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吽字義

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: The Meaning of the Syllable 'Hūṃ

Senses:

  • Unjigi; 1 fasc., T 2430.77.404–408; by Kūkai 空海 in 817; counted as one of the three major works of the Shingon School. A deconstruction of the gnostic syllable hūm 吽字, explained in terms of its component soundsh,a,ū andm (as given in Amoghavajraʼs Explaining the Guiding Principle[Yiliqushi 理趣釋; T 1003]). These sounds are considered in terms of standard meaning 解, available to ordinary people; ultimate meaning 釋, known to the Tathāgatas; and a composite meaning 合釋 which synthesizes the standard and ultimate meanings. According to the standard meaning, 'h' is causes (hetu 因), 'a' is 'the mother of all sounds' (衆聲之母; see also 阿字), 'ū' is lack (ūna 損減), and 'ṃ' is self (ātman 我). The ultimate meaning for 'h' is that first causes are unobtainable; 'a' is the absolute as defined in the Madhyamakakārikās 中論 [T 1654], namely, it is all-pervasive just as 'a' pervades all sounds, and so is characterized as pure being 有, inherently null 空 and uncreated 不生; 'u' ultimately means that nothing is without (一切諸法損減不可故); and 'ṃ' stands for nothing having permanent self-existence. Kūkai concludes that 'h' is the body of dharmas 法身, 'a' is the body of reward 報身, 'ū' denotes emanated bodies 應身 and 'ṃ' is the historical body 化身. 〔大樂金剛不空眞實三昧耶經般若波羅蜜多理趣釋 T 1003.19.615b21〕

    [Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions Database]

    [Iain Sinclair]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 70

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 64

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 325a/361

    Fo Guang Dictionary 2829

    Ding Fubao

    Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ①228d*

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)237a,2621a

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    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1997-09-15

    Updated: 2018-10-13