nirmāṇarati. (P. nimmānarati; T. ’phrul dga’; C. huale tian; J. kerakuten; K. hwarak ch’ŏn 化樂天). In Sanskrit, “enjoying creations” or “enjoying emanations,” the fifth (in ascending order) of the six heavens (SVARGA) of the sensuous realm (S. KĀMADHĀTU), located above Mount SUMERU and thirty-two thousand leagues (YOJANA) above the immediately preceding heaven, TUṢITA. The heaven receives its name because the divinities reborn there create their own magical emanations that they control. In this heaven, males and females experience sexual pleasure without engaging in physical contact but merely by smiling at each other. The children produced from their union have the appearance of nine-year-old children at birth. The life span in this heaven is said to be eight thousand years, in which each day is as long as eight hundred human years.

nirmita. (P. nimmita; T. sprul pa; C. hua; J. ke; K. hwa 化). In Sanskrit, “conjured,” referring to something perceived by the sensory organs to be real but that is in fact illusory, like the moon on the surface of a lake or the water in a mirage. The term is often associated in Buddhist literature with the various doubles the Buddha conjures of himself in order to bring varying types of sentient beings to liberation (see NIRMĀṆAKĀYA).

nirodha. (T. ’gog pa; C. mie; J. metsu; K. myŏl 滅). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “cessation,” “extinction,” or “suppression,” referring especially to the extinction of a specific affliction (KLEŚA) or group of afflictions. Because NIRVĀṆA is the cessation of all action (KARMAN) and affliction, it is thus a form of nirodha. The “truth of cessation,” or NIRODHASATYA, is the third of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS articulated by the Buddha in his first sermon, “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dharma” (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA; S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA). Because nirodha is an absence and hence does not change from moment to moment, it is sometimes classified as a permanent factor (NITYADHARMA). Two types of nirodha are described in ABHIDHARMA literature. PRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA, or “analytical cessation,” refers to a cessation that occurs as a result of meditative analysis of the real nature of phenomena; it is one of the uncompounded factors (ASAṂSKṚTADHARMA) recognized in both the SARVĀSTIVĀDA-VAIBHĀṢIKA and YOGĀCĀRA schools. APRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA, or “nonanalytical cessation,” refers to a mere absence, such as the temporary absence of hunger after a meal, or to an uncompounded factor (asaṃskṛtadharma) that suppresses the production of all other dharmas, ensuring that they are restrained from ever again arising in the present. See also NIRODHASAMĀPATTI.

nirodhasamāpatti. (T. ’gog pa’i snyoms ’jug; C. miejin ding; J. metsujinjō; K. myŏlchin chŏng 滅盡定). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “equipoise of cessation,” also known as “the cessation of perception and sensation” (SAṂJÑĀVEDAYITANIRODHA). Nirodhasamāpatti constitutes the ninth and highest level of meditative attainment in the mainstream Buddhist schools, achieved after the fourth meditative absorption of the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) and thus transcending the four subtle-materiality absorptions (RŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA) and four immaterial absorptions (ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). Nirodhasamāpatti engenders a state of suspended animation: the meditator remains alive, but all physical and mental activities cease for a fixed, but temporary, period of time. There is a great deal of discussion of this state in the ABHIDHARMA literatures, especially concerning the process by which the meditator returns to consciousness at the conclusion of the equipoise of cessation. Many stories are also told in the literature of monks in the state of nirodhasamāpatti who remain impervious to the dangers of raging conflagrations or passing tigers. Because even mentality (CITTA) is temporarily absent in this state, nirodhasamāpatti is classified as a “conditioned force dissociated from thought” (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAṂSKĀRA) in both the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, and in the hundred-dharmas (BAIFA) classification of the YOGĀCĀRA school. In Yogācāra schools that accept the storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA), all consciousness, including the KLIṢṬAMANAS, stops in nirodhasamāpatti; it is only the presence of the ālayavijñāna that keeps the meditator alive.

nirodhasatya. (P. nirodhasacca; T. ’gog pa’i bden pa; C. miedi; J. mettai; K. myŏlche 滅諦). In Sanskrit, “truth of cessation,” the third of the so-called FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni) set forth by the Buddha in his first sermon, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma” (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA; S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA). In a general sense, NIRODHA as “cessation” refers to NIRVĀṆA, which constitutes the cessation of all action (KARMAN) and afflictions (KLEŚA) and the suffering they induce (although the term nirvāṇa does not appear in the first sermon). In the ABHIDHARMA, the term is applied to the specific destruction of each of the kleśa associated with the three realms of existence (TRILOKA[DHĀTU]), the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU), the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU), and the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU) and the nine levels (the sensuous realm, the four meditative absorptions of the subtle-materiality realm, and the four absorptions of the immaterial realm). Such cessations are “true” (SATYA) in the sense that they are permanent; the particular kleśa is destroyed such that it will not occur again. The eradication of all the kleśas and contaminants (ĀSRAVAKṢAYA) results in the achievement of liberation from rebirth as an ARHAT. The four truths are not presented in the order of cause and effect, but rather effect and cause, with the first truth of suffering (DUḤKHASATYA) being the effect of the second truth of origin (SAMUDAYASATYA). In the same way, the third truth of cessation (nirodhasatya) is said to be the effect of the fourth truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA). However, nirodha is not an effect in the ordinary sense of the term because it is a permanent state; it is classified instead as a VISAṂYOGAPHALA, an effect that is a separation, i.e., the practice of the path results in the attainment of nirodha but does not produce nirodha as its effect. Nirodhyasatya has four aspects (ĀKĀRA): suffering has stopped (nirodha); nirodha is a state of peace (śānta); it is sublime (praṇīta) because there is no state superior to it; and it is a definite escape (NIRYĀṆA).

Nirṛti. (T. Bden bral; C. Nielidi; J. Neritei; K. Yŏllijŏ 涅哩底). Sanskrit name of the lord of ogres and the divinity of death and destruction, who presides over the southwesterly direction. Nirṛti is often described as wearing armor, riding a lion, brandishing a sword in his right hand, and showing the sword MUDRĀ (C. daoyin) with his left, symbolizing the power of wisdom (PRAJÑĀ) and the destruction of the afflictions (KLEŚA). See RĀKṢASA.

nirukti. (P. nirutti; T. nges pa’i tshig; C. yanjiao; J. gonkyō; K. ŏn’gyo 言教). In Sanskrit, “clarification,” often referring specifically to the ability to understand the etymology and linguistic usage of a word, phrase, or text. Nirukti is the third of four “analytical” or “unlimited knowledges” (PRATISAṂVID), four types of knowledge with which a BODHISATTVA on the ninth of the ten bodhisattva stages (DAŚABHŪMI; daśabodhisattvavihāra) is endowed. Nirukti and the other three knowledges are treated at length in the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṄKĀRA and the BODHISATTVABHŪMI, where nirukti is described as the ability to understand any and all languages, including those of divinities (DEVA) and demigods (YAKṢA, GANDHARVA, ASURA, GARUḌA, KIṂNARA, and MAHORĀGA). Thanks to this linguistic power, bodhisattvas are able to parse the full range of etymological or linguistic expressions attached to all phenomena and make use of this ability to preach the dharma to all potential audiences, with the highest degree of efficacy. This power of nirukti also makes their voices pleasant and understandable to anyone in the world.

nirupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa. (cf. P. anupādisesanibbāna; T. lhag ma med pa’i mya ngan las ’das pa; C. wuyu niepan; J. muyonehan; K. muyŏ yŏlban 無餘涅槃). In Sanskrit, “NIRVĀṆA without remainder” or “nirvāṇa without residue,” the nirvāṇa achieved upon the death of an ARHAT or a buddha, in which there is no “remainder” of the aggregates of mind and body. It is synonymous with ANUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA (s.v.).

nirvāṇa. (P. nibbāna; T. mya ngan las ’das pa; C. niepan; J. nehan; K. yŏlban 涅槃). In Sanskrit, “extinction”; the earliest and most common term describing the soteriological goal of the Buddhist path (MĀRGA). Its etymology and meaning have been widely discussed by both traditional exegetes and modern scholars. Nirvāṇa is commonly interpreted as meaning “blowing out” (from the Sanskrit root √vā, “to blow,” plus the prefix nir-, “out”), as “when a flame is blown out by the wind,” to use the famous metaphor from the AṬṬHAKAVAGGA, and is thus sometimes glossed as the extinction of the flame of desire (RĀGA) or, more broadly, to the extinction of the “three poisons” (TRIVIṢA) or primary afflictions (KLEŚA) of greed/sensuality (RĀGA or LOBHA), hatred/aversion (DVEṢA), and delusion/ignorance (MOHA). In a more technical sense, nirvāṇa is interpreted as the cessation of the afflictions (kleśa), of the actions (KARMAN) produced by these afflictions, and eventually of the mind and body (NĀMARŪPA; SKANDHA) produced by karman, such that rebirth (SAṂSĀRA) ceases for the person who has completed the path. In the first sermon after his enlightenment, “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma” (P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA; S. DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASŪTRA), the Buddha outlines the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni), the third of which was the “truth of cessation” (NIRODHASATYA). This state of the cessation of suffering (DUḤKHA) and its causes (SAMUDAYA) is glossed as nirvāṇa. In one famous description of nirvāṇa, the Buddha explained, “There is that plane (ĀYATANA) where there is neither earth, water, fire, nor air [viz., the four MAHĀBHŪTA], neither the sphere of infinite space [ĀKĀŚĀNANTYĀYATANA] … nor the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception [NAIVASAṂJÑĀNĀSAṂJÑĀYATANA], neither this world nor another nor both together, neither the sun nor the moon. Here, O monks, I say that there is no coming or going, no staying, no passing away or arising. It is not something fixed, it moves not on, it is not based on anything. This is indeed the end of suffering.” Even though this is a thoroughly negative description of nirvāṇa, it is important to note that the passage opens with the certitude that “there is that plane….” Whether this state of cessation represents a form of “annihilation” is a question that preoccupied early scholarship on Buddhism. The Buddha described human existence as qualified by various forms of suffering, sought a state that would transcend such suffering, and determined that, in order to put an end to suffering, one must destroy its causes: unwholesome (AKUŚALA) actions (karman) and the negative afflictions (kleśa) that motivate them. If these causes could be destroyed, they would no longer have any effect, resulting in the cessation of suffering and thus nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa, therefore, was not regarded as a place or state of existence, since by definition that would mean it was part of saṃsāra and thus subject to impermanence and suffering. Nirvāṇa is instead an absence, and it is often described in rigidly apophatic terms, as in the passage above, as if by describing what nirvāṇa was not, at least some sense of what it is could be conveyed. When the tradition attempts more positive descriptions, nirvāṇa is sometimes described as deathless (AMṚTA), imperishable (acyuta), uncreated (abhūta), peace (upaśama), bliss (SUKHA), etc. The concept of nirvāṇa may be somewhat more accessible if it is approached soteriologically, as the culmination of the Buddhist path of practice (mārga). At the upper reaches of the path, the adept must pass through three “gates to liberation” (VIMOKṢAMUKHA), which mark the transition from the compounded (SAṂSKṚTA) realm of saṃsāra to the uncompounded (ASAṂSKṚTA) realm of nirvāṇa. In approaching nirvāṇa, the adept first passes through the gate of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), which reveals that nirvāṇa is empty of anything associated with a sense of self. Next comes the gate of signlessness (ĀNIMITTA), which reveals that nirvāṇa has nothing by which it may be perceived. Finally comes the gate of wishlessness (APRAṆIHITA), meaning that nirvāṇa can be achieved only when one no longer has any desire for, or attachment to, nirvāṇa. Exactly what persisted in the state of nirvāṇa was the subject of considerable discussion over the history of the tradition. The Buddha is said to have realized nirvāṇa when he achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus eradicating the causes of future rebirth. After this experience, however, he continued to live for another forty-five years, and, upon his death, he entered nirvāṇa, never to be reborn again. Because of this gap between his initial experience of nirvāṇa and his final PARINIRVĀṆA, the scholastic tradition therefore distinguished between two types of nirvāṇa. The first type is the “nirvāṇa with remainder” (SOPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA), sometimes interpreted as the “nirvāṇa associated with the kleśas.” This is the state of nirvāṇa achieved prior to death, where the “remainder” refers to the mind and body of this final existence. This is the nirvāṇa achieved by the Buddha under the BODHI TREE. However, the inertia of the karman that had led to this present life was still operating and would continue to do so until his death. Thus, his mind and body during the remainder of his final lifetime were what was left over after he realized nirvāṇa. The second type is referred to as the “nirvāṇa without remainder” (ANUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA or NIRUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA), sometimes interpreted as the “nirvāṇa of the skandhas.” This is the nirvāṇa achieved at death, in which the causes of all future existence have been extinguished, bringing the chain of causation of both the physical form and consciousness to an end and leaving nothing remaining to be reborn. This is also called “final nirvāṇa” (parinirvāṇa), and it is what the Buddha achieved at the time of his demise at KUŚINAGARĪ. These states were accessible to all adepts who followed the Buddhist path to its conclusion. In the case of the Buddha, some traditions also refer to the third type of nirvāṇa, the “final nirvāṇa of the relics” (śarīraparinirvāṇa), viz., the dissolution of the relics (ŚARĪRA) of the Buddha at a point in the distant future. According to Buddhist eschatology, there will come a time in the far distant future when the teachings of ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha will disappear from the world, and his relics will no longer be honored. At that point, the relics that have been enshrined in reliquaries (STŪPA) around the world will be released from their shrines and be magically transported to BODHGAYĀ, where they will reassemble into the resplendent body of the Buddha, who will be seated in the lotus posture under the Bodhi tree, emitting rays of light that illuminate ten thousand world systems. The relics will be worshipped by the divinities (DEVA) one last time and then will burst into flames and disappear into the sky. Until that time, the relics of the Buddha are to be regarded as his living presence, infused with all of his marvelous qualities. With the rise of MAHĀYĀNA, the “nirvāṇa without remainder” came to be disparaged in some texts as excessively quietistic, and the Buddha’s passage into parinirvāṇa was described as simply a display; the Buddha is instead said to be eternal, inhabiting a place that is neither in saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa and that is referred to as the “unlocated nirvāṇa” (APRATIṢṬHITANIRVĀṆA). The MADHYAMAKA philosopher NĀGĀRJUNA declared that there was not the slightest difference between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, a statement taken to mean that both are equally empty of any intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHĀVA). Madhyamaka texts also refer to a nirvāṇa that is “intrinsically extinguished” (PRAKṚTIPARINIRVṚTA); this quiescence that is inherent in all phenomena is a synonym of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ).

nirvāṇadhātu. (P. nibbānadhātu; T. mya ngan las ’das pa’i dbyings; C. niepanjie; J. nehankai; K. yŏlban’gye 涅槃界). In Sanskrit, “the nirvāṇa element,” a term that is essentially synonymous with NIRVĀṆA and refers to the plane or state experienced through the liberation (VIMOKṢA) that derives from the extinction of suffering (DUḤKHA). In the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, two types of nirvāṇadhātu are discussed. First is the nirvāṇadhātu with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇadhātu, see SOPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA), where the remainder is the residue of the aggregates (SKANDHA); this form is the nirvāṇa that is experienced while the body remains alive. Second is the nirvāṇadhātu without remainder (nirupadhiśeṣanirvāṇadhātu; see NIRUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA, ANUPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA), the nirvāṇa achieved upon the death of an ARHAT or a buddha, in which there is no “remainder” of materiality and mentality (NĀMARŪPA); this type is synonymous with PARINIRVĀṆA.

Nirvāṇa school. See NIEPAN ZONG.

Nirvāṇa Sūtra. See MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆASŪTRA.

nirveda. (P. nibbidā; T. skyo ba; C. yan; J. en; K. yŏm 厭). In Sanskrit, “disgust,” “disillusionment,” “loathing”; a term used in Buddhist meditation theory to indicate the preliminary and conditional turning away from the things of this world and turning toward NIRVĀṆA, which serves as the crucial mental factor (DHARMA) in catalyzing the transition from an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) to a noble one (ĀRYA). There has been considerable discussion in the literature on the precise meaning of nirveda, with connotations suggested that range from disgust to disappointment to indifference. As the meditator comes to recognize that all worldly objects that may be perceived through the senses are impermanent (ANITYA), he realizes that association with, let alone attachment to, them will inexorably lead to suffering (DUḤKHA). The recognition of the ubiquity of suffering leads the adept inevitably toward a sense of nirveda, the volition to distance oneself from these worldly objects and to seek the alternative that is nirvāṇa. As a by-product of the experience of YATHĀBHŪTAJÑĀNADARŚANA (“seeing things as they really are”), nirveda thus produces the mental factor VAIRĀGYA (“dispassion”), which ultimately leads to VIMOKṢA (“liberation”).

nirvedha. (T. nges par ’byed pa; C. jueze; J. ketchaku; K. kyŏlt’aek 決擇). In Sanskrit, “penetration,” referring specifically to the direct penetration into the nature of reality that occurs on the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA). See NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA.

nirvedhabhāgīya. (T. nges par ’byed pa’i cha dang mthun pa; C. shunjuezefen; J. junketchakubun; K. sun’gyŏlt’aekpum 順決擇分). In Sanskrit, “aids to penetration,” the constituent stages developed during the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA), the second segment of the five-path schema outlined in the VAIBHĀṢIKA ABHIDHARMA system, which mark the transition from the mundane sphere of cultivation (LAUKIKA[BHĀVANĀ]MĀRGA) to the supramundane vision (DARŚANA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni); also called the “virtuous faculties associated with penetration” (nirvedhabhāgīya-KUŚALAMŪLA) or the “four virtuous faculties” (CATUṢKUŚALAMŪLA). The nirvedhabhāgīya are the third of the three types of virtuous faculties (KUŚALAMŪLA) recognized in the VAIBHĀṢIKA school, along with the puṇyabhāgīya and MOKṢABHĀGĪYA kuśalamūlas. In distinction to the mokṣabhāgīyas, however, which are the remote path of preparation, the nirvedhabhāgīyas constitute instead the proximate path of preparation and are associated specifically with the type of wisdom that is generated through one’s own meditative experience (BHĀVANĀMĀYĪPRAJÑĀ). The four aids to penetration are (1) heat (ŪṢMAN [alt. ūṣmagata]), (2) summit (MŪRDHAN), (3) acquiescence or receptivity (KSĀṆTI), (4) and highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKĀGRADHARMA). After accumulating the preliminary skills necessary for religious cultivation on the preceding path of accumulation (SAṂBHĀRAMĀRGA), the practitioner continues on to develop the mindfulness of mental constituents (dharma-SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA) on the path of preparation. This path involves the four aids to penetration, which mark successive stages in understanding the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths and are each subdivided into various categories, such as weak, medium, and strong experiences. While the first two of these NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYAs are subject to retrogression and thus belong to the worldly path of cultivation (laukikabhāvanāmārga), the latter two are nonretrogressive (AVAIVARTIKA) and lead inevitably to insight (DARŚANA). Mastery of the four aids to penetration culminates in the “unimpeded concentration” (ĀNANTARYASAMĀDHI), in which the meditator acquires fully all the highest worldly dharmas; this distinctive concentration provides access to the third stage of the path, the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA), which marks the entrance into sanctity (ĀRYA) as a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). Thus the nirvedhabhāgīyas are the pivotal point in the progression of an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) to the status of a noble one (ĀRYA). According to the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ, disciples (ŚRĀVAKA) and solitary buddhas (PRATYEKABUDDHA) may develop the nirvedhabhāgīyas either before or during any of the four stages of the meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA), while bodhisattvas develop all four in one sitting during their final lifetimes.

nirvikalpa. (P. nibbikappa; T. rnam par rtog pa med pa; C. wu fenbie; J. mufunbetsu; K. mubunbyŏl 無分別). In Sanskrit, “nonconceptual,” an adjective used to describe states of direct perception, either by the sensory consciousnesses or the mental consciousness. The sense consciousnesses are necessarily nonconceptual, but a state of nonconceptual mental consciousness is required for direct realization of the truth, and hence liberation. The nonconceptual state is therefore praised for its ability to perceive directly without the intercession of the distorting medium of thought. See also NIRVIKALPAJÑĀNA.

nirvikalpajñāna. (T. rnam par mi rtog pa’i ye shes; C. wu fenbie zhi; J. mufunbetsuchi; K. mu punbyŏl chi 無分別智). In Sanskrit, “nondiscriminative wisdom,” “nonconceptual awareness”; the insight that is marked by freedom from the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grāhaka) and its perceived objects (grāhya). In the YOGĀCĀRA school, this misconception is called the discrimination of object and subject (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). Overcoming this bifurcation leads to the nondiscriminative wisdom (nirvikalpajñāna), which, in the five-stage path (PAÑCAMĀRGA) system of the Yogācāra school, marks the inception of the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA), where the adept sees reality directly, without the intercession of concepts, and realizes the inherent unity of objects and cognition (jñeya-jñāna). The MAHĀYĀNASAṂGRAHA explains that nirvikalpajñāna has as its nature the following five types of absences: (1) the absence of inattention (amanasikāra), such as occurs during sleep, (2) the absence of discursive thought (VITARKA) and sustained consideration (VICĀRA), (3) the quiescence of the cessation of perception and feeling (SAṂJÑĀVEDAYITANIRODHA), (4) the absence of materiality (RŪPA), and (5) the absence of analytical investigation regarding truthfulness. These attributes mean that nirvikalpajñāna (1) is not merely a lack of attention; (2) it is not just the second stage of DHYĀNA or higher, where discursive thought (vitarka) and investigation (vicāra) no longer pertain; (3) it is not the “equipoise of cessation” (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI), which no longer includes mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CAITTA), because wisdom (JÑĀNA) is not possible without mind and its concomitants; (4) it is free from any kind of discrimination; and (5) it cannot be an object of analytical investigation, since it transcends the relationship between the objects in any discursive analysis. This type of wisdom is therefore associated with knowledge (jñāna) that is supramundane (LOKOTTARA) and uncontaminated (ANĀSRAVA). The term nirvikalpajñāna also appears in MADHYAMAKA descriptions of the path (MĀRGA), despite the fact that Madhyamaka does not reject the conventional existence of external objects. Here, the term refers to the nonconceptual realization of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) that occurs on the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA) and above, where reality is directly perceived in an experience in which emptiness and the consciousness that realizes emptiness are said to be like “pure water poured into pure water.” See also VIKALPA; TRIVIKALPA.

niryāṇa. (T. nges ’byung; C. chuli; J. shutsuri; K. ch’ulli 出離). In Sanskrit, lit. “departure” or “going out.” In the context of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni), it is an aspect of the third “truth of cessation” (NIRODHASATYA), where niryāṇa means the definite “escape” from suffering when its cause has been eliminated. In the context of the MAHĀYĀNA path, niryāṇa involves the final stages of a bodhisattva’s progress (PRATIPATTI) leading to full enlightenment; the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRA gives a list of eight niryāṇas based on aspects of the final destination. In some contexts, the term, like NIRVEDA and NIḤSARAṆA, can mean “renunciation,” in the sense of the conviction to be liberated or to emerge from rebirth in SAṂSĀRA, whether one is following the path of the ŚRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA in order to become an ARHAT, or is following the BODHISATTVA path in order to become a buddha. It is in this sense that the Tibetan translation of the term as “emergence” (nges ’byung) is deployed by TSONG KHA PA in his delineation of the “three principal aspects of the path” (LAM GTSO RNAM GSUM), where emergence is the first of the three aspects, followed by BODHICITTA and wisdom (PRAJÑĀ).

Nishida Kitarō. (西田幾太郎) (1870–1945). Influential Japanese philosopher of the modern era and founder of what came to be known as the KYOTO SCHOOL, a contemporary school of Japanese philosophy that sought to synthesize ZEN Buddhist thought with modern Western, and especially Germanic, philosophy. Nishida was instrumental in establishing in Japan the discipline of philosophy as practiced in Europe and North America, as well as in exploring possible intersections between European philosophy and such Buddhist ontological notions as the idea of nonduality (ADVAYA). Nishida was born in 1870, just north of Ishikawa prefecture’s capital city of Kanazawa. In 1894, he graduated from Tōkyō Imperial University with a degree in philosophy and eventually took an appointment at Kyōto University, where he taught from 1910 until his retirement in 1927. At Kyōto University, Nishida attracted a group of students who would later become known collectively as the “Kyoto School.” These philosophers addressed an array of philosophical concerns, including metaphysics, ontology, phenomenology, and epistemology, using Western critical methods but in conjunction with Eastern religious concepts. Nishida’s influential 1911 publication Zen no kenkyū (“A Study of Goodness”) synthesized Zen Buddhist and German phenomenology to explore the unity between the ordinary and the transcendent. He argued that, through “pure experience” (J. junsui keiken), an individual human being is able to come in contact with a limitless, absolute reality that can be described either as God or emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ). In Nishida’s treatment, philosophy is subsumed under the broader soteriological quest for individual awakening, and its significance derives from its effectiveness in bringing about this goal of awakening. Other important works by Nishida include Jikaku ni okeru chokkan to hansei (“Intuition and Reflection in Self-Consciousness,” 1917), Geijutsu to dōtoku (“Art and Morality,” 1923), Tetsugaku no konpon mondai (“Fundamental Problems of Philosophy,” 1933), and Bashoteki ronri to shūkyōteki sekaikan (“The Logic of the Place of Nothingness and the Religious Worldview,” 1945). Nishida’s Zen no kenkyū also helped lay the foundation for what later became regarded as Nihonjinron, a nationalist discourse that advocated the uniqueness and superiority of the Japanese race. Prominent in Nishida’s philosophy is the idea that the Japanese—as exemplified in their exceptional cultivation of Zen, which here can stand for both Zen Buddhism and the homophonous word for “goodness”—are uniquely in tune with this concept of “pure experience.” This familiarity, in part influenced by his longtime friend DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI, elevates the Japanese race mentally and spiritually above all other races in the world. This view grew in popularity during the era of Japanese colonial expansion and remained strong in some quarters even after the end of World War II. Since at least the 1970s, Nishida’s work has been translated and widely read among English-speaking audiences. Beginning in the 1990s, however, his writings have come under critical scrutiny in light of their ties with Nihonjinron and Japanese nationalism.

Nishi Honganjiha. [alt. Honganjiha] (西本願寺派). In Japanese, “Western Honganji school”; the largest subsect of JŌDO SHINSHŪ. After the death of SHINRAN in 1263, the HONGANJI institution emerged as the dominant subsect of Jōdo Shinshū, administered by the descendants of Shinran’s patriarchal line. In the Tokugawa Period (1600–1868), the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) grew suspicious of Honganji, which during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had grown not only to be the largest sect of Japanese Buddhism but also one of the largest landholding institutions in Japan. By involving himself in a succession dispute, the shōgun was successfully able to cause a split within the Honganji into East (higashi; see HIGASHI HONGANJIHA; ŌTANIHA) and West (nishi) factions, with Kyōnyo (1558–1614) heading the Higashi faction, and Junnyo (1577–1631) leading the Nishi faction. In 1639, Nishi Honganji established its own seminary college in Kyoto that was renamed Ryūkoku University in 1922. Important modern Nishi Honganji Buddhists include ŌTANI KŌZUI (1868–1948), the famed explorer and collector.

Nishitani Keiji. (西谷啓治) (1900–1990). Japanese philosopher and member of what came to be known as the KYOTO SCHOOL, a contemporary school of Japanese philosophy that sought to synthesize ZEN Buddhist thought with modern Western, and especially Germanic, philosophy. Nishitani was schooled in Ishikawa prefecture and Tōkyō and graduated from Kyōto University in 1924 with a degree in philosophy. A student of NISHIDA KITARŌ (1870–1945), the founder of the Kyoto School, Nishitani became a professor in the Department of Religion at Kyōto University in 1935 and from 1937 to 1939 studied with Martin Heidegger in Freiburg, Germany. He later chaired the Department of Modern Philosophy at Kyōto Prefectural University from 1955 to 1963. In such works as his 1949 Nihirizumu (translated in 1990 as The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism) and Shūkyō to wa nani ka (“What Is Religion?,” 1961, translated in 1982 as Religion and Nothingness), Nishitani sought to synthesize German existentialism, Christian mysticism, and what he considered to be Zen experience. Where German philosophy, which is governed by logic and cognitive thinking, addressed ontological questions regarding the self, he argued that such means as Christian mysticism and Zen meditation could complement German philosophy in constructing a path to a complete realization of the self. Nishitani took issue with Nietzsche’s nihilism by borrowing from the Buddhist concept of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) to argue that recognition of the self as empty brings one to an understanding of things as they are (viz., the Buddhist concept of suchness, or TATHATĀ), and hence a true understanding and affirmation of oneself. Nishitani’s philosophical justification of Japan’s wartime activities, notably his contributions to the well-known journal Chūōkōron (“Central Review”) in the early 1940s, has become a controversial aspect of his work.

niṣīdana. [alt. niṣadana] (P. nisīdana; T. gding ba; C. zuoju; J. zagu; K. chwagu 坐具). In Sanskrit, lit. “the act of sitting,” any cloth, rug, or mat that is spread out over the ground and used for sitting or sleeping, thus a “sitting mat.” In the Buddhist tradition, a niṣīdana is a sitting cloth used during seated meditation or during prostrations. A niṣīdana is one of the few basic requisites (NIŚRAYA; PARIṢKĀRA) that a monk or nun is allowed to possess. For this reason, the VINAYA literature includes extensive discussions on the appropriate characteristics of the niṣīdana—i.e., how large it can be, its color, proper use, and so on. Many of these rules appear in the NAIḤSARGIKAPĀYATTIKA (forfeiture offense) section of the PRĀTIMOKṢA. The term also comes to refer by extension to a stool.

niṣpannakrama. (T. rdzogs rim; C. yuanman cidi; J. enmanshidai; K. wŏnman ch’aje 圓滿次第). In Sanskrit, “stage of completion” (also called saṃpannakrama and utpannakrama); one of the two major phases of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA practice, the other being the UTPATTIKRAMA, variously translated as the “stage of generation,” “creation stage,” or “development stage.” The stage of generation is considered the preparation for the stage of completion. After having received initiation (ABHIṢEKA), during the stage of generation the practitioner engages in the practice of detailed visualization of himself or herself as a deity and the environment as a MAṆḌALA. Meditation on emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) is also involved. The central point of the practice is to vividly imagine oneself as the buddha one is going to become and thus simulate the process whereby this achievement will occur. The stage of completion is the period in which the actual achievement of buddhahood by the path of anuttarayogatantra occurs. Here, the meditator engages in practices that cause the winds (PRĀṆA) to enter the central channel (AVADHŪTĪ) and gather at the heart CAKRA, causing the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARA) to become manifest, at which point the three states of death, intermediate state (ANTARĀBHAVA), and rebirth are transformed respectively into the DHARMAKĀYA, SAṂBHOGAKĀYA, and NIRMĀṆAKĀYA of a buddha.

Niṣpannayogāvalī. (T. Rdzogs pa’i rnal ’byor gyi ’phreng ba). In Sanskrit, “Garland of Perfect Yoga,” a compendium of tantric SĀDHANAs (with descriptions of MAṆḌALAs and deities) by the eleventh-century Indian master ABHAYĀKARAGUPTA.

niṣprapañca. [alt. niḥprapañca] (P. nippapañca; T. spros pa dang bral ba; C. buxilun; J. fukeron; K. purhŭiron 不戲論). In Sanskrit, “conceptual nonproliferation” or “absence of superimposition,” the transcendent (LOKOTTARA) state of mind that is characteristic of the enlightened noble person (ĀRYA). Niṣprapañca refers to the absence of that which is fanciful, imagined, or superfluous, especially in the sense of the absence of a quality that is mistakenly projected onto an object. This false quality is called PRAPAÑCA, which has the sense of “diffusion” or “expansion,” viz., “conceptual proliferation.” Such “proliferation” typically takes the form of a chaotic onslaught of thoughts and associations at the conclusion of the apprehension of an object by one of the five sensory consciousnesses. Those thoughts and associations are then objectified, projecting a false reality onto the sense object. Such projections are thus described as operations of ignorance. Reality is free from such elaborations, and wisdom is the state of mind that perceives this reality. The goal of meditation practice is therefore sometimes described as the achievement of a state free from such conceptual proliferation, i.e., niṣprapañca. By systematic attention (YONIŚOMANASKĀRA) to the impersonal, conditioned character of sensory experience and through sensory restraint (INDRIYASAṂVARA), the tendency to project the notion of a perduring self (ĀTMAN) into the perceptual process is brought to an end. This state of “nonproliferation” frees perception from its subjugation to conceptualization, allowing it to see the things of this world as impersonal causal products that are inevitably impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANĀTMAN), freeing the mind in turn from the attachment to SAṂSĀRA. The precise nature of conceptual nonproliferation is defined differently in the various Indian schools. In the Pāli MILINDAPAÑHA, NĀGASENA explains to the king that the four fruits of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and ARHAT are in fact nippapañca. In the YOGĀCĀRA school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, niṣprapañca refers to the absence of the misapprehension of sensory objects as separate from the perceiving consciousness, and in the MADHYAMAKA school it refers to the absence of perceiving objects as endowed with SVABHĀVA.

niśraya. (P. nissaya; T. brten; C. suoyi; J. shoe; K. soŭi 所依). In Sanskrit, “requisite,” “reliance,” “support,” in the sense of a basic possession required of any monk or nun. Four basic requisites are allowed for use by all monks and nuns: (1) food acquired through alms gathering (see PIṆḌAPĀTA; P. piṇḍiyālopabhojana); (2) a robe (CĪVARA) made from collected rags (pāṃsukūlacīvara; P. paṃsukūlacīvara); (3) dwelling at the foot of a tree (vṛkṣamūlasenāsana; P. rukkhamūlasenāsana); and (4) using fermented urine as medicine (pūtimuktabhaiṣajya; P. pūtimuttabhesajja). During the ordination procedure, when new ordinands “go forth” (PRAVRAJITA) as novice monks (ŚRĀMAṆERA) or nuns (ŚRĀMAṆERIKĀ), they will be apprised of these four requisites and encouraged to be content with them for the rest of their lives. In addition to these four basic reliances, the VINAYA does allow the use of other related things, such as constructed residences, meals offered by laypeople by invitation, robes made of cloth other than rags, and a mixture of honey, molasses oil, and butter as a medicine. See also PARIṢKĀRA. ¶ The term niśraya is also used in the sense of “guidance.” A newly ordained monk or nun is required to live under the “guidance” of his or her preceptor (S. UPĀDHYĀYA; P. upajjhāya) for a minimum of five years. During this period, the preceptor is to instruct the new monk in the teachings (DHARMA) and train him in the monastic regulations (VINAYA). Only a monk who has at least ten years of seniority in the SAṂGHA and who is otherwise qualified may provide “guidance” to another monk. If the new monk has lost his preceptor, he must seek niśraya from a teacher.

niṣṭhā. (P. niṭṭhā; T. mthar phyin pa; C. jiujing; J. kukyō; K. kugyŏng 究竟). In Sanskrit, “the end,” “completion.” In mainstream Buddhist materials, the Buddha often described the consummation of religious training and the achievement of the state of either stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) or ARHAT as “the end”; the term is synonymous with the “deathless” (AMṚTA) and thus “liberation” (VIMOKṢA). The term appears in a variety of contexts in both mainstream and MAHĀYĀNA traditions to mean “coming to the end” of practice, viz., to achieve spiritual perfection, as in the soteriological term “path of completion” (NIṢṬHĀMĀRGA).

niṣṭhāmārga. (T. mthar phyin pa’i lam; C. jiujingdao/wei; J. kukyōdō/i; K. kugyŏngdo/wi 究竟道/位). In Sanskrit, “path of completion,” the fifth of the “five-path” (PAÑCAMĀRGA) schema described in both SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and the YOGĀCĀRA school of MAHĀYĀNA. With the consummation of the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), the adept achieves the “adamantine-like concentration” (VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI), which leads to the permanent destruction of even the subtlest and most persistent of the ten fetters (SAṂYOJANA), resulting in the “knowledge of cessation” (KṢAYAJÑĀNA) and in some presentations an accompanying “knowledge of nonproduction” (ANUTPĀDAJÑĀNA), viz., the knowledges that the fetters are destroyed and can never again recur. Because the adept now has full knowledge of the eightfold path (ĀRYĀṢṬĀṄGAMĀRGA) and has achieved liberation (VIMOKṢA), he no longer needs any further instruction; for this reason, this path is also described as the “path where there is nothing more to learn” (AŚAIKṢAMĀRGA). With the attainment of this path, the practitioner is freed from the possibility of any further rebirth due to the causal force of KARMAN.

niṣyandaphala. (T. rgyu mthun gyi ’bras bu; C. dengliu guo; J. tōruka; K. tŭngnyu kwa 等流果). In Sanskrit, lit. “flowing-forth-from effect,” “correlative effect,” or “uniform-emanation effect”; this is one of the five types of effects or fruitions (PHALA) enumerated in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and the YOGĀCĀRA system. The niṣyandaphala is described as an effect that “flows out from” or arises in similarity with, its corresponding cause (HETU)—in this case, specifically the “homogeneous cause” (SABHĀGAHETU) and “all-pervasive cause” (SARVATRAGAHETU)—and is generally described in one of two ways. In the first sense, the effect may correlate with the cause of the previous action. For example, as a result of giving a gift in a past life, a person might enjoy the act of charity in a future life; or, as a result of committing murder in a past life, a person might enjoy killing in a future life. In the second sense, the effect may accord with the experience resulting from the previous action. For example, as a result of being charitable in a past life, one may receive charity in a future life; or as a result of committing murder in a past life, one may be murdered in a future life.

nītārtha. (P. nītattha; T. nges don; C. liaoyi; J. ryōgi; K. yoŭi 了義). In Sanskrit, “definitive,” one of the two categories into which statements in the sūtras may be classified, along with NEYĀRTHA, or “provisional.” Nītārtha and neyārtha are among a number of categories employed in the interpretation of scripture, and provide a means of accounting for statements by the Buddha that appear to contradict the Buddha’s presumed final position on a topic. The Indian schools differ on what constitutes a definitive statement. Some hold that any statement that can be accepted literally is definitive. Thus, for those MAHĀYĀNA schools that hold that all beings will eventually achieve buddhahood, the statement in the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) that there is only one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) would be regarded as a definitive teaching. Based on a statement in the AKṢAYAMATINIRDEŚASŪTRA, others hold that only those statements that describe the ultimate nature of reality are definitive, playing on the literal sense of nītārtha as “definite object” or “definite meaning.” Thus, a statement that wealth is the result of charity (DĀNA), while literally true, would be deemed provisional because it does not make reference to the final nature or emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) of wealth or the act of giving.

Nittō guhō junrei gyōki. (入唐求法巡行). In Japanese, “Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Dharma”; a renowned travel diary, in four rolls, by the Japanese TENDAISHŪ monk ENNIN (794–864) of his nine years sojourning in Tang China. In 838, Ennin sailed to China with his companions Engyō (799–852) and Jōkyō (d. 866), arriving in Yangzhou (present-day Jiangsu province) at the mouth of the Yangzi River. The next year, he found himself at the monastery of Kaiyuansi, where he received the teachings and rituals of the various KONGŌKAI (vajradhātu) deities from the monk Quanya (d.u.). When adverse winds kept him from returning to Japan, he remained behind at the monastery of Fahuayuan on Mt. Chi in Dengzhou (present-day Shandong province). From there, Ennin made a pilgrimage to WUTAISHAN, where he studied TIANTAI ZONG doctrine and practice. In 840, Ennin arrived in the capital Chang’an, where he studied under the master (ĀCĀRYA) Yuanzheng (d.u.) of the monastery of Daxingshansi. The next year, Ennin also studied the teachings of the TAIZŌKAI (garbhadhātu) and the SUSIDDHIKARASŪTRA under the ācārya Yizhen (d.u.) of the monastery of Qinglongsi. In 842, Ennin furthered his studies of the taizōkai under the ācārya Faquan (d.u.) at the monastery Xuanfasi, SIDDHAM under Yuanjian (d.u.) of Da’anguosi, and siddham pronunciation under the Indian ācārya Baoyue (d.u.). In 845, Ennin fled the Huichang persecution of Buddhism (HUICHANG FANAN) that was then raging in Chang’an, and arrived back in Japan in 847. Ennin’s record includes not only detailed information on the routes he took between Japan and China, but also the procedures and expenses required in order to obtain travel permits. In addition, his diary contains detailed descriptions of the daily rituals followed at a Korean monastery in Shandong province where he (and other foreign travelers) stayed for some time. The Nittō guhō junrei gyōki is therefore an important source for studying the daily lives of travelers, merchants, officials, and monks in medieval China.

nitya. (P. nicca; T. rtag pa; C. chang; J. jō; K. sang 常). In Sanskrit, “permanent”; technically defined in some schools as the quality of being capable of lasting more than a single instant (KṢAṆA). According to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of ABHIDHARMA exegesis, all conditioned factors (SAṂSKṚTADHARMA) are impermanent (ANITYA); there are only three unconditioned factors (ASAṂSKṚTADHARMA) that may be viewed as permanent, because they are not subject to the forces of impermanence that govern the conditioned realm of existence. These are the analytical cessation (PRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA, which would include NIRVĀṆA); nonanalytical cessation (APRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA); and space (ĀKĀŚA). To perceive as permanent conditioned factors that are actually impermanent is a fundamental misconception and a primary cause of suffering (DUḤKHA). This mistaken view of permanence thus figures among the four “inverted views” (VIPARYĀSA): to see the painful as pleasurable, the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, and that which is without self as having a self.

nityadharma. (P. niccadhamma; T. rtag pa’i chos; C. changfa; J. jōhō; K. sangpŏp 常法). In Sanskrit, “permanent factors,” one of two basic categories of phenomena in certain strands of ABHIDHARMA exegesis. Despite the centrality of the doctrine of impermanence in Buddhism, it is not the case that all phenomena are impermanent: conditioned factors (SAṂSKṚTADHARMA) are impermanent, but unconditioned factors (ASAṂSKṚTADHARMA) may instead be viewed as permanent. Permanent factors are typically enumerated as three: analytical cessation (PRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA, which would include NIRVĀṆA); nonanalytical cessation (APRATISAṂKHYĀNIRODHA); and space (ĀKĀŚA). Since each of these types of factors is uncompounded, and thus not subject to the forces of impermanence that govern the conditioned realm of existence, they may be viewed as “permanent factors.”

nityānta. (S). See ŚĀŚVATĀNTA.

Niutou Farong. (J. Gozu Hōyū; K. Udu Pŏbyung 牛頭法融) (594–657). In Chinese, “Oxhead, Dharma Interfusion”; proper name of the founder of an early CHAN school often known in English as the “Oxhead school” (NIUTOU ZONG), after his toponym Niutou (Oxhead). Farong was a native of Yanling in present-day Jiangsu province. Little is known of his early years. He is said to have studied the teachings of MADHYAMAKA and to have spent twenty years in the mountains after his ordination by a certain dharma master Ling (d.u.). In 643, Farong entered the monastery of Youqisi on Mt. Niutou (in present-day Jiangsu province), whence he acquired his toponym. In 647, he gave a public lecture on the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, and six years later he lectured on the PAÑCAVIṂŚATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA at the monastery of Jianchusi (see BAO’ENSI). The influential treatise JUEGUAN LUN (“Extinguishing Cognition Treatise”) is attributed by tradition to BODHIDHARMA, the legendary founder of the Chan school, but it is now generally believed to have been composed by Farong or one of his students. Although Farong’s official biography in the XU GAOSENG ZHUAN does not mention this event, later stele inscriptions and Chan genealogical histories (see CHUANDENG LU) report that DAOXIN, the putative fourth patriarch of the Chan school, instructed Farong in the sudden teaching (DUNJIAO); Farong’s connections with Daoxin are, however, historically dubious. Some of the more unusual positions Farong took include the notion that even inanimate objects, such as rocks, rivers, and flowers, possess the buddha-nature (FOXING). Farong was also one of the earliest teachers in the Chan school to advocate the nonreliance on conceptual descriptions of Buddhism (see BULI WENZI).

Niutou zong. (J. Gozushū; K. Udu chong 牛頭宗). In Chinese, “Oxhead School”; a lineage of early Chan that traces itself to the Chan master NIUTOU FARONG (594–657), a reputed disciple of the fourth patriarch DAOXIN (580–651), although the connections between the two monks are tenuous. The monk Zhiwei (646–722) is often credited with the actual formation of the Niutou zong as a lineage that could claim independence from both the Northern school (BEI ZONG) and Southern school (NAN ZONG) of Chan. The school was active in the seventh through eighth centuries, but reached its zenith in the third quarter of the eighth century. The school’s name is derived from Mt. Niutou (in present-day Jiangsu province), where Farong and his students are said to have taught a form of Chan distinct from that of the other lineages then current in China. The Chan historian GUIFENG ZONGMI characterizes the Niutou school as the “tradition (that believes) all things are to be cut off without support” (minjue wuji zong). The teachings of the Niutou tradition show a strong predilection toward the notion of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) and PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, as exemplified in its influential treatise JUEGUAN LUN (“Extinguishing Cognition Treatise”), which uses a series of negative argumentations, derived from MADHYAMAKA antecedents, to open students to an experience of the pure wisdom that transcends all dualities. Oxhead writings also frequently employ a threefold rhetorical structure of an initial question by the teacher, followed by the student’s hesitation in how to respond, culminating in understanding; this structure seems to have its antecedents in TIANTAI ZHIYI’s teachings of the “three truths” (SANDI) of absolute, conventional, and mean. One of the enduring influences of the Niutou school is on the 780 CE composition of the LIUZU TAN JING (“Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch”), which deploys a similar threefold rheotic in developing its understanding of Chan.

Nivāpasutta. (C. Lieshi jing; J. Ryōshikyō; K. Yŏpsa kyŏng 獵師經). In Pāli, “Discourse on the Snare,” the twenty-fifth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 178th SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to an assembly of monks at the JETAVANA grove in the town of ŚRĀVASTĪ (P. Sāvatthi). The Buddha speaks of the obstacles that can hinder monks along the path to liberation using a simile of a hunter, his entourage, a green pasture, and four herds of deer being hunted as prey. The hunter represents MĀRA, the personification of evil and death, who seeks to entrap beings in the cycle of rebirth (SAṂSĀRA). The hunter’s entourage is Māra’s hordes. The pastures are the bait of sensual pleasures that Māra uses to ensnare beings, and the four herds of deer are four types of brāhmaṇas and recluses whom Māra tempts. Progressively deeper levels of soteriological attainment, from the meditative absorptions (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA) to the extinction of the contaminants (P. ĀSAVAKHAYA; S. ĀSRAVAKṢAYA), render one free from Māra’s grasp.

nīvaraṇa. [alt. nivaraṇa] (T. sgrib pa; C. gai; J. gai; K. kae 蓋). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “hindrance” or “obstruction,” referring specifically to five hindrances to the attainment of the first meditative absorption of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPĀVACARADHYĀNA). Each of these five hindrances specifically obstructs one of the five constituents of absorption (DHYĀNĀṄGA) and must therefore be at least temporarily allayed in order for absorption (DHYĀNA) to occur. The five are: (1) “sensual desire” (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders one-pointedness of mind (EKĀGRATĀ); (2) “malice” or “ill will” (VYĀPĀDA), hindering physical rapture (PRĪTI); (3) “sloth and torpor” (STYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering the initial application of thought (VITARKA); (4) “restlessness and worry” (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering mental ease (SUKHA); and (5) “skeptical doubt” (VICIKITSĀ), hindering sustained consideration (VICĀRA). Buddhist sūtras and meditation manuals, such as the VISUDDHIMAGGA, provide extensive discussion of various antidotes or counteragents (PRATIPAKṢA, see also KAMMAṬṬHĀNA) to these hindrances, such as the contemplation on the decomposition of a corpse (AŚUBHABHĀVANĀ) to counter sensual desire; the meditation on loving-kindness (MAITRĪ) to counter malice; the recollection of death to counter sloth and torpor; quietude of mind to counter restlessness and worry; and studying the scriptures to counter skeptical doubt. In addition, the five faculties or dominants (INDRIYA) are also specifically designed to allay the five hindrances: faith (ŚRADDHĀ) counters malice; effort (VĪRYA) counters sloth and torpor; mindfulness (SMṚTI) counters sensual desire; concentration (SAMĀDHI) counters restlessness and worry; and wisdom (PRAJÑĀ) counters skeptical doubt. A similar correlation is made between the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAṄGA) and the hindrances. These five hindrances are permanently eliminated at various stages of the noble path (ĀRYAMĀRGA): worry (kaukṛtya) and skeptical doubt are permanently overcome at the point of becoming a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA); sensual desire and malice on becoming a nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN); and sloth and torpor and restlessness (auddhatya) on becoming a worthy one (ARHAT).

nivāsana. (T. sham thabs; C. niepanseng/qun; J. nehanzō/kun; K. yŏlbansŭng/gun 涅槃僧/裙). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “undergarment,” the lower robe or skirt worn by Buddhist monks and nuns. The nivāsana is a large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the torso and tied at the waist, in some traditions extending to the ankles; it is also called the antaravāsaka, or inner garment. According to the VINAYA, it is to be made of three panels of cloth. This skirt, together with the UTTARĀSAṂGA or upper robe and the SAṂGHĀṬĪ or outer robe, constitute the TRICĪVARA, or triple robe of the monk. See also KĀṢĀYA.

Niwano Nikkyō. (庭野日敬) (1906–1999). Cofounder of RISSHŌ KŌSEIKAI, a Japanese lay Buddhist organization that was an offshoot of REIYŪKAI and was strongly influenced by NICHIRENSHŪ doctrine. Niwano was born into a poor family in a small town in Nigata prefecture in northern Japan. After going to work in Tokyo in 1923, Niwano led a typical working-class life, running such small businesses as rice, charcoal, and Japanese-pickle shops, while also showing an intense interest in astrology, numerology, and divination. Niwano became an ardent adherent of Reiyūkai in 1934, when his nine-month-old daughter recovered from a serious illness after he followed the organization’s practice of ancestor worship. Niwano soon became a leading evangelist for Reiyūkai, recruiting many new followers, one of whom was NAGANUMA MYŌKŌ (1899–1957). In 1938, Niwano and Naganuma left Reiyūkai and cofounded Risshō Kōseikai, together with about thirty other followers. According to Niwano, the group seceded because of Reiyūkai’s overemphasis on the miraculous benefit, rather than the teachings, of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), although others say that the split occurred because the leader of Reiyūkai publicly criticized Niwano’s interest in divination. After establishing the organization, Naganuma served as a spirit medium, while Niwano focused on teaching and administration. After Naganuma’s death in 1957, Niwano became the president of the million-member organization and declared the end of the organization’s first era of “skillful means” (J. hōben; S. UPĀYAKAUŚALYA), which had been characterized by spirit mediumship and divine instructions, and the dawn of a new era of “manifesting the truth” (shinjitsu kengen). Niwano affirmed that henceforth the central objects of the organization’s faith would be the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra and ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha, which were eternal and universal. Based on his understanding of the sūtra, Niwano emphasized the spiritual development of individuals along the BODHISATTVA path, whose salvific efforts should be dedicated not just to one’s own family and ancestors, but also to Japanese society and the world at large. Niwano also dedicated himself to promoting world peace through interreligious cooperation, one example of which was the establishment of the Niwano Peace Foundation in 1978. Niwano resigned from the presidency of Risshō Kōseikai in 1991 and was succeeded by his eldest son Niwano Nichiko (b. 1938).

niyāma. [alt. niyama] (T. nges par ’gyur ba; C. jueding; J. ketsujō; K. kyŏlchŏng 決定). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “constraint,” “certainty,” referring to the certainty of what is to come or the fixedness of things. Laws governing the universe are referred to as the five certainties (pañcaniyāma). According to the Pāli commentaries, these five certainties are (1) the certainty of the seasons (utuniyāma), which includes such aspects of the natural environment as the regular progression of the seasons, the rise and fall in temperature, etc.; (2) the certainty of seeds (bījaniyāma), which refers to botany, viz., that specific seeds produce specific plants, that certain fruits have certain flavors, and so on; (3) the certainty of action (kammaniyāma), which refers to the fact that virtuous actions lead to happiness in the future and nonvirtuous actions lead to suffering; (4) the certainty of mind (cittaniyāma), which includes the processes and constituents of consciousness; and (5) the certainty of the dharma (dhammaniyāma), which refers, among other things, to certain events that occur in the lives of all buddhas. ¶ In the MAHĀYĀNA, nyāma, a BUDDHIST HYBRID SANSKRIT word that is probably an alternate form of niyāma, has a different meaning, referring to the development of compassion that overcomes the faults of the HĪNAYĀNA and is unique to the bodhisattva path. It has been translated into English as “the fixed condition” of a bodhisattva or a bodhisattva’s “distinctive way of salvation.”

niyatagotra. (T. nges pa’i rigs; C. jueding zhongxing; J. ketsujō shushō; K. kyŏlchŏng chongsŏng 決定種性). In Sanskrit, “definite” or “fixed” “lineage,” a term that appears in YOGĀCĀRA soteriological theories. According to some Yogācāra texts, sentient beings are endowed with a disposition that determines whether they will follow the path of a ŚRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or BODHISATTVA and eventually achieve liberation from rebirth as an ARHAT or a buddha. This disposition, or lineage (GOTRA), according to some Yogācāra schools, is determined from time immemorial and cannot be altered. It is on the basis of this doctrine that the Yogācāra is said to assert the existence of three separate soteriological vehicles (TRIYĀNA). These Yogācāra schools do not therefore accept the famous declaration in SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) that all beings will eventually enter the MAHĀYĀNA and achieve buddhahood. In order to account for the possibility of beings who, prior to their entry into NIRVĀṆA, move from a HĪNAYĀNA path to the Mahāyāna path (or vice versa), the Yogācāra asserts that some beings are endowed with an “indefinite lineage” (ANIYATAGOTRA), allowing them to change vehicles based on various circumstances, usually before reaching the aids to penetration (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA) that precede the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA). They also hold that some beings, called ICCHANTIKA (incorrigibles), belong to no spiritual lineage at all and thus are doomed never to achieve liberation. This doctrine of the presence and absence of particular lineages is associated with the Yogācāra exegete ASAṄGA and is identified in East Asian Buddhism with the FAXIANG ZONG. The majority of Yogācāra texts, however, say that those fixed in a ŚRĀVAKA and PRATYEKABUDDHA lineage are only fixed in that lineage until they reach their goal; later, roused to enter the Mahāyāna by reflecting on the compassion of the Buddha, they then enter the bodhisattva lineage at the level of the MOKṢABHĀGĪYA-KUŚALAMŪLA (“virtuous faculties that are aids to liberation”) and achieve full awakening.

niyatamicchādiṭṭhi. (C. jueding xiejian; J. ketsujō jaken; K. kyŏlchŏng sagyŏn 決定邪見). In Pāli, lit. “fixed deluded views”; the three wrong views that lead to a fixed destiny in the next rebirth; viz., the view that existence is uncaused (ahetukadiṭṭhi) and controlled by fate; the view that neither virtuous nor nonvirtuous actions produce results (akiriyadiṭṭhi); and the nihilistic view that death is annihilation, after which nothing happens that is the result of a previous action (natthikadiṭṭhi).

niyatapuggala. In Pāli, “person with a fixed destiny,” in the sense of having a definite place of rebirth, either salutary or unsalutary, in the immediately following lifetime. Such persons are of three types: one who has committed one of five heinous deeds that results in immediate retribution in the next life (P. ānantariyakamma, S. ĀNANTARYAKARMAN) of being reborn in the interminable hell (AVĪCI); one who follows one of the wrong views that leads to a specific unfortunate rebirth in the next lifetime (niyatamicchādiṭṭhi); and one who has attained one of the four stages of noble persons (P. ariyapuggala, S. ĀRYAPUDGALA) and thus will be reborn as either a human or a divinity (DEVA) in the next life, or who, in the case of an arahant (S. ARHAT), will not be reborn at all.

noble persons. See ĀRYAPUDGALA.

nonattachment. Despite its ubiquity in Western Buddhist literature, there is no precise equivalency in Indian Buddhist terminology for this English word. For some of the connotations of nonattachment, see ALOBHA; ANUPALABDHI; NIRVEDA; UPEKṢĀ; VIMOKṢA; VAIRĀGYA.

nonduality. See ADVAYA.

Nōnin. (J) (能忍). See DAINICHI(BŌ) NŌNIN.

nonreturner. See ANĀGĀMIN.

nonself. See ANĀTMAN; NAIRĀTMYA.

Nor bu gling kha. (Norbulingka). The summer residence of the DALAI LAMAs and the Tibetan government, located in the city of LHA SA, south of the PO TA LA Palace. The original foundations for the palace were laid by the seventh Dalai Lama, Skal bzang rgya mtsho, in 1755 at a medicinal spring, with the building completed in 1783 during the reign of the eighth Dalai Lama. Subsequent incarnations greatly expanded the grounds, adding numerous residential and administrative buildings as well an arboretum, gardens, and pools. Every Dalai Lama beginning with the eighth, together with his administration, would transfer to the Nor bu gling kha on the eighteenth day of the third lunar month, usually sometime in April. The palace grounds were also the site of the yearly grand Tibetan drama festival known as Zho ston (Shotön). On March 10, 1959, Tibetans numbering in the thousands held a mass demonstration against Chinese occupation outside the walls of the Nor bu gling kha, behind which the fourteenth Dalai Lama and his family were sequestered. On March 17, the Dalai Lama secretly escaped from the residence to go into exile in India.

Northern school (of Chan). See BEI ZONG.

novice. See ŚRĀMAṆERA; ŚRĀMAṆERIKĀ.

nṛtyāsana. (T. gar byed pa/gar stabs/gar gyi tshul gyis gnas pa). In Sanskrit, lit., “dancing posture,” a physical position in which the figure stands on a slightly bent left leg with the right leg bent and right foot resting on the opposite thigh or groin. The position of the feet may also be reversed. This position is commonly found among female ḌĀKINĪ images, such as VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ. See also ĀSANA.

nun. See BHIKṢUṆĪ; MAE CHI; ŚRĀMAṆERIKĀ.

Nu, U. (1907–1995). Burmese (Myanmar) political leader and patron of Buddhism. (U is a Burmese honorific.) As a young man, U Nu became active in anti-British agitation and in 1936 was expelled by British authorities from the University of Rangoon law school for his political activities. Thereafter, he became a leader of the Burmese nationalist movement, adopting the nationalist title “Thakin” (master), along with his comrades Aung San, Ne Win, and others. On the eve of the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, he was imprisoned by the British as a potential agent. He was released by the Japanese occupation forces and served as the foreign minister of their puppet regime. With growing disenchantment at Japanese mistreatment of Burmese citizens, U Nu helped to organize a clandestine guerilla resistance force that assisted the British when they retook Burma. At the conclusion of World War II, he participated in negotiations with the British for Burmese independence. He became Burma’s first prime minister and served three terms in office (1948–1956, 1957–1958, 1960–1962). A devout Buddhist, he organized under government auspices national monastic curricula, promoted the practice of insight meditation (VIPASSANĀ), and, in 1956, sponsored the convention of the sixth Buddhist council (according to Burmese reckoning; see COUNCIL, SIXTH) in celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha’s parinibbāna (S. PARINIRVĀṆA). The council prepared a new Burmese edition of the Pāli canon (P. tipiṭaka; S. TRIPIṬAKA), together with its commentaries and sub-commentaries, which is currently used in Burmese monastic education. U Nu also attempted, unsuccessfully, to unite the several noncommensal fraternities (Burmese GAING) of the Burmese SAṂGHA into a single body. While achieving much in the religious sphere, U Nu proved unable to cope with the political crises confronting his government, and Burma descended into civil war. He resigned as prime minister in 1956, returned to office in 1957, abdicated civilian government to General Ne Win in 1958, returned to office in 1960, and finally was deposed and arrested by Ne Win in a coup d’état in 1962. U Nu was released in 1968, and a year later he organized a resistance army from exile in Thailand. A rapprochement between U Nu and Ne Win was reached in 1980, and he was allowed to return to Burma, where he devoted himself to religious affairs, in particular as director of a Buddhist translation bureau located at Kaba Aye in Rangoon (Yangon). He again entered politics during the democracy uprising of 1988, setting up a symbolic provisional government when the then-ruling Burmese Socialist government collapsed. He was placed under house arrest in 1989 by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a group composed of generals who succeeded Ne Win. He was released in 1992. A prolific writer on politics and Buddhism, his works include Buddhism: Theory and Practice, Burma under the Japanese, Unite and March, Towards Peace and Democracy, and his autobiography, Saturday’s Son.

Nyagrodhārāma. (P. Nigrodhārāma; T. Nya gro dha’i kun dga’ ra ba; C. Nijulü lin; J. Nikuritsurin; K. Niguyullim 尼拘律林). In Sanskrit, “Nyagrodha’s Grove,” a grove near KAPILAVASTU where the Buddha resided during his first visit to the city after his enlightenment. It was donated to the order by Nyagrodha, a member of the ŚĀKYA clan. It was in this grove that the Buddha performed the famous “dual miracle” (YAMAKAPRĀTIHĀRYA) for his kinsmen and related the VESSANTARA-JĀTAKA (S. Viśvaṃtarajātaka). The Buddha is said to have resided there on other occasions, and several rules of the VINAYA were promulgated in Nyagrodha’s Grove.

nyāma. (BHS). See NIYĀMA.

Nyanaponika Thera. See ÑĀṆAPONIKA MAHĀTHERA.

Nyanatiloka Thera. See ÑĀṆATILOKA MAHĀTHERA.

Nyang ral nyi ma ’od zer. (Nyangral Nyima Öser) (1124–1196). A Tibetan Buddhist master considered the first of the “five kingly treasure revealers” (GTER STON RGYAL PO LNGA) and as a reincarnation of the Tibetan king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. He is also sometimes counted as the first of the “three supreme emanations” (mchog gi sprul sku gsum); the others are GURU CHOS KYI DBANG PHYUG and RGOD LDEM CAN. Born in the southern Tibetan region of LHO BRAG, he received numerous visions of PADMASAMBHAVA, before commencing his illustrious career as a treasure revealer (GTER STON). His Chos ’byung me tog snying po sbrang rtsi’i bcud (“Nectar of the Honey in the Heart of the Flower: A History of the Dharma”) is an important early history of the dharma, with special emphasis on the RNYING MA sect. Among his other well-known works are the Bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ’dus pa’i rgyud (“Tantra of the Gathering of the Sugatas of the Eight Transmitted Precepts”) and a biography of Padmasambhava entitled BKA’ THANG ZANGS GLING MA (“Copper Island Chronicle”).

Nyar ma gtsug lag khang. (Nyarma Tsuklakang). Also spelled Myar ma. A religious institution established in the late tenth century by the king of the western Tibetan GU GE region YE SHES ’OD and the translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO. It is located in Mar yul, currently Ladakh, in northwest India.

Nyāyabindu. (T. Rigs pa’i thigs pa). In Sanskrit, “Drop of Reasoning,” one of the seven treatises of the great seventh-century logician DHARMAKĪRTI. This text summarizes Dharmakīrti’s positions on topics set forth at greater length in his most important work, the PRAMĀṆAVĀRTTIKA, focusing upon the two forms of valid knowledge (PRAMĀṆA): direct perception (PRATYAKṢA) and inference (ANUMĀNA). The work is divided into three chapters, with the first chapter dealing with direct perception (pratyakṣa), that is, valid knowledge gained through the sense consciousnesses (and the mental consciousness) without mediation by thought. The second chapter deals with “inference for one’s own purposes” (SVĀRTHĀNUMĀNA), the process by which thought arrives at a valid judgment. The third chapter deals with “inference for the purpose of others” (PARĀRTHĀNUMĀNA), the statement of syllogisms to an opponent in a debate. Among the several commentaries to the text, the most important is that by DHARMOTTARA.

*Nyāyānusāra. (C. Shun zhengli lun; J. Junshōriron; K. Sun chŏngni non 順正理論). In Sanskrit, “Conformity with Correct Principle”; influential VAIBHĀṢIKA ABHIDHARMA treatise by SAṂGHABHADRA (c. fifth century CE). It is intended as a refutation of VASUBANDHU ’s popular ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA and its presentation of what it purports to be the orthodox positions of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school. The *Nyāyānusāra is both an exposition of the abhidharma philosophy of the Kashmiri Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣikas and a critical commentary on Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, which advocated many positions that critiqued the Kashmiri Vaibhāṣika school. The *Nyāyānusāra is roughly three times its rival text’s length and sought to defend the Vaibhāṣikas against Vasubandhu’s portrayal of their doctrines. For this reason, XUANZANG (who translated the text into Chinese) says that the original title of the text was the *Kośakaraka (C. Jushi bao lun) or “Hailstones upon the Kośa.” As but one example of its criticisms, Saṃghabhadra’s opening critique of Vasubandhu centers on the latter’s assumption that abhidharma does not represent the teaching of the Buddha himself. To refute Vasubandhu’s misinterpretations, Saṃghabhadra cites scriptural passages that prove the Vaibhāṣika position, drawn from scripture (SŪTRA) but also from the massive ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ compendium of abhidharma. In addition to scriptural citation, Saṃghabhadra also resorts to logical argumentation (YUKTI) to refute Vasubandhu’s positions, both by exposing the contradictions explicit in Vasubandhu’s own presentations of doctrine and by demonstrating how Vasubandhu’s positions would undermine fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. In addition to his challenge of Vasubandhu, Saṃghabhadra also criticizes the positions of other Vaibhāṣika detractors, including the Dārṣṭāntika teacher Śrīlāta, and the SAUTRĀNTIKA master Sthavira; Saṃghabhadra’s goal is thus clearly to defend Vaibhāṣika abhidharma against any and all comers. The *Nyāyānusāra is only extant in Xuanzang’s eighty-roll Chinese translation (the Sanskrit title is a reconstruction); portions of the original Sanskrit text have, however, been preserved in citations from other Indian texts, such as commentaries to the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya by STHIRAMATI, Pūrṇavardhana, and YAŚOMITRA.

Nyāyapraveśa. (T. Tshad ma rigs par ’jug pa’i sgo; C. Yinming ru zhengli lun; J. Inmyō nisshōriron; K. Inmyŏng ip chŏngni non 因明入正理論). In Sanskrit, “Primer on Logic,” by the sixth century CE Indian philosopher and logician ŚAṂKARASVĀMIN, a student of DIGNĀGA. Some scholars have argued, based on the Tibetan tradition, that the Nyāyapraveśa was actually written by Dignāga, and that the version translated into Chinese and attributed to Śaṃkarasvāmin is actually Śaṃkarasvāmin’s later edition of Dignāga’s text. The Nyāyapraveśa provides an introduction to the logical system of Dignāga, covering such subjects as valid and invalid methods of proof, methods of refutation, perception, erroneous perception, inference, and erroneous inference. Although Śaṃkarasvāmin’s work was not as extensive, detailed, or original as Dignāga’s, it proved to be popular within the tradition, as attested by the many commentaries on it, including exegeses by non-Buddhists. Large parts of the work survive in the original Sanskrit.