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四念住

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: four bases of mindfulness

Senses:

  • Four foundations of mindfulness; also commonly translated as 四念處. The fourfold contemplation to be practiced after one has completed the exercise of tranquilizing oneʼs mind:
    1. 身念住 (kāya-smṛty-upasthânāna), contemplating oneʼs body as defiled. Also written as 身不淨 and 觀身不淨.
    2. 受念住 (vedanā-smṛty-upasthânāna), contemplating oneʼs feelings as painful: even though there are agreeable sensations, they are deceptive, and there is no true pleasure in the world. Also written as 觀受是苦.
    3. 心念住 (citta-smṛty-upasthânāna), contemplating oneʼs mind as constantly changing 觀心無常.
    4. 法念住 (dharma-smṛty-upasthânāna), contemplating things in general as devoid of inherent existence; also written as 觀法無我. This encompasses the contemplation of factors (dharmânupaśyanā), such as the five hindrances 五障, the five aggregates 五蘊, the seven factors or limbs of enlightenment 七覺支, and the Four Noble Truths 四聖諦. The four bases of mindfulness are included in the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment 三十七道品.
    Also written rendered as 四觀 and 四念處觀. The fourfold stage of mindfulness, thought, or meditation that follows the five meditative approaches for stilling the mind 五停心觀. This fourfold method, or objectivity of thought, is for stimulating the mind in ethical wisdom. These four reject the ideas of permanence 常, joy 樂, personality 我, and purity 淨—the four distortions 顚倒. They are practiced both separately and together, termed 別相念處 and 總相念處, and there are further subdivisions. [Charles Muller, Billy Brewster; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, Soothill, Hirakawa, Yokoi, Iwanami]
  • In the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra there is another set of four bases:
    1. observation of the mindʼs appropriation 觀心執受;
    2. observation of the mindʼs reception 觀心領納;
    3. observation of the mindʼs discrimination [of objects] 觀心了別, and
    4. observation of the mindʼs pollution and purity 觀心染淨.
    〔瑜伽論 T 1579.30.582c23〕 [Charles Muller]
  • (Skt. caturṇāṃ smṛty-upasthânānām, catuḥ-smṛty-upasthâna, catvāri smṛty-upasthânāni; Tib. dran pa nye bar gzhag pa bzhi pa, dran pa nye bar gzhag pa bzhi; Pāli cattāro sati-paṭṭhānāni) [Charles Muller; source(s): YBh-Ind]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 417

    Bulgyo sajeon 355a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 459c

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 371

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 649

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 528d

    Fo Guang Dictionary 1708

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0280

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)1548b,1973b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 752-1

    Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa)

    Copyright provisions

    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: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2019-02-21