福田

Readings

Pinyin: fútián

Wade-Giles: fu-t'ien

Hangul: 복전

Korean MC: bokjeon

Korean MR: pokchŏn

Katakana: フクデン

Hepburn: fukuden

phúc điền

field of merit

• Field of blessings; a suitable recipient. A reference to the Three Treasures: the Buddha, the saṃgha and dharma; also, one's parents and the poverty-stricken. These are the objects toward which one should direct his/her religious practice. Or, any sphere of kindness, charity, or virtue; there are categories of 2, 3, 4, and 8, e.g. that of study and that of charity; parents, teachers, etc.; the field of poverty as a monk, etc. See, for example, 八福田. The recipient of any gift or offering, who is likened to a field that is cultivated. The planting of seeds is a stock metaphor in Buddhist literature for performing actions (karma), all of which will necessarily have some result in the future. The act of giving always bears positive karmic fruit or "merit" 福, but the yield of merit is said to be greater or lesser depending on the worthiness of the recipient, just as seeds planted in fertile field will yield a more bountiful crop than the same seeds planted in a field with poor soil. The two richest fields of merit are the Buddha and the saṃgha: offerings and donations to them are said to produce the most merit for worshippers and donors. The reasoning behind this idea is that the Buddha and the monks who follow his teachings are the primary sources of merit, which they produce by the good deeds of maintaining moral precepts, practicing meditation, and developing wisdom. Lay followers who make donations of food, clothing, or shelter in support of those activities can gain a share of the merit accumulated by the monks. (Skt. puṇya-kṣetra; dakṣinīya; Tib. bsod nams kyi zhingTib. sbyin gnas, yon gyi gnas) [resp. Charles Muller, Griffith Foulk; ref. Nakamura, Soothill, Hirakawa, Stephen Hodge, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
• Worthy of respect (Skt. pradakṣiṇa; Tib. mthun pa). [resp. Charles Muller; source(s): Stephen Hodge]
• The place where people nurture and develop their meritorious virtues. [resp. Charles Muller]
• The practices that lead to enlightenment. [resp. Charles Muller]
• (Skt. kṣetra, guṇa-kṣetra, dakṣiṇā, dakṣiṇīyatā, dākṣiṇeya-bhūmi, parama-kāra-kriyā, puṇya-kṣetra-bhūta, prṇyamayaṃkṣetram, viprakarṣa, sukṣetra; Pāli puñña-kkhetta) [resp. Charles Muller; source(s): Soothill, Hirakawa]

Dictionary References:

Bukkyō jiten (Ui), 919

Bulgyo sajeon, 308a

Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.), 1065d

Iwanami bukkyō jiten, 687

A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki), 65

Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha), 63b/70

Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi), 128

Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga), 5-P22, 13-P311, 13-P375

Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura), 1187c

Fo Guang Dictionary, 5852

Ding Fubao

Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa), 0896

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki), (v.1-6)4396b,4318a,4420b

Bukkyō daijiten (Oda), 1513-3

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

Copyright © 2010 -- Charles Muller

generated: 2013-09-12