are found even in the sutra literature and are probably an inevitable by-product of the oral quality of early Buddhist textual transmission. A second theory, favored by Japanese scholars, is that abhidharma evolved from catechistic discussions (abhidharmakathA) in which a dialogic format was used to clarify problematic issues in doctrine. The dialogic style also appears prominently in the sutras where, for example, the Buddha might give a brief statement of doctrine (uddesa; P. uddesa) whose meaning had to be drawn out through exegesis (NIRDEsA; P. niddesa); indeed, MAHAKATYAYANA, one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha, was noted for his skill in such explications. This same style was prominent enough in the sutras even to be listed as one of the nine or twelve genres of Buddhist literature (specifically, VYAKARAnA; P. veyyAkarana). According to tradition, the Buddha first taught the abhidharma to his mother MAHAMAYA, who had died shortly after his birth and been reborn as a god in TUsITA heaven. He met her in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRAYASTRIMsA), where he expounded the abhidharma to her and the other divinities there, repeating those teachings to sARIPUTRA when he descended each day to go on his alms-round. sAriputra was renowned as a master of the abhidharma. Abhidharma primarily sets forth the training in higher wisdom (ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA) and involves both analytical and synthetic modes of doctrinal exegesis. The body of scholastic literature that developed from this exegetical style was compiled into the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, one of the three principal sections of the Buddhist canon, or TRIPItAKA, along with sutra and VINAYA, and is concerned primarily with scholastic discussions on epistemology, cosmology, psychology, KARMAN, rebirth, and the constituents of the process of enlightenment and the path (MARGA) to salvation. (In the MAHAYANA tradition, this abhidharmapitaka is sometimes redefined as a broader "treatise basket," or *sASTRAPItAKA.)
abhidharmapitaka. (P. abhidhammapitaka; T. chos mngon pa'i sde snod; C. lunzang; J. ronzo; K. nonjang 論藏). The third of the three "baskets" (PItAKA) of the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA). The abhidharmapitaka derives from attempts in the early Buddhist community to elucidate the definitive significance of the teachings of the Buddha, as compiled in the SuTRAs. Since the Buddha was well known to have adapted his message to fit the predilections and needs of his audience (cf. UPAYAKAUsALYA), there inevitably appeared inconsistencies in his teachings that needed to be resolved. The attempts to ferret out the definitive meaning of the BUDDHADHARMA through scholastic interpretation and exegesis eventually led to a new body of texts that ultimately were granted canonical status in their own right. These are the texts of the abhidharmapitaka. The earliest of these texts, such as the PAli VIBHAnGA and PUGGALAPANNATTI and the SARVASTIVADA SAMGĪTIPARYAYA and DHARMASKANDHA, are structured as commentaries to specific sutras or portions of sutras. These materials typically organized the teachings around elaborate doctrinal taxonomies, which were used as mnemonic devices or catechisms. Later texts move beyond individual sutras to systematize a wide range of doctrinal material, offering ever more complex analytical categorizations and discursive elaborations of the DHARMA. Ultimately, abhidharma texts emerge as a new genre of Buddhist literature in their own right, employing sophisticated philosophical speculation and sometimes even involving polemical attacks on the positions of rival factions within the SAMGHA. ¶ At least seven schools of Indian Buddhism transmitted their own recensions of abhidharma texts, but only two of these canons are extant in their entirety. The PAli abhidhammapitaka of the THERAVADA school, the only recension that survives in an Indian language, includes seven texts (the order of which often differs): (1) DHAMMASAnGAnI ("Enumeration of Dharmas") examines factors of mentality and materiality (NAMARuPA), arranged according to ethical quality; (2) VIBHAnGA ("Analysis") analyzes the aggregates (SKANDHA), conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), and meditative development, each treatment culminating in a catechistic series of inquiries; (3) DHATUKATHA ("Discourse on Elements") categorizes all dharmas in terms of the skandhas and sense-fields (AYATANA); (4) PUGGALAPANNATTI ("Description of Human Types") analyzes different character types in terms of the three afflictions of greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA) and various related subcategories; (5) KATHAVATTHU ("Points of Controversy") scrutinizes the views of rival schools of mainstream Buddhism and how they differ from the TheravAda; (6) YAMAKA ("Pairs") provides specific denotations of problematic terms through paired comparisons; (7) PAttHANA ("Conditions") treats extensively the full implications of conditioned origination. ¶ The abhidharmapitaka of the SARVASTIVADA school is extant only in Chinese translation, the definitive versions of which were prepared by XUANZANG's translation team in the seventh century. It also includes seven texts: (1) SAMGĪTIPARYAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Discourse on Pronouncements") attributed to either MAHAKAUstHILA or sARIPUTRA, a commentary on the SaMgītisutra (see SAnGĪTISUTTA), where sAriputra sets out a series of dharma lists (MATṚKA), ordered from ones to elevens, to organize the Buddha's teachings systematically; (2) DHARMASKANDHA[PADAsASTRA] ("Aggregation of Dharmas"), attributed to sAriputra or MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, discusses Buddhist soteriological practices, as well as the afflictions that hinder spiritual progress, drawn primarily from the AGAMAs; (3) PRAJNAPTIBHAsYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Treatise on Designations"), attributed to MaudgalyAyana, treats Buddhist cosmology (lokaprajNapti), causes (kArana), and action (KARMAN); (4) DHATUKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on the Elements"), attributed to either PuRnA or VASUMITRA, discusses the mental concomitants (the meaning of DHATU in this treatise) and sets out specific sets of mental factors that are present in all moments of consciousness (viz., the ten MAHABHuMIKA) or all defiled states of mind (viz., the ten KLEsAMAHABHuMIKA); (5) VIJNANAKAYA[PADAsASTRA] ("Collection on Consciousness"), attributed to Devasarman, seeks to prove the veracity of the eponymous SarvAstivAda position that dharmas exist in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, and the falsity of notions of the person (PUDGALA); it also provides the first listing of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA); (6) PRAKARAnA[PADAsASTRA] ("Exposition"), attributed to VASUMITRA, first introduces the categorization of dharmas according to the more developed SarvAstivAda rubric of RuPA, CITTA, CAITTA, CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA, and ASAMSKṚTA dharmas; it also adds a new listing of KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA, or factors always associated with wholesome states of mind; (7) JNANAPRASTHANA ("Foundations of Knowledge"), attributed to KATYAYANĪPUTRA, an exhaustive survey of SarvAstivAda dharma theory and the school's exposition of psychological states, which forms the basis of the massive encyclopedia of SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika abhidharma, the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA. In the traditional organization of the seven canonical books of the SarvAstivAda abhidharmapitaka, the JNANAPRASTHANA is treated as the "body" (sARĪRA), or central treatise of the canon, with its six "feet" (pAda), or ancillary treatises (pAdasAstra), listed in the following order: (1) PrakaranapAda, (2) VijNAnakAya, (3) Dharmaskandha, (4) PrajNaptibhAsya, (5) DhAtukAya, and (6) SaMgītiparyAya. Abhidharma exegetes later turned their attention to these canonical abhidharma materials and subjected them to the kind of rigorous scholarly analysis previously directed to the sutras. These led to the writing of innovative syntheses and synopses of abhidharma doctrine, in such texts as BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA and ANURUDDHA's ABHIDHAMMATTHASAnGAHA, VASUBANDHU's ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, and SAMGHABHADRA's *NYAYANUSARA. In East Asia, this third "basket" was eventually expanded to include the burgeoning scholastic literature of the MAHAYANA, transforming it from a strictly abhidharmapitaka into a broader "treatise basket" or *sASTRAPItAKA (C. lunzang).
Abhidharmasamuccaya. (T. Chos mngon pa kun las btus pa; C. Dasheng Apidamo ji lun; J. Daijo Abidatsuma juron; K. Taesŭng Abidalma chip non 大乘阿毘達磨集論). In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Abhidharma"; an influential scholastic treatise attributed to ASAnGA. The Abhidharmasamuccaya provides a systematic and comprehensive explanation of various categories of DHARMAs in ABHIDHARMA fashion, in five major sections. Overall, the treatise continues the work of earlier abhidharma theorists, but it also seems to uphold a MAHAYANA and, more specifically, YOGACARA viewpoint. For example, unlike SARVASTIVADA abhidharma materials, which provide detailed listings of dharmas in order to demonstrate the range of factors that perdure throughout all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, Asanga's exposition tends to reject any notion that dharmas are absolute realities, thus exposing their inherent emptiness (suNYATA). The first section of the treatise, Laksanasamuccaya ("Compendium of Characteristics"), first explains the five SKANDHA, twelve AYATANA, and eighteen DHATU in terms of their attributes (MATṚKA) and then their includedness (saMgraha), association (saMprayoga), and accompaniment (samanvAgama). The second section of the treatise, Satyaviniscaya ("Ascertainment of the Truths"), is generally concerned with and classified according to the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni). The third section, Dharmaviniscaya ("Ascertainment of the Dharma"), outlines the teachings of Buddhism in terms of the twelve divisions (DVADAsAnGA[PRAVACANA]) of texts in the TRIPItAKA. The fourth section, PrAptiviniscaya ("Ascertainment of Attainments"), outlines the various types of Buddhist practitioners and their specific realizations (ABHISAMAYA). The fifth and last section, SAMkathyaviniscaya ("Ascertainment of Argumentation"), outlines specific modes of debate that will enable one to defeat one's opponents. Fragments of the Sanskrit text of the Abhidharmasamuccaya (discovered in Tibet in 1934) are extant, along with a Tibetan translation and a Chinese translation made by XUANZANG in 652 CE. A commentary on the treatise by STHIRAMATI, known as the AbhidharmasamuccayavyAkhyA(na), was also translated into Chinese by Xuanzang.
AbhisamayAlaMkAra. (T. Mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan). In Sanskrit, "Ornament of Realization"; a major scholastic treatise of the MAHAYANA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA (c. 350CE). Its full title is AbhisamayAlaMkAranAmaprajNApAramitopadesasAstra (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan) or "Treatise Setting Forth the Perfection of Wisdom called 'Ornament for Realization.'" In the Tibetan tradition, the AbhisamayAlaMkAra is counted among the five treatises of Maitreya (BYAMS CHOS SDE LNGA). The 273 verses of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra provide a schematic outline of the perfection of wisdom, or PRAJNAPARAMITA, approach to enlightenment, specifically as delineated in the PANCAVIMsATISAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA ("Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines"). This detailed delineation of the path is regarded as the "hidden teaching" of the prajNApAramitA sutras. Although hardly known in East Asian Buddhism (until the modern Chinese translation by FAZUN), the work was widely studied in Tibet, where it continues to hold a central place in the monastic curricula of all the major sects. It is especially important for the DGE LUGS sect, which takes it as the definitive description of the stages of realization achieved through the Buddhist path. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra treats the principal topics of the prajNApAramitA sutras by presenting them in terms of the stages of realizations achieved via the five paths (PANCAMARGA). The eight chapters of the text divide these realizations into eight types. The first three are types of knowledge that are essential to any type of practice and are generic to both the mainstream and MahAyAna schools. (1) The wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), for the bodhisattva-adepts who are the putative target audience of the commentary, explains all the characteristics of the myriad dharmas, so that they will have comprehensive knowledge of what the attainment of enlightenment will bring. (2) The wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), viz., the paths perfected by the sRAVAKAs, is a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing all modes. (3) The wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA) is, in turn, a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing the paths. With (4) the topic of the manifestly perfect realization of all aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha) starts the text's coverage of the path itself, here focused on gaining insight into all aspects, viz., characteristics of dharmas, paths, and types of beings. By reaching (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), one arrives at the entrance to ultimate realization. All the realizations achieved up to this point are secured and commingled through (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya). The perfection of this gradual realization and the consolidation of all previous realizations catalyze the (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). The fruition of this instantaneous realization brings (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha). The first three chapters thus describe the three wisdoms incumbent on the buddhas; the middle four chapters cover the four paths that take these wisdoms as their object; and the last chapter describes the resultant dharma body of the buddhas and their special attainments. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra provides a synopsis of the massive prajNApAramitA scriptures and a systematic outline of the comprehensive path of MahAyAna. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra spurred a long tradition of Indian commentaries and other exegetical works, twenty-one of which are preserved in the Tibetan canon. Notable among this literature are Arya VIMUKTISEnA's Vṛtti and the ABHISAMAYALAMKARALOKA and Vivṛti (called Don gsal in Tibetan) by HARIBHADRA. Later Tibetan commentaries include BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB's Lung gi snye ma and TSONG KHA PA's LEGS BSHAD GSER PHRENG.
abhisamaya. (T. mngon rtogs; C. xianguan; J. genkan; K. hyon'gwan 現觀). In Sanskrit and PAli, "comprehension," "realization," or "penetration"; a foundational term in Buddhist soteriological theory, broadly referring to training that results in the realization of truth (satyAbhisamaya; P. saccAbhisamaya). This realization most typically involves the direct insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvary AryasatyAni) but may also be used with reference to realization of the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), etc., thus making all these doctrines specific objects of meditation. The PAli PAtISAMBHIDAMAGGA discusses forty-four specific kinds of abhisamaya, all related to basic doctrinal lists. In the SARVASTIVADA abhidharma, abhisamaya occurs on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), through a "sequential realization" (anupurvAbhisamaya) of sixteen moments of insight into the four noble truths. This gradual unfolding of realization was rejected by the THERAVADA school and was strongly criticized in HARIVARMAN's *TATTVASIDDHI, both of which advocated the theory of instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). In the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA, abhisamaya is not limited to the path of vision, as in the SarvAstivAda school, but also occurs on the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) that precedes the path of vision through the abhisamayas of thought, faith, and discipline, as well as on the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA) through two abhisamayas associated with wisdom and an abhisamaya associated with the ultimate path (NIstHAMARGA). The term comes to be associated particularly with the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA, which sets forth the various realizations achieved on the "HĪNAYANA" and MAHAYANA paths. In the eight chapters of this text are delineated eight types of abhisamaya, which subsume the course of training followed by both sRAVAKAs and BODHISATTVAs: (1) the wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), (2) the wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), (3) the wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA), (4) manifestly perfect realization of all (the three previous) aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha), (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya), (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya), and (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha).
abhut sarvabhutani ::: he has become all existences. [cf. Isa 7]
Achaitanya (Sanskrit) Acaitanya [from a not + the verbal root cit to be conscious of, understand] Void of intelligence and consciousness, lack of spirituality. An ancient Sanskrit verse runs: Achaitanyan na vidyate, Sarvan sarvatra sarvada (“A thing without intelligence or consciousness is not known. All is everywhere at all times”).
adhimoksa. (P. adhimokkha; T. mos pa; C. shengjie; J. shoge; K. sŭnghae 勝解). In Sanskrit, "determination," "resolution," or "zeal"; a general term denoting an inclination toward a virtuous object, sometimes used to indicate a preliminary stage prior to the conviction that results from direct experience; also seen written as adhimukti. The adhimukticaryAbhumi incorporates the stages of the path of accumulation (SAMBHARAMARGA) and the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). In a more technical sense, adhimoksa is a mental factor (CAITTA) that keeps consciousness intent on its object without straying to another object. It is listed among the ten major omnipresent mental concomitants (S. MAHABHuMIKA) that are present in all in the dharma taxonomy of the SARVASTIVADA school, among the five determinative mental concomitants (S. VINIYATA) in the YOGACARA dharma system, and one of the six secondary (P. pakinnaka) factors in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. Adhimoksa is also used to describe the interests or dispositions of sentient beings, the knowledge of which contributes to a buddha's pedagogical skills.
adhipatiphala. (T. bdag po'i 'bras bu; C. zengshang guo; J. zojoka; K. chŭngsang kwa 增上果). In Sanskrit, "predominant effects" or "sovereign effects"; this is one of the five effects (PHALA) enumerated in the SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and in YOGACARA. In the SarvAstivAda-VAIBHAsIKA abhidharma system of six causes (HETU) and five effects (PHALA), the "predominant effect" is the result of the "efficient cause" (KARAnAHETU), referring to causation in its broadest possible sense, in which every conditioned dharma serves as the generic, indirect cause for the creation of all things except itself. The kAranahetu provides the general background necessary for the operation of causality, and the results of the causal process it supports are the adhipatiphala.
adhipatipratyaya. (P. adhipatipaccaya; T. bdag po'i rkyen; C. zengshang yuan; J. zojoen; K. chŭngsang yon 增上縁). In Sanskrit, "predominant" or "sovereign condition"; the fourth of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA system of ABHIDHARMA and in YOGACARA; the term also appears as the ninth of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli abhidhamma text, the PAttHANA. In epistemology, the predominant condition is one of the three causal conditions necessary for perception to occur. It is the specific condition that provides the operative capability (kArana) for the production of something else. In the case of sensory perception, the predominant condition for the arising of sensory consciousness (VIJNANA) is the physical sense organ and the sensory object; but more generically even the seed could serve as the adhipatipratyaya for the generation of a sprout. The four primary physical elements (MAHABHuTA) themselves serve as the predominant condition for the five physical sensory organs, in that they are the condition for the sensory organs' production and development.
AdittapariyAyasutta. (S. *AdityaparyAyasutra; C. Ranshao; J. Nensho; K. Yonso 燃燒). In PAli, lit. "Discourse on the Manner of Being Aflame," usually known in English as the "Fire Sermon"; the third sermon spoken by the Buddha following his enlightenment. After his conversion of the three matted-hair ascetics Uruvela-Kassapa, GayA-Kassapa, and Nadī-Kassapa, along with their one thousand disciples, the Buddha was traveling with them to GayAsīsa, where he delivered this sermon. Because of his new disciples' previous devotions to the Brahmanical fire sacrifice, once they were ordained the Buddha preached to these new monks a targeted discourse that he called the "Fire Sermon." The Buddha explains that all of the six sense bases, six sensory objects, and six sensory consciousnesses, along with the sensory contacts (phassa; S. SPARsA) and sensations (VEDANA) that accompany the senses, are burning with the fires of greed (LOBHA), hatred (P. dosa; S. DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA) and with the fires of all the various types of suffering (dukkha; S. DUḤKHA). Only through dispassion toward the senses (see INDRIYASAMVARA) will attachment diminish and liberation eventually be achieved. In the PAli tradition, the sermon appears in the MAHAVAGGA section of the PAli VINAYAPItAKA, on the history of the dispensation, not in the SUTTAPItAKA; a parallel SARVASTIVADA recension appears in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA.
advesa. (P. adosa; T. zhe sdang med pa; C. wuchen; J. mushin; K. mujin 無瞋). In Sanskrit, "absence of ill will" or "absence of hatred." One of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the VAIBHAsIKA-SARVASTIVADA school of ABHIDHARMA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school and one of the fifty-two in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA, "absence of ill will" is the opposite of "ill will" or "aversion" (DVEsA). The SARVASTIVADA exegetes posited that this mental quality accompanied all wholesome activities, and it is therefore classified as one of the ten omnipresent wholesome factors (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). "Absence of ill will" is listed as one of the three wholesome faculties (KUsALAMuLA), is one of the states of mind comprising right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGIKAMARGA), and is traditionally presumed to be a precondition for the cultivation of loving-kindness (MAITRĪ).
Agama. (T. lung; C. ahan jing; J. agongyo; K. aham kyong 阿含經). In Sanskrit and PAli, "text" or "scripture"; a general term for received scriptural tradition. The term Agama is commonly paired with two other contrasting terms: Agama and YUKTI (reasoning) are the means of arriving at the truth; Agama and ADHIGAMA (realization) are the two divisions of the BUDDHADHARMA-the verbal or scriptural tradition and that which is manifested through practice. In its Sanskrit usage, the term Agama is also used to refer more specifically to the four scriptural collections of the mainstream tradition (now lost in Sanskrit but preserved in Chinese translation), attributed to the Buddha and his close disciples, which correspond to the four PAli NIKAYAs: (1) DĪRGHAGAMA or "Long Discourses," belonging to the DHARMAGUPTAKA school and corresponding to the PAli DĪGHANIKAYA; (2) MADHYAMAGAMA or "Medium Discourses," associated with the SARVASTIVADA school and corresponding to the PAli MAJJHIMANIKAYA; (3) SAMYUKTAGAMA or "Connected Discourses," belonging to the SarvAstivAda school (with a partial translation perhaps belonging to the KAsYAPĪYA school) and corresponding to the PAli SAMYUTTANIKAYA; and (4) EKOTTARAGAMA or "Numerically Arranged Discourses," variously ascribed to the Dharmaguptakas, or less plausibly to the MAHASAMGHIKA school or its PRAJNAPTIVADA offshoot, and corresponding to the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA. Despite the similarities in the titles of these collections, there are many differences between the contents of the Sanskrit Agamas and the PAli nikAyas. The KHUDDAKANIKAYA ("Miscellaneous Collection"), the fifth nikAya in the PAli canon, has no equivalent in the extant Chinese translations of the Agamas; such miscellanies, or "mixed baskets" (S. ksudrakapitaka), were however known to have existed in several of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, including the Dharmaguptaka, MahAsAMghika, and MAHĪsASAKA.
aham adih sarvasah ::: I am altogether and in every way the origin. [Gita 10.2]
Aham-atma (Sanskrit) Aham ātmā [from aham I + ātman self] I am self; meaning that every self is but a manifestation of the essential self or atman; in the case of mankind, a reflection of the Logos within. As man progresses in evolution his human self will become united with his atman, the spiritual source of his composite constitution. In the Bhagavad-Gita (10:20) Krishna says: ahamatma gudakesa sarvabhutasayasthitah (I am the atman, O Gudakesa, living in the heart of all beings).
aham mrtyuh sarvaharah ::: I am all-snatching death. [cf. Gita 10.34]
aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate ::: I am the birth of everything and from me all proceeds into development of action and movement. [Gita 10.8]
aham tva sarvapapebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah ::: I will deliver thee from all sin and evil, do not grieve. [Gita 18.66]
ahiMsA. (T. 'tshe ba med pa; C. buhai; J. fugai; K. purhae 不害). In Sanskrit and PAli, "absence of harmful intentions," "harmlessness," "noninjury," or "nonviolence." The religious ideal and ethical injunction of "harmlessness" toward all living beings was shared in some fashion by several of the Indian sRAMAnA traditions, including the Buddhists as well as the JAINAs, who made it a central tenet of their religion. Some of the corollaries of this idea included the precept against killing, the injunction to refrain from physically and verbally abusing sentient beings, and vegetarianism. The Jainas were especially stringent in their interpretation of "harmlessness" toward all living creatures, demanding strict vegetarianism from their followers in order to avoid injuring sentient creatures, a requirement that the Buddha rejected when his rival in the order, DEVADATTA, proposed it in his list of austerities (see DHUTAnGA). The Buddha's view was that monks were a "field of merit" (PUnYAKsETRA) for the laity and should accept all offerings made to them, including meat, unless the monk knew that the animal had been killed specifically to feed him, for example. The voluntary vegetarianism that is now prevalent in both MahAyAna Buddhism and wider Indian Hindu culture is almost certainly a result of Jaina influence and constitutes that religion's most enduring contribution to Indian religion. Buddhism treated "absence of harmful intentions" as one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the fifty-two CETASIKAs in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. It is the opposite of "harmful intention" or "injury" (VIHIMSA, and is sometimes seen written as avihiMsA) and one of the states of mind comprising right intention (S. samyaksaMkalpa; P. sammAsankappa) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGIKAMARGA). "Absence of harmful intentions" is also traditionally taken to be a precondition for the cultivation of "compassion" (KARUnA). See VIHIMSA.
AjantA. A complex of some thirty caves and subsidiary structures in India, renowned for its exemplary Buddhist artwork. Named after a neighboring village, the caves are carved from the granite cliffs at a bend in the Wagurna River valley, northeast of AURANGABAD, in the modern Indian state of Maharashtra. The grottoes were excavated in two phases, the first of which lasted from approximately 100 BCE to 100 CE, the second from c. 462 to 480, and consist primarily of monastic cave residences (VIHARA) and sanctuaries (CAITYA). The sanctuaries include four large, pillared STuPA halls, each enshrining a central monumental buddha image, which renders the hall both a site for worship and a buddha's dwelling (GANDHAKUtĪ), where he presides over the activities of the monks in residence. The murals and sculpture located at AjantA include some of the best-preserved examples of ancient Buddhist art. Paintings throughout the complex are especially noted for their depiction of accounts from the Buddha's previous lives (JATAKA). Despite the presence of some AVALOKITEsVARA images at the site, it is Sanskrit texts of mainstream Buddhism, and especially the MuLASARVASTIVADA school, that are the source and inspiration for the paintings of AjantA. Indeed, almost all of AjantA's narrative paintings are based on accounts appearing in the MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA, as well as the poems of Aryasura and AsVAGHOsA. On the other hand, the most common type of sculptural image at AjantA (e.g., Cave 4) is a seated buddha making a variant of the gesture of turning the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAMUDRA), flanked by the two bodhisattvas AVALOKITEsVARA and VAJRAPAnI. The deployment of this mudrA and the two flanking bodhisattvas indicates that these buddha images are of VAIROCANA and suggests that tantric elements that appear in the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA and the MANJUsRĪMuLAKALPA, both of which postdate the AjantA images, developed over an extended period of time and had precursors that influenced the iconography at AjantA. Inscriptions on the walls of the earliest part of the complex, primarily in Indian Prakrits, attest to an eclectic, even syncretic, pattern of religious observance and patronage. Later epigraphs found at the site associate various patrons with Harisena (r. 460-477), the last known monarch of the VAkAtaka royal family. VarAhadeva, for example, who patronized Cave 16, was one of Harisena's courtiers, while Cave 1 was donated by Harisena himself, and Cave 2 may have been patronized by a close relative, perhaps one of Harisena's wives. Cave 16's central image, a buddha seated on a royal throne with legs pendant (BHADRASANA), is the first stone sculpture in this iconographic form found in western India. Introduced to India through the tradition of KUSHAN royal portraiture, the bhadrAsana has been interpreted as a position associated with royalty and worldly action. This sculpture may thus have functioned as a portrait sculpture; it may even allegorize Harisena as the Buddha. In fact, it is possible that VarAhadeva may have originally intended to enshrine a buddha seated in the cross-legged lotus position (VAJRAPARYAnKA) but changed his plan midway in the wake of a regional war that placed Harisena's control over the AjantA region in jeopardy. Around 480, the constructions at AjantA came to a halt with the destruction of the VAkAtaka family. The caves were subsequently abandoned and became overgrown, only to be discovered in 1819 by a British officer hunting a tiger. They quickly became the object of great archaeological and art historical interest, and were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
Akankheyyasutta. (C. Yuan jing; J. Gangyo; K. Won kyong 願經). In PAli, "Discourse on What One May Wish," the sixth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as SuTRA no. 105 in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, and a recension of uncertain affiliation in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of disciples in the JETAVANA grove in the town of sRAVASTĪ. The Buddha describes how a monk who wishes for all good things to come to himself, his fellow monks, and his lay supporters should restrain his sense faculties by seeing danger (ADĪNAVA) in the slightest fault and by abiding by the dictates of the disciplinary codes (PRATIMOKsA). This restraint will allow him to develop morality (sĪLA), meditative concentration (SAMADHI), and liberating wisdom (PRAJNA), leading to the destruction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA).
AkAra. (T. rnam pa; C. xingxiang; J. gyoso; K. haengsang 行相). In Sanskrit, "aspect," "mode," "form," or "image"; a polysemous term that is notably employed in discussions of epistemology to describe an image cast by an object, which serves as the actual object of sense perception. At an early stage of its history (as Akṛti), the term refers to what a word articulates. Over time, it came to mean the content of a word (that may or may not be connected with an actual content in reality) and then the mediating mental image. Buddhist philosophical schools differ as to whether or not such an "aspect" is required in order for sense perception to occur. VAIBHAsIKAS are non-aspectarians (NIRAKARAVADA) who say mind knows objects directly; SAUTRANTIKAS are aspectarians (SAKARAVADA) who say mind knows through an image (AkAra) of the object that is taken into the mind. YOGACARAS are aspectarians insofar as they do not accept external objects; they are divided into satyAkAravAdin (T. rnam bden pa), or true aspectarians, who assert that appearances as gross objects exist and are not polluted by ignorance; and alīkAkAravAdin (T. rnam rdzun pa), or false aspectarians, who assert that appearances as gross objects do not exist and are polluted by ignorance. In SARVAKARAJNATA ("knowledge of all modes"), the name in the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA) literature for the omniscience of a buddha, AkAra is synonymous with DHARMAS. In the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, there are 173 aspects that define the practice (prayoga) of a bodhisattva. They are the forms of a bodhisattva's knowledge (of impermanence that counteracts the mistaken apprehension of permanence, for example) informed by BODHICITTA and the knowledge that the knowledge itself has no essential nature (SVABHAVA).
AkAsa. (T. nam mkha'; C. xukong; J. koku; K. hogong 虚空). In Sanskrit, "space" or "spatiality"; "sky," and "ether." In ABHIDHARMA analysis, AkAsa has two discrete denotations. First, as "spatiality," AkAsa is an absence that delimits forms; like the empty space inside a door frame, AkAsa is a hole that is itself empty but that defines, or is defined by, the material that surrounds it. Second, as the vast emptiness of "space," AkAsa comes also to be described as the absence of obstruction and is enumerated as one of the permanent phenomena (nityadharma) because it does not change from moment to moment. Space in this sense is also interpreted as being something akin to the Western conception of ether, a virtually immaterial, but glowing fluid that serves as the support for the four material elements (MAHABHuTA). (Because this ethereal form of AkAsa is thought to be glowing, it is sometimes used as a metaphor for buddhahood, which is said to be radiant like the sun or space.) In addition to these two abhidharma definitions, the sphere of infinite space (AKAsANANTYAYATANA) has a meditative context as well through its listing as the first of the four immaterial DHYANAS. AkAsa is recognized as one of the uncompounded dharmas (ASAMSKṚTADHARMA) in six of the mainstream Buddhist schools, including the SARVASTIVADA and the MAHASAMGHIKA, as well as the later YOGACARA; three others reject this interpretation, including the THERAVADA.
akusalamahAbhumika. (T. mi dge ba'i sa mang chen po; C. da bushandi fa; J. daifuzenjiho; K. tae pulsonji pop 大不善地法). In Sanskrit, "omnipresent unwholesome factors" or "unwholesome factors of wide extent"; the principal factors (DHARMA) that ground all unwholesome actions (AKUsALA). In the SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA system, two specific forces associated with mentality (CITTASAMPRAYUKTASAMSKARA) are identified as accompanying all unwholesome activities and are therefore described as "unwholesome factors of wide extent." The two dharmas are "lack of a sense of decency" (Ahrīkya; cf. HRĪ, "sense of decency") and "lack of modesty" (anapatrApya; cf. APATRAPYA, "modesty").
Alagaddupamasutta. (C. Alizha jing; J. Aritakyo; K. Arit'a kyong 阿梨經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Simile of the Snake," the twenty-second sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SarvAstivAda recension appears as the 200th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, and the similes of the snake and of the raft are the subjects of independent sutras in an unidentified recension in the EKOTTARAGAMA). The discourse was preached by the Buddha at SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ), in response to the wrong view (MITHYADṚstI) of the monk Arittha. Arittha maintained that the Buddha taught that one could enjoy sensual pleasures without obstructing one's progress along the path to liberation, and remained recalcitrant even after the Buddha admonished him. The Buddha then spoke to the assembly of monks on the wrong way and the right way of learning the dharma. In his discourse, he uses several similes to enhance his audience's understanding, including the eponymous "simile of the snake": just as one could be bitten and die by grasping a poisonous snake by the tail instead of the head, so too will using the dharma merely for disputation or polemics lead to one's peril because of one's wrong grasp of the dharma. This sutta also contains the famous "simile of the raft," where the Buddha compares his dispensation or teaching (sASANA) to a makeshift raft that will help one get across a raging river to the opposite shore: after one has successfully crossed that river by paddling furiously and reached solid ground, it would be inappropriate to put the raft on one's head and carry it; similarly, once one has used the dharma to get across the "raging river" of birth and death (SAMSARA) to the "other shore" of NIRVAnA, the teachings have served their purpose and should not be clung to.
Alambanapratyaya. (P. Arammanapaccaya; T. dmigs rkyen; C. suoyuan yuan; J. shoennen; K. soyon yon 所縁縁). In Sanskrit, "objective-support condition" or "observed-object condition," the third of the four types of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in both the VAIBHAsIKA ABHIDHARMA system of the SARVASTIVADA school and the YOGACARA school; the term also appears as the second of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli abhidhamma text, the PAttHANA. This condition refers to the role the corresponding sensory object (ALAMBANA) takes in the arising of any of the six sensory consciousnesses (VIJNANA) and is one of the three causal conditions necessary for cognition to occur. Sensory consciousness thus cannot occur without the presence of a corresponding sensory object, whether that be visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, or mental.
AlayavijNAna. (T. kun gzhi rnam par shes pa; C. alaiyeshi/zangshi; J. arayashiki/zoshiki; K. aroeyasik/changsik 阿賴耶識/藏識). In Sanskrit, "storehouse consciousness" or "foundational consciousness"; the eighth of the eight types of consciousness (VIJNANA) posited in the YOGACARA school. All forms of Buddhist thought must be able to uphold (1) the principle of the cause and effect of actions (KARMAN), the structure of SAMSARA, and the process of liberation (VIMOKsA) from it, while also upholding (2) the fundamental doctrines of impermanence (ANITYA) and the lack of a perduring self (ANATMAN). The most famous and comprehensive solution to the range of problems created by these apparently contradictory elements is the AlayavijNAna, often translated as the "storehouse consciousness." This doctrinal concept derives in India from the YOGACARA school, especially from ASAnGA and VASUBANDHU and their commentators. Whereas other schools of Buddhist thought posit six consciousnesses (vijNAna), in the YogAcAra system there are eight, adding the afflicted mind (KLIstAMANAS) and the AlayavijNAna. It appears that once the SarvAstivAda's school's eponymous doctrine of the existence of dharmas in the past, present, and future was rejected by most other schools of Buddhism, some doctrinal solution was required to provide continuity between past and future, including past and future lifetimes. The alAyavijNAna provides that solution as a foundational form of consciousness, itself ethically neutral, where all the seeds (BIJA) of all deeds done in the past reside, and from which they fructify in the form of experience. Thus, the AlayavijNAna is said to pervade the entire body during life, to withdraw from the body at the time of death (with the extremities becoming cold as it slowly exits), and to carry the complete karmic record to the next rebirth destiny. Among the many doctrinal problems that the presence of the AlayavijNAna is meant to solve, it appears that one of its earliest references is in the context not of rebirth but in that of the NIRODHASAMAPATTI, or "trance of cessation," where all conscious activity, that is, all CITTA and CAITTA, cease. Although the meditator may appear as if dead during that trance, consciousness is able to be reactivated because the AlayavijNAna remains present throughout, with the seeds of future experience lying dormant in it, available to bear fruit when the person arises from meditation. The AlayavijNAna thus provides continuity from moment to moment within a given lifetime and from lifetime to lifetime, all providing the link between an action performed in the past and its effect experienced in the present, despite protracted periods of latency between seed and fruition. In YogAcAra, where the existence of an external world is denied, when a seed bears fruit, it bifurcates into an observing subject and an observed object, with that object falsely imagined to exist separately from the consciousness that perceives it. The response by the subject to that object produces more seeds, either positive, negative, or neutral, which are deposited in the AlayavijNAna, remaining there until they in turn bear their fruit. Although said to be neutral and a kind of silent observer of experience, the AlayavijNAna is thus also the recipient of karmic seeds as they are produced, receiving impressions (VASANA) from them. In the context of Buddhist soteriological discussions, the AlayavijNAna explains why contaminants (ASRAVA) remain even when unwholesome states of mind are not actively present, and it provides the basis for the mistaken belief in self (Atman). Indeed, it is said that the klistamanas perceives the AlayavijNAna as a perduring self. The AlayavijNAna also explains how progress on the path can continue over several lifetimes and why some follow the path of the sRAVAKA and others the path of the BODHISATTVA; it is said that one's lineage (GOTRA) is in fact a seed that resides permanently in the AlayavijNAna. In India, the doctrine of the AlayavijNAna was controversial, with some members of the YogAcAra school rejecting its existence, arguing that the functions it is meant to serve can be accommodated within the standard six-consciousness system. The MADHYAMAKA, notably figures such as BHAVAVIVEKA and CANDRAKĪRTI, attacked the YogAcAra proponents of the AlayavijNAna, describing it as a form of self, which all Buddhists must reject. ¶ In East Asia, the AlayavijNAna was conceived as one possible solution to persistent questions in Buddhism about karmic continuity and about the origin of ignorance (MOHA). For the latter, some explanation was required as to how sentient beings, whom many strands of MAHAYANA claimed were inherently enlightened, began to presume themselves to be ignorant. Debates raged within different strands of the Chinese YogAcAra traditions as to whether the AlayavijNAna is intrinsically impure because of the presence of these seeds of past experience (the position of the Northern branch of the Chinese DI LUN ZONG and the Chinese FAXIANG tradition of XUANZANG and KUIJI), or whether the AlayavijNAna included both pure and impure elements because it involved also the functioning of thusness, or TATHATA (the Southern Di lun school's position). Since the sentient being has had a veritable interminable period of time in which to collect an infinity of seeds-which would essentially make it impossible to hope to counteract them one by one-the mainstream strands of YogAcAra viewed the mind as nevertheless tending inveterately toward impurity (dausthulya). This impurity could only be overcome through a "transformation of the basis" (AsRAYAPARAVṚTTI), which would completely eradicate the karmic seeds stored in the storehouse consciousness, liberating the bodhisattva from the effects of all past actions and freeing him to project compassion liberally throughout the world. In some later interpretations, this transformation would then convert the AlayavijNAna into a ninth "immaculate consciousness" (AMALAVIJNANA). See also DASHENG QIXIN LUN.
alobha. (T. ma chags pa; C. wutan; J. muton; K. mut'am 無貪). In Sanskrit and PAli, "absence of craving" or "absence of greed"; one of the most ubiquitous of moral virtues (KUsALA), which serves as an antidote to the KLEsA of desire and as the foundation for progress on the path. Alobha is one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA school and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the fifty-one of the PAli abhidhamma. "Absence of craving" is the opposite of "craving" or "greed" (LOBHA). The SarvAstivAda ABHIDHARMA system posited that this mental quality accompanied all wholesome activities, and therefore lists it as the seventh of the ten major omnipresent wholesome factors (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Absence of craving is listed as one of the so-called three roots of virtue (KUsALAMuLA), one of the states of mind comprising right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), and is traditionally taken to be the precondition for the cultivation of equanimity (UPEKsA).
amarthya ::: capacity for action, a quality common to the four aspects of daivi prakr.ti, also called sarvakarmasamarthya: "a rapid and divine capacity for all kinds of action that may be demanded from . 90 the instrument".
amarthyam ::: see sarvakarmasamarthya.
amarthya (sarvakarmasamarthya; sarvakarmasamarthyam) ::: capacity for all action, a quality common to the four aspects of daivi prakr.ti, also called karmasamarthya: "a rapid and divine capacity for all kinds of action that may be demanded from the instrument". sarvakarmas sarvakarmasamarthyam
Amoghavajra. (C. Bukong; J. Fuku; K. Pulgong 不空) (705-774). Buddhist émigré ACARYA who played a major role in the introduction and translation of seminal Buddhist texts belonging to the esoteric tradition or mijiao (see MIKKYo; TANTRA). His birthplace is uncertain, but many sources allude to his ties to Central Asia. Accompanying his teacher VAJRABODHI, Amoghavajra arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang'an in 720-1 and spent most of his career in that cosmopolitan city. In 741, following the death of his mentor, Amoghavajra made an excursion to India and Sri Lanka with the permission of the Tang-dynasty emperor and returned in 746 with new Buddhist texts, many of them esoteric scriptures. Amoghavajra's influence in the Tang court reached its peak when he was summoned by the emperor to construct an ABHIsEKA, or consecration, altar on his behalf. Amoghavajra's activities in Chang'an were interrupted by the An Lushan rebellion (655-763), but after the rebellion was quelled, he returned to his work at the capital and established an inner chapel for HOMA rituals and abhiseka in the imperial palace. He was later honored by the emperor with the purple robe, the highest honor for a Buddhist monk and the rank of third degree. Along with XUANZANG, Amoghavajra was one of the most prolific translators and writers in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Among the many texts that he translated into Chinese, especially important are the SARVATATHAGATATATTVASAMGRAHA and the BHADRACARĪPRAnIDHANA.
anaṁ brahma ::: sarvaṁ brahma combined with jñanaṁ brahma. sarva sarvam ṁ samam anandam
anam ::: sarvam anantam combined with jñanaṁ brahma.
ananda (indriya-ananda; indriya ananda) ::: sense-delight; the ananda of the indriyas in general or of any particular indriya, "a beatitude of the senses perceiving and meeting the One [eka1] everywhere, perceiving as their normal aesthesis of things a universal beauty [sarvasaundarya] and a secret harmony of creation"; the sahaituka form of vis.ayananda.
anandaṁ brahma ::: sarvaṁ brahma combined with anandaṁ brahma.
anandaṁ brahma ::: the formula expressing the realisation of the fourfold brahman, when one sees "all the universe as the manifestation of the One" (sarvaṁ brahma), "all quality and action as the play of his universal and infinite energy" (anantaṁ brahma), "all knowledge and conscious experience as the outflowing of that consciousness" (jñanaṁ brahma), and "all in the terms of that one Ananda" (anandaṁ brahma). sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandaṁ brahma, iti brahmacatus.t.ayam (sarvam anantam jnanam anandam brahma, iti brahmachatushtayam)
Ananganasutta. (C. Huipin jing; J. Ebongyo; K. Yep'um kyong 穢品經). In PAli, "Discourse on Being Unblemished," the fifth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the eighty-seventh sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; there is also an unidentified recension in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by sARIPUTRA to a group of monks in the JETAVANA grove in sRAVASTĪ. sAriputra describes how a monk will become blemished if he succumbs to evil wishes. In this regard, he explains that people are of four types: one who is impure who does not know his impurity, and one who is impure and knows his impurity; one who is pure and does not know his purity, and one who is pure who knows his purity. Of these four, the second of each pair is to be preferred: the one who knows his impurities can strive to remove them so that he dies with his mind undefiled; the one who knows that his mind is pure can continue to guard his senses so that he too keeps his mind without blemish until death.
anantarapratyaya. (P. anantarapaccaya; T. de ma thag pa'i rkyen; C. cidi yuan; J. shidaien; K. ch'aje yon 次第). In Sanskrit, "antecedent condition," one of the four kinds of conditions (PRATYAYA) recognized in the VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADAABHIDHARMA and the YOGACARA school; the term is also listed as one of the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya) in the massive PAli ABHIDHAMMA text, the PAttHANA. This type of condition refers to the antecedent moment in the mental continuum (SAMTANA), which through its cessation enables a subsequent moment of consciousness to arise. Any moment of consciousness in the conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) realm serves as an antecedent condition. The only exception is the final thought-moment in the mental continuum of an ARHAT: because the next thought-moment involves the experience of the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA), no further thoughts from the conditioned realm can ever recur. This type of condition is also called the "immediate-antecedent condition" (SAMANANTARAPRATYAYA); the VISUDDHIMAGGA explains that samanantarapratyaya and anantararapratyaya are essentially the same, except that the former emphasizes the immediacy of the connection between the two moments.
AnantaryasamAdhi. (T. bar chad med pa'i ting nge 'dzin; C. wujian ding; J. mukenjo; K. mugan chong 無間定). In Sanskrit, "unimpeded concentration"; the culmination of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), the second segment of the five-path schema outlined in the VAIBHAsIKA school system of SARVASTIVADAABHIDHARMA and treated similarly in YOGACARA soteriology. After mastering all four of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHAGĪYA) that catalyze knowledge of the reality of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the meditator acquires fully the highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKAGRADHARMA), the last of these aids, an experience that is marked by the AnantaryasamAdhi. This distinctive type of SAMADHI receives its name from the fact that the adept then continues on without interruption to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), the third stage of the path, which provides access to sanctity (ARYA) as a stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA).
AnApAnasatisutta. (S. AnApAnasmṛtisutra; T. Dbugs rngub pa dang 'byung ba dran pa'i mdo; C. Annabannanian; J. Annahannanen; K. Annabannanyom 安那般那念). In PAli, "The Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse," the 118th sutta (SuTRA) in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension, as titled above, appears in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA). In this discourse, the Buddha outlines a type of meditation where the meditator remains mindful of the process of breathing in and breathing out (P. AnApAnasati; S. ANAPANASMṚTI). The meditator begins by developing an awareness of the physical processes involved in breathing, such as whether the breath is long or short; remaining cognizant of either the entire body during breathing or the entire process of breathing (as the commentaries typically interpret it), it culminates in breathing while consciously striving to calm the body. The meditator then follows the in- and out-breaths while developing salutary affective states, such as rapture (P. pīti, S. PRĪTI) and ease (SUKHA). The penultimate step is breathing while actively seeking to focus and liberate the mind. The meditation culminates in mindfulness of the breath while focusing on the awareness of the mental qualities of impermanence, cessation, and relinquishment. Through this progressive development, mindfulness of breathing thus leads from physical and mental calm, to direct insight into the value of nonattachment. The discourse ends with a treatment of the seven aspects of awakening (P. bojjhanga; S. BODHYAnGA) with regard to the four foundations of mindfulness (P. satipaṫṫhAna; S. SMṚTYUPASTHANA) of the physical body, physical sensations, state of mind, and mental qualities. See also ANBAN SHOUYI JING.
ana ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam.
anAtman. (P. anattA; T. bdag med; C. wuwo; J. muga; K. mua 無我). In Sanskrit, "no self" or "nonself" or more broadly "insubstantiality"; the third of the "three marks" (TRILAKsAnA) of existence, along with impermanence (ANITYA) and suffering (DUḤKHA). The concept is one of the key insights of the Buddha, and it is foundational to the Buddhist analysis of the compounded quality (SAMSKṚTA) of existence: since all compounded things are the fruition (PHALA) of a specific set of causes (HETU) and conditions (PRATYAYA), they are therefore absent of any perduring substratum of being. In the sutra analysis of existence, the "person" (PUDGALA) is said to be a product of five aggregates (SKANDHA)-materiality (RuPA), physical sensations (VEDANA), perception (SAMJNA), impulses (SAMSKARA), and consciousness (VIJNANA)-which together comprise the totality of the individual's physical, mental, and emotional existence. What in common parlance is called the person is a continuum (SAMTANA) imputed to the construction of these aggregates, but when these aggregates are separated at the time of death, the person also simultaneously vanishes. This relationship between the person and the skandhas is clarified in the MILINDAPANHA's famous simile of the chariot: a chariot is composed of various constituent parts, but if that chariot is broken down into its parts, there is no sense of "chariot" remaining. So it is with the person and his constituent parts, the skandhas. The Buddha is rigorously against any analysis of phenomena that imputes the reality of a person: when a questioner asks him, "Who senses?," for example, the Buddha rejects the question as wrongly conceived and reframes it in terms of conditionality, i.e., "With what as condition does sensation occur?" ("Sensory contact" [SPARsA] is the answer.) Buddhism thus rejects any notion of an eternal, perduring soul that survives death, or which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime; rather, just as we can impute a conventional continuity to the person over one lifetime, so can this same continuity be imputed over several lifetimes. The continuum of karmic action and reaction ensures that the last moment of consciousness in the present life serves as the condition for the first moment of consciousness in the next. The next life is therefore neither the same as nor different from the preceding lifetime; instead, it is causally related to it. For this reason, any specific existence, or series of existences, is governed by the causes and conditions that create it, rendering life fundamentally beyond our attempts to control it (another connotation of "nonself") and thus unworthy as an object of attachment. Seeing this lack of selfhood in compounded things generates a sense of "danger" (ADĪNAVA) that catalyzes the aspiration to seek liberation (VIMOKsA). Thus, understanding this mark of anAtman is the crucial antidote (PRATIPAKsA) to ignorance (AVIDYA) and the key to liberation from suffering (duḥkha) and the continuing cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA). Although the notion of anAtman is applied to the notion of a person in mainstream Buddhism, in the PRAJNAPARAMITA scriptures and the broader MAHAYANA tradition the connotation of the term is extended to take in the "nonself of phenomena" (DHARMANAIRATMYA) as well. This extension may be a response to certain strands of the mainstream tradition, such as SARVASTIVADA (lit. the "Teaching That All [Dharmas] Exist"), which considered dharmas (i.e., the five skandhas and so on) to be factors that existed in reality throughout all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future. In order to clarify that dharmas have only conventional validity, the MahAyAna posited that they also were anAtman, although the nature of this lack of self was differently understood by the YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA schools.
Anattalakkhanasutta. (S. *AnAtmalaksanasutra; C. Wuwo; J. Muga; K. Mua 無我). In PAli, "Discourse on the Mark of Nonself," Gautama Buddha's second sermon, delivered five days after the DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA (S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA); the discourse appears in the MAHAVAGGA section of the PAli VINAYA, which recounts the founding of the dispensation (sASANA). (Separate SARVASTIVADA recensions, as titled above, appear in the Chinese translation of the SAMYUKTAGAMA.) In this second sermon delivered to the group of five new monks (BHADRAVARGĪYA, PANCAVARGIKA), the Buddha demonstrates that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) are not a perduring self, because they are impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and therefore impossible to control, viz., "nonself" (ANATMAN). The Buddha concludes that any manifestation of the aggregates, whether past, present, or future, whether internal or external, etc., are not mine, are not what I am, and are not my self. This realization will lead, the Buddha says, to dispassion toward the aggregates and eventually liberation. After hearing the sermon, all five monks progressed from the stage of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) to worthy one (ARHAT).
anitya. [alt. anityatA] (P. anicca; T. mi rtag pa; C. wuchang; J. mujo; K. musang 無常). In Sanskrit, "impermanence"; the first of the "three marks" (TRILAKsAnA) of existence, along with suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANATMAN). "Impermanence" refers to the fact that compounded objects (SAMSKṚTA) created by causes (HETU) and conditions (PRATYAYA) are inevitably subject to change, decline, and finally destruction. Because conditioned objects are subject to such impermanence, they are seen to be unsuitable objects for either desire (LOBHA) or hatred (DVEsA), thus prompting the meditator to turn away from conditioned objects and toward the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA). Mistaking what is in fact impermanent for something permanent is one of the four fundamental "inverted views" (VIPARYASA) and a primary cause of suffering. Two kinds of impermanence (see ER WUCHANG) are sometimes delineated: "impermanence marked by a successive period" (S. prabandhAnitya, C. xiangxu wuchang), i.e., when an event or length of time has elapsed, such as the ending of a human life or the waning daylight at dusk; and "impermanence that occurs at every thought-instant" (S. ksanikAnitya, C. niannian wuchang), i.e., the inexorable change that is taking place anytime and anywhere, even before an event has come to an end (e.g., even before a person's biological death, the person "dies" every instant in the continuum of flux that defines his existence). ¶ In the SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA system, anityatA (more technically "desinence," viz., death) is treated as a "conditioned force dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), which functions as one of the four conditioned characteristics (CATURLAKsAnA, SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA) that are associated with all conditioned objects. Because the ontology of the SarvAstivAda school, as its name implies, postulated that "everything exists" in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, the school had to posit some mechanism through which to account for the apparent change that conditioned objects underwent through time. Therefore, along with the other three characteristics of birth (JATI), continuance (STHITI), and senescence (JARA), desinence was posited as a "conditioned force dissociated from thought" that serves as the predominant condition of an object's death. The very definition of conditioned objects is that they are subject to these conditioned characteristics, including this inevitability of death, and this is what ultimately distinguishes them from the unconditioned (asaMskṛta), viz., NIRVAnA.
anityah sarvasamskarah ::: same as the following, but singular in form.
aniyata. (T. gzhan 'gyur; C. buding; J. fujo; K. pujong 不定). In Sanskrit and PAli, "undetermined" or "indeterminate"; the term has separate usages in both ABHIDHARMA and VINAYA materials. In the abhidharma analysis of mind, among the mental constituents (CAITTA, P. CETASIKA), "indeterminate" refers to mental factors that, depending on the intention of the agent, may be virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral. They are variously listed as four (in the YOGACARA hundred-dharmas list) or eight (in the seventy-five dharmas list of the SARVASTIVADA school) and include sleep (MIDDHA), contrition (KAUKṚTYA, which can be nonvirtuous when one regrets having done a good deed), applied thought or investigation (VITARKA), and sustained thought or analysis (VICARA). ¶ In the vinaya (rules of discipline), "undetermined" refers to a category of ecclesiastical offenses of "uncertain" gravity, which therefore must be evaluated by the SAMGHA in order to make a determination. Aniyata offenses are of two types and always concern the conduct of a monk toward a woman in either (1) private or (2) semiprivate situations. For the monk, even to place himself in such a potentially compromising situation is an offense, since it can arouse suspicion among the laity about the monk's intentions. After learning of such an offense, the saMgha must then determine the seriousness of the monk's offense by evaluating his conduct while in that situation. After due evaluation, his "undermined" offense will then be judged accordingly as one of three types: (1) PARAJIKA, or most grave, entailing "defeat"; (2) SAMGHAVAsEsA (P. sanghAdisesa), the second most serious category, entailing confession before the assembly and expiation; and (3) PAYATTIKA (P. pAcittiya), the least serious offense, requiring only confession.
annam vai sarvam ::: All is Matter.
An Shigao. (J. An Seiko; K. An Sego 安世高) (fl. c. 148-180 CE). An early Buddhist missionary in China and first major translator of Indian Buddhist materials into Chinese; he hailed from Arsakes (C. ANXI GUO), the Arsacid kingdom (c. 250 BCE-224 CE) of PARTHIA. (His ethnikon AN is the Chinese transcription of the first syllable of Arsakes.) Legend says that he was a crown prince of Parthia who abandoned his right to the throne in favor of a religious life, though it is not clear whether he was a monk or a layperson, or a follower of MAHAYANA or SARVASTIVADA, though all of the translations authentically ascribed to him are of mainstream Buddhist materials. An moved eastward and arrived in 148 at the Chinese capital of Luoyang, where he spent the next twenty years of his life. Many of the earliest translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese are attributed to An Shigao, but few can be determined with certainty to be his work. His most famous translations are the Ren benyu sheng jing (MAHANIDANASUTTANTA), ANBAN SHOUYI JING (ANAPANASATISUTTA), Yinchiru jing, and Daodi jing. Although his Anban shouyi jing is called a SuTRA, it is in fact made up of both short translations and his own exegesis on these translations, making it all but impossible to separate the original text from his exegesis. An Shigao seems to have been primarily concerned with meditative techniques such as ANAPANASMṚTI and the study of numerical categories such as the five SKANDHAs and twelve AYATANAs. Much of An's pioneering translation terminology was eventually superseded as the Chinese translation effort matured, but his use of transcription, rather than translation, in rendering seminal Buddhist concepts survived, as in the standard Chinese transcriptions he helped popularize for buddha (C. FO) and BODHISATTVA (C. pusa). Because of his renown as an early translator, later Buddhist scriptural catalogues (JINGLU) in China ascribed to An Shigao many works that did not carry translator attributions; hence, there are many indigenous Chinese Buddhist scriptures (see APOCRYPHA) that are falsely attributed to him.
antarAbhava. (T. bar do'i srid pa/bar do; C. zhongyin/zhongyou; J. chuin/chuu; K. chungŭm/chungyu 中陰/中有). In Sanskrit, "intermediate state" or "transitional existence," a transitional state between death (maranabhava) and rebirth (upapattibhava), distinct from the five or six destinies of SAMSARA (see GATI), during which time the transitional being (GANDHARVA) prepares for rebirth. The antarAbhava is considered one of sentient beings' "four modes of existence" (catvAro bhavAḥ), along with birth/rebirth (upapattibhava), life (purvakAlabhava), and death (maranabhava). The notion of an intermediate state was controversial. Schools that accepted it, including the SARVASTIVADA and most MAHAYANA traditions, resorted to scriptural authority to justify its existence, citing, for example, SuTRAs that refer to seven states of existence (bhava), including an antarAbhava. A type of nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), the third stage of sanctity in the mainstream Buddhist schools, was also called "one who achieved NIRVAnA while in the intermediate state" (ANTARAPARINIRVAYIN), again suggesting the scriptural legitimacy of the antarAbhava. There were several views concerning the maximum duration of the ANTARABHAVA. The ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA, for example, lists such variations as instantaneous rebirth, rebirth after a week, indeterminate duration, and forty-nine days. Of these different durations, forty-nine days became dominant, and this duration is found in the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA and the YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA. Ceremonies to help guide the transitional being toward a more salutary rebirth, if not toward enlightenment itself, take place once weekly (see QIQI JI); these observances culminate in a "forty-ninth day ceremony" (SISHIJIU [RI] ZHAI), which is thought to mark the end of the process of transition, when rebirth actually occurs. The transitional being in the intermediate state is termed either a gandharva (lit. "fragrance eater"), because it does not take solid food but is said to subsist only on scent (gandha), or sometimes a "mind-made body" (MANOMAYAKAYA). During the transitional period, the gandharva is searching for the appropriate place and parents for its next existence and takes the form of the beings in the realm where it is destined to be reborn. In the Tibetan tradition, the antarAbhava is termed the BAR DO, and the guidance given to the transitional being through the process of rebirth is systematized in such works as the BAR DO THOS GROL CHEN MO, commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Like several of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, the THERAVADA scholastic tradition rejects the notion of an intermediate state, positing instead that an instantaneous "connecting" or "linking" consciousness (P. patisandhiviNNAna; S. *pratisaMdhivijNAna) directly links the final moment of consciousness in the present life to the first moment of consciousness in the next.
AnumAnasutta. (C. Biqiu qing jing; J. Bikushokyo; K. Pigu ch'ong kyong 比丘請經). In PAli, "Discourse on Inference," the fifteenth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the eighty-ninth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA). The sutra was preached by MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA (P. MahAmoggallAna) to a large group of monks at SuMsumAragiri in the Bhagga country. MahAmaudgalyAyana enumerates sixteen faults that make it difficult for a monk to be admonished by his teachers or fellow monks, such as evil wishes, conceit, deceit, anger, resentment, stubbornness, defensiveness, and prevarication. Should a monk discover any of these negative traits within himself, he should strive to remove them.
anusaya. (P. anusaya; T. bag la nyal ba; C. suimian; J. zuimen; K. sumyon 隨眠). In Sanskrit, "proclivity" or "predisposition"; various unwholesome mental states that lead eventually to suffering. There are several lists, most common of which is a list of six or seven principal proclivities: sensual passion (KAMARAGA; see also RAGA), hostility (PRATIGHA), pride (MANA), ignorance (AVIDYA), views (DṚstI), and skeptical doubt (VICIKITSA); sometimes, passion for existence (bhavarAga) is added as a seventh. The SARVASTIVADA school of ABHIDHARMA offers an extensive list of ninety-eight proclivities, in which dṛsti is subdivided into five subtypes, giving ten, which are then further subdivided into ninety-eight in relation to the three realms of existence (sensual, subtle materiality, and immaterial) and the five classes of discipline.
Anxi guo. (J. Ansoku koku; K. Ansik kuk 安息國). Chinese transcription of the Parthian proper name Aršak, referring to the Arsacid kingdom (c. 250 BCE-224 CE) in the region Roman geographers called PARTHIA. Aršak was the name adopted by all Parthian rulers, and the Chinese employed it to refer to the lands that those rulers controlled to the southeast of the Caspian Sea. In the Marv oasis, where the old Parthian city of Margiana was located, Soviet archeologists discovered the vestiges of a Buddhist monastic complex that has been dated to the third quarter of the fourth century CE, as well as birch-bark manuscripts written in the BRAHMĪ script that are associated with the SARVASTIVADA school of mainstream Buddhism. There is therefore archaeological evidence of at least a semblance of Buddhist presence in the area during the fourth through sixth centuries. Parthian Buddhists who were active in China enable us to push this dating back at least two more centuries, for two of the important early figures in the transmission of Buddhist texts into China also hailed from Parthia: AN SHIGAO (fl. c. 148-180 CE), a prolific translator of mainstream Buddhist works, and An Xuan (fl. c. 168-189), who translated the UGRAPARIPṚCCHA with the assistance of the Chinese Yan Fotiao. (The AN in their names is an ethnikon referring to Parthia.) There is, however, no extant Buddhist literature written in the Parthian language and indeed little evidence that written Parthian was ever used in other than government documents and financial records until the third century CE, when Manichaean texts written in Parthian begin to appear.
apatrApya. (P. ottappa; T. khrel yod pa; C. kui; J. gi, K. koe 愧). In Sanskrit, "modesty" or "blame"; one of the fundamental mental concomitants thought to accompany all wholesome actions (KUsALA) and therefore listed as the sixth of the ten "wholesome factors of wide extent" (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA) in the SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and one of the twenty-five wholesome (P. kusala) mental concomitants (CETASIKA) in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. It refers to a fear of blame or condemnation that prevents one from engaging in nonvirtuous deeds. "Modesty" is often seen in compound with the term "shame" or "decency" (HRĪ), where hrī refers to the sense of shame or the pangs of moral conscience that one feels oneself at the prospect of engaging in an immoral act, whereas apatrApya refers to the fear of being blamed or embarrassed by others for engaging in such acts. This dual sense of "shame and blame" was thought to be foundational to progress in morality (sĪLA).
apraketam salilam sarvam idam ::: all this was an ocean of inconscience. [RV 10.129.3]
apramAda. (P. appamAda; T. bag yod pa; C. bufangyi; J. fuhoitsu; K. pulbangil 不放逸). In Sanskrit, "heedfulness" or "vigilance"; one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school. Heedfulness is the opposite of "heedlessness" (PRAMADA) and is the vigilant attitude that strives toward virtuous activities and remains ever watchful of moral missteps. Heedfulness fosters steadfastness regarding spiritual and ethical matters; it was presumed to be so foundational to any kind of ethical or wholesome behavior that the SarvAstivAda abhidharma system included it among the predominant wholesome factors of wide extent (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Heedfulness is also an integral part of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where certain types of proclivities (ANUsAYA)-such as passion for sensual pleasure (RAGA)-can only be removed by consistent and vigilant training, rather than simply through correct insight, as on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). Heedfulness was so crucial to spiritual progress that the Buddha recommended it in his last words delivered on his deathbed, as related in the PAli MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTANTA: "Indeed, monks, I declare to you: decay is inherent in all compounded things; strive on with vigilance." (Handa 'dAni bhikkhave AmantayAmi vo: vayadhammA sankhArA; appamAdena sampAdetha.)
apranihita. (P. appanihita; T. smon pa med pa; C. wuyuan; J. mugan; K. muwon 無願). In Sanskrit, "wishless"; apranihita is one of the three "gates to deliverance" (VIMOKsAMUKHA), along with emptiness (suNYATA) and signlessness (ANIMITTA). Once signlessness has exposed the dangers (ADĪNAVA) inherent in sensory perception, the meditator loses all desire for the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) things of this world and adverts instead toward the uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA), which is NIRVAnA. The wishless is produced through insight into suffering (DUḤKHA) and serves as the counteragent (PRATIPAKsA) to all the intentions (Asaya) and aspirations (PRAnIDHANA) one has toward any compounded dharma. Once the meditator has abandoned all such aspirations, he or she is then able to advert toward nirvAna, which has no relation to anything that can be desired (VAIRAGYA). This leads to the seeming conundrum of Buddhist soteriology, viz., that nirvAna can only be attained once the meditator no longer has any desire for anything, including nirvAna itself. The SARVASTIVADA and YOGACARA schools sought to resolve this conundrum about nirvAna being uncaused by positing that nirvAna was a specific type of effect, the VISAMYOGAPHALA, or "disconnection fruition," which was disconnected from the afflictions (KLEsA).
aprApti. (T. 'thob pa med pa; C. feide; J. hitoku; K. pidŭk 非得). In Sanskrit, "dispossession" or "nonacquisition"; the second of the fourteen "conditioned forces dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA) listed in the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA ABHIDHARMA and in the YOGACARA system. It is the opposite of the dissociated force of "possession" (PRAPTI), which serves as a kind of glue that causes the various independent constituents of reality (DHARMA) to stick together into apparently permanent constructs. AprApti is the absence of such possession: when, for example, the afflictions (KLEsA) are eliminated through the experience of sanctity, there is a "dispossession" between the afflictions and the mental continuum (SAMTANA) of that sage to whom they were previously attached. Similarly, the state of an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) involves the "dispossession" of the noble (ARYA) dharmas.
apratisaMkhyAnirodha. (T. so sor brtags min gyi 'gog pa; C. feizemie; J. hichakumetsu; K. pit'aekmyol 非擇滅). In Sanskrit, "nonanalytical suppression" or "nonanalytical cessation," one of the uncompounded factors (ASAMSKṚTADHARMA) listed by both the VAIBHAsIKA-SARVASTIVADA and the YOGACARA schools. In the VaibhAsika dharma theory, where all factors were presumed to exist in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future, this dharma was posited to suppress the production of all other dharmas, ensuring that they remain ever positioned in future mode and never again able to arise in the present. Whenever any specific factor is unproduced, this is due to its position in the present mode being occupied by the nonanalytical suppression; thus the number of apratisaMkhyAnirodha is coextensive with the number of factors. Because this dharma is not produced, not an object of knowledge, and not a result of insight, it is considered to be "nonanalytical." Other schools, such as the SAUTRANTIKA, presume that this factor has only nominal validity and refers to dharmas when they are in their unproduced state. The term also refers to states of temporary absence or cessation that do not occur as the result of meditative practice, such as the cessation of hunger after eating a meal. See also PRATISAMKHYANIRODHA.
arapacana. (T. a ra pa dza na). The arapacana is a syllabary of Indic or Central Asian origin typically consisting of forty-two or forty-three letters, named after its five initial constituents a, ra, pa, ca, and na. The syllabary appears in many works of the MAHAYANA tradition, including the PRAJNAPARAMITA, GAndAVYuHA, LALITAVISTARA, and AVATAMSAKA SuTRAs, as well as in texts of the DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA (SIFEN LÜ) and MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA. It occurs in both original Sanskrit works and Chinese and Tibetan translations. In most cases, each syllable in the list is presumed to correspond to a key doctrinal term beginning with, or containing, that syllable. A, for example, is associated with the concept of ANUTPADA (nonarising), ra with rajo'pagata (free from impurity), and so forth. Recitation of the syllabary, therefore, functioned as a mystical representation of, or mnemonic device (DHARAnĪ) for recalling, important MahAyAna doctrinal concepts, somewhat akin to the MATṚKA lists of the ABHIDHARMA. Other interpretations posit that the syllables themselves are the primal sources whence the corresponding terms later developed. The syllabary includes: a, ra, pa, ca, na, la, da, ba, da, sa, va, ta, ya, sta, ka, sa, ma, ga, stha, tha, ja, sva, dha, sa, kha, ksa, sta, jNa, rta, ha, bha, cha, sma, hva, tsa, gha, tha, na, pha, ska, ysa, sca, ta, dha. The arapacana also constitutes the central part of the root MANTRA of the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ; its short form is oM a ra pa ca na dhi. It is therefore also considered to be an alternate name for MaNjusrī.
AriyapariyesanAsutta. (C. Luomo jing; J. Ramakyo; K. Rama kyong 羅摩經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Noble Quest"; the twenty-sixth sutta (SuTRA) in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA, also known as the PAsarAsisutta (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 204th SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to an assembly of monks at the hemitage of the brAhmana Rammaka in the town of sRAVASTĪ. The Buddha explains the difference between noble and ignoble quests and recounts his own life as an example of striving to distinguish between the two. Beginning with his renunciation of the householder's life, he tells of his training under two meditation masters, his rejection of this training in favor of austerities, and ultimately his rejection of austerities in order to discover for himself his own path to enlightenment. The Buddha also relates how he was initially hesitant to teach what he had discovered, but was convinced to do so by the god BRAHMA SAHAMPATI, and how he then converted the "group of five" ascetics (PANCAVARGIKA) who had been his companions while he practiced austerities. There is an understated tone of the narrative, devoid of the detail so familiar from the biographies. There is no mention of the opulence of his youth, no mention of his wife, no mention of the chariot rides, no description of the departure from the palace in the dead of night, no mention of MARA. Instead, the Buddha states, "Later, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, though my mother and father wished otherwise and wept with tearful faces, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness." Although the accounts of his study with other meditation masters assume a sophisticated system of states of concentration, the description of the enlightenment itself is both simple and sober, portrayed as the outcome of long reflection rather than as an ecstatic moment of revelation.
Arya. (P. ariya; T. 'phags pa; C. sheng; J. sho; K. song 聖). In Sanskrit, "noble" or "superior." A term appropriated by the Buddhists from earlier Indian culture to refer to its saints and used technically to denote a person who has directly perceived reality and has become a "noble one." In the fourfold path structure of the mainstream schools, an Arya is a person who has achieved at least the first level of sanctity, that of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), or above. In the fivefold path system, an Arya is one who has achieved at least the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), or above. The SARVASTIVADA (e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA) and THERAVADA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (Arya, P. ariya). In e.g., the VISUDDHIMAGGA, these are listed in order of their intellectual superiority as (1) follower of faith (P. saddhAnusAri; S. sRADDHANUSARIN); (2) follower of the dharma (P. dhammAnusAri; S. DHARMANUSARIN); (3) one who is freed by faith (P. saddhAvimutta; S. sRADDHAVIMUKTA); (4) one who has formed right view (P. ditthippatta; S. DṚstIPRAPTA), by developing both faith and knowledge; (5) one who has bodily testimony (P. kAyasakkhi; S. KAYASAKsIN), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMAPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (P. paNNAvimutta; S. PRAJNAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (P. ubhatobhAgavimutta; S. UBHAYATOBHAGAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption (P. jhAna; S. DHYANA) and wisdom (P. paNNA; S. PRAJNA). In the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the seven types of Arya beings are presented in a slightly different manner, together with the list of eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA) based on candidates for (pratipannika) and those who have reached the result of (phalastha) stream-enterer (srotaApanna), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and ARHAT; these are again further expanded into a list of twenty members of the Arya VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA and in MahAyAna explanations into forty-eight or more ARYABODHISATTVAs. The Chinese character sheng, used to render this term in East Asia, has a long indigenous history and several local meanings; see, for example, the Japanese vernacular equivalent HIJIRI. It is also the name of one of two Indian esoteric GUHYASAMAJATANTRA traditions, receiving its name from Arya NAgArjuna, the author of the PANCAKRAMA.
asaiksamArga. (T. mi slob lam; C. wuxuedao; J. mugakudo; K. muhakto 無學道). In Sanskrit, "the path of the adept" (lit. "the path where there is nothing more to learn" or "the path where no further training is necessary"); the fifth of the five-path schema (PANCAMARGA) used in both SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and the YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA schools of MAHAYANA. It is the equivalent of the path of completion (NIstHAMARGA) and is synonymous with asaiksapatha. With the consummation of the "path of cultivation" (BHAVANAMARGA), the adept (whether following the sRAVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or BODHISATTVA path) achieves the "adamantine-like concentration" (VAJROPAMASAMADHI), which leads to the permanent destruction of even the subtlest and most persistent of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA), resulting in the "knowledge of cessation" (KsAYAJNANA) and in some presentations an accompanying "knowledge of nonproduction" (ANUTPADAJNANA), viz., the knowledge that the fetters are destroyed and can never again recur. Because the adept now has full knowledge of the eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA) and has achieved full liberation (VIMOKsA) as either an ARHAT or a buddha, he no longer needs any further instruction-thus he has completed the "path where there is nothing more to learn."
asakta-buddhih sarvatra ::: [having] an understanding unattached everywhere. [Gita 18.49]
asaktam sarvabhrt ::: unattached, yet all-supporting. [Gita 13.15]
asaMjNAsamApatti. [alt. asaṁjNisamApatti] (P. asaNNasamApatti; T. 'du shes med pa'i snyoms par 'jug pa; C. wuxiang ding; J. musojo; K. musang chong 無想定). In Sanskrit, "equipoise of nonperception" or "unconscious state of attainment"; viz., a "meditative state wherein no perceptual activity remains." It is a form of meditation with varying, even contradictory, interpretations. In some accounts, it is positively appraised: for example, the Buddha was known for entering into this type of meditation in order to "rest himself" and, on another occasion, to recover from illness. In this interpretation, asaMjNAsamApatti is a temporary suppression of mental activities that brings respite from tension, which in some accounts, means that the perception (SAMJNA) aggregate (SKANDHA) is no longer functioning, while in other accounts, it implies the cessation of all conscious thought. In such cases, asaṁjNasamApatti is similar to AnimittasamApatti in functions and contents, the latter being a meditative stage wherein one does not dwell in or cling to the "characteristics" (NIMITTA) of phenomena, and which is said to be conducive to the "liberation of the mind through signlessness (ANIMITTA)" (P. Animittacetovimutti)-one of the so-called three gates to deliverance (VIMOKsAMUKHA). Elsewhere, however, asaṁjNAsamApatti is characterized negatively as a nihilistic state of mental dormancy, which some have mistakenly believed to be final liberation. Non-Buddhist meditators were reported to mistake this vegetative state for the ultimate, permanent quiescence of the mind and become attached to this state as if it were liberation. In traditional Buddhist classificatory systems (such as those of the YOGACARA school and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA), asaMjNAsamApatti is sometimes also conflated with the fourth DHYANA, and the karmic fruition of dwelling in this meditation is the rebirth in the asaMjNA heaven (ASAMJNIKA) located in the "realm of subtle materiality," where the heavens corresponding to the fourth dhyAna are located (see RuPADHATU). Together with the "trance of cessation" (NIRODHASAMAPATTI), these two forms of meditation are classified under the CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA ("forces dissociated from thought") category in SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA texts, as well as in the one hundred dharmas of the YogAcAra school, and are also called in the East Asian tradition "the two kinds of meditation that are free of mental activity" (er wuxin ding).
asaMskṛtadharma. (P. asankhatadhamma; T. 'dus ma byas kyi chos; C. wuweifa; J. muiho; K. muwibop 無爲法). In Sanskrit, "uncompounded" or "unconditioned" "factors"; a term used to describe the few DHARMAs that are not conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) and are therefore perduring phenomena (NITYADHARMA) that are not subject to impermanence (ANITYA). The lists differ in the various schools. The PAli tradition's list of eighty-two dharmas (P. dhamma) recognizes only one uncompounded dharma: NIRVAnA (P. nibbAna). The SARVASTIVADA school recognizes three out of seventy-five: space (AKAsA), and two varieties of nirvAna: "analytical" "suppression" or "cessation" (PRATISAMKHYANIRODHA) and "nonanalytical suppression" (APRATISAMKHYANIRODHA). YOGACARA recognizes six of its one hundred dharmas as uncompounded: the preceding three, plus "motionlessness" (AniNjya, [alt. aniNjya]), the "cessation of perception and sensation" (SAMJNAVEDAYITANIRODHA), and "suchness" (TATHATA). NirvAna is the one factor that all Buddhist schools accept as being uncompounded. It is the one dharma that exists without being the result of a cause (ahetuja), though it may be accessed through the three "gates to deliverance" (VIMOKsAMUKHA). Because nirvAna neither produces nor is produced by anything else, it is utterly distinct from the conditioned realm that is subject to production and cessation; its achievement, therefore, means the end to the repeated cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA). In several schools of Buddhism, including the SarvAstivAda, nirvAna is subdivided into two complementary aspects: an "analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) that corresponds to earlier notions of nirvAna and "nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha), which ensures that the enlightened person will never again be subject to the vagaries of the conditioned world. "Analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) occurs through the direct meditative insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni) and the cognition of nonproduction (ANUTPADAJNANA), which brings about the disjunction (visaMyoga) from all unwholesome factors (AKUsALADHARMA). "Nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha) prevents the dharmas of the conditioned realm from ever appearing again for the enlightened person. In the VAIBHAsIKA interpretation, this dharma suppresses the conditions that would lead to the production of dharmas, thus ensuring that they remain forever positioned in future mode and unable ever again to arise in the present. Because this dharma is not a result of insight, it is called "nonanalytical." Space (AkAsa) has two discrete denotations. First, space is an absence that delimits forms; like the empty space inside a door frame, AkAsa is a hole that is itself empty but that defines, or is defined by, the material that surrounds it. Second, as the vast emptiness of space, space comes also to be described as the absence of obstruction; in this sense, space also comes to be interpreted as something akin to the Western conception of ether, a virtually immaterial, but glowing fluid that serves as the support for the four material elements (MAHABHuTA). Space is accepted as an uncompounded dharma in six of the mainstream Buddhist schools, including the SARVASTIVADA and the MAHASAMGHIKA, as well as the later YOGACARA; three others reject this interpretation, including the THERAVADA. The YogAcAra additions to this list essentially subsume the upper reaches of the immaterial realm (ArupyAvacara) into the listing of uncompounded dharmas. AniNjya, or motionlessness, is used even in the early Buddhist tradition to refer to actions that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome (see ANINJYAKARMAN), which lead to rebirth in the realm of subtle materiality or the immaterial realm and, by extension, to those realms themselves. The "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is the last of the eight liberations (VIMOKsA; P. vimokkha) and the ninth and highest of the immaterial attainments (SAMAPATTI). "Suchness" (TATHATA) is the ultimate reality (i.e., suNYATA) shared in common by a TATHAGATA and all other afflicted (SAMKLIstA) and pure (VIsUDDHI) dharmas; the "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is not only "a meditative trance wherein no perceptual activity remains," but one where no feeling, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, is experienced.
Asanga. (T. Thogs med; C. Wuzhao; J. Mujaku; K. Much'ak 無著) (c. 320-c. 390 CE). a.k.a. Arya Asanga, Indian scholar who is considered to be a founder of the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA Buddhism. In the Tibetan tradition, he is counted as one of the "six ornaments of JAMBUDVĪPA" ('dzam gling rgyan drug), together with VASUBANDHU, NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, and DIGNAGA and DHARMAKĪRTI. Born into a brAhmana family in Purusapura (modern-day Peshawar, Pakistan), Asanga originally studied under SARVASTIVADA (possibly MAHĪsASAKA) teachers but converted to the MahAyAna later in life. His younger brother was the important exegete Vasubandhu; it is said that he was converted to the MahAyAna by Asanga. According to traditional accounts, Asanga spent twelve years in meditation retreat, after which he received a vision of the future buddha MAITREYA. He visited Maitreya's abode in TUsITA heaven, where the bodhisattva instructed him in MahAyAna and especially YogAcAra doctrine. Some of these teachings were collected under the name MaitreyanAtha, and the Buddhist tradition generally regards them as revealed by Asanga through the power of the future buddha. Some modern scholars, however, have posited the existence of a historical figure named MAITREYANATHA or simply Maitreya. Asanga is therefore associated with what are known as the "five treatises of MaitreyanAtha" (the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, the DHARMADHARMATAVIBHAGA, the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA, and the RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA). Asanga was a prolific author, composing commentaries on the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA and the VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA. Among his independent treatises, three are particularly important. The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA sets forth the categories of the ABHIDHARMA from a YogAcAra perspective. The MAHAYANASAMGRAHA is a detailed exposition of YogAcAra doctrine, setting forth such topics as the ALAYAVIJNANA and the TRISVABHAVA as well as the constituents of the path. His largest work is the compendium entitled YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA. Two of its sections, the sRAVAKABHuMI and the BODHISATTVABHuMI, circulated as independent works, with the former important for its exposition of the practice of DHYANA and the latter for its exposition of the bodhisattva's practice of the six PARAMITA; the chapter on sĪLA is particularly influential. These texts have had a lasting and profound impact on the development of Buddhism, especially in India, Tibet, and East Asia. Among the great figures in the history of Indian Buddhism, Asanga is rare for the breadth of his interests and influence, making significant contributions to philosophy (as the founder of YogAcAra), playing a key role in TATHAGATAGARBHA thought (through the RatnagotravibhAga), and providing significant expositions of Buddhist practice (in the YogAcArabhumi).
Asraddhya. [alt. asrAddhya] (P. asaddhA/asaddhiya; T. ma dad pa; C. buxin; J. fushin; K. pulsin 不信). In Sanskrit, "lack of faith," "disbelief." In the roster of seventy-five factors (DHARMA) in the SARVASTIVADA school of ABHIDHARMA, Asraddhya is listed as the fourth of the six major afflicted factors of wide extent (KLEsAMAHABHuMIKA) that are associated with all defiled thoughts and afflictions (KLEsA), together with delusion (MOHA), heedlessness (PRAMADA), indolence (KAUSĪDYA), sloth (STYANA), and restlessness (AUDDHATYA). The YOGACARA school lists it in its roster of a hundred dharmas (C. BAIFA) as the thirteenth of the twenty secondary afflictions (UPAKLEsA). Asraddhya refers to the inability of a person to generate the tacit belief or confidence in a teacher and the doctrines that is necessary to undertake practice in earnest; it has a stronger affective dimension than the intellectual skepticism of the related term doubt (VICIKITSA).
astamahopaputra. (T. nye ba'i sras chen brgyad; C. ba da pusa; J. hachidai bosatsu; K. p'al tae posal 八大菩薩). In Sanskrit, the "eight great associated sons"; a group of eight bodhisattvas also known as the AstAMAHABODHISATTVA or "eight great bodhisattvas"; they are KsITIGARBHA, AKAsAGARBHA, AVALOKITEsVARA, VAJRAPAnI, MAITREYA, SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN, SAMANTABHADRA, and MANJUsRĪ. Textual evidence for the grouping is found as early as the third century, the date of ZHI QIAN's Chinese translation of the Astabuddhakasutra (Fo shuo ba jixiangshen zhoujing). In earlier representations, they flank either sAKYAMUNI or AMITABHA. Their roles are laid out in the Astamandalakasutra, where the aims of their worship are essentially mundane-absolution from transgressions, fulfillment of desires, and protection from ills. The grouping is known throughout Asia, from northern India, where they first appeared in ELLORA, Ratnagiri, and NALANDA, and from there as far east as Japan and Indonesia-indeed, virtually anywhere MAHAYANA and tantric Buddhism flourished. They figure as a group in TANTRAs of various classes, where their number of arms corresponds to the main deity of the MAndALA and their colors correspond to the direction in which they are placed. In the mandala of the GUHYASAMAJATANTRA, they flank the central figure AKsOBHYA, who appears in the form of Vajradhṛk and his consort SparsavajrA. When each has a consort, the females are called the astapujAdevī ("eight offering goddesses"). There are four in the GuhyasamAjatantra mandala: RupavajrA, sabdavajrA, GandhavajrA, and RasavajrA. In the vajradhAtu mahAmandala, the group of bodhisattvas is expanded to sixteen.
A. The first vowel and letter in the Sanskrit alphabet. The phoneme "a" is thought to be the source of all other phonemes and its corresponding letter the origin of all other letters. As the basis of both the Sanskrit phonemic system and the written alphabet, the letter "a" thus comes to be invested with mystical significance as the source of truth, nondifferentiation, and emptiness (suNYATA), or even of the universe as a whole. The PRAJNAPARAMITASARVATATHAGATAMATA-EKAKsARA, the shortest of the perfection of wisdom scriptures, also describes how the entirety of the perfection of wisdom is subsumed by this one letter. The letter in the Sanskrit SIDDHAM alphabet gained special significance within the esoteric Buddhist traditions in Japan (MIKKYo), such as Shingon (see SHINGONSHu), which considered it to be the "seed" (BĪJA) of MAHAVAIROCANA, the central divinity of esoteric Buddhism, and used it in a distinctive type of meditation called AJIKAN ("contemplation of the letter 'a'"). The letter "a," which is said to be originally uncreated (AJI HONPUSHo), is interpreted to be the essence of all phenomena in the universe and the DHARMAKAYA of the buddha MahAvairocana. In the East Asian CHAN traditions, the letter "a" is also sometimes understood to represent the buddha-nature (FOXING, S. BUDDHADHATU) of all sentient beings.
atma (eva) abhut sarvani bhutani (sarvabhutani) ::: the Self-existent has become all (these) becomings. [cf. Isa 7]
atmanam sarvabhutesu sarvabhutani catmani ::: the Self in all existing things and all existing things in the Self. [cf. Isa 6; cf. Gita 6.29]
atmaupamyena sarvatra ::: all everywhere in the image of the Self. [Gita 6.32]
AtthakanAgarasutta. (C. Bacheng jing; J. Hachijokyo; K. P'alsong kyong 八城經). In PAli, "Discourse to the Man from Atthaka"; the fifty-second sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as SuTRA no. 217 in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha's attendant ANANDA to the householder Dasaka of Atthaka at BeluvagAmaka near VesAlī (VAIsALĪ). According to the PAli recension, a merchant from the town (nAgara) of Atthaka named Dasaka approaches Ananda and asks him if there was any one thing that could lead to liberation from bondage. Ananda teaches him the eleven doors of the deathless, by means of which it is possible to attain liberation from bondage. These doors are made up of the four meditative absorptions (JHANA; S. DHYANA), the four BRAHMAVIHARA meditations, and the three immaterial meditations of infinite space (AKAsANANTYAYATANA), infinite consciousness (VIJNANANANTYAYATANA), and nothing-whatsoever (AKINCANYAYATANA). Ananda states that by contemplating the conditioned and impermanent nature of these eleven doors to liberation, one can attain arhatship (see ARHAT) in this life or short of that will attain the stage of a nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), who is destined to be reborn in the pure abodes (sUDDHAVASA), whence he will attain arhatship and final liberation.
avadAna. (P. apadAna; T. rtogs par brjod pa; C. apotuona/piyu; J. ahadana or apadana/hiyu; K. ap'adana/piyu 阿波陀那/譬喩). In Sanskrit, "tales" or "narrative"; a term used to denote a type of story found in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature. The precise meaning of the word has been the subject of much discussion. In the Indian BrAhmanas and srauta literature, the term denotes either something that is sacrificed or a portion of a sacrifice. The term avadAna was originally thought to mean "something cut off; something selected" and was presumed to derive from the prefix ava- + the Sanskrit root √dA. Feer, who published a French translation of the AVADANAsATAKA in 1891, tentatively translated it as "légende, action héroïque," while noting that the Tibetans, the Chinese, and the Mongols all employed differing translations of the word as well. (The Chinese use a transcription, apotuona, as well as a translation, piyu, meaning "simile." The Tibetan rtogs brjod has been rendered as "judgment" or "moral legend"; literally, it means the presentation or expression of the realizations [of an adept]. The Mongolian equivalent is domok.) Feer's rendering of avadAna is closer to its meaning of "heroic action" in classical Indian works such as the RaghuvaMsa and the KumArasambhava. AvadAnas are listed as the tenth of the twelvefold (DVADAsAnGA) division of the traditional genres of Buddhist literature, as classified by compositional style and content. The total corpus of the genre is quite extensive, ranging from individual avadAnas embedded in VINAYA texts, or separate sutras in the SuTRAPItAKA, to avadAnas that circulated either individually or in avadAna collections. These stories typically illustrate the results of both good and bad KARMAN, i.e., past events that led to present circumstances; in certain cases, however, they also depict present events that lead to a prediction (VYAKARAnA) of high spiritual attainment in the future. AvadAnas are closely related to JATAKAs, or birth stories of the Buddha; indeed, some scholars have considered jAtakas to be a subset of the avadAna genre, and some jAtaka tales are also included in the AVADANAsATAKA, an early avadAna collection. AvadAnas typically exhibit a three-part narrative structure, with a story of the present, followed by a story of past action (karman), which is then connected by identifying the past actor as a prior incarnation of the main character in the narrative present. In contrast to the jAtakas, however, the main character in an avadAna is generally not the Buddha (an exception is Ksemendra's eleventh-century BodhisattvAvadAnakalpalatA) but rather someone who is or becomes his follower. Moreover, some avadAnas are related by narrators other than the Buddha, such as those of the AsOKAVADANA, which are narrated by UPAGUPTA. Although the avadAna genre was once dismissed as "edifying stories" for the masses, the frequent references to monks as listeners and the directives to monks on how to practice that are embedded in these tales make it clear that the primary audience was monastics. Some of the notations appended to the stories in sura's [alt. Aryasura; c. second century CE] JATAKAMALA suggest that such stories were also used secondarily for lay audiences. On the Indian mainland, both mainstream and MAHAYANA monks compiled avadAna collections. Some of the avadAnas from northwestern India have been traced from kernel stories in the MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA via other mainstream Buddhist versions. In his French translation of the AvadAnasataka, Feer documented a number of tales from earlier mainstream collections, such as the AvadAnasataka, which were reworked and expanded in later MahAyAna collections, such as the RatnAvadAnamAlA and the KalpadrumAvadAnamAlA, which attests to the durability and popularity of the genre. Generally speaking, the earlier mainstream avadAnas were prose works, while the later MahAyAna collections were composed largely in verse.
AvadAnasataka. (T. Rtogs pa brjod pa brgya pa; C. Zhuanji baiyuan jing; J. Senju hyakuengyo; K. Ch'anjip paegyon kyong 撰集百經). In Sanskrit, "A Hundred Tales" (AVADANA). The collection was originally ascribed to the SARVASTIVADA school but is now thought to belong to the MuLASARVASTIVADA, because of the large number of stereotyped passages that the AvadAnasataka shares with the DIVYAVADANA and the MulasarvAstivAda VINAYA and its close correlation with certain other elements of the MulasarvAstivAda vinaya. Hence, the AvadAnasataka most likely originated in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, a provenance confirmed with the recent discovery of fragments of the text in the Schoyen Collection that most likely come from BAMIYAN. The AvadAnasataka is one of the earliest avadAna collections and was translated into Chinese (Zhuanji baiyuan jing), a translation traditionally attributed to ZHI QIAN. The Tibetan translation (Gang po la sogs pa rtogs pa brjod pa brgya pa) was carried out in the early ninth century by the monk Jinamitra and Devacandra. The composition date of the AvadAnasataka is uncertain. A date c. 100 CE has been proposed, based on Zhi Qian's putative Chinese translation, whose traditional date of c. 223-253 CE provided a terminus ante quem for the compilation of the anthology. Recent scholarship, however, has questioned this attribution to Zhi Qian and indicates that the translation probably dates instead to the late fifth or early sixth century CE. The significant degree of divergence between the known Sanskrit texts and the Chinese recension may indicate that two or more Sanskrit versions were in circulation. The Chinese text also includes interpolations of story elements that derive from another Chinese collection, the Xian yu jing. In terms of structure, the stories in the AvadAnasataka are arranged symmetrically in ten chapters of ten stories apiece, each with a central theme: (1) prophecies (VYAKARAnA) of buddhahood, (2) JATAKA tales, (3) prophecies of pratyeka ("solitary") buddhahood (see PRATYEKABUDDHA), (4) more jAtakas, (5) tales of PRETA or "hungry ghosts," (6) heavenly rebirths as DEVA ("divinities"), (7)-(9) male and female disciples who become ARHATs, and (10) stories of suffering resulting from misdeeds in past lives. The structure of a typical avadAna story includes (1) a frame story told in the narrative present; (2) a story of past deeds (which is the cause of the present achievement or suffering); and (3) a bridge between the two, linking the past actor with the person presently experiencing its consequence. Major motifs include devotion to the Buddha, the benefits of donation (DANA), and the workings of moral cause and effect (see KARMAN), as indicated in the stock passage with which more than half of the tales end: "Thus, O monks, knowing that black actions bear black fruits, white actions white fruits, and mixed ones mixed fruits, you should shun the black and the mixed and pursue only the white." Although avadAnas have often been assumed to target the laity, the reference to monks in this stock passage clearly indicates the monastic audience to which these tales were directed.
avijNaptirupa. (T. rnam par rig byed ma yin pa'i gzugs; C. wubiaose; J. muhyojiki; K. mup'yosaek 無表色). In Sanskrit, "unmanifest material force," or "hidden imprints"; a special type of materiality (RuPA) recognized in the SARVASTIVADA school of ABHIDHARMA, especially. The SarvAstivAda school notably makes recourse to this unique type of materiality as one way of reconciling the apparent contradiction in Buddhism between advocating the efficacy of moral cause and effect and rejecting any notion of an underlying substratum of being (ANATMAN), as well as issues raised by the teaching of momentariness (KsAnIKAVADA). When a person forms the intention (CETANA) to perform an action (KARMAN), whether wholesome (KUsALA) or unwholesome (AKUsALA), that intention creates an "unmanifest" type of materiality that imprints itself on the person as either bodily or verbal information, until such time as the action is actually performed via body or speech. Unmanifest materiality is thus the "glue" that connects the intention that initiates action with the physical act itself. Unmanifest material force can be a product of both wholesome and unwholesome intentions, but it is most commonly associated in SarvAstivAda literature with three types of restraint (SAMVARA) against the unwholesome specifically: (1) the restraint proffered to a monk or nun when he or she accepts the disciplinary rules of the order (PRATIMOKsASAMVARA); (2) the restraint that is produced through mental absorption (dhyAnajasaMvara); and (3) the restraint that derives from being free from the contaminants (anAsravasaMvara). In all three cases, the unmanifest material force creates an invisible and impalpable force field that helps to protect the monk or nun from unwholesome action. PrAtimoksasaMvara, for example, creates a special kind of force that dissuades people from unwholesome activity, even when they are not consciously aware they are following the precepts or when they are asleep. This specific type of restraint is what makes a man a monk, since just wearing robes or following an ascetic way of life would not itself be enough to instill in him the protective power offered by the PRATIMOKsA. Meditation was also thought to confer on the monk protective power against physical harm while he was absorbed in DHYANA: the literature abounds with stories of monks who saw tiger tracks all around them after withdrawing from dhyAna, thus suggesting that dhyAna itself provided a protective shield against accident or injury. Finally, anAsravasaMvara is the restraint that precludes someone who has achieved the extinction of the outflows (ASRAVA)-that is, enlightenment-from committing any action (KARMAN) that would produce a karmic result (VIPAKA), thus ensuring that their remaining actions in this life do not lead to any additional rebirths. Because avijNaptirupa sounds as much like a force as a type of matter, later authors, such as HARIVARMAN in his TATTVASIDDHI, instead listed it among the "conditioned forces dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA).
Bactria. The name of a region of Central Asia, located between the Hindu Kush range and the Amu Darya River (now lying in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), which was an active center of Buddhism in the centuries immediately preceding and following the onset of the Common Era. A Greco-Bactrian kingdom was established by Diodotus I around 250 BCE. The Greek rulers received Buddhist emissaries from AŜOKA and the MAHAVAMSA describes the monk MahAdharmaraksita as ordaining Greeks as monks. Buddhism would flourish under later Greek kings, most notably Menander, the putative interlocutor of the MILINDAPANHA. Buddhist texts written in cursive Greek have been discovered in Afghanistan. Clement of Alexandria seems to mention Buddhists among the Bactrians during the second century CE, when, in describing the gymnosophists, he writes, "Some of the Indians obey the precepts of Boutta; whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honors." The SARVASTIVADA school of mainstream Buddhism, especially its VAIBHAsIKA strand, seems to have been active in the region.
Bahusrutīya. (P. Bahussutaka/Bahulika; T. Mang du thos pa; C. Duowenbu; J. Tamonbu; K. Tamunbu 多聞部). In Sanskrit, lit. "Great Learning"; one of the traditional eighteen schools of mainstream Indian Buddhism. The Bahusrutīya was one of the two subschools of the KAUKKUtIKA branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, along with the PRAJNAPTIVADA, which may have split off as a separate school around the middle of the third century CE. The school was based in NAGARJUNAKOndA in the Andhra region of India, although there is also evidence it was active in the Indian Northwest. One of the few extant texts of the Bahusrutīya is HARIVARMAN's c. third-century CE *TATTVASIDDHI ([alt. *Satyasiddhi]; C. CHENGSHI LUN, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"), a summary of the school's lost ABHIDHARMA; this text is extant only in its Chinese translation. The positions the Bahusrutīya advocates are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, though, unlike the SthaviranikAya, it accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike the SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. The Bahusrutīya also opposed the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in both past and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Bahusrutīya thus seems to have adopted a middle way between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which it views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. The Bahusrutīya also claimed that the Buddha offered teachings that were characterized by both supramundane (LOKOTTARA) and mundane (LAUKIKA) realities, a position distinct from the LOKOTTARAVADA, one of the other main branches of the MahAsAMghika, which claimed that the Buddha articulates all of his teachings in a single utterance that is altogether transcendent (lokottara). The Bahusrutīya appears to be one of the later subschools of mainstream Buddhism; its views are not discussed in the PAli KATHAVATTHU. They are also claimed to have attempted a synthesis of mainstream and MAHAYANA doctrine.
bala. (T. stobs; C. li; J. riki; K. yok 力). In Sanskrit and PAli, "power" or "strength"; used in a variety of lists, including the five powers (the eighteenth to twenty-second of the BODHIPAKsIKADHARMAs, or "thirty-seven factors pertaining to awakening"), the ten powers of a TATHAGATA, the ten powers of a BODHISATTVA, and the ninth of the ten perfections (PARAMITA). The five powers are the same as the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA)-faith (sRADDHA), perseverance (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA)-but now fully developed at the LAUKIKAGRADHARMA stage of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), just prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). A tathAgata's ten powers are given in both PAli and Sanskrit sources as the power of the knowledge (jNAnabala) of: (1) what can be and cannot be (sthAnAsthAna), (2) karmic results (karmavipAka), (3) the various dispositions of different beings (nAnAdhimukti), (4) how the world has many and different elements (nAnAdhAtu), (5) the higher (or different) faculties people possess (indriyaparApara), (6) the ways that lead to all destinations (sarvatragAminīpratipad), (7) the defilement and purification of all meditative absorptions (DHYANA), liberations (VIMOKsA), samAdhis, and trances (SAMAPATTI) (sarvadhyAnavimoksasamAdhisamApatti-saMklesavyavadAnavyavasthAna), (8) recollecting previous births (PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI), (9) decease and birth (cyutyupapatti), and (10) the extinction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA). Another list gives the Buddha's ten powers as the power of aspiration (Asaya), resolution (ADHYAsAYA), habit (abhyAsa), practice (PRATIPATTI), wisdom (prajNA), vow (PRAnIDHANA), vehicle (YANA), way of life (caryA), thaumaturgy (vikurvana), the power derived from his bodhisattva career, and the power to turn the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the MahAyAna six perfections (PARAMITA) are expanded and linked to the ten bodhisattva stages (DAsABHuMI), four perfections are added: the perfections of skillful means (UPAYA), vow, power, and knowledge (JNANA). Thus the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA) is linked with the ninth bodhisattva stage (BHuMI). When the ten powers are listed as a bodhisattva's perfection of power, they are sometimes explained to be the powers of a tathAgata before they have reached full strength.
Bandhudatta. (C. Pantoudaduo; J. Banzudatta; K. Pandudalta 槃頭達多). A teacher of KUMARAJĪVA, the scholar-monk who eventually became the preeminent translator of Indian Buddhist materials into Chinese. KumArajīva's mother became a Buddhist nun when her son was seven years old. She also had her son ordained at that time and two years later took him to Kashmir to further his studies. There, over the course of the next three years, he was instructed in the AGAMAs and SARVASTIVADA doctrine by Bandhudatta. KumArajīva later invited his teacher to KUCHA, where he sought to convert him to the MAHAYANA. Bandhudatta initially resisted, comparing the doctrine of suNYATA to an invisible garment worn by a madman, but KumArajīva was eventually able to win him over.
bca' yig. (chayik). In Tibetan, "constitution" or "charter"; the monastic codes promulgated at individual monasteries, which govern life at those centers. These individual codes supplement the much larger MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA, the primary source for the monastic code, and its summary in GUnAPRABHA's VINAYASuTRA, a medieval Indian summary of the monastic code. Each monastery has its own bca' yig, which sometimes is an oral code of best practices, sometimes a written document drawn up by a respected party. The bca' yig condenses customs, oral lore, and traditional documentation into a single constitution for the community, addressing specific questions to do with the governance of the monastery, the duties, responsibilities, and dress of monastic officers, the order of priority among members, and the procedures for arriving at binding decisions. It also codifies the observance of ritual activities. See also QINGGUI.
bhAvanAmArga. (T. sgom lam; C. xiudao; J. shudo; K. sudo 修道). In Sanskrit, "the path of cultivation" or "path of meditation"; the fourth of the five stages of the path (MARGA) in the SARVASTIVADA soteriological system (also adopted in the MAHAYANA), which follows the path of vision or insight (DARsANAMARGA) and precedes the adept path where no further training is necessary (AsAIKsAMARGA). In the SarvAstivAda path schema, the path of vision consists of fifteen thought-moments, with a subsequent sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). This sixteenth moment, that of subsequent knowledge (ANVAYAJNANA) of the truth of the path (mArga), is, in effect, the knowledge that all of the afflictions (KLEsA) of both the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHATU) and the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU) that are associated with the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS have been abandoned. As a result, the meditator destroys all causes for future rebirth as an animal, ghost, or hell denizen, but is not liberated from rebirth altogether and may still be reborn as a human or divinity. The more deeply rooted afflictions are destroyed over the course of the path of cultivation. For each of the nine levels of the three realms of rebirth-the sensuous realm (with one level), the realm of subtle materiality (with four levels), and the immaterial realm (with four levels)-there are nine levels of afflictions (KLEsA), from the most coarse to the most insidious, making eighty-one levels of affliction to be destroyed. As was the case with the path of vision, these defilements must be destroyed in a two-step process: the actual destruction of the particular affliction and the knowledge that it has been destroyed. There are therefore 162 "moments" of the abandoning of afflictions. This process, which takes place over the course of the path of cultivation, may occur over several lifetimes. However, when the 162nd stage is reached, and the subtlest of the subtle afflictions associated with the ninth level-that is, the fourth absorption of the immaterial realm-has been abandoned, the adept is then liberated from rebirth. The bhAvanAmArga is one of the "paths of the nobles" (ARYAMARGA) and one on this stage is immune to any possibility of retrogression and is assured of eventually achieving NIRVAnA. Reference is also sometimes made to the mundane path of cultivation (LAUKIKA-bhAvanAmArga), which refers to the three trainings (TRIsIKsA) in morality (sĪLA), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA) as they are developed before the first of the three fetters (SAMYOJANA) is eradicated and insight achieved. In the MahAyAna path system, with variations between YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA, the bhAvanAmArga is the period in which the BODHISATTVA proceeds through the ten BHuMIs and destroys the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and the obstructions to omniscience (JNEYAVARAnA).
BhAvaviveka. (T. Legs ldan 'byed; C. Qingbian; J. Shoben; K. Ch'ongbyon 清辯) (c. 500-570). Also known as BhAviveka and Bhavya, an important Indian master of the MADHYAMAKA school, identified in Tibet as a proponent of SVATANTRIKA MADHYAMAKA and, within that, of SAUTRANTIKA-SVATANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. He is best known for two works. The first is the PRAJNAPRADĪPA, his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA; this work has an extensive subcommentary by AVALOKITAVRATA. Although important in its own right as one of the major commentaries on the central text of the Madhyamaka school, the work is most often mentioned for its criticism of the commentary of BUDDHAPALITA on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, where BhAvaviveka argues that it is insufficient for the Madhyamaka only to state the absurd consequences (PRASAnGA) that follow from the position of the opponent. According to BhAvaviveka, the Madhyamaka must eventually state his own position in the form of what is called an autonomous inference (svatantrAnumAna) or an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA). In his own commentary on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, CANDRAKĪRTI came to the defense of BuddhapAlita and criticized BhAvaviveka, stating that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use autonomous syllogisms. It is on the basis of this exchange that Tibetan exegetes identified two schools within Madhyamaka: the SvAtantrika, which includes BhAvaviveka, and the PrAsangika, which includes BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti. ¶ The other major work of BhAvaviveka is his MADHYAMAKAHṚDAYA, written in verse, and its prose autocommentary, the TARKAJVALA. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the TarkajvAlA only in Tibetan. It is a work of eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in BhAvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajNAna), and omniscience (SARVAJNATA). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and BhAvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the sRAVAKA, YOGACARA, SAMkhya, Vaisesika, VedAnta, and MīmAMsA. These chapters (along with sANTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA) are an invaluable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and other contemporary Indian philosophical schools, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. The chapter on the srAvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the sRAVAKAYANA schools of mainstream Buddhism as to why the MahAyAna sutras are not the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). BhAvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of YOGACARA in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited, arguing that reality (TATHATA) cannot be substantially existent (dravyasat), as those rival schools claim. However, BhAvaviveka made extensive use of both the logic and epistemology of DIGNĂGA, at least at the level of conventional analysis. BhAvaviveka appears to have been the first Madhyamaka author to declare that the negations set forth by the Madhyamaka school are nonaffirming (or simple) negations (PRASAJYAPRATIsEDHA) rather than affirming (or implicative) negations (PARYUDASAPRATIsEDHA). Also attributed to BhAvaviveka is the Karatalaratna ("Jewel in Hand Treatise"; Zhangzhen lun), a work preserved only in the Chinese translation of XUANZANG. BhAvaviveka's MADHYAMAKARTHASAMGRAHA is a brief text in verse. As the title suggests, it provides an outline of the basic topics of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, such as the middle way (S. MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, Madhyamaka reasoning, and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). The MADHYAMAKARATNAPRADĪPA is likely the work of another author of the same name, since it makes reference to such later figures as Candrakīrti and DHARMAKĪRTI.
bhiksunī. (P. bhikkhunī; T. dge slong ma; C. biqiuni; J. bikuni; K. piguni 比丘尼) In Sanskrit, "beggar (female)," commonly translated as "nun." A bhiksunī holds full ordination in her VINAYA lineage and is distinguished from a novice nun (sRAMAnERIKA) or a probationary postulant (sIKsAMAnA) who both accept only the preliminary training rules. The bhiksunī is enjoined to observe the full set of rules of monastic discipline, or PRATIMOKsA, governing fully ordained nuns, which vary from 311 in the PAli vinaya to 364 in the MuLASARVASTIVADA vinaya followed in Tibet (although the order of bhiksunī was never established there). These rules mirror closely those also incumbent on monks (BHIKsU) (although there are substantially greater numbers of rules in all categories of the bhiksunī prAtimoksa); an important exception, however, is that nuns are also required to adhere to the eight "weighty" or "deferential" "rules" (GURUDHARMA), a set of special rules that nuns alone are enjoined to follow, which explicitly subordinate the bhiksunī to the bhiksu SAMGHA. Upon receiving higher ordination (UPASAMPADA), the new nun is required to remain under the guidance (NIsRAYA; P. nissaya) of her preceptor (UPADHYAYA; P. upajjhAyA) for at least two years until she becomes skilled in dharma and vinaya. After ten years, the nun becomes an elder (sthavirī; P. therī) in the bhiksunī saMgha and, after another two years, may act as a preceptor and ordain new nuns into the order. In South Asia, the formal upasaMpadA ordination of nuns is thought to have died out sometime during the medieval period, and there is little evidence that a formal bhiksunī saMgha was ever established in Southeast Asia. The only surviving bhiksunī ordination lineages are in China, Korea, and Taiwan. Apart from East Asia, most Buddhist women known as "nuns" are actually only ordained with the eight, nine, or ten extended lay precepts (as in Southeast Asia), as srAmanerikA (as in Tibet), or else take the East Asian bodhisattva precepts of the FANWANG JING (as in Japan). In recent years there has been a concerted effort to reintroduce the bhiksunī ordination to countries where it had died out or was never established.
bhiksu. (P. bhikkhu; T. dge slong; C. biqiu; J. biku; K. pigu 比丘). In Sanskrit, lit. "beggar"; a male "religious mendicant" or, as commonly translated, "monk." The female counterparts of bhiksu are BHIKsUnĪ (nuns). The term is derived from the Sanskrit root √bhiks meaning, among other things, "to beg for alms." The Tibetan translation of the term literally means "virtuous beggar"; the Chinese instead uses a transcription. Buddhism was one of the principal early groups of wandering religious (sRAMAnA), which constituted a new religious movement in the fifth century BCE, and coined the term bhiksu to distinguish its wanderers from those of other sramana sects, such as the JAINA and AJĪVAKA. A bhiksu holds the higher ordination (UPASAMPADA) of his VINAYA lineage and is thus distinguished from a novice, or sRAMAnERA. Novitiate status is attained by undergoing the "going forth" (pravrajyA; see PRAVRAJITA) ceremony and accepting a set of ten (and, in some traditions, expanded to thirty-six) precepts (sĪLA). After a period of service in the order, one may undergo the upasaMpadA ceremony, by which one attains full ordination. At that point, the bhiksu is expected to adhere to all the rules found in the litany of monastic discipline, or PRATIMOKsA, e.g., 227 in the PAli vinaya used in Southeast Asia, 250 in the DHARMAGUPTAKA vinaya used in much of East Asia, 253 in the MuLASARVASTIVADA vinaya followed in Tibet, etc. By rule, although not necessarily in practice, a bhiksu is allowed to possess only a set of four or eight "requisites" (PARIsKARA, P. parikkhAra), which provide him with the minimal necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. The duties of a bhiksu vary widely across the Buddhist tradition. These duties include, but are not limited to, preserving the teaching by memorizing, copying and/or reciting the scriptures; instructing younger monks, novices, and lay adherents; conducting a variety of different kinds of ceremonies; maintaining the monastery grounds, etc. Bhiksus were customarily presumed to be dependent on lay followers for their material requirements and, in return, served as a field of merit (PUnYAKsETRA) for them by accepting their donations (DANA). Within any given monastery, bhiksus maintain hierarchical relationships. Depending on the monk's tradition, seniority may be determined by the number of years since full ordination (see VARsA; C. JIELA), one's performance in examinations, or other factors. Literary evidence suggests that the first Buddhist monks were itinerant ascetics who resided in communities only during the monsoon season. Later, as the tradition grew, these temporary residences evolved into permanent monasteries. In the Hindu tradition, the term bhiksu may sometimes also be used to signify the fourth stage (Asrama) of life, in which one renounces worldly attachments for the sake of study and reflection (although this stage is more commonly referred to as saMnyAsin); in this context, however, no formal renunciation through ordination is necessarily required. Throughout much of the history of Buddhism, there have been regions and historical periods in which Buddhist monks married but continued to maintain the appearance of a fully-ordained bhiksu, including wearing monastic robes and shaving their heads. In English, such religious might better be called "priests" rather than "monks." See also BHIKKHU.
bhoktaram yajnatapasam sarvabhutamahesvaram ::: enjoyer of sacrifice and askesis, great Lord of all beings. [cf. Gita 5.29]
bianxing yin 遍行因. See SARVATRAGAHETU
bianxing 遍行. See SARVATRAGA
bodhisattvasīla. (T. byang chub sems dpa'i tshul khrims; C. pusa jie; J. bosatsukai; K. posal kye 菩薩戒). In Sanskrit, "BODHISATTVA morality" or "bodhisattva precepts"; the rules of conduct prescribed by MAHAYANA literature for bodhisattvas, or beings intent on achieving buddhahood. These precepts appear in a variety of texts, including the chapter on morality (sīlapatala) in the BODHISATTVABHuMI and the Chinese FANWANG JING (*BrahmajAlasutra). Although there is not a single universally recognized series of precepts for bodhisattvas across all traditions of Buddhism, all lists include items such as refraining from taking life, refraining from boasting, refraining from slandering the three jewels (RATNATRAYA), etc. In the Bodhisattvabhumi, for example, the MahAyAna precepts are classified into the "three sets of pure precepts" (trividhAni sīlAni; C. sanju jingjie): (1) the saMvarasīla, or "restraining precepts," which refers to the so-called HĪNAYANA rules of discipline (PRATIMOKsA) that help adepts restrain themselves from all types of unsalutary conduct; (2) practicing all virtuous deeds (kusaladharmasaMgrAhakasīla), which accumulates all types of salutary conduct; and (3) sattvArthakriyAsīla, which involve giving aid and comfort to sentient beings. Here, the first group corresponds to the preliminary hīnayAna precepts, while the second and third groups reflect a uniquely MahAyAna position on morality. Thus, the three sets of pure precepts are conceived as a comprehensive description of Buddhist views on precepts (sarvasīla), which incorporates both hīnayAna and MahAyAna perspectives into an overarching system. A similar treatment of the three sets of pure precepts is also found in such Chinese indigenous sutras as Fanwang jing ("Sutra of BrahmA's Net") and PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING (see APOCRYPHA), thus providing a scriptural foundation in East Asia for an innovation originally appearing in an Indian treatise. The Fanwang jing provides a detailed list of a list of ten major and forty-eight minor MahAyAna precepts that came to be known as the "Fanwang Precepts"; its listing is the definitive roster of bodhisattva precepts in the East Asian traditions. As in other VINAYA ordination ceremonies, the bodhisattva precepts are often taken in a formal ritual along with the bodhisattva vows (BODHISATTVAPRAnIDHANA; PRAnIDHANA). However, unlike the majority of rules found in the mainstream vinaya codes (prAtimoksa), the bodhisattva precepts are directed not only at ordained monks and nuns, but also may be taken by laypeople. Also, in contrast to the mainstream vinaya, there is some dispensation for violating the bodhisattvasīla, provided that such violations are done for the welfare and weal of other beings. See also BODHISATTVASAMVARA.
brahmadarsana (brahmadarshana; brahma-darshana; brahma darshana; brahmadarshan) ::: the vision (darsana) of brahman in all things and beings; the perception of the fourfold brahman as "the impersonal Sarvam Anantam Jnanam Anandam" (also called "simple Brahmadarshana"), sometimes extended to the perception of "the Personal in & embracing the Impersonal", the latter perception including isvaradarsana and such specific forms of darsana as Narayan.adarsana, Kr.s.n.adarsana and Kr.s.n.akali darsana. The vision of "the one and indivisible eternal transcendent and cosmic Brahman that is in its seeming divided in things and creatures" is in its nature a "spiritual seeing of God and world" which is a "direct experience [upalabdhi] and as real, vivid, near, constant, effective, intimate as to the mind its sensuous seeing and feeling of images, objects and persons"
Brahman, Brahma: (Skr.) The impersonal, pantheistic world-soul, the Absolute, union with which is the highest goal of the Upanishads (q.v.) and Vedic (q.v.) thinking in general. It is occasionally identified with atman (q.v.) or made the exclusive reality (cf. brahma eva idam visvam; sarvam khalv idam brahma), thus laying the foundation for a deep mystic as well as rational insight into the connaturalness of the human and divine and an uncompromising monism which gave its impress to much of Hindu thinking. -- K.F.L.
Brahmanimantanikasutta. (C. Fantian qing fo jing; J. Bonten shobutsukyo; K. Pomch'on ch'ongbul kyong 梵天請佛經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Invitation of a BRAHMA"; the forty-ninth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA, preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks at the JETAVANA Grove in the town of SAvatthi (S. sRAVASTĪ). (A separate SARVASTIVADA version appears as the seventy-eighth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA.) The Buddha recounts to his disciples how he once visited the divine abode of the brahmA god Baka to dissuade him of the wrong view of eternalism (S. sAsVATADṚstI). Because Baka had lived a very long time as lord of his realm-so long that his memory had failed him-the wrong view occurred to him that everything in his heaven was permanent, everlasting, and eternal; that nothing was beyond it; that nothing in his heaven was born, grew old, or died; that nothing passed away or reappeared; and that beyond his heavenly realm there was no escape. The Buddha tells Baka he knows more than Baka knows, that there are in fact other heavens more resplendent than his, and that because of their awakening, the Buddha and his disciples are quite beyond and free from all realms of existence.
brahma-purus.a (sarvam anantam anandam brahma-purusha) ::: a union of the impersonal and personal aspects of sarvam anantam anandaṁ brahma..
BrAhmī. In Sanskrit, "Holy Script"; name for one of the two predominant scripts (along with KHAROstHĪ) used in the GANDHARA region of northwest India; Buddhist texts using this script are found in Sanskritized GAndhArī and other Prakrit vernaculars (known as BUDDHIST HYBRID SANSKRIT). Buddhist documents were written in the Kharosthī script at least as early as the first half of the first century CE; these are now generally conceded to be the oldest extant Indian and Buddhist documents, although stone and coin inscriptions and edicts in Asokan BrAhmī date from considerably earlier. Documents using the BrAhmī script date from about one or two centuries later, during the second or third centuries CE; the latest BrAhmī documents date from the eighth century CE, around the time that Buddhism begins to vanish from the GandhAra region. The BrAhmī manuscripts are often written on palm leaves, while many of the Kharosthī manuscripts instead use birch bark. The greatest cache of BrAhmī manuscripts discovered so far are extensive fragments of a Sanskrit recension of the DĪRGHAGAMA ("Long Discourses"; see also DĪGHANIKAYA) attributed to the SARVASTIVADA school or its MuLASARVASTIVADA offshoot. Asokan-period BrAhmī has ten vowels and thirty-eight consonants and is written like all Indian alphabets from left to right; Kharosthī is written from right to left and appears to be based on an AramAic script. In the modern period, the BrAhmī script was deciphered by James Prinsep (1799-1840) of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. BrAhmī is also related to the SIDDHAM script used in East Asian for transcribing Sanskit DHARAnĪs and MANTRAs.
Sarvada (Sanskrit) Sarvada [from sarva all + the verbal root dā to give] He who gives all, the all-sacrificing; title of Buddha, who in a former birth sacrificed everything to save others. Also a title of Siva.
Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra
Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra. (T. Ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba'i rgyud; C. Zuisheng foding tuoluoni jingchu yezhang zhou jing; J. Saishobutchodarani jojogoshojukyo; K. Ch'oesŭng pulchong tarani chongje opchang chu kyong 最勝佛頂陀羅尼淨除業障呪經). In Sanskrit, "Tantra on the Complete Purification of All Negative Places of Rebirth," an important Indian tantra classified sometimes as a CARYĀTANTRA, but most commonly as a YOGATANTRA, associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA. In the text, sAKRA asks the Buddha sĀKYAMUNI about the fate of a deity named Vimalamaniprabha, who is no longer living in the TRĀYASTRIMsA heaven. The Buddha explains that he has been reborn in the AVĪCI hell. The gods then ask the Buddha how to avoid rebirth in the three "evil destinies" (DURGATI) of animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The Buddha sets forth a variety of rituals, including rituals for the four kinds of activities (sĀNTIKA, PAUstIKA, VAsĪKARAnA, ABHICĀRA) as well as rituals for the dead. The text was widely commented upon in Tibet, where it was a major source of rituals for the fortunate rebirth of the dead.
Sarvaga (Sanskrit) Sarvaga [from sarva all + ga going, permeating] The all-permeant; the spirit-substance of the world, hence its soul. Equivalent to the anima mundi, or in a more abstract sense to the supreme cosmic essence or Second or Manifest-unmanifest Logos, which in early Christianity was feminine and called the Holy Spirit.
Sarvakartrtva: Sanskrit for all-makingness. Descriptive of the principle of all-powerfulness as the ultimate principle in the universe, conceived dynamically.
Sarvakartrtva: (Skr.) "All makingness", descriptive of the ultimate principle in the universe, conceived dynamically. -- K.F.L.
Sarvamandalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra
Sarvamandalasāmānyavidhiguhyatantra. (T. Gsang ba spyi rgyud; C. Ruixiye jing; J. Suikiyakyo; K. Yuhŭiya kyong 蕤耶經). In Sanskrit, "Secret Tantra for the Common Ritual for all MAndALAs"; a text that belongs, according to Tibetan categorization of tantras, to the KRIYĀTANTRA class.
Sarva-mandala (Sanskrit) Sarva-maṇḍala [from sarva all, complete + maṇḍala globe, orb] The complete globe or orb; hence the Egg of Brahma or the universe, applicable to any of the numerous Eggs of Brahma, whether a galaxy, sun, planet, or even a nebula or comet.
Sarva-medha (Sanskrit) Sarvamedha [from sarva all, whole, universal + medha sacrifice] The universal sacrifice, spoken of in the Rig-Veda as being performed by Visvakarman, the cosmic architect or demiurge. It is a ten days’ sacrificial ceremony — the ten having reference not only to the ten cosmic planes, but to other decads in the universe, such as the ten primordial conscious forces, etc.
Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma (Sanskrit) Sarvam khalvidam brahma [from sarvam all + khalu indeed + idam this, the manifested universe + brahma the supreme mind or spirit of our universe] All this universe is indeed Brahman. Brahman is universal because the infilling, indwelling, and inspiring cosmic mind and consciousness of our home-universe; the reference is not to boundless infinitude or parabrahman (beyond Brahman).
Sarvam khalv idam brahma: (Skr.) "Indeed, all this is brahman", a famous dictum of Chan-dogya Upanishad 3.14.1, symptomatic of the monistic attitude later elaborated in Sankara's Vedanta (q.v.). -- K.F.L.
Sarvani bhutani ::: "all things that have become", all becomings, all creatures.
Sarvanīvaranaviskambhin
Sarvanīvaranaviskambhin. (T. Sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba; C. Chugaizhang pusa; J. Jogaisho bosatsu; K. Chegaejang posal 除蓋障菩薩). In Sanskrit, "Blocking all Hindrances"; a BODHISATTVA who is the interlocutor of the KĀRAndAVYuHA; in the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, he is listed as one of the eight great bodhisattvas (see AstAMAHOPAPUTRA); he associated with the buddha AMOGHASIDDHI. See KĀRAndAVYuHA.
Sarvasti-vada: (Skr.) The doctrine (vada) of Hinayana Buddhism according to which "all is" (sarvam asti), or all is real, that which was, currently is, and will be but now is, potentially. -- K.F.L.
SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha
SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha. (T. De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi de kho na nyid bsdus pa; C. Yiqie rulai zhenshishe dasheng xianzheng sanmei dajiaowang jing; J. Issainyorai shinjitsusho daijogenshozanmai daikyoogyo; K. Ilch'e yorae chinsilsop taesŭng hyonjŭng sammae taegyowang kyong 一切如來眞實攝大乘現證三昧大敎王經). In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Principles of All the Tathāgatas"; one of the most important Buddhist tantras, whose influence extended through India, China, Japan, and Tibet. Likely dating from the late seventh century, the text presented a range of doctrines, themes, and practices that would come to be regarded as emblematic of tantric practice. These include the the view that sĀKYAMUNI Buddha did not actually achieve enlightenment under the BODHI TREE but did so through ritual consecration. The commentaries to the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha recount that Prince SIDDHĀRTHA was meditating on the banks of the NAIRANJANĀ River when he was roused by the buddha VAIROCANA and all the buddhas of the ten directions, who informed him that such meditation would not result in the achievement of buddhahood. He thus left his physical body behind and traveled in a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) to the AKANIstHA heaven, where he received various consecrations and achieved buddhahood. He next descended to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where he taught the YOGATANTRAs. Finally, he returned to the world, reinhabited his physical body, and then displayed to the world the well-known defeat of MĀRA and the achievement of buddhahood under the Bodhi tree. The tantra also include the violent subjugation of Mahesvara (siva) by the wrathful bodhisattva VAJRAPĀnI, suggesting competition between Hindu and Buddhist tantric practitioners at the time of its composition and the increasing importance of violent imagery in Buddhist tantra. Such important elements as the five buddha families (PANCATATHĀGATA) and the practice of visualizing oneself as a deity also appear in the text. The tantra is also important for the prominment role given to the buddha Vairocana. In East Asia, the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was particularly influential in the form of the VAJRAsEKHARA, the reconstructed Sanskrit title derived from the Chinese translations of the first chapter of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha made by VAJRABODHI and AMOGHAVAJRA during the Tang dynasty. This would become a central text for the esoteric traditions of China and Japan. The full text of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was not translated into Chinese until Dānapāla completed his version in 1015. Ānandagarbha (fl. c. 750) wrote an important commentary on the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha called Tattvālokakarī ("Illumination of the Compendium of Principles Tantra"), and sākyamitra (fl. c. 750) wrote a commentary called KosalālaMkāra ("Ornament of Kosala"). Ānandagarbha's mandala ritual called Sarvavajrodayamandalavidhi is a ritual text based on the first chapter of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha. The tantra was very influential in Tibet during both the earlier dissemination (SNGA DAR) and the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) periods. Classified as a yogatantra, it was an important source during the later period, for example, for such scholars as BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB and TSONG KHA PA in their systematizations of tantra.
Sarvavasu (Sanskrit) Sarvavasu [from sarva all + vasu one of the 12 adityas or solar divinities, rays, or logoi] One of the seven principal logoi or rays of the sun.
Buddhayasas. (C. Fotuoyeshe; J. Butsudayasha; K. Pult'ayasa 佛陀耶舍) (d.u.; fl. c. early fifth century). A monk from Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHARA) who became an important early translator of Indic Buddhist texts into Chinese. Buddhayasas is said to have memorized several million words worth of both mainstream and MahAyAna materials and became a renowned teacher in his homeland. He later taught the SARVASTIVADA VINAYA to the preeminent translator KUMARAJĪVA and later joined his star pupil in China, traveling to the capital of Chang'an at KumArajīva's invitation in 408. While in China, he collaborated with the Chinese monk ZHU FONIAN (d.u.) in the translation of two massive texts of the mainstream Buddhist tradition: the SIFEN LÜ ("Four-Part Vinaya," in sixty rolls), the vinaya collection of the DHARMAGUPTAKA school, which would become the definitive vinaya used within the Chinese tradition; and the DĪRGHAGAMA, also generally presumed to be associated with the Dharmaguptakas. Even after returning to Kashmir four years later, Buddhayasas is said to have continued with his translation work, eventually sending back to China his rendering of the AkAsagarbhasutra.
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. A term coined by the Sanskritist FRANKLIN EDGERTON, who compiled the definitive grammar and dictionary of the language, to refer to the peculiar Buddhist argot of Sanskrit that is used both in many Indic MAHAYANA scriptures, as well as in the MAHAVASTU, a biography of the Buddha composed within the LOKOTTARAVADA subgroup of the MAHASAMGHIKA school. Edgerton portrays Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit texts as the products of a gradual Sanskritization of texts that had originally been composed in various Middle Indic dialects (PRAKRIT). Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS) texts were not wholesale renderings of vernacular materials intended to better display Sanskrit vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but rather were ongoing, and often incomplete, reworkings of Buddhist materials, which reflected the continued prestige of Sanskrit within the Indic scholarly community. This argot of Sanskrit is sometimes called the "GATHA dialect," because its peculiarities are especially noticeable in MahAyAna verse forms. Edgerton describes three layers of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit based on the extent of their hybridization (and only loosely chronological). The first, and certainly earliest, class consists solely of the MahAvastu, the earliest extant BHS text, in which both the prose and verse portions of the scripture contain many hybridized forms. In the second class, verses remain hybridized, but the prose sections are predominantly standard Sanskrit and are recognizable as BHS only in their vocabulary. This second class includes many of the most important MahAyAna scriptures, including the GAndAVYuHA, LALITAVISTARA, SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, and SUKHAVATĪVYuHASuTRA. In the third class, both the verse and prose sections are predominantly standard Sanskrit, and only in their vocabulary would they be recognized as BHS. Texts in this category include the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA, BODHISATTVABHuMI, LAnKAVATARASuTRA, MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA, and VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA.
Byang chub 'od. (Jangchup Ö) (late tenth century). Grandnephew of King YE SHES 'OD who successfully invited the Indian Buddhist monk and scholar ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA to Tibet. During the second half of the tenth century, Ye shes 'od (also known as Song nge) became the king of Mnga' ris (Ngari), now the far western region of Tibet. He sent a number of Tibetans to Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHARA) to study Buddhism, among them the translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO whose return to Tibet in 978 marks the beginning of the later spread of Buddhism (PHYI DAR). (Others date the beginning to the start of the second MuLASARVASTIVADA ordination line, which began at about the same period.) According to a well-known story, Ye shes 'od wanted to invite the foremost Indian Buddhist scholar of the day, Atisa, to Tibet and traveled to the Qarluq (T. gar log) kingdom (probably to KHOTAN in present-day Chinese Xianjiang province), to raise funds. He was captured by the chieftain and held for ransom. Ye shes 'od sent a letter to his nephew Byang chub 'od, saying that rather than use money for a ransom to free him, he should use any money collected for his release to invite Atisa. Ye shes 'od died in captivity, but Byang chub 'od succeeded in convincing Atisa to come to Tibet where he had a great influence, particularly on the earlier followers of the BKA' GDAMS sect. The history of this period becomes more important in later Tibetan history when TSONG KHA PA, the founder of the DGE LUGS sect, described Atisa as the perfect teacher in his seminal work the LAM RIM CHEN MO. In the seventeenth century, when the Dge lugs rose to political power under the fifth DALAI LAMA and his supporters, Byang chub 'od and Atisa were incorporated into a complex founding myth legitimating Dge lugs ascendancy and the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG government.
caitta. [alt. caitasika] (P. cetasika; T. sems byung; C. xinsuo; J. shinjo; K. simso 心所). In Sanskrit, "mental concomitants" or "mental factors." In the ABHIDHARMA, the term encompasses those mental factors that accompany, in various combinations, the mind (CITTA) and its six sensory consciousnesses (VIJNANA), viz., visual (lit. eye), auditory (ear), olfactory (nose), gustatory (tongue), tactile (body), and mental. The VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADA abhidharma lists forty-six caittas, the PAli ABHIDHAMMA lists fifty-two (called CETASIKA), while the mature YOGACARA system of MAHAYANA abhidharma gives a total of fifty-one specific mental concomitants, listed in six categories. The first, mental concomitants of universal application (SARVATRAGA), includes the five factors of sensory contact (SPARsA), sensations (VEDANA), intention or volition (CETANA), perception (SAMJNA), and attention (MANASKARA). The second category, five concomitants that are of specific application (VINIYATA) in spiritual progress, includes mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA). The third category, salutary (KUsALA) factors, includes nine positive mental states such as faith (sRADDHA), lack of greed (ALOBHA), lack of hatred (ADVEsA), and vigor (VĪRYA). The fourth category, the primary afflictions (KLEsA), includes six negative mental states such as sensuality (RAGA), aversion (PRATIGHA), pride (MANA), and doubt (VICIKITSA). The fifth category, secondary afflictions (UPAKLEsA), includes twenty lesser forms of negative mental states, such as envy (ĪRsYA), harmfulness (VIHIMSA), and carelessness (PRAMADA). The sixth and final category, mental concomitants of indeterminate (ANIYATA) quality, includes the four factors of remorse (KAUKṚTYA), torpor (MIDDHA), thought (VITARKA), and analysis (VICARA). See also CETASIKA.
CakkavattisīhanAdasutta. (C. Zhuanlun shengwang xiuxing jing; J. Tenrinjoo shugyokyo; K. Chollyun songwang suhaeng kyong 轉輪聖王修行經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Lion's Roar of the Wheel-Turning Emperor"; the twenty-sixth sutta of the DĪGHANIKAYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the sixth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHAGAMA and a separate SarvAstivAda recension as the seventieth sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); the scripture is known especially for being the only sutta in the PAli canon that mentions the name of the Buddha's successor, Metteya (MAITREYA). Before a gathering of monks at the town of MAtulA in MAGADHA, the Buddha tells the story of a universal or wheel-turning monarch (cakkavattin; S. CAKRAVARTIN) named Dalhanemi, wherein he explains that righteousness and order are maintained in the world so long as kings observe their royal duties. Dalhanemi's successors, unfortunately, gradually abandoned their responsibilities, leading to immorality, strife, and the shortening of life spans from eighty thousand years to a mere ten; the sutta thus attributes the origins of evil in the world to the neglect of royal duty. Upon reaching this nadir, people finally recognize the error of their ways and begin anew to practice morality. The observance of morality leads to improved conditions, until eventually a universal monarch named Sankha appears, who will prepare the way for the advent of the future-Buddha Metteya (Maitreya).
CakrasaMvaratantra. (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog gi rgyud). In Sanskrit, the "Binding of the Wheel Tantra" an important Buddhist tantra, often known simply as the CakrasaMvara (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog). The text is extant in Sanskrit and in a Tibetan translation in seven hundred stanzas, which is subdivided into fifty-one sections; it is also known by the name srīherukAbhidhAna (a name appearing at the end of each section), and commonly known in Tibet as the CakrasaMvara Laghutantra ("short tantra" or "light tantra") or Mulatantra ("root tantra") because, according to legend, there was once a longer text of one hundred thousand stanzas. The main deity of the tantra is HERUKA (also known as CakrasaMvara) and his consort is VAJRAVARAHĪ. Historically, the tantra originated as part of a literature that focused on a class of female divinities called YOGINĪ or dAKINĪ. It and its sister tantra, the HEVAJRATANTRA, probably appeared toward the end of the eighth century, and both show the influence of the Sarvabuddhasamayoga-dAkinījAlasaMvaratantra (referred to by Amoghavajra after his return from India to China in 746 CE). All are classed as yoginītantras. The use of skulls, the presence of the KHATVAnGA staff, and the references to sites holy to saivite KApAlikas (those who use skulls) point to a very close relationship between the saiva KApAlika literature and the early yoginītantras, such that some scholars have suggested an actual appropriation of the saiva literature by Buddhists outside mainstream Buddhist practice. Other scholars suggest this class of tantric literature originates from a SIDDHA tradition, i.e., from individual charismatic yogins and yoginīs with magical powers unaffiliated with particular religions or sects. Among the four classes of tantras-KRIYATANTRA, CARYATANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA-the CakrasaMvaratantra is included in the last category; between the father tantras (PITṚTANTRA) and mother tantra (MATṚTANTRA) categories of anuttarayogatantras, it is classified in the latter category. The siddhas Luipa and SARAHA are prominent in accounts of its origin and transmission, and the siddha NAROPA is of particular importance in the text's transmission in India and from there to Tibet. Like many root tantras, the text contains very little that might be termed doctrine or theology, focusing instead on ritual matters, especially the use of MANTRA for the achievement of various powers (SIDDHI), especially the mundane (LAUKIKA) powers, such as the ability to fly, become invisible, etc. The instructions are generally not presented in a systematic way, although it is unclear whether this is the result of the development of the text over time or the intention of the authors to keep practices secret from the uninitiated. Later commentators found references in the text to elements of both the stage of generation (UTPATTIKRAMA) and stage of completion (NIsPANNAKRAMA). The DAkArnavatantra is included within the larger category of tantras related to the CakrasaMvara cycle, as is the Abhidhanottara and the SaMvarodayatantra. The tantra describes, in greater and less detail, a MAndALA with goddesses in sacred places in India (see PĪtHA) and the process of ABHIsEKA. The practice of the MAYADEHA (T. sgyu lus, "illusory body") and CAndALĪ (T. gtum mo, often translated as "psychic heat") are closely associated with this tantra. It was translated twice into Tibetan and is important in all three new-translation (GSAR MA) Tibetan sects, i.e., the SA SKYA, BKA' BRGYUD, and DGE LUGS. Iconographically, the CakrasaMvara mandala, starting from the outside, has first eight cremation grounds (sMAsANA), then a ring of fire, then VAJRAs, then lotus petals. Inside that is the palace with five concentric placement rings going in toward the center. In the center is the main deity Heruka with his consort VajravArAhī trampling on BHAIRAVA and his consort KAlarAtri (deities associated with saivism). There are a number of different representations. One has Heruka (or CakrasaMvara) dark blue in color with four faces and twelve arms, and VArAhī with a single face and two hands, red and naked except for bone ornaments. In the next circles are twenty-four vīras (heroes) with their consorts (related with the twenty-four pītha), with the remaining deities in the mandala placed in different directions in the outer circles.
Catuḥsataka. (T. Bzhi brgya pa; C. Guang Bai lun ben; J. Kohyakuronpon; K. Kwang Paengnon pon 廣百論本). In Sanskrit, "Four Hundred [Stanzas]"; the magnum opus of ARYADEVA, a third century CE Indian monk of the MADHYAMAKA school of MAHAYANA philosophy and the chief disciple of NAGARJUNA, the founder of that tradition. The four-hundred verses are divided into sixteen chapters of twenty-five stanzas each, which cover many of the seminal teachings of Madhyamaka philosophy. The first four of the sixteen chapters are dedicated to arguments against erroneous conceptions of permanence, satisfaction, purity, and a substantial self. In chapter 5, Aryadeva discusses the career of a BODHISATTVA, emphasizing the necessity for compassion (KARUnA) in all of the bodhisattva's actions. Chapter 6 is a treatment of the three afflictions (KLEsA) of greed or sensuality (LOBHA or RAGA), hatred or aversion (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA). Chapter 7 explains the need to reject sensual pleasures. In chapter 8, Aryadeva discusses the proper conduct and attitude of a student of the TATHAGATA's teaching. Chapters 9 through 15 contain a series of arguments refuting the erroneous views of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools. These refutations center on Aryadeva's understanding of emptiness (suNYATA) as the fundamental characteristic of reality. For example, in chapter 9, Aryadeva argues against the conception that anything, including liberation, is permanent and independent of causes. In chapter 11, Aryadeva argues against the SARVASTIVADA claim that dharmas exist in reality in the past, present, and future. Chapter 16, the final chapter, is a discussion of emptiness and its centrality to the Madhyamaka school and its doctrine. There is a lengthy and influential commentary on the text by CANDRAKĪRTI, entitled CatuḥsatakatīkA; its full title is BodhisattvayogacaryAcatuḥsatakatīkA. The Catuḥsataka was translated into Chinese by XUANZANG and his translation team at DACI'ENSI, in either 647 or 650-651 CE. The work is counted as one of the "three treatises" of the Chinese SAN LUN ZONG, where it is treated as Aryadeva's own expansion of his *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN; "One Hundred Treatise"); hence, the Chinese instead translates the title as "Expanded Text on the One Hundred [Verse] Treatise." Some have speculated, to the contrary, that the satasAstra is an abbreviated version of the Catuḥsataka. The two works consider many of the same topics, including the nature of NIRVAnA and the meaning of emptiness in a similar fashion and both refute SAMkhya and Vaisesika positions, but the order of their treatment of these topics and their specific contents differ; the satasAstra also contains material not found in the Catuḥsataka. It is, therefore, safer to presume that these are two independent texts, not that one is a summary or expansion of the other. It is possible that the satasAstra represents KumArajīva's interpretation of the Catuḥsataka, but this is difficult to determine without further clarity on the Indian text that KumArajīva translated.
*catuḥsrAvakanikAya. (T. nyan thos rtsa ba'i sde pa bzhi). In Sanskrit, "four main sRAVAKA schools"; according to BHAVAVIVEKA's PRAJNAPRADĪPA, the SARVASTIVADA, STHAVIRANIKAYA, MAHASAMGHIKA, and SAMMITĪYA schools. The PrajNApradīpa identifies a total of eighteen srAvaka schools by again dividing these main schools into seven, five, three, and three, respectively. See also MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS; SAMAYABHEDOPARACANACAKRA.
*Caturasītisiddhapravṛtti. (T. Grub thob brgyad bcu rtsa bzhi'i lo rgyus). In Sanskrit, "The Lives of the Eighty-four Siddhas"; a tantric doxography ascribed to the early twelfth-century Indian author ABHAYADATTAsRĪ. The original Sanskrit version has been lost, but the text is preserved in Tibetan translation. The work records brief vitae for the great SIDDHAs (or mahAsiddhas) of Indian tantric Buddhism, who are commonly enumerated in a list of eighty-four. While the list varies, according to Abhayadattasrī's work, the eighty-four siddhas include Luyipa, Līlapa, VIRuPA, dombipa, savaripa, SARAHA, Kankaripa, Mīnapa, Goraksa, CaurAngi, Vīnapa, sAntipa, Tantipa, Camaripa, Khadgapa, NAGARJUNA, KAnḥapa, Karnaripa, Thaganapa, NAROPA, salipa, TILOPA, Catrapa, Bhadrapa, Dhukhandi, Ajokipa, Kalapa, Dhombipa, Kankana, Kambala, tengipa, Bhandhepa, Tandhepa, Kukkuripa, Kucipa, Dharmapa, Mahipa, Acinta, Babhahi, Nalina, Bhusuku, INDRABHuTI, Mekopa, Kotali, KaMparipa, JAlandhari, RAHULA, Dharmapa, Dhokaripa, Medhina, Pankaja, Ghandhapa, Yogipa, Caluki, Gorura, Lucika, Niguna, JayAnanda, Pacari, Campaka, Bhiksana, Telopa, Kumaripa, Caparipa, ManibhadrA, MekhalA, KanakhalA, Kalakala, Kantali, Dhahuli, Udheli, Kapalapa, Kirava, Sakara, Sarvabhaksa, NAgabodhi, DArika, Putali, Panaha, Kokali, Ananga, LaksmīnkarA, Samudra, and Vyali. See MAHASIDDHA.
caturlaksana. (T. mtshan nyid bzhi; C. sixiang; J. shiso; K. sasang 四相). In Sanskrit, "four marks of existence"; also known as the four "conditioned marks" (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA. These four characteristics governing all conditioned objects are "origination" or birth (JATI), "maturation" or continuance (STHITI), "senescence" or decay (JARA), and "desinence" or extinction, viz., death (ANITYA). In the SARVASTIVADA school, these four were treated as "forces dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), which exerted real power over compounded objects, escorting an object along from one force to another, until the force "desinence" extinguishes it; this explanation was necessary in order to explain how factors that the school presumed continued to exist in all three time periods of past, present, and future nevertheless still appeared to undergo change. Some SarvAstivAda ABHIDHARMA texts, however, accept only three characteristics, omitting continuance. See also DHARMAMUDRA; LAKsAnA.
cetanA. (T. sems pa; C. si; J. shi; K. sa 思). In Sanskrit and PAli, "intention," "volition," or "stimulus"; one of the omnipresent mental factors (MAHABHuMIKA; SARVATRAGA) that accompanies each moment of consciousness; intention directs the mind toward either salutary (KUsALA), unsalutary (AKUsALA), or neutral (AVYAKṚTA) objects. Intention is of crucial importance in the theory of action (KARMAN), where the intent defines the eventual quality of the action: "Action is volition, for after having intended something, one accomplishes action through body, speech, and mind." Hence, cetanA functions as both the stimulus and driving force behind all action, framing the ways in which beings choose to interact with the world at large and coordinating the functioning of the various mental concomitants (CAITTA) that are necessary in order to respond accordingly. In this sense, in a simile drawn from the AttHASALINĪ, cetanA functions like a general, who commands and coordinates the activities of all the soldiers on the battlefield. The emphasis on cetanA in the larger sense of intention is sometimes identified as a Buddhist innovation in KARMAN theory, where the intention motivating a deed plays a significant role in the positive or negative karmic weight of the deed itself.
Cetokhilasutta. (C. Xinhui jing; J. Shinnekyo; K. Simye kyong 心穢經). In PAli, "Discourse on Mental Obstructions"; the sixteenth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SarvAstivAda recension appears as the 206th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; a recension of unidentified affiliation also occurs in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA), preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA grove in the town of SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ). The Buddha describes five mental obstructions and five fetters that constitute impediments to overcoming suffering. The five obstructions include (1) doubt about the teacher, the Buddha; (2) doubt about the dhamma (DHARMA); (3) doubt about the SAMGHA; (4) doubt about the value of morality (sīla; S. sĪLA), meditative concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (paNNA; S. PRAJNA); 5) ill will and animosity toward one's fellow monks. The five fetters include (1) attachment to sensual desires, (2) attachment to a sense of self, (3) attachment to material possessions, (4) excessive sleeping and eating, and (5) adopting the life of renunciation merely for the limited goal of a blissful existence in the heavens.
Chajang. (慈藏) (d.u.; fl. c. 590-658/alt. 608-686). Korean VINAYA master (yulsa) of the Silla dynasty. Born into the royal "true bone" (chin'gol) class of the Silla aristocracy, Chajang lost his parents at an early age and was ordained at the monastery of Wonnyongsa. Chajang traveled to China in 636 and during his sojourn on the mainland made a pilgrimage to WUTAISHAN, where he had a vision of the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ. Returning to Silla Korea in 643, he is said to have brought back a set of the Buddhist canon and packed the boat on which he returned with Buddhist banners, streamers, and other ritual items. He is also claimed to have returned with treasures he had received directly from MaNjusrī, including sAKYAMUNI Buddha's own gold-studded monk's robe (K. kasa; KAsAYA) wrapped in purple silk gauze, as well as the Buddha's skull bone and finger joint. Back in Silla, Chajang began looking for the place where MaNjusrī had told him the relics should be enshrined. After a long search, he finally found the spot in 646, where he constructed a "Diamond Precept Platform" (Kŭmgang kyedan) and enshrined one portion of the Buddha's relics. This platform was the origin of the important Korean monastery of T'ONGDOSA, which became the center of vinaya practice in Korea. Chajang is also said to have established SINHŬNGSA, WoLCHoNGSA, and HWANGNYONGSA and supervised the construction of the famous nine-story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa, which was completed in 645. He was also appointed the state overseer of the SAMGHA (taegukt'ong), the top ecclesiastical office in the Silla Buddhist institution. Chajang was in charge of regulations concerning the conduct of monks and nuns all over the country, as well as overseeing at a state level the repair and maintenance of temples, the correct attention to the details of Buddhist ceremonial ritual, and the proper display of Buddhist religious images. His concern to improve the discipline and decorum of Korean monks led to his emphasis on vinaya study and practice, and he did much to encourage the study and dissemination of the vinaya in Korea, including writing commentaries to the SARVASTIVADA and DHARMAGUPTAKA vinayas. Chajang also instituted the UPOsADHA rite of having monks recite the PRATIMOKsA once every fortnight on full- and new-moon days. For his efforts, Chajang was revered by later generations as a teacher of the Dharmaguptaka vinaya (known in East Asia as the "Four-Part Vinaya"; see SIFEN LÜ) and the founder of the Korean analogue to the Chinese NANSHAN LÜ ZONG of DAOXUAN. In 650, at Chajang's suggestion, the Silla court adopted the Tang Chinese calendrical system, an important step in the Sinicization of the Korean monarchy. Various works attributed to Chajang include the Amit'a kyong ŭigi ("Notes on the AMITABHASuTRA"), Sabun yul kalma sagi ("Personal Notes on the Karman Section of the Four-Part Vinaya"), and Kwanhaeng pop ("Contemplative Practice Techniques"); none of his writings are extant.
chanda. (T. 'dun pa; C. yu; J. yoku; K. yok 欲). In Sanskrit and PAli, "zeal" or "desire to act"; one of the ten mental factors or mental concomitants (CAITTA) of wide extent (MAHABHuMIKA) that the VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA says accompany all consciousness activity; alternatively, it is listed as one of the five VINIYATA or pratiniyama mental factors of specific application according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the six pakinnaka (miscellaneous) CETASIKAs of the PAli abhidhamma. Chanda plays an important role in motivating all wholesome (and unwholesome) activity, and is particularly important in the cultivation of sAMATHA (serenity or calm abiding). According to the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, there are eight forces that counteract five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) to reaching samatha. Chanda is called the ground of all eight forces because, based on sRADDHA (faith or confidence), it leads to a resolute effort (vyAyAma) to apply SMṚTI (mindfulness), SAMPRAJANYA (circumspection), and UPEKsA (equanimity) to reach the final goal.
Chegaejang posal 除蓋障菩薩. See SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN
Chengshi lun. (S. *Tattvasiddhi; J. Jojitsuron; K. Songsil non 成實論). In Chinese, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"; a summary written c. 253 CE by the third century CE author HARIVARMAN of the lost ABHIDHARMA of the BAHUsRUTĪYA school, a branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA. (The Sanskrit reconstruction *Tattvasiddhi is now generally preferred over the outmoded *SatyasiddhisAstra). The Tattvasiddhi is extant only in KUMARAJĪVA's Chinese translation, made in 411-412, in sixteen rolls (juan) and 202 chapters (pin). The treatise is especially valuable for its detailed refutations of the positions held by other early MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS; the introduction, for example, surveys ten different grounds of controversy separating the different early schools. The treatise is structured in the form of an exposition of the traditional theory of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, but does not include listings for different factors (DHARMA) that typify many works in the abhidharma genre. The positions advocated in the text are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, although, unlike the SthaviranikAya, the treatise accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. Harivarman opposes the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in past, present, and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Chengshi lun thus hones to a "middle way" between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which it views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. The text advocates, instead, the "voidness of everything" (sarvasunya) and is therefore sometimes viewed within the East Asian traditions as representing a transitional stage between the mainstream Buddhist schools and MahAyAna philosophical doctrine. The text was so widely studied in East Asia, especially during the fifth and sixth centuries, that reference is made to a *Tattvasiddhi school of exegesis (C. Chengshi zong; J. Jojitsushu; K. Songsilchong); indeed, the Jojitsu school is considered one of the six major schools of Japanese Buddhist scholasticism during the Nara period.
cheshwarabhavah sarvakarmasamarthyam) ::: heroism, impetuosity, the urge towards battle, loud laughter, compassion, sovereignty, capacity for all action: the four specific attributes of Mahakali and the three attributes common to all four aspects of daivi prakr.ti. savaso napatah savaso
Ch'oesŭng pulchong tarani chongjeopchang chu kyong 最勝佛頂陀羅尼淨除業障呪經. See SARVADURGATIPARIsODHANATANTRA
Chugaizhang pusa 除蓋障菩薩. See SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN
cittamahAbhumika. In Sanskrit, "omnipresent mental factors." See MAHABHuMIKA, SARVATRAGA.
cittamAtra. (T. sems tsam; C. weixin; J. yuishin; K. yusim 唯心). In Sanskrit, lit. "mind-only"; a term used in the LAnKAVATARASuTRA to describe the notion that the external world of the senses does not exist independently of the mind and that all phenomena are mere projections of consciousness. Because this doctrine is espoused by the YOGACARA, that school is sometimes referred to as cittamAtra. The doctrine is closely associated with the eight consciousness (VIJNANA) theory set forth in the "ViniscayasaMgrahanĪ" of the YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA and in the MAHAYANASAMGRAHA and ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA that are supplemental to that work. In East Asia, these texts are associated with the name of the MahAyAna writer ASAnGA and his quasi-mythological teacher MAITREYA or MAITREYANATHA. According to this theory, there are not only six consciousnesses (vijNAna), viz., the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile consciousnesses, and the mental consciousness (manovijNAna) well known to canonical Buddhism; there are two further consciousnesses, called the afflicted mind (KLIstAMANAS) and the storehouse consciousness (ALAYAVIJNANA). The AlayavijNAna is also known as the sarvabīja, or the consciousness that carries all the seeds or potentialities (BĪJA). The CittamAtra school holds that mental states leave a residual impression that is carried by the AlayavijNAna. These impressions (VASANA) literally "perfume" or "suffuse" this underlying consciousness, where they lie dormant as seeds. Among the many categories of seeds, two are principal: the residual impressions giving rise to a new form of life (VIPAKA) in the six realms of existence, and the residual impression that is basic ignorance causing all ordinary mental states to appear in a distorted way, i.e., bifurcated into subject and object. Vasubandhu, who is said to have been converted to the CittamAtra doctrine by his brother Asanga, argues in his TRIMsIKA (TriMsikAvijNaptimAtratA[siddhi]kArikA), the famous "Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only," that there could not possibly be an atomic basis for objects known by mind. In the absence of an atomic basis, only the ripening of the residual impressions left on the AlayavijNAna can account for the variety of mental states and experience, and only this doctrine of mind-only can properly account for the purification of mind and the final attainment of BODHI. The object and subject share the same mental nature because they both arise from the residual impressions left on the AlayavijNAna, hence the doctrine of cittamAtra, mind-only.
cittasaMprayuktasaMskAra. (T. sems dang mtshungs ldan gyi 'du byed; C. xin xiangying fa; J. shinsoobo; K. sim sangŭng pop 心相應法). In Sanskrit, "conditioned forces associated with thought"; an ABHIDHARMA term synonymous with the mental concomitants (CAITTA), the dharmas that in various combinations accompany mind or thought (CITTA). The ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, for example, explains that mind and its concomitants always appear in conjunction with one another and cannot be independently generated. These factors are "associated" because of five equalities that they share with mind, i.e., equality as to (1) support (AsRAYA), in this context, meaning the six sensory bases; (2) object (ALAMBANA), viz., the six sensory objects; (3) aspect (AKARA), the aspects of sensory cognition; (4) time (kAla), because they occur simultaneously; and (5) the number of their substance (DRAVYA), because mind and its concomitants are in a one-to-one association. The different schools of ABHIDHARMA enumerate various lists of such forces. The VAIBHAsIKA school of SARVASTIVADA abhidharma lists forty-six cittasamprayuktasaMskAras, while the mature YOGACARA system of MAHAYANA scholasticism gives a total of fifty-one, listed in six categories. The VaibhAsika and YogAcAra schools also posited a contrasting category of "conditioned forces dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), which served to account for specific types of complex moral and mental processes (such as where both physicality and mentality were temporarily suspended in higher meditative absorptions), and anomalous doctrinal problems. (The PAli equivalent cittasaMpayuttasankhAra is attested, but only rarely, in PAli commentarial literature; it does not appear in canonical ABHIDHAMMA texts. This doctrinal category therefore has no significance in the THERAVADA abhidhamma.) For more detailed discussion, see CAITTA; and for the complete lists, see SEVENTY-FIVE DHARMAS OF THE SARVASTIVADA SCHOOL and ONE-HUNDRED DHARMAS OF THE YOGACARA SCHOOL in the List of Lists.
citta. (T. sems; C. xin; J. shin; K. sim 心). In Sanskrit and PAli, "mind," "mentality," or "thought"; used broadly to refer to general mentality, citta is the factor (DHARMA) that is present during any type of conscious activity. Citta is contrasted with the physical body or materiality (RuPA), and is synonymous in this context with "name" (NAMA), as in the term NAMARuPA. In this sense, citta corresponds to the last four of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), excluding only the first aggregate, of materiality (RuPA), i.e., sensation (VEDANA), perception (SAMJNA), conditioning factors (SAMSKARA), and consciousness (VIJNANA). (Where the correspondences on this list are further refined, the first three of these mentality aggregates correspond to the mental concomitants, viz., CAITTA, while citta is restricted to the last aggregate, that of consciousness, or vijNAna.) Citta in this broad sense is synonymous with both mentality (MANAS) and consciousness (vijNAna): mind is designated as citta because it "builds up" (cinoti) virtuous and nonvirtuous states; as manas, because it calculates and examines; and as vijNAna, because it discriminates among sensory stimuli. Mind as "consciousness" refers to the six consciousnesses (sadvijNAna): the five sensory consciousnesses of the visual (CAKsURVIJNANA), auditory (sROTRAVIJNANA), olfactory (GHRAnAVIJNANA), gustatory (JIHVAVIJNANA), and tactile (KAYAVIJNANA), along with the mental consciousness (MANOVIJNANA). In some strands of MAHAYANA thought, such as YOGACARA, mind is instead considered to encompass not only mentality but all dharmas, and the distinction between mentality and materiality is presumed to be merely nominal; YogAcAra is thus sometimes called the school of CITTAMATRA, or "mind-only." Citta as mentality serves as one of the four foundations of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA) in Buddhist meditative training, and refers to various general states of mind, e.g., a mind (citta) that is depressed, distracted, developed, concentrated, or freed. Citta is also used to signify mind itself in distinction to various sets of mental concomitants (caitta) that accompany the basic sensory consciousnesses. The DHAMMASAnGAnI, the first of the seven books of the PAli ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA, classifies citta as the first of a fourfold division of factors into mind (citta), mental concomitants (P. CETASIKA), materiality or form (rupa), and NIRVAnA (P. nibbAna). In this text's treatment, a moment of consciousness (citta) will always arise in association with a variety of associated mental factors (P. cetasika), seven of which are always present during every moment of consciousness: (1) sensory contact or sense impression (P. phassa; S. SPARsA), (2) feeling or sensation (VEDANA), (3) perception or conception (P. saNNA; S. SAMJNA), (4) volition (CETANA), (5) concentration (SAMADHI), (6) vitality (JĪVITA), and (7) attention, viz., the advertence of the mind toward an object (P. manasikAra; S. MANASKARA). The SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA instead divides all dharmas into five groups: mind (citta), mental concomitants (caitta), materiality (rupa), forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), and the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA). In this system, ten specific factors are said universally to accompany all conscious activity and are therefore called "factors of wide extent" or "omnipresent mental factors" (MAHABHuMIKA): (1) sensation (vedanA); (2) volition (cetanA); (3) perception (saMjNA); (4) zeal or "desire-to-act" (CHANDA) (5) sensory contact (sparsa); (6) discernment (mati); (7) mindfulness (SMṚTI); (8) attention (manaskAra); (9) determination (ADHIMOKsA); (10) concentration (samAdhi). According to the system set forth by ASAnGA in his ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA, this list is divided into two sets of five: the five omnipresent (SARVATRAGA) mental factors (vedanA, saMjNA, cetanA, sparsa, and manaskAra) and the five determining (pratiniyama) mental factors (chanda, adhimoksa, smṛti, samAdhi, and prajNA). ¶ In the experience of enlightenment (BODHI), the citta is said to be "freed" from the "point of view" that is the self (ATMAN). The citta is then no longer subject to the limitations perpetuated by ignorance (AVIDYA) and craving (TṚsnA) and thus becomes nonmanifesting (because there is no longer any projection of ego into the perceptual process), infinite (because the mind is no longer subject to the limitations of conceptualization), and lustrous (because the ignorance that dulls the mind has been vanquished forever). Scriptural statements attest to this inherent luminosity of the citta, which may be revealed through practice and manifested in enlightenment. For example, in the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA, the Buddha says, "the mind, O monks, is luminous" (P. pabhassaraM idaM bhikkhave cittaM). Such statements are the strands from which the MahAyAna subsequently derives such concepts as the inherent quality of buddhahood (BUDDHADHATU; C. FOXING) or the embryo of the TATHAGATAs (TATHAGATAGARBHA) that is said to be innate in the mind.
cittaviprayuktasaMskAra. (T. sems dang ldan pa ma yin pa'i 'du byed; C. xin buxiangying fa; J. shinfusoobo; K. sim pulsangŭng pop 心不相應法). In Sanskrit, "conditioned forces dissociated from thought"; forces that are associated with neither materiality (RuPA) nor mentality (CITTA) and thus are listed in a separate category of factors (DHARMA) in ABHIDHARMA materials associated with the SARVASTIVADA school and in the hundred-dharmas (BAIFA) list of the YOGACARA school. These conditioned forces were posited to account for complex moral and mental processes (such as the states of mind associated with the higher spheres of meditation, where both physicality and mentality were temporarily suspended), and anomalous doctrinal problems (such as how speech was able to convey meaning or how group identity was established). A standard listing found in the DHARMASKANDHA and PRAKARAnAPADA, two texts of the SarvAstivAda abhidharma canon, includes sixteen dissociated forces: (1) possession (PRAPTI); (2) equipoise of nonperception (ASAMJNASAMAPATTI); (3) equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMAPATTI); (4) nonperception (AsaMjNika); (5) vitality (JĪVITA); (6) homogeneity (sabhAgatA); (7) acquisition the corporeal basis (*AsrayapratilAbha); (8) acquisition of the given entity (*vastuprApti); (9) acquisition of the sense spheres (*AyatanaprApti); the four conditioned characteristics (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA), viz., (10) origination, or birth (JATI); (11) continuance, or maturation (STHITI); (12) senescence, or decay (JARA); and (13) desinence, or death (anityatA); (14) name set (nAmakAya); (15) phrase set (padakAya); 16) syllable set (vyaNjanakAya). The later treatise ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA includes only fourteen, dropping numbers 7, 8, 9 and adding nonpossession (APRAPTI). These listings, however, constituted only the most generic and comprehensive types employed by the VAIBHAsIKA school of SarvAstivAda abhidharma; the cittaviprayuktasaMskAras thus constituted an open category, and new forces could be posited as the need arose in order to resolve thorny doctrinal issues. The four conditioned characteristics (saMskṛtalaksana) are a good example of why the cittaviprayuktasaMskAra category was so useful in abhidharma-type analysis. In the SarvAstivAda treatment of causality, these four characteristics were forcesthat exerted real power over compounded objects, escorting an object along from origination, to continuance, to senescence or decay, until the force "desinence," or death finally extinguishes it; this rather tortured explanation was necessary in order to explain how factors that the school presumed continued to exist in all three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future nevertheless still appeared to undergo change. The YOGACARA school subsequently includes twenty-four cittaviprayuktasaMskAras in its list of one hundred dharmas (see BAIFA), including such elements as the state of an ordinary being (pṛthagjanatva), time (KALA), place (desa), and number (saMkhyA).
Council, 2nd. The second council was held at VAIsALĪ, some one hundred years after the Buddha's death. It is said that the monk YAsAS was traveling in VaisAlī when he observed the monks from the city, identified as VṚJIPUTRAKAs, receiving alms in the form of gold and silver directly from the laity, in violation of the disciplinary prohibition against monks' handling gold and silver. He also found that the monks had identified ten points in the VINAYA that they considered were sufficiently minor to be ignored, despite the decision at the first council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) not to disregard any of the minor precepts. The ten violations in question were: (1) carrying salt in an animal horn; (2) eating when the shadow of the sundial is two fingerbreadths past noon; (3) after eating, traveling to another village on the same day to eat another meal; (4) holding several assemblies within the same boundary (SĪMA) during the same fortnight observance; (5) making a monastic decision with an incomplete assembly and subsequently receiving the approval of the absent monks; (6) citing precedent as a justification for violating monastic procedures; (7) drinking milk whey after mealtime; (8) drinking unfermented wine; (9) using mats with fringe; and (10) accepting gold and silver. Yasas informed the monks that these were indeed violations of the disciplinary code, at which point the monks are said to have offered him a share of the gold and silver they had collected; when he refused, they expelled him from the order. Yasas sought support of several respected monks in the west, including sAnAKAVASIN and REVATA, and together with other monks, they travelled together to VaisAlī. Once there, Revata went to SarvagAmin, the senior-most monk in the order, who was said to have been a disciple of ANANDA. However, when Revata questioned him about the ten points, the elder monk refused to discuss them in private. At Revata's suggestion, a jury of eight monks was appointed, with four representatives from each party. Revata was selected as one of four from the party declaring the ten practices to be violations, and it was Revata who publicly put the questions to SarvagAmin. In each case, he said that the practice in question was a violation of the vinaya. Seven hundred monks then gathered to recite the vinaya. Those who did not accept the decision of the council held their own convocation, which they called the MAHASAMGHIKA, or "Great Assembly." This event is sometimes referred to as "the great schism." The second council is generally accepted as a historical event. ¶ Some accounts make MAHADEVA a participant at the second council, which is said to have resulted in the schism of the SAMGHA into the conservative STHAVIRANIKAYA and the more liberal MahAsAMghika. However, the chief points of controversy that led to the convening of the council seem not to have been MahAdeva's five theses, but rather these ten relatively minor rules of monastic discipline. If MahAdeva was a historical figure, it is more likely that he was involved in a later schism that occurred within the MahAsAMghika, as a result of which the followers of MahAdeva formed the CAITYA sect. See also SAMGĪTI.
Council, 4th. Two different events are referred to as the fourth council. According to the account of the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG, four hundred years after the Buddha's death, King KANIsKA called an assembly of five hundred ARHATs, either in GANDHARA or KASHMIR, to compile the canon once again. Under the direction of the monk VASUMITRA, the SARVASTIVADA monks compiled the VINAYA and composed the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA. This council is not now considered to have been a historical event and the MahAvibhAsA was likely composed long after the reign of Kaniska. The second event that is known as the fourth council took place in Sri Lanka under King VAttAGAMAnI ABHAYA in 25 BCE. Up until this time the canon (P. tipitaka, S. TRIPItAKA) had been maintained entirely orally, with different monastic families of monks responsible for its recitation (see DHARMABHAnAKA). Fearing that famine and social discord might lead to the death of those monks and hence the loss of the canon, the king convened a council at the MAHAVIHARA in the capital of ANURADHAPURA, where the canon was recited by five hundred monks and then inscribed onto palm leaves. According to tradition this was the first time that the canon was committed to writing. See also SAMGĪTI.
CuladhammasamAdAnasutta. (C. Shoufa jing; J. Juhokyo; K. Subop kyong 受法經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on Undertaking the Dharma"; the forty-fifth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 174th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA Grove at SAvatthi (S. sRAVASTĪ). The Buddha describes four ways of undertaking things in this life and the good and bad consequences that accrue to one who follows these ways. The first way is to live happily in the present, but suffer a painful consequence in the future, e.g., when a person wantonly indulges in sensual pleasures in the present life and, as a result, is reborn into a woeful state later. The second way is to live a painful existence in the present, and suffer a painful consequence in the future; this is the case with ascetics who mortify their flesh only to be reborn in a woeful state. The third way is to live a painful existence in the present, but enjoy a happy consequence in the future; this is the case with a person who suffers in this life due to greed, hatred, and delusion but nevertheless strives to lead a blameless life and is consequently reborn in a happy existence as a human or lesser divinity (DEVA). The fourth way is to live happily in the present, and enjoy a happy consequence, as is the case with a person who cultivates the meditative absorptions (JHANA; S. DHYANA); he is happy in the present life and is rewarded with a happy rebirth as a BRAHMA divinity. An expanded version of this sermon is found in the MAHADHAMMASAMADANASUTTA, or "Longer Discourse on Undertaking the Dharma," also contained in the MajjhimanikAya.
Culadukkhakkhandhasutta. (C. Kuyin jing; J. Kuongyo; K. Koŭm kyong 苦陰經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering"; the fourteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the one hundredth sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the Sakiyan prince MahAnAma at Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU). The Buddha explains the full implications of sensual pleasures, the advantages of renouncing them, and the path needed to escape from their influence. In a discussion with JAINA ascetics, he describes how greed, ill-will, and ignorance cause moral defilement and misery.
Culagosingasutta. (C. Niujiaosuoluolin jing; J. Gokakusararingyo; K. Ugaksararim kyong 牛角娑羅林經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse in Gosinga Park"; the thirty-first sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 185th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; there is also a recension of uncertain affiliation that appears without title in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA). The Buddha visits the eminent monks, Anuruddha (S. ANIRUDDHA), Nandiya, and Kimila while the three are residing in the Gosinga grove. The monks describe to him how they carry out their daily activities in cooperation with one another and the Buddha praises them for their harmonious lifestyle, declaring it to be an adornment to the grove.
Culahatthipadopamasutta. (C. Xiangjiyu jing; J. Zoshakuyugyo; K. Sangjogyu kyong 象跡經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprint"; the twenty-seventh sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 146th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA), preached by the Buddha to the brAhmana JAnussoni at the JETAVANA grove in the city of SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ). JAnussoni asks the Buddha whether a person could infer something of the virtues of the Buddha and his teachings in the same way that a hunter can infer the size of an elephant from its footprint. The Buddha responds that the virtues of the Buddha and his teachings could only be fully comprehended by following the teachings oneself until one has attained the final goal of NIRVAnA; this is just as with a hunter, who can only truly know the size of an elephant by following its tracks and seeing it directly at its watering hole. The Buddha then provides a systematic outline of his path of training, from morality (sīla, S. sĪLA), through the four meditative absorptions (jhAna; S. DHYANA), to the three higher knowledges (tevijjA; S. TRIVIDYA).
CulasīhanAdasutta. (C. Shizihou jing; J. Shishikukyo; K. Sajahu kyong 師子吼經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar"; eleventh sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 103rd sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; a separate recension of unidentified affiliation appears, without title, in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA), preached by the Buddha to a group of monks in the JETAVANA grove in the city of SAvatthi (S. sRAVASTĪ). The Buddha explains how only in his teachings can one attain any of the four degrees of sanctity (see ARYAPUDGALA): stream-enterer, once-returner, nonreturner, and perfected ARHAT; all other teachings lack these. Also, only in his teachings are found a rejection of all notions of a perduring self (P. atta; S. ATMAN).
CulAssapurasutta. (C. Mayi jing; J. Meyukyo; K. Maŭp kyong 馬邑經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse at Assapura"; the fortieth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 183rd sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of monks dwelling in the market town of Assapura in the country of the Angans. The people of Assapura were greatly devoted to the Buddha, the DHARMA, and the SAMGHA and were especially generous in their support of the community of monks. In recognition of their generosity, the Buddha advised his monks that the true path of the recluse is not concerned with mere outward purification through austerities but rather with inward purification through freedom from passion and mental defilements. The dedicated monk should therefore devote himself to the path laid down by the Buddha until he has abandoned twelve unwholesome states of mind: (1) covetousness, (2) ill will, (3) anger, (4) resentment, (5) contempt, (6) insolence, (7) envy, (8) greed, (9) fraud, (10) deceit, (11) evil wishes, and (12) wrong view. Having abandoned these twelve, the monk should then strive to cultivate the divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHARA) of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; through those virtues, the monk attains inner peace and thereby practices the true path of the recluse.
Culavedallasutta. (C. Fale biqiuni jing; J. Horaku bikunikyo; K. Pomnak piguni kyong 法樂比丘尼經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on Points of Doctrine"; the forty-fourth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 210th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; the entire discourse is also subsumed in the Tibetan translation of samathadeva's commentary to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA), expounded by the nun DhammadinnA (S. DHARMADINNA) to her former husband, the householder VisAkha, at the Veluvana (S. VEnUVANAVIHARA) bamboo grove in RAjagaha (S. RAJAGṚHA). VisAkha approached DhammadinnA and questioned her concerning a number of points of doctrine preached by the Buddha. These questions included: what is the nature of this existing body (P. sakkAya; S. satkAya); what is its origin (SAMUDAYA), its cessation (NIRODHA), and the path (P. magga; S. MARGA) leading to its cessation; how does wrong view concerning this body (P. sakkAyaditthi; S. SATKAYADṚstI) arise and how is it removed; what is the noble eightfold path; what is concentration (SAMADHI); what are bodily, verbal, and mental formations; what is the attainment of cessation (nirodha); what is sensation (VEDANA); what are the underlying tendencies with regard to pleasant, painful, and neutral sensations and how should these be overcome; and what are the counterparts of pleasant, painful, and neutral sensations. DhammadinnA answered all of the questions put to her to the satisfaction of the householder VisAkha-proving why the Buddha considered her foremost among his nun disciples in the gift of preaching.
Damoduoluo chan jing. (J. Darumatara zenkyo; K. Talmadara son kyong 達摩多羅禪經). In Chinese, the "DhyAna Sutra of DharmatrAta"; a scripture on meditation (DHYANA) attributed to the SARVASTIVADA teacher DHARMATRATA (c. fourth century CE) and translated into Chinese by BUDDHABHADRA in the early fifth century. Buddhabhadra arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang'an in 406 and briefly stayed at LUSHAN HUIYUAN's (334-416) monastery on LUSHAN, where he translated the text at the latter's request. The Damoduoluo chan jing describes the transmission of the oral teachings of the Buddha from master to disciple and details the various practices of meditation (GUAN) such as mindfulness of breathing (S. ANAPANASMṚTI; P. AnApAnasati) and meditation on the foul (AsUBHABHAVANA), as well as the categories of, SKANDHA, AYATANA, and DHATU. The text includes a listing of patriarchs of the tradition before and after DharmatrAta, which begins with MAHAKAsYAPA and ANANDA, continues through MADHYANTIKA, sAnAKAVASIN, UPAGUPTA, VASUMITRA, and SaMgharaksa, leading up to DharmatrAta, who is then followed in turn by Punyamitra. This lineage seems to derive from the SARVASTIVADA school in the KASHMIR-GANDHARA region and suggests that the notion of a teaching geneaology as a central part of Buddhist religious identity has its start in the Indian tradition. Prefaces to the Damoduoluo chan jing by Lushan Huiyuan and Huiguan subsequently connect versions of this lineage to BODHIDHARMA, the putative founder of the CHAN school in East Asia, suggesting this text exerted some influence in the rise of transmission lineages within the early Chan tradition.
DAnapAla. (C. Shihu; J. Sego; K. Siho 施護) (d.u.; fl. c. 980 CE). In Sanskrit, lit. "Protector of Giving"; one of the last great Indian translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese. A native of OddiyAna in the GANDHARA region of India, he was active in China during the Northern Song dynasty. At the order of the Song Emperor Taizhong (r. 960-997), he was installed in a translation bureau to the west of the imperial monastery of Taiping Xingguosi (in Yuanzhou, present-day Jiangxi province), where he and his team are said to have produced some 111 translations in over 230 rolls. His translations include texts from the PRAJNAPARAMITA, MADHYAMAKA, and tantric traditions, including the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA, SUVARnAPRABHASOTTAMASuTRA, SARVATATHAGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, HEVAJRATANTRA, NAGARJUNA's YUKTIsAstIKA and DHARMADHATUSTAVA, and KAMALAsĪLA's BHAVANAKRAMA, as well as several DHARAnĪ texts.
dAnapAramitA. (P. dAnapAramī; T. sbyin pa'i pha rol tu phyin pa; C. bushi boluomi; J. fuseharamitsu; K. posi paramil 布施波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, the "perfection of giving"; the first of the six [or ten] perfections (PARAMITA) cultivated on the BODHISATTVA path. According to the PAli tradition, dAna is the first of ten perfections (P. PARAMĪ). Three kinds of DANA are often enumerated in this context: the "gift of material goods" (AMIsADANA); the "gift of fearlessness" (ABHAYADANA) and the "gift of the dharma" (DHARMADANA). Giving (DANA) is perfected on the first of the ten stages (DAsABHuMI) of the bodhisattva path, PRAMUDITA (joyful), where the bodhisattva's vision into the emptiness (suNYATA) of all things motivates him to perfect the practice of giving, learning to give away those things most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife, and family, and even his very body (see DEHADANA; SHESHEN). Thanks to his understanding of emptiness (suNYATA), the bodhisattva masters the perfection of giving by realizing there is no donor, no recipient, and no gift. It is with this insight that ordinary giving becomes perfected giving. The perfection of giving brings an end to the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang), leading in turn to the awareness of universal suchness (sarvatragatathatA; C. bianxing zhenru). See DAsABHuMI, VESSANTARA.
darsanamArga. (T. mthong lam; C. jiandao; J. kendo; K. kyondo 見道). In Sanskrit, "path of vision"; the third of the five paths (PANCAMARGA) to liberation and enlightenment, whether as an ARHAT or as a buddha. It follows the second path, the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) and precedes the fourth path, the path of meditation or cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). This path marks the adept's first direct perception of reality, without the intercession of concepts, and brings an end to the first three of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: (1) belief in the existence of a self in relation to the body (SATKAYADṚstI), (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA) as a means of salvation, and (3) doubt about the efficacy of the path (VICIKITSA). Because this vision renders one a noble person (ARYA), the path of vision marks the inception of the "noble path" (AryamArga). According to the SarvAstivAda soteriological system, the darsanamArga occurs over the course of fifteen moments of realization of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, with the sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the BHAVANAMARGA. There are four moments of realization for each of the four truths. The first moment is that of doctrinal acquiescence (DHARMAKsANTI) with regard to the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU). In that moment, the afflictions (KLEsA) of the sensuous realm associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed by a moment of doctrinal knowledge (DHARMAJNANA) of the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm, which is the state of understanding that the afflictions of that level have been abandoned. Next comes a moment of realization called subsequent acquiescence (anvayaksAnti), in which the afflictions associated with the truth of suffering in the two upper realms, the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU) and the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU) are abandoned; there is finally a moment of subsequent knowledge (anvayajNAna) of the truth of suffering with regard to the two upper realms. This sequence of four moments-doctrinal acquiescence and doctrinal knowledge (which are concerned with the sensuous realm) and subsequent acquiescence and subsequent knowledge (which are concerned with the two upper realms)-is repeated for the remaining truths of origin, cessation, and path. In each case, the moments of realization called acquiescence are the time when the afflictions are actually abandoned; they are called uninterrupted paths (ANANTARYAMARGA) because they cannot be interrupted or impeded in severing the hold of the afflictions. The eight moments of knowledge are the state of having realized that the afflictions of the particular level have been abandoned. They are called paths of liberation (VIMUKTIMARGA). An uninterrupted path, followed by a path of liberation, are likened to throwing out a thief and locking the door behind him. The sixteenth moment in the sequence-the subsequent knowledge of the truth of the path with regard to the upper realms-constitutes the first moment of the next path, the bhAvanAmArga. For a BODHISATTVA, the attainment of the path of vision coincides with the inception of the first BODHISATTVABHuMI (see also DAsABHuMI). The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA explains that the bodhisattva's path of vision is also a direct perception of reality and is focused on the four noble truths; unlike the mainstream account, however, all three realms are considered simultaneously, and the sixteenth moment is not the first instant of the path of cultivation (bhAvanAmArga). The YOGACARA system is based on their doctrine of the falsehood of the subject/object bifurcation. The first eight instants describe the elimination of fetters based on false conceptualization (VIKALPA) of objects, and the last eight the elimination of fetters based on the false conceptualization of a subject; thus the actual path of vision is a direct realization of the emptiness (suNYATA) of all dharmas (sarvadharmasunyatA). This view of the darsanamArga as the first direct perception (PRATYAKsA) of emptiness is also found in the MADHYAMAKA school, according to which the bodhisattva begins to abandon the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) upon attaining the darsanamArga. See also DHARMAKsANTI; JIEWU; DUNWU JIANXIU.
darsana (sarvasaundarya darshana) ::: the vision of universal beauty, "an aesthesis and sensation of beauty and delight universal and multitudinous in detail".
dasabhumi. (T. sa bcu; C. shidi; J. juji; K. sipchi 十地). In Sanskrit, lit., "ten grounds," "ten stages"; the ten highest reaches of the bodhisattva path (MARGA) leading to buddhahood. The most systematic and methodical presentation of the ten BHuMIs appears in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Ten Bhumis Sutra"), where each of the ten stages is correlated with seminal doctrines of mainstream Buddhism-such as the four means of conversion (SAMGRAHAVASTU) on the first four bhumis, the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (CATVARY ARYASATYANI) on the fifth bhumi, and the chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) on the sixth bhumi, etc.-as well as with mastery of one of a list of ten perfections (PARAMITA) completed in the course of training as a bodhisattva. The list of the ten bhumis of the Dasabhumikasutra, which becomes standard in most MahAyAna traditions, is as follows: (1) PRAMUDITA (joyful) corresponds to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) and the bodhisattva's first direct realization of emptiness (suNYATA). The bodhisattva masters on this bhumi the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA), learning to give away those things most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife and family, and even his body (see DEHADANA); (2) VIMALA (immaculate, stainless) marks the inception of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where the bodhisattva develops all the superlative traits of character incumbent on a buddha through mastering the perfection of morality (sĪLAPARAMITA); (3) PRABHAKARĪ (luminous, splendrous), where the bodhisattva masters all the various types of meditative experiences, such as DHYANA, SAMAPATTI, and the BRAHMAVIHARA; despite the emphasis on meditation in this bhumi, it comes to be identified instead with the perfection of patience (KsANTIPARAMITA), ostensibly because the bodhisattva is willing to endure any and all suffering in order to master his practices; (4) ARCIsMATĪ (radiance, effulgence), where the flaming radiance of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA) becomes so intense that it incinerates obstructions (AVARAnA) and afflictions (KLEsA), giving the bodhisattva inexhaustible energy in his quest for enlightenment and thus mastering the perfection of vigor or energy (VĪRYAPARAMITA); (5) SUDURJAYA (invincibility, hard-to-conquer), where the bodhisattva comprehends the various permutations of truth (SATYA), including the four noble truths, the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of provisional (NEYARTHA) and absolute (NĪTARTHA), and masters the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYANAPARAMITA); (6) ABHIMUKHĪ (immediacy, face-to-face), where, as the name implies, the bodhisattva stands at the intersection between SAMSARA and NIRVAnA, turning away from the compounded dharmas of saMsAra and turning to face the profound wisdom of the buddhas, thus placing him "face-to-face" with both the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA) realms; this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); (7) DuRAnGAMA (far-reaching, transcendent), which marks the bodhisattva's freedom from the four perverted views (VIPARYASA) and his mastery of the perfection of expedients (UPAYAPARAMITA), which he uses to help infinite numbers of sentient beings; (8) ACALA (immovable, steadfast), which is marked by the bodhisattva's acquiescence or receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKsANTI); because he is now able to project transformation bodies (NIRMAnAKAYA) anywhere in the universe to help sentient beings, this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of aspiration or resolve (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA); (9) SADHUMATĪ (eminence, auspicious intellect), where the bodhisattva acquires the four analytical knowledges (PRATISAMVID), removing any remaining delusions regarding the use of the supernatural knowledges or powers (ABHIJNA), and giving the bodhisattva complete autonomy in manipulating all dharmas through the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA); and (10) DHARMAMEGHA (cloud of dharma), the final bhumi, where the bodhisattva becomes autonomous in interacting with all material and mental factors, and gains all-pervasive knowledge that is like a cloud producing a rain of dharma that nurtures the entire world; this stage is also described as being pervaded by meditative absorption (DHYANA) and mastery of the use of codes (DHARAnĪ), just as the sky is filled by clouds; here the bodhisattva achieves the perfection of knowledge (JNANAPARAMITA). As the bodhisattva ascends through the ten bhumis, he acquires extraordinary powers, which CANDRAKĪRTI describes in the eleventh chapter of his MADHYAMAKAVATARA. On the first bhumi, the bodhisattva can, in a single instant (1) see one hundred buddhas, (2) be blessed by one hundred buddhas and understand their blessings, (3) live for one hundred eons, (4) see the past and future in those one hundred eons, (5) enter into and rise from one hundred SAMADHIs, (6) vibrate one hundred worlds, (7) illuminate one hundred worlds, (8) bring one hundred beings to spiritual maturity using emanations, (9) go to one hundred BUDDHAKsETRA, (10), open one hundred doors of the doctrine (DHARMAPARYAYA), (11) display one hundred versions of his body, and (12) surround each of those bodies with one hundred bodhisattvas. The number one hundred increases exponentially as the bodhisattva proceeds; on the second bhumi it becomes one thousand, on the third one hundred thousand, and so on; on the tenth, it is a number equal to the particles of an inexpressible number of buddhaksetra. As the bodhisattva moves from stage to stage, he is reborn as the king of greater and greater realms, ascending through the Buddhist cosmos. Thus, on the first bhumi he is born as king of JAMBUDVĪPA, on the second of the four continents, on the third as the king of TRAYATRIMsA, and so on, such that on the tenth he is born as the lord of AKANIstHA. ¶ According to the rather more elaborate account in chapter eleven of the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi), each of the ten bhumis is correlated with the attainment of one of the ten types of suchness (TATHATA); these are accomplished by discarding one of the ten kinds of obstructions (Avarana) by mastering one of the ten perfections (pAramitA). The suchnesses achieved on each of the ten bhumis are, respectively: (1) universal suchness (sarvatragatathatA; C. bianxing zhenru), (2) supreme suchness (paramatathatA; C. zuisheng zhenru), (3) ubiquitous, or "supreme outflow" suchness (paramanisyandatathatA; C. shengliu zhenru), (4) unappropriated suchness (aparigrahatathatA; C. wusheshou zhenru), (5) undifferentiated suchness (abhinnajAtīyatathatA; C. wubie zhenru), (6) the suchness that is devoid of maculations and contaminants (asaMklistAvyavadAtatathatA; C. wuranjing zhenru), (7) the suchness of the undifferentiated dharma (abhinnatathatA; C. fawubie zhenru), (8) the suchness that neither increases nor decreases (anupacayApacayatathatA; C. buzengjian), (9) the suchness that serves as the support of the mastery of wisdom (jNAnavasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. zhizizai suoyi zhenru), and (10) the suchness that serves as the support for mastery over actions (kriyAdivasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. yezizai dengsuoyi). These ten suchnessses are obtained by discarding, respectively: (1) the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang), (2) the obstruction of the deluded (mithyApratipattyAvarana; C. xiexing zhang), (3) the obstruction of dullness (dhandhatvAvarana; C. andun zhang), (4) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle afflictions (suksmaklesasamudAcArAvarana; C. xihuo xianxing zhang), (5) the obstruction of the lesser HĪNAYANA ideal of parinirvAna (hīnayAnaparinirvAnAvarana; C. xiasheng niepan zhang), (6) the obstruction of the manifestation of coarse characteristics (sthulanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. cuxiang xianxing zhang), (7) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle characteristics (suksmanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. xixiang xianxing zhang), (8) the obstruction of the continuance of activity even in the immaterial realm that is free from characteristics (nirnimittAbhisaMskArAvarana; C. wuxiang jiaxing zhang), (9) the obstruction of not desiring to act on behalf of others' salvation (parahitacaryAkAmanAvarana; C. buyuxing zhang), and (10) the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all things (fa weizizai zhang). These ten obstructions are overcome by practicing, respectively: (1) the perfection of giving (dAnapAramitA), (2) the perfection of morality (sīlapAramitA), (3) the perfection of forbearance (ksAntipAramitA), (4) the perfection of energetic effort (vīryapAramitA), (5) the perfection of meditation (dhyAnapAramitA), (6) the perfection of wisdom (prajNApAramitA), (7) the perfection of expedient means (upAyapAramitA), (8) the perfection of the vow (to attain enlightenment) (pranidhAnapAramitA), (9) the perfection of power (balapAramitA), and (10) the perfection of knowledge (jNAnapAramitA). ¶ The eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis are sometimes called "pure bhumis," because, according to some commentators, upon reaching the eighth bhumi, the bodhisattva has abandoned all of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and is thus liberated from any further rebirth. It appears that there were originally only seven bhumis, as is found in the BODHISATTVABHuMI, where the seven bhumis overlap with an elaborate system of thirteen abidings or stations (vihAra), some of the names of which (such as pramuditA) appear also in the standard bhumi schema of the Dasabhumikasutra. Similarly, though a listing of ten bhumis appears in the MAHAVASTU, a text associated with the LOKOTTARAVADA subsect of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, only seven are actually discussed there, and the names given to the stages are completely different from those found in the later Dasabhumikasutra; the stages there are also a retrospective account of how past buddhas have achieved enlightenment, rather than a prescription for future practice. ¶ The dasabhumi schema is sometimes correlated with other systems of classifying the bodhisattva path. In the five levels of the YogAcAra school's outline of the bodhisattva path (PANCAMARGA; C. wuwei), the first bhumi (pramuditA) is presumed to be equivalent to the level of proficiency (*prativedhAvasthA; C. tongdawei), the third of the five levels; while the second bhumi onward corresponds to the level of cultivation (C. xiuxiwei), the fourth of the five levels. The first bhumi is also correlated with the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), while the second and higher bhumis correlate with the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). In terms of the doctrine of the five acquiescences (C. ren; S. ksAnti) listed in the RENWANG JING, the first through the third bhumis are equivalent to the second acquiescence, the acquiescence of belief (C. xinren; J. shinnin; K. sinin); the fourth through the sixth stages to the third, the acquiescence of obedience (C. shunren; J. junnin; K. sunin); the seventh through the ninth stages to the fourth, the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti; C. wushengren; J. mushonin; K. musaengin); the tenth stage to the fifth and final acquiescence, to extinction (jimieren; J. jakumetsunin; K. chongmyorin). FAZANG's HUAYANJING TANXUAN JI ("Notes Plumbing the Profundities of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA") classifies the ten bhumis in terms of practice by correlating the first bhumi to the practice of faith (sRADDHA), the second bhumi to the practice of morality (sĪLA), the third bhumi to the practice of concentration (SAMADHI), and the fourth bhumi and higher to the practice of wisdom (PRAJNA). In the same text, Fazang also classifies the bhumis in terms of vehicle (YANA) by correlating the first through third bhumis with the vehicle of humans and gods (rentiansheng), the fourth through the seventh stage to the three vehicles (TRIYANA), and the eighth through tenth bhumis to the one vehicle (EKAYANA). ¶ Besides the list of the dasabhumi outlined in the Dasabhumikasutra, the MAHAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA and the DAZHIDU LUN (*MahAprajNApAramitAsAstra) list a set of ten bhumis, called the "bhumis in common" (gongdi), which are shared between all the three vehicles of sRAVAKAs, PRATYEKABUDDHAs, and bodhisattvas. These are the bhumis of: (1) dry wisdom (suklavidarsanAbhumi; C. ganhuidi), which corresponds to the level of three worthies (sanxianwei, viz., ten abidings, ten practices, ten transferences) in the srAvaka vehicle and the initial arousal of the thought of enlightenment (prathamacittotpAda) in the bodhisattva vehicle; (2) lineage (gotrabhumi; C. xingdi, zhongxingdi), which corresponds to the stage of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHAGĪYA) in the srAvaka vehicle, and the final stage of the ten transferences in the fifty-two bodhisattva stages; (3) eight acquiescences (astamakabhumi; C. barendi), the causal incipiency of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) in the case of the srAvaka vehicle and the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti) in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the first or the seventh through ninth bhumis of the bodhisattva path); (4) vision (darsanabhumi; C. jiandi), corresponding to the fruition or fulfillment (PHALA) level of the stream-enterer in the srAvaka vehicle and the stage of nonretrogression (AVAIVARTIKA), in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the completion of the first or the eighth bhumi); (5) diminishment (tanubhumi; C. baodi), corresponding to the fulfillment level (phala) of stream-enterer or the causal incipiency of the once-returner (sakṛdAgAmin) in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage following nonretrogression before the attainment of buddhahood in the bodhisattva path; (6) freedom from desire (vītarAgabhumi; C. liyudi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the nonreturner in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage where a bodhisattva attains the five supernatural powers (ABHIJNA); (7) complete discrimination (kṛtAvibhumi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the ARHAT in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage of buddhahood (buddhabhumi) in the bodhisattva path (buddhabhumi) here refers not to the fruition of buddhahood but merely to the state in which a bodhisattva has the ability to exhibit the eighteen qualities distinctive to the buddhas (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA); (8) pratyekabuddha (pratyekabuddhabhumi); (9) bodhisattva (bodhisattvabhumi), the whole bodhisattva career prior to the fruition of buddhahood; (10) buddhahood (buddhabhumi), the stage of the fruition of buddhahood, when the buddha is completely equipped with all the buddhadharmas, such as omniscience (SARVAKARAJNATĀ). As is obvious in this schema, despite being called the bhumis "common" to all three vehicles, the shared stages continue only up to the seventh stage; the eighth through tenth stages are exclusive to the bodhisattva vehicle. This anomaly suggests that the last three bhumis of the bodhisattvayāna were added to an earlier srāvakayāna seven-bhumi scheme. ¶ The presentation of the bhumis in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ commentarial tradition following the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA uses the names found in the Dasabhumikasutra for the bhumis and understands them all as bodhisattva levels; it introduces the names of the ten bhumis found in the Dazhidu lun as levels that bodhisattvas have to pass beyond (S. atikrama) on the tenth bodhisattva level, which it calls the buddhabhumi. This tenth bodhisattva level is not the level of an actual buddha, but the level on which a bodhisattva has to transcend attachment (abhinivesa) to not only the levels reached by the four sets of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA) but to the bodhisattvabhumis as well. See also BHuMI.
daya isvarabhavah. sarvakarmasamarthyam ::: compassion, soverdaya eignty, capacity for all action (the attributes common to all four aspects of daivi prakr.ti).
dharmanairātmya. (T. chos kyi bdag med; C. fawuwo; J. homuga; K. pommua 法無我). In Sanskrit, "insubstantiality of dharmas," viz., the lack of self in all the phenomena in the universe, a second, and more advanced, level of emptiness (suNYATĀ) than the insubstantiality of the person (PUDGALANAIRĀTMYA). The doctrine of nonself (ANĀTMAN) is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism and is directed primarily at the denial of any notion of a perduring soul. Sentient beings (SATTVA) are viewed as merely a collection of aggregates (SKANDHA) or elements of reality (DHARMA), which are temporarily concatenated through an impersonal, causal process; thus, the person (PUDGALA) is lacking any eternal self (pudgalanairātmya). The mainstream Buddhist ABHIDHARMA schools began to compile extensive lists of the elements of reality (dharma) from which the compounded things of this world were comprised, and the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school was especially known for propounding the view that all these dharmas were real and existed throughout all the three time periods (TRIKĀLA) of the past, present, and future (the school's name literally means "those who say that all exists," S. sarvam asti). This view that dharmas were permanent, while compounded things were not, was strongly critiqued by the MAHĀYĀNA tradition as the unwarranted intrusion into Buddhism of a notion of permanence (NITYA). The MADHYAMAKA school in particular was well known for its thoroughgoing denial of the substantiality not only of the compounded person, but of the constituents of reality as well (dharmanairātmya). The selflessness of dharmas is synonymous with the emptiness (sunyatā) of dharmas, and the fact that all things in existence are devoid of intrinsic nature (S. NIḤSVABHĀVA). It was furthermore said in the Mahāyāna that in order to achieve buddhahood, the BODHISATTVA had to gain direct realization of both pudgalanairātmya as well as the more subtle dharmanairātmya; there was disagreement over whether the ARHAT had to gain understanding of dharmanairātmya in order to achieve NIRVĀnA.
Do issaishobutsukyogai chigongyo 度一切諸佛境界智嚴經. See SARVABUDDHAVIsAYĀVATĀRAJNĀNĀLOKĀMKĀRASuTRA
Dpal ldan lha mo. (S. srīdevī). In Tibetan, "Glorious Goddess"; a literal translation of the Sanskrit name for a form of a female divinity ubiquitous in the northeast and mountainous regions of the Indian subcontinent. In her usual form, she has one face, is wrathful, holds a kadga (sword) and KAPĀLA (skull cup), and rides a barren mule above a churning ocean of blood. The mule has an eye in his rump, caused by an arrow shot by her husband after she killed their son and used his skin as a saddle. She is found in the retinue (parivāra) of the Sarvavighnavināyaka (Obstacle-Removing) MAHĀKĀLA, but as a central figure she is surrounded by a large retinue that includes the goddesses Ākāsāmbarā, Svayambhu-rājNī, and Nīlesvarī. She is always a supramundane (LOKOTTARA) being and is considered to be a protector of all Tibet; in this role she is seen as a wrathful form of TĀRĀ. In the DGE LUGS sect, she is an important protector, particularly as the main protectress of the DALAI LAMAS; she is propitiated daily in rituals and a THANG KA of her is always kept in the presence of the Dalai Lama. Each Dalai Lama would try to visit her sacred lake, LHA MO BLA MTSHO, at least once during his life to receive visions on the water's surface regarding his future activities and death, a tradition said to date back to the first Dalai Lama, DGE 'DUN GRUB. The lake is also believed to display signs concerning the future rebirth of the Dalai Lama and PAn CHEN LF. Most recently, in 1933 the regent of Tibet, Rwa sgreng Rin po che, saw visions in the lake that indicated the birthplace and circumstances of the fourteenth Dalai Lama. At Tibetan Buddhist temples, long lines of ordinary people are often seen at the chapel of Dpal ldan lha mo carrying small bottles of chang (barley beer) or black tea as offerings for her.
eko vasi sarvabhutantaratma ::: one controlling Spirit within all creatures. [Katha 2.2.12]
er zong. (J. nishu; K. i chong 二宗). In Chinese, "the two [primary] scholastic traditions," or "two [rival] tenets," of which there are three different schemata. (1) kong zong vs. you zong: In this model, Buddhism is divided into the school that posits the insubstantiality of things (C. kong; S. suNYATĀ) and that which posits the substantiality of things (C. you; S. BHAVA), respectively. One such dichotomy involves the BAHUsRUTĪYA, the school associated with the CHENGSHI LUN (*Tattvasiddhi), which teaches the "emptiness of everything" (sarva-suNYATĀ), including factors (DHARMANAIRĀTMYA), and the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school, which assumes that things could be reduced to fundamentally real, indivisible factors (DHARMA) that exist independently and are endowed with unique, irreducible properties. (2) XING ZONG vs. XIANG ZONG: In this model, Buddhist teaching is said to consist of the doctrine that deals with the "nature of things" (C. xing; this doctrine has been variously interpreted as being associated with the MADHYAMAKA and TATHĀGATAGARBHA schools), and the doctrine that deals with the "characteristics/phenomenal aspects of things" (C. xiang; this doctrine has been variously interpreted to be associated with the YOGĀCĀRA and Sarvāstivāda schools), respectively. (3) kong zong vs. xing zong: In the third model, Buddhism is said to contain two antithetical strands of thought (that may or may not be ultimately complementary). One strand upholds the reality of "emptiness" (C. kong) and denies any "self" or substantiality in all dharmas. The other strand affirms a discoverable and real "essence" (C. xing) of dharmas. Traditionally, Madhyamaka has been identified to be the paradigmatic "school of emptiness," and tathāgatagarbha to be the paragon of the "school of [real] nature."
etad yonini bhutani (sarvani) ::: this is the womb of (all) beings. [Gita 7.6]
fourfold brahman ::: the omnipresent Reality, brahman, "seen everywhere in the whole & in each object" in the four aspects that constitute the brahma catus.t.aya; sarvaṁ brahma is seen "when we realise one thing in the universe", anantaṁ brahma "when we realise Infinite Force and Quality at play in all forms", jñanaṁ brahma "when we realise a consciousness in everything which is aware of all", and anandaṁ brahma "when we realise in that consciousness a delight in all things".
Harivarman. (T. Seng ge go cha; C. Helibamo; J. Karibatsuma; K. Haribalma 訶梨跋摩). Indian Buddhist exegete who probably lived between the third and fourth centuries CE (c. 250-350 CE). Harivarman was a disciple of Kumāralabdha and is the author of the CHENGSHI LUN (*Tattvasiddhi; "Treatise on Establishing Reality"), a summary of the lost ABHIDHARMA of the BAHUsRUTĪYA school, a branch of the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA school of the mainstream Buddhist tradition. The *Tattvasiddhi, extant only in Chinese translation as the Chengshi lun, is especially valuable for its detailed refutations of the positions held by other early sRĀVAKAYĀNA schools; the introduction, e.g., surveys ten different bases of controversy that separate the different early schools. The treatise is structured in the form of an exposition of the traditional theory of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, but does not include the listings for different factors (DHARMA) that typify many works in the abhidharma genre. The positions that Harivarman advocates are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA and SAUTRĀNTIKA schools, although, unlike the Pāli texts, he accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike Sautrāntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA) between existences. Harivarman opposes the SARVĀSTIVĀDA position that dharmas exist in both past and future, the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA view that thought is inherently pure, and the VĀTSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists in reality. Harivarman seems to hone to a middle way between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which he views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. Harivarman advocates, instead, the "emptiness of everything" (sarva-suNYATĀ) and is therefore sometimes viewed within the East Asian traditions as representing a transitional stage between the mainstream Buddhist schools and MAHĀYĀNA philosophical doctrine.
hengyoin 遍行因. See SARVATRAGAHETU
hengyo 遍行. See SARVATRAGA
hetu. (T. rgyu; C. yin; J. in; K. in 因). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "cause." In one of the first accounts of the Buddha's teachings, he was said to have "set forth the causes of things that have causes and also set forth their cessation." The process of causality is provisionally divided between hetu and PRATYAYA, "causes and conditions": hetu designates the main or primary cause of production, which operates in conjunction with pratyaya, the concomitant conditions or secondary, supporting causes; these two together produce a specific "fruition" or result (PHALA): thus, the fruition of a tree is the result of a primary cause (hetu), its seed; supported by such subsidiary conditions as soil, sunlight, and water; and only when all the relevant causes and conditions in their totality are functioning cooperatively will the prospective fruition or effect occur. ¶ The JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central text of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, designates six specific types of hetu: (1) the "cause as a reason for being" (KĀRAnAHETU), the efficient cause or generic cause, referring to causation in its broadest possible sense, in which every conditioned dharma serves as the generic, indirect cause for the creation of all things except itself; (2) the coexistent cause (SAHABHuHETU), where dharmas simultaneously condition one another, as with a material element (MAHĀBHuTA) and its derivatives, or a dharma and its four conditioned characteristics (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA); (3) associative cause (SAMPRAYUKTAHETU), wherein mental events cannot exist in isolation but instead mutually condition one another; (4) homogenous cause (SABHĀGAHETU), wherein cause is always antecedent to its incumbent effect, ensuring that apple seeds always produce apples, wholesome causes lead to wholesome effects, etc.; (5) all-pervasive, or universally active, cause (SARVATRAGAHETU), wherein afflictions (KLEsA) produce not only identical types of subsequent afflictions but also serve as the root cause of all other afflictions, obstructing a person's capacity to intuit empirical reality; (6) retributive cause (VIPĀKAHETU), i.e., the unwholesome dharmas and wholesome dharmas associated with the contaminants (ĀSRAVA) that produce subsequent "retribution," viz., pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral effects, or ultimately rebirth. ¶ In Indian Buddhist logic, the hetu also refers to the second step, or "reason," in a syllogism (SĀDHANA): e.g., "The mountain is on fire,/because there is smoke,/like a stove (and unlike a lake)"; see also LInGA.
historical schools: Madhyamaka, MulasarvAstivAda, Huayan zong, but not hīnayAna, ekayAna, tathAgatagarbha;
ilch'e chi 一切智. See SARVAJNATĀ
ilch'eji chi一切知智. See SARVAJNATĀJNĀNA
Ilch'e yorae chinsilsop taesŭng hyonjŭng sammae taegyowang kyong 一切如來眞實攝大乘現證三昧大敎王經. See SARVATATHĀGATA-TATTVASAMGRAHA
isa vasyam idam sarvam yat kinca ::: all this whatsoever ... is for habitation by the Lord. [see the following]
isa vasyam idam sarvam yat kinca jagatyam jagat ::: all this is for habitation by the Lord, whatsoever is individual universe of movement in the universal motion. [Isa 1]
issaichichi 一切知智. See SARVAJNATĀJNĀNA
issaichi 一切智. See SARVAJNATĀ
Issainyorai shinjitsusho daijogenshozanmai daikyoogyo 一切如來眞實攝大乘現證三昧大敎王經. See SARVATATHĀGATA-TATTVASAMGRAHA
isvarah sarvabhutanam hrddese ::: the Lord in the heart of all creatures. [Gita 18.61]
isvara (sarvavastushu ishwara) ::: the Lord in all things.. u isvara sarves sarvesam am etesam etes a balaṁ pravrttir pravr.ttir mahattvam (sarvesham etesham .. ṁ tejo balam
Jogaisho bosatsu 除蓋障菩薩. See SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN
Kārandavyuha. [alt. Karandavyuha; Avalokitesvaraguna-kārandavyuha] (T. Za ma tog bkod pa'i mdo; C. Dasheng zhuangyan baowang jing; J. Daijo shogon hoogyo; K. Taesŭng changom powang kyong 大乘莊嚴寶王經). In Sanskrit, "Description of the Casket [of AVALOKITEsVARA's Qualities]"; the earliest textual source for the BODHISATTVA Avalokitesvara's MANTRA "OM MAnI PADME HuM" (oM, O Jewel-Lotus); the extended version of the title is Avalokitesvaraguna-kārandavyuha. The earliest version of the Kārandavyuha is presumed to have been composed in Kashmir sometime around the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth centuries CE. There are Tibetan and Chinese translations, including a late Chinese rendering made by the Kashmiri translator TIAN XIZAI (d. 1000) in 983. The Kārandavyuha displays characteristics of both sutra and TANTRA literature in its emphasis on the doctrine of rebirth in AMITĀBHA Buddha's pure land (SUKHĀVATĪ), as well as such tantric elements as the mantra "oM mani padme huM" and the use of MAndALAs; it is thought to represent a transitional stage between the two categories of texts. The sutra is composed as a dialogue between sĀKYAMUNI Buddha and the bodhisattva SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN. While describing Avalokitesvara's supernal qualities and his vocation of saving sentient beings, sākyamuni Buddha tells his audience about the mantra "oM mani padme huM" and the merits that it enables its reciters to accrue. Avalokitesvara is said to be the embodiment of the SAMBHOGAKĀYA (enjoyment body), the body of the buddha that remains constantly present in the world for the edification of all beings, and the dharma that he makes manifest is expressed in this six-syllable mantra (sAdAKsArĪ), the recitation of which invokes the power of that bodhisattva's great compassion (MAHĀKARUnĀ). The sutra claims that the benefit of copying this mantra but once is equivalent to that of copying all the 84,000 teachings of the DHARMA; in addition, there are an infinite number of benefits that derive from a single recitation of it.
kavim puranam anusasitaram sarvasya dhataram ::: the seer, the Ancient of Days, the Master and ruler who sets in their place all beings and things. [Gita 8.9]
kongokai. (S. vajradhātu; T. rdo rje dbyings; C. jingang jie; K. kŭmgang kye 金剛界). In Japanese, "diamond realm" or "diamond world"; one of the two principal diagrams (MAndALA) used in the esoteric traditions of Japan (see MIKKYo), along with the TAIZoKAI ("womb realm"); the Sanskrit reconstruction for this diagram is *vajradhātumandala. The teachings of the kongokai are said to derive in part from two seminal scriptures of the esoteric traditions, the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA and SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, but its construction as a mandala relies on no known written instructions and more likely evolved pictorially. KuKAI (774-835), the founder of the SHINGONSHu, used the kongokai mandala in combination with the taizokai mandala in a variety of esoteric rituals designed to awaken the individual adept. However, Japanese TENDAI Buddhism as well as various SHUGENDo complexes also heavily incorporated their own rituals into the two mandalas. ¶ The kongokai consists of nine smaller, nearly square-shaped mandalas, or "assemblies" (J. e), some of which are sometimes isolated for worship and visualized independently. It is said that, by visualizing the mandala, the kongokai ultimately demonstrates that the universe as a whole is coextensive with the body of the DHARMAKĀYA or cosmic buddha, Mahāvairocana (SEE VAIROCANA). In the center of the mandala, Mahāvairocana sits on a lotus flower, surrounded by four female figures, who symbolize the four perfections. Immediately outside are four discs, each encompassing a directional buddha: AMITĀBHA to the west, AKsOBHYA to the east, AMOGHASIDDHI to the north, and RATNASAMBHAVA to the south. Each is, in turn, surrounded by four BODHISATTVAs. This ensemble of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and female figures is repeated in the first four mandala of outward trajectory and its structure repeated in the lower six. Below the center mandala is the mandala of physical objects, each representing the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The next one in outward trajectory are figures residing inside a three-pointed vajra, representing the sounds of the world. The fourth mandala displays all figures (excluding buddhas) in their female form, each exhibiting specific bodily movements. Arriving next at the upper-left mandala, the group is reduced to Mahāvairocana and four surrounding bodhisattvas. In the top-center mandala sits only a large Mahāvairocana. The last three mandalas in the outward spiral shift toward worldly affairs. The top right reveals passions and desire. In the next to last are horrific demons and deities. The last mandala represents consciousness. ¶ Looking at the depictions in the kongokai individually, the nine smaller mandalas are arrayed in a clockwise direction as follows. (1) The perfected-body assembly (jojinne) is the central assembly of the entire mandala. In the center of this assembly sits Mahāvairocana, displaying the gesture (MUDRĀ) of the wisdom fist (BODHYAnGĪMUDRĀ; J. chiken-in), surrounded by the four directional buddhas (Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi), who embody four aspects of Mahāvairocana's wisdom. Each of these buddhas, including Mahāvairocana, is in turn attended by four bodhisattvas. (2) The SAMAYA assembly (J. sammayae; S. samayamandala) replaces the buddhas and bodhisattvas with physical objects, such as VAJRAS and lotuses. (3) The subtle assembly (J. misaime; S. suksmamandala) signifies the adamantine wisdom of Mahāvairocana. (4) In the offerings assembly (J. kuyo-e; S. pujāmandala), bodhisattvas make offerings to the five buddhas. (5) The four-mudrās assembly (J. shiinne; S. caturmudrāmandala) depicts only Mahāvairocana and four bodhisattvas. (6) The single-mudrā assembly (J. ichiinne; S. ekamudrāmandala) represents Mahāvairocana sitting alone in the gesture of wisdom. (7) In the guiding-principle assembly (J. rishu-e; S. nayamandala), VAJRASATTVA sits at the center, surrounded by four female figures, representing craving, physical contact, sexual desire, and fulfillment. (8) In the assembly of the descent into the three realms of existence (J. gozanze-e; S. trailokyavijayamandala), Vajrasattva assumes the ferocious appearance of Gosanze (TRAILOKYAVIJAYA). (9) The samaya of the descent into the three-realms assembly (J. gozanzesammayae; S. trailokyavijayasamaya mandala) has the same structure as the previous one. ¶ In one distinctively Shingon usage, the mandala was placed in the east and the kongokai stood in juxtaposition across from it. The initiate would then invite all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and divinities into the sacred space, invoking all of their power and ultimately unifying with them. In SHUGENDo, the two mandalas were often spatially superimposed over mountain geography or worn as robes on the practitioner while entering the mountain. See TAIZoKAI.
ksarah sarvani bhutani ::: the spirit of mutable things is all existences. [Gita 15.16]
ksina-kalmasah sarvabhuta-hite ratah ::: they in whom the stains of sin are effaced and who are occupied in doing good to all creatures. [Gita 5.25]
kun gro'i rgyu. See SARVATRAGAHETU
kun 'gro. See SARVATRAGA
kun shes. See SARVAJNATĀ
maccittah sarvadurgani matprasadat tarisyasi ::: by giving yourself in heart and mind to Me, thou shalt cross over all difficulties and perils by My grace. [Gita 18.58]
Madhyamakahṛdaya. (T. Dbu ma'i snying po). In Sanskrit, "Essence of the Middle Way"; the major work of the sixth-century Indian MADHYAMAKA (and, from the Tibetan perspective, SVĀTANTRIKA) master BHĀVAVIVEKA (also referred to as Bhavya and Bhāviveka). The text is written in verse, accompanied by the author's extensive prose commentary, entitled the TARKAJVĀLĀ. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the TARKAJVĀLĀ only in Tibetan. The work is in eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajNāna), and omniscience (SARVAJNĀTĀ). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the sRĀVAKA, YOGĀCĀRA, SāMkhya, Vaisesika, Vedānta, and MīmāMsā. These chapters (along with sĀNTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA) are a valuable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and the other Indian philosophical schools of the day. The chapter on the srāvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the mainstream Buddhist schools as to why the Mahāyāna SuTRAs are not the word of the Buddha. Bhāvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of Yogācāra in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited.
mahā-upaputra. [alt. mahopaputra] (T. nye ba'i sras chen brgyad; C. ba dapusa; J. hachidai bosatsu; K. p'al taebosal 八大菩薩). In Sanskrit, the "eight close sons"; a group of "eight great BODHISATTVAs" (which is the Chinese translation of the term). They are KsITIGARBHA, ĀKĀsAGARBHA, AVALOKITEsVARA, VAJRAPĀnI, MAITREYA, SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN, SAMANTABHADRA, and MANJUsRĪ. These eight are often depicted flanking the buddhas sĀKYAMUNI or AMITĀBHA. This grouping is known throughout Asia, from northern India, where they appear in ELLORĀ, RATNAGIRI, and NĀLANDĀ, to Japan, as well as Indonesia-indeed, wherever MAHĀYĀNA and tantric Buddhism flourished. They figure as a group in TANTRAs of various classes, where the number of their arms corresponds to the main deity of the MAndALA and their colors correspond to the direction in which they are placed. Textual evidence for the grouping is known from as early as the third century CE, with the Chinese translation of the Ba jixiang shen jing ("Eight Auspicious Spirits Scripture"). Their roles are laid out in the Astamandalakasutra, where the aims of their worship are essentially mundane-absolution from evil, fulfillment of desires, and protection from ills. See also AstAMAHOPAPUTRA.
MahāvairocanābhisaMbodhisutra. (T. Rnam par snang mdzad chen po mngon par rdzogs par byang chub pa rnam par sprul ba byin gyis rlob pa shin tu rgyas pa mdo; C. Da piluzhena chengfo shenbian jiachi jing/Dari jing; J. Daibirushana jobutsu jinben kajikyo/Dainichikyo; K. Tae Pirojana songbul sinbyon kaji kyong /Taeil kyong 大毘盧遮那成佛神 變加持經/大日經). In Sanskrit, "The Discourse on the Enlightenment of Mahāvairocanā"; a scripture also known as the Mahāvairocanasutra and the VairocanābhisaMbodhitantra; the full title of the work is MahāvairocanābhisaMbodhivikurvitādhisthānavaipulyasutra ("Extensive Sutra on the Enlightenment, Transformations, and Empowerment of MAHĀVAIROCANĀ"). This scripture is an early Buddhist TANTRA, which was probably composed sometime between the mid-sixth and seventh centuries, around the time that the MANTRAYĀNA was emerging as distinct strand of MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism; the text is later classified as both a YOGATANTRA and a CARYĀTANTRA. It was first translated into Chinese by sUBHAKARASIMHA and YIXING in 724-725, and would become one of the two most important tantras for East Asian esoteric Buddhism (the other being the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA). The text was translated into Tibetan in the early ninth century; the Tibetan version contains an additional seven chapters, called the "continuation" (uttaratantra), that do not appear in the Chinese version. Among the commentaries to the text, the most important is that of BUDDHAGUYHA and that of the Chinese translators, subhakarasiMha and Yixing. The tantra is set forth as a dialogue between VAJRAPĀnI and the buddha Mahāvairocanā. The central topics of the text are BODHICITTA, KARUnĀ, and UPĀYA, which the buddha VAIROCANA explains are respectively the cause, root, and culmination of his own omniscience. Much of the text deals with the traditional tantric topics of initiation (ABHIsEKA), MANTRA recitation, MUDRĀ, visualization, and the description of the MAndALA.
Main works: Sense and Beauty, 1896; Interpret. of Poetry and Religion, 1900; Life of Reason, 5 vols , 1905-6 (Reason in Common Sense, Reason in Society, Reason in Religion, Reason in Art, Reason in Science); Winds of Doctrine, 1913; Egotism in German Philosophy, 1915; Character and Opinion in the U. S., 1920; Skepticism and Animal Faith, 1923; Realms of Being, 4 vols., 1927-40 (Realm of Essence, Realm of Matter, Realm of Truth, Realm of Spirit). -- B.A.G.F. Sarva-darsana-sangraha: (Skr.) A work by Madhvavacarya, professing to be a collection (sangraha) of all (sarva) philosophic views (darsana) or schools. It includes systems which acknowledge and others which reject Vedic (s.v.) authority, such as the Carvaka, Buddhist and Jaina schools (which see). -- K.F.L.
manaskāra. [alt. manasikāra] (P. manasikāra; T. yid la byed pa; C. zuoyi; J. sai; K. chagŭi 作意). In Sanskrit, "mental engagement," or "attention"; a general term for mental activity, concentration, or attention, with at least two technical senses: as one of the five omnipresent (SARVATRAGA) or seven universal (P. sabbacittasādhārana) mental concomitants (CAITTA), it is the factor that directs the mind to a specific object; in the process of developing calmness or serenity (sAMATHA), there are four levels of increasingly powerful and continuous mental engagement with the object of concentration. See also AYONIsOMANASKĀRA.
mārgajNatā. (T. lam shes; C. daozhi; J. dochi; K. toji 道智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of the paths"; one of the three knowledges (along with SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ and SARVAJNATĀ, or VASTUJNĀNA) set forth in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA. When explained from the perspective of the path that bodhisattvas have to complete in order to reach their goal of full enlightenment, the knowledge of paths is indicated by nine dharmas; these include its special causes (MAHĀKARUnĀ, Mahāyāna GOTRA, and so on), the bodhisattva's paths of accumulation and preparation (called MOKsABHĀGĪYA and NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), a special path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), and a path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) understood from the standpoints of UPĀYA (method) and PRAJNĀ (wisdom). "Method" consists of zealous resolution (ADHIMOKsA) regarding the merit (PUnYA) that derives from the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) and its results; rejoicing (ANUMODANA) in that merit; and dedicating it to the goal of full enlightenment (PARInĀMANĀ). Wisdom consists in innate purity, and the purity that derives from the elimination of obscurations (ĀVARAnA). When described from the perspective of the bodhisattva's actual practice, "knowledge of the paths" refers to the Mahāyāna path of bodhisattvas, including all the aspects (ĀKĀRA) of knowledge that are as yet uninformed by the full knowledge of a buddha (the sarvākārajNatā).
matsthani sarvabhutani ::: all existences are situated in Me. [see the following]
matsthani sarvabhutdni na caham tesvavasthitah ::: all existences are situated in Me, not I in them. [Gita 9.4]
Māyājāla. (T. Sgyu 'phrul dra ba). In Sanskrit, "Magical Net"; a class of TANTRAS. Certain Buddhist tantras from the eighth century onward described themselves as extractions from a massive, and probably mythological, urtext. In Tibet, and particularly within the RNYING MA sect, the Māyājāla ("Magical Net") became associated with the tantras of the MAHĀYOGA class. It is often said that there are eighteen Māyājāla tantras, although sources differ on which tantras should be included in the list. For the Rnying ma, the GUHYAGARBHATANTRA has been the most influential of the Māyājāla tantras, and its MAndALA of one hundred deities (forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities) appears throughout the later Rnying ma ritual traditions. Some scholars have suggested that the similar group of VAJRAsEKHARA tantras, also eighteen in number, represented a precursor to the Māyājāla group. The Vajrasekhara group played a larger role in East Asian tantric Buddhism. While the Vajrasekhara and Māyājāla groups share several titles in common, the Vajrasekhara tantras are generally associated with the YOGATANTRA class, of which the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA is a particularly important member. See also GUHYAGARBHATANTRA.
mayi sarvani karmani samnyasyadhyatmacetasa ::: with a consciousness identified with the Self, renouncing all actions into Me. [Gita 3.30]
ṁ brahman ::: same as sarvaṁ brahma. sarva sarvam ṁ j ñanam
ṁ brahma ::: the realisation of "the Brahman that is the All", in which all the universe is experienced "as the manifestation of the One", the first member of the brahma catus.t.aya; the divine Reality (brahman) seen "as the material & informing presence of the world & each thing it contains". sarva sarvam
mijiao. (J. mikkyo; K. milgyo 密教). In Chinese, "esoteric teachings"; a term used to describe a large body of literature and practices that included both MAHĀYĀNA rituals introduced from India and Central Asia into China beginning in the third and fourth centuries CE, as well as more specifically "tantric" teachings translated into Chinese in the eighth century. Rather than representing a specific independent school, mijiao refers more generically to a range of esoteric practices (including the recitation of MANTRAs and the creation of MAndALAs), which came to be adopted by many of the Buddhist traditions of China. A more systematic form of mijiao appeared in the zhenyan zong (see SHINGONSHu), which flourished during the Tang dynasty, declining in influence after the Huichang persecution (see HUICHANG FANAN) of 842-845. Its adherents included the foreign masters sUBHAKARASIMHA, VAJRABODHI, and AMOGHAVAJRA, each of whom held influential positions at court during the Tang, where the image of the divine king, as well as rituals to protect the state (HUGUO FOJIAO), found favor. Among the most important texts for mijiao were the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA and the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA. See also MIKKYo.
Mimaṁsa (Ananda Mimansa) ::: "inquiry into the nature of bliss", a Sanskrit work. anandam ananda ṁ j ñanam anam anantam anantaṁ sarvam
naham prakasah sarvasya yogamayasamavrtah ::: I am not revealed to any and every being, enveloped in the maya of My yoga. [Gita 7.25]
ñana brahman ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam.
Ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba'i rgyud. See SARVADURGATIPARIsODHANATANTRA
nisyandaphala. (T. rgyu mthun gyi 'bras bu; C. dengliu guo; J. toruka; K. tŭngnyu kwa 等流果). In Sanskrit, lit. "flowing-forth-from effect," "correlative effect," or "uniform-emanation effect"; this is one of the five types of effects or fruitions (PHALA) enumerated in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and the YOGĀCĀRA system. The nisyandaphala is described as an effect that "flows out from" or arises in similarity with, its corresponding cause (HETU)-in this case, specifically the "homogeneous cause" (SABHĀGAHETU) and "all-pervasive cause" (SARVATRAGAHETU)-and is generally described in one of two ways. In the first sense, the effect may correlate with the cause of the previous action. For example, as a result of giving a gift in a past life, a person might enjoy the act of charity in a future life; or, as a result of committing murder in a past life, a person might enjoy killing in a future life. In the second sense, the effect may accord with the experience resulting from the previous action. For example, as a result of being charitable in a past life, one may receive charity in a future life; or as a result of committing murder in a past life, one may be murdered in a future life.
nityah sarvagatah sthanur acaloyam sanatanah ::: eternally stable, immobile, all-pervading it is for ever and ever. [Gita 2.24]
paNcasarvatraga
paNcasarvatraga. (S). See SARVATRAGA.
paNcatathāgata. (T. de bzhin gshegs pa lnga; C. wuzhi rulai/wu fo; J. gochi nyorai/gobutsu; K. ojiyorae/obul 五智如來/五佛). In Sanskrit, "five tathāgatas," a grouping of five buddhas important in tantric Buddhism. They are also known as the "five conquerors" (PANCAJINA) and sometimes in English as the "five DHYĀNI BUDDHAs" (although the term dhyāni buddha is a Western neologism that does not appear in Buddhist texts). The members of the group vary across tantric texts and traditions, but the most common grouping is that derived from the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA. They are VAIROCANA, AKsOBHYA, AMITĀBHA, RATNASAMBHAVA, and AMOGHASIDDHI, the buddhas of the TATHĀGATAKULA, VAJRAKULA, PADMAKULA, RATNAKULA, and KARMAKULA families, respectively. The concept of buddha families began to be formulated with the rise of the MAHĀYĀNA, rooted in earlier Buddhist tendencies to divide practitioners, scripture, deities, and the like into different "families" (GOTRA or KULA). One of the earliest expressions of such a grouping was the trikula system, in which VAJRASATTVA is the buddha of the vajrakula, Vairocana belongs to the tathāgatakula, and AVALOKITEsVARA belongs to the padmakula. The five buddhas were seen as DHARMAKĀYA buddhas, with the number five providing a number of possible homologies, including the five aggregates, the five poisons, the five wisdoms, the five colors, and the five elements. The number five was also important for the MAndALA, with one buddha holding the central position, the other four in the cardinal directions. The five tathāgatas were also integrated into the separate and later concept of the ĀDIBUDDHA, or "primordial buddha," which would become especially important in Newari Buddhism.
pradhānacitta. (P. padhānacitta; T. gtso sems). In Sanskrit, "chief mind," a term used in Buddhist epistemology in the context of treatments of mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CAITTA). A "chief mind" would refer to any instance of the six consciousnesses (citta, here the functional equivalent of VIJNĀNA)-visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousnesses. A moment of any one of these consciousnesses will be accompanied by a combination of various mental concomitants (caitta). These mental concomitants fall into five categories and include the omnipresent (SARVATRAGA), the determining (visayapratiniyama), the virtuous (KUsULA), the root afflictions (MuLAKLEsA), the secondary afflictions (UPAKLEsA), and the indeterminate (ANIYATA). The chief mind and the mental concomitants that accompany it are said to have five similarities. They have the same basis (ĀsRAYA); in the case of sense perception, this would be the same organ. They have the same object (ĀLAMBANA). They are produced in the same aspect (ĀKĀRA) or image of the object. They occur at the same time (KĀLA). Finally, they are the same entity (DRAVYA), in the sense that the mind and its mental factors are produced, abide, and cease simultaneously.
PrajNāpāramitāsarvatathāgatamātā-Ekāksarā
PrajNāpāramitāsarvatathāgatamātā-Ekāksarā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi yum yi ge gcig ma). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter, the Mother of All Tathāgatas." The shortest of all the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, it reads in its entirety: "Thus have I heard. At one time, the Lord (BHAGAVAT) was dwelling on Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) with a great assembly of 1,250 monks and many millions of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Lord said this to the venerable ĀNANDA: 'Ānanda, keep this perfection of wisdom in one letter for the benefit and happiness of sentient beings. It is thus: A.' So spoke the Lord and everyone-Ānanda, the monks, the BODHISATTVA-MAHĀSATTVAs-having understood and admired the perfection of wisdom, praised what the Lord had said." "The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter" thus refers to the letter "a," the first letter of the Indic alphabet. See also A; AJIKAN.
purusa evedam sarvam karma tapo brahma paramrtam ::: it is the divine soul that is all this, even all action and all active force and brahman and the supreme immortality. [cf. Mund. 2.1.10]
p'yonhaeng in 遍行因. See SARVATRAGAHETU
p'yonhaeng 遍行. See SARVATRAGA
rasah., pritir anandah. [iti sarvanandah.] ::: rasa, priti and ananda rasah, constitute sarvananda or complete delight. rasaj ñanam
Ratnameghasutra. (T. Dkon mchog sprin gyi mdo; C. Baoyun jing; J. Houngyo; K. Poun kyong 寶雲經). The "Cloud of Jewels," an important Mahāyāna sutra, perhaps dating from the third or fourth century CE. It opens with the Buddha residing on the peak of Mt. Gayāsīrsa when the BODHISATTVA SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHĪ approaches the Buddha and asks him more than one hundred questions ranging from the practice of giving (DĀNA) and the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) to the means of swiftly attaining ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI. The Buddha's answers to these questions are widely quoted in later sĀSTRAS. In China, during the Ming dynasty, there were charges that interpolations were made in the sutra during the reign of the Empress WU ZETIAN in order to legitimize her usurpation of the throne. These interpolations included the story of Prince Moonlight (Yueguang tongzi), who received a prediction from the Buddha that he would later become a great queen in China.
Ratnapāni. (T. Lag na rin chen; C. Baoshou pusa; J. Hoshu bosatsu; K. Posu posal 寶手菩薩). In Sanskrit, lit. "Bejeweled Hand" i.e., "one whose hand holds a jewel"; the name of a BODHISATTVA who is most often associated with the buddha RATNASAMBHAVA, one of the five TATHĀGATAs (PANCATATHĀGATA) who are associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA's VAJRADHĀTU and GARBHADHĀTU MAndALAs. Ratnapāni is usually depicted as seated with his right hand in the "gesture of generosity" or "boon-granting gesture" (VARADAMUDRĀ); his left hand sits in his lap and holds a wish-fulfilling gem (CINTĀMAnI).
Revata. (T. Nam gru; C. Lipoduo; J. Ribata; K. Ibada 離婆多). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an important ARHAT who was foremost among the Buddha's monk disciples in mastery of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA; P. JHĀNA). He is typically known as "doubting Revata" (KĀnKsĀ-REVATA; P. Kankhā-Revata), to distinguish him from several other Revatas who appear in the literature, because prior to his enlightenment he is said to have been troubled by doubt concerning what was permissible and what was not. According to the Pāli account, Revata was born into a wealthy family in the city of Sāvitthi (S. sRĀVASTĪ). One day he heard the Buddha preach in Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU) and resolved to renounce the world and enter the order. He attained arhatship by relying on dhyāna, and his exceptional skill in these meditative states won him distinction. Revata had resolved to attain this distinction in a previous life as a brāhmana when, during the time of the buddha Padmottara, he heard the Buddha describe one of his disciples as preeminent in his attainment of dhyāna. In another famous story, the mother of Uttara had been reborn as a hungry ghost (S. PRETA, P. peta) and after fifty-five years of wandering, encountered Revata and begged him for relief. He relieved her suffering by making various offerings to the SAMGHA in her name. ¶ There was a later monk named Revata who played a major role at the second Buddhist council (SAMGĪTI; see COUNCIL, SECOND) held at VAIsĀLĪ. Some one hundred years after the death of the Buddha, the monk YAsAS was traveling in Vaisālī when he observed the monks there receiving alms in the form of gold and silver directly from the laity, in violation of the prohibition against monks' touching gold and silver. He also found that the monks had identified ten points in the VINAYA that were classified as violations but that they had determined were sufficiently minor to be ignored. Yasas challenged the monks on these practices, but when he refused to accept their bribes to keep quiet, they expelled him from the order. Yasas sought support of several respected monks in the west, including sĀnAKAVĀSĪN and Revata, and together they traveled to Vaisālī. Once there, Revata went to Sarvagāmin, the eldest monk of his era, who is said to have been a disciple of ĀNANDA, to question him about these ten points. At Revata's suggestion, a jury of eight monks was appointed to adjudicate, with four representatives selected from each party. Revata was selected as one of four from the party declaring the ten practices to be violations, and it was Revata who publically put the questions to Sarvagāmin. In each case, the senior monk said that the practice in question was a violation of the vinaya. Seven hundred monks then gathered to recite the vinaya. Those who did not accept the decision of the council held their own convocation, which they called the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA, or "Great Assembly." This event is sometimes said to have led to the first "great schism" within the mainstream Buddhist tradition, between the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, or Fraternity of the Elders, and the MahāsāMghika.
Ruixiye jing 蕤耶經. See SARVAMAndALASĀMĀNYAVIDHIGUHYATANTRA
sabbaNNutāNāna. See SARVAJNATĀJNĀNA
sādhana. (T. sgrub thabs; C. chengjiu fa; J. jojuho; K. songch'wi pop 成就法). In Sanskrit, "method" or "technique," used especially in reference to a tantric ritual designed to receive attainments (SIDDHI) from a deity. Tantric sādhanas generally take one of two forms. In the first, the deity (which may be a buddha, BODHISATTVA, or another deity) is requested to appear before the meditator and is then worshipped in the expectation of receiving blessings. In the other type of tantric sādhana, the meditator imagines himself or herself to be the deity at this very moment, that is, to have the exalted body, speech, and mind of an enlightened being. Tantric sādhanas tend to follow a fairly set sequence, whether they are simple or detailed. More elaborate sādhanas may include the recitation of a lineage of GURUs; the creation of a protection wheel guarded by wrathful deities to subjugate enemies; the creation of a body MAndALA, in which a pantheon of deities take residence at various parts of the meditator's body, etc. Although there are a great many variations of content and sequence, in many sādhanas, the meditator is instructed to imagine light radiating from the body, thus beckoning buddhas and bodhisattvas from throughout the universe. Visualizing these deities arrayed in the space, the meditator then performs a series of standard preliminary practices called the sevenfold service (SAPTĀnGAVIDHI), a standard component of sādhanas. The seven elements are (1) obeisance, (2) offering (often concluding with a gift of the entire physical universe with all its marvels), (3) confession of misdeeds, (4) admiration of the virtuous deeds of others, (5) entreaty to the buddhas not to pass into NIRVĀnA, (6) supplication of the buddhas and bodhisattvas to teach the dharma, and (7) dedication of the merit of performing the preceding toward the enlightenment of all beings. The meditator then goes for refuge to the three jewels (RATNATRAYA), creates the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTA; BODHICITTOTPĀDA), the promise to achieve buddhahood in order to liberate all beings in the universe from suffering, and dedicates the merit from the foregoing and subsequent practices toward that end. The meditator next cultivates the four "boundless" attitudes (APRAMĀnA) of loving-kindness (MAITRĪ), compassion (KARUnĀ), empathetic joy (MUDITĀ), and equanimity or impartiality (UPEKsĀ), before meditating on emptiness (suNYATĀ) and reciting the purificatory mantra, oM svabhāvasuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāvasuddho 'haM ("OM, naturally pure are all phenomena, naturally pure am I"), understanding that emptiness is the primordial nature of everything, the unmoving world and the beings who move upon it. Out of this emptiness, the meditator next creates the mandala. The next step in the sādhana is for the meditator to animate the residents of the mandala by causing the actual buddhas and bodhisattvas, referred to as "wisdom beings" (JNĀNASATTVA), to descend and merge with their imagined doubles, the "pledge beings" (SAMAYASATTVA). Light radiates from the meditator's heart, drawing the wisdom beings to the mandala where, through offerings and the recitation of mantra, they are prompted to enter the residents of the mandala. With the preliminary visualization now complete, the stage is set for the central meditation of the sādhana, which varies depending upon the purpose of the sādhana. Generally, offerings and prayers are made to a sequence of deities and boons are requested from them, each time accompanied with the recitation of appropriate MANTRA. At the end of the session, the meditator makes mental offerings to the assembly before inviting them to leave, at which point the entire visualization, the palace and its residents, dissolve into emptiness. The sādhana ends with a dedication of the merit accrued to the welfare of all beings.
Saishobutchodarani jojogoshojukyo 最勝佛頂陀羅尼淨除業障呪經. See SARVADURGATIPARIsODHANATANTRA
samādhi. (T. ting nge 'dzin; C. sanmei; J. sanmai; K. sammae 三昧). In Sanskrit, "concentration"; a foundational term in Buddhist meditation theory and practice, which is related to the ability to establish and maintain one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ) on a specific object of concentration. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA and the YOGĀCĀRA school list samādhi as one of a group of five determinative (VINIYATA) mental concomitants (CAITTA), whose function is to aid the mind in ascertaining or determining its object. The five are: aspiration or desire-to-act (CHANDA), determination or resolve (ADHIMOKsA), mindfulness or memory (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom or cognition (PRAJNĀ). According to ASAnGA, these five determinative factors accompany wholesome (KUsALA) states of mind, so that if one is present, all are present. In Pāli ABHIDHAMMA materials, concentration is one of the seven mental factors (P. cetasika) that are invariably associated with all moments of consciousness (CITTA, MANAS, or VIJNĀNA). Concentration occurs in many other important lists, including as the second of the three trainings (TRIsIKsĀ), and the last stage of the eightfold path (ĀRYĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). Concentration is distinguished according to the quality of consciousness with which it is associated. "Right concentration" (SAMYAKSAMĀDHI, P. sammāsamādhi) is concentration associated with wholesome (KUsALA) states of mind; it is listed not only as one element of the eightfold noble path, but as one of seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA, P. bojjhanga), and, in an incipient state, as one of five powers (BALA) and the other categories that together make up the BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA (thirty-seven factors associated with awakening). High degrees of concentration can be developed through the practice of meditation (BHĀVANĀ). Concentration of such intensity receives the designation "one-pointedness of mind" (cittaikāgratā). When developed to its greatest degree, mental concentration leads to the attainment of DHYĀNA (P. JHĀNA), "meditative absorption." It is also the main mental factor defining the four magical powers (ṚDDHIPĀDA, P. iddhipāda). The cultivation of concentration for the purposes of attaining meditative absorption is called tranquillity meditation (sAMATHA). In the Pāli abhidhamma, three levels of concentration are distinguished in the practice of tranquility meditation: (1) preparatory concentration (PARIKAMMASAMĀDHI) is the degree of concentration established at the beginning of a meditation session. (2) Access or neighborhood concentration (UPACĀRASAMĀDHI) arises just as the practitioner approaches but does not enter the first level of meditative absorption; it is marked by the appearance in the mind of a representational image (PAtIBHĀGANIMITTA) of the object of meditation. (3) "Attainment" or "full" concentration (APPANĀSAMĀDHI) is the level of concentration that arises upon entering and abiding in any of the meditative absorptions. In the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, a wide variety of profound meditative experiences are described as samādhis and are mentioned as attainments of the bodhisattva as he ascends through the ten BHuMIs. The MAHĀVYUTPATTI lists 118 different samādhis that are specified by name in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, such as candravimala (stainless moon), sarvadharmodgata (surpassing all dharmas), siMhavikrīdita (lion's play), anantaprabha (limitless light), and acala (immovable). See also YATHĀBHuTAJNĀNADARsANA.
saMjNā. (P. saNNā; T. 'du shes; C. xiang; J. so; K. sang 想). In Sanskrit, "perception," "discrimination," or "(conceptual) identification." The term has both positive and negative connotations. As one of the five omnipresent factors (SARVATRAGA) among the listings of mental concomitants (CAITTA, P. CETASIKA) in the VAIBĀsIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and in the YOGĀCĀRA school, saMjNā might best be translated as "discrimination," referring to the mental function of differentiating and identifying objects through the apprehension of their specific qualities. SaMjNā perceives objects in such a way that when the object is perceived again it can be readily recognized and categorized conceptually. In this perceptual context, there are six varieties of saMjNā, each derived from one of the six sense faculties. Thus we have perception of visual objects (rupasaMjNā), perception of auditory objects (sabdasaMjNā), perception of mental objects (dharmasaMjNā), and so on. As the third of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), saMjNā is used in this sense, particularly as the factor that perceives pleasant or unpleasant sensations as being such, giving rise to attraction, aversion and other afflictions (KLEsA) that motivate action (KARMAN). In the compound "equipoise of nonperception" (ASAMJNĀSAMĀPATTI), saMjNā refers to mental activities that, when temporarily suppressed, bring respite from tension. Some accounts interpret this state positively to mean that the perception aggregate itself is no longer functioning, implying a state of rest with the cessation of all conscious thought. In other accounts, however, asaMjNāsamāpatti is characterized as a nihilistic state of mental dormancy, which some non-Buddhist teachers had mistakenly believed to be the ultimate, permanent quiescence of the mind and to have become attached to this state as if it were final liberation. In Pāli materials, saNNā may also refer to "concepts" or "perceptions" that may be used as objects of meditation. The Pāli canon offers several of these meditative objects, such as the perception of impermanence (aniccasaNNā, see S. ANITYA), the perception of danger (ĀDĪNAVA-saNNā), the perception of repugnance (patighasaNNā, see PRATIGHA), and so on.
saMskāra. (P. sankhāra; T. 'du byed; C. xing; J. gyo; K. haeng 行). In Sanskrit, a polysemous term that is variously translated as "formation," "volition," "volitional action," "conditioned," "conditioning factors." In its more passive usage (see SAMSKṚTA, P. sankhata), saMskāra refers to anything that has been formed, conditioned, or brought into being. In this early denotation, the term is a designation for all things and persons that have been brought into being dependent on causes and conditions. It is in this sense that the Buddha famously remarked that "all conditioned things (saMskāra) are impermanent" (anityāḥ sarvasamskārāḥ), the first of the four criteria that "seal" a view as being authentically Buddhist (see CATURNIMITTA). In its more active sense, saMskāra as latent "formations" left in the mind by actions (KARMAN) refers to that which forms or conditions other things. In this usage, the term is equivalent in meaning to action. It is in this sense that saMskāra serves as the second link in the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). There, saMskāra refers specifically to volition (CETANĀ) and as such assumes the karmically active role of perpetuating the rebirth process; alternatively, in the YOGĀCĀRA school, saMskāra refers to the seeds (BĪJA) left in the foundation or storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA). SaMskāra is also the name for the fourth of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), where it includes a miscellany of phenomena that are both formed and in the process of formation, i.e., the large collection of factors that cannot be conveniently classified with the other four aggregates of materiality (RuPA), sensation (VEDANĀ), perception (SAMJNĀ), and consciousness (VIJNĀNA). This fourth aggregate includes both those conditioning factors associated with mind (CITTASAMPRAYUKTASAMSKĀRA), such as the mental concomitants (CAITTA), as well as those conditioning forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKĀRA), such as time, duration, the life faculty, and the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI).
samudācāra. (T. kun tu spyod pa; C. xianxing; J. gengyo; K. hyonhaeng 現行). In Sanskrit, the term has two important denotations: "proper conduct," or "intention, purpose, habitual idea"; and "manifest action." Samudācāra designates religious action that is undertaken for the sake of attaining liberation for oneself and either liberation or an improved state of rebirth for others. Thus, the term can refer to a buddha's unceasing effort and the influence he exerts to help beings attain liberation. In its description of the first BHuMI, the MAHĀVASTU lists eight types of samudācāra for a BODHISATTVA. These are generosity (tyāga), compassion (KARUnĀ), relentlessness (aparikheda), humility (amāna), study of all the treatises (sarvasāstrādhyāyitā), courage (vikrama), social skills (lokānujNā), and resolve (dhṛti). Deriving from its denotation of volitional impulse, samudācāra also comes to be used in the YOGĀCĀRA school to indicate the emergence of conditioned factors (saMskṛtadharma) from the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA, since, once they have arisen and are no longer dormant, they influence conscious action. In the context of Yogācāra thought, then, samudācāra is often translated as "manifest action." The term is also used in the sense of the special qualities of the practice of bodhisattvas, who are habituated to the ultimate nature of things (TATHATĀ, literally, "suchness"). The dependent origination of an action and the ultimate way in which that action occurs are inseparable; hence samudācāra, and in particular actions prompted by the aspiration for enlightenment, are "manifest actions." In tantric literature, the term is used for the four types of activities, also known as the CATURKARMAN.
Saratman (Sanskrit) Sarvātman [from sarva all + ātman self] The all-self; in the Vedas, the all-pervading spirit of the universe.
sarva. ::: all; everything; complete
sarva ::: all; the All; same as sarvaṁ brahma.
sarva ::: all, the All. sarvah [nominative, masculine] ::: sarvam [nominative, neuter] ::: sarvesu [locative plural], in all.
sarva ananta jñana ananda Kr.s.n.a (sarva ananta jnana ananda Krishna) ::: Kr.s.n.a as the fourfold brahman in its personal aspect. sarva ananta jñana
sarva-ananta ::: same as sarvam anantam. sarva-ananta-j ñana
sarvabhavena ::: in every way of his being. [Gita 15.19]
sarvabhutahite ::: in the good of all creatures. ::: [see the following]
sarvabhutahite ratah ::: busied with and delighting in the good of all creatures. ::: sarvabhutahite ratah [plural] [Gita 5.25; 12.4]
sarvabhuta-mahesvara ::: [the great Lord of all beings]. [cf. Gita 5.29]
sarvabhutanam hrddese ::: hidden in the heart of all existences. [Gita 18.61]
sarvabhutani ::: all existences.
sarvabhutani atmaivabhud vijanatah ::: it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge. [cf. Isa 7]
sarvabhutasthitam yo mam bhajati ekatvam asthitah ::: who loves Me in all and his soul is founded on (the divine) oneness. [Gita 6.31]
sarvabhutatmabhutatma ::: [one] whose self has become the self of all existences. [Gita 5.7]
sarvabhutesu ::: in all existences.
sarvabhūtes.u (ishwaradarshana sarvabhuteshu) ::: vision of the Lord in all existences.
sarvabhūtes.u (sarvabhuteshu) ::: in all beings. sarvabhutesu
sarva brahma; sarva brahman ::: same as sarvaṁ brahma.
sarvadarsana (sarvadarshana) ::: vision of all; especially, the vision of sarvadarsana ananda on every plane. sarvakarmas sarvakarmasamarthya
sarvadharman ::: all dharmas. ::: [see the following]
sarvadharman parityajya ::: [having abandoned all dharmas]. [Gita 18.66]
sarvagatam acalam ::: all-pervading, motionless. [cf. Gita 2.24]
sarvagatam brahma ::: the all-pervading brahman. ::: [cf. the following]
sarvagatam yajne pratisthitam ::: all-pervading, established in the sacrifice. [Gita 3.15]
sarva-guhyatamam ::: a most secret truth of all. [Gita 18.64]
sarvah ::: see under sarva
sarvair vedair aham eva vedyah ::: I am that which is known by all the Vedas. [cf. Gita 15.15]
sarvajna. ::: knowing everything; omniscience
sarvajnana-samarthya ::: [capacity for all knowledge]; integral capacity of the thinking intelligence.
sarva-jnana-vimudhan nastan acetasah ::: [the insensible, bewildered in all knowledge and (fated to be) destroyed]. [Gita 3.32]
sarvajNatājNāna. (P. sabbaNNutāNāna; T. thams cad mkhyen pa'i ye shes; C. yiqiezhi zhi; J. issaichichi; K. ilch'eji chi 一切智智). In Sanskrit, "omniscient knowledge"; a buddha's knowledge of all the grounds (vastu) of the knowledge of defiled (SAMKLIstA) and purified (visuddha, see VIsUDDHI) dharmas systematized in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and its commentarial tradition, sarvajNatājNāna also refers to the knowledge of the four noble truths in the mental continuum of a bodhisattva or buddha. See SARVAJNATĀ.
sarvajNatājNāna
sarvajNatā. (P. sabbaNNu; T. kun shes/thams cad mkhyen pa; C. yiqie zhi; J. issaichi; K. ilch'e chi 一切智). In Sanskrit, "all-knower," "all-knowledge," or "omniscience"; in early versions of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, the name for a buddha's knowledge; later, the term was used for the knowledge of a sRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA, in contrast to a buddha's knowledge of all aspects (SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ), which is reached by cultivating a bodhisattva's knowledge of the paths (MĀRGAJNATĀ). The "all" (sarva) means all the grounds (vastu) of the knowledge of defiled (SAMKLIstA) and pure (visuddha, see VIsUDDHI) dharmas systematized in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and VIMUKTISENA's commentary to that text, sarvajNatā has both a positive and a negative meaning. In the opening verses of the AbhisamayālaMkāra, for example, sarvajNatā is called the mother of the perfection of wisdom. In such cases it is a positive term for the part of a buddha's knowledge that is shared in common with srāvakas, and so on. In the third chapter of the same work, sarvajNatā is a negative term used to identify the absence of skillful means (UPĀYA) and the lack of the total absence of subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) in srāvakas, in order to point clearly to the superiority of the BODHISATTVA path.
sarvajNatā
sarvajnatva. ::: omniscience
sarvākārajNatā. (T. rnam pa thams cad mkhyen pa; C. yiqiezhong zhi; J. issaishuchi; K. ilch'ejong chi 一切種智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of all aspects," the preferred term in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and its commentaries for the omniscience of a buddha, which simultaneously perceives all phenomena in the universe and their final nature. When explained from the perspective of the goal that bodhisattvas will reach, the knowledge of all aspects is indicated by ten dharmas, among which are cittotpāda (cf. BODHICITTOTPĀDA), defining all the stages of all the Buddhist paths; AVAVĀDA, defining all the instructions relevant to those stages, the stages leading to the elimination of the subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) along the entire range of accomplishments up to and including the state of enlightenment itself (see also NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA); the substratum (GOTRA), objective supports (ĀLAMBANA) and aims (uddesa) of the practice; and the practices (PRATIPATTI) incorporating the full range of skillful means (UPĀYAKAUsALYA) necessary to turn the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA) in all its variety. When described from the perspective of the bodhisattva's practice that leads to it, sarvākārajNatā has 173 aspects: twenty-seven aspects of a sRĀVAKA's knowledge of the four noble truths (SARVAJNATĀ), thirty-six aspects of a BODHISATTVA's knowledge of paths (MĀRGAJNATĀ) and one hundred ten aspects that are unique to a buddha. These are again set forth as the thirty-seven aspects of all-knowledge, thirty-four aspects of the knowledge of the paths, and the thirty-nine aspects of the knowledge of all aspects itself. See also ĀKĀRA.
sarvakarmani josayan ::: helping them to do all actions with joy and acceptance. [cf. Gita 3.26]
sarvakarmani samnyasya ::: [having given up all actions]. [Gita 5.13; 18.57]
sarvakarmani ::: works of all kinds.
sarvakrt ::: [doer of all (actions)].
sarvalokadr.s.t.i (sarvalokadrishti) ::: vision of all the worlds. sarvalokadrsti
sarvalokamahesvaram suhrdam sarvabhutanam ::: the Lord of all worlds (who is) the friend of all creatures. [Gita 5.29]
sarvam anantam anandaṁ brahma ::: sarvam anantam combined with anandaṁ brahma. sarvam anantam anandam anandaṁ brahma-purusa
sarvam anantam jnanam anandam brahma iti brahmacatustayam ::: see these words separately
sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandam ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandaṁ brahma.
sarvam anantaṁ jñanaṁ brahma ::: same as sarvam anantaṁ jñanam.
sarvam anantam ::: sarvaṁ brahma combined with anantaṁ brahma.
sarvamangalam ::: all good.
sarvamatma. ::: knower and the non-knower of the Self
sarvamaya ::: Kr.s.n.a seen "as the All, not only in the unique essence of things, but in the manifold form of things", the first degree of the third intensity of Kr.s.n.adarsana, a kind of vision of the divine Personality corresponding to sarvaṁ brahma in the impersonal brahmadarsana. sarva sarvam
— sarvaṁ brahma, anantaṁ brahma, jñanaṁ brahma and anandaṁ brahma: these constitute the brahma catus.t.aya.
sarvaṁ (brahma) ::: brahman as Bliss, as Knowledge, as the Infinite, as the All; the formula of the brahma catus.t.aya with its terms in reverse order. ananda purus ananda purusa
sarvam brahma ::: the brahman (that) is the All.
sarvam idam ::: all this, all that is here (the common phrase in the Upanisads for the totality of the phenomena in the mobility of the universe).
sarvam karmakhilam (partha) jnane parisamapyate ::: all the totality of works [O Partha (Arjuna)] finds its rounded culmination in knowledge. [Gita 4.33]
sarvam khalvidam brahma. ::: "All of this is Brahman"; "All of this, including me, is that absolute Reality"; one of the Mahavakyas
sarvam khalvidam (khalu idam) brahma ::: verily all this that is is the brahman. [Chand. 3.14.1]
sarvam ::: same as sarvaṁ brahma. sarvam anandam
sarvam ::: see under sarva
sarvananda ::: complete delight; a term for active / positive samata, sarvananda including all its three stages; universal ananda. sarv sarvarambhan
sarvani bhutani atmaiva abhut ::: the Self-Being [atman] became all Becomings. [Isa 7]
sarvani vijnana-vijrmbhitani ::: all things are self-deployings of the Divine Knowledge. [cf. Visnu Purana 2.12.39]
sarvapapaih pramucyate ::: is delivered from all sin. [Gita 10.3]
sarvapapam ::: all evil. [Kaivalya 1]
sarvarambhah ::: all inceptions. [Gita 18.48]
sarvarambha-parityagi ::: one who has flung away from him all initiation. [Gita 14.25]
sarvasaundaryabodha ::: the sense of universal beauty, "a delightperception and taste of the absolute reality all-beautiful in everything". sarvasaundarya darsana
sarvasaundaryam ::: see sarvasaundarya.
sarvasaundarya (sarvasaundarya; sarva-saundarya; sarvasaundaryam) ::: all-beauty; the "universal Beauty which we feel in Nature . and man and in all that is around us", reflecting "some transcendent Beauty of which all apparent beauty here is only a symbol"; short for sarvasaundaryabodha or sarvasaundarya darsana.
Sarvāstivāda. (T. Thams cad yod par smra ba; C. Shuo yiqieyou bu/Sapoduo bu; J. Setsuissaiubu/Satsubatabu; K. Sorilch'eyu pu/Salbada pu 一切有部/薩婆多部). In Sanskrit, "Teaching that All Exists," one of the most influential of all the mainstream (that is, non-Mahāyāna) schools of Indian Buddhism, named after its doctrine that all conditioned factors (DHARMA) continue to exist (sarvam asti) throughout all three time periods (TRIKĀLA) of past, present, and future. The Sarvāstivāda had one of the most elaborate ABHIDHARMA canons (ABHIDHARMAPItAKA) in all of Buddhism and the school was especially known for its distinctive and influential dharma theory. The Sarvāstivāda identified seventy-five dharmas that the school held were substantially existent (dravyasat) and endowed with intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA): viz., the five sense organs (INDRIYA), the five sense objects, nonmanifest materiality (AVIJNAPTIRuPA), mind (CITTA), forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA), fourteen conditioned forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKĀRA), and three unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA) factors. Although the conditioned dharmas always existed, they still were impermanent and thus still moved between temporal periods because of specific "forces dissociated from thought" (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKĀRA): the "compounded characteristics" (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA, CATURLAKsAnA) of origination (JĀTI), continuance (STHITI), "senescence" or decay (JARĀ), and "desinence," viz., extinction (ANITYATĀ). In the Sarvāstivāda treatment of causality, these four characteristics were forces that exerted real power over compounded objects, escorting those objects along the causal path until the force "desinence" finally extinguished them; this rather tortured explanation was necessary in order to explain how factors that the Sarvāstivāda school posited continued to exist in all three time periods yet still appeared to undergo change. Even after enlightenment, those dharmas still continued to exist, although they were then effectively "canceled out" through the force of the "nonanalytical suppressions" (APRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA), which kept in check the production of all types of dharmas, ensuring that they remained positioned in future mode forever and were never again able to arise in the present. This distinctive dharma theory of the Sarvāstivāda was probably what the MADHYAMAKA philosopher NĀGĀRJUNA was reacting against in his clarion call that all dharmas were devoid of intrinsic existence (NIḤSVABHĀVA) and thus characterized by emptiness (suNYATĀ). The Sarvāstivāda school's elaborate abhidharma was also the inspiration for the still more intricate "Mahāyāna abhidharma" of the YOGĀCĀRA school (see BAIFA), which drew much of its classification scheme and many of its specific dharmas directly from the Sarvāstivāda. In describing the path of the ARHAT, the Sarvāstivāda set forth a five-stage path system (PANCAMĀRGA, of accumulation/equipment, preparation, vision, cultivation, and no further learning) for the ARHAT and asserted that the BODHISATTVA practices six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) in the course of his training. This five-stage path was also adopted by the Yogācāra in its own theory of the bodhisattva MĀRGA. The Sarvāstivāda developed an elaborate view of the Buddha and the events of his life, as represented in the famous LALITAVISTARA. In its view of death and rebirth, Sarvāstivāda accepted the reality of the "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA) between rebirths, which in the Sarvāstivāda analysis could range from instantaneous rebirth, to rebirth after a week, indeterminate duration, and as many as forty-nine days; the latter figure seems to have become dominant in later traditions, including Mahāyāna, after it was adopted by the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA and the YOGĀCĀRABHuMI. The Sarvāstivāda was one of the main subgroups of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA (School of the Elders), which split with the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA in the first centuries following the Buddha's death. The Sarvāstivāda evolved as one of the three major subdivisions of the Sthaviranikāya, perhaps as early as a century or two following the first schism, but certainly no later than the first century CE. Sarvāstivāda was one of the most enduring and widespread of the mainstream Buddhist schools. It was especially important in northern India in such influential Buddhist regions as KASHMIR and GANDHĀRA and eventually along the SILK ROAD in some of the Indo-European petty kingdoms of the Tarim River basin, such as KUCHA. Its geographical location along the major overland trade routes also led to it becoming the major mainstream school known to East Asian Buddhism. The Sarvāstivāda school includes an important subgroup, the VAIBHĀsIKA ("Followers of the Vibhāsā"), who were the ĀBHIDHARMIKAs associated with the Sarvāstivāda school, especially in Kashmir in northwestern India but also in Gandhāra and even BACTRIA. Because these masters considered their teachings to be elaborations of doctrines found in the encyclopedic Sarvāstivāda abhidharma treatise, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ, they typically referred to themselves as Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāsika or simply Vaibhāsika. This group was later also distinguished from the MuLASARVĀSTIVĀDA ("Root Sarvāstivāda"), a distinction that may have originated in a dispute over VINAYA recensions between the northwestern Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāsika school in Kashmir and Gandhāra and the Sarvāstivāda school of MATHURĀ in north-central India. The Mulasarvāstivāda is best known for its massive MuLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA, one of the oldest and by far the largest (by up to a factor of four) of the major monastic codes (see VINAYAPItAKA) of the mainstream Buddhist schools; because of its eclectic content, it functioned almost as a proto-canon. The Mulasarvāstivāda vinaya is the monastic code still followed today in the Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. See also SAUTRĀNTIKA.
sarvasundara (sarvasundara; sarva-sundara) ::: (Kr.s.n.a as) the Allbeautiful.
sarvasunya. ::: the state devoid of all sense objects
SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA (vol. 18, no. 866)
sarvatati ::: the formation or "extension' of the universal being. [Ved.]
sarvatha vartamanopi ::: however -- even in all kinds of ways -- he lives and acts ... ::: [see the following]
sarvatha vartamanopi sa yogi mayi vartate ::: however -- even in all kinds of ways -- he lives and acts, that yogin lives and acts in Me. [Gita 6.31]
sarvatma bhava. ::: the state of experiencing the Self as all; abidance in oneness
sarvatra ::: everywhere.
sarvatragah ::: all-pervading. [Gita 9.6]
sarvatragahetu
sarvatragahetu. (T. kun 'gro'i rgyu; C. bianxing yin; J. hengyoin; K. p'yonhaeng in 遍行因). In Sanskrit, "allpervasive," or "universally active," "cause," the fifth of the six types of causes (HETU) outlined in the JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central text of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA. This type of cause refers to the fact that the unwholesome proclivities (ANUsAYA) of mind produce not only identical types of subsequent proclivities, but also serve as the root cause of all other types of afflictions, thus obstructing a person's capacity to understand the true nature of reality. The unwholesome cause and effect must occur in the same realm (such as the RuPADHĀTU), but the cause and effect can be different types of unwholesome states, e.g., ignorance can produce attachment.
sarvatraga
sarvatragati ::: (literally) going everywhere; same as visvagati. sarvavastus sarvavastusu
sarvatraga. (T. kun 'gro; C. bianxing; J. hengyo; K. p'yonhaeng 遍行). In Sanskrit, "all-pervasive" or "omnipresent"; referring specifically to the five omnipresent (sarvatraga) mental concomitants (CAITTA) that are present to varying degrees in all conscious states according to the analysis of the YOGĀCĀRA ABHIDHARMA. These five factors are: sensory contact (SPARsA), sensation (VEDANĀ), volition (CETANĀ), perception or discrimination (SAMJNĀ), and attention (MANASKĀRA). It is not possible to identify consciousness or mind (CITTA) except through these omnipresent factors; each has a specific mental function, and when these functions operate together they produce what is conventionally called a conscious state or mind. Thus manaskāra functions as a basic level of mental activity; cetanā functions to make consciousness nonarbitrary, giving consciousness intention relative to its object; sparsa functions to connect consciousness with its object; vedanā extends mere contact into the realm of sentient experience; and saMjNā functions to differentiate and identify a particular object. These five factors are included among the ten MAHĀBHuMIKA dharmas in the seventy-five dharmas of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school. In the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA, there are seven mental factors (P. cetisika) that are associated with all states of consciousness, these five together with concentration (SAMĀDHI) and mental vitality (JĪVITA).
sarvavid ::: all-knowing, a whole-knower. [Gita 15.19]
sarvavit sarvabhavena ::: that whole-knower ... with his whole being (in every way of his nature). [Gita 15.19]
Sarvesa (Sanskrit) Sarveśa [from sarva all + īśa lord, ruler] The lord of all; the supreme spirit, the hierarch of the universe, which can be connected either with Brahman considered as the First Logos, or with Brahma considered as the Third Logos.
sarvesu ::: see under sarva
sat brahman (sat brahman; sat-brahman) ::: brahman as universal Being, same as sarvaṁ brahma; "Existence pure, indefinable, infinite, absolute, . . . the fundamental Reality which Vedantic experience discovers behind all the movement and formation which constitute the apparent reality".
sattvanurupa sarvasya sraddha ::: the faith of each man takes the shape given to it by his stuff of being. [Gita 17.3]
sattvārtha. (T. sems can gyi don; C. raoyi youqing; J. nyoyakuujo; K. yoik yujong 饒益有情). In Sanskrit, the "welfare of sentient beings," a term that occurs in Buddhist morality in the phrase sattvārthakriyāsīla, "the precept of acting for the welfare of sentient beings," the third of the bodhisattva's "three sets of pure precepts" (trividhāni sīlāni, see sĪLATRAYA) as systematized in the BODHISATTVABHuMI. This set refers to practices that accrue to the welfare of others, in distinction to the saMvarasīla, or "restraining precepts," which refers to the HĪNAYĀNA rules of discipline (PRĀTIMOKsA) that help adepts restrain themselves from all types of unwholesome conduct; and practicing all types of virtuous deeds (kusaladharmasaMgrāhakasīla), which accumulates the various sorts of wholesome conduct. The welfare of sentient beings emphasizes a more active involvement in the lives of others through such deeds as nursing the sick, offering charity to the poor, protecting the helpless from harm, comforting the afflicted, and providing hospitality to travelers. It also includes more unusual forms of aid, such as using one's supranormal powers to reveal to potential transgressors the consequences of suffering in hell. The welfare of sentient beings is ultimately achieved by teaching them the dharma. In the case of the bodhisattva, sarvasattvārtha, the "welfare of all sentient beings," is one of the two goals that bodhisattvas have vowed to achieve, the other being buddhahood. It is said that by achieving buddhahood, the bodhisattva fulfills two aims or goals, his own welfare (SVĀRTHA) and the welfare of others (PARĀRTHA), the latter term being a synonym of sattvārtha. Of the three buddha bodies (BUDDHAKĀYA), the SAMBHOGAKĀYA and NIRMĀnAKĀYA are described as bodies that serve the welfare of others, and the DHARMAKĀYA is described as completing one's own aims or welfare.
Sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sel ba. See SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN
shana; ishwaradarshan) ::: the vision of the Lord (isvara) who "knows, lives in, identifies himself with all and yet is not subjugated by the reactions or limited in his knowledge, power and Ananda by the limitations of the mind and life and physical being in the universe", a form of darsana related to brahmadarsana or regarded as part of it. isvaradarsana sarvabhutesu isvaradarsana
shana; Krishnadarshan) ::: the vision of Kr.s.n.a, the para purus.a or purus.ottama, seen in relation to the world as the transcendent and universal anandamaya purus.a and isvara who is "not only the origin and spiritual container, but the spiritual inhabitant in all forces, in all things and in all beings, and not only the inhabitant but . . . himself all energies and forces, all things and all beings", a form of darsana regarded as the highest bhava of brahmadarsana or as . a distinct darsana related to isvaradarsana. The three intensities of Kr.s.n.adarsana in human beings (applicable with modifications to all things and beings) are described in the entry of 30 May 1915 as (1) "Krishna seen behind the human mask" (distinguished from the preliminary stage, "Krishna sensed behind the disguise"), (2)"Krishna seen in the human being", and (3) "The human being seen in Krishna" (with three degrees of the third intensity, the vision of sarvamaya, anantagun.amaya and anandamaya Kr.s.n.a), leading to the consummation: "The human being = Krishna".
Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi yum yi ge gcig ma. See PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSARVATATHĀGATAMĀTĀ-EKĀKsARĀ
siddhānta. (T. grub mtha'; C. zong; J. shu; K. chong 宗). In Sanskrit, "conclusion" or "tenet," the term is used to refer to the various schools of Indian philosophy (both Buddhist and non-Buddhist), to their particular positions, and to texts that set out those positions in a systematic fashion. The most important examples of Buddhist siddhānta texts in India are BHĀVAVIVEKA's [alt. Bhavya] autocommentary (called TARKAJVĀLĀ) on his MADHYAMAKAHṚDAYAKĀRIKĀ and sĀNTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA; both set forth the positions of non-Buddhist and Buddhist philosophies in order to demonstrate the superiority of their respective MADHYAMAKA positions. They are paralleled in Indian non-Buddhist literature by sankarācārya's Brahmasutrabhāsya, for example, that sets forth the views of nāstika (heterodox) and āstika (orthodox) schools and shows the weaknesses and strengths in each as a strategy to demonstrate the superiority of sankara's own Advaita Vedānta philosophy. None of these Indian works were written simply as informative textbooks about the tenets of different Indian schools of thought. They instead have clear polemical agendas: namely, demonstrating the superiority of their own position, and showing how the lesser philosophies are either a hindrance or a stepping stone to their own philosophy, as revealed by the Buddha in the case of Buddhist siddhānta, and by the Vedas in the case of non-Buddhists. The SarvadarsanasaMgraha, a medieval work written from the perspective of a later Advaita school based on sankara's model, was important during the early reception of Buddhism in Europe and America in the nineteenth century because it cites the works of different schools of philosophy, including YOGĀCĀRA and Madhyamaka writers that were otherwise unknown at the time. As a literary genre, siddhānta reaches its full development in Tibet, where ever more detailed classifications of Indian and later Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongolian schools of Buddhism are found. Of particular importance are works known by the names of their authors: Dbu pa blo gsal (Upa Losel) (fl, fourteenth century), the first 'JAM DBYANGS BZHAD PA (1648-1721), and Lcang skya Rol pa'i rdo rje (1717-1786). Customarily Tibetan Buddhist siddhāntas employ the following structure: under the rubric of non-Buddhist (T. phyi pa) philosophies, they discuss the positions of the six schools that include Nyāya, Vaisesika, JAINA, SāMkhya, Yoga, and MīmāMsā. They are all dismissed as inferior, based on their assertion of the existence of a self (ĀTMAN) and a creator deity (īsvara), both positions that are refuted in Buddhism. The Buddhist schools are set forth in ascending order, starting with the HĪNAYĀNA schools of VAIBHĀsIKA and SAUTRĀNTIKA, followed by the Mahāyāna schools of Yogācāra and Madhyamaka. A typical structure for the presentation of each school was a tripartite division into the basis (gzhi), which set forth matters of epistemology and ontology; the path (lam), which set forth the structure of the path according to the particular school; and the fruition ('bras bu), which set forth the school's understanding of the enlightenment of ARHATs and buddhas. In Tibet, the genre of siddhānta was later expanded to include works that set forth the various sects and schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism. Cf. JIAOXIANG PANSHI.
suddhananda (shuddhananda; suddhananda) ::: pure ananda, "the suddhananda pure delight of the Infinite"; the form of subjective ananda corresponding to the plane of transcendent bliss (anandaloka) or to the sub-planes created by the "repetition of the Ananda plane in each lower world of consciousness". It brings the "sense of Supreme Beauty in all things" (sarvasaundarya), differing from cidghanananda in that it "transcends or contains" the beauty of gun.a (quality) proper to vijñana, depending "not on knowledge-perception of the separate guna & yatharthya [truth] of things, but on being-perception in chit of the universal ananda of things"; its highest intensities are experienced when the soul "casts itself into the absolute existence of the spirit and is enlarged into its own entirely self-existent bliss infinitudes". suddha pravr suddha pravrtti
suhrdam sarvabhutandm sarva-lokamahesvaram ::: the Friend of all creatures and the [great] Master of the universe [of all worlds]. [cf. Gita 5.29]
suhrdarn sarvabhutanam ::: the Friend of all creatures. ::: [see the following]
Suikiyakyo 蕤耶經. See SARVAMAndALASĀMĀNYAVIDHIGUHYATANTRA
Sushumna (Sanskrit) Suṣumṇa, Suṣumna Astronomically, the highest of the seven principal rays or Logoi of the sun, the others being Harikesa, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu, and Svaraj. These rays “are all mystical, and each has its distinct application in a distinct state of consciousness, for occult purposes. The Sushumna, which, as said in the Nirukta (II, 6), is only to light up the moon, is the ray nevertheless cherished by the initiated Yogis. The totality of the Seven Rays spread through the Solar system constitute, so to say, the physical Upadhi (basis) of the Ether of Science; in which Upadhi, light, heat, electricity, etc., etc., — the forces of orthodox science — correlate to produce their terrestrial effects. As psychic and spiritual effects, they emanate from, and have their origin in, the supra-soar Upadhi, in the ether of the Occultist — or Akasa” (SD 1:515n).
*Susiddhikarasutra. (C. Suxidi jieluo jing; J. Soshijjikarakyo; K. Sosilchi kalla kyong 蘇悉地羯羅經). In Sanskrit, "Perfect Achievement Sutra"; an important SuTRA of the esoteric Buddhist traditions (see TANTRA and MIKKYo). No Sanskrit edition of the Susiddhikarasutra is known to exist; the Sanskrit title is reconstructed from the Chinese translation (726) attributed to the Indian TREPItAKA sUBHAKARASIMHA. The Susiddhikaramahātantrasādhanopāyikapatala found in the Tibetan canon is a translation in seventy-five folios (Legs par grub par byed pa'i rgyud chen po las sgrub pa'i thabs rim par phye pa) and is categorized by the editor BU STON as an important KRIYĀTANTRA. The Tibetan title means "SĀDHANA Section of the Susiddhikara Great Tantra." The Susiddhikarasutra, along with the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA and the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, is considered one of the three central texts of the esoteric branch of the TENDAI tradition known as TAIMITSU.
SvalpāksaraprajNāpāramitā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa yi ge nyung ngu; C. Shengfomu xiaozi bore boluomiduo jing; J. Shobutsumo shoji hannya haramittakyo; K. Songbulmo soja panya p'aramilta kyong 聖佛母小字般若波羅蜜多經). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in a Few Words"; also known as the AlpāksaraprajNāpāramitā. Sometimes referred to in Western scholarship as the "Tantric Heart Sutra," this brief PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutra that takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and AVALOKITEsVARA, in which the buddha enjoins the bodhisattva to recite the "heart of the perfection of wisdom." The sutra is directed to those beings of little merit and of limited intellectual capacity. The Buddha enters the SAMĀDHI called "liberation from all suffering" (sarvaduḥkhapramocana) and provides a MANTRA and DHĀRAnĪ to his audience. The mantra is connected with an earlier buddha called Mahāsākyamuni. By reciting the mantra and the dhāranī, hindrances from past actions are extinguished and beings turn toward enlightenment.
Svaraj (Sanskrit) Svarāj The self-ruling, the self-resplendent; one of the seven principal rays of the sun, “the last or seventh (synthetical) ray of the seven solar rays; the same as Brahma” (TG 315). These seven are really the entire range of the seven occult forces, or divinities, of the solar system; hence the names of these seven rays are names given to them in Hindu semi-occult philosophical literature as Sushumna, Harikesa, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Samnaddhas, Sarvavasu, and Svaraj. Otherwise these seven rays are the seven solar logoi whose functions in the solar system are at once creative — or the intelligent impulses behind cosmic evolution — and supportive of the solar system, in addition to bringing about the various regenerating changes. The seven rays are elaborations of the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. See also SURYA
taizokai. (S. *garbhadhātu; C. taizang jie; K. t'aejang kye 胎蔵界). In Japanese, "womb realm" or "womb world"; one of the two principal diagrams (MAndALA) used in the esoteric traditions of Japan (see MIKKYo), along with the KONGoKAI ("diamond realm"); this diagram is known in Sanskrit as the garbhadhātu mandala. The taizokai mandala is believed to be based on instructions found in the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA (Dainichikyo); the term, however, does not actually appear in any Buddhist scripture and its pictorial form seems to have developed independently of any written documents. Although KuKAI (774-835) is often recognized as introducing the taizokai mandala to Japan, in fact various versions developed over time. Use of the two mandalas flourished during the Heian period, gradually becoming central to Japanese TENDAI Buddhism and SHUGENDo. The taizokai consists of twelve cloisters, which contain various bodhisattvas and deities. At the very center of the mandala is located the Cloister of the Central Dais with Eight Petals (J. Chudaihachiyoin). There, the DHARMAKĀYA MAHĀVAIROCANA sits in the center of an eight-petaled lotus flower, with four companion buddhas and bodhisattvas sitting on its petals. In the four cardinal directions sit the buddhas Ratnaketu (J. Hodo), SaMkusumitarāja (J. Kaifukeo), AMITĀBHA (J. Muryoju), and Divyadundubhi-meghanirghosa (J. Tenkuraion). In the four ordinal directions sit the bodhisattvas SAMANTABHADRA (J. Fugen), MANJUsRĪ (J. Monju), AVALOKITEsVARA (J. Kanjizai; Kannon), and MAITREYA (J. Miroku). The central Buddha and the surrounding four buddhas and bodhisattvas represent the five wisdoms (PANCAJNĀNA). ¶ Mahāvairocana's central cloister is surrounded by a series of cloisters in all the four directions. In the eastern section (the topside of the mandala), there are three cloisters from the central cloister at the outside: (1) Cloister of Universal Knowledge (J. Henchiin), in which three deities sit on each side of a triangle; (2) Cloister of sĀKYAMUNI (J. Shakain), where sākyamuni sits surrounded by his disciples, as a manifestation of Mahāvairocana in the phenomenal world; and (3) Cloister of MaNjusrī (J. Monjuin), in which MaNjusrī sits surrounded by many attendants. In the western section (the bottom of the mandala), there are also three cloisters: (1) The Cloister of the Mantra Holders (J. Jimyoin) includes the bodhisattva PrajNā surrounded by the four VIDYĀRĀJA: ACALANĀTHA (Fudo), TRAILOKYAVIJAYA (Gozanze), YAMĀNTAKA (Daiitoku), and an alternate manifestation of Trailokyavijaya. (2) The Cloister of ĀKĀsAGARBHA (Kokuzoin) represents worldly virtue and merit in the form of Ākāsagarbha. (3) The Cloister of Unsurpassed Attainment (Soshitchiin) includes eight bodhisattvas, symbolizing the achievement of the various virtues through which Mahāvairocana benefits sentient beings. In the southern section (the right side of the mandala), there are two cloisters: (1) Cloister of VAJRAPĀnI (Kongoshuin); in this cloister, VAJRASATTVA is the main deity, representing the Buddha's wisdom inherent in all sentient beings; and (2) Cloister of Removing Obstacles (Jogaishoin), where sits the bodhisattva SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN, representing the elimination of the hindrances to enlightenment. In the northern section (the left side of the mandala), there are also two cloisters: (1) Cloister of the Lotus Division (Rengebuin) where Avalokitesvara is the central deity; and (2) Cloister of KsITIGARBHA (Jizoin), dedicated to the bodhisattva who saves those suffering in hell. All of these eleven cloisters are then enclosed by the Cloister of Outer VAJRADHARAs (Ge Kongobuin), where there are 205 deities, many of them deriving from Indic mythology. In one distinctively Shingon usage, the mandala was placed in the east and the kongokai stood in juxtaposition across from it. The initiate would then invite all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and divinities into the sacred space, invoking all of their power and ultimately unifying with them. In Shugendo, the two mandalas were often spatially superimposed over mountain geography or worn as robes on the practitioner while entering the mountain.
tantric vows. (T. rig 'dzin gyi sdom pa; *vidyādharasaMvara). Any of a number of vows taken as part of a tantric initiation and to be maintained as part of tantric practice. Many tantras list disparate sets of rules, the best known being that found in the Rgyud rdo rje rtse mo (the Tibetan version of the VAJRAsEKHARASuTRA, a SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA explanatory tantra). Such texts enumerate "restraints" or "vows" (SAMVARA) and pledges (SAMAYA) connected with the five buddha families (BUDDHAKULA; PANCATATHĀGATA), and possibly an ordination and confession ceremony modeled on the PRĀTIMOKsA. These disparate rules were later codified more systematically in a number of tantric texts: the so-called root infractions in the Vajrayānamulāpatti attributed to AsVAGHOsA, and an even shorter list of secondary vows in the Vajrayānasthulāpatti attributed to NĀGĀRJUNA. In addition, rules of deportment toward the guru were set forth in works such as the GURUPANCĀsIKĀ ("Fifty Stanzas on the Guru"), also attributed to Asvaghosa. In Tibet, these rules were codified and commented on at length in the "three vow" (SDOM GSUM) literature. The "root infractions" are the following: (1) to disparage the guru, (2) to overstep the words of the buddhas, (3) to be cruel to one's VAJRA siblings (disciples of the same guru), (4) to abandon love for sentient beings, (5) to abandon the two types of BODHICITTA, (6) to disparage the doctrines of one's own and others' schools, (7) to proclaim secrets to the unripened, (8) to scorn the aggregates, (9) to have doubts about the essential purity of all phenomena, (10) to show affection to the wicked, (11) to have false views about emptiness, (12) to disillusion the faithful, (13) not to rely on the pledges, and (14) to disparage women. It is noteworthy that, unlike the prātimoksa, the infractions here involve attitudes and beliefs, in addition to transgressions of body and speech. It was generally said that receiving the bodhisattva vows was a prerequisite for receiving tantric vows; the prior receipt of prātimoksa precepts was optional. In expositions of the "three vows," tantric vows are the third, after the prātimoksa precepts and the bodhisattva precepts. Especially in Tibet there is extensive discussion of the compatibility of the three sets of vows. See also TRISAMVARA.
Tārā. (T. Sgrol ma; C. Duoluo; J. Tara; K. Tara 多羅). In Sanskrit, lit. "Savioress"; a female bodhisattva who has the miraculous power to be able to deliver her devotees from all forms of physical danger. Tārā is said to have arisen from either a ray of blue light from the eye of the buddha AMITĀBHA, or from a tear from the eye of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA as he surveyed the suffering universe. The tear fell into a valley and formed a lake, out of which grew the lotus from which Tārā appeared. She is thus said to be the physical manifestation of the compassion of Avalokitesvara, who is himself the quintessence of the compassion of the buddhas. Because buddhas are produced from wisdom and compassion, Tārā, like the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ ("Perfection of Wisdom"), is hailed as "the mother of all buddhas," despite the fact that she is most commonly represented as a beautiful sixteen-year-old maiden. She is often depicted together with BHṚKUTĪ (one of her forms) as one of two female bodhisattvas flanking Avalokitesvara. Tārā is the subject of much devotion in her own right, serving as the subject of many stories, prayers, and tantric SĀDHANAs. She can appear in peaceful or wrathful forms, depending on the circumstances, her powers extending beyond the subjugation of these worldly frights, into the heavens and into the hells. She has two major peaceful forms, however. The first is SITATĀRĀ, or White Tārā. Her right hand is in VARADAMUDRĀ, her left is at her chest in VITARKAMUDRĀ and holds a lotus and she sits in DHYĀNĀSANA. The other is sYĀMATĀRĀ, or Green Tārā. Her right hand is in varadamudrā, her left is at her chest in vitarkamudrā and holds an utpala, and she sits in LALITĀSANA. Her wrathful forms include KURUKULLĀ, a dancing naked YOGINĪ, red in color, who brandishes a bow and arrow in her four arms. In tantric MAndALAs, she appears as the consort of AMOGHASIDDHI, the buddha of the northern quarter; together they are lord and lady of the KARMAKULA. But she is herself also the sole deity in many tantric SĀDHANAs, in which the meditator, whether male or female, visualizes himself or herself in Tārā's feminine form. Tārā is best-known for her salvific powers, appearing the instant her devotee recites her MANTRA, oM tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. She is especially renowned as Astabhayatrānatārā, "Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Fears," because of her ability to deliver those who call upon her when facing the eight great fears (mahābhaya) of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, water, imprisonment, and demons. Many tales are told recounting her miraculous interventions. Apart from the recitation of her mantra, a particular prayer is the most common medium of invoking Tārā in Tibet. It is a prayer to twenty-one Tārās, derived from an Indian TANTRA devoted to Tārā, the Sarvatathāgatamātṛtārāvisvakarmabhavatantra ("Source of All Rites to Tārā, the Mother of All the Tathāgatas"). According to some commentarial traditions on the prayer, each of the verses refers to a different form of Tārā, totaling twenty-one. According to others, the forms of Tārā are iconographically almost indistinguishable. Tārā entered the Buddhist pantheon relatively late, around the sixth century, in northern India and Nepal, and her worship in Java is attested in inscriptions dating to the end of the eighth century. Like Avalokitesvara, she has played a crucial role in Tibet's history, in both divine and human forms. One version of the creation myth that has the Tibetan race originating from a dalliance between a monkey and an ogress says the monkey was a form of Avalokitesvara and the ogress a form of Tārā. Worship of Tārā in Tibet began in earnest with the second propagation and the arrival of ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA in the eleventh century; she appears repeatedly in accounts of his life and in his teachings. He had visions of the goddess at crucial points in his life, and she advised him to make his fateful journey to Tibet, despite the fact that his life span would be shortened as a result. His sādhanas for the propitiation of Sitatārā and syāmatārā played a key role in promoting the worship of Tārā in Tibet. He further was responsible for the translation of several important Indic texts relating to the goddess, including three by Vāgīsvarakīrti that make up the 'chi blu, or "cheating death" cycle, the foundation of all lineages of the worship of Sitatārā in Tibet. The famous Tārā chapel at Atisa's temple at SNYE THANG contains nearly identical statues of the twenty-one Tārās. The translator Darmadra brought to Tibet the important ANUYOGA tantra devoted to the worship of Tārā, entitled Bcom ldan 'das ma sgrol ma yang dag par rdzogs pa'i sangs rgyas bstod pa gsungs pa. Tārā is said to have taken human form earlier in Tibetan history as the Chinese princess WENCHENG and Nepalese princess Bhṛkutī, who married King SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO, bringing with them buddha images that would become the most revered in Tibet. Which Tārā they were remains unsettled; however, some sources identify Wencheng with syāmatārā and Bhṛkutī with the goddess of the same name, herself said to be a form of Tārā. Others argue that the Nepalese princess was Sitatārā, and Wencheng was syāmatārā. These identifications, however, like that of Srong btsan sgam po with Avalokitesvara, date only to the fourteenth century, when the cult of Tārā in Tibet was flourishing. In the next generation, Tārā appeared as the wife of King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN and the consort of PADMASAMBHAVA, YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, who in addition to becoming a great tantric master herself, served as scribe when Padmasambhava dictated the treasure texts (GTER MA). Later, Tārā is said to have appeared as the great practitioner of the GCOD tradition, MA GCIG LAP SGRON (1055-1149). Indeed, when Tārā first vowed eons ago to achieve buddhahood in order to free all beings from SAMSĀRA, she swore she would always appear in female form.
Tarkajvālā. (T. Rtog ge 'bar ba). In Sanskrit, the "Blaze of Reasoning"; the extensive prose autocommentary on the MADHYAMAKAHṚDAYA, the major work of the sixth-century Indian MADHYAMAKA (and, from the Tibetan perspective, *SVĀTANTRIKA) master BHĀVAVIVEKA (also referred to as Bhavya and Bhāviveka). The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan; the Tarkajvālā only in Tibetan. It is a work of eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in Bhāvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajNāna), and omniscience (SARVAJNATĀ). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and Bhāvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the sRĀVAKA, YOGĀCĀRA, SāMkhya, Vaisesika, Vedānta, and MīmāMsā. These chapters (along with sĀNTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA) are an invaluable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and the other Indian philosophical schools of the day. The chapter on the srāvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the srāvaka schools as to why the MAHĀYĀNA sutras are not the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). Bhāvaviveka's response to these arguments, as well as his refutation of Yogācāra in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited.
Tattvaratnāvalī. (T. De kho na nyid rin po che'i phreng ba). In Sanskrit, the "Necklace of Principles"; a scholastic exposition of Buddhist TANTRA by Advayavajra, the apparent pen name of the Indian master Maitrīpāda, who flourished in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries CE. The work provides some insight into how Buddhism was understood in the late period of Indian Buddhism, dividing it into the three vehicles of the sRĀVAKAYĀNA, PRATYEKABUDDHAYĀNA, and MAHĀYĀNA, with the Mahāyāna further subdivided into the "way of the perfections" (pāramitānaya) and the "way of mantra" (mantranaya). The work also states that the Madhyamaka school is divided into the two, the Māyopamādvayavāda, or "Proponents of Illusion-like Nonduality," and the Sarvadharmāpratisthānavāda, or "Proponents That All Dharmas Are Nonabiding."
TattvasaMgraha. (T. De kho na nyid bsdus pa). In Sanskrit, the "Compendium of Principles"; one of the major works of the eighth-century Indian master sĀNTARAKsITA. It is a massive work in 3,646 verses, in twenty-six chapters. The verses themselves are called the TattvasaMgrahakārikā; there is also an extensive prose commentary by sāntaraksita's student, KAMALAsĪLA, entitled the TattvasaMgrahapaNjikā. The TattvasaMgraha is a polemical text, surveying the philosophical positions of a wide variety of non-Buddhist (and some Buddhist) schools on a number of topics or principles (TATTVA) and demonstrating their faults. These topics include matter (prakṛti), the person (PURUsA), God (īsvara), the self (ĀTMAN), and valid knowledge (PRAMĀnA), among many others. Among the schools whose positions are presented and critiqued are SāMkhya, Nyāya, Vaisesika, Mīmāmsā, Advaita Vedānta, JAINA, and VĀTSĪPUTRĪYA. The work is of great value to scholars for its presentation (albeit polemical) of the tenets of these schools as they existed in eighth-century India. The commentary often provides the names and positions of specific philosophers of these schools. ¶ The term is also the abbreviated title of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha; see SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA.
. t.aya (brahma chatusthaya; brahmachatusthaya; brahmachatushtaya) ::: the sixth catus.t.aya, the quaternary of the divine Reality (brahman), consisting of sarvaṁ brahma, anantaṁ brahma, jñanaṁ brahma and anandaṁ brahma (combined in sarvam anantaṁ jñanam anandaṁ brahma, the formula of the fourfold brahman). brahmadarsana
"The Gita in later chapters speaks highly of the Veda and the Upanishads. They are divine Scriptures, they are the Word. The Lord himself is the knower of Veda and the author of Vedanta, vedavid vedântakrt; the Lord is the one object of knowledge in all the Vedas, sarvair vedair aham eva vedyah, a language which implies that the word Veda means the book of knowledge and that these Scriptures deserve their appellation.” Essays on the Gita
“The Gita in later chapters speaks highly of the Veda and the Upanishads. They are divine Scriptures, they are the Word. The Lord himself is the knower of Veda and the author of Vedanta, vedavid vedântakrt; the Lord is the one object of knowledge in all the Vedas, sarvair vedair aham eva vedyah, a language which implies that the word Veda means the book of knowledge and that these Scriptures deserve their appellation.” Essays on the Gita
“The Gita in later chapters speaks highly of the Veda and the Upanishads. They are divine Scriptures, they are the Word. The Lord himself is the knower of Veda and the author of Vedanta, vedavidvedântakrt; the Lord is the one object of knowledge in all the Vedas, sarvairvedairahamevavedyah, a language which implies that the word Veda means the book of knowledge and that these Scriptures deserve their appellation.” Essays on the Gita
The names of the seven principal rays of the sun are: Sushumna, Harikesa, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu, and Svaraj. “These seven rays are the entire gamut of the seven occult forces (or gods) of nature, as their respective names well prove. . . . As each stands for one of the creative gods or Forces, it is easy to see how important were the functions of the sun in the eyes of antiquity, and why it was deified by the profane” (TG 315). These principal rays of Surya are from another standpoint the seven solar logoi, each one of the seven having its respective home in the seven sacred planets; equally, there may be said to be twelve rays of the sun, and twelve sacred planets, each one a home or mansion of one of the solar logoi.
"This Godhead is one in all things that are, the self who lives in all and the self in whom all live and move; therefore man has to discover his spiritual unity with all creatures, to see all in the self and the self in all beings, even to see all things and creatures as himself, âtmaupamyena sarvatra, and accordingly think, feel and act in all his mind, will and living. This Godhead is the origin of all that is here or elsewhere and by his Nature he has become all these innumerable existences, abhût sarvâni bhûtâni; therefore man has to see and adore the One in all things animate and inanimate, to worship the manifestation in sun and star and flower, in man and every living creature, in the forms and forces, qualities and powers of Nature, vâsudevah sarvam iti.” Essays on the Gita ::: *godhead, godheads, godhead"s.
“This Godhead is one in all things that are, the self who lives in all and the self in whom all live and move; therefore man has to discover his spiritual unity with all creatures, to see all in the self and the self in all beings, even to see all things and creatures as himself, âtmaupamyena sarvatra, and accordingly think, feel and act in all his mind, will and living. This Godhead is the origin of all that is here or elsewhere and by his Nature he has become all these innumerable existences, abhût sarvâni bhûtâni; therefore man has to see and adore the One in all things animate and inanimate, to worship the manifestation in sun and star and flower, in man and every living creature, in the forms and forces, qualities and powers of Nature, vâsudevah sarvam iti.” Essays on the Gita
Trailokyavijaya. (T. Khams gsum rnam rgyal; C. Xiangsanshi mingwang; J. Gozanze myoo; K. Hangsamse myongwang 降三世明王). In Sanskrit, "Victor of the Three Realms"; a wrathful deity, he is considered a wrathful form of VAJRAPĀnI. He is depicted in Indian Buddhist iconography and plays an important role in the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA. It is in the form of Trailokyavijaya that Vajrapāni conquers Mahesvara (the Hindu god siva). It was often the case that Buddhists gave Hindu deities Buddhist forms, especially in the tantras. In this case, Trailokyavijaya may have his antecedent in the Hindu god Tripurāntaka, "Destroyer of the Three [Demon] Cities," a form of siva whose worship was still current at the time the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was being formulated. Iconographic similarities as well as the Buddhist Trailokyavijaya's subjugation of the rival tradition's Mahesvara support the connection; a Hindu deity is appropriated by Buddhists, with the appropriated form then subduing the Hindu god. The cult of Trailokyavijaya entered China with the translations of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha, the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA, and several other texts translated by AMOGHAVAJRA in the second half of the eighth century, whence they quickly entered Japan. He is described as being terrible to behold, with four heads and eight arms, although in the GARBHADHĀTU MAndALA, he has a single face with three eyes and two arms. He stands on prone figures of siva and Umā, whom he has thus subdued. His worship was largely replaced by that of HERUKA in the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA cycles, who performs the same function in the taming of Mahesvara.
udarah sarva evaite ::: all these are high and noble. [Gita 7.18]
upaputra. (T. nye sras). In Sanskrit, lit. "close sons," a group of eight BODHISATTVAs often depicted with the Buddha in MAHĀYĀNA iconography. They are MANJUsRĪ, VAJRAPĀnI, AVALOKITEsVARA, KsITIGARBHA, SARVANĪVARAnAVIsKAMBHIN, ĀKĀsAGARBHA, MAITREYA, and SAMANTABHADRA.
urdhvasrotas. (T. gong du 'pho ba; C. shangliu ban/shangliu banniepan; J. joruhatsu/joruhatsunehan; K. sangnyu pan/sangnyu panyolban 上流般/上流般涅槃). In Sanskrit, "one who goes higher" or "upstreamer"; a specific type of nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAMGHA (see VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). There are different accounts of the types of urdhvasrotas. According to Ārya VIMUKTISENA's explanation of the list of āryasaMgha found in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRAVṚTTI, based on the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, there are four: the pluta (those who leap over), ardhapluta (those who leap over half), sarvasthānacyuta (those who die in every place), and bhavāgraparama (those who journey to the summit of existence). All cultivate a meditation that enters and exits uncontaminated (ANĀSRAVA) states that cause them to take birth in the sUDDHĀVĀSA (pure abodes). This meditation allows them to jump at will from one meditative state (a DHYĀNA or SAMĀPATTI) to another without having to go through the intermediate stages. The pluta enters the first dhyāna, is reborn among the BRAHMAKĀYIKA divinities of the first meditative absorption and, through the force of earlier meditative development, emerges from that level of absorption, forsakes all levels in between, and is reborn in the pure abode region of the AKANIstHA heaven of the highest divinities, where he enters NIRVĀnA. The ardhapluta is similarly reborn among the brahmakāyika divinities of the first meditative absorption, also forsakes the levels in between the first and fourth absorption, and is reborn in the pure abodes, but not each in turn. Omitting some of them, he is then born in the AKANIstHA heaven, where he enters nirvāna. The sarvasthānacyuta, as the name suggests, is born among the brahmakāyika divinities of the first meditative absorption and then goes through the process of taking birth in every other heaven in the subtle materiality and immaterial realms except the great Brahmā heaven until he enters nirvāna in the akanistha heaven. The bhavāgraparama are born as divinities in the heavens up to the level of the BṚHATPHALA (great fruition) heaven, forsake the pure abodes, and, having taken rebirths in stages in the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYADHĀTU), enter nirvāna in the BHAVĀGRA (the summit of existence) heaven.
Vairocana. (T. Rnam par snang mdzad; C. Dari rulai/Piluzhena; J. Dainichi nyorai/Birushana; K. Taeil yorae/Pirojana 大日如來/盧遮那). In Sanskrit, "Resplendent"; one of the five buddhas (PANCATATHĀGATA) and the chief buddha of the TATHĀGATAKULA; he is also one of the major buddhas of East Asian Buddhism, where he is often conflated with MAHĀVAIROCANA. The origin of Vairocana can be traced back to the Hindu tradition, where he appears as a relatively minor deity associated with the Sun. ¶ Although the name Vairocana appears in some mainstream Buddhist and PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ materials, it is not until the emergence of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA that Vairocana comes to be widely regarded as the buddha who is the personification of the universal truth of the religion. In its "Chapter on Vairocana," Vairocana is considered to be the main buddha of the sutra, who is omnipresent as the DHARMAKĀYA. Vairocana is, however, also described in the sutra as a buddha who mastered the BODHISATTVA path by making vows to attain buddhahood, performing all types of virtuous deeds, hearing the dharma, cultivating meditative practices, and realizing the truth of the dependent origination of the dharma realm (C. FAJIE YUANQI) in which each and every thing in existence is in multivalent interaction with all other things in a state of complete and perfect interfusion. In this case, Vairocana as the reward body (SAMBHOGAKĀYA) is called ROCANA (C. Lushena) in order to distinguish him from Vairocana (C. Piluzhena) as the dharmakāya buddha. With the growing popularity of the AvataMsakasutra, Vairocana becomes one of the principal buddhas of East Asian Buddhism. Many Vairocana images were constructed in China starting in the sixth century, and colossal images of him were erected in the LONGMEN Grottoes near Luoyang in northern China and in ToDAIJI in Nara, Japan. In Korea, Vairocana (as the dharmakāya buddha) often appeared at the center of a buddha triad, flanked by sĀKYAMUNI (as the NIRMĀnAKĀYA) and ROCANA (as the saMbhogakāya). Vairocana's popularity expanded with his appearance in the MAHĀVAIROCANASuTRA, and, from this point on, Vairocana is generally regarded as the main buddha of the AvataMsakasutra and the HUAYAN ZONG, while Mahāvairocana is regarded as the main buddha of the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA and the ZHENYAN or SHINGON schools. ¶ Vairocana is also the central deity of the VAJRADHĀTU (J. KONGoKAI) and the GARBHADHĀTU (J. TAIZoKAI) MAndALAs of YOGATANTRA associated with the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, a highly influential tantric text in India, Tibet, and East Asia. He appears in the central assembly of the vajradhātu mandala, displaying the MUDRĀ of wisdom (dainichi ken-in), surrounded by the four directional buddhas (AKsOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMITĀBHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI), each of whom embodies four aspects of Vairocana's wisdom. In the garbhadhātu mandala, Vairocana is located at the center of the eight-petaled lotus in the central cloister of the mandala, along with the four buddhas and four bodhisattvas sitting on the eight petals. Vairocana is typically depicted as white in color, holding the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRA) in his hands, which are in the gesture of teaching (VITARKAMUDRĀ). Vairocana is closely associated with the bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA, and his consort is Vajradhātvīsvarī. The commentaries on the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha recount that Prince SIDDHĀRTHA was meditating on the banks of the NAIRANJANĀ River when he was roused by Vairocana and the buddhas of the ten directions, who informed him that such meditation would not result in the achievement of buddhahood. He thus left his physical body behind and traveled in a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) to the AKANIstHA heaven, where he received various consecrations and achieved buddhahood. He next descended to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where he taught the yogatantras. Finally, he returned to the world, inhabited his physical body, and then displayed to the world the well-known defeat of MĀRA and the achievement of buddhahood. ¶ Vairocana is also the name of one of the chief figures in the earlier dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet, where he is known by his Tibetan pronunciation of Bai ro tsa na. He was one of the first seven Tibetans (SAD MI BDUN) to be ordained as Buddhist monks by the Indian master sĀNTARAKsITA at the first Tibetan monastery, BSAM YAS. According to Tibetan accounts, he was sent by King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN to India to study Sanskrit and to gather texts and teachings. He is said to have received teachings of the "mind class" (SEMS SDE) and the "expanse class" (KLONG SDE) at BODHGAYĀ, before traveling to OddIYĀNA, where he met the master sRĪSIMHA, who gave him exoteric teachings during the day and instructed him secretly in the great completeness (RDZOGS CHEN) practices at night. Returning to Tibet, he followed the same program, instructing the king secretly in the "mind class" teachings at night. This raised suspicions, which led to his banishment to eastern Tibet. He was later allowed to return, at the request of VIMALAMITRA. He is renowned as one of the three major figures (along with PADMASAMBHAVA and Vimalamitra) in the dissemination of the rdzogs chen teachings in Tibet and translated many texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan; the manuscripts of some of his translations have been discovered at DUNHUANG. See also JNĀNAMUstI.
Vajrabodhi. (C. Jingangzhi; J. Kongochi; K. Kŭmgangji 金剛智) (671-741). Indian ĀCĀRYA who played a major role in the introduction and translation in China of seminal Buddhist texts belonging to the esoteric tradition or MIJIAO (see MIKKYo and TANTRA); also known as Vajramati. His birthplace and family background are uncertain, although one source says that he was a south Indian native whose brāhmana father served as a teacher of an Indian king. At the age of nine, he is said to have gone to the renowned Indian monastic university of NĀLANDĀ, where he studied various texts of both the ABHIDHARMA and MAHĀYĀNA traditions. Vajrabodhi also learned the different VINAYA recensions of the eighteen MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. It is said that Vajrabodhi spent the years 701-708 in southern India, where he received tantric initiation at the age of thirty-one from NĀGABODHI (d.u.), a south Indian MAHĀSIDDHA of the VAJRAsEKHARA (see SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA) line. He later traveled to Sri Lanka and then to sRĪVIJAYA before sailing to China, eventually arriving in the eastern Tang capital of Luoyang in 720. In 721, Vajrabodhi and his famed disciple AMOGHAVAJRA arrived in the western capital of Chang'an. Under the patronage of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756), Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra translated the VAJRAsEKHARASuTRA and other related texts. Vajrabodhi devoted his energy and time to spreading tantric Buddhism by establishing the ABHIsEKA or initiation platforms and performing esoteric rituals. In particular, Vajrabodhi was popular as a thaumaturge; his performance of the rituals for rainmaking and curing diseases gained him favor at the imperial court; he even gave tantric initiation to the Tang emperor Xuanzong. During his more than twenty years in China, Vajrabodhi introduced about twenty texts belonging to the Vajrasekhara textual line. Vajrabodhi attracted many disciples; the Silla monk HYECH'O (704-87), known for his travel record WANG O CH'oNCH'UK KUK CH'oN ("Record of a Journey to the Five Kingdoms of India"), also studied with him. The Japanese SHINGONSHu honors Vajrabodhi as the fifth of the eight patriarchs in its lineage, together with Nāgabodhi and Amoghavajra.
Vajrakīlaya. (T. Rdo rje phur pa). In Sanskrit, "Vajra Dagger," a tantric buddha worshipped primarily by the RNYING MA and BKA' BRGYUD sects of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the deification of the KĪLA (see PHUR PA), the ritual dagger used in tantric ceremonies. In the rituals involving the use of the kīla, the tantric dagger is typically used to subdue a ritual site, to subjugate the local demon by pinning him or her to the ground; the MAndALA is thus planted and established on top of the offending demon. The dagger may be stabbed into a three-sided box, the triangle representing the violent tantric activity of liberation, or into an effigy. As a deity, Vajrakīlaya originally held the same duties as the ritual dagger: to protect the borders of ritual space and to pin down and destroy enemies, human or otherwise. This tradition may derive in part from the ancient Indian myth of Indrakīla, in which the serpent Vṛtra is pinned and stabilized by a mythic "peg" (kīla). Vajrakīlaya is found in the major early tantra systems as well as the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA and the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, which contains his mantra and places him in the center of a MAndALA, although throughout his status is inferior to that of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is only in the Vajrakīlaya tantras that the deity attains the status of a buddha. These texts are reputed to be eighth-century translations from Indic languages, transmitted in Tibet by PADMASAMBHAVA. The tantras form a substantial section of the RNYING MA'I RGYUD 'BUM, but BU STON rejected the Indian origin of the tantras and left them out of the BKA' 'GYUR. Defenders of the tradition cite the fact that 'BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES wrote that he saw the eight-syllable Vajrakīla MANTRA at the BODHGAYĀ STuPA. In addition, SA SKYA PAndITA discovered a Sanskrit fragment of the Vajrakīlamulatantrakhanda at BSAM YAS, and sĀKYAsRĪBHADRA confirmed that the cycle had existed in India. Although no East Asian tradition of Vajrakīlaya exists, some scholars have suggested an identification with Vajrakumāra; tantras concerning this deity were brought to China in the eighth century by AMOGHAVAJRA, but this identification is disputed. Vajrakīlaya is wrathful, with three faces with three eyes each, and six or more hands holding various instruments in addition to the kīla. He is said to dispel obstacles to progress on the path to enlightenment and to the swift attainment of both mundane and supramundane goals.
Vajrapāni. (P. Vajirapāni; T. Phyag na rdo rje; C. Jingangshou pusa; J. Kongoshu bosatsu; K. Kŭmgangsu posal 金剛手菩薩). In Sanskrit, "Holder of the VAJRA"; an important bodhisattva in the MAHĀYĀNA and VAJRAYĀNA traditions, who appears in both peaceful and wrathful forms. In the Pāli suttas, he is a YAKsA (P. yakkha) guardian of the Buddha. It is said that whoever refuses three times to respond to a reasonable question from the Buddha would have his head split into pieces on the spot; carrying out this punishment was Vajrapāni's duty. In such circumstances, Vajrapāni, holding his cudgel, would be visible only to the Buddha and to the person who was refusing to answer the question; given the frightening vision, the person would inevitably then respond. Vajrapāni is sometimes said to be the wrathful form of sAKRA, who promised to offer the Buddha protection if the Buddha would teach the dharma; he thus accompanies the Buddha as a kind of bodyguard on his journeys to distant lands. Vajrapāni is commonly depicted in GANDHĀRA sculpture, flanking the Buddha and holding a cudgel. In the early Mahāyāna sutras, Vajrapāni is referred to as a yaksa servant of the bodhisattvas, as in the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ. In the SUVARnAPRABHĀSOTTAMASuTRA, he is called the "general of the yaksas" (yaksasenādhipati), and is praised as a protector of followers of the Buddha. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, AVALOKITEsVARA explains that one of the forms that he assumes to convert sentient beings is as Vajrapāni. In later Mahāyāna and early tantric Buddhism, Vajrapāni becomes a primary speaker in important sutras and tantras, as well as a principal protagonist in them, and comes to be listed as one of the "eight close sons" (*UPAPUTRA), the principal bodhisattvas. In the MANJUsRĪMuLAKALPA, as leader of the vajra family (VAJRAKULA), he flanks sĀKYAMUNI in the MAndALA. In the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, his transition from "general of the yaksas" to "the supreme lord of all tathāgatas" is played out through his subjugation of Mahesvara (siva). At the command of the buddha VAIROCANA, Vajrapāni suppresses all of the worldly divinities of the universe and brings them to the summit of Mount SUMERU, where they seek refuge in the three jewels (RATNATRAYA). Only Mahesvara refuses to submit to the uddha. Through Vajarpāni's recitation of a MANTRA, Mahesvara loses his life, only to be reincarnated in another world system, where he eventually achieves buddhahood. Vajrapāni's yaksa origins continue in his wrathful aspects, most common in Tibet, such as the three-eyed Canda Vajrapāni. It is in this form that he is part of a popular triad with Avalokitesvara and MANJUsRĪ known as the "protectors of the three families" (T. RIGS GSUM MGON PO). These three bodhisattvas are said to be the physical manifestation of the wisdom (MaNjusrī), compassion (Avalokitesvara), and power (Vajrapāni) of all the buddhas. Vajrapāni is also said to be the bodhisattva emanation of the buddha AKsOBHYA and the chief bodhisattva of the vajra family. He himself has numerous forms and emanations, including Mahābāla (who may have developed from his early attendant Vajrapurusa), Vajrasattva, Vajradhara, VajrahuMkāra, Ucchusma, Bhutadāmara, and Trailokyavijaya. Vajrapāni is closely related especially to VAJRADHARA, and indeed Vajradhara and Vajrapāni may have originally been two names for the same deity (the Chinese translations of the two deities' names are the same). Vajrapāni's MANTRA is oM vajrapāni huM phat. He is also known as Guhyakādhipati, or "Lord of the Secret." The secret (guhyaka) originally referred to a class of yaksas that he commanded, but expanded in meaning to include secret knowledge and mantras. Vajrapāni is the protector of mantras and those who recite them, and is sometimes identified as the bodhisattva responsible for the collection, recitation, and protection of the VIDYĀDHARAPItAKA.
Vajrasattva. (T. Rdo rje sems dpa'; C. Jingang saduo; J. Kongosatta; K. Kŭmgang sal'ta 金剛薩埵). In Sanskrit, lit. "VAJRA Being"; a tantric deity widely worshipped as both an ĀDIBUDDHA and a buddha of purification. Vajrasattva is sometimes identified as a sixth buddha in the PANCATATHĀGATA system, such as in the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, where he is also identical to VAJRAPĀnI. Vajrasattva also occasionally replaces AKsOBHYA in the same system, and so has been considered an emanation of that buddha. As an ādibuddha, he is identical with VAJRADHARA. He is also one of the sixteen bodhisattvas of the vajradhātumandala. In the trikula system, an early tantric configuration, Vajrasattva is the buddha of the VAJRAKULA, with VAIROCANA the buddha of the TATHĀGATAKULA and Avalokitesvara the head of the PADMAKULA. East Asian esoteric Buddhism considers Vajrasattva to be the second patriarch of the esoteric teachings; VAIROCANA taught them directly to Vajrasattva, who passed them to NĀGĀRJUNA, who passed them to VAJRABODHI/VAJRAMATI, who taught them to AMOGHAVAJRA, who brought them to China in the eighth century. In Tibet, worship of Vajrasattva is connected to YOGATANTRA and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, such as the twenty-fifth chapter of the Abhidhanottaratantra, in which he is known as the Heruka Vajrasattva. He is particularly famous in Tibet for his role in a practice of confession and purification in which one repeats a hundred thousand times the hundred-syllable MANTRA of Vajrasattva. These repetitions (with the attendant visualization) are a standard preliminary practice (T. SNGON 'GRO) required prior to receiving tantric instructions. The mantra is: oM vajrasattva samayam anupālaya vajrasattva tvenopatistha dṛdho me bhava sutosyo me bhava suposyo me bhava anurakto me bhava sarvasiddhiM me prayaccha sarvakarmasu ca me cittaM sreyaḥ kuru huM ha ha ha ha hoḥ bhagavan sarvatathāgatavajra mā me muNca vajrī bhava mahāsamayasattva āḥ huM. Unlike many mantras that seem to have no semantic meaning, Vajrasattva's mantra may be translated as: "OM Vajrasattva, keep your pledge. Vajrasattva, reside in me. Make me firm. Make me satisfied. Fulfill me. Make me compassionate. Grant me all powers. Make my mind virtuous in all deeds. huM ha ha ha ha ho. All the blessed tathāgatas, do not abandon me, make me indivisible. Great pledge being. āḥ huM."
*Vajrasekharasutra. (T. Rdo rje rtse mo; C. Jingangding jing; J. Kongochokyo; K. Kŭmgangjong kyong 金剛頂經). In Sanskrit, "Sutra on Vajra Peak"; also called the Vajrasekharatantra, the reconstructed Sanskrit title derived from the Chinese translations of the first chapter of the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA made by VAJRABODHI and AMOGHAVAJRA during the Tang dynasty. The full text of the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha was not translated into Chinese until Dānapāla completed his version in 1015 CE. In addition to these translations, a number of associated ritual manuals and commentaries containing the title "Vajrasekhara" are included in the Chinese Buddhist canon. The Vajrasekhara refers to a composite text of eighteen individual scriptures in a hundred thousand stanzas said to have been lost before it reached China. Based in part on a summary of the individual sutras and tantras comprising the text that Amoghavajra composed, some scholars have speculated that the complete Vajrasekhara, in whatever form it originally took, represented the first esoteric Buddhist canon, beginning with the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha and including the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, among other works. Other scholars have questioned the claim that the text ever existed at all. The Vajrasekhara is one of two (or three) central texts in the esoteric tradition (MIKKYo) of Japan. In Tibet, the title Vajrasekaratantra (Rgyud rdo rje rtse mo) is the name of an explanatory yoga tantra connected to the SarvatathāgatatattvasaMgraha, which is used as a major source in Tibetan delineations of the tantric vows.
vastujNāna. (T. gzhi shes; C. yiqiexiang zhi; J. issaisochi; K. ilch'esang chi 一切相智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of bases" (VASTU), in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, referring to knowledge that the bases (SKANDHA, ĀYATANA, DHĀTU, etc.) described in main-stream Buddhist sources lack any semblance of a personal self. It is one of the three knowledges (along with SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ and MĀRGAJNATĀ) set forth in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, a commentary on the PANCAVIMsATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA that describe the MAHĀYĀNA path and result. In the AbhisamayālaMkāra, the vastujNāna is more commonly called just SARVAJNATĀ ("all-knowledge"). When it is not informed by skillful means (UPĀYA), that is, great compassion (MAHĀKARUnĀ), it is understood negatively as the practice of a sRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA that leads to their inferior goal of NIRVĀnA and must be forsaken. When it is informed by skillful means, it is an essential component both of the practice of a bodhisattva (mārgajNatā), and of a buddha's knowledge (sarvākārajNatā). As an authentic knowledge of nonself gained through a direct understanding of the four noble truths, it is possessed by those who have reached the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA).
vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah ::: very rare is the great soul who knows that Vasudeva, the omnipresent being, is all that is. [Gita 7.19]
vasudevah sarvam (iti) ::: the Divine Being (Vasudeva) is all. ::: [see the following]
vedanā. (T. tshor ba; C. shou; J. ju; K. su 受). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "sensation" or "sensory feeling"; the physical or mental sensations that accompany all moments of sensory consciousness. Sensations are always understood as being one of three: pleasurable, painful, or neutral (lit. "neither pleasant nor unpleasant"). Sensation is listed as one of the ten "mental factors of wide extent" (MAHĀBHuMIKA) in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, one of the five "omnipresent" (SARVATRAGA) "mental constituents" (CAITTA) in the YOGĀCĀRA system, and one of the seven universal mental factors (lit. mental factors common to all) (sabbacittasādhārana cetasika) in the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA. It is said universally to accompany all moments of sensory consciousness. Sensation is also listed as the second of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) and the seventh constituent in the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). The "contemplation of sensations" (S. vedanānupasyanā, P. vedanānupassanā) is the second of the four foundations of mindfulness (S. SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA, P. satipatthāna) and involves being mindful (see S. SMṚTI, P. sati) of physical and mental sensations that are pleasurable, painful, and neutral.
viceya-taraka prabhata-kalpeva sarvari ::: night preparing for dawn, with a few just decipherable stars. [Raghuvamsa 3.2]
viniyata. (T. yul nges; C. biejing [xinsuo]; J. betsukyo [no shinjo]; K. pyolgyong [simso] 別境[心所]). In Sanskrit, "determinative," or "object-specific"; the second of the six categories of mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the hundred dharmas (BAIFA) schema of the YOGĀCĀRA school, along with the omnipresent (SARVATRAGA), the wholesome (KUsALA), the root afflictions (MuLAKLEsA), the secondary afflictions (UPAKLEsA), and the indeterminate (ANIYATA). There are five mental factors in the category of determinative mental concomitants; their function is to aid the mind in ascertaining or determining its object. The five are aspiration or desire-to-act (CHANDA), determination or resolve (ADHIMOKsA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom (PRAJNĀ). According to ASAnGA, these five determinative factors accompany wholesome (kusala) states of mind, so that if one is present, all are present.
Yamāntaka. (T. Gshin rje gshed; C. Yanmandejia/Daweide mingwang; J. Enmantokuka/Daiitoku myoo; K. Yommandokka/Taewidok myongwang 焰曼德迦/大威德明王). In Sanskrit, "Destroyer of Death" (lit. "he who brings an end (antaka) to death (yama)"), closely associated with BHAIRAVA ("The Frightening One") and VAJRABHAIRAVA; one of the most important tantric deities. In Tibetan Buddhism, he was one of the three primary YI DAM of the DGE LUGS sect (together with GUHYASAMĀJA and CAKRASAMVARA). Yamāntaka is considered to be a fully enlightened buddha, who appears always in a wrathful form. He is depicted both with and without a consort; the solitary depiction, called "sole hero" (ekavīra), is particularly popular. Bhairava also appears in the Hindu tantric pantheon as a wrathful manifestation of the god siva. According to Buddhist mythology, MANJUsRĪ, the bodhisattva of wisdom, took the form of the terrifying bull-headed deity in order to destroy the Lord of Death (YAMA) who was ravaging the country; hence the epithet Yamāntaka (Destroyer of Death). Yamāntaka has nine heads, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs, each arm holding a different weapon or frightening object, and each foot trampling a different being. Each of these receives detailed symbolic interpretation in ritual and meditation texts associated with Yamāntaka. Thus, his two horns are said to represent the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of MADHYAMAKA philosophy: ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA). His nine heads represent the nine categories (NAVAnGA[PĀVACANA]) of Buddhist scriptures. His thirty-four arms, together with his body, speech, and mind, symbolize the thirty-seven "factors pertaining to awakening" (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA). His sixteen legs symbolize the sixteen emptinesses (suNYATĀ). The humans and animals that he tramples with his right foot represent the attainment of the eight accomplishments, viz., supernatural abilities acquired through tantric practice, including the ability to fly, to become invisible, and travel underground. The birds that he tramples with his left foot represent the attainment of the eight powers, another set of magical abilities, including the ability to travel anywhere in an instant and the power to create emanations. His erect phallus represents great bliss, his nakedness means that he is not covered up with obstacles, and his hair standing on end symbolizes his passage beyond all sorrow (DUḤKHA). The Yamāntaka root tantras are the Sarvatathāgatakāyavāgcittakṛsnayamāritantra ("Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas: Black Enemy of Death Tantra") in eighteen chapters; Sarvatathāgatakāyavāgcittaraktayamāritantra ("Red Enemy of Death Tantra," in large part, a different version of the same tantra in nineteen chapters); and the important Kṛsnayamārimukhatantra, also called the "Three Summaries Tantra" (T. Rgyud sdom gsum) because it has no chapters. Also included in the cycle is the Yamāntakakrodhavijayatantra ("Victorious Wrathful Yamāntaka Tantra"), a CARYĀTANTRA. Based on these three works, in Tibet, the three varieties of Yamāntaka are called the "red, black, and the frightening" (T. dmar nag 'jigs gsum) derived from Raktayamāri (Red Enemy of Death), Kṛsnayamāri (Black Enemy of Death), and Vajrabhairava.
Yasas. (P. Yasa; T. Grags pa; C. Yeshe; J. Yasha; K. Yasa 耶舍). An early ARHAT disciple of the Buddha. The son of a wealthy merchant of Vārānasī, Yasas was brought up in luxury. He had three mansions, one for the winter, one for the rainy season, and one for the summer, and was attended by a troupe of female musicians. Once, he happened to awake in the middle of the night and witnessed his attendants sleeping in an indecorous manner. Greatly disturbed, he put on a pair of golden sandals and wandered in the direction of the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA) where the Buddha was dwelling, exclaiming, "Alas, what distress, what danger." The Buddha saw him approach and, knowing what he was experiencing, called out to him, "Yasas, come. Here there is neither distress nor danger." Yasas approached the Buddha, took off his golden sandals, and sat down beside him. The Buddha preached a graduated discourse (ANUPUBBIKATHĀ) to him, at the conclusion of which Yasas became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). He thus became the Buddha's sixth disciple and the first who had not known him prior to his achievement of enlightenment (as had his first five disciples, the bhadravargīya or PANCAVARGIKA). Yasas was also the first person to become an enlightened lay disciple (UPĀSAKA), although he ordained a few minutes later. Later, Yasas's father, who had come searching for his son, arrived at the Buddha's residence. The Buddha used his magical powers to make Yasas invisible and, inviting his father to sit, preached a discourse to him. Yasas's father also became a stream-enterer, while Yasas, who overheard the sermon from his invisible state, became an arhat. When the Buddha made Yasas visible to his father, he informed him that, since his son was now an arhat, it would be impossible for him to return home to a householder's life and he would have to become a monk. Yasas thus became the sixth member of the Buddha's monastic order. Yasas accompanied the Buddha to his father's house the next day to receive the morning meal. After the meal, the Buddha preached a sermon. Yasas's mother, SUJĀTĀ, and other members of the household became stream-enterers, his mother thus becoming the first female disciple (UPĀSIKĀ) of the Buddha and the first woman to become a stream-enterer. At that time, fifty-four of Yasas's friends also were converted and entered the order of monks, swelling its ranks to sixty members. It was at this time that the Buddha directed his disciples to go forth separately and preach the dharma they had realized for the welfare and benefit of the world. ¶ There was a later monk, also named Yasas, whose protest led to the second Buddhist council (COUNCIL, SECOND), held at VAIsĀLĪ. Some one hundred years after the Buddha's death, Yasas was traveling in Vaisālī when he observed the monks there receiving gold and silver as alms directly from the laity, in violation of the VINAYA prohibition against monks touching gold and silver. He also found that the monks had identified ten points in the vinaya that were identified as violations but that they felt were sufficiently minor to be ignored. The ten violations in question were: (1) carrying salt in an animal horn; (2) eating when the shadow of the sundial was two fingerbreadths past noon; (3) after eating, traveling to another village to eat another meal on the same day; (4) holding several assemblies within the same boundary (SĪMĀ) during the same fortnight; (5) making a monastic decision with an incomplete assembly and subsequently receiving the approval of the absent monks; (6) citing precedent as a justification to violate monastic procedures; (7) drinking milk whey after mealtime; (8) drinking unfermented wine; (9) using mats with a fringe; and (10) accepting gold and silver. Yasas told the monks that these were indeed violations, at which point the monks are said to have offered him a share of the gold and silver they had collected. When he refused the bribe, they expelled him from the order. Yasas sought the support of several respected monks in the west, including Sambhuta, sĀnAKAVĀSIN, and REVATA. Together with other monks, they went to Vaisālī, where they convened a council (SAMGĪTI) at which Revata submitted questions about each of the disputed points to Sarvagāmin, the eldest monk of the day, who is said to have been a disciple of ĀNANDA. In each case, he said that the practice in question was a violation of the vinaya. Seven hundred monks then gathered to recite the vinaya. Those who did not accept the decision of the council held their own convocation, which they called the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA or "Great Assembly," the rival group coming to be called the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, or "School of the Elders." This event is sometimes referred to as "the great schism," since it marks the first permanent schism in the order (SAMGHABHEDA).
yasmin vijnate sarvam idam vijnatam ::: that which being known, all is known. [Sandilya Upanisad 2.2; cf. Mund. 1.1.3]
yatah pravrttir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam ::: [from whom is the impulse to action of beings, by whom all this universe is pervaded]. [Gita 18.46]
Yiqie rulai zhenshishe dasheng xianzheng sanmei dajiaowang jing 一切如來眞實攝大乘現證三昧大敎王經. See SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA
yiqiezhi zhi 一切知智. See SARVAJNATĀJNĀNA
yiqie zhi 一切智. See SARVAJNATĀ
yogatantra. (T. rnal 'byor rgyud). One of the four traditional Indian categories of tantric texts. In a late Indian categorization of Buddhist TANTRA, a hierarchy was established that placed texts into one of four categories, in descending order: ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, yogatantra, CARYĀTANTRA, and KRIYĀTANTRA. The precise meaning of these categories, their parameters, and their contents were widely discussed, especially in Tibet. In one influential description, yogatantra was said to emphasize internal yoga over external ritual practice and therefore did not employ the practice of sexual union. An examination of texts included in this category shows, however, that this description is somewhat arbitrary. Important texts classed as yogatantras include the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, the MANJUsRĪMuLAKALPA, the SARVADURGATIPARIsODHANATANTRA, and the VAJRAsEKHARA. MAndALAs with the buddha VAIROCANA as the central deity occur often in the yogatantras.
yo vetti asammudhah sa martyesu sarvapapaih pramucyate ::: who knows (Me) , he, unbewildered among mortals, is delivered from all sin and evil. [Gita 10.3]
Yuhŭiya kyong 蕤耶經. See SARVAMAndALASĀMĀNYAVIDHIGUHYATANTRA
Zuisheng foding tuoluoni jingchu yezhang zhou jing 最勝佛頂陀羅尼淨除業障呪經. See SARVADURGATIPARIsODHANATANTRA
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1:We believe in Sarva Pantha Sambhav. We believe 'the truth is one, there are ways to reach it. ~ Narendra Modi, #NFDB
2:Shaanta-kaaram bhujaga-shayanam padma-naabham suresham vishwa-dhaaram gagana-sadrisham megha-varanam shubhaangam. lakshmi-kaantam kamala-nayanam yogi-bhi-dhyaana-agamyam vande vishnum bhava-bhaya-haram sarva-lokaika-naatham ~ Christopher C Doyle, #NFDB
3:Lord Kṛṣṇa declares in Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yoniṣu … ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: “I am the father of all.” Of course there are all types of living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims that He is the father of all of them. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
87 Integral Yoga
18 Yoga
2 Hinduism
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112 Sri Aurobindo
17 Nolini Kanta Gupta
6 Swami Krishnananda
4 Swami Vivekananda
4 Sri Ramana Maharshi
4 Sri Ramakrishna
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4 A B Purani
3 The Mother
3 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
3 Satprem
2 Vyasa
2 Carl Jung
48 Record of Yoga
20 Essays On The Gita
14 The Synthesis Of Yoga
8 Talks
7 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
6 The Study and Practice of Yoga
4 Vedic and Philological Studies
4 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
4 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
4 Isha Upanishad
4 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
3 The Secret Doctrine
3 Letters On Yoga II
3 Amrita Gita
2 Vishnu Purana
2 The Human Cycle
2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
2 Aion
2 Agenda Vol 01
00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Ivsyamidam Sarvam: All this is for habitation by the Lord;
or, Sarvam khalvidam brahma: All this is indeed the Brahman;
or,Sa evedam Sarvam: He is indeed all this;
or,Ahamevedam Sarvam: I am indeed all this;
or,Atmaivedam Sarvam: The Self indeed is all this;
or again, Sarvamasmi: I am all.
--
Now, this is the All, the Universal. One has to realise it and possess in one's consciousness. And that can be done only in one way: one has to identify oneself with it, be one with it, become it. Thus by losing one's individuality one lives the life universal; the small lean separate life is enlarged and moulded in the rhythm of the Rich and the Vast. It is thus that man shares in the consciousness and energy that inspire and move and sustain the cosmos. The Upanishad most emphatically enjoins that one must not decry this cosmic godhead or deny any of its elements, not even such as are a taboo to the puritan mind. It is in and through an unimpaired global consciousness that one attains the All-Life and lives uninterruptedly and perennially: Sarvamanveti jyok jvati.
Still the Upanishad says this is not the final end. There is yet a higher status of reality and consciousness to which one has to rise. For beyond the Cosmos lies the Transcendent. The Upanishad expresses this truth and experience in various symbols. The cosmic reality, we have seen, is often conceived as a septenary, a unity of seven elements, principles and worlds. Further to give it its full complex value, it is considered not as a simple septet, but a threefold heptad the whole gamut, as it were, consisting of 21 notes or syllables. The Upanishad says, this number does not exhaust the entire range; I for there is yet a 22nd place. This is the world beyond the Sun, griefless and deathless, the supreme Selfhood. The Veda I also sometimes speaks of the integral reality as being represented by the number 100 which is 99 + I; in other words, 99 represents the cosmic or universal, the unity being the reality beyond, the Transcendent.
00.04 - The Beautiful in the Upanishads, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
tameva bhntam anubhti Sarvam
tasya bhs Sarvam idam vibhti
There the sun shines not, nor the moon, nor the stars; these lightnings too there shine not; how then this fire! That shines and therefore all shine in its wake; by the sheen of That, all this shines.
01.11 - Aldous Huxley: The Perennial Philosophy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
We fear Mr. Huxley has completely missed the point of the cryptic sentence. He seems to take it as meaning that human kindness and morality are a means to the recovery of the Lost Way-although codes of ethics and deliberate choices are not sufficient in themselves, they are only a second best, yet they mark the rise of self-consciousness and have to be utilised to pass on into the unitive knowledge that is Tao. This explanation or amplification seems to us somewhat confused and irrelevant to the idea expressed in the apophthegm. What is stated here is much simpler and transparent. It is this that when the Divine is absent and the divine Knowledge, then comes in man with his human mental knowledge: it is man's humanity that clouds the Divine and to reach the' Divine one must reject the human values, all the moralities, Sarva dharmn, seek only the Divine. The lesser way lies through the dualities, good and evil, the Great Way is beyond them and cannot be limited or measured by the relative standards. Especially in the modern age we see the decline and almost the disappearance of the Greater Light and instead a thousand smaller lights are lighted which vainly strive to dispel the gathering darkness. These do not help, they are false lights and men are apt to cling to them, shutting their eyes to the true one which is not that that one worships here and now, nedam yadidam upsate.
There is a beautiful quotation from the Chinese sage, Wu Ch'ng-n, regarding the doubtful utility of written Scriptures:
0 1958-09-16 - OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Ya devi Sarvabhuteshu matrirupena sansthita
Ya devi Sarvabhuteshu shaktirupena sansthita
Ya devi Sarvabhuteshu shantirupena sansthita
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah
0 1959-06-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Regarding me, this is more or less what he said: First of all, I want an agreement from you so that under any circumstances you never leave the Ashram. Whatever happens, even if Yama1 comes to dance at your door, you should never leave the Ashram. At the critical moment, when the attack is the strongest, you should throw everything into His hands, then and then only the thing can be removed (I no longer know whether he said removed or destroyed ). It is the only way. SarvaM MAMA BRAHMAN [Thou art my sole refuge]. Here in Rameswaram, we are going to meditate together for 45 days, and the Asuric-Shakti may come with full strength to attack, and I shall try my best not only to protect but to destroy, but for that, I need your determination. It is only by your own determination that I can get strength. If the force comes to make suggestions: lack of adventure, lack of Nature, lack of love, then think that I am the forest, think that I am the sea, think that I am the wife (!!) Meanwhile, X has nearly doubled the number of repetitions of the mantra that I have to say every day (it is the same mantra he gave me in Pondicherry). X repeated to me again and again that I am not merely a disciple to him, like the others, but as if his son.
This was a first, hasty conversation, and we did not discuss things at length. I said nothing. I have no confidence in my reactions when I am in the midst of my crises of complete negation. And truly speaking, at the time of my last crisis in Pondicherry, I do not know if it was really Xs occult working that set things right, for personally (but perhaps it is an ignorant impression), I felt that it was thanks to Sujata and her childlike simplicity that I was able to get out of it.
0 1962-07-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Now let me discuss some particular points of your letter. I do not want to say much in this letter about what you have written as regards your yoga. We shall have better occasion when we meet. To look upon the body as a corpse is a sign of Sannyasa, of the path of Nirvana. You cannot be of the world with this idea. You must have delight in all thingsin the Spirit as well as in the body. The body has consciousness, it is Gods form. When you see God in everything that is in the world, when you have this vision that all this is Brahman, Sarvamidam Brahma, that Vasudeva is all thisVasudevah Sarvamiti then you have the universal delight. The flow of that delight precipitates and courses even through the body. When you are in such a state, full of the spiritual consciousness, you can lead a married life, a life in the world. In all your works you find the expression of Gods delight. So far I have been transforming all the objects and perceptions of the mind and the senses into delight on the mental level. Now they are taking the form of the supramental delight. In this condition is the perfect vision and perception of Sachchidananda.
You write about the Deva Samgha and say, I am not a god, I am only a piece of much hammered and tempered iron. No one is a God but in each man there is a God and to make Him manifest is the aim of divine life. That we can all do. I recognize that there are great and small adharas [vessels]. I do not accept, however, your description of yourself as accurate. Still whatever the nature of the vessel, once the touch of God is upon it, once the spirit is awake, great and small and all that does not make much difference. There may be more difficulties, more time may be taken, there may be a difference in the manifestation, but even about that there is no certainty. The God within takes no account of these hindrances and deficiencies. He breaks his way out. Was the amount of my failings a small one? Were there less obstacles in my mind and heart and vital being and body? Did it not take time? Has God hammered me less? Day after day, minute after minute, I have been fashioned into I know not whether a god or what. But I have become or am becoming something. That is sufficient, since God wanted to build it. It is the same as regards everyone. Not our strength but the Shakti of God is the sadhaka [worker] of this yoga.
03.02 - Yogic Initiation and Aptitude, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Virtues are not indications of the fire of the inner soul, nor are vices irremediable obstacles to its growth. The inner soul, we have said, feeds upon allit is indeed fire, the omnivorous, Sarvabhuk,virtues and vices and everything else and gather strength from everywhere. The mystery of miracles, of a sudden change or reversal or revolution in consciousness and way of life lies in the omnipotency of the psychic being. The psychic being has the power of making the apparently impossible, for this reason that it is a portion of the almighty Divine, it is the supreme Conscious-Power crystallised and canalised in a centre for the sake of manifestation. It is a particle from the Being, a spark of the Consciousness, a ripple from the Delight cast into the fastnesses of Matter and the, material body. Now, it is the irresistible urge of this particle, this spark, this ripple to grow and expand, to become in the end the Vast the Ocean and the Sun and the sphere of Infinityto become that not merely in an essential status but in a dynamic and apparent becoming also. The little soul, originally no bigger than a thumb, goes forward through one life after another enlarging and intensifying itself till it recovers and establishes its parent reality in this material body here below, till it unveils what is latent within itself, what is its own, what is itself,its integral self-fulfilment, the Divine integrality.
Here in his inner being, as part and parcel of the Divine, man is absolutely free, has infinite capacity and unbounded aptitude; for here he is master, not slave of Nature, and it is slavery to Nature, that limits and baulks and stultifies man. So does the Upanishad declare in a magnificent and supreme utterance:
03.04 - Towardsa New Ideology, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
And India is pre-eminently fitted to discover this pattern of spiritual values and demonstrate how our normal lifeindividual and collectivecan be moulded and built according to that pattern. It has been India's special concern throughout the millenaries of her history to know and master the one thing needful (tamevaikam jnatha tmnam any vaco vimucatha), knowing which one knows all (tasmin vijte Sarvam vijtam). She has made countless experiments in that line and has attained countless achievements. Her resurgence can be justified and can be inevitable only if she secures the poise and position which will enable her to impart to the world this master secret of life, this art of a supreme savoir vivre. A new India in the old way of the nations of the world, one more among the already too many has neither sense nor necessity. Indeed, it would be the denial of what her soul demands and expects to be achieved and done.
***
03.05 - The Spiritual Genius of India, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
All other nations have this one, or that other, line of self-expression, special to each; but it is India's characteristic not to have had any such single and definite modus Vivendiwhat was single and definite in her case was a mode not of living but of being. India looked above all to the very self in things; and in all her life-expression it was the soul per se which mattered to her,even as the-great Yajnavalkya said to his wife Maitreyi,tmanastu kmay Sarvam priyam bhavati. The expressions of the self had no intrinsic value of their own and mattered only so far as they symbolised or embodied or pointed to the secret reality of the Atman. And perhaps it was on this account that India's creative activities, even in external life, were once upon a time so rich and varied, so stupendous and, full of marvel. Because she was attached and limited to no one dominating power of life, she could create infinite forms, so many channels of power for the soul whose realisation was her end and aim.
There was no department of life or culture in which it could be said of India that she was not great, or even, in a way, supreme. From hard practical politics touching our earth, to the nebulous regions of abstract metaphysics, everywhere India expressed the power of her genius equally well. And yet none of these, neither severally nor collectively, constituted her specific genius; none showed the full height to which she could raise herself, none compassed the veritable amplitude of her innermost reality. It is when we come to the domain of the Spirit, of God-realisation that we find the real nature and stature and genius of the Indian people; it is here that India lives and moves as in her own home of Truth. The greatest and the most popular names in Indian history are not names of warriors or statesmen, nor of poets who were only poets, nor of mere intellectual philosophers, however great they might be, but of Rishis, who saw and lived the Truth and communed with the gods, of Avataras who brought down and incarnated here below something of the supreme realities beyond.
04.05 - The Freedom and the Force of the Spirit, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Bhrmyan Sarvabhtni yantrrhni myayXVIII.61
Isha Upanishad, 14
1.01 - Hatha Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
22. Sarvanga, Hala and Ardhamatsyendra Asanas make the spine elastic. Sarvanga develops thyroid gland and bestows good health. It helps Brahmacharya and gives longevity.
23. Paschimottanasana reduces fat and helps digestion. So does Mayurasana.
1.01 - Isha Upanishad, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
7 The words Sarvani bhutani, literally, "all things that have become", are opposed to
Atman, self-existent and immutable being. The phrase means ordinarily "all creatures", but its literal sense is evidently insisted on in the expression bhutani abhut "became the
1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
tatra niratishayan Sarvajntvabijam
In Him becomes infinite that all-knowing-ness which
--
tasyapi nirodhe Sarvanirodhannirbijah samadhih
By the restraint of even this (impression, which
1.02.2.1 - Brahman - Oneness of God and the World, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
The "others" are Sarvan.i bhutani of a later verse, all becomings, Brahman representing itself in the separative consciousness
of the Many.
1.025 - Sadhana - Intensifying a Lighted Flame, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The practice of yoga is nothing but a conscious participation in the universal working of nature itself and, therefore, it is the most natural thing that we can do, and the most natural thing that we can conceive. There can be nothing more natural than to participate consciously in the evolutionary work of the universe, which is the attempt of the cosmos to become Self-conscious in the Absolute. Evolution is nothing but a movement of the whole universe towards Self-awareness this is called God-realisation. Our every activity from the cup of tea that we take, to the breath that we breathe, from even the sneeze that we jet forth, to the least action that we perform, from even a single thought which occurs in the mind everything is a part of this cosmic operation which is the evolution of the universe towards Self-realisation. Therefore, the practice of yoga is the most natural thing that we can think of and the most necessary duty of a human being. Nothing can be more obligatory on our part than this duty. It is from this point of view, perhaps, that Lord Krishna proclaims, towards the end of the Bhagavadgita, Sarvadharmnparityajya mmeka araa vraja (B.G. XVIII.66): Renounce every other duty and come to Me for rescue which means to say, take resort in the law of the Absolute. This is the practice of yoga, and every other dharma is subsumed under it and included within it, as every drop and every river is in the ocean. In this supreme duty, every other duty is included. There is no need to think of every individual, discrete and isolated duty, because all duties are included in this one duty, which is the mother of all duties.
This peculiar feature of spiritual practice, sadhana, being so difficult to understand intellectually, cannot be regarded as merely an individual's affair. Sadhana is God's affair, ultimately. Spiritual sadhana is God's grace working. Though it appears that is individual effort, it only seems to be so, but really it is something else. Not even the greatest of philosophical thinkers, such as Shankara, could logically answer the question, "How does knowledge arise in the jiva?" How can it be said that individual effort produces knowledge of God? Knowledge of God cannot rise by individual effort, because individual effort is so puny, so inadequate to the purpose, to the task, that we cannot expect such an infinite result to follow from the finite cause. The concept of God is an inscrutable event that takes place in the human mind. Can we imagine an ass thinking about God? However much it may put forth effort and go on trying its best throughout its life, the concept of God will never arise in an ass's mind or in a buffalo's mind. How it arises is a mystery. Suddenly, it comes.
1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
virodhaccha duhkham eva Sarvan vivekinah
To the discriminating, all is, as it were, painful on
--
asteyapratishthayam Sarvaratnopasthanam
By the establishment of non-stealing all wealth
1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
tatpravibhagasanyamat Sarvabhootarutajnanam
By making Samyama on word, meaning, and
--
pratibhad va Sarvam
Or by the power of Pratibha all knowledge.
--
Sarvabhavadhish thatritvam Sarvajnatritvan cha
By making Sarny ama on the Sattva, to him who has
--
tarakan Sarvavishayan Sarvathavishayam akraman
cheti vivekajan jnanam
1.04 - KAI VALYA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
drashtridrishyoparaktan chittan Sarvartham
Coloured by the seer and the seen the mind is able to
--
prasankhyanepyakusidasy Sarvathavivekakhyater
dharmameghah samadhih
--
tada Sarvavarannamalapetasy
jnanasyaanantyajgyeyam alpam
1.04 - The Core of the Teaching, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Sakya State, or would direct a Ramakrishna to become a Pundit in a vernacular school and disinterestedly teach little boys their lessons, or bind down a Vivekananda to support his family and for that to follow dispassionately the law or medicine or journalism. The Gita does not teach the disinterested performance of duties but the following of the divine life, the abandonment of all dharmas, Sarvadharman, to take refuge in the Supreme alone, and the divine activity of a Buddha, a Ramakrishna, a
Vivekananda is perfectly in consonance with this teaching. Nay, although the Gita prefers action to inaction, it does not rule out the renunciation of works, but accepts it as one of the ways to the Divine. If that can only be attained by renouncing works and life and all duties and the call is strong within us, then into the bonfire they must go, and there is no help for it. The call of God is imperative and cannot be weighed against any other considerations.
--
"Arise, slay thy enemies, enjoy a prosperous kingdom," has not the ring of an uncompromising altruism or of a white, dispassionate abnegation; it is a state of inner poise and wideness which is the foundation of spiritual freedom. With that poise, in that freedom we have to do the "work that is to be done," a phrase which the Gita uses with the greatest wideness including in it all works, Sarvakarman.i, and which far exceeds, though it may include, social duties or ethical obligations. What is the work to be done is not to be determined by the individual choice; nor is the right to the action and the rejection of claim to the fruit the great word of the Gita, but only a preliminary word governing the first state of the disciple when he begins ascending the hill of Yoga. It is practically superseded at a subsequent stage. For the Gita goes on to affirm emphatically that the man is not the doer of the action; it is Prakriti, it is Nature, it is the great Force with its three modes of action that works through him, and he must learn to see that it is not he who does the work. Therefore the "right to action" is an idea which is only valid so long as we are still under the illusion of being the doer; it must necessarily disappear from the mind like the claim to the fruit, as soon as we cease to be to our own consciousness the doer of our works.
All pragmatic egoism, whether of the claim to fruits or of the right to action, is then at an end.
1.04 - The Gods of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
What is Mah or Mahas?The word means great, embracing, full, comprehensive. The Earth, also, because of its wideness & containing faculty is called mahi,just as it is called prithivi, dhara, medini, dharani, etc. In various forms, the root itself, mahi, mahitwam, maha, magha, etc, it recurs with remarkable profusion and persistence throughout the Veda. Evidently it expressed some leading thought of the Rishis, was some term of the highest importance in their system of psychology. Turning to the Purana we find the term mahat applied to some comprehensive principle which is supposed itself to be near to the unmanifest, avyaktam but to supply the material of all that is manifest and always to surround, embrace and uphold it. Mahat seems here to be an objective principle; but this need not trouble us; for in the old Hindu system all that is objective had something subjective corresponding to it and constituting its real nature. We find it explicitly declared in the Vishnu Purana that all things here are manifestations of vijnana, pure ideal knowledge, Sarvani vijnanavijrimbhitaniideal knowledge vibrating out into intensity of various phenomenal existences each with its subjective reason for existence and objective case & form of existence. Is ideal knowledge then the subjective principle of mahat? If so, vijnanam and the Vedic mahas are likely to be terms identical in their philosophical content and psychological significance. We turn to the Upanishads and find mention made more than once of a certain subjective state of the soul, which is called Mahan Atma, a state into which the mind and senses have to be drawn up as we rise by samadhi of the instruments of knowledge into the supreme state of Brahman and which is superior therefore to these instruments. The Mahan Atma is the state of the pure Brahman out of which the vijnana or ideal truth (sattwa or beness of things) emerges and it is higher than the vijnana but nearer us than the Unmanifest or Avyaktam (Katha: III.10, 11,13 & VI.7). If we understand by the Mahan Atma that status of soul existence (Purusha) which is the basis of the objective mahat or mahati prakriti and which develops the vijnanam or ideal knowledge as its subjective instrument, then we shall have farther light on the nature of Mahas in the ancient conceptions. We shall see that it is ideal knowledge, vijnanam, or is connected with ideal knowledge.
But we have first one more step in our evidence to notice,the final & conclusive link. In the Taittiriya Upanishad we are told that there are three vyahritis, Bhur, Bhuvar, Swar, but the Rishi Mahachamasya insisted on a fourth, Mahas. What is this fourth vyahriti? It is evidently some old Vedic idea and can hardly fail to be our maho arnas. I have already, in my introduction, outlined briefly the Vedic, Vedantic & Puranic system of the seven worlds and the five bodies. In this system the three vyahritis constitute the lower half of existence which is in bondage to Avidya. Bhurloka is the material world, our dwelling place, in which Annam predominates, in which everything is subject to or limited by the laws of matter & material consciousness. Bhuvar are the middle worlds, antariksha, between Swar & Bhur, vital worlds in which Prana, the vital principle predominates and everything is subject to or limited by the laws of vitality & vital consciousness. Swarloka is the supreme world of the triple system, the pure mental kingdom in which manasei ther in itself or, as one goes higher, uplifted & enlightened by buddhipredominates & by the laws of mind determines the life & movements of the existences which inhabit it. The three Puranic worlds Jana, Tapas, Satya,not unknown to the Vedaconstitute the Parardha; they are the higher ranges of existence in which Sat, Chit, Ananda, the three mighty elements of the divine nature predominate respectively, creative Ananda or divine bliss in Jana, the power of Chit (Chich-chhakti) or divine Energy in Tapas, the extension [of] Sat or divine being in Satya. But these worlds are hidden from us, avyaktalost for us in the sushupti to which only great Yogins easily attain & only with the Anandaloka have we by means of the anandakosha some difficult chance of direct access. We are too joyless to bear the surging waves of that divine bliss, too weak or limited to move in those higher ranges of divine strength & being. Between the upper hemisphere & the lower is Maharloka, the seat of ideal knowledge & pure Truth, which links the free spirits to the bound, the gods who deliver to the gods who are in chains, the wide & immutable realms to these petty provinces where all shifts, all passes, all changes. We see therefore that Mahas is still vijnanam and we can no longer hesitate to identify our subjective principle of mahas, source of truth & right thinking awakened by Saraswati through the perceptive intelligence, with the Vedantic principle of vijnana or pure buddhi, instrument of pure Truth & ideal knowledge.
1.04 - What Arjuna Saw - the Dark Side of the Force, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
ry kind of human work, Sarvakrmani. Do you contend that
Krishna was an unspiritual man and that his advice to Arju-
1.057 - The Four Manifestations of Ignorance, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
So, even pain can be mistaken for pleasure where emotions are tied up. What we are serving is our own emotions not the family, not the world. Our emotions are catching hold of us by the throat, and we are pampering the emotions under the impression that we are pampering, helping, serving or doing work for somebody else. There is, again, a mistake in the very thought itself. The idea becomes concretised takes a visible shape, as it were, and becomes the working field for all the urges of the individual. We have studied this earlier, in connection with another sutra: parima tpa saskra dukai guavtti virodht ca dukham eva Sarva vivekina (II.15). In this sutra, Patanjali tells us that everything is pain ultimately, if it is properly analysed. There is no joy, but everything looks like joy. If there is no joy in life, who would live in this world? We would all perish in a few minutes. But this joy is a counterfeit joy; it is not really there. It is a makeshift, a camouflage, a whitewash that is presented before us. At the background, there is a pricking pain the thorn of agony, anguish, non-possession, anxiety, fear, dispossession, bereavement, etc. But with all this, we take this agonising world for a field of joy, as if rivers of milk and honey are flowing.
The perception of the reality of a not-Self; the perception of permanency in everything that is transitory or transitional; the perception of beauty, grandeur, and value in objects of sense; the perception of joy in the contact of the senses with objects these are the ways in which ignorance works. And, because of the vehemence with which these forms of ignorance work, because of the force with which they impinge upon us, because of the velocity with which they come and sit on our heads, we cannot escape them. Like vultures they come and sit on us, threatening us and subjugating us with their powers. Because of the force with which they sit upon us, we have to yield to them. Then, coming under their thumb, we act according to their commands, because this ignorance does not merely end with these perceptions. They have other demands, and once we fulfil a single demand, another will come.
1.05 - Ritam, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Arishtah Sarva edhate.
Vi durg vi dwishah puro ghnanti rjna eshm
--
The second verse neither confirms as yet nor contradicts this initial suggestion. These three great gods, it says, are to the mortal as a multitude of arms which bring to him his desires & fill him with an abundant fullness and protect him from any who may will to do him hurt, rishah; fed with that fullness he grows until he is Sarvah, complete in every part of his being(that is to say, if we admit the sense of a spiritual protection and a spiritual activity, in knowledge, in power, in joy, in mental, vital & bodily fullness)and by the efficacy of that protection he enjoys all this fullness & completeness unhurt. No part of it is maimed by the enemies of man, whose activities do him hurt, the Vritras, Atris, Vrikas, the Coverer on the heights, the devourer in the night, the tearer on the path.We may note in passing how important [it] is to render every Vedic word by its exact value; rish & dwish both mean enemy; but if we render them by one word, we lose the fine shade of meaning to which the poet himself calls our attention by the collocation pnti rishaharishta edhate. We see also the same care of style in the collocation Sarva edhate, where, as it seems to me, it is clearly suggested that the completeness is the result of the prosperous growth, we have again the fine care & balance with which the causes pipratipnti are answered by the effects arishtahedhate. There is even a good literary reason of great subtlety & yet perfect force for the order of the words & the exact place of each word in the order. In this simple, easy & yet faultless balance & symmetry a great number of the Vedic hymns represent exactly in poetry the same spirit & style as the Greek temple or the Greek design in architecture & painting. Nor can anyone who neglects to notice it & give full value to it, catch rightly, fully & with precision the sense of the Vedic writings.
In the third verse we come across the first confirmation of the spiritual purport of the hymn. The protected of Varuna, Mitra & Aryama the plural is now used to generalise the idea more decisivelyare travellers to a moral & spiritual goal, nayanti durit tirah. It follows that the durgni, the obstacles in the path are moral & spiritual obstacles, not material impediments. It follows equally that the dwishah, the haters, are spiritual enemies, not human; for there would be no sense or appropriateness in the scattering of human enemies by Varuna as a condition of the seeker after Truth & Rights reaching a state of sinlessness. It is the spiritual, moral & mental obstacles, the spiritual beings & forces who are opposed to the souls perfection, Brahmadwishah, whom Varuna, Mitra & Aryama remove from the path of their worshippers. They smite them & scatter them utterly, vi durg vi dwishah,the particle twice repeated in order to emphasise the entire clearance of the path; they scatter them in front,not allowing even the least struggle to be engaged before their intervention, but going in front of the worshippers & maintaining a clear way, suga anrikshara, in which they can pass not only without hurt, but without battle. The image of the sins, the durit is that of an army besetting the way which is scattered to all sides by the divine vanguard & is compelled beyond striking distance. The armed pilgrims of the Right pass on & through & not an arrow falls across their road. The three great Kings of heaven & their hosts, rjnah, have passed before & secured the great passage for the favoured mortal.
1.05 - Yoga and Hypnotism, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
What is this force that enables or compels a weak man to become so rigid that strong arms cannot bend him? that reverses the operations of the senses and abrogates pain? that changes the fixed character of a man in the shortest of periods? that is able to develop power where there was no power, moral strength where there was weakness, health where there was disease? that in its higher manifestations can exceed the barriers of space and time and produce that far-sight, far-hearing and far-thinking which shows mind to be an untrammelled agent or medium pervading the world and not limited to the body which it informs or seems to inform? The European scientist experimenting with hypnotism is handling forces which he cannot understand, stumbling on truths of which he cannot give a true account. His feet are faltering on the threshold of Yoga. It is held by some thinkers, and not unreasonably if we consider these phenomena, that mind is all and contains all. It is not the body which determines the operations of the mind, it is the mind which determines the laws of the body. It is the ordinary law of the body that if it is struck, pierced or roughly pressed it feels pain. This law is created by the mind which associates pain with these contacts, and if the mind changes its dharma and is able to associate with these contacts not pain but insensibility or pleasure, then they will bring about those results of insensibility or pleasure and no other. The pain and pleasure are not the result of the contact, neither is their seat in the body; they are the result of association and their seat is in the mind. Vinegar is sour, sugar sweet, but to the hypnotised mind vinegar can be sweet, sugar sour. The sourness or sweetness is not in the vinegar or sugar, but in the mind. The heart also is the subject of the mind. My emotions are like my physical feelings, the result of association, and my character is the result of accumulated past experiences with their resultant associations and reactions crystallising into habits of mind and heart summed up in the word, character. These things like all the rest that are made of the stuff of associations are not permanent or binding but fluid and mutable, anity Sarvasaskr. If my friend blames me, I am grieved; that is an association and not binding. The grief is not the result of the blame but of an association in the mind. I can change the association so far that blame will cause me no grief, praise no elation. I can entirely stop the reactions of joy and grief by the same force that created them. They are habits of the mind, nothing more In the same way though with more difficulty I can stop the reactions of physical pain and pleasure so that nothing will hurt my body. If I am a coward today, I can be a hero tomorrow. The cowardice was merely the habit of associating certain things with pain and grief and of shrinking from the pain and grief; this shrinking and the physical sensations in the vital or nervous man which accompany it are called fear, and they can be dismissed by the action of the mind which created them. All these are propositions which European Science is even now unwilling to admit, yet it is being proved more and more by the phenomena of hypnotism that these effects can be temporarily at least produced by one man upon another; and it has even been proved that disease can be permanently cured or character permanently changed by the action of one mind upon another. The rest will be established in time by the development of hypnotism.
The difference between Yoga and hypnotism is that what hypnotism does for a man through the agency of another and in the sleeping state, Yoga does for him by his own agency and in the waking state. The hypnotic sleep is necessary in order to prevent the activity of the subjects mind full of old ideas and associations from interfering with the operator. In the waking state he would naturally refuse to experience sweetness in vinegar or sourness in sugar or to believe that he can change from disease to health, cowardice to heroism by a mere act of faith; his established associations would rebel violently and successfully against such contradictions of universal experience. The force which transcends matter would be hampered by the obstruction of ignorance and attachment to universal error. The hypnotic sleep does not make the mind a tabula rasa but it renders it passive to everything but the touch of the operator. Yoga similarly teaches passivity of the mind so that the will may act unhampered by the saskras or old associations. It is these saskras, the habits formed by experience in the body, heart or mind, that form the laws of our psychology. The associations of the mind are the stuff of which our life is made. They are more persistent in the body than in the mind and therefore harder to alter. They are more persistent in the race than in the individual; the conquest of the body and mind by the individual is comparatively easy and can be done in the space of a single life, but the same conquest by the race involves the development of ages. It is conceivable, however, that the practice of Yoga by a great number of men and persistence in the practice by their descendants might bring about profound changes in human psychology and, by stamping these changes into body and brain through heredity, evolve a superior race which would endure and by the law of the survival of the fittest eliminate the weaker kinds of humanity. Just as the rudimentary mind of the animal has been evolved into the fine instrument of the human being so the rudiments of higher force and faculty in the present race might evolve into the perfect buddhi of the Yogin.
1.075 - Self-Control, Study and Devotion to God, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
When this contentment arises and serenity of mind is attained, it is understood that distractions are not there; and the absence of distractions is the same as concentration of mind. Thus, the power of concentrating the mind arises automatically on account of this rise of sattva within oneself. In the Chhandogya Upanishad we have a similar proclamation regarding the results that follow from the development of sattva. hra-uddhau sattva-uddhi, sattva-uddhau dhruv smti, smitilambhe Sarva-granthna vipramoka (C.U. VII.26.2), says Sanatkumara to Narada in the Chhandogya Upanishad. hra-uddhau sattva-uddhi: When there is a purification of the modes of intake by the senses when what the senses grasp by way of knowledge is pure purity of mind is automatically generated within because the mind is made up of nothing but the impressions of the senses. So, whatever the senses convey, that the mind also is, and does.
The message that is conveyed through the senses is the character that is imbedded in the mind. Hence, when the senses receive pure food, the message that they convey, being pure, makes the mind also pure because the mind has nothing to say and nothing to do except what the senses direct. The intake of the senses means the perceptions of the senses the objects that they perceive or contact, the way in which they evaluate things, and the reactions they set up in respect of their perceptions. All this is what is known as ahara, or the diet of the senses.
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When we grasp things by the senses, our perceptions go deep into the universals that are present behind the particulars which are the sense objects. Then it is that this diet of the senses is supposed to be pure. Then perceptions make no sense; they carry no impression. Whether we look at an object or not, it will make no difference, because the perception of an object will be the same as the harmony of oneself with the object. Then it is that sattva arises in the mind and there is concentration of mind, which is what is known as smriti lambha in this passage from the Chhandogya Upanishad. Then, there is a breaking of the knots of the heart. Sarva-granthna vipramoka there is freedom.
Sattvauddhi saumanasya aikgrye indriyajaya tmadarana yogyatvni ca (II.41) is the sutra of Patanjali which tells us that luminosity lustre of the mind, tranquillity, a serenity of mood, concentration, or the power to focus the mind, and control over the senses, indriyajaya all these are spontaneously the results of purity, which finally ends in fitness of oneself to receive the light of the Self.
1.081 - The Application of Pratyahara, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The pain involved in pratyahara is the result of a love that the mind has for that object towards which it is wrongly moving. Inasmuch as the direction which the mind has taken towards the object is wrong, the affection that it has towards the object is also wrong, and the pleasure that it derives from the object is also a misconstrued, misconceived idea. There is some complete topsy-turvy effect that has taken place on account of a basic error in the total attitude of the mind towards the object. In an earlier sutra we have studied that, to the discriminative, all is pain in this world: dukham eva Sarva vivekina (II.15). It is to the understanding spirit and to the mind that the painful aspect of a thing is made clear. But to an unclear mind, this painful aspect will not become obvious. Who can ever believe that the objects of sense are made, or constituted, in a manner quite differently from the way in which they are seen by the eyes?
The belief in the concrete structure of an object and the stability of its position is so intense that any kind of contrary philosophical analysis will not be appreciated by the mind at that moment of time. Thus, while there is a need for a rational force of mind in the bringing of the mind back from the object, there is also a need to consider the emotional aspect, which should not be completely forgotten, because the mind is made up of various aspects. Thinking is not the only aspect of the mind. It has the aspect of feeling, and there is the aspect of will. They all work together in connivance. When the mind thinks wrongly about an object, the will also works wrongly in respect of that object and confirms that thinking, and then the feeling charges it with the requisite force. It is like dacoits coming together; though they move in a wrong direction, they have a force of their own, so it is difficult to encounter all of them at once without proper precaution. The force that is behind the wrong activity of the mind is the emotion, and unless this force is withdrawn, we cannot check that activity.
1.097 - Sublimation of Object-Consciousness, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Patanjali mentions this to us once again, in the Vibhuti Pada, for the purpose of acquisition of the knowledge of the purusha. Sattva purua anyat khytimtrasya Sarvabhva adhihttva Sarvajttva ca (III.50). When there is an acquisition of this understanding and an establishment of oneself in this status of meditation, some extraordinary results follow, and they are mentioned as Sarva bhava adhis thatritva and Sarva jnatritva. One becomes the substratum of everything as a result of this meditation that is Sarva bhava adhis thatritva. As the substratum of all things, there is no need for this consciousness to move towards objects, because it is the substratum of even the object. As the result of this, again, there is Sarva jnatritva knowledge of everything. The substance of everything is also endowed with the knowledge of everything. It follows, because everything is a modification of the substance. One who has become the substance itself, as the substratum of all things, naturally gets endowed with this knowledge. This knowledge is called taraka that which takes one across the ocean of sorrow.
Traka Sarvaviaya Sarvathviaya akrama ca iti vivekajam jnam (III.55). This taraka knowledge is of such a nature that its object is everything, as different from the mental knowledge which is provided to us now, at present, which has only certain objects as its contents, and not all objects. A certain set of objects becomes the content of mental consciousness, empirically. But here, there is Sarva visayatva anything that is existent is a constant and perpetual content of this consciousness. It is not merely Sarva visaya, but is also Sarvatha visaya it is aware of everything in every condition, not only in one condition. For example, we are aware of objects in one condition only, not in all conditions. In the earlier sutras we have been told that every object undergoes various conditions the parinamas mentioned. And we cannot be aware of all the parinamas, or all the transformations of the past, present and future at one stroke, because of the limited character of the mind in its capacity to know things. Only the present is known. The past is not known. The future is not known.
But here, there is knowledge of all conditions of the objects even those conditions which the object has not undergone and are yet to come. They also will be known at one stroke that is Sarvatha visaya. Sarvaviaya Sarvathviaya all knowledge, and knowledge of every condition of everything, every state through which one passed, through which one passes and through which one has to pass all these will become contents of this awareness. How, in what manner, does it become a content of awareness? One after another, successively? No. Akramam. Akramam means not successive, but simultaneous. Instantaneous awareness of all conditions that are possible, at any period of time this is called viveka jnana.Traka Sarvaviaya Sarvathviaya akrama ca iti vivekajam jnam (III.55).
These are only stories to the mind which is sunk in the mire of world-consciousness. One cannot even dream of what this state of affairs is. What can be meant by simultaneous awareness of all things and simultaneous awareness of every condition of all things? This is called Sarva jnatritva; this is omniscience. And this is designated by the term vivekajam jnanam, knowledge born of discriminative understanding, which is a peculiar term used in the yoga psychology. It is also called taraka, the saving knowledge. This information is given to us in these sutras to give us a comfort spiritually, that we are not merely entering into a lions den where we find nothing but death, but that we are entering into a new type of life altogether, where eternity embraces us with a new life which is durationless and, therefore, deathless. This contemplation is the only technique, the only method, the only means of the salvation of the soul.
Sattva puruayo uddhi smye kaivalyam iti (III.56). Kaivalya, or ultimate independence of the spirit, arises when there is equanimity of the structural character of sattva and the purusha. Sattva means the mind, or we may call it prakriti; purusha is the consciousness. When there is similarity established between the two, then the one does not remain as an object of the other, nor is one a subject in relation to the other. When the two become one on account of the intense purity of the experiencing consciousness, infinity enters into experience. This is kaivalya, this is moksha sattva puruayo uddhi smye kaivalyam iti (III.56). These sutras have given us, in a concise manner, the principles of spiritual contemplation.
1.09 - Kundalini Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
11. Sarvangasana, Sirshasana, Paschimottanasana are the important Asanas.
12. Learn the Asanas, Pranayama, Bandhas and Mudras under an expert, Siddha Yogi Guru.
1.107 - The Bestowal of a Divine Gift, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
When everything is done, and we are in the hall of the divine Absolute, then the glory dawns, which is the experience designated in the sutra of Patanjali as dharma-megha samadhi. This is a grand experience, very majestic. Once we reach that state, there is no fear. We are real masters. Prasakhyne api akusdasya Sarvath vivekakhyte dharmamegha samdhi (IV.29). We do not know why he has given this name to it. It is a peculiar novelty of Patanjali. Many people interpret it in many ways. What is dharma, and what is megha? If we look at the dictionary, we will see that a very simple meaning is given. Dharma is virtue, righteousness; megha is cloud. So what does dharma-megha the cloud of righteousness, the cloud of virtue mean?
The meaning of this epithet in respect of this spiritual experience seems to be that there will be a shower of virtue not a virtue that we deliberately practise as a sadhana, but a spontaneous rain of divine grace which will come like a flood of showers from all sides. The virtues which we practise as a sadhana are different from the virtues which automatically proceed as a spontaneous character of ones enlightened being. In the beginning they are efforts, but in the later stages they become our own nature. We need not put on a switch to have the light; the light is there, as is the case with the self-luminous sun. The dharma-megha is, therefore, an indication that we are in the vicinity of the great goal. Though it has not been reached yet, we have inklings of its presence. There are indications that we are approaching it. Prasakhyne api akusdasya Sarvath vivekakhyte dharmamegha samdhi (IV.29) is the condition that precedes this experience of dharma-megha.
We should not have a desire even for such enlightenments as all-knowingness. Let me be all-knowing, all-powerful even such desires should not be there. Only then, this dharma-megha comes. We are asked not to allow even the finest and subtlest form of the ego to work even in this high or lofty plane because the ego, when it starts working, can take a very fine ethereal shape. The desire to know all things has a subtle background of the presence of ones individuality, though it is a far, far advanced form of individuality. And the power which follows, which is called omnipotence, is also of a similar character. Of course, we do not know what actually happens when there is omniscience or omnipotence. We have to have it, and only then can we know what it is. But before it comes, it looks like a possession or an endowment which would exalt a person to a lofty degree of status in the universe; and all ideas of status must be shut down.
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There are no physical obstacles in the higher realms. The obstacle in the physical world is the physical body. That is the object and, therefore, we cannot enjoy it properly. The presence of the physical body obstructs the union that we seek with the object, which is the reason for this search for enjoyment through the senses. But there are no physical bodies in the higher realms; therefore, the temptations are more powerful, and it is a greater difficulty there than here on earth. It is possible that one can get stuck in the higher realms more easily than on earth. All these have to be watched with great care, and the sutra tells us: What to talk of these enjoyments; you have to be free even from the desire to have omniscience, and you should ask for pure Being-consciousness only. Sarvatha vivekakhyateh it is not knowledge of things that we are asking for; it is knowledge as such, which is knowledge of being alone. This is the purusha. Then comes dharma-megha samadhi. At that time, what happens?
Nobody can say what happens. No one can go there and see what happens. Dharma-megha samadhi is only a term which is defined in various ways, but it is said to be a divine gift which is bestowed upon the seeker by the powers that be the divine forces that guard the cosmos. Rapturous descriptions of this condition can be found in such scriptures as the Yoga Vasishtha where we are told that even the divine beings, the guardians of the cosmos, become our servants. The guardians of the cosmos become the servants of this man. Such things are told in the Yoga Vasishtha and other scriptures of that kind.
1.10 - Mantra Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
14. Those who utilise the Mantra power in curing snake bites, scorpion stings and chronic diseases should not accept any kind of presents or money. They must be absolutely unselfish. They should not accept even fruits or clothes. They will lose the power if they utilise the power for selfish purposes. If they are absolutely unselfish, if they serve the humanity with Sarvatma Bhava, their power will increase through the grace of the Lord.
15. He who attained Mantra Siddhi can cure cobra bite or scorpion sting or any chronic disease by mere touch on the affected part. When a man is bitten by a cobra a telegram is sent to the Mantra Siddha. The Mantra Siddha recites the Mantra and the man who is bitten by a cobra is cured. What a grand marvel! Does this not prove the tremendous power of Mantra?
1.10 - The descendants of the daughters of Daksa married to the Rsis, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
Sambhūti, the wife of Marīci, gave birth to Paurnamāsa, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Marīci[2].
The wife of A
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ga, four daughters, Tuṣṭi, Puṣṭi, Tviṣā, and Apachiti. The latter inserts the grandsons of Paurnamāsa. Virajas, married to Gaurī, has Sudhāman, a Lokapāla, or ruler of the east quarter; and Parvasa (quasi Sarvaga) has, by Parvasī, Yajñavāma and Kaśyata, who were both founders of Gotras, or families. The names of all these occur in different forms in different MSS.
[3]: The Bhāgavata adds, that in the Svārociṣa Manvantara the sages Uttathya and Vrihaspati were also sons of A
1.10 - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The history of the Veda is one of the most remarkable & paradoxical phenomena of human experience. In the belief of the ancient Indians the three Vedas, books believed to be inspired directly from the source of all Truth, books at any rate of an incalculable antiquity and of a time-honoured sanctity, were believed to be the repositories of a divine knowledge. The man who was a Veda knower, Vedavid, had access to the deepest knowledge about God and existence. He knew the one thing that was eternally true, the one thing thoroughly worth knowing. The right possession of the ancient hymns was not supposed to be possible by a superficial reading, not supposed to result directly even from a mastery of the scholastic aids to a right understanding,grammar, language, prosody, astronomy, ritual, pronunciation,but depended finally and essentially on explanation by a fit spiritual teacher who understood the inner sense that was couched in the linguistic forms & figures of the Scriptures. The Veda so understood was held to be the fountain, the bedrock, the master-volume of all true Hinduism; that which accepted not the Veda, was and must be instantly departure from the right path, the true truth. Even when the material & ritualistic sense of the Veda had so much dominated & hidden in mens ideas of it its higher parts that to go beyond it seemed imperative, the reverence for this ancient Scripture remained intact. At the time when the Gita in its modern form was composed, we find this double attitude dominant. There is a strong censure of the formalists, the ritualists, who constantly dispute about the Veda and hold it as a creed that there is no other truth and who apply it only for the acquisition of worldly mastery and enjoyments, but at the same time the great store of spiritual truth in the old sacred writings and their high value are never doubted or depreciated. There is in all the Vedas as much utility to the Brahma-knower as to one who would drink there is utility in a well flooded with water on all its sides. Krishna speaking as God Himself declares I alone am He who is to be known by all the Vedas; I am He who made Vedanta and who know the Veda. The sanctity and spiritual value of the Vedas could not receive a more solemn seal of confirmation. It is evident also from this last passage that the more modern distinction which grew upon the Hindu mind with the fading of Vedic knowledge, the distinction by which the old Rigveda and Sama and Yajur are put aside as ritualistic writings, possessing a value only for ceremonial of sacrifice, and all search for spiritual knowledge is confined to the Vedanta, was unrecognised & even unknown to the writer of the Gita. To him the Vedas are writings full of spiritual truth; the language of the line Vedaish cha Sarvair aham eva vedyo, the significance of the double emphasis in the etymological sense of knowledge in Vedavid, the knower of the book of knowledge as well as in vedair vedyo are unmistakable. Other means of knowledge even more powerful than study of the Vedas the Gita recognises; but in its epoch the Veda even as apart from the Upanishads still held its place of honour as the repository of the high and divine knowledge; it still bore upon it the triple seal of the Brahmavidya.
When was this traditional honour first lost or at least tarnished and the ancient Scripture relegated to the inferior position it occupies in the thought of Shankaracharya? I presume there can be little doubt that the chief agent in this work of destruction was the power of Buddhism. The preachings of Gautama and his followers worked against Vedic knowledge by a double process. First, by entirely denying the authority of the Veda, laying a violent stress on its ritualistic character and destroying the general practice of formal sacrifice, it brought the study of the Veda into disrepute as a means of attaining the highest good while at the same time it destroyed the necessity of that study for ritualistic purposes which had hitherto kept alive the old Vedic studies; secondly, in a less direct fashion, by substituting for a time at least the vernacular tongues for the old simple Sanscrit as the more common & popular means of religious propaganda and by giving them a literary position and repute, it made a general return to the old generality of the Vedic studies practically impossible. For the Vedas were written in an ancient form of the literary tongue the real secret of which had already been to a great extent lost even to the learned; such knowledge of it as remained, subsisted with difficulty by means of a laborious memorising and a traditional scholarship, conservative indeed but still slowly diminishing and replacing more & more real knowledge by uncertainty, disputed significance and the continuously increasing ingenuities of the ritualist, the grammarian and the sectarian polemical disputant. When after the fall of the Buddhistic Mauryas, feeble successors of the great Asoka, first under Pushyamitra and his son and afterwards under the Guptas, Hinduism revived, a return to the old forms of the creed and the old Vedic scholarship was no longer possible. The old pre-Buddhistic Sanscrit was, to all appearance, a simple, vigorous, living language understood though not spoken by the more intelligent of the common people just as the literary language of Bengal, the language of Bankim Chandra, is understood by every intelligent Bengali, although in speech more contracted forms and a very different vocabulary are in use. But the new Sanscrit of the revival tended to be more & more a learned, scholarly, polished and rhetorical tongue, certainly one of the most smooth, stately & grandiose ever used by human lips, but needing a special & difficult education to understand its grammar, its rhetoric, its rolling compounds and its long flowing sentences. The archaic language of the Vedas ceased to be the common study even of the learned and was only mastered, one is constrained to believe with less & less efficiency, by a small number of scholars. An education in which it took seven years to master the grammar of the language, became inevitably the grave of all true Vedic knowledge. Veda ceased to be the pivot of the Hindu religion, and its place was taken by the only religious compositions which were modern enough in language and simple enough in style to be popular, the Puranas. Moreover, the conception of Veda popularised by Buddhism, Sanscrit as the more common & popular means of religious propaganda and by giving them a literary position and repute, it made a general return to the old generality of the Vedic studies practically impossible. For the Vedas were written in an ancient form of the literary tongue the real secret of which had already been to a great extent lost even to the learned; such knowledge of it as remained, subsisted with difficulty by means of a laborious memorising and a traditional scholarship, conservative indeed but still slowly diminishing and replacing more & more real knowledge by uncertainty, disputed significance and the continuously increasing ingenuities of the ritualist, the grammarian and the sectarian polemical disputant. When after the fall of the Buddhistic Mauryas, feeble successors of the great Asoka, first under Pushyamitra and his son and afterwards under the Guptas, Hinduism revived, a return to the old forms of the creed and the old Vedic scholarship was no longer possible. The old pre-Buddhistic Sanscrit was, to all appearance, a simple, vigorous, living language understood though not spoken by the more intelligent of the common people just as the literary language of Bengal, the language of Bankim Chandra, is understood by every intelligent Bengali, although in speech more contracted forms and a very different vocabulary are in use. But the new Sanscrit of the revival tended to be more & more a learned, scholarly, polished and rhetorical tongue, certainly one of the most smooth, stately & grandiose ever used by human lips, but needing a special & difficult education to understand its grammar, its rhetoric, its rolling compounds and its long flowing sentences. The archaic language of the Vedas ceased to be the common study even of the learned and was only mastered, one is constrained to believe with less & less efficiency, by a small number of scholars. An education in which it took seven years to master the grammar of the language, became inevitably the grave of all true Vedic knowledge. Veda ceased to be the pivot of the Hindu religion, and its place was taken by the only religious compositions which were modern enough in language and simple enough in style to be popular, the Puranas. Moreover, the conception of Veda popularised by Buddhism, a Scripture of ritual and of animal sacrifice, persisted in the popular mind even after the decline of Buddhism and the revival of great philosophies ostensibly based on Vedic authority. It was under the dominance of this ritualistic conception that Sayana wrote his great commentary which has ever since been to the Indian Pundit the one decisive authority on the sense of Veda. The four Vedas have definitely taken a subordinate place as karmakanda, books of ritual; and to the Upanishads alone, in spite of occasional appeals to the text of the earlier Scriptures, is reserved that aspect of spiritual knowledge & teaching which alone justifies the application to any human composition of the great name of Veda.
1.11 - The Three Purushas, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Upanishads do not deny the reality of the world, but they identify it with Brahman who transcends it. He is the One without a second; He is the All. If all is Brahman, then there can be nothing but Brahman, and therefore the existence of the All, Sarvam idam, does not contradict the unity of Brahman, does not establish the reality of bheda, difference. It is one Intelligence looking at itself from a hundred view-points, each point conscious of and enjoying the existence of the others. The shoreless stream of idea and thought, imagination and experience, name and form, sensation and vibration sweeps onward for ever, without beginning, without end, rising into view, sinking out of sight; through it the one Intelligence with its million self-expressions pours itself abroad, an ocean with innumerable waves. One particular self-expression may disappear into its source and continent, but that does not and cannot abolish the phenomenal universe. The One is for ever, and the Many are for ever because the One is for ever. So long as there is a sea, there will be waves.
In the oceanic stir and change of universal Nature the soul or Purusha is the standing-point, stable, unmoving, unchanging, eternal,nitya Sarvagata sthur acaloya santana. In the whole, the Purusha or soul is one,there is One Spirit which supports the stir of the Universe, not many. In the individual the One Purusha has three stages of personality; He is One, but triple, trivt. The Upanishads speak of two birds on one tree, of which one eats the fruit of the tree, the other, seated on a higher branch, does not eat but watches its fellow; one is a or lord of itself, the other is ana, not lord of itself, and it is when the eater looks up and perceives the greatness of the watcher and fills himself with it that grief, death, subjection,in one word my, ignorance and illusion, ceases to touch him. There are two unborn who are male and one unborn who is female; she is the tree with its sweet and bitter fruit, the two are the birds. One of the unborn enjoys her sweetness, the other has put it away from him. These are the two Purushas, the akara, or immutable spirit, and the kara, or apparently mutable, and the tree or woman is Prakriti, universal Energy which the Europeans call Nature. The kara purua is the soul in Nature and enjoying Nature, the akara purua is the soul above Nature and watching her. But there is One who is not seated on the tree but occupies and possesses it, who is not only lord of Himself, but lord of all that is: He is higher than the kara, higher than the akara, He is Purushottama, the Soul one with God, with the All.
These three Purushas are described in the fifteenth chapter of the Gita. There are two Purushas in the world, the akara and the kara,the kara is all creatures, the akara is called kastha, the one on the summit. There is another Purusha, the highest (uttama), called also the Paramatma or Supreme Spirit, who enters into the three worlds, (the worlds of suupti, svapna, jgrat, otherwise the causal, mental and physical planes of existence), and sustains them as their imperishable lord. And in the thirteenth chapter, while drawing the distinction between the lower Purusha and the higher, Sri Krishna defines more minutely the relations of God and the individual soul to Nature. Prakriti is the basic source of cause, effect and agency; the Purusha, of the sense of enjoyment of happiness and grief; for it is the soul in Nature (Purusha in Prakriti) that enjoys the threefold workings of things caused by Nature, (the play of conservation, creation and destruction; reception, reaction and resistance; illumination, misconception and obscuration; calm, work and inertia; all being different manifestations of three fundamental forces called the gunas or essential properties of Prakriti), and it is the attachment of the soul to the gunas that is the cause of births in bodies good and evil. The highest Purusha in this body is the one who watches, who sanctions, who enjoys, who upholds, who is the mighty Lord and the Supreme Soul.
1.11 - Works and Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Divine, Sarvam karmakhilam partha jnane parisamapyate. They are not an obstacle, but the way to the supreme knowledge.
Works and Sacrifice
1.12 - The Significance of Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Obviously, this cannot be the meaning of the Gita, for it would be in contradiction with all the rest of the book. Even in the passage itself, without the illumining interpretation afterwards given to it in the fourth chapter, we have already an indication of a wider sense where it is said that sacrifice is born from work, work from brahman, brahman from the Akshara, and therefore the all-pervading Brahman, Sarvagatam brahma, is established in the sacrifice. The connecting logic of the "therefore" and the repetition of the word brahma are significant; for it shows clearly that the brahman from which all work is born has to be understood with an eye not so much to the current Vedic teaching in which it means the Veda as to a symbolical sense in which the creative Word is identical with the all-pervading Brahman, the Eternal, the one Self present in all existences, Sarvabhutes.u, and present in all the workings of existence. The Veda is the knowledge of the Divine, the Eternal, - "I am He who is to be known in all the books of the Knowledge," vedais ca vedyah.,
Krishna will say in a subsequent chapter; but it is the knowledge of him in the workings of Prakriti, in the workings of the three
--
Nature, nistraigun.ya. The Brahman is one but self-displayed in two aspects, the immutable Being and the creator and originator of works in the mutable becoming, atman, Sarvabhutani; it is the immobile omnipresent Soul of things and it is the spiritual principle of the mobile working of things, Purusha poised in himself and Purusha active in Prakriti; it is aks.ara and ks.ara. In both of these aspects the Divine Being, Purushottama, manifests himself in the universe; the immutable above all qualities is His poise of peace, self-possession, equality, samam brahma; from that proceeds His manifestation in the qualities of Prakriti and their universal workings; from the Purusha in Prakriti, from this
Brahman with qualities, proceed all the works1 of the universal energy, Karma, in man and in all existences; from that work proceeds the principle of sacrifice. Even the material interchange between gods and men proceeds upon this principle, as typified in the dependence of rain and its product food on this working and on them the physical birth of creatures. For all the working of Prakriti is in its true nature a sacrifice, yajna, with the Divine
Being as the enjoyer of all energisms and works and sacrifice and the great Lord of all existences, bhoktaram yajnatapasam Sarvaloka-mahesvaram, and to know this Divine all-pervading and established in sacrifice, Sarvagatam yajne pratis.t.hitam, is the true, the Vedic knowledge.
That this is the right interpretation results also from the opening of the eighth chapter where the universal principles are enumerated, aks.ara (brahma), svabhava, karma, ks.ara bhava, purus.a, adhiyajna. Akshara is the immutable Brahman, spirit or self, Atman; swabhava is the principle of the self, adhyatma, operative as the original nature of the being, "own way of becoming", and this proceeds out of the self, the Akshara; Karma proceeds from that and is the creative movement, visarga, which brings all natural beings and all changing subjective and objective shapes of being into existence; the result of
1.12 - The Strength of Stillness, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The knowledge of the Yogin is not the knowledge of the average desire-driven mind. Neither is it the knowledge of the scientific or of the worldly-wise reason which anchors itself on surface facts and leans upon experience and probability. The Yogin knows Gods way of working and is aware that the improbable often happens, that facts mislead. He rises above reason to that direct and illuminated knowledge which we call vijnam. The desire-driven mind is emmeshed in the intricate tangle of good and evil, of the pleasant and the unpleasant, of happiness and misfortune. It strives to have the good always, the pleasant always, the happiness always. It is elated by fortunate happenings, disturbed and unnerved by their opposite. But the illuminated eye of the seer perceives that all leads to good; for God is all and God is Sarvama
galam. He knows that the apparent evil is often the shortest way to the good, the unpleasant indispensable to prepare the pleasant, misfortune the condition of obtaining a more perfect happiness. His intellect is delivered from enslavement to the dualities.
1.13 - Dawn and the Truth, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Dawn is described as gomat asvavat vravat; and since the epithets gomat and asvavat applied to her are symbolical and mean not "cowful and horsed", but radiant with illuminations of knowledge and accompanied by the swiftnesses of force, so vravat cannot mean "man-accompanied" or accompanied by heroes or servants or sons, but rather signifies that she is attended by conquering energies or at any rate is used in some kindred and symbolic sense. This becomes quite evident in I.113.18, ya gomatr us.asah. Sarvavrah. . . . ta asvada asnavat somasutva. It does not mean "the Dawns that have cows and all men or all servants, those a man, having offered the Soma, enjoys as horsegivers." The Dawn is the inner dawn which brings to man all the varied fullnesses of his widest being, force, consciousness, joy; it is radiant with its illuminations, it is accompanied by all possible powers and energies, it gives man the full force of vitality so that he can enjoy the infinite delight of that vaster existence.
We can no longer take gomad asvavad vravad radhah. in a physical sense; the very language of the Veda points us to quite another truth. Therefore the other circumstances of this god-given wealth must be taken equally in a spiritual significance; the offspring, gold, chariots are symbolical; sravas is not fame or food, but bears its psychological sense and means the higher knowledge which comes not to the senses or the intellect, but to the divine hearing and the divine vision of the Truth; radho drghasruttamam, rayim sravasyum is that rich state of being, that spiritually opulent felicity which turns towards the knowledge (sravasyu) and has a far-extended hearing for the vibrations of the Word that comes to us from the regions (disah.) of the Infinite. Thus the luminous figure of the Dawn liberates
1.13 - The Lord of the Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It must manifest itself in the mutable, and there we see it as the finite, the many, all existences, Sarvabhutani. It appears to us as the finite personality of these million creatures with their
The Lord of the Sacrifice
1.14 - Bibliography, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Upanishads. See: The Principal Upanishads. Translated by Sarva-
palli Radhakrishnan. London, 1953.
1.15 - Index, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Radhakrishnan, Sarvapalli, 22371
radius, see ray
1.15 - The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
naham prakasah. Sarvasya yogamaya-samavr.tah..
The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood
1.15 - The world overrun with trees; they are destroyed by the Pracetasas, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
kalpā. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might[15], are severally named Āpa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratyūṣa (day-break), and Prabhāsa (light). The four sons of Āpa were Vaitaṇḍya, Śrama (weariness), Srānta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kāla (time), the cerisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva. The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varcasvī (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manoharā (loveliness), Draviṇa, Hutahavyavāha, Śiśira, Prāṇa, and Ramaṇa. The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife Śivā, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijñātagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumāra, was born in a clump of Śara reeds: his sons were Sākha, Visākha, Naigameya, and Pṛṣṭhaja. The offspring of the Krittikās was named Kārtikeya. The son of Pratyūṣa was the Ṛṣi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons[16]. The sister of Vācaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddhā, who pervades the wholes world without being devoted to it, was the wife of Prabhāsa, the eighth of the Vasus, and bore to him the patriarch Viswakarmā, the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self-moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence. Ajaikapād, Ahirvradhna, and the wise Rudra Tvaṣṭri, were born; and the self-born son of Twashtri was also the celebrated Viśvarūpa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds, or Hara, Bahurūpa, Tryambaka, Aparājita, Vṛṣakapi, Sambhu, Kaparddī, Raivata, Mrigavyādha, Sarva, and Kapāli[17]; but there are a hundred appellations of the immeasurably mighty Rudras[18].
The daughters of Dakṣa who were married to Kaśyapa were Aditi, Diti, Danu, Aṛṣṭā, Surasā, Surabhi, Vinatā, Tāmrā, Krodhavaśā, Iḍā, Khasā, Kadru, and Muni[19]; whose progeny I will describe to you. There were twelve celebrated deities in a former Manvantara, called Tuṣitas[20], who, upon the approach of the present period, or in the reign of the last Manu, Cākṣuṣa, assembled, and said to one another, "Come, let us quickly enter into the womb of Aditī, that we may be born in the next Manvantara, for thereby we shall again enjoy the rank of gods:" and accordingly they were born the sons of Kaśyapa, the son of Marīci, by Aditī, the daughter of Dakṣa; thence named the twelve Ādityas; whose appellations were respectively, Viṣṇu, Śakra, Āryaman, Dhūtī, Tvāṣṭri, Pūṣan, Vivaswat, Savitri, Mitra, Varuṇa, Aṃśa, and Bhaga[21]. These, who in the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara were the gods called Tuṣitas, were called the twelve Ādityas in the Manvantara of Vaivaśvata.
1.18 - The Divine Worker, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Brahman in them through all their differences, brahmayogayuktatma, Sarvabhutatma-bhutatma. It does not rejoice in the touches of the pleasant or feel anguish in the touches of the unpleasant; neither the wounds of things, nor the wounds of friends, nor the wounds of enemies can disturb the firmness of its outgazing mind or bewilder its receiving heart; this soul is in its nature, as the Upanishad puts it, avran.am, without wound or scar. In all things it has the same imperishable Ananda, sukham aks.ayam asnute.
That equality, impersonality, peace, joy, freedom do not depend on so outward a thing as doing or not doing works. The
--
And yet this liberation does not at all prevent him from acting. Only, he knows that it is not he who is active, but the modes, the qualities of Nature, her triple gun.as. "The man who knows the principles of things thinks, his mind in Yoga (with the inactive Impersonal), 'I am doing nothing'; when he sees, hears, touches, smells, eats, moves, sleeps, breathes, speaks, takes, ejects, opens his eyes or closes them, he holds that it is only the senses acting upon the objects of the senses." He himself, safe in the immutable, unmodified soul, is beyond the grip of the three gunas, trigun.atta; he is neither sattwic, rajasic nor tamasic; he sees with a clear untroubled spirit the alternations of the natural modes and qualities in his action, their rhythmic play of light and happiness, activity and force, rest and inertia. This superiority of the calm soul observing its action but not involved in it, this traigun.attya, is also a high sign of the divine worker. By itself the idea might lead to a doctrine of the mechanical determinism of Nature and the perfect aloofness and irresponsibility of the soul; but the Gita effectively avoids this fault of an insufficient thought by its illumining supertheistic idea of the Purushottama. It makes it clear that it is not in the end Nature which mechanically determines its own action; it is the will of the Supreme which inspires her; he who has already slain the Dhritarashtrians, he of whom Arjuna is only the human instrument, a universal Soul, a transcendent Godhead is the master of her labour. The reposing of works in the Impersonal is a means of getting rid of the personal egoism of the doer, but the end is to give up all our actions to that great Lord of all, Sarva-loka-mahesvara. "With a consciousness identified with the
Self, renouncing all thy actions into Me, mayi Sarvan.i karman.i
The Divine Worker
1.19 - Equality, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
And the philosopher's equality is like the Stoic's, like the world-fleeing ascetic's, inwardly a lonely freedom, remote and aloof from men; but the man born to the divine birth has found the Divine not only in himself, but in all beings. He has realised his unity with all and his equality is therefore full of sympathy and oneness. He sees all as himself and is not intent on his lonely salvation; he even takes upon himself the burden of their happiness and sorrow by which he is not himself affected or subjected. The perfect sage, the Gita more than once repeats, is ever engaged with a large equality in doing good to all creatures and makes that his occupation and delight, Sarvabhutahite ratah.. The perfect Yogin is no solitary musing on the Self in his ivory tower of spiritual isolation, but yuktah. kr.tsna-karma-kr.t, a many-sided universal worker for the good of the world, for
God in the world. For he is a bhakta, a lover and devotee of the Divine, as well as a sage and a Yogin, a lover who loves
1.19 - THE MASTER AND HIS INJURED ARM, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
After his arm was bandaged he said: "I haven't very much faith in your Calcutta physicians. When Sambhu became delirious, Dr. Sarvadhikari said: 'Oh, it is nothing.
It is just grogginess from the medicine. And a little while after, Sambhu breathed his last."
1.200-1.224 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Ramakrishna Swami, a long-resident disciple, asked Maharshi the meaning of Twaiyarunachala Sarvam, a stanza in The Five Hymns.
Maharshi explained it in detail, saying that the universe is like a painting on a screen - the screen being the Red Hill, Arunachala. That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is the God
1.2.03 - The Interpretation of Scripture, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
or opinion, there is no reason why our realisation should be limited. Tasmin vijnate Sarvam vijnatam. He being known, all can be known. To understand Scripture, it is not enough to be a scholar, one must be a soul. To know what the drashta saw one must oneself have drishti, sight, and be a student if not a master of the knowledge. Atha para yaya tad aksharam adhigamyate.
Grammar, etymology, prosody, astronomy, metaphysics, logic, all that is good; but afterwards there is still needed the higher knowledge by which the Immutable is known.
1.20 - Equality and Knowledge, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is in this sense that the Gita is speaking when it says that all the totality of work finds its completion, culmination, end in knowledge, Sarvam karmakhilam jnane parisamapyate. "As
Equality and Knowledge
--
too rise beyond good and evil; we act in that purity, stainlessly, with an equal and single purpose of fulfilling the welfare of all existences, ks.n.a-kalmas.ah. Sarvabhuta-hite ratah.. The Lord in our hearts is in the ignorance also the cause of our actions, but through his Maya, through the egoism of our lower nature which creates the tangled web of our actions and brings back upon our egoism the recoil of their tangled reactions affecting us inwardly as sin and virtue, affecting us outwardly as suffering and pleasure, evil fortune and good fortune, the great chain of
Karma. When we are freed by knowledge, the Lord, no longer hidden in our hearts, but manifest as our supreme self, takes up our works and uses us as faultless instruments, nimitta-matram, for the helping of the world. Such is the intimate union between knowledge and equality; knowledge here in the buddhi reflected as equality in the temperament; above, on a higher plane of consciousness, knowledge as the light of the Being, equality as the stuff of the Nature.
--
intellectual knowledge there is always a mixture of falsehood or incompleteness which has to be got rid of by subjecting the truth itself to sceptical inquiry; but in the higher knowledge falsehood cannot enter and that which intellect contri butes by attaching itself to this or that opinion, cannot be got rid of by mere questioning, but will fall away of itself by persistence in realisation. Whatever incompleteness there is in the knowledge attained, it must be got rid of, not by questioning in its roots what has already been realised, but by proceeding to further and more complete realisation through a deeper, higher and wider living in the Spirit. And what is not yet realised must be prepared for by faith, not by sceptical questioning, because this truth is one which the intellect cannot give and which is indeed often quite opposed to the ideas in which the reasoning and logical mind gets entangled: it is not a truth which has to be proved, but a truth which has to be lived inwardly, a greater reality into which we have to grow. Finally, it is in itself a self-existent truth and would be self-evident if it were not for the sorceries of the ignorance in which we live; the doubts, the perplexities which prevent us from accepting and following it, arise from that ignorance, from the sense-bewildered, opinion-perplexed heart and mind, living as they do in a lower and phenomenal truth and therefore questioning the higher realities, ajnana-sambhutam hr.tstham samsayam. They have to be cut away by the sword of knowledge, says the Gita, by the knowledge that realises, by resorting constantly to Yoga, that is, by living out the union with the Supreme whose truth being known all is known, yasmin vijnate Sarvam vijnatam.
The higher knowledge we then get is that which is to the knower of Brahman his constant vision of things when he lives uninterruptedly in the Brahman, brahmavid brahman.i sthitah..
--
Oneness with God, oneness with all beings, the realisation of the eternal divine unity everywhere and the drawing onwards of men towards that oneness are the law of life which arises from the teachings of the Gita. There can be none greater, wider, more profound. Liberated oneself, to live in this oneness, to help mankind on the path that leads towards it and meanwhile to do all works for God and help man also to do with joy and acceptance all the works to which he is called, kr.tsna-karma-kr.t, Sarvakarman.i jos.ayan, no greater or more liberal rule of divine works can be given. This freedom and this oneness are the secret goal of our human nature and the ultimate will in the existence of the race. It is that to which it must turn for the happiness all
Equality and Knowledge
--
mankind is now vainly seeking, when once men lift their eyes and their hearts to see the Divine in them and around, in all and everywhere, sarves.u, Sarvatra, and learn that it is in him they live, while this lower nature of division is only a prison-wall which they must break down or at best an infant-school which they must outgrow, so that they may become adult in nature and free in spirit. To be made one self with God above and God in man and God in the world is the sense of liberation and the secret of perfection.
1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Sambhu was fearfully delirious. Dr. Sarvadhikari said that the delirium was due to the strong medicine. Haladhri asked the doctor to feel his pulse. The doctor said: 'Let me see your eyes. Oh, it is an enlargement of the spleen!' Haladhri said he had nothing of the sort. But Dr. Madhu gives good medicine."
RAM: "The medicine by itself does no good, though it greatly helps nature."
1.20 - The End of the Curve of Reason, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
If it be objected that to bring about this result in its completeness the liberty of the individual will have to be destroyed or reduced to an almost vanishing quantity, it might be answered that the right of the individual to any kind of egoistic freedom as against the State which represents the mind, the will, the good and interest of the whole community, Sarva brahma, is a dangerous fiction, a baneful myth. Individual liberty of life and actioneven if liberty of thought and speech is for a time conceded, though this too can hardly remain unimpaired when once the socialistic State has laid its grip firmly on the individual,may well mean in practice an undue freedom given to his infrarational parts of nature, and is not that precisely the thing in him that has to be thoroughly controlled, if not entirely suppressed, if he is to become a reasonable being leading a reasonable life? This control can be most wisely and effectively carried out by the collective reason and will of the State which is larger, better, more enlightened than the individuals; for it profits, as the average individual cannot do, by all the available wisdom and aspiration in the society. Indeed, the enlightened individual may well come to regard this collective reason and will as his own larger mind, will and conscience and find in a happy obedience to it a strong delivery from his own smaller and less rational self and therefore a more real freedom than any now claimed by his little separate ego. It used already to be argued that the disciplined German obeying the least gesture of the policeman, the State official, the military officer was really the freest, happiest and most moral individual in all Europe and therefore in the whole world. The same reasoning in a heightened form might perhaps be applied to the drilled felicities of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The State, educating and governing the individual, undertakes to intellectualise, ethicise, practicalise and generally perfect him and to see to it that he remains, whether he will or no, always and in all thingsstrictly on the lines approved by the Stateintellectual, ethical, practical and thoroughly perfect.
The pity of it is that this excellent theory, quite as much as the individualist theory that ran before it, is sure to stumble over a discrepancy between its set ideas and the actual facts of human nature; for it ignores the complexity of mans being and all that that complexity means. And especially it ignores the soul of man and its supreme need of freedom, of the control also of his lower members, no doubt,for that is part of the total freedom towards which he is struggling,but of a growing self-control, not a mechanical regulation by the mind and will of others. Obedience too is a part of its perfection,but a free and natural obedience to a true guiding power and not to a mechanised government and rule. The collective being is a fact; all mankind may be regarded as a collective being: but this being is a soul and life, not merely a mind or a body. Each society develops into a sort of sub-soul or group-soul of this humanity and develops also a general temperament, character, type of mind, evolves governing ideas and tendencies that shape its life and its institutions. But the society has no discoverable common reason and will belonging alike to all its members; for the group-soul rather works out its tendencies by a diversity of opinions, a diversity of wills, a diversity of life, and the vitality of the group-life depends largely upon the working of this diversity, its continuity, its richness. Since that is so, government by the organised State must mean always government by a number of individuals,whether that number be in theory the minority or the majority makes in the end little fundamental difference. For even when it is the majority that nominally governs, in fact it is always the reason and will of a comparatively few effective men and not really any common reason and will of all that rules and regulates things with the consent of the half-hypnotised mass.1 There is no reason to suppose that the immediate socialisation of the State would at all alter, the mass of men not being yet thoroughly rationalised and developed minds, this practical necessity of State government.
12.10 - The Sunlit Path, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This is, we may say, the left-handed path towards the spirit, the path of the bar-sinister, that leads into, at least, through the dark night: this is usually, as I have said, the western, the rational mind's way, the way of scientism; but there is also the very ancient eastern or the Indian way, the way of the bar-dexter, the right-hand path. Sri Aurobindo often spoke of the sunlit path the Upanishadic surya ynaor the golden pathhiramaya vartma. Here the very first thing needed the first and the mustis Faith; here you start by faith and not doubt, doubt inevitably heads towards perditionsaaytm vinayati, as the Gita says: it disperses and dissipates the consciousness, dissolves it like scattered clouds. Indeed you are not to try to prove the existence of God and reality; the kind of proofs collected by the theologians of Europe and which to them appear to be final and definitive the fivefold proofs, scholastically named ontological, teleological etc., etc.do not carry conviction to any sane and sincere inquirer. On the contrary, one should go the other way the boot is on the other leg: it is the ultimate truth and reality that proves all other proofs and realities, we recall the famous Upanishadic phrase: "all other lights shine by that light"tasya bhs Sarvamidam vibhti. You cannot by your own will and strength and endeavour attain the spiritual reality. When that chooses to unveil itself, then only your eyes have the vision of its own body.
The rational mind scoffs at faith and calls it blind. Yes, blind to the unrealities, open to the reality. In fact faith can be called blind only when the faith is in darkness and ignorance, faith is open-eyed when the faith is in the light.
1.21 - The Spiritual Aim and Life, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The spiritual aim will seek to fulfil itself therefore in a fullness of life and mans being in the individual and the race which will be the base for the heights of the spirit,the base becoming in the end of one substance with the peaks. It will not proceed by a scornful neglect of the body, nor by an ascetic starving of the vital being and an utmost bareness or even squalor as the rule of spiritual living, nor by a puritanic denial of art and beauty and the aesthetic joy of life, nor by a neglect of science and philosophy as poor, negligible or misleading intellectual pursuits,though the temporary utility even of these exaggerations as against the opposite excesses need not be denied; it will be all things to all, but in all it will be at once their highest aim and meaning and the most all-embracing expression of themselves in which all they are and seek for will be fulfilled. It will aim at establishing in society the true inner theocracy, not the false theocracy of a dominant Church or priesthood, but that of the inner Priest, Prophet and King. It will reveal to man the divinity in himself as the Light, Strength, Beauty, Good, Delight, Immortality that dwells within and build up in his outer life also the kingdom of God which is first discovered within us. It will show man the way to seek for the Divine in every way of his being, Sarvabhvena,1 and so find it and live in it, that howevereven in all kinds of wayshe lives and acts, he shall live and act in that,2 in the Divine, in the Spirit, in the eternal Reality of his being.
Gita.
Gita. Sarvath vartamno'pi sa yog mayi vartate.
***
1.240 - 1.300 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Brahman is the one by whom all this is pervaded (yena Sarvamidam thatham). But then how does Sri Krishna specify the vibhutis in
Chapter X of Bhagavad Gita?
--
A certain man, who claims to have been Sri Maharshi's quondam disciple, has filed a suit in the court praying for a declaration that he is the legitimate Sarvadhikari of the Asramam.
Sri Maharshi was examined on Commission. There was a crowd but the proceedings went on smoothly in the room on the North East.
--
M.: Why bring in imperfection? Why are you not perfect? Did you feel imperfection in your sleep? Why do you not remain so even now? Bring sleep into the waking state (jagrat sushupti) and you will be all right. Ya nisa Sarva bhootanam ... pasyato muneh ...
(That which is night for the ignorant is day for the wise).
1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Brahman is the one by whom all this is pervaded (yena Sarvamidam thatham). But then how does Sri Krishna specify the vibhutis in
Chapter X of Bhagavad Gita?
--
A certain man, who claims to have been Sri Maharshis quondam disciple, has filed a suit in the court praying for a declaration that he is the legitimate Sarvadhikari of the Asramam.
Sri Maharshi was examined on Commission. There was a crowd but the proceedings went on smoothly in the room on the North East.
--
M.: Why bring in imperfection? Why are you not perfect? Did you feel imperfection in your sleep? Why do you not remain so even now? Bring sleep into the waking state (jagrat sushupti) and you will be all right. Ya nisa Sarva bhootanam ... pasyato muneh ...
(That which is night for the ignorant is day for the wise).
--
Scripture Atmanastu kamaya Sarvam priyam bhavati - (All are dear because of the love of the Self) becomes clear.
A question arises, why there should be suicides in that case.
--
Sankalpaprabhavan kamams tyaktva Sarvan aseshatah
Manasaivendriyagramam viniyamya samantatah
--
( Sarvakarmani). Sarva (all) is interpreted in two ways: (1) to include prarabdha and (2) to exclude it. In the first way: if a man with three wives dies, it is asked. can two of them be called widows and the third not? All are widows. So it is with prarabdha, agami and sanchita.
When there is no karta none of them can hold out any longer.
--
M.: There is the sensation and there is also the dehatma buddhi. The latter is common to both Jnani and ajnani with this difference, that the ajnani thinks dehaiva Atma (only the body is myself), whereas the Jnani knows all is of the Self (Atmamayam Sarvam), or ( Sarvam khalvidam Brahma) all this is Brahma. If there be pain let it be. It is also part of the Self. The Self is poorna (perfect).
Now with regard to the actions of the Jnani, they are only so-called because they are ineffective. Generally the actions get embedded as samskaras in the individual. That can be only so long as the mind is fertile, as in the case of the ajnani. With a Jnani the mind is surmised; he has already transcended the mind. Because of his apparent activity the mind has to be inferred in his case, and that mind is not fertile like that of an ajnani. Hence it is said that a jnanis mind is Brahman. Brahman is certainly no other than the jnanis mind. The vasanas cannot bear fruit in that soil. His mind is barren, free from vasanas, etc.
1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Scripture Atmanastu kamaya Sarvam priyam bhavati - (All are dear because of the love of the Self) becomes clear.
A question arises, why there should be suicides in that case.
--
Sankalpaprabhavan kamams tyaktva Sarvan aseshatah
Manasaivendriyagramam viniyamya samantatah
--
( Sarvakarmani). Sarva (all) is interpreted in two ways: (1) to include prarabdha and (2) to exclude it. In the first way: if a man with three wives dies, it is asked. "can two of them be called widows and the third not?" All are widows. So it is with prarabdha, agami and sanchita.
When there is no karta none of them can hold out any longer.
--
M.: There is the sensation and there is also the dehatma buddhi. The latter is common to both Jnani and ajnani with this difference, that the ajnani thinks dehaiva Atma (only the body is myself), whereas the Jnani knows all is of the Self (Atmamayam Sarvam), or ( Sarvam khalvidam Brahma) all this is Brahma. If there be pain let it be. It is also part of the Self. The Self is poorna (perfect).
Now with regard to the actions of the Jnani, they are only so-called because they are ineffective. Generally the actions get embedded as samskaras in the individual. That can be only so long as the mind is fertile, as in the case of the ajnani. With a Jnani the mind is surmised; he has already transcended the mind. Because of his apparent activity the mind has to be inferred in his case, and that mind is not fertile like that of an ajnani. Hence it is said that a jnani's mind is Brahman. Brahman is certainly no other than the jnani's mind. The vasanas cannot bear fruit in that soil. His mind is barren, free from vasanas, etc.
1.4.01 - The Divine Grace and Guidance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Aham tva Sarvapapebhyo moks.ayis.yami ma sucah.
"I will deliver thee from all sin and evil, do not grieve."
1.439, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
(2) Sarvam khalvidam brahma.
How is an avatar different from a Jnani; or how can there be an avatar as distinct from the universe?
--
Question: Is the present Sarvadhikari to be your successor?
M.: Yes. Only management.
--
Bhidyate hridayagranthih chhidyante Sarvasamsayah.
The heart knot is snapped; doubts are set at rest. That is called pratyaksha and not what you are thinking of. Avidya nasa is alone
--
Ya nisha Sarva bhootanam tasyam jagrati samyami.
The wise one is wide awake just where darkness rules for others.
--
a room in the Asramam and the Sarvadhikari is very kind to him. It
is now about two months and the patient is very weak.
--
Bhagavan about the patient, who was gasping. The Sarvadhikari also
came to the hall on behalf of the sufferer. Sri Bhagavan continued to
1.450 - 1.500 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Question: Is the present Sarvadhikari to be your successor?
M.: Yes. Only management.
1.4 - Readings in the Taittiriya Upanishad, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
so 'snute Sarvan kaman saha - brahman.a vipasciteti.
But what is Brahman?
1.rt - Brahm, Viu, iva, #Tagore - Poems, #Rabindranath Tagore, #Poetry
apraketam salilam Sarvam a idam.
tuchyenabhu apihitam yad asit,
2.01 - The Object of Knowledge, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
16:This is the integral knowledge, for we know that everywhere and in all conditions all to the eye that sees is One, to a divine experience all is one block of the Divine. It is only the mind which for the temporary convenience of its own thought and aspiration seeks to cut an artificial line of rigid division, a fiction of perpetual incompatibility between one aspect and another of the eternal oneness. The liberated knower lives and acts in the world not less than the bound soul and ignorant mind but more, doing all actions, Sarvakrt, only with a true knowledge and a greater conscient power. And by so doing he does not forfeit the supreme unity nor falls from the supreme consciousness and highest knowledge. For the Supreme, however hidden now to us, Is here in the world no less than he could be in the most utter and Ineffable self-extinction, the most intolerant Nirvana.
next: 2.02 - The Status of Knowledge
2.01 - The Two Natures, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
"the essential knowledge, attended with all the comprehensive knowledge, by knowing which there shall be no other thing here left to be known." The implication of the phrase is that the Divine Being is all, vasudevah. Sarvam, and therefore if he is known integrally in all his powers and principles, then all is known, not only the pure Self, but the world and action and
Nature. There is then nothing else here left to be known, because all is that Divine Existence. It is only because our view here is not thus integral, because it rests on the dividing mind and reason and the separative idea of the ego, that our mental perception of things is an ignorance. We have to get away from this mental and egoistic view to the true unifying knowledge, and that has two aspects, the essential, jnana, and the comprehensive, vijnana, the direct spiritual awareness of the supreme Being and the right intimate knowledge of the principles of his existence, Prakriti,
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It is by the unity of this spiritual nature that the world is sustained, yayedam dharyate jagat, even as it is that from which it is born with all its becomings, etad-yonni bhutani Sarvan.i, and that also which withdraws the whole world and its existences into itself in the hour of dissolution, aham kr.tsnasya jagatah. prabhavah. pralayas tatha. But in the manifestation which is thus put forth in the Spirit, upheld in its action, withdrawn in its periodical rest from action, the Jiva is the basis of the multiple existence; it is the multiple soul, if we may so call it, or, if we prefer, the soul of the multiplicity we experience here. It is one always with the Divine in its being, different from it only in the power of its being, - different not in the sense that it is not at all the same power, but in this sense that it only supports the one power in a partial multiply individualised action. Therefore all things are initially, ultimately and in the principle of their continuance too the Spirit. The fundamental nature of all is nature of the Spirit, and only in their lower differential phenomena do they seem to be something else, to be nature of body, life, mind, reason, ego and the senses. But these are phenomenal derivatives, they are not the essential truth of our nature and our existence.
The supreme nature of spiritual being gives us then both an original truth and power of existence beyond cosmos and a first basis of spiritual truth for the manifestation in the cosmos. But where is the link between this supreme nature and the lower
--
phenomenal nature? On me, says Krishna, all this, all that is here - Sarvam idam, the common phrase in the Upanishads for the totality of phenomena in the mobility of the universe - is strung like pearls upon a thread. But this is only an image which we cannot press very far; for the pearls are only kept in relation to each other by the thread and have no other oneness or relation with the pearl-string except their dependence on it for this mutual connection. Let us go then from the image to that which it images. It is the supreme nature of Spirit, the infinite conscious power of its being, self-conscient, all-conscient, all-wise, which maintains these phenomenal existences in relation to each other, penetrates them, abides in and supports them and weaves them into the system of its manifestation. This one supreme power manifests not only in all as the One, but in each as the Jiva, the individual spiritual presence; it manifests also as the essence of all quality of Nature. These are therefore the concealed spiritual powers behind all phenomena. This highest quality is not the working of the three gunas, which is phenomenon of quality and not its spiritual essence. It is rather the inherent, one, yet variable inner power of all these superficial variations. It is a fundamental truth of the Becoming, a truth that supports and gives a spiritual and divine significance to all its appearances.
The workings of the gunas are only the superficial unstable becomings of reason, mind, sense, ego, life and matter, sattvika bhava rajasas tamasas ca; but this is rather the essential stable original intimate power of the becoming, svabhava. It is that which determines the primary law of all becoming and of each
2.01 - The Yoga and Its Objects, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Gita hold up as the rule of life; you will see the Self in all existing things and all existing things in the Self, atmanam Sarvabhutes.u Sarvabhutani catmani; you will be aware of all things as Brahman, Sarvam khalvidam brahma. But the crowning realisation of this yoga is when you become aware of the whole world as the expression, play or Lila of an infinite divine personality, when you see in all, not the impersonal Sad Atman which is the basis of manifest existence, - although you do not lose that knowledge, - but Sri Krishna who at once is, bases and transcends all manifest and unmanifest existence, avyakto 'vyaktat parah.. For behind the Sad Atman is the silence of the Asat which the Buddhist Nihilists realised as the sunyam and beyond that silence is the Paratpara Purusha (purus.o varen.ya adityavarn.as tamasah. parastat). It is he who has made this world out of his
The Yoga and Its Objects
--
"When all created things become one with a man's self by his getting the knowledge (vijnana), thereafter what bewilderment can he have or what grief, when in all things he sees their oneness?" The whole world then appears to us in a changed aspect, as an ocean of beauty, good, light, bliss, exultant movement on a basis of eternal strength and peace. We see all things as subha, siva, mangala, anandamaya. We become one in soul with all beings, Sarvabhutatma-bhutatma, and, having steadfastly this experience, are able by contact, by oneness, by the reaching out of love, to communicate it to others, so that we become a centre
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Nor is it enough to see him in all things and beings, Sarvabhutes.u; you must see him in all events, actions, thoughts, feelings, in yourself and others, throughout the world. For this realisation two things are necessary: first, that you should give up to him the fruit of all your actions, secondly, that you should give up to him the actions themselves. Giving up the fruits of action does not mean that you must have the vairagya for the fruits, turn away from them or refuse to act with a given end before you. It means that you must act, not because you want this or that to happen or think it necessary that this or that should happen and your action needed to bring it about, but because it is kartavyam, demanded by the Master of your being and must be done with whatever result God is pleased to give.
The Yoga and Its Objects
--
devotional meaning of the story, which you know, it is a good image of his World-Lila. He is Sarva, everyone, each Purusha with his apparently different Prakriti and action is he, and yet at the same time he is the Purushottama who is with Radha, the Para Prakriti, and can withdraw all these into himself when he wills and put them out again when he wills. From one point of view they are one with him, from another one yet different, from yet another always different because they always exist, latent in him or expressed at his pleasure. There is no profit in disputing about these standpoints. Wait until you see God and know yourself and him and then debate and discussion will be unnecessary.
The goal marked out for us is not to speculate about these things, but to experience them. The call upon us is to grow into the image of God, to dwell in him and with him and be a channel of his joy and might and an instrument of his works. Purified from all that is asubha, transfigured in soul by his touch, we have to act in the world as dynamos of that divine electricity and send it thrilling and radiating through mankind, so that wherever one of us stands, hundreds around may become full of his light and force, full of God and full of Ananda. Churches,
2.02 - On Letters, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo: It may be. I think the psychic being was meant by the phrase, ivara Sarvabhtnm hddee the Lord seated in the heart of creatures.
Disciple: Is not the psychic being the direct portion of the Divine here? If so, is it the same as the Jiva?
2.02 - The Synthesis of Devotion and Knowledge, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
when it has firmly the vision of the one self everywhere and in all existences. Equality and vision of unity once perfectly gained, te dvandva-moha-nirmuktah., a supreme bhakti, an all-embracing devotion to the Divine, becomes the whole and the sole law of the being. All other law of conduct merges into that surrender, Sarva-dharman parityajya. The soul then becomes firm in this bhakti and in the vow of self-consecration of all its being, knowledge, works; for it has now for its sure base, its absolute foundation of existence and action the perfect, the integral, the unifying knowledge of the all-originating Godhead, te bhajante mam dr.d.ha-vratah..
From the ordinary point of view any return towards bhakti or continuation of the heart's activities after knowledge and impersonality have been gained, might seem to be a relapse. For in bhakti there is always the element, the foundation even of personality, since its motive-power is the love and adoration of the individual soul, the Jiva, turned towards the supreme and universal Being. But from the standpoint of the Gita, where the aim is not inaction and immergence in the eternal Impersonal, but a union with the Purushottama through the integrality of our being, this objection cannot at all intervene. In this Yoga the soul escapes indeed its lower personality by the sense of its impersonal and immutable self-being; but it still acts and all action belongs to the multiple soul in the mutability of Nature.
--
Gita, but only on the last does it lay the seal of its complete sanction. All these movements without exception are high and good, udarah. Sarva evaite, but the bhakti with knowledge excels them all, visis.yate. We may say that these forms are successively the bhakti of the vital-emotional and affective nature,3 that of the
The later bhakti of ecstatic love is at its roots psychic in nature; it is vital-emotional only in its inferior forms or in some of its more outward manifestations.
--
For the Gita itself here says that it is only at the end of many existences that one can, after possession of the integral knowledge and after working that out in oneself through many lives, attain at the long last to the Transcendent. For the knowledge of the Divine as all things that are is difficult to attain and rare on earth is the great soul, mahatma, who is capable of fully so seeing him and of entering into him with his whole being, in every way of his nature, by the wide power of this all-embracing knowledge, Sarvavit Sarvabhavena.
It may be asked how is that devotion high and noble, udara, which seeks God only for the worldly boons he can give or as a refuge in sorrow and suffering, and not the Divine for its own sake? Do not egoism, weakness, desire reign in such an adoration and does it not belong to the lower nature? Moreover, where there is not knowledge, the devotee does not approach the Divine in his integral all-embracing truth, vasudevah. Sarvam iti, but constructs imperfect names and images of the Godhead which are only reflections of his own need, temperament and nature, and he worships them to help or appease his natural longings. He constructs for the Godhead the name and form of Indra or Agni, of Vishnu or Shiva, of a divinised Christ or
Buddha, or else some composite of natural qualities, an indulgent God of love and mercy, or a severe God of righteousness and justice, or an awe-inspiring God of wrath and terror and flaming punishments, or some amalgam of any of these, and to that he raises his altars without and in his heart and mind and falls down before it to demand from it worldly good and joy or healing of his wounds or a sectarian sanction for an erring, dogmatic, intellectual, intolerent knowledge. All this up to a certain point is true enough. Very rare is the great soul who knows that Vasudeva the omnipresent Being is all that is, vasudevah. Sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah.. Men are led away by various outer desires which take from them the working
286
2.03 - Karmayogin A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
be, by their very nature, Sarvabhutahitarata; men who make it
their business and pleasure to do good to all creatures, not only
2.03 - On Medicine, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo: It is the life-force in man; there is a certain energy you feel within you which meets the shocks of life. It is that which gives you capacity to overcome obstacles. It is very necessary for ordinary men. It can pull you through a prolonged illness. As the Prashna Upanishad says: prasyedam vae Sarvam tridive yat pratihitam Whatever there is in this universe is subject to Prana. Even mental activities are due to Prana, life-force. It is the life-force that keeps the world going.
Disciple: How to overcome vital depression?
2.03 - The Supreme Divine, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This supreme Soul and Self is the Seer, the Ancient of Days and in his eternal self-vision and wisdom the Master and Ruler of all existence who sets in their place in his being all things that are, kavim puran.am anusasitaram Sarvasya dhataram. This supreme
Soul is the immutable self-existent Brahman of whom the Veda-
--
Absolute aloof from our illusions, but he is the Seer, Creator and Ruler of the worlds, kavim anusasitaram, dhataram, and it is by knowing and by loving Him as the One and the All, vasudevah. Sarvam iti, that we ought by a union with him of our whole conscious being in all things, all energies, all actions to seek the supreme consummation, the perfect perfection, the absolute release.
Then there comes a more curious thought which the Gita has adopted from the mystics of the early Vedanta. It gives the different times at which the Yogin has to leave his body according as he wills to seek rebirth or to avoid it. Fire and light and smoke or mist, the day and the night, the bright fortnight of the lunar month and the dark, the northern solstice and the southern, these are the opposites. By the first in each pair the knowers of the Brahman go to the Brahman; but by the second the Yogin reaches the "lunar light" and returns subsequently to human birth. These are the bright and the dark paths, called the path of the gods and the path of the fathers in the Upanishads, and the
2.05 - The Divine Truth and Way, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
matsthani Sarvabhutani na caham tes.vavasthitah..
The Divine Truth and Way
--
This is what is intended by the phrase, vasudevah. Sarvam iti; the Godhead is all that is universe and all that is in the universe and all that is more than the universe. The Gita lays stress first on his supracosmic existence. For otherwise the mind would miss its highest goal and remain turned towards the cosmic only or else attached to some partial experience of the Divine in the cosmos. It lays stress next on his universal existence in which all moves and acts. For that is the justification of the cosmic effort and that is the vast spiritual self-awareness in which the
Godhead self-seen as the Time-Spirit does his universal works.
--
Thus the Gita begins by affirming that the Supreme contains all things in himself, but is not in any, matsthani Sarva-bhutani,
"all are situated in Me, not I in them," and yet it proceeds immediately to say, "and yet all existences are not situated in
--
This divine Self contains all existences; all are situated in him, not materially in essence, but in that extended spiritual conception of self-being of which our too rigid notion of a material and etheric space is only a rendering in the terms of the physical mind and senses. In reality all even here is spiritual coexistence, identity and coincidence; but that is a fundamental truth which we cannot apply until we get back to the supreme consciousness. Till then such an idea would only be an intellectual concept to which nothing corresponds in our practical experience. We have to say, then, using these terms of relation in space and time, that the universe and all its beings exist in the divine Self-existent as everything else exists in the spatial primacy of ether. "It is as the great, the all-pervading aerial principle dwells in the etheric that all existences dwell in Me, that is how you have to conceive of it," says the Teacher here to Arjuna. The universal existence is all-pervading and infinite and the Self-existent too is all-pervading and infinite; but the self-existent infinity is stable, static, immutable, the universal is an all-pervading movement, Sarvatragah.. The Self is one, not many; but the universal expresses itself as all existence and is, as it seems, the sum of all existences. One is Being; the other is
Power of Being which moves and creates and acts in the existence of the fundamental, supporting, immutable Spirit. The Self does not dwell in all these existences or in any of them; that is to say, he is not contained by any, - just as the ether here is not contained in any form, though all forms are derived ultimately from the ether. Nor is he contained in or constituted by all existences together - any more than the ether is contained in the mobile extension of the aerial principle or is constituted by the sum of its forms or its forces. But still in the movement also is the Divine; he dwells in the many as the Lord in each being.
2.06 - Works Devotion and Knowledge, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Inhabitant in all to that supernal Person who in his supreme status is beyond all habitation. He looks up through the Lord manifested in the universe to the Supreme who exceeds and rules all his manifestation. Thus he arises through a limitless unfolding of knowledge and upward vision and aspiration to that to which he has turned with an all-compelling integrality, Sarvabhavena.
This integral turning of the soul Godwards bases royally the Gita's synthesis of knowledge and works and devotion. To know God thus integrally is to know him as One in the self and in all manifestation and beyond all manifestation, - and all this unitedly and at once. And yet even so to know him is not enough unless it is accompanied by an intense uplifting of the heart and soul Godwards, unless it kindles a one-pointed and at the same time all-embracing love, adoration, aspiration. Indeed the knowledge which is not companioned by an aspiration and vivified by an uplifting is no true knowledge, for it can be only an intellectual seeing and a barren cognitive endeavour. The vision of God brings infallibly the adoration and passionate seeking of the Divine, - a passion for the Divine in his self-existent being, but also for the Divine in ourselves and for the Divine in all that is. To know with the intellect is simply to understand and may be an effective starting-point, - or, too, it may not be, and it will not be if there is no sincerity in the knowledge, no urge towards inner realisation in the will, no power upon the soul, no call in the spirit: for that would mean that the brain has
2.07 - The Supreme Word of the Gita, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Divine Infinite naturally approachable to man and most easily, widely, intimately seizable. This seeing is not after all the largest or the truest truth that the Supreme is without any relations with the mental, vital, physical existence of man in the universe, avyavaharyam, nor that what is described as the empirical truth of things, the truth of relations, vyavahara, is altogether the opposite of the highest spiritual truth, paramartha. On the contrary there are a thousand relations by which the supreme Eternal is secretly in contact and union with our human existence and by all essential ways of our nature and of the world's nature, Sarvabhavena, can that contact be made sensible and that union made real to our soul, heart, will, intelligence, spirit. Therefore is this other way natural and easy for man, sukham aptum. God does not make himself difficult of approach to us: only one thing is needed, one demand made on us, the single indomitable will to break through the veil of our ignorance and the whole, the persistent seeking of the mind and heart and life for that which is all the time near to it, within it, its own soul of being and spiritual essence and the secret of its personality and its impersonality, its self and its nature. This is our one difficulty; the rest the Master of our existence will himself see to and accomplish, aham tvam moks.ayis.yami ma sucah..
In the very part of its teaching in which the Gita's synthesis leans most towards the side of pure knowledge, we have
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discover his spiritual unity with all creatures, to see all in the self and the self in all beings, even to see all things and creatures as himself, atmaupamyena Sarvatra, and accordingly think, feel and act in all his mind, will and living. This Godhead is the origin of all that is here or elsewhere and by his Nature he has become all these innumerable existences, abhut Sarvan.i bhutani; therefore man has to see and adore the One in all things animate and inanimate, to worship the manifestation in sun and star and flower, in man and every living creature, in the forms and forces, qualities and powers of Nature, vasudevah. Sarvam iti. He has to make himself by divine vision and divine sympathy and finally by a strong inner identity one universality with the universe. A passive relationless identity excludes love and action, but this larger and richer oneness fulfils itself by works and by a pure emotion: it becomes the source and continent and substance and motive and divine purpose of all our acts and feelings. Kasmai devaya havis.a vidhema, to what Godhead shall we give all our life and activities as an offering? This is that Godhead, this the Lord who claims our sacrifice. A passive relationless identity excludes the joy of adoration and devotion; but bhakti is the very soul and heart and summit of this richer, completer, more intimate union.
This Godhead is the fulfilment of all relations, father, mother, lover, friend and refuge of the soul of every creature. He is the one supreme and universal Deva, Atman, Purusha, Brahman,
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- for the form and nature, if we can use such language, of this transcendental Being, his svarupa, are necessarily unthinkable by the mind, acintyarupa, - liberates mortal man from all confusion of ignorance and from all bondage of sin, suffering and evil, yo vetti asammud.hah. sa martyes.u Sarva-papaih. pramucyate. The human soul that can dwell in the light of this supreme spiritual knowledge is lifted by it beyond the ideative or sensible formulations of the universe. It rises into the ineffable power of an all-exceeding, yet all-fulfilling identity, the same beyond and here. This spiritual experience of the transcendental Infinite breaks down the limitations of the pantheistic conception of existence. The infinite of a cosmic monism which makes God and the universe one, tries to imprison the Divine in his world manifestation and leaves us that as our sole possible means of knowing him; but this experience liberates us into the timeless and spaceless Eternal. "Neither the Gods nor the Titans know thy manifestation" cries Arjuna in his reply: the whole universe or even numberless universes cannot manifest him, cannot contain his ineffable light and infinite greatness. All other lesser
God-knowledge has its truth only by dependence on the ever unmanifested and ineffable reality of the transcendent Godhead.
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Nothing is independently created here, nothing is caused selfsufficiently by these divine agents; everything finds its origin, cause, first spiritual reason for being and will to be in the absolute and supreme Godhead, - aham adih. Sarvasah.. Nothing in the universe has its real cause in the universe; all proceeds from this supernal Existence.
The great Rishis, called here as in the Veda the seven original
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He does not create out of a void, out of a Nihil or out of an unsubstantial matrix of dream. Out of himself he creates, in himself he becomes; all are in his being and all is of his being. This truth admits and exceeds the pantheistic seeing of things. Vasudeva is all, vasudevah. Sarvam; but Vasudeva is all that appears in the cosmos because he is too all that does not appear in it, all that is never manifested. His being is in no way limited by his becoming; he is in no degree bound by this world of relations.
Even in becoming all he is still a Transcendence; even in assuming finite forms he is always the Infinite. Nature, Prakriti, is in her essence his spiritual power, self-power, atmasakti; this spiritual self-power develops infinite primal qualities of becoming in the inwardness of things and turns them into an external surface of form and action. For in her essential, secret and divine order the spiritual truth of each and all comes first, a thing of her deep identities; their psychological truth of quality and nature is dependent on the spiritual for all in it that is au thentic, it derives from the spirit; least in necessity, last in order the objective truth of form and action derives from inner quality of nature and depends on it for all these variable presentations of existence here in the external order. Or in other words, the objective fact is only an expression of a sum of soul factors and these go back always to a spiritual cause of their appearance.
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separative and egoistic mechanism of our mental and vital experience. But still here also all is from the supreme Godhead, a birth, a becoming, an evolution,3 a process of development through action of Nature out of the Transcendent. Aham Sarvasya prabhavo mattah. Sarvam pravartate; "I am the birth of everything and from me all proceeds into development of action and movement." Not only is this true of all that we call good or praise and recognise as divine, all that is luminous, sattwic, ethical, peace-giving, spiritually joy-giving, "understanding and knowledge and freedom from the bewilderment of the Ignorance, forgiveness and truth and self-government and calm of inner control, non-injuring and equality, contentment and austerity and giving." It is true also of the oppositions that perplex the mortal mind and bring in ignorance and its bewilderment,
"grief and pleasure, coming into being and destruction, fear and fearlessness, glory and ingloriousness" with all the rest of the interplay of light and darkness, all the myriad mixed threads that quiver so painfully and yet with a constant stimulation through the entanglement of our nervous mind and its ignorant subjectivities. All here in their separate diversities are subjective becomings of existences in the one great Becoming and they get their birth and being from Him who transcends them.
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Cf. the Upanishad, atma eva abhut Sarvan.i bhutani, the Self has become all existences, with this contained significance in the choice of the words, the Self-existent has become all these becomings.
350
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Assigning to everything its supernal and real and not any longer only its present and apparent value, he finds the hidden links and connections; he consciously directs all life and act to their high and true object and governs them by the light and power which comes to him from the Godhead within him. Thus he escapes from the wrong cognition, the wrong mental and volitional reaction, the wrong sensational reception and impulse which here originate sin and error and suffering, Sarva-papaih. pramucyate. For living thus in the transcendent and universal he sees his own and every other individuality in their greater values and is released from the falsehood and ignorance of his separative and egoistic will and knowledge. That is always the essence of the spiritual liberation.
The wisdom of the liberated man is not then, in the view of the Gita, a consciousness of abstracted and unrelated impersonality, a do-nothing quietude. For the mind and soul of the liberated man are firmly settled in a constant sense, an integral feeling of the pervasion of the world by the actuating and directing presence of the divine Master of the universe, etam vibhutim mama yo vetti. He is aware of his spirit's transcendence of the cosmic order, but he is aware also of his oneness with it by the divine Yoga, yogam ca mama. And he sees each aspect of the transcendent, the cosmic and the individual existence in its right relation to the supreme Truth and puts all in their right place in the unity of the divine Yoga. He no longer sees each thing in its separateness, - the separate seeing that leaves all either unexplained or one-sided to the experiencing consciousness. Nor does he see all confusedly together, - the confused seeing that gives a wrong light and a chaotic action. Secure in the transcendence, he is not affected by the cosmic stress and the turmoil of Time and circumstance. Untroubled in the midst of all this creation and destruction of things, his spirit adheres to an unshaken and untrembling, an unvacillating Yoga of union with the eternal and spiritual in the universe. He watches through it all
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5 Sarvatha vartamano'pi sa yog mayi vartate.
budha bhava-samanvitah..
2.07 - The Upanishad in Aphorism, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
Every thing in Nature is a becoming of the one Spirit who alone is Being. We and all things in Nature are God's becomings, Sarvabhutani.
Although there are to world-experience multitudinous souls (Purushas) in the universe, all these are only one Purusha masked in many forms of His consciousness.
2.08 - AT THE STAR THEATRE (II), #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER (sharply): "His case was different. He was an Incarnation of God. There is a great difference between him and an ordinary man. The fire of Chaitanya's renunciation was so great that when Sarvabhauma poured sugar on his tongue, instead of melting, it evaporated into air. He was always absorbed in samdhi. How great was his conquest of lust! To compare him with a man! A lion eats meat and yet it mates only once in twelve years; but a sparrow eats grain and it indulges in sex-life day and night. Such is the difference between a Divine Incarnation and an ordinary human being. An ordinary man renounces lust; but once in a while he forgets his vow. He cannot control himself.
(To M):"He who has realized God looks on man as a mere worm. 'One cannot succeed in religious life if one has shame, hatred, or fear.' These are fetters. Haven't you heard of the eight fetters?
2.08 - God in Power of Becoming, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
in every direction, million-bodied, myriad-minded, manifest in each existence; we see his faces on all sides of us. Dhata 'ham visvato-mukhah.. For simultaneously in all these many million persons and things, Sarva-bhutes.u, there works the mystery of his self and thought and force and his divine genius of creation and his marvellous art of formation and his impeccable ordering of relations and possibilities and inevitable consequences.
He appears to us too in the universe as the universal spirit of
Destruction, who seems to create only to undo his creations in the end, - "I am all-snatching Death," aham mr.tyuh. Sarvaharah.. And yet his Power of becoming does not cease from its workings, for the force of rebirth and new creation ever keeps pace with the force of death and destruction, - "and I am too the birth of all that shall come into being." The divine Self in things is the sustaining Spirit of the present, the withdrawing
Spirit of the past, the creative Spirit of the future.
2.09 - On Sadhana, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, but no one can do the surrender for another man; each must make his own surrender. And surrender is not easy. If one can surrender unconditionally and Sarva bhvena in all the parts of the being, as the Gita says then there is nothing more to be done. But can a man do it? You can't do it by merely saying, "I surrender." It must become real; that is Sadhana.
Disciple: But then would the idea of surrender to the Guru alone be sufficient?
2.10 - The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Spirit imperishable in all these perishing bodies and behind it the face of the Charioteer, the Leader of man, the Friend of all creatures, suhr.dam Sarvabhutanam. This formidable WorldForm once seen and acknowledged, it is to that reassuring truth that the rest of the chapter is directed; it discloses in the end a more intimate face and body of the Eternal.
XI
2.11 - The Vision of the World-Spirit - The Double Aspect, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
He is the origin of Brahma, the father to the first father of the divine creators of these different races of living things. On this truth there is a constant insistence. Again it is repeated that he is the All, he is each and every one, Sarvah.. He is the infinite
Universal and he is each individual and everything that is, the one Force and Being in every one of us, the infinite Energy that throws itself out in these multitudes, the immeasurable Will and mighty Power of motion and action that forms out of itself all the courses of Time and all the happenings of the spirit in Nature.
2.12 - The Way and the Bhakta, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
To this question Krishna replies with an emphatic decisiveness. "Those who found their mind in Me and by constant union, possessed of a supreme faith, seek after Me, I hold to be the most perfectly in union of Yoga." The supreme faith is that which sees God in all and to its eye the manifestation and the non-manifestation are one Godhead. The perfect union is that which meets the Divine at every moment, in every action and with all the integrality of the nature. But those also who seek by a hard ascent after the indefinable unmanifest Immutable alone, arrive, says the Godhead, to Me. For they are not mistaken in their aim, but they follow a more difficult and a less complete and perfect path. At the easiest, to reach the unmanifest Absolute they have to climb through the manifest Immutable here. This manifest Immutable is my own all-pervading impersonality and silence; vast, unthinkable, immobile, constant, omnipresent, it supports the action of personality but does not share in it. It offers no hold to the mind; it can only be gained by a motionless spiritual impersonality and silence and those who follow after it alone have to restrain altogether and even draw in completely the action of the mind and senses. But still by the equality of their understanding and by their seeing of one self in all things and by their tranquil benignancy of silent will for the good of all existences they too meet me in all objects and creatures. No less than those who unite themselves with the Divine in all ways of their existence, Sarva-bhavena, and enter largely and fully into the unthinkable living fountainhead of universal things, divyam purus.am acintya-rupam, these seekers too who climb through this more difficult exclusive oneness towards a relationless unmanifest Absolute find in the end the same Eternal. But this is a less direct and more arduous way; it is not the full and natural movement of the spiritualised human nature.
And it must not be thought that because it is more arduous, therefore it is a higher and more effective process. The easier way of the Gita leads more rapidly, naturally and normally to
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He will have no attachment to person or thing, place or home; he will be content and well-satisfied with whatever surroundings, whatever relation men adopt to him, whatever station or fortune. He will keep a mind firm in all things, because it is constantly seated in the highest self and fixed for ever on the one divine object of his love and adoration. Equality, desirelessness and freedom from the lower egoistic nature and its claims are always the one perfect foundation demanded by the Gita for the great liberation. There is to the end an emphatic repetition of its first fundamental teaching and original desideratum, the calm soul of knowledge that sees the one self in all things, the tranquil egoless equality that results from this knowledge, the desireless action offered in that equality to the Master of works, the surrender of the whole mental nature of man into the hands of the mightier indwelling spirit. And the crown of this equality is love founded on knowledge, fulfilled in instrumental action, extended to all things and beings, a vast absorbing and allcontaining love for the divine Self who is Creator and Master of the universe, suhr.dam Sarva-bhutanam Sarva-loka-mahesvaram.
This is the foundation, the condition, the means by which the supreme spiritual perfection is to be won, and those who have it in any way are all dear to me, says the Godhead, bhaktiman me priyah.. But exceedingly dear, atva me priyah., are those souls nearest to the Godhead whose love of me is completed by the still wider and greatest perfection of which I have just shown to you the way and the process. These are the bhaktas who make the Purushottama their one supreme aim and follow out with a perfect faith and exactitude the immortalising Dharma described in this teaching. Dharma in the language of the Gita means the innate law of the being and its works and an action proceeding from and determined by the inner nature, svabhava-niyatam karma. In the lower ignorant consciousness of mind, life and body there are many dharmas, many rules, many standards and laws because there are many varying determinations and types
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of the mental, vital and physical nature. The immortal Dharma is one; it is that of the highest spiritual divine consciousness and its powers, para prakr.tih.. It is beyond the three gunas, and to reach it all these lower dharmas have to be abandoned, Sarva-dharman parityajya. Alone in their place the one liberating unifying consciousness and power of the Eternal has to become the infinite source of our action, its mould, determinant and exemplar. To rise out of our lower personal egoism, to enter into the impersonal and equal calm of the immutable eternal all-pervading Akshara Purusha, to aspire from that calm by a perfect self-surrender of all one's nature and existence to that which is other and higher than the Akshara, is the first necessity of this Yoga. In the strength of that aspiration one can rise to the immortal Dharma. There, made one in being, consciousness and divine bliss with the greatest Uttama Purusha, made one with his supreme dynamic nature-force, sva prakr.tih., the liberated spirit can know infinitely, love illimitably, act unfalteringly in the au thentic power of a highest immortality and a perfect freedom.
The rest of the Gita is written to throw a fuller light on this immortal Dharma.
2.14 - The Passive and the Active Brahman, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The integral Yoga of knowledge demands instead a divine return upon world-existence and its first step must be to realise the Self as the All, Sarvam bharma. First, concentrating on the Self-existent, we have to realise all of which the mind and senses are aware as a figure of things existing in this pure Self that we now are to our own consciousness. This vision of the pure Self translates itself to the mind-sense and the mind-perception as an infinite Reality in which all exists merely as name and form, not precisely unreal, not a hallucination or a dream, but still only a creation of the consciousness, perceptual and subtly sensible rather than substantial. In this poise of the consciousness all seems to be, if not a dream, yet very much like a representation or puppet-show taking place in the calm, motionless, peaceful, indifferent Self. Our own phenomenal existence is part of this conceptual movement, a mechanical form of mind and body among other forms, ourselves a name of being among other names, automatically mobile in this Self with its all-encompassing, still self-awareness. The active consciousness of the world is not present in this state to our realisation, because thought has been stilled in us and therefore our own consciousness is perfectly still and inactive, -- whatever we do, seems to be purely mechanical, not attended with any conscious origination by our active will and knowledge. Or if thought occurs, that also happens mechanically like the rest, like the movement of our body, moved by the unseen springs of Nature as in the plant and element and not by any active will of our self-existence. For this Self is the immobile and does not originate or take part in the action which it allows. This Self is the All in the sense only of being the infinite One who is immutably and contains all names and forms.
The basis of this status of consciousness is the mind's exclusive realisation of pure self-existence in which consciousness is at rest, inactive, widely concentrated ill pure self-awareness of being, not active and originative of any kind of becoming. Its aspect of knowledge is at rest in the awareness of undifferentiated identity; its aspect of force and will is at rest in the awareness of unmodifiable immutability. And yet it is aware of names and forms, it is aware of movement; but this movement does not seem to proceed from the Self, but to go on by some inherent power of its own and only to be reflected in the Self. In other words, the mental being has put away from himself by exclusive concentration the dynamic aspect of consciousness, has taken refuge in the static and built a wall of non-communication between the two; between the passive and the active Brahman a gulf has been created and they stand on either side of it, the one visible to the other but with no contact, no touch of sympathy, no sense of unity between them. Therefore to the passive Self all conscious being seems to be passive in its nature, all activity seems to be non-conscious in itself and mechanical (jada) in its movement. The realisation of this status is the basis of the ancient Sankhya philosophy which taught that the Purusha or Conscious-Soul is a passive, inactive, immutable entity, prakriti or the Nature-Soul including even the mind and the understanding active, mutable, mechanical, but reflected in the Purusha which identifies itself with what is reflected in it and lends to it its own light of consciousness. When the Purusha learns not to identify himself, then prakriti begins to fall away from its impulse of movement and returns towards equilibrium and rest. The Vedantic view of the same status led to the philosophy of the inactive Self or Brahman as the one reality and of all the rest as name and form imposed on it by a false activity of mental illusion which has to be removed by right knowledge of the immutable Self and refusal of the imposition387a. The two views really differ only in their language and their viewpoint; substantially, they are the same intellectual generalisation from the same spiritual experience.
2.18 - January 1939, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
What Krishna says in the Gita: Sarvadharmn parityajya abandoning all laws of conduct, is said at the end of the Gita and not in the beginning. And then that is not alone; there is also mmekam sharanam vraja take refuge in Me alone. But before one finds within oneself the guidance of the dynamic Divine, one has to have some rule to guide himself. Most people have to pass through the Sattwic stage and the moral rule is true so far as these people are concerned. It is only a very few that can start above it.
Disciple: Can one say that the psychic being always wants transformation? There are people who believe that the psychic being in evolution would and must want transformation and only the Atman can merge into Laya, in the Divine. Can the developed psychic being not merge into Laya?
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If you go above the vital and mental planes you come to a point where the Gita's Sarva dharmn parityajya becomes the principle. But there if you leave out the last portion, mmekam araam vraja take refuge in Me alone then you follow your ego and you fall, and become either an Asura or a lunatic or an animal. But even the animals have a sense of right and wrong. That is very well shown in Kipling's Jungle Book. Have you read it?
Disciple: No.
2.2.01 - Work and Yoga, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The overcoming of all attachments must necessarily be difficult and cannot come except as the fruit of a long sdhanunless there is a rapid general growth in the inner spiritual experience which is the substance of the Gitas teaching. The cessation of desire of the fruit, of the attachment to the work itself, the growth of equality to all beings, to all happenings, to good repute or ill repute, praise or blame, to good fortune or ill fortune, the dropping of the ego which are necessary for the loss of all attachments can come completely only when all work becomes a spontaneous sacrifice to the Divine, the heart is offered up to Him and one has the settled experience of the Divine in all things and all beings. This consciousness or experience must come in all parts and movements of the being, Sarvabhvena, not only in the mind and idea; then the falling away of all attachments becomes easy. I speak of the Gitas way of yoga, for in the ascetic life one obtains the same object differently, by cutting away from the objects of attachment and the consequent atrophy of the attachment itself through rejection and disuse.
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I may say however that I do not regard business as something evil or tainted, any more than it was so regarded in ancient spiritual India. If I did, I would not be able to receive money from X or from those of our disciples who in Bombay trade with East Africa; nor could we then encourage them to go on with their work but would have to tell them to throw it up and attend to their spiritual progress alone. How are we to reconcile Xs seeking after spiritual light and his mill? Ought I not to tell him to leave his mill to itself and to the devil and go into some Ashram to meditate? Even if I myself had had the comm and to do business as I had the comm and to do politics I would have done it without the least spiritual or moral compunction. All depends on the spirit in which a thing is done, the principle on which it is built and use to which it is turned. I have done politics and the most violent kind of revolutionary politics, ghora karma, and I have supported war and sent men to it, even though politics is not always or often a very clean occupation nor can war be called a spiritual line of action. But Krishna calls upon Arjuna to carry on war of the most terrible kind and by his example encourage men to do every kind of human work, Sarvakarmi. Do you contend that Krishna was an unspiritual man and that his advice to Arjuna was mistaken or wrong in principle? Krishna goes farther and declares that a man by doing in the right way and in the right spirit the work dictated to him by his fundamental nature, temperament and capacity and according to his and its dharma can move towards the Divine. He validates the function and dharma of the Vaishya as well as of the Brahmin and Kshatriya. It is in his view quite possible for a man to do business and make money and earn profits and yet be a spiritual man, practise Yoga, have an inner life. The Gita is constantly justifying works as a means of spiritual salvation and enjoining a Yoga of works as well as of Bhakti and Knowledge. Krishna, however, superimposes a higher law also that work must be done without desire, without attachment to any fruit or reward, without any egoistic attitude or motive, as an offering or sacrifice to the Divine. This is the traditional Indian attitude towards these things, that all work can be done if it is done according to the dharma and, if it is rightly done, it does not prevent the approach to the Divine or the access to spiritual knowledge and the spiritual life.
There is of course also the ascetic ideal which is necessary for many and has its place in the spiritual order. I would myself say that no man can be spiritually complete if he cannot live ascetically or follow a life as bare as the barest anchorites. Obviously, greed for wealth and money-making has to be absent from his nature as much as greed for food or any other greed and all attachment to these things must be renounced from his consciousness. But I do not regard the ascetic way of living as indispensable to spiritual perfection or as identical with it. There is the way of spiritual self-mastery and the way of spiritual self-giving and surrender to the Divine, abandoning ego and desire even in the midst of action or of any kind of work or all kinds of work demanded from us by the Divine. If it were not so, there would not have been great spiritual men like Janaka or Vidura in India and even there would have been no Krishna or else Krishna would have been not the Lord of Brindavan and Mathura and Dwarka or a prince and warrior or the charioteer of Kurukshetra, but only one more great anchorite. The Indian scriptures and Indian tradition, in the Mahabharata and elsewhere, make room both for the spirituality of the renunciation of life and for the spiritual life of action. One cannot say that one only is the Indian tradition and that the acceptance of life and works of all kinds, Sarvakarmi, is un-Indian, European or Western and unspiritual.
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22.04 - On The Brink(I), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
aham tva Sarvapapebhyo moksayiviimi mil suca.3
*Gila,*IX. 33
2.21 - Towards the Supreme Secret, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
One must become an understanding unattached in all things, asakta-buddhih. Sarvatra. Then all desire passes away from the soul in its silence; it is free from all longings, vigata-spr.hah.. That brings with it or it makes possible the subjection of our lower and the possession of our higher self, a possession dependent on complete self-mastery, secured by a radical victory and conquest over our mobile nature, jitatma. And all this amounts to an absolute inner renunciation of the desire of things, sannyasa.
Renunciation is the way to this perfection and the man who has thus inwardly renounced all is described by the Gita as the true Sannyasin. But because the word usually signifies as well an outward renunciation or sometimes even that alone, the Teacher uses another word, tyaga, to distinguish the inward from the outward withdrawal and says that Tyaga is better than
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The impersonal self looks on all action as done not by it but by Prakriti; it regards with a pure equality all the working of her qualities, modes and forces: the soul impersonalised in the self must similarly regard all our actions as done not by itself but by the qualities of Prakriti; it must be equal in all things, Sarvatra.
And at the same time in order that we may not stop here, in order that we may eventually go forward and find a spiritual rule and direction in our works and not only a law of inner immobility and silence, we are asked to impose on the intelligence and will the attitude of sacrifice, all our action inwardly changed and turned into an offering to the Lord of Nature, to the Being of whom she is the self-power, sva prakr.tih., the supreme Spirit. Even we have eventually to renounce all into his hands, to abandon all personal initiation of action, Sarvarambhah., to keep our natural selves only as an instrument of his works and his purpose. These things have been already explained fully and the Gita does not here insist, but uses simply without farther qualification the common terms, sannyasa and nais.karmya.
A completest inner quietism once admitted as our necessary means towards living in the pure impersonal self, the question how practically it brings about that result is the next issue that arises. "How, having attained this perfection, one thus attains to the Brahman, hear from me, O son of Kunti, - that which is the supreme concentrated direction of the knowledge." The knowledge meant here is the Yoga of the Sankhyas, - the Yoga of pure knowledge accepted by the Gita, jnana-yogena sankhyanam, so far as it is one with its own Yoga which includes also the way of works of the Yogins, karma-yogena yoginam. But all mention of works is kept back for the moment. For by Brahman here is meant at first the silent, the impersonal, the immutable. The Brahman indeed is both for the Upanishads and the Gita all that is and lives and moves; it is not solely an impersonal Infinite or an unthinkable and incommunicable Absolute, acintyam avyavaharyam. All this is Brahman, says the Upanishad; all this is Vasudeva, says the Gita, - the supreme Brahman is all that moves or is stable and his hands and feet and eyes and heads and faces are on every side of us. But still there are two aspects of this All, - his immutable eternal self that supports existence and his self of active power that moves abroad in the world movement. It is only when we lose our limited ego personality in the impersonality of the self that we arrive at the calm and free oneness by which we can possess a true unity with the universal power of the Divine in his world movement. Impersonality is a denial of limitation and division, and the cult of impersonality is a natural condition of true being, an indispensable preliminary of true knowledge and therefore a first requisite of true action. It is very clear that we cannot become one self with all or one with the universal Spirit and his vast self-knowledge, his complex will and his widespread world-purpose by insisting on our limited personality of ego; for that divides us from others and it makes us bound and self-centred in our view and in our will to action.
2.22 - The Supreme Secret, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Yoga is to take refuge from all the perplexities and difficulties of our nature with this indwelling Lord of all Nature, to turn to him with our whole being, with the life and body and sense and mind and heart and understanding, with our whole dedicated knowledge and will and action, Sarva-bhavena, in every way of our conscious self and our instrumental nature. And when we can at all times and entirely do this, then the divine Light and
Love and Power takes hold of us, fills both self and instruments and leads us safe through all the doubts and difficulties and perplexities and perils that beset our soul and our life, leads us to a supreme peace and the spiritual freedom of our immortal and eternal status, param santim, sthanam sasvatam.
For after giving out all the laws, the dharmas, and the deepest essence of its Yoga, after saying that beyond all the first secrets revealed to the mind of man by the transforming light of spiritual knowledge, guhyat, this is a still deeper more secret truth, guhyataram, the Gita suddenly declares that there is yet a supreme word that it has to speak, paramam vacah., and a most secret truth of all, Sarva-guhyatamam. This secret of secrets the
Teacher will tell to Arjuna as his highest good because he is the chosen and beloved soul, is.t.a. For evidently, as had already been declared by the Upanishad, it is only the rare soul chosen by the
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All must be given as material of that transmutation. An omniscient consciousness will take up our knowledge and our ignorance, our truth and our error, cast away their forms of insufficiency, Sarva-dharman parityajya, and transform all into its infinite light. An almighty Power will take up our virtue and sin, our right and wrong, our strength and our weakness, cast away their tangled figures, Sarva-dharman parityajya, and transform all into its transcendent purity and universal good and infallible force. An ineffable Ananda will take up our petty joy and sorrow, our struggling pleasure and pain, cast away their discordances and imperfect rhythms, Sarva-dharman parityajya, and transform all into its transcendent and universal unimaginable delight. All that all the Yogas can do will be done and more; but it will be done in a greater seeing way, with a greater wisdom and truth than any human teacher, saint or sage can give us. The inner spiritual state to which this supreme Yoga will take us, will be above all that is here and yet comprehensive of all things in this and other worlds, but with a spiritual transformation of all, without limitation, without bondage, Sarva-dharman parityajya.
The infinite existence, consciousness and delight of the Godhead in its calm silence and bright boundless activity will be there, will be its essential, fundamental, universal stuff, mould and character. And in that mould of infinity the Divine made manifest
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Infinite, translucent forms of knowledge, thought, love, spiritual joy, power and action according to his self-fulfilling will and immortal pleasure. And there will be no binding effect on the free soul and the unaffected nature, no unescapable crystallising into this or that inferior formula. For all the action will be executed by the power of the Spirit in a divine freedom, Sarva-dharman parityajya. An unfallen abiding in the transcendent Spirit, param dhama, will be the foundation and the assurance of this spiritual state. An intimate understanding oneness with universal being and all creatures, released from the evil and suffering of the separative mind but wisely regardful of true distinctions, will be the conditioning power. A constant delight, oneness and harmony of the eternal individual here with the Divine and all that he is will be the effect of this integral liberation. The baffling problems of our human existence of which Arjuna's difficulty stands as an acute example, are created by our separative personality in the Ignorance. This Yoga because it puts the soul of man into its right relation with God and world-existence and makes our action God's, the knowledge and will shaping and moving it his and our life the harmony of a divine self-expression, is the way to their total disappearance.
The whole Yoga is revealed, the great word of the teaching is given, and Arjuna the chosen human soul is once more turned, no longer in his egoistic mind but in this greatest self-knowledge, to the divine action. The Vibhuti is ready for the divine life in the human, his conscious spirit for the works of the liberated soul, muktasya karma. Destroyed is the illusion of the mind; the soul's memory of its self and its truth concealed so long by the misleading shows and forms of our life has returned to it and become its normal consciousness: all doubt and perplexity gone, it can turn to the execution of the comm and and do faithfully whatever work for God and the world may be appointed and apportioned to it by the Master of our being, the Spirit and
2.3.02 - The Supermind or Supramental, #Letters On Yoga I, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
- Sarvam khalvidam brahma, Vasudevah. Sarvam etc. Mind is an instrument of the Ignorance trying to know - Supermind is the Knower possessing knowledge because one with it and the known, therefore seeing all things in the Light of His own Truth, the light of their true Self which is He. It is a dynamic and not only a static Power, not only a Knowledge, but a Will according to Knowledge - there is a supramental Power or Shakti which can manifest directly its world of Light and Truth in which all is luminously based on the harmony and unity of the One, not disturbed by a veil of Ignorance or any disguise. The Supermind therefore does not transcend all manifestation, but it is above the triplicity of mind, life and matter which is our present experience of this manifestation.
(4) The Overmind is a sort of delegation from the Supermind
30.13 - Rabindranath the Artist, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
We discover almost the primal urge of beauty and the fount of rhythm. It seems we are at the point when the creation began to assume forms at the first vibrations of life - all proceed from the vibrant life - Sarvam
pranam ejati nihsrtam- this mantra of the Upanishad was very dear to Rabindranath and he cited it very often. Rabindranath was a worshipper of Brahman, but more of the Brahman as the primal sound, the original wave, the vibrating note that is to manifest in creation. And the unique success he attained in the cult of this Deity of his heart is the speciality and glory of his poetical creation. In the following mantra Rabindranath depicts the image of his Deity as experienced in trance:
3.01 - Love and the Triple Path, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Action is the first power of life. Nature begins with force and its works which, once conscious in man, become will and its achievements; therefore it is that by turning his action Godwards the life of man best and most surely begins to become divine. It is the door of first access, the starting-point of the initiation. When the will in him is made one with the divine will and the whole action of the being proceeds from the Divine and is directed towards the Divine, the union in works is perfectly accomplished. But works fulfil themselves in knowledge; all the totality of works, says the Gita, finds its rounded culmination in knowledge, Sarvam karmkhilam jne parisampyate. By union in will and works we become one in the omnipresent conscious being from whom all our will and works have their rise and draw their power and in whom they fulfil the round of their energies. And the crown of this union is love; for love is the delight of conscious union with the Being in whom we live, act and move, by whom we exist, for whom alone we learn in the end to act and to be. That is the trinity of our powers, the union of all three in God to which we arrive when we start from works as our way of access and our line of contact.
Knowledge is the foundation of a constant living in the Divine. For consciousness is the foundation of all living and being, and knowledge is the action of the consciousness, the light by which it knows itself and its realities, the power by which, starting from action, we are able to hold the inner results of thought and act in a firm growth of our conscious being until it accomplishes itself, by union, in the infinity of the divine being. The Divine meets us in many aspects and to each of them knowledge is the key, so that by knowledge we enter into and possess the infinite and divine in every way of his being, Sarvabhvena*, and receive him into us and are possessed by him in every way of ours.
Without knowledge we live blindly in him with the blindness of the power of Nature intent on its works, but forgetful of its source and possessor, undivinely therefore, deprived of the real, the full delight of our being. By knowledge arriving at conscious oneness with that which we know,--for by identity alone can complete and real knowledge exist,--the division is healed and the cause of all our limitation and discord and weakness and discontent is abolished. But knowledge is not complete without works; for the Will in being also is God and not the being or its self-aware silent existence alone, and if works find their culmination in knowledge, knowledge also finds its fulfilment in works. And, here too, love is the crown of knowledge; for love is the delight of union, and unity must be conscious of joy of union to find all the riches of its own delight. Perfect knowledge indeed leads to perfect love, integral knowledge to a rounded and multitudinous richness of love. ''He who knows me'' says the Gita ''as the supreme Purusha''--not only as the immutable oneness, but in the many-souled movement of the divine and as that, superior to both, in which both are divinely held,--''he, because he has the integral knowledge, seeks me by love in every way of his being.'' This is the trinity of our powers, the union of all three in God to which we arrive when we start from knowledge.
3.03 - The Godward Emotions, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Certainly, fear enters into the relations of the master and the servant and even of the father and the child, but only when they are on the human level, when control and subjection and punishment figure predominantly in them and love is obliged to efface itself more or less behind the mask of authority. The Divine even as the Master does not punish anybody, does not threaten, does not force obedience. It is the human soul that has freely to come to the Divine and offer itself to his overpowering force that he may seize and uplift it towards his own divine levels, and give it that joy of mastery of the finite nature by the Infinite and of service to the Highest by which there comes freedom from the ego and the lower nature. Love is the key of this relation, and this service, dasyam, is in Indian Yoga the happy service of the divine Friend or the passionate service to the divine Beloved. The Master of the worlds who in the Gita demands of his servant, the Bhakta, to be nothing more in life than his instrument, makes this claim as the friend, the guide, the higher Self, and describes himself as the Lord of all worlds who is the friend of all creatures, Sarvalokamahesvaram smhrdanl suhrdam Sarvabhutaman; the two relations in fact must go together and neither can be perfect without the other. So too it is not the fatherhood of God as the Creator who demands obedience because he is the maker of our being, but the fatherhood of love which leads us towards the closer soul-union of Yoga. Love is the real key in both, and perfect love is inconsistent with the admission of the motive of fear. Closeness of the human soul to the Divine is the object, and fear sets always a barrier and a distance; even awe and reverence for the divine Power are a sign of distance and division and they disappear in the intimacy of the union of love.
Moreover, fear belongs to the lower nature, to the lower self, and in approaching the higher Self must be put aside before we can enter into its presence.
31.06 - Jagadish Chandra Bose, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
All that we see is one, not many. That one is not inanimate matter, it is instinct with life, it is living, nay, not only living but conscious. The truth that the Rishi in his divine vision has seen, and experienced in his soul, how it manifests itself, how it proves itself, how the rhythm of the subtle has played into the gross, how the Self of the Spirit has not concealed itself outside or beyond its creation but has permeated the whole of creation, how its light has made the creation luminous - tasya bhasa Sarvamidam bibhati - "his light illumines all this" - something of this knowledge Jagadish Chandra has placed before the physical eye of our ordinary belief.
Thus do we find in Jagadish Chandra the message of a large and profound synthesis, harmony and unity: on one side the hoary East, on the other the modern West; on one side the suprasensuous, on the other the senses; on one side Spirit, on the other Matter - Jagadish Chandra acts as a bridge between this twofold truth.
3.2.03 - Jainism and Buddhism, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
As to Buddhas attitude towards life, I do not quite see how service to mankind or any ideal of improvement of the world existence can have been part of his aim, since to pass out of life into a transcendence was his object. His eightfold path was the means towards that end and not an aim in itself or indeed in any way an aim. Obviously if right understanding and right action became the common rule of life, there would be a great improvement in the world, but for Buddhas purpose that could be an incidental result and not at all part of his central object. You say, Buddha himself urged the necessity to serve mankind: his ideal was to achieve a consciousness of inner eternity and then be a source of radiant influence and action. But where and when did Buddha say these things, use these terms or express these ideas? The service of mankind sounds like a very modern and European conception; it reminds me of some European interpretations of the Gita as merely teaching the disinterested performance of duty or the pronouncement that the whole idea of the Gita is service. The exclusive stress or overstress on mankind or humanity is also European. Mahayanist Buddhism laid stress on compassion, fellow-feeling with all, vasudhaiva kuumbakam, just as the Gita speaks of the feeling of oneness with all beings and preoccupation with the good of all beings, Sarvabhtahite rat, but this does not mean humanity only but all beings and vasudh means all earth-life. Are there any sayings of Buddha which would justify the statement that the object or one object of attaining to Nirvana was to become a source of radiant influence and action? The consciousness of inner eternity may have that result, but can we really say that that was Buddhas ideal, the object which he held in view or for which he came?
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33.07 - Alipore Jail, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
tam eva bhantam anubhati Sarvam
tasya bhasa Sarvam idam vibhati.
"There the sun shines not and the moon has no splendour and. the stars are blind; there these lightnings flash not, how then shall burn this earthly fire? All that shines is but the shadow of this shining; all this universe is effulgent wilh his light."
33.11 - Pondicherry II, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
It will not be out of place here to say something about the sort of education and training we received in those early days of our life in Pondicherry. One of the first needs we felt on coming here was for books, for at that time we had hardly anything we could call our own. We found that at the moment Sri Aurobindo was concentrating on the Rigveda alone and we managed to get for him two volumes of the original text. He had of course his own books and papers packed in two or three trunks. It was felt we might afford to spend ten rupees every month for the purchase of books. We began our purchases with the main classics of English literature, especially the series published in the Home University Library and the World Classics editions. Today you see what a fine Library we have, not indeed one but many, for there is a Library of Physical Education, there is a Medical Library, there is a Library for the School, and there are so many private collections. All this had its origin in the small collections' we began every month. At first, the books had to lie on the floor, for we had nothing like chairs or tables or shelves for our library" I may add that we had no such thing as a bedding either for our use. Each of us possessed a mat, and this mat had to serve as our bedstead, mattress, coverlet and pillow; this was all our furniture. And mosquito curtains? That was a luxury we could not even dream of. If there were too many mosquitos, we would carry the mats out on to the terrace for a little air, assuming, that is, that there was any. Only for Sri Aurobindo we had somehow managed a chair and a table and a camp cot. We lived a real camp life. I should add that there were a few rickety chairs too, for the use of visitors and guests. And lights? Today you see such a profusion of electric lighting in every room and courtyard; we have mercury lights and flash lights and spotlights and torch lights; we are even getting well into the limelight! There is light everywhere, "all here is shining with light", Sarvamidam vibhati. In those days, on the other hand, we did not even have a decent kerosene lamp or lantern. All I can recall is a single candlestick, for the personal use of Sri Aurobindo. Whatever conversations or discussions we had after nightfall had to be in the dark; for the most part we practised silence. The first time there was an electric connection, what a joy it gave us! It came like a revelation almost. We were in the Guest House at the time, had shifted there only a, little while ago. We were out one afternoon for our games (that is, football), and it was already dark by the time we returned. As we opened the door and entered the compound, what a surprise it was! The place was full of light, there were lights everywhere, a real illumination. The electricians had come and fitted the connections whilst we had been away. They had fitted as many as four points for the entire building, the Guest House that you see, two for the first floor and two downstairs!
We were able to purchase some French books at a very cheap rate, not more than two anna; for each volume in a series. We had about a hundred of them, all classics of French literature. I find a few of them are still there in our Library. Afterwards, I also bought from the second-hand bookshops in the Gujli Kadai area several books in Greek, Latin and French. Once I chanced on a big Greek lexicon which I still use.
34.09 - Hymn to the Pillar, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
[The ritualistic or the naturalistic symbolism. of the Veda is at its minimum in this hymn of the Atharvaveda, translated almost literally. The Pillar, it is explicitly said, is the Brahman, the Supreme Reality. It is Sarvadhara,the container of all, the total or integral existence. It upholds the creation, it has entered into the creation and it has become the creation. It is the tree, the Aswattha tree as the Upanishad also describes, with its branches spreading out, i.e.all the multiple aspects of the creation. Even the gods, all of them, find shelter here in one form or other. All gods it is: Agni the Divine Force, Indra the Divine Mind, Soma the Divine Delight. It is Tapas, the upward urge in the Universe, it is Satyam the Truth and Ritam the Truth-action, Vak the Truth-word.
Day and Night also are its dual aspects, Light and Darkness - evolution and involution, expression and withdrawal, Being and Non-Being, Knowledge and Ignorance. The image of twin sisters (rivers) refers also to this double movement of consciousness, everywhere in Nature: ascent and descent, inward and outward, the two wings of the Cosmic Bird flying through eternity and infinity. To mark the progress of Time or in Time, cycles of duration (months, half months, seasons etc.) are also noted here as limbs of this Supreme total Reality. To this double movement there is to be added a third movement: if the double movement means thesis and antithesis, there is a movement of synthesis also. To the movement sideways there is to be a movement beyond. We know of this threefold movement in the mystery of the Kundalini Force: the two currents idaand pingalaon either side of the spinal cord and in between the mounts the susumnaheading towards the beyond, to the Crown of the head. The Beyond is of course the Transcendent, the supreme status of Brahman, the All Container.
3.6.01 - Heraclitus, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Heraclitus was greatly preoccupied with his idea of eternal becoming, for him the one right account of the cosmos, but his cosmos has still an eternal basis, a unique original principle. That distinguishes his thought radically from Nietzsche's or the Buddhists'. The later Greeks derived from him the idea of the perpetual stream of things, "All things are in flux." The idea of the universe as constant motion and unceasing change was always before him, and yet behind and in it all he saw too a constant principle of determination and even a mysterious principle of identity. Every day, he says, it is a new sun that rises; yes, but if the sun is always new, exists only by change from moment to moment, like all things in Nature, still it is the same ever-living Fire that rises with each Dawn in the shape of the sun. We can never step again into the same stream, for ever other and other waters are flowing; and yet, says Heraclitus, "we do and we do not enter into the same waters, we are and we are not." The sense is clear; there is an identity in things, in all existences, Sarvabhūtāni, as well as a constant changing; there is a Being as well as a Becoming and by that we have an eternal and real existence as well as a temporary and apparent, are not merely a constant mutation but a constant identical existence. Zeus exists, a sempiternal active Fire and eternal Word, a One by which all things are unified, all laws and results perpetually determined, all measures unalterably maintained. Day and Night are one, Death and Life are one, Youth and Age are one, Good and Evil are one, because that is One and all these are only its various shapes and appearances.
Heraclitus would not have accepted a purely psychological principle of Self as the origin of things, but in essence he is not very far from the Vedantic position. The Buddhists of the Nihilistic school used in their own way the image of the stream and the image of the fire. They saw, as Heraclitus saw, that nothing in the world is for two moments the same even in the most insistent continuity of forms. The flame maintains itself unchanged in appearance, but every moment it is another and not the same fire; the stream is sustained in its flow by ever new waters. From this they drew the conclusion that there is no essence of things, nothing self-existent; the apparent becoming is all that we can call existence, behind it there is eternal Nothing, the absolute Void, or perhaps an original Non-Being. Heraclitus saw, on the contrary, that if the form of the flame only exists by a constant change, a constant exchange rather of the substance of the wick into the substance of the fiery tongue, yet there must be a principle of their existence common to them which thus converts itself from one form into another;-even if the substance of the flame is always changing, the principle of Fire is always the same and produces always the same results of energy, maintains always the same measures.
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Heraclitus saw what all must see who look at the world with any attention, that there is something in all this motion and change and differentiation which insists on stability, which goes back to sameness, which assures unity, which triumphs into eternity. It has always the same measures; it is, was and ever will be. We are the same in spite of all our differences; we start from the same origin, proceed by the same universal laws, live, differ and strive in the bosom of an eternal oneness, are seeking always for that which binds all beings together and makes all things one. Each sees it in his own way, lays stress on this or that aspect of it, loses sight of or diminishes other aspects, gives it therefore a different name-even as Heraclitus, attracted by its aspect of creative and destructive Force, gave it the name of Fire. But when he generalises, he puts it widely enough; it is the One that is All, it is the All that is One,-Zeus, eternity, the Fire. He could have said with the Upanishad, "All this is the Brahman", Sarvaṁ khalu idaṁ brahma, though he could not have gone on and said, "This Self is the Brahman", but would have declared rather of Agni what a Vedantic formula says of Vayu, tvaṁ pratyakṣaṁ brahmāsi, "Thou art manifest Brahman."
But we may admit the One in different ways. The Adwaitins affirmed the One, the Being, but put away "all things" as Maya, or they recognised the immanence of the Being in these becomings which are yet not-Self, not That. Vaishnava philosophy saw existence as eternally one in the Being, God, eternally many by His nature or conscious-energy in the souls whom He becomes or who exist in her. In Greece also Anaximander denied the multiple reality of the Becoming. Empedocles affirmed that the All is eternally one and many; all is one which becomes many and then again goes back to oneness. But Heraclitus will not so cut the knot of the riddle. "No," he says in effect, "I hold to my idea of the eternal oneness of all things; never do they cease to be one. It is all my ever-living Fire that takes various shapes and names, changes itself into all that is and yet remains itself, not at all by any illusion or mere appearance of becoming, but with a severe and positive reality." All things then are in their reality and substance and law and reason of their being the One; the One in its shapes, values, changings becomes really all things. It changes and is yet immutable: for it does not increase or diminish, nor does it lose for a moment its eternal nature and identity which is that of the ever-living Fire. Many values which reduce themselves to the same standard and judge of all values; many forces which go back to the same unalterable energy; many becomings which both represent and amount to one identical Being.
36.08 - A Commentary on the First Six Suktas of Rigveda, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
COSMIC creation is a great and sublime sacrifice. Sarvagatam Bramha...1
It is the gods who are the primal powers holding and controlling this sacrifice and the cosmic creation. By his self offering man fulfils the nature of the gods.
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Sarvanindriyakarmani pranakarmani capare
Atmasamyamayogagnau juhvati jnanadipite.4
37.02 - The Story of Jabala-Satyakama, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
The first of the aphorisms taught to Satyakama implies that Brahman has made himself manifest, for He is selfmanifest. Another Upanishad has said the same thing: tameva bhantam anubhati Sarvam,"His is the Light that illumines all." Of this self-luminous form of Brahman or God the four limbs are the four quarters. He is manifest on all sides, above and below, in every direction, and he is not only thus manifest; there is also no end or limit to his manifestation. Hence, as a second step in our knowledge, we learn that God or Brahman is the Infinite. This Infinity too has four limbs or lines: (1) earth, or the physical and material extension, (2) mid-air, or the expanse of the vital worlds, (3) the vast expanses of mind, and (4) the oceanic reaches of the higher worlds that stand above the mind. The third attribute or quality of God is Luminosity, He is the Bright, the Effulgent One - He is the supreme light. Of His Brightness or Effulgence the symbols are four, the four that serve as the medium or base: these are fire, the sun, the moon and the stars. Fire is enkindled on the solid earth of matter; the sun burns in the mid-regions of life; the moon illumines with its cooling rays the regions of the quiet and happy mind; and the stars give us the brilliance of the world beyond mind. It is needless to add that the Seer is not speaking here in terms of astronomy. He has been expressing his meaning through the help of significant symbols or metaphors. And finally, the Reality or God is made up of Form: that is to say, He has put Himself forth variously through a multitude of forms, rupam rupam pratirupo babhuva.And the functions or instrumentalities through which Form has taken shape are the four main powers of sense-consciousness. These are: (I) the power of sensitivity, the capacity of living contact and intimate or close experience, of which the sense of touch represents to us the external form or activity, for through it we get a sense of reality as living existence; (2) the power of vision or sight, for through the eyes we get a sense of form and definite shape; (3) the power of hearing, for the organ of hearing gives us a sense of rhythm, of sound, the form of articulate speech; and (4) the power of mind which, being the centre of thinking, gives us a sense of meaning, builds the forms of thought.
These then are the four aspects of Brahman, the fourfold quartet through which we get a glimpse of the wholeness of Brahman, Purnabrahman.
37.07 - Ushasti Chakrayana (Chhandogya Upanishad), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08, #unset, #Zen
In this manner Ushasti gave the teaching about the Triple Principle, the Trinity represented by Life, Mind and Body; Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svar, that is, Earth, Sky and Heaven. He gave an indication of these three levels of manifested being, the triple world of this universe, spoke of the divinity that presides over this Triplicity. First of all comes the God of Life. This is the deity that is invoked at the outset, has to be so invoked in every act, in all ceremonial function, even in the effort at an inner perfection. He is the Creator, all that is manifested has Him for its driving power, Sarvam ejati nihsrtam. Creation begins with a vibration of this Life - Force. The first thing necessary is to infuse Life into things. When we worship a divine image, we begin the rites with an invocation to this Life-force to enter the image; what was just an idol is awakened to life by the infusion of this Force. Life and Life-Force, this comes first. Next comes consciousness, knowledge, light, that is, the Sun-God, Aditya, and ordinarily, mind is His field. But by itself force is not enough, knowledge is not enough; this force and this light have to be embodied and given a form, they have to take physical shape with matter as the basis; they have to become an integral part of this earth of matter. Force and Light and Being are the three cosmic Principles, and. they have three Deities presiding over them. In establishing them in their unity in his awakened being man finds his entire and all round fulfilment.
You may notice here one thing. Many of these Rishis in the Upanishads are found sometimes using a threat that if anything or anyone deviated from the truth or the accepted norm, "the head would fall off". It seems to mean this. If one commits an error or there is a fault in the course of one's spiritual effort and if one continues on the wrong path without acknowledging the error or shortcoming, then it implies a movement, a gesture against the Truth and the Right, and this default carries in itself the possibility of a derangement of the head. The actual physical calamity befell an ancient seeker, Shakalya; we already know that story. In this age we do not perhaps come across an actual physical instance of such a mishap; but we are certainly familiar with something analogous, a derangement of the brain instead of the physical falling off of the head. As the Mother has said, the spiritual force is a kind of fire, to play with this fire without an inner devotion and sincerity invites dangers of this sort.
3.7.1.06 - The Ascending Unity, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
the greatness of its complete and highest reality. The word of the ancient Veda stands, - out of all the ocean of inconscience, apraketam salilam Sarvam idam, it is that one spiritual Existent who is born by the greatness of his own energy, tapasas tan mahina ajayata ekam. Where in this evolution does the thing we call soul make its first appearance? One is obliged to ask, was it not there, must it not have been there from the first beginnings, even though asleep or, as we may say, somnambulist in matter? If man were only a superior animal with a greater range of physical mind, we might conceivably say that there was no soul or spirit, but only three successive powers of Energy in a series of the forms of matter. But in this human intelligence there does appear at its summit a greater power of spirit; we rise up to a consciousness which is not limited by its physical means and formulas. This highest thing is not, as it might first appear, an unsubstantial sublimation of mind and mind a subtle sublimation of living matter. This greatness turns out to have been the very self-existent substance and power of our being; all other things seem in comparison only its lesser forms of itself which it uses for a progressive revelation; spirit in the end proves itself the first and not only the last, Alpha as well as
Omega, and the whole secret of existence from its beginning.
We come to a fathomless conception of this all, Sarvam idam, in which we see that there is an obscure omnipresent life in matter, activised by that life a secret sleeping mind, sheltered in that sleep of mind an involved all-knowing all-originating
Spirit. But then soul is not to be conceived of as a growth or birth of which we can fix a date of its coming or a stage in the evolution which brings it to a first capacity of formation, but rather all here is assumption of form by a secret soul which becomes in the self-seeking of life increasingly manifest to a growing self-conscience. All assumption of form is a constant and yet progressive birth or becoming of the soul, sambhava, sambhuti, - the dumb and blind and brute is that and not only the finely, mentally conscious human or the animal existence.
3.7.1.08 - Karma, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Energy at work which assures its will by law and fixed relation and steady succession and the links of ascertainable cause and effectuality. To be assured that there is an all-pervading mental law and an all-pervading moral law, is a great gain, a supporting foundation. That in the mental and moral as in the physical world what I sow in the proper soil, I shall assuredly reap, is a guarantee of divine government, of equilibrium, of cosmos; it not only grounds life upon an adamant underbase of law, but by removing anarchy opens the way to a greater liberty. But there is the possibility that if this Energy is all, I may only be a creation of an imperative Force and all my acts and becomings a chain of determination over which I can have no real control or chance of mastery. That view would resolve everything into predestination of Karma, and the result might satisfy my intellect but would be disastrous to the greatness of my spirit. I should be a slave and puppet of Karma and could never dream of being a sovereign of myself and my existence. But here there comes in the second step of the theory of Karma, that it is the Idea which creates all relations. All is the expression and expansion of the Idea, Sarvan.i vijnana-vijr.mbhitani. Then I can by the will, the energy of the Idea in me develop the form of what I am and arrive at the harmony of some greater idea than is expressed in my present mould and balance. I can aspire to a nobler expansion. Still, if the
Idea is a thing in itself, without any base but its own spontaneous
3 - Commentaries and Annotated Translations, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
is God. The fundamental sayings, So Aham; Tattwamasi, Swetaketo; Sarvam khalu idam Brahma, are the sum of all Veda and
Vedanta. All is merely the manifestation of Him for the sake
--
adhyaropa manifests Himself to Himself as the Sarvam Brahman
in all things; He becomes the Lilamaya, the eternal Child frolicking in the Universe, the Playmate, Lover, Master, Teacher and
--
of divine being is one & infinite embracing all existences, Sarvabhutani, in one unifying self-consciousness, Atmani; therefore,
714
4.08 - The Liberation of the Spirit, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But the moment the individual soul leans away from the universal and transcendent truth of its being, leans towards ego, tries to make this will a thing of its own, a separate personal energy, that will changes its character: it becomes an effort, a straining, a heat of force which may have its fiery joys of effectuation and of possession, but has also its afflicting recoils and pain of labour. It is this that turns in each instrument into an intellectual, emotional, dynamic, sensational or vital will of desire, wish, craving. Even when the instruments per se are purified of their own apparent initiative and particular kind of desire, this imperfect Tapas may still remain, and so long as it conceals the source or deforms the type of the inner action, the soul has not the bliss of liberty, or can only have it by refraining from all action; even, if allowed to persist, it will rekindle the pranic or other desires or at least throw a reminiscent shadow of them on the being. This spiritual seed or beginning of desire too must be expelled, renounced, cast away: the Sadhaka must either choose an active peace and complete inner silence or lose individual initiation, sankalparambha, in a unity with the universal will, the Tapas of the divine shakti. The passive way is to be inwardly immobile, without effort, wish, expectation or any turn to action, niscesta, aniha, nirapeksa, nivrtta; the active way is to be thus immobile and impersonal in the mind, but to allow the supreme Will in its spiritual purity to act through the purified instruments. Then, if the soul abides on the level of the spiritualised mentality, it becomes an instrument only, but is itself without initiative or action, niskriya, Sarvarambha-parvatyagi. But if it rises to the gnosis, it is at once an instrument and a participant in the bliss of the divine action and the bliss of the divine Ananda; it unifies in itself the prakrti and the purusa.
The ego turn, the separative turn of the being, is the fulcrum of the whole embarrassed labour of the ignorance and the bondage. So long as one is not free from the ego sense, there can be no real freedom. The seat of the ego is said to be in the Buddhi; it is an ignorance of the discriminating mind and reason which discriminate wrongly and take the individuation of mind, life and body for a truth of separative existence and are turned away from the greater reconciling truth of the oneness of all existence. At any rate, in man it is the ego idea which chiefly supports the falsehood of a separative existence; to get rid of this idea, to dwell on the opposite idea of unity, of the one self, the one spirit, the one being of nature is therefore an effective remedy; but it is not by itself absolutely effective. For the ego, though it supports itself by this ego idea, aham-buddhi, finds its most powerful means for a certain obstinacy or passion of persistence in the normal action of the sense-mind, the Prana and the body. To cast out of us the ego idea is not entirely possible or not entirely effective until these instruments have undergone purification; for, their action being persistently egoistic and separative, the Buddhi is carried away -- by them, -- as a boat by winds on the sea, says the Gita, -- the knowledge in the intelligence is being constantly obscured or lost temporarily and has to be restored again, a very labour of Sisyphus. But if the lower instruments have been purified of egoistic desire, wish, will, egoistic passion, egoistic emotion and the Buddhi itself of egoistic idea and preference, then the knowledge of the spiritual truth of oneness can find a firm foundation. Till then, the ego takes all sorts of subtle forms and we imagine ourselves to be free from it, when we are really acting as its instruments and all we have attained is a certain intellectual poise which is not the true spiritual liberation. Moreover, to throw away the active sense of ego is not enough; that may merely bring an inactive state of the mentality, a certain passive inert quietude of separate being may take the place of the kinetic egoism, which is also not the true liberation. The ego sense must be replaced by a oneness with the transcendental Divine and with universal being.
4.10 - The Elements of Perfection, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
All the gnostic evolution opens up into the divine principle of Ananda, which is the foundation of the fullness of spiritual being, consciousness and bliss of Sachchidananda or eternal Brahman. Possessed at first by reflection in the mental experience, it will be possessed afterwards with a greater fullness and directness in the massed and luminous consciousness, cidghana, which comes by the gnosis. The Siddha or perfected soul will live in union with the Purushottama in this Brahmic consciousness, he will be conscious in the Brahman that is the All, Sarvam brahma, in the Brahman infinite in being and infinite in quality, anantam jnanam brahma, in Brahman as self-existent consciousness and universal knowledge, jnanam brahma, in Brahman as the selfexistent bliss and its universal delight of being, anandam brahma. He will experience all the universe as the manifestation of the One, all quality and action as the play of his universal and infinite energy, all knowledge and conscious experience as the outflowing of that consciousness, and all in the terms of that one Ananda. His physical being will be one with all material Nature, his vital being with the life of the universe, his mind with the cosmic mind, his spiritual knowledge and will with the divine knowledge and will both in itself and as it pours itself through these channels, his spirit with the one spirit in all beings. All the variety of cosmic existence will be changed to him in that unity and revealed in the secret of its spiritual significance. For in this spiritual bliss and being he will be one with That which is the origin and continent and inhabitant and spirit and constituting power of all existence. This will be the highest reach of self-perfection.
author class:Sri Aurobindo
4.14 - The Power of the Instruments, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The last perfection is that of the intelligence and thinking mind, buddhi. The first need is the clarity and the purity of the intelligence. It must be freed from the claims of the vital being which seeks to impose the desire of the mind in place of the truth, from the claims of the troubled emotional being which strives to colour, distort, limit and falsify the truth with the hue and shape of the emotions. It must be free too from its own defect, inertia of the thought-power, obstructive narrowness and unwillingness to open to knowledge, intellectual unscrupulousness in thinking, prepossession and preference, self-will in the reason and false determination of the will to knowledge. Its sole will must be to make itself an unsullied mirror of the truth, its essence and its forms and measures and relations, a clear mirror, a just measure, a fine and subtle instrument of harmony, an integral intelligence. This clear and pure intelligence can then become a serene thing of light, a pure and strong radiance emanating from the sun of Truth. But, again, it must become not merely a thing of concentrated dry or white light, but capable of all variety of understanding, supple, rich, flexible, brilliant with all the flame and various with all the colours of the manifestation of the Truth, open to all its forms. And so equipped it will get rid of limitations, not be shut up in this or that faculty or form or working of knowledge, but an instrument ready and capable for whatever work is demanded from it by the Purusha. Purity, clear radiance, rich and flexible variety, integral capacity are the fourfold perfection of the thinking intelligence, visuddhi, prakasa, vlcitra-bodha, Sarvajnana-samarthya.
The normal instruments thus perfected will act each in its own kind without undue interference from each other and serve the unobstructed will of the Purusha in a harmonised totality of our natural being. This perfection must rise constantly in its capacity for action, the energy and force of its working and a certain greatness of the scope of the total nature. They will then be ready for the transformation into their own supramental action in which they will find a more absolute, unified and luminous spiritual truth of the whole perfected nature. The means of this perfection of the instruments we shall have to consider later on; but at present it will be enough to say that the principal conditions are will, self-watching and self-knowledge and a constant practice, abhyasa, of self-modification and transformation. The Purusha has that capacity; for the spirit within can always change and perfect the working of its nature. But the mental being must open the way by a clear and a watchful introspection, an opening of itself to a searching and subtle self-knowledge which will give it the understanding and to all increasing extent the mastery of its natural instruments, a vigilant and insistent will of self-modification and self-transformation-for to that will the prakriti must with whatever difficulty and whatever initial or prolonged resistance eventually respond, -- and an unfailing practice which will constantly reject all defect and perversion and replace it by right state and a right and enhanced working. Askesis, Tapasya, patience and faithfulness and rectitude of knowledge and will are the things required until a greater Power than our mental selves directly intervenes to effect a more easy and rapid transformation.
4.20 - The Intuitive Mind, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A second movement is one which comes naturally to those who commence the Yoga with the initiative that is proper to the way of Bhakti. It is natural to them to reject the intellect and its action and to listen for the voice, wait for the impulsion or the command, the adesa, obey only the idea and will and power of the Lord within them, the divine Self and Purusha in the heart of'lle creature, isvarah Sarvabhutanam hrddese. This is a movement which must tend more and more to intuitivise the whole nature, for the ideas, the will, the impulsions, the feelings which come from the secret Purusha in the heart are of the direct intuitive character. This method is consonant with a certain truth of our nature. The secret Self within us is an intuitive self and this intuitive self is seated in every centre of our being, the physical, the nervous, the emotional, the volitional, the conceptual or cognitive and the higher more directly spiritual centres. And in each part of our being it exercises a secret intuitive initiation of our activities which is received and represented imperfectly by our outer mind and converted into the movements of the ignorance in the external action of these parts of our nature. The heart or emotional centre of the thinking desire-mind is the strongest in the ordinary man, gathers up or at least affects the presentation of things to the consciousness and is the capital of the system. It is from there that the Lord seated in the heart of all creatures turns them mounted on the machine of Nature by the Maya of the mental ignorance. It is possible then by referring back all the initiation of our action to this secret intuitive Self and Spirit, the ever-present Godhead within us, and replacing by its influences the initiations of our personal and mental nature to get back from the inferior external thought and action to another, internal and intuitive, of a highly spiritualised character. Nevertheless the result of this movement cannot be complete, because the heart is not the highest centre of our being, is not supramental nor directly moved from the supramental sources. An intuitive thought and action directed from it may be very luminous and intense but is likely to be limited, even narrow in its intensity, mixed with a lower emotional action and at the best excited and troubled, rendered unbalanced or exaggerated by a miraculous or abnormal character in its action or at least in many of its accompaniments which is injurious to the harmonised perfection of the being. The aim of our effort at perfection must be to make the spiritual and supramental action no longer a miracle, even if a frequent or constant miracle, or only a luminous intervention of a greater than our natural power, but normal to the being and the very nature and law of all its process. The highest organised centre of our embodied being and of its action in the body is the supreme mental centre figured by the yogic symbol of the thousand-petalled lotus, sahasradala, and it is at its top and summit that there is the direct communication with the supramental levels. It is then possible to adopt a different and a more direct method, not to refer all our thought and action to the Lord secret in the heart-lotus but to the veiled truth of the Divinity above the mind and to receive all by a sort of descent from above, a descent of which we become not only spiritually but physically conscious. The siddhi or full accomplishment of this movement can only come when we are able to lift the centre of thought and conscious action above the physical brain and feel it going on in the subtle body. If we can feel ourselves thinking no longer with the brain but from above and outside the head in the subtle body, that is a sure physical sign of a release from the limitations of the physical mind, and though this will not be complete at once nor of itself bring the supramental action, for the subtle body is mental and not supramental, still it is a subtle and pure mentality and makes an easier communication with the supramental centres. The lower movements must still come, but it is then found easier to arrive at a swift and subtle discrimination telling us at once the difference, distinguishing the intuitional thought from the lower intellectual mixture, separating it from its mental coatings, rejecting the mere rapidities of the mind which imitate the form of the intuition without being of its true substance. It will be easier to discern rapidly the higher planes of the true supramental being and call down their power to effect the desired transformation and to refer all the lower action to the superior power and light that it may reject and eliminate, purify and transform and select among them its right material for the Truth that has to be organised within us. This opening up of a higher level and of higher and higher planes of it and the consequent re-formation of our whole consciousness and its action into their mould and into the substance of their power and luminous capacity is found in practice to be the greater part of the natural method used by the divine shakti.
A fourth method is one which suggests itself naturally to the developed intelligence and suits the thinking man. This is to not to cherish its limitations, but to heighten its capacity, light, intensity, degree and force of activity until it borders on the thing that transcends it and can easily be taken up and transformed into that higher conscious action. This movement also is founded on the truth of our nature and enters into the course and movement of the complete Yoga of self-perfection. That course, as I have described it, included a heightening and greatening of the action of our natural instruments and powers till they constitute in their purity and essential completeness a preparatory perfection of the present normal movement of the shakti that acts in us. The reason and intelligent will, the Buddhi, is the greatest of these powers and instruments, the natural leader of the rest in the developed human being, the most capable of aiding the development of the others. The ordinary activities of our nature are all of them of use for the greater perfection we seek, are meant to be turned into material for them, and the greater their development, the richer the preparation for the supramental action.
5.4.01 - Notes on Root-Sounds, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Valenter: strongly, powerfully. For valent-ter; the stem of valens with the suffix ter answering to the O.S. termination tas in itas, tatas, Sarvatas, etc, originally tar, meaning way or side. Cf Mahratti tar, tarhi (Sanscrit), Bengali ta or to.
Valentulus: strong. Latin analogical formation. Valent, stem of valens, and O.S. diminutive suffix ulas.
9.99 - Glossary, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Sarvabhauma: A great scholar and contemporary of Sri Chaitanya.
sastra: Scripture; sacred book; code of laws.
BOOK II. -- PART II. THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
performed the great Sarva-Medha ceremony, and ended by sacrificing himself. (See Rig-Vedic
Hymns.)
BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
that one "supreme" Parama, called Guhya or " secret," and Sarvatma, the "Super-Soul." "The seven
Lords of Being lie concealed in Sarvatma like thoughts in one brain." So are the Sephiroth. It is either
seven when counting from the upper Triad headed by Kether, or ten -- exoterically. In the
BOOK I. -- PART III. SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
Sannaddha, Sarvavasu and Swaraj -- are all mystical, and each has its distinct application in a distinct
state of consciousness, for occult purposes. The Sushumna, which, as said in the Nirukta (11, 6), is
r1912 01 18, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Defect of anima strongly felt on rising. Walking & standing from 7.20 to 9.30; the stiffness more insistent today. The utthapana has not recovered its force. Chhayarupas have still the tendency to vagueness & a blurred or imperfect form, but some are very distinct; these have a tendency to short stability or no stability at all. Momentary asaundaryam of guna, followed by a recovery and increased intensity of shuddha ananda in Sarvasaundarya above guna; but this harmony is still imperfect.
The rest of the day has passed in the final purification of the system from all trace of rajas or sensibility of the system to rajasic impressions from outside. The sattwic remnants are also being removed, but the process is not yet complete. A relaxation of the elementary utthapana occupied the system. The roga that came, is being slowly eliminated. Its chief characteristic is a dull form of watery nausea, slight in substance but with some tamasic power of oppression. The prithivi, tejas & jala are very weak. Hunger persists. Samadhi in the afternoon greatly improved, but not free of the tamas. Sleep 1.0 to 7. Signs of the raising of the objective siege.
r1912 01 23, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Morning occupied by strong attack of duhkha; the rest of the day by reconstitution of the siddhi. The vak of thought rose to the level of the inspired illuminative. Tejas & tapas low. Over nine hours exercise of elementary utthapana, but not continuous. Money from the expected quarter arrived after all on the 22d, but not the sum expected. There was, however, no prediction about the amount. Rati of bhoga and Sarvasaundaryam established, chidghana and suddha strong, prema weak, ahaituka troubled, with a tendency to ratna of bhoga. Sahaituka sharirananda (vishaya and tivra) is establishing and generalising itself, raudra still subject to the limitation of intensity, vaidyuta & kama occasional and fitful. Attack on the health at the weak points still continues. Sleep 12.25 to 6.40 am. Sahitya was today resumed.
***
r1912 01 27, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The chief struggle is over the third & fourth chatusthayas where the annamaya obstruction has concentrated the best of its strength. Ananda has risen from the ratha of rasagrahana to the ratna of bhoga with a frequent emergence of rtha, which is especially strong in the sahaituka vishayabhoga & tivra & is spreading to the kama etc. Ananda, even ratha of the kamananda, is beginning definitely to emerge. The other bhogas (chidghana, prema, ahaituka, shuddha) are involved in the sharira and emerge out of it. It is here that the contradictions of ananda are occasionally strong. Ratha of the bhoga of events, conditions etc is prevailing. The contradictions are being overborne; pain & discomfort of heat & cold, contact etc are being dominated. The other field of struggle is the arogya; the sore throat was ejected after a struggle by siddhi. The rogas still capable of touching the surface of the system attack frequently, but cannot hold except for short intervals, coming, retiring, succeeding, failing without cause. The disturbances of assimilation are yielding perceptibly to the Arogya; when they come, they cannot hold or make only a brief & seldom violent visit. Three full days of avisrishti were attended with perfect ease and the remaining one and a half with only a vague tendency to disturbance. Two nominal visrishtis occurred on the fifth & sixth days, but with only parthiva pressure, no tejasic, vayavic or jalamaya. Only at the end of the sixth day (this morning) somewhat acute tejahkshobha produced a copious visrishti of the old type. The system, however, dismissed the kshobha in about fifteen minutes and it went leaving behind no acute results. The central arogya still advances slowly. Sarvasaundaryam is not yet continuously permanent.
Jnanam increases in force & exactness. The style of the vak rises to the inspired illuminative and is effective at its lowest level. The thought perception is now almost rid of false vijnanam in its material, but not in the arrangement of its material. Nevertheless accuracy of time is growing, accuracy of place has begun, accuracy of circumstance, chiefly, is defectiveall this in the trikaldrishti. Prakamya & vyapti are strong and more continuous, less chequered by error. The internal motions of animals & to a less extent of men, the forces working on them, the ananda & tapas from above, even the explicit thoughts are being more and more observed and are usually justified by the attendant or subsequent action. The siddhis of power work well & perfectly, in harmony with the trikaldrishti, not so well when divorced from it. The physical tone of the system is recovering its elasticity & with it elementary utthapana and bhautasiddhi are reviving. Samadhi improves steadily, but is much hampered by sleep which has revived its force during these last three or four days.
r1912 07 01, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This consummation is also attended by a ripening realisation of the Divine Master. Formerly I realised the Impersonal God, Brahma or Sacchidan[an]dam separately from the Personal, Ishwara or Sacchidananda. Brahma has been thoroughly realised in its absolute infinity & as the material & informing presence of the world & each thing it contains, yat kincha jagatyam jagat. But the sense of the One has not been applicable utterly & constantly,there have been lacunae in the unitarian consciousness, partly because the Personality has not been realised with equal thoroughness or as one with the Impersonality. Hence while dwelling on the Paratman, the mind, whenever the Jivatman manifested itself in the Sarvam Brahma, has been unable to assimilate it to the predominant realisation and an element of Dwaitabhava,of Visishtadwaita has entered into its perception. Even when the assimilation is partly effected, the Jiva is felt as an individual & local manifestation of the impersonal Chaitanya and not as the individual manifestation of Chaitanya as universal Personality. On the other hand the universal Sri Krishna or Krishna-Kali in all things animate or inanimate has been realised entirely, but not with sufficient constancy & latterly with little frequency. The remedy is to unify the two realisations & towards this consummation I feel the Shakti to be now moving.
The action of this triple dasyam is now characterised by a harmony of shama & tapas. This harmony has been hitherto impossible owing to the excess of mental tejas which sought perpetually to energise the action & bring about a more rapid or a more perfect fruit, thus impairing the shama which consists in anarambha, shanti & the perfect realisation by the Jnata-Purusha of his own passivity. The state of action vacillated from tamasic vairagya or udasinata to rajasic heat & fervour of action. All this was an importation from outside, from the annamaya devatas, but a constant importation. With the greater perfection of the dasyam this pendulary vacillation between inertia & disturbance is sinking to rest and the hour of intense (chanda) activity in the Prakriti with perfect anarambha in the Purusha is drawing nearer. The third power of action, Prakasha, which is as a light on the path to the tapas, showing it its own works, is more & more active, but not perfect, although rounding towards perfection.
r1912 07 14, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Realisation of God in all attended by shuddhananda (in the state of bhoga like all the mental anandas) both nirvisesha and savishesha. These anandas (mental bhoga of all kinds & the physical bhogas) seem to be finally established & incapable of overthrow or effective breach by the nirananda. They have an air of being pratisthita. Only the nirvisesha sharirika anandas are intermittent and obstructed. The nirvisesha shuddha & premabhoga are, however, still dependent on the perfect realisation of Sarvavastushu Ishwara.
There is strong tendency to deposit of prithivi & visrishti, & if the apana is dominated by the prana, it is as one who still successfully struggles with his assailant. The same is true of all the physical siddhis that have at all advanced, they are attacking, sometimes prevailing, sometimes in possession, but not yet masters except in the suddhi, bhukti & mukti (the latter most imperfect of the three).
r1912 12 08, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The whole morning was given up to a growth of the first two chatusthayas. The premananda established yesterday with regard to persons & objects, was extended to events even the most adverse and thus establishes completely the positive samata, rasagrahanam, bhoga, ananda. Individual contradictions do not disturb the established force of samata. It is noticeable also that tamasic tyaga fails to establish itself and the pravritti persists in spite of continuous non-result or adverse result. The formula of tejo balam mahattvam pravrittih is fulfilled. At first the tejas was merely in the dhairya with occasional pravritti; then it extended itself to kshiprata & ugrata and established itself, today, in pravritti. Moreover, the second general formula of the shakti chatusthaya,adinata kshiprata sthairyam ishwarabhava is establishing itself and along with it the Chandibhava. But the continued successful resistance to the continuous action & progress of the powers prevents the ishwarabhava & kshiprata from perfecting themselves; for these depend on Sarvakarmasamarthya & sraddha swashaktyam. A working sraddha for the future is established, though the old questioning still lingers; but it is not a present & dominating faith in the immediate power or the early fulfilment.
The action of the powers was reduced to their lowest limit all the morning; both continuity & generality were denied, only the crudest forms or isolated successes allowed & old imperfections attended the majority of the manifestations. The trikaldrishti has now, (3.45 pm), reestablished its activity, but the power still waits. Fatigue was thrown off in the morning, & 3 hours continuously then, 2 hours now were done, but some shadow of the fatigue hangs over the karmadeha & seizes sometimes on the nervous system & then on the muscular instrument. It was perceived, in the morning, that all the contradictions of the physical siddhi, except the saundaryam, belong now to the karmadeha or, more often, to the personal environment, not to the body itself. From there they are reimposed on the body.
r1913 01 16, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Dasya of the fourth degree is now dominant; whenever the attention of the Chit follows the action, it is aware of the turiya dasyabuddhi, whether in motion, speech, emotion or thought, except for a slight intermixture of merely Prakritic impulse in the thinking powers. This is true even of such involuntary motions as the closing or blinking of the eyelids, nimishannapi or the direction of the gaze. The sixth or Brahma chatusthaya is similarly established; the general (samena samavasthita) Sarvam anantam jnanam anandam Brahma is seen everywhere, when the attention is awake. The nitya anusmaran is not established as yet, nor can it be established unless there is the capacity of multiple sanyama, ie naturally and normally dividing the tapas of the Chit between several things at a time. Kamananda tends to return dully or intensely with the smarana, but has not yesterdays continuity, force and spontaneity. This afternoon it will recover its hold.
Afternoon
r1913 06 16a, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Vani, script & vangmaya have all been, apparently, delivered from the siege of their intrusive manomaya shadows. Only perception of actuality is still pursued by false suggestion of actuality. There is a strong & hitherto effective struggle to prevent Jnanam & Anandam Brahman from becoming the normal state of the consciousness. Henceforth this must be the object of the subjective siddhi. The Sarvam Brahman is already well-founded but must gain in power, depth, intensity & variety.
***
r1913 09 07, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The morning began with a chequered movement. Afterwards, there came the lipi First God & liberty, then telepathy. The mind turned towards the perception of the Jnanam Anandam Brahma which has been increasing in force & persistence & perceived very powerfully the delight of Brahman in Avidya, limitation & suffering & the last knot of attachment to liberation was removed from the buddhi & the temperament. This liberation from mumukshutwa is the final step in mukti. It exists now in the buddhi & the soul, it has to be stamped firmly on the rest of the antahkaran. Afterwards, a very minute & brihat telepathy commenced the realisation in practical mentality of the Sarvam Anantam Jnanam Brahma. All the perceptions do not yet come at the right time, some revealing themselves after the thing perceived has passed out of the mind of the object. Nevertheless the movements of men & animals are now perfectly understood, their hesitations & rejected or modified ideas & impulses as well as those which eventuate in action. It is evident, now, out of what a complex mental tangle the single clear & decisive act proceeds. In the animals it is sometimes an obscure & sudden suggestion which contradicts all the previous thinking & tendency & often half consciously forces the action. But often also in them an impulse abandoned and forgotten by the mind remains in & dominates the subconscious pranic energy and dominates a subsequent action. The same is true but in a less degree of man. In the insects the mind counts for much less than this pranic energy. Subsequently the basis of the telepathic trikaldrishti was shown to reside in the perception of the movements of this pranic energy, Matariswan, which governs action, apo Matariswa dadhati. An ant was climbing up the wall in an upward stream of ants; there was no sign of its reversing its progress; but the trikaldrishti saw that the ant would turn & go down, not upwards. At first it made a movement of uncertainty, then proceeded upward, then suddenly left the stream and went steadily & swiftly downwards. Afterwards the source of the trikaldrishti was seen, a coming movement of pranic energy, prepared in the sat-Brahman, latent both to the waking consciousness of the ant & my own, but caught by the vijnanamaya drishti. In another instance the same movement of energy was perceived in another ant and followed by an indicative movement, but it was also perceived that this was not the eventual impulse, & as a matter of fact a strong contrary tension intervened & carried the insect upward. In all these cases, the perception of the impulse by prakamya vyapti is not enough; the vijnana distinguishing the nature & fate of the tapas is required to constitute trikaldrishti. All error now consists in the absence of this distinguishing perception or in the false mental stress which tends to replace its unerring accuracy.
***
r1913 11 12, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Sarvasaundaryabodha with the shuddhananda, chidghannanda, ahaituka and prema anandas has been reestablished on a firmer basis. Only a few old sanskaras combat it and bring the mind down to the level of the old dualities. There will be a farther advance today, but the final immunity of the subjective bhukti from disturbance or adverse touch is still delayed
***
r1913 11 24, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Sarvasaundaryabodha struggles to reestablish itself, but is only partially successful. On the other hand there is complete rasagrahana &, except with regard to human faces, rasapriti & rasabhoga of physical vishayas. Sravana has been a little lowered in the surety & completeness of its bhoga, but not substantially.
The Shakti is now streng thening the yuddhananda and parajayananda in the system, as it was through the insufficiency of this ananda that the collapse of these two days was effected. The Mahakali tapas is once more repossessing the system.
r1913 11 25, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Brahmadrishti is now well-regulated, but still depends on smarana, the Sarva, Ananta & Ananda are more prominent than the Jnana Brahman.
MS siddhi
r1913 12 28, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The telepathy is now beginning to work again in harmony with the pure vijnana, and, more important, the tapas of effectuality is beginning to distinguish itself from the tapas of knowledge, while at the same time looking forward to a higher fulfilment in which the two again become one. Forces are now perceived at work long before they are fulfilled and the old tendency to insist on their immediate or rapid fulfilment and in default of that satisfaction to dismiss the perception of them as error or the forces themselves as futile, is passing away. It is now seen that all forces are effectual and must produce their result; until that result is seen & determined, they must not be dismissed from consideration, nor from use. The Will therefore is now working with this knowledge of the forces as its medium, making use of those that are favourable to its intention, discouraging those that are adverse. In this working it is generally successful, sooner or later, except when the object passes out of the field of operation & the idea or hope of bringing it back or distinguishing it if it returns is abandoned. The ritam or right working of the power is not yet advanced beyond its former stage of initial & inchoate development. It is also now seen by the duller parts of manas that a force which seems to be prevailing & its victory inevitable & intended, need not prevail at all; some other force may intervene or the will of God may strike the object and drive it towards other ends; the movement of the once dominant force then takes its place in the history of the total motion & final event as one of the forces of variation that modified or advanced the course of their fulfilment. The way is therefore clear for the entire perception of Ananta Brahman (guna, constituent forces and determining force or will), for its union in the Sarvam Brahma with the Jnanam Brahma and for its perfection in the Sarvam samam anandam Brahma.
Vishayananda (ahaituka) now manifests sufficient intensity & continuity when it enters the physical system in company with the other physical anandas. When it comes by itself, involving in itself the others, it tends, if the intensity is too sthula or prolongs itself, to pass into the others, especially raudra and tivra. For the rest, this conjunction of all the anandas is intended as the normal state of ecstasy, except in its more particular movements of vishesha-radhas. Vishaya is in its nature a saumya ananda, the rest in their nature chanda anandas; hence states of chandata tend naturally to pass out of vishaya into its fiercer fellows. It is noticeable also that the other anandas obstructed or denied tend more & more, instead of at once extinguishing themselves in avyaktam, to pass into the raudra. This circumstance throws a considerable light on the true nature of pain.
r1913 12 31, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The principal work of the [year] 1913 has been the reduction of asiddhi to a survival in the external environmental swabhava, the purification of that swabhava from the contradictions of the first & second chatusthayas, the sure foundation of the siddhi in the third, fourth & sixth & its preparation in the fifth. The finality of the first chatusthaya is perfect in itself, though not yet entirely absolute, touches still surviving as an occasional insistence from the outer nature. Fierce trouble & distress is obsolete, distress itself & even impatience only an occasional & momentary memorial return, but temporary discouragement & distrust with a tendency to indifference & weariness are still able to make a superficial impression. This insecurity of the sraddha & tejas & their incomplete hold in regard to the karmasiddhi & the necessary rapidity of Yogasiddhi prevents a complete & forcible finality of the shakti, retains the excess of the Mahasaraswati-Maheswari combination in the Mahakali Mahasaraswati temperament and hampers the expression & activity of the Mahakali tapas. The third chatusthaya is founded in all its parts, but insecure in the jnana, unfinished in the trikaldrishti, wide & secure but still uncertain & variable in vyaptiprakamya, both imperfect & uncertain in the parts of Tapas and ill-developed in samadhi; nevertheless it is now powerfully & inevitably progressive. The fourth chatusthaya is somewhat advanced but insecure in physical ananda, growing persistently in arogya but obstinately haunted by the old mechanical recurrence of fragmentary defects, growing in secondary utthapana, merely initial & without force of progression in saundarya. The fifth is still in a state of preparation, seed-sowing & crude initial consistencies. The sixth is well advanced, but unable to hold its own without smarana except in the Sarvam Brahma. The seventh is well advanced except in certain parts of the siddhi, especially in ritam.
***
r1914 03 24, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Saguna Brahmadrishti has now practically taken the place of the Nirguna which is now perceived only as a foundation for the action of the Saguna. It is seen that the Sarvam Brahma is prominent when the Tapas of mental Chaitanya is fixed on Matter, all else being felt as undifferentiated consciousness & Matter alone as real to the mind, unreal to the drishti; Sarvam Anantam is felt when the Tapas is fixed on Matter & Life, all else being felt to be a sea of consciousness out of which Life & Matter proceed; Sarvam Anantam Jnanam when the Tapas is fixed on Life, Matter & Mind with Vijnanam felt behind vaguely as the source of Mind; but when the Jnanam increases & is sun-illumined, then the Anandam also appears & the Saguna Brahman becomes the Lilamaya Para Purusha. The Anantam has also two bhavas one in which the Infinite Force acts as if it were a mechanical entity, knowledge standing back from it, the other in which Life Force & Knowledge act together & the Infinite Force is an intelligent or at least a conscious force.
Hitherto the position of the Tapas has been that when strongly exerted, it has come to produce an effect against resistance, sometimes the full effect, sometimes a partial effect, sometimes a modified or temporary effect, sometimes a postponed effect, sometimes merely a struggle physical or mental towards the desired effect. In things physical & in things of the karma, the smaller effects are more common, full effect rare. When simply exerted, the force has often failed entirely, sometimes succeeded fully & at once, sometimes partly or with resistance, sometimes for a time only wholly or partially; sometimes only by producing a tendency or mental movement. Now the simply exerted will is becoming more effective, often perfectly effective, with no resistance or brief resistance or ineffective resistance. A month has been given in the trikaldrishti for the progress of this movement.
r1914 03 26, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This is a very remarkable instance of the sortilege; for there is no connection between the Kathakopanishad & the Story of Trusts, yet a sortilege immediately taken from the latter after the interpretation of one from the former completes it & supplies precisely the thought needed for rounding off its unfinished suggestion. All the words are the exact words needed All mere representatives agents Standard[]. It is so, that all things in the world are now to be regarded in relation to the standard Being, the Sarva Ananta Jnana Ananda Krishna. Note that before taking the second sortilege, the book was pointed out & the indication given that the second sortilege would supply something still needed. All this shows an intelligent, omniscient & all-combining Mind at work which uses everything in the world as its instrument & is superior to the system of relations & connections already fixed in this world. It can use the most incoherent things harmoniously for one purpose. Nor is this an isolated instance & therefore classable as a mere coincidence,instances & proofs are now crowding on the mind.
Lipi is now again developing kaushalya; instances of tejomaya, jyotirmaya, varnamaya have suddenly come & are or tend to be, unlike the former rare instances, at once clear & stable.
r1914 04 08, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Anandamaya Lilamaya Saguna is now being established in the conscious observation of persons & objects, although the Anandamaya Saguna is the usual bodha & there is a tendency of relapse to the mere Jnanamaya Saguna, but this is comparatively rare. Anandamaya Saguna tends to be the assured level (sanu) of the Brahmadarshana from which there is a steady tendency to rise to the Lilamaya. Formerly the sense of the Lilamaya Krishna or Narayana used to blot out the Jiva and, also, it used to be isolated without the background & continent of the Sarva Brahman or the pervasive content of the Sarva Ananta Jnana Brahman,it was divine Anandamaya personality concentrated in a single individual being. All the suspensions, relapses & retardations of the Brahmadarshana during the last few years have had for their object the removal of these & other defects and the development & harmonious unification of its various aspects, Saguna & Nirguna, Purusha-Prakriti, Ishwara-Shakti, Prajna-Hiranya-Virat, Sarva with Ananta, Sarva-Ananta with Jnana, Sarva-Ananta-Jnana with Ananda etc. The unification seems now to be approaching completion.
The interpretation of the lipi is also now acquiring a firmer sureness and quickness & with this movement there keeps pace a growing authority of the lipi. All intimations of knowledge are now accepted not only in theory & faith but in practice & perception as satya, & both the tendency of the mind & its capacity for discovering the true source & nature of all suggestions is increasing. Only the primary error of estimation & its subsequent uncertainties have to be got rid of, in order firmly to base the ritam.
r1914 04 11, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The 3d lipi of the group has been interpreted in Script as a .. direction to apply the fourfold Brahma-darshana to the things of life through the Sarvam Jnanam Brahma,& the systematic application has actually begun in the form of the brihat satya telepathy & trikaldrishti which was given in type this morning. But in this type the ritam is still hesitating & uncertain. Tapas which has been almost ineffective throughout yesterday & today, is once more active. It is the aim of the new personality to get rid of the gradual process, generalise the concentrated or even the involved & so ensure a triumphant rapidity; also to get rid of all the old ascetic conditions of Siddhi and Ananda.
Even violent & prolonged pain as well as violent & prolonged discomfort are now capable of Ananda; but this siddhi has yet to be generalised. If generalised it will be the first effectuality of the physical mukti. The other liberations are from the three tamasic doshas,weariness, sleep and physical depression; from the two rajasic, hunger & thirst, from the three cosmic, disease, death & physical limitation (eg gravitation etc). Of these only thirst is well advanced towards preparation of liberty, the others nearest being disease & physical depression which persist only from tamasic dhriti. Hunger has a less sure hold than in the average body. The rest are yet in full or almost full possession, except for the imperfect primary & secondary utthapana.
r1914 04 19, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Today the sense of the Ishwara is making itself felt in movements which were formerly dismissed as unwilled by Him or opposite to the siddhi, eg vanis of the physical mental world etc. The siddhi is seen in movements of asiddhi. For some time the sense of the parabhava of Srikrishna has been withdrawn & the darshana tends to form in the Narabhava, the human personality, in the lowest stage of Avidya; this was in order that [ ]1 the Srikrishnadarshana might be established even in the lowest world of consciousness unenlightened or supported by the sense of the vidvan Deva above & around it. So also for some days the sense of the universal beauty in things has been withdrawn so that Srikrishna may be seen in all without the vision being dependent on the idea or vision of the Sarvasundara in all. So also He is being seen in the human Pishacha & for that purpose the realisation of the Immortal Being, the Ananda & the Love were separated & the buddha Bhava of the Pisacha in his coldest atrocities alone manifested. All these objects are being fulfilled today. The Truth in falsehood & error is becoming more & more visible.
Lipi.
r1914 04 25, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
3) ie Swaratcosmic Sarvananda(soma) given
Lipi.
r1914 05 03, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Unable to bring back the Brahmadarshana to the mere Saguna or Sarva Brahma, the Asiddhi now presses on the NaraNarayana as a lower substitute for the Lilamaya Krishna. Meanwhile the perception of the Ananta Brahma is growing in intensity & fullness, but the contents of the Jnana Brahma are somewhat veiled. This defect aids the evolution of the Pranic steeds into luminous herds of enlightened conscious powers, but that evolution can only be complete when the contents of the Jnana Brahma become also full & intense to the consciousness.
Lipis
r1914 06 18, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Brahmadarshana varies between the Krishna & Narayan Bhava & the impersonal Brahman in which Sarva predominates & Ananta & Jnana are insufficient. It is only the Krishnadarshan that brings the Ananda.
***
r1914 06 24, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
4) fifteenthie Anantam Brahma now inseparable from Sarvam.
5) intensity of the delighta greater subjective intensity is already normal.
r1914 06 26, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Jnanam Brahma is now adding itself to Sarva & Ananta as a constant manifestation in the consciousness. Ananda is behind.
Sat Brahman is always the base, but Ananta manifests normally in the Sat, Jnana now manifests less actively, but still normally in the Ananta. The Asat Brahma is behind & varies between Anandamay Asat in its purity, which is always anandamay, & the Negation of things in the mind & prana which is udasina or niranandamaya. The Asat in the body is Death.
r1914 07 20, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The lowest power now possible is the Jnanam Brahma; but the normal vision is the second intensity of the Krishnadarshan. Jnanam with Ananda involved, Ananda without Krishna & the first intensity of the Krishnadarshana sometimes manifest, but are not static. The siddhi has rushed rapidly from the long-standing Sarvam & Sarvam Anantam through the Jnanam & leaped almost at once to the second intensity making the Ananda & the first intensity stepping stones lightly touched on only for a moment in the leaping. This is the concentrated method, with only a touch of the gradual left in it. The second intensity will now become the lowest power possible & the third intensity normal.
***
r1914 11 10, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Darshana is now beginning finally to normalise the perception of the Parapurusha in the Anandam Jnanam Anantam Sarvam.
It begins with the perception of the Manomaya Purusha in the individual as identically the Parapurusha even in its apparent separateness & half-negative representation of Sachchidananda.
r1914 11 20, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Shauryam, ugrata, yuddhalipsattahasyam, daya cheshwarabhavah Sarvakarmasamarthyam.
These are now developing, but the [ ]1 Ishwarabhava is insufficiently established owing to defect of effectivity of Tapah-shakti & therefore of Karmasamarthya in manifestation.
r1914 12 10, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Jnanam Brahma is now as strong as the Sarvam was previously & all beings are seen as personalities of that Brahman.
Anandam & Anantam are held a little back in order that there may be a full sense of weakness (defect) and depression, grief etc as movements of Anantam & Anandamself-constraining movements. This cannot be felt when there is too strong a sense of the Purna & Vaisva, for then the minor & constrained movement is overpowered by the major & free movement.
r1914 12 19, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Anandam Jnanam Anantam Sarvam Brahma is now perfectly established everywhere. The object is no longer seen as other than That. The Anandam also carries with it the Nirguna Guni, the Impersonal Personality. But the sense of the Ishwara is still capable of drawing back into the super-conscious and being felt in the Brahman as its result rather than in itself. Definitely, it is now known & seen that the Ishwara is that from which the Brahman is born. Existence is the form of the Existent, Brahman is the mould of Parabrahman, & Parabrahman is Para Purusha. Purusha is the last word of the knowledge.
***
r1915 01 14, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Darshana has gone back sometimes for a moment to the perception of the mere man in the Sarvam Brahman; but its normal pitch is now the Anandam J. A S [Jnanam Anantam Sarvam] Brahman as represented by the individual limited mental consciousness.
The Darshana of KrishnaKali is no longer normal.
r1915 05 01, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The generality of Sarvam Brahma, replaced by Sarvam Anantam, is now replaced by Sarvam Anantam Jnanam with the Anandam subdued but present in all the three. It is now in course of being replaced by the Krishna-darshana in the Jnanam Anandam; the Narayana-Vishnu Bhava persists, but as a past habit. The intensity of the Krishna-Narayana is now taking its place.
Karma.
r1915 05 30, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Krishna-darshana is reestablished in its first intensity; the difficulty of the unbeautiful face concealing the Sarva-sundara is conquered in fact, though it attempts to return & does recur as a reminiscent experience. The second intensity is now more frequent and more secure as founded on a firmer foundation of the first intensity.
PreliminaryKrishna sensed behind the disguise
r1915 06 16, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
An enormous progress in Krishnadarshana, which has fixed itself rapidly, first in the mere darshana, then in the first intensity, then in the third where it varies between the first & third in the third. The first in the third is Sarvamaya, the second is Anantagunamaya and the third is Anandamaya Krishna.
A great intensity of 3 Kd [Krishnadarshana] in things, sounds etc.
r1915 08 02, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Formerly the Brahmadarshan was of the impersonal Sarvam Anantam Jnanam Anandam, centred either in the Sarvam or Anantam or Jnanam or at the highest in the Anandam. Now this is a past state that recurs; it is the Personal in & embracing the Impersonal that is now the more normal, but this is most often in the Jnanam. From yesterday it begins to be more fixedly, more recurrently, for a longer time in the Anandam.
***
r1917 02 16, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Anandamaya darshana has been steadily increasing and generalising itself, but more often contains vijnana of mentality than the vijnana-ananda proper. This however is also increasing in force and frequency and is general enough, though not yet universal in objects. It is still in human figures that the vision of the vijnanamaya Sarva-saundarya finds still a difficulty in manifesting or, if manifested, in ascending into the shuddha ananda without losing itself.
***
r1917 03 08, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The sixth chatusthaya of Sarvam Anantam Jnanam Anandam Brahma is now complete in itself. Its completeness of contents depends on the perfection of the third, fourth and fifth chatusthayas. Subjective bhukti may be now considered complete as well as subjective mukti. Subjective shuddhi is only defective in as much as the intellectual mentality still resists complete elimination by transformation into the ideality; but the separation & distinction of the two in knowledge is now complete. The full transformation is rather siddhi than shuddhi. Therefore only siddhi remains of the four elements of the seventh chatusthaya.
Physical shuddhi, mukti, bhukti though far advanced is not yet absolute, nor can be except by initial siddhi of the fourth chatusthaya.
r1917 03 13, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The suddha chidghana is now the normal basis of the ananda-darshana for objects, the attempt at reversion to mental shuddha still surviving, but feebly. The same holds good for animal forms, but with more strength in the reversion. It is only in the human figure (chiefly the face) that the reversion is still strong; but here too the Sarvasaundarya of shuddha chidghana is gaining rapidly in strength and becoming normal. The strength of reversion here is due to the fact that there is a standard of divine beauty to which the actual form does not correspond.
***
r1917 03 18, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Sarvasaundarya of the Ananda chidghana is growing more and more, although it is not as yet secure against relapse.
***
r1917 03 20, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The Sarva-saundarya increases in its hold. It tends to lose the vividness of its prema-kama elements and of the Ishwaradarshana, but easily recovers them.
***
r1917 08 15, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The second chatusthaya is complete, fixed, universal; but there are defects, principally in devibhava (ishwari bhva, Sarvakar-masmarthyam,) in sraddha swashaktym and most in daihiki shakti. All needs to take on a greater intensity, but all are founded, all firm except these three, but all have their points of weakness. Eg. dasyam is not yet normally tertiary of the third degree.
Defects in the first two chatusthayas are really not self-existent, but the result of insufficiency in the third, the vijnana. Here all hitherto has been preparation. Gnana is well advanced, T only founded, samadhi is still subject to mentality and incoherence, the physical basis is undeveloped; but all have acquired their crude material. Lipi is specially forward. All the stages of the ideality are customary.
r1917 08 21, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Strong Ishwaradarshana Sarvabhuteshu, followed by jyotih of the Anantam (Jnanam) Brahma in things. This was preceded half an hour ago by the lipi 15, several times repeated, the number of the Anantam in the enumeration of the siddhis which compose the last five chatusthayas.
1) jnanam, 2) trikaldrishti, 3) rupa-siddhi, 4) tapas 5) samadhi, 6) arogya, 7) ananda, 8) utthapana, 9) saundarya, 10) Krishna, 11) Kali, 12) karma, 13) kama, 14) Sarvam Brahma, 15) Anantam, 16) Jnanam, 17) Anandam, 18) suddhi, 19) mukti, 20) bhukti, 21) siddhi.
This jyotih is not yet to be free from interruption and diminution, but it is founded and from henceforth bound to increase. It is jyoti not tejas, ideal light, not the mental. It is now trying to ally itself entirely with the Jnanam and Anandam Brahma.. These manifest usually each with a separate intensity in which the three others disappear from view; henceforth the quadruple intensity has set out to create its united effulgence.
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