Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

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止觀

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: cessation and observation

Senses:

  • The two basic forms of Buddhist meditation as received from the Indian tradition: śamatha 止 (transliterated as 奢摩他) and vipaśyanā 觀 (transliterated as 毘婆舍那). The former is usually rendered into English with such terms as 'stabilizing meditation' and 'calm abiding.' It refers to meditative practices aimed at the stilling of thought and development of concentration 定. The latter is translated with such terms as 'analysis' and 'clear observation' and refers to the application of oneʼs concentration power to the scrutiny of a Buddhist principle of reality, such as dependent arising 緣起 (Skt. śamatha-vipaśyanā, śamatha-bhāvanā; Tib. zhi gnas dang lhag mthong). 〔 成唯識論 T 1585.31.49a2, 起信論 T 1666.32.575c3〕 [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura,YBh-Ind, Hirakawa, JEBD, Yokoi,Iwanami]
  • An abbreviation of the title of the Mohe zhiguan 摩訶止觀 (T 1911). In relation to its association with this text, the term and form of this meditation is often associated with the Tiantai school 天台宗 and its founder Zhiyi 智顗 (the school is even referred to in some places as the 止觀宗 Zhiguan Zong), its chief object being concentration of the mind by special methods for the purpose of clear insight into truth, and to be rid of illusion. [Charles Muller]
  • Nonetheless, the notion of śamatha-vipaśyanā has a long history prior to its appearance in Tiantai, being a standard notion in Yogâcāra and Tathāgatagarbha classics such as the Yogâcārabhūmi and the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith. the Mohe zhiguan work elaborates ten fields of meditation: (1) the 五陰, 十八界, and 十二入; (2) affliction and delusion; (3) sickness; (4) karma forms; (5) māra-deeds; (6) dhyāna; (7) (wrong) theories; (8) arrogance; (9) the two vehicles; (10) bodhisattvahood. [Charles Muller]
  • For Zhiyi, the attainment of cessation-and-contemplation is like being able to see to the bottom of a pond when the water is still and clear of obstructions. Ref. : 〔摩訶止觀 T 1911.46.21b12–23c12〕 ; see also threefold cessation 三止 and threefold contemplation 三觀. [Paul Swanson]
  • Quiescence et contemplation; l'arrêt-contemplation [Paul Swanson]
  • Sommairement, le śamatha est la fixation de pensée (cittaikâgrya); la vipaśyanā est la compréhension correcte (bhūta-prativedha) [Lamotte]. [Paul Swanson]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 391, 391

    Bulgyo sajeon 816a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 418a

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 340

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 336

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 278a/308

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 641

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 189

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 6-P166

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 506b

    Fo Guang Dictionary 1476

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0682

    Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ④158c/④158d

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)1759b,4919b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 696-3

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

    (Soothill's) Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms 158

    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: 1997-09-15

    Updated: 2022-07-07