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因緣

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: cause(s) and condition(s)

Senses:

  • In the most basic sense, the character 因 refers to a main cause (Skt. hetu; Tib. rgyu), which directly incurs a result, while 緣 refers to an indirect cause (Skt. pratyaya), which helps or participates in producing the result. In terms of the description of the causal factors involved in a mental event in Buddhist philosophy, this term denotes conditions that are direct causes (Skt. hetu-pratyaya; Tib. rgyu'i rkyen, rgyu dang rkyen), one of the four types of causes set forth in Yogâcāra 四緣 and Sautrāntika. In the narrower context of consciousness theory, it refers to the seeds (種子 bīja) that are the most direct cause for any given mental event. [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura,YBh-Ind, JEBD, Yokoi]
  • Causal situation; (Skt. nidāna; Tib. gzhi) The 十二因緣 twelve nidānas or links are 'the concatenation of cause and effect in the whole range of existence.' [Charles Muller, Stephen Hodge]
  • Logical cause, reason (Skt. kāraṇa; Tib. gtan tshigs). [Charles Muller; source(s): Stephen Hodge]
  • Dependent origination (Skt. pratītya-samutpāda). [Charles Muller]
  • A Chinese translation of the Sanskrit nidāna  尼陀那 or avadāna, the genre of historical narratives contained in the Buddhist canon—one of the twelve traditional genre divisions of the Buddhist canon 十二部經. 〔起信論 T 1666.32.575a29〕 [Charles Muller]
  • Related to the above sense of narrative, in Chan texts, can refer to an 'episode,' 'series of events,' 'series of exchanges' : e.g., "The Master ascended the hall [to deliver a formal dharma-talk] and brought up this episode" 師乃上堂舉此因緣. 〔黃檗斷際禪師宛陵錄〕 [Robert Buswell]
  • In Korean vernacular, refers to the "affinities" one has created (especially in past lives) with people, beliefs, practices, etc. [Robert Buswell]
  • In the Japanese popular imagination, the idea that certain events were 'bound to happen' because they were the result of actions taken or relationships fostered in past lives. [Griffith Foulk]
  • This compound word can be found in early Chinese classics such as the Shiji 史記 (Tian Shulie zhuan) 田叔列傳) and the Hou Han shu 後漢書 (Chenchong zhuan 陳寵傳), with fundamentally the same meaning of 'connection.' [Charles Muller; source(s): Iwanami]
  • (Skt. ākāraṇa, ārambaṇa, upaniṣad-bhāva, upāya, kāraṇatva, kāraṇa-bhāva, kāraṇa-bhūta, kāraṇa-hetu, kāraṇā, tantra, nidāna-paryāya, nimitta, niṣyanda, paryāya, pāratantrya, prakaraṇa, prakṛti, pratītya, pratītya-samutpanna, pratyayatā, prayojana, vṛtta, hetutva, hetu-viṣaya, hetv-ākhya; Tib. gleng bzhi'i sde, rgyu rkyen) [Charles Muller; source(s): Hirakawa, YBh-Ind]
  • CJKV-E
  • Cf. Karashima (Lokakṣema Glossary):
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 53, 54

    Bulgyo sajeon 731a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 59b

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 51

    Zengaku zokugokai (Genkyō zenji) 33/205

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 131, 132

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 129b/142

    Koga 27

    Record of Linji: Rinzairoku (Yanagida) 226-7

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 261

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 10-P185

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 72b

    Fo Guang Dictionary 2301

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0285

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)173b,1722c,1728b,4051b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 91-3*685-3-15

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

    (Soothill's) Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms 206

    Lokakṣemaʼs Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Karashima) 583

    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: 2017-10-23