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難易二道

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: the two paths of difficult and easy

Senses:

  • This refers to a narrative in the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā 十住毘婆沙論 ascribed to Nāgârjuna 龍樹. It describes two paths by which a bodhisattva can attain the first of the ten bhūmi (stages) 十地, which is the stage where the aspirant no longer backslides. One is the difficult path of salvation through austerity and self-effort, which is likened to traveling a long distance on foot ( 'self-power'  自力). The other is the easy path to salvation through the mercy and power of Amitâbha 阿彌陀, which is compared to journeying by ship ( 'other-power'  他力). Cf. 難易. 〔往生要集 T 2682.84.86b14〕 [Stefan Grace; source(s): Ui, ZGDJT, JEBD, Nakamura]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 803

    Bulgyo sajeon 116a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 0967c

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) ---/233

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 489

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 1037c

    Ding Fubao {Digital Version}

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)2719a

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1302-1

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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: 2018-09-13