parīttaśubha. (P. parittasubhā; T. dge chung; C. shaojing tian; J. shōjōten; K. sojŏng ch’ŏn 少淨天). In Sanskrit, “lesser purity,” the lowest of the three heavens of the third meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU). The divinities of this heaven are so named because the purity of their bliss is less than that of the gods of the other two levels of the third dhyāna. As with all the heavens of the subtle-materiality realm, one is reborn as a divinity there through achieving the same level of concentration (dhyāna) as the gods of that heaven during one’s practice of meditation in a previous lifetime.

Parivāra. In Pāli, lit., “The Accessory”; an appendix to the three major divisions of the Pāli recension of the monastic disciplinary code (VINAYAPIṬAKA)—viz. the SUTTAVIBHAṄGA, KHANDHAKA, and CŪḶAVAGGA—the Parivāra provides a summary and classification of the rules of monastic conduct, as well as additional instructions regarding administrative procedures to be followed within the monastic community (P. saṅgha; S. SAṂGHA). The Parivāra consists of nineteen chapters summarizing the earlier sections of the vinaya, the content and structure of which vary slightly. For example, the first chapter is a series of catechisms regarding the monks’ rules (PRĀTIMOKṢA), which are classified according to subject. The second offers the same treatment on the rules for nuns. Other chapters are composed of verses or numerical lists. The Parivāra also offers detailed procedures regarding the settlement of disagreements or disputes within the community. The text dictates that disputes must be heard and settled by a court of vinaya experts (vinayadhara). Because it contains references to Ceylonese monks, the work is likely of a later origin than the rest of the Pāli vinaya.

parivāsa. (T. spo ba; C. biezhu; J. betsujū; K. pyŏlchu 別住). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “probation,” a disciplinary term used in the context of the VINAYA. In the monastic disciplinary rules (PRĀTIMOKṢA), parivāsa refers to the temporary period of probation imposed on a monk for concealing a SAṂGHĀVAŚEṢA (P. saṅghadisesa) offense. When a monk commits a saṃghāvaśeṣa offense, he is required to confess it immediately to another monk. If he does so, he is then required to observe six nights of MĀNATVA (P. mānatta), or penance, only. If instead he conceals his offense, he is required to observe the parivāsa probation for as many days as he concealed his offense, after which he must observe six nights of mānatva punishment. Like mānatva, parivāsa entails the temporary loss of privileges normally accorded a monk. The guilty party is required to observe ninety-four restrictions, of which three are most important: (1) he may not dwell under the same roof with another monk, (2) he must announce to monks visiting his monastery that he is observing parivāsa, and (3) when visiting other monasteries, he must inform the monks living there that he is observing parivāsa. In addition, he is not allowed to accept the respect customarily due to a monk, and he may not be served by a novice. The monk observing parivāsa may not serve as an UPĀDHYĀYA or ĀCĀRYA and may not preach to nuns. He must occupy the lowest seat in the monastery and dwell in the worst accommodations. He must give up his seat when approached by another monk and take the lower seat. He may not walk on the same paths as other monks. He may not ask others to bring him his meals to hide his punishment. He may not live alone in the forest or observe ascetic practices (DHUTAṄGA) as a means to hide his offense from others. If at any point in the observance of parivāsa, the guilty monk commits another saṃghāvaśeṣa offense, he must restart the observance from the beginning. After completing his parivāsa penance and his six nights of mānatva, the monk approaches the saṃgha, which in this case means a quorum of monks consisting of at least twenty members, and requests to be “called back into communion” (abbhāna). If the saṃgha agrees, the monk is declared free of the saṃghāvaśeṣa offense and is restored to his former status. ¶ The term parivāsa is also used for a four-month probationary period imposed on mendicants belonging to other religions who wish to join the Buddhist saṃgha. To undertake this parivāsa, the mendicant must first shave his head and beard and don the saffron robes of a monk and approach the SAṂGHA with his request. Having taken the three refuges (TRIŚARAṆA) three times, he declares that formerly he was the member of another sect but now wishes to receive higher ordination as a Buddhist monk. To prepare for ordination, the supplicant requests the saṃgha to grant him parivāsa. The Buddha exempted JAINA ascetics from this requirement, as well as members of his own ŚĀKYA clan.

parivrājaka. (P. paribbājaka; T. kun tu rgyu; C. youxingzhe; J. yugyōja; K. yuhaengja 遊行者). In Sanskrit, “wanderer” or “recluse,” a wandering ascetic in ancient India. The term is sometimes used to refer to Buddhist monks and nuns, but is more commonly used to refer to non-Buddhist “mendicants,” both male and female (S. parivrājikā, P. paribbājikā) of various affiliations, particularly those associated with the various ŚRAMAṆA groups. A catalogue of their views and practices, as well as their condemnation by the Buddha, appears in the BRAHMAJĀLASUTTA. Several of the Buddha’s most prominent disciples, including ŚĀRIPUTRA and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA, were originally parivrājakas before leaving their teachers to join the Buddhist SAṂGHA. According to the Pāli VINAYA, Buddhist monks and nuns are not allowed to offer services, food, or clothing to mendicants of other sects; to do so is a pācittiya (S. PĀYATTIKA) offense.

pāriyātraka. (T. yongs ’du sa brtol; C. yuanshengshu/bolizhiduoshu; J. enshōju/harishittaju; K. wŏnsaengsu/parijiltasu 圓生樹/波利質多樹). Also known as pārijāta, in Sanskrit, “wish-granting tree,” a magical tree whose fruit takes the form of whatever one wishes for. Numerous such trees appear in Buddhist legends. Perhaps the most famous of them is said to grow on the slopes of Mount SUMERU: its trunk is rooted in the realm of the demigods (ASURA), but its leaves, branches, and fruit are located high above in the realm of the divinities (DEVA). Because the demigods are thus unable to enjoy the fruit of the tree that grows in their land, they became jealous of the divinities and fought against them. See also KALPAVṚKṢA.

pariyatti. (S. paryavāpti; C. tong; J. tsū; K. t’ong 通). In Pāli, lit. “mastery” or “comprehension” (of a body of scriptural literature), or (in later Pāli commentarial usage) the “scriptures” themselves as transmitted through an oral tradition; one of the two principal monastic vocations noted in the Pāli commentarial literature, along with PAṬIPATTI (meditative practice). The pariyatti monk serves an important role within the Buddhist tradition by continuing the transmission of a corpus of scriptural literature down to the next generation. Pariyatti monks thus performed the function of a bhāṇaka (reciter) or DHARMABHĀṆAKA (reciter of the dharma), who were typically assigned to memorize one specific subcategory of the canon, i.e., Mahjjhimabhāṇaka (“reciters of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA”), Jātakabhāṇaka (“reciters of the JĀTAKA”), etc. Monks in the contemporary Southeast Asian traditions who study Pāli literature are now also referred to as pariyatti monks; thus the term has come to mean a “study monk.” ¶ Pariyatti is also the first of three progressive kinds of religious mastery. In this context, pariyatti is understood as a thorough comprehension of the theories, terms, and texts that ground Buddhist doctrine and that are enumerated in the literature of the TRIPIṬAKA (the canon). The second is paṭipatti, or “practice” of the prescriptions encountered in one’s study of pariyatti. The final stage is paṭivedha (S. PRATIVEDHA), direct “penetration” to truth. See also GANTHADHURA.

parokṣa. (T. lkog gyur; C. zhiwai; J. chige; K. chioe 智外). In Sanskrit, “hidden,” a term used in the twofold classification of phenomena into the manifest (ABHIMUKHĪ), those things that are evident to sense perception, and the hidden (parokṣa), those things whose existence must be inferred through reasoning. The latter category includes such important matters as subtle impermanence, the existence of rebirth, and the existence of liberation. A third category of the “very hidden” (atyantaparokṣa) is sometimes added, comprising those things that are known only by a buddha, such as the specific deeds in a past life that produced specific consequences in the present. Because those things that are “very hidden” are not accessible to direct perception or inference, they are known through statements by the Buddha in the scriptures (ĀGAMA).

Pārśva. (T. Rtsibs logs; C. Xie; J. Kyō; K. Hyŏp 脇). A North Indian ĀBHIDHARMIKA associated with the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school, who may have lived during the second century CE. Some four hundred years after the death of the Buddha, the king KANIṢKA (r. 132–152) is said to have convened an assembly of five hundred ARHATs to redact the canon; according to XUANZANG, Pārśva presided over this assembly, which came to be known as the fourth Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, FOURTH). It was at that council that the ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA of the Sarvāstivāda school was compiled, including its massive encyclopedic coverage of abhidharma scholastic debates, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ. Pārśva is also claimed to have been a great expert in debate, which led him to convert AŚVAGHOṢA, who became his disciple after Pārśva defeated him in a public debate. In Chinese texts, Pārśva is also called Nansheng (“Hard to Be Born,” probably a translation of Durjāta), since according to legend he stayed in his mother’s womb until the age of six (or sixty) because of misdeeds he performed in his previous life. Some of the Chinese transmission of the lamplight (CHUANDENG LU) literature states that Pārśva was a native of central India who lived during the fifth century BCE and lists Pārśva as the ninth (as in, for example, the FOZU TONGJI) or tenth Indian patriarch (C. ZUSHI; as in the Zhiyuelu). ¶ Pārśva is also the name of the predecessor of MAHĀVĪRA (a.k.a. NIRGRANTHA-JÑĀTĪPUTRA), the Buddha’s contemporary in the rival JAINA school of the Indian ŚRAMAṆA movement. This Pārśva seems to have been a historical figure, who appears on a list of twenty-four JINA in the Jaina spiritual lineage.

Parthia. (C. Anxi guo; J. Ansoku koku; K. Ansik kuk 安息國). A region in Central Asia, southeast of the Caspian Sea, which the Roman geographers knew as Parthia; the Chinese is a transcription of the Parthian proper name Aršak or Arsakes (see ANXI GUO), referring to the Arsacid kingdom (c. 250 BCE–224 CE). Aršak was the name adopted by all Parthian rulers, and the Chinese employed it to refer to the lands that those rulers controlled. In the Marv oasis, where the old Parthian city of Margiana was located, Soviet archeologists discovered the vestiges of a Buddhist monastic complex that has been dated to the third quarter of the fourth century CE, as well as birch-bark manuscripts written in the BRĀHMĪ script that are associated with the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school of the mainstream Buddhist tradition. There is therefore archeological evidence of at least a semblance of Buddhist presence in the area during the fourth through sixth centuries. Parthian Buddhists who were active in China enable us to push this dating back at least two more centuries, for two of the important early figures in the transmission of Buddhist texts into China also hailed from Parthia: AN SHIGAO (fl. c. 148–180 CE), a prolific translator of mainstream Buddhist works, and An Xuan (fl. c. 168–189), who translated the UGRAPARIPṚCCHĀ with the assistance of the Chinese Yan Fotiao. (The AN in their names is an ethnicon referring to Parthia.) There is, however, no extant Buddhist literature written in the Parthian language and indeed little evidence that written Parthian was ever used for purposes other than government documents and financial records until the third century CE, when Manichaean texts written in Parthian begin to appear.

pāruṣya. (P. pharusavācā; T. tshig rtsub; C. ekou; J. akuku; K. akku 惡口). In Sanskrit, “harsh speech,” one of the ten unsalutary ways of action (AKUŚALA-KARMAPATHA) that lead to suffering in the future. The ten are classified into three negative physical deeds, four negative verbal deeds, and three negative verbal deeds. Harsh speech falls into the second category, together with lying (mṛṣāvāda), slander (PAIŚUNYA) and senseless speech (SAṂBHINNAPRALĀPA). Harsh speech would include insults, abusive speech, and sarcasm intended to hurt another person. It may be directed against a living being or a physical object. Harsh speech is typically motivated by hatred, but it can also be motivated by jealousy or ignorance.

paryudāsapratiṣedha. (T. ma yin dgag). In Sanskrit, “affirming negative,” or “implied negation,” a term used in Buddhist logic (HETUVIDYĀ) to refer to a negative declaration or designation (PRATIṢEDHA) that is expressed in such a way that it implies something positive. For example, the term “non-cat” implies the existence of something other than a cat. The standard example provided in works on Buddhist logic is: “The corpulent Devadatta does not eat during the day,” where the absence of his eating during the day implies that he eats at night. In MADHYAMAKA philosophy, emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), the nature of reality, is not a paryudāsapratiṣedha, that is, it does not imply something positive in place of the absence of intrinsic existence (SVABHĀVA). See also PRASAJYAPRATIṢEDHA.

Pāsādikasutta. (C. Qingjing jing; J. Shōjōkyō; K. Ch’ŏngjŏng kyŏng 清淨經). In Pāli, the “Delightful Discourse,” the twenty-ninth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the seventeenth SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); preached to ĀNANDA and CUNDA in the Vedhañña grove in the Sākiya (S. ŚĀKYA) country. Ānanda and Cunda relate to the Buddha the news of the death of Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta (S. NIRGRANTHA-JÑĀTĪPUTRA), the leader of the JAINA sect of wandering mendicants, and the strife that subsequently arose among his followers. The Buddha declares that such disputes naturally arise when the dharma is not well taught. He then elaborates on various wrong views (P. micchādiṭṭhi; S. MITHYĀDṚṢṬI) and prescribes four foundations of mindfulness (P. SATIPAṬṬHĀNA; S. SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA) as a means by which wrong views can be allayed.

paścimakāla. (T. phyi ma’i dus; C. moshi; J. masse; K. malse 末世). In Sanskrit, lit. “latter time,” a term that occurs especially in the MAHĀYĀNA SŪTRAs to describe the time after the Buddha’s passage into PARINIRVĀṆA. This term does not necessarily connote a final period of the disappearance of the Buddha’s dharma, as does the term SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA, but more specifically the period after the Buddha’s passing. Since the Mahāyāna sūtras were composed long after the Buddha passed away, the author of the sūtra will sometimes have the Buddha recommend it in “the latter time” is to suggest the Buddha’s approval of the text. In China, the translation of this term, moshi, seems to have served as the basis for the Chinese neologism MOFA, a more common term that in East Asia came to evoke the final period of the dharma.

past lives. See JĀTISMARA; PŪRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI.

Paśupatināth. A large temple complex in Kathmandu, Nepal, along the Bhagmati River, dedicated to the form of Śiva known as Paśupati, “Lord of the Beasts.” Newar and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, however, understand Paśupatināth as having Buddhist connections as well. Newar Buddhists venerate the central image of the Guhyeśwarī shrine (understood by Hindus to be Kālī) as the deity NAIRĀTMYĀ, consort of HEVAJRA. Some Tibetans consider several caves along the river to have been occupied by the Indian Buddhist adepts TILOPA and NĀROPA, a tradition that other Tibetan scholars have refuted.

Paṭācārā. (C. Boluozhena; J. Harashana; K. Parach’ana 波羅遮那). In Sanskrit and Pāli, an eminent female ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his nun disciples in mastery of the VINAYA. According to the Pāli account, she was born the daughter of a wealthy banker in Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ), but when her parents tried to arrange a marriage with a suitable groom, she instead eloped with a servant with whom she had fallen in love. Even though she had disappointed her parents, she still wished to give birth at their home. But her husband protested, so while he was away collecting wood, she set off for her parents’ house alone. Her husband followed, but on the way she gave birth to a son and they returned home together. She did the same when she was ready to give birth to her second child. Again, her husband followed and she gave birth on the road. This time a great storm broke out, and her husband went to gather branches and leaves to make a temporary shelter. She waited in the storm all night, huddled around her children, but her husband did not return; he had been bitten by a snake and had died. She discovered his body the next day and, filled with sorrow, set off across a swollen river to her parents’ home. She could not carry both children at the same time, so she left her infant on a bed of leaves on the shore as she waded into the river with the older son. Midstream she looked back to see an eagle swoop down and snatch her infant, and in her excitement she dropped her son who was swept away by the current. Now, more miserable than before, she made her way to Sāvatthi, only to discover that her parents’ house had also collapsed in the storm, killing her parents and brother. With no family left, she went mad with grief, wandering about until her clothes fell off. People drove her away until one day she happened upon the JETAVANA grove, where the Buddha was staying. His attendants tried to prevent her approach, but the Buddha bade her to come and tell her story. Consoling her in a gentle voice, he preached to her of the inevitability of death, and, as she was listening to his words, she attained stream-entry (S. SROTAĀPANNA). She requested and was given ordination on the spot. Some time after, while washing her feet, Paṭācārā noticed how water droplets would each roll off in a different direction, and she noted, “So too do beings die, some in childhood, adulthood, or old age.” With this realization she attained arhatship. Paṭācārā became a famous teacher of the vinaya, with many female disciples, and was sought out by women who had suffered tragedies because of her wise and gentle advice. A similar story is told about UTPALAVARṆĀ.

Pāṭaliputra. (P. Pāṭaliputta; T. Pa ṭa la yi bu; C Huashi cheng; J. Keshijō; K. Hwassi sŏng 華氏城). Capital of the kingdom of MAGADHA and later of the Mauryan empire, ruins of which are located near (and beneath) the modern city of Patna in Bihar. The place is described as having been a village named Pāṭaligāma at the time of the Buddha who, upon visiting the site, prophesied its future greatness. At that time Magadha’s capital city was RĀJAGṚHA. It is not known when the capital was transferred to Pāṭaliputra, but it probably occurred sometime after the reign of the Buddha’s junior contemporary, King AJĀTAŚATRU. The city reached its greatest glory during the reign of the third Mauryan emperor, AŚOKA, whose realm extended from Afghanistan in the west to Bengal in the east, and to the border of Tamil Nadu in the south. According to the Pāli chronicles DĪPAVAṂSA and MAHĀVAṂSA, it was in the royal palace of Pāṭaliputra that Aśoka was converted to Buddhism by the seven-year-old novice Nigrodha. The same sources state that Pāṭaliputra was the site of the third Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, THIRD), whence Buddhist missions were dispatched to nine adjacent lands (paccantadesa). These reports are partially confirmed by Aśoka’s own inscriptions. in which he describes his adoption and promotion of Buddhism and his dispatch of what appear to be diplomatic missions to several neighboring states. The city was known to the Greeks as Pālibothra and was described by Megasthenes, who dwelled there for a time. It continued to be the capital of Magadha after the fall of the Mauryans and served again as an imperial capital between the fourth and sixth centuries under the Gupta dynasty. By the time the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG (600/602–664) visited India during the seventh century, Pāṭaliputra was mostly in ruins; what little remained was destroyed in the Muslim invasions of the twelfth century. See also MOGGALIPUTTATISSA.

path. See MĀRGA; PATHA; DAO.

patha. (T. lam; C. dao; J. dō; K. to 道). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “course” or “way”; a term closely synonymous with “path” (MĀRGA), as in the ten wholesome and unwholesome courses of action (KARMAPATHA). Patha often functions as a pleonastic suffix to create an abstract formation similar to the Sanskrit –tā, e.g., rāgapatha (sensuality). One of its most celebrated usages is in the compound “ways of speech” (vacanapatha, vādapatha), the locus classicus for which appears in the AṬṬHAKAVAGGA: “When all dharmas are abolished, all paths of speech are also abolished” (P. sabbesu dhammesu samūhatesu/samūhatā vādapathā pi sabbe ti).

path of accumulation. See SAṂBHĀRAMĀRGA.

path of cultivation. See BHĀVANĀMĀRGA.

path of no further training. See AŚAIKṢAMĀRGA.

path of preparation. See PRAYOGAMĀRGA.

path of vision. See DARŚANAMĀRGA.

paṭibhāganimitta. In Pāli, lit., “counterpart image,” “representational image”; the third of the three major visualization signs experienced in tranquillity (P. samatha; S. ŚAMATHA) exercises, along with the PARIKAMMANIMITTA (preparatory image) and the UGGAHANIMITTA (eidetic image). These three images and the meditative exercises employed to experience them are discussed in detail in BUDDHAGHOSA’s VISUDDHIMAGGA, where they are listed sequentially according to the degree of concentration necessary to develop them. These images are particularly associated with the use of the ten visualization devices (KASIṆA) that are used in the initial development of concentration. In these exercises, the meditator attempts to convert a visual object of meditation, such as soil, fire, or a color, into a mental projection or conceptualization that is as clear as the visual image itself. When the image the practitioner sees with his eyes (the so-called parikammanimitta or “preparatory image”) is equally clear when visualized in the mind, the practitioner is said to have obtained the uggahanimitta (eidetic image). This image, however, still represents a relatively weak degree of concentration, and it must be strengthened until the paṭibhāganimitta, or “representational image,” emerges, which marks the access to meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA, S. DHYĀNA). This representational image is said to be a purely abstract, conceptual form of the visualized image that appears to “break out” from the eidetic sign, e.g., with the fire kasiṇa, the representational image of the visualized flame appears motionless, like a piece of red cloth hanging in space, or like a golden fan.

Pāṭikasutta. (C. Anouyi jing; J. Anuikyō; K. Anui kyŏng 阿夷經). In Pāli, “Discourse on the [Ascetic] Pāṭika[putta],” the twenty-fourth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the fifteenth sūtra in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); a discourse by the Buddha on the display of supernatural powers addressed to the mendicant Bhaggavagotta. The Buddha relates how his former disciple, Sunakkhatta, lost faith in the Buddha because the latter refused to display magical powers or speculate on such questions as the origin of the universe as other teachers of the time were wont to do. The Buddha explains that such displays of magic are trivial, and speculation on such matters does not lead to liberation. He does, however, relate the story of his defeat of the JAINA naked ascetic Pāṭikaputta, who challenges the Buddha to a miracle-working contest, but when the Buddha answers the challenge, he is unable to rise from his seat.

paṭipadāñāṇadassanavisuddhi. In Pāli, “purity of knowledge and vision regarding progress along the path”; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the sixth of seven “purities” (VISUDDHI; cf. S. VIŚUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. This purity consists of eight kinds of insight knowledge regarding phenomena, together with a ninth kind of knowledge that adapts itself to the supramundane path (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA) and elements pertaining to enlightenment (P. bodhipakkhiyadhamma; S. BODHIPĀKṢIKADHARMA). The nine kinds of knowledge are (1) knowledge arising from the contemplation of arising and passing away (UDAYABBAYĀNUPASSANĀÑĀṆA), (2) knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution (BHAṄGĀNUPASSANĀÑĀṆA), (3) knowledge arising from the awareness of terror (BHAYATUPAṬṬHĀNĀÑĀṆA), (4) knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger (ĀDĪNAVĀNUPASSANĀÑĀṆA), (5) knowledge arising from the contemplation of aversion (NIBBIDĀNUPASSANĀÑĀṆA), (6) knowledge arising from the desire for deliverance (MUCCITUKAMYATĀÑĀṆA), (7) knowledge arising from contemplation of reflection (PAṬISAṄKHĀNUPASSANĀÑĀṆA), (8) knowledge arising from equanimity regarding all formations of existence (SAṄKHĀRUPEKKHĀÑĀṆA), and (9) conformity knowledge (ANULOMAÑĀṆA).

paṭipatti. (S. pratipatti; T. sgrub pa; C. xiuxing; J. shugyō; K. suhaeng 修行). In Pāli, “practice”; one of the two principal monastic vocations noted in the Pāli commentarial literature, along with PARIYATTI (scriptural mastery). Paṭipatti is the application in practice of the teachings outlined in the scriptures, as distinguished from a purely theoretical understanding of the teachings. Monks in the contemporary Southeast Asian traditions who are primarily engaged in meditative practice, rather than study of the Pāli scriptures, are referred to as paṭipatti monks; thus the term means a “meditation monk.” The paṭipatti monk serves the laity by providing them with a PUṆYAKṢETRA, or “field of merit”: i.e., by supporting monks who are striving to fully realize the Buddha’s teaching, the laity can plant the seeds of merit (PUṆYA), which will improve both this and future lives. ¶ Paṭipatti is also the second of three progressive kinds of religious mastery. In this context, paṭipatti is understood as “practice” of the prescriptions encountered in the first type, pariyatti, the mastery of Buddhist doctrine and textual literature. Paṭipatti results in paṭivedha (S. PRATIVEDHA), direct “penetration” to truth. See also PRATIPATTI; VIPASSANĀDHURA.

Paṭisambhidāmagga. In Pāli, “Path to Analytical Knowledge,” the twelfth book of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. Its chief subject is the attainment of “analytical knowledge” (P. paṭisambhidā, S. PRATISAṂVID), this being the highest attainment available to the ARHAT. This work is scholastic in nature, borrowing long passages from the VINAYAPIṬAKA and the SUTTAPIṬAKA, suggesting that it is a work of a later date, despite its traditional attribution to Sāriputta (S. ŚĀRIPUTRA). The Paṭisambhidāmagga describes in detail the nature of wisdom, including the wisdom of the Buddha, in the style of an ABHIDHAMMA text, even though it is included in the SUTTAPIṬAKA. It also discusses a range of central topics in Buddhist soteriology, including mindfulness of the breath (P. ānāpānasati; S. ĀNĀPĀNasmṚTI), the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (P. cattāri ariyasaccāni; S. catvāry āryasatyāni), emptiness (P. suñña; cf. S. ŚŪNYATĀ), supranormal powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI), the foundations of mindfulness (P. SATIPAṬṬHĀNA; S. SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA), serenity or calmness (P. samatha; S. ŚAMATHA), and insight (P. VIPASSANĀ; S. VIPAŚYANĀ). According to the account in the DĪPAVAṂSA, the Paṭisambhidāmagga was one of the works rejected by the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA school from inclusion in the canon.

paṭisaṅkhānupassanāñāṇa. In Pāli, “knowledge arising from contemplation of reflection”; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the seventh of nine types of knowledge (ÑĀṆA) cultivated as part of “purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path” (PAṬIPADĀÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI; cf. S. VIŚUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. The practitioner cultivates this knowledge as a means of escape from the conditioned factors (P. saṅkhāra; S. SAṂSKĀRA) comprising the universe, having become desirous of deliverance from all forms of existence in the cycle of rebirth. He develops this by reflecting again upon the conditioned factors by noting how they are characterized by the three marks (P. tilakkhaṇa; S. TRILAKṢAṆA) of impermanence (P. anicca; S. ANITYA), suffering (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) and nonself (P. anatta; S. ANĀTMAN). Seeing them as evanescent, temporary, limited by arising and passing away, perishable, unstable, formed, subject to annihilation and death, etc., the practitioner understands these formations to be impermanent. Seeing them as oppressed, unbearable, the cause of pain, a disease, a tumor, a dart, a calamity, subject to birth, aging, illness, sorrow, lamentation, despair, etc., he understands these conditioned factors to be suffering. Seeing them as alien, empty, vain, void, ownerless and without a master, as neither “I” nor “mine” nor belonging to anyone else, etc., he understands them to be nonself.

pātra. (P. patta; T. lhung bzed; C. bo; J. hachi; K. pal 鉢). In Sanskrit, “begging bowl” or “alms bowl,” the bowl that monks, nuns, female probationers, and male and female novices use for gathering alms food (PIṆḌAPĀTA). The bowl is one of the eight requisites (PARIṢKĀRA) allowed the monk, and (along with robes), is the most visible possession of a monk. Because of its ubiquity in Buddhist monasticism, the bowl is an object of high practical and symbolic value within the tradition and thus figures prominently in Buddhist practice, institutions, and literature. There are rules of what materials bowls may, and may not, be made of. They are usually made of iron or clay and may be of three sizes, large, medium, or small. Offering food to monks is one of the primary means by which the laity may earn religious merit, and the bowl is symbolic of the close bonds of mutual support that are at the heart of monastic-lay relations. One of the most severe penalties the SAṂGHA can administer to the laity, therefore, is to refuse their donations. This act of ultimate censure is called “overturning the bowl” (S. PĀTRANIKUBJANA), and is imposed on a layperson who has, for example, harmed the interests of the saṃgha, abused monks or nuns, or spoken disparagingly of the Buddha, dharma, or saṃgha. If the layperson makes amends, the saṃgha ends its boycott by “turning the bowl upright” and receiving gifts from him or her again. In all traditions of Buddhism, the bowls of past masters have functioned as relics (and were sometimes enshrined). In some traditions, most famously that of the CHAN school, the bowl was passed on from teacher to student as a symbol of lineage and as an insignia of authority. See also TAKUHATSU.

pātranikubjana. (P. pattanikkujjana; T. lhung bzed khas phub pa; C. fubo/fubo jiemo; J. fuhatsu/fuhatsu konma; K. pubal/pubal kalma 覆鉢/覆鉢羯磨). In Sanskrit, “overturning the bowl,” a severe form of censure for laypeople. See PĀTRA.

patriarch(s). See ZUSHI.

Paṭṭhāna. [alt. Paṭṭhānappakaraṇa]. In Pāli, lit. “Relations,” or “Foundational Conditions”; the sixth of the seven books of the Pāli ABHIDHAMMAPIṬAKA (but also sometimes considered the last book of that canon). This highly abstract work concerns the twenty-four conditions (P. paccaya; S. PRATYAYA) that govern the interaction of factors (P. dhamma; S. DHARMA) in the causal matrix of dependent origination (P. paṭiccasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). According to the Pāli ABHIDHAMMA, these relations, when applied to all possible combinations of phenomena, describe the entire range of conscious experience. The Paṭṭhāna is organized into four main divisions based on four distinct methods of conditionality, which it calls the positive, or “forward,” method (anuloma); the negative, or “reverse,” method (paccanīya); the positive–negative method (anuloma-paccanīya); and the negative–positive method (paccanīya-anuloma). Each of these four is further divided into six possible combinations of phenomena, e.g., in triplets (tika) and pairs (duka): for example, each condition is analyzed in terms of the triplet set of wholesome (P. kusala; S. KUŚALA), unwholesome (P. akusala; S. AKUŚALA), and neutral (P. avyākata; S. AVYĀKṚTA). The four main sections are each further subdivided into six sections, giving a total of twenty-four divisions, one for each possible mode of conditionality. The twenty-four modes are as follows: root condition (hetupaccaya), object condition (ārammaṇapaccaya), predominance condition (adhipatipaccaya), continuity condition (anantarapaccaya), immediate continuity condition (samanantarapaccaya), co-nascence condition (sahajātapaccaya), mutuality condition (aññamaññapaccaya), dependence condition (nissayapaccaya), reliance condition (upanissayapaccaya), antecedence condition (purejātapaccaya), consequence condition (pacchājātapaccaya), repetition condition (āsevanapaccaya), volitional action condition (kammapaccaya), fruition condition (vipākapaccaya), nutriment condition (āhārapaccaya), governing faculty condition (indriyapaccaya), absorption condition (jhānapaccaya), path condition (maggapaccaya), association condition (sampayuttapaccaya), disassociation condition (vippayuttapaccaya), presence condition (atthipaccaya), absence condition (natthipaccaya), disappearance condition (vigatapaccaya), and continuation condition (avigatapaccaya). The Paṭṭhāna is also known as the “Great Composition” (Mahāpakaraṇa) because of its massive size: the Pāli edition in Burmese script is 2,500 pages in length, while the Thai edition spans 6,000 pages. An abbreviated translation of the Paṭṭhāna appears in the Pali Text Society’s English translation series as Conditional Relations. ¶ In contemporary Myanmar (Burma), where the study of abhidhamma continues to be highly esteemed, the Paṭṭhāna is regularly recited in festivals that the Burmese call pathan pwe. Pathan pwe are marathon recitations that go on for days, conducted by invited ABHIDHAMMIKA monks who are particularly well versed in the Paṭṭhāna. The pathan pwe serves a similar function to PARITTA recitations, in that it is believed to ward off baleful influences, but its main designated purpose is to forestall the decline and disappearance of the Buddha’s dispensation (P. sāsana; S. ŚĀSANA). The Theravāda tradition considers the Paṭṭhāna to be the Buddha’s most profound exposition of ultimate truth (P. paramatthasacca; S. PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and, according to the Pāli commentaries, the Paṭṭhāna is the first constituent of the Buddha’s sāsana that will disappear from the world as the religion faces its inevitable decline. The abhidhammikas’ marathon recitations of the Paṭṭhāna, therefore, help to ward off the eventual demise of the Buddhist religion. See also ANULOMAPRATILOMA.

pattidāna. [alt. patti] (cf. S. prāpti; C. de; J. toku; K. tŭk 得). In Pāli, lit. “assigned gift,” referring to merit (P. puñña, S. PUṆYA) that has been obtained and then transferred (parivaṭṭa) to others; the term is thus often translated into English as the “transfer of merit.” The “transfer of merit” is one of the most common practices in THERAVĀDA Buddhism, in which the merit from a particular virtuous deed can be directed toward another person specified by the agent. In doing so, the agent of the deed does not lose the karmic benefit of the virtuous deed and accumulates further virtue through the gift. In the Tirokuḍḍasutta, a number of ghosts (P. peta, S. PRETA) cause a commotion in the palace of BIMBISĀRA after he serves a meal to the Buddha and his monks. The Buddha explains that they are former kinsmen of the king who have been reborn as ghosts, who can only be satiated by receiving merit. The king then offers alms to the Buddha and his monks the next day, verbally offering it to his relatives at the same time. The ghosts, who had been invisible, become visible and are seen receiving food and drink. When the king offers robes to the monks, they also receive robes. The transfer of merit is a practice found throughout the Buddhist world, based on the belief that the dead cannot directly receive offerings; instead, those offerings must be made to virtuous recipients, such as the Buddha or the members of the SAṂGHA, with the merit of that deed then transferred to the departed. See also PARIṆĀMANĀ; PUṆYĀNUMODANA.

Paurṇagiri. (S). See PŪRṆAGIRI.

pauṣṭika. (T. rgyas pa’i las; C. zengyi; J. zōyaku; K. chŭngik 增益). In Sanskrit, “increase,” one of the four types of deeds or powers (caturkarman) described in tantric texts. The others are the pacification of difficulties (ŚĀNTIKA), the control of negative forces (VAŚĪKARAṆA), and the destruction of enemies (ABHICĀRA). Tantric texts often contain rituals designed to bestow one of more of these powers. Rituals for pauṣṭika typically promise the ability to increase auspicious elements, both physical and spiritual. Thus, one finds rituals for increasing wealth and prosperity (sometimes through finding buried treasure), for increasing one’s intelligence, life span, fame, and beauty, and for avoiding famine and disease.

Pāyāsisutta. (C. Bisu jing; J. Heishukukyō; K. P’yesuk kyŏng 弊宿經). In Pāli, “Discourse to Pāyāsi,” the twenty-third sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the seventh SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha’s disciple Kumārakassapa (S. KUMĀRA-KĀŚYAPA) to Pāyāsi, governor of the town of Setabyā in Kosala (S. KOŚALA) country. Pāyāsi held the wrong views that there is neither another world, nor life after death, nor consequences of good and bad actions. Kumārakassapa convinced him of his errors and converted him to Buddhism through the skillful use of similes. He then taught the governor the proper way to make offerings to the three jewels (S. RATNATRAYA) of the Buddha, the DHARMA, and the SAṂGHA so that they would bear the greatest fruition of merit.

pāyattika. [alt. prāyaścittika, pātayantika, etc.] (P. pācittiya; T. ltung byed; C. danduo; J. tanda; K. tant’a 單墮). In Sanskrit, lit. “requiring expiation,” “transgression to be confessed,” a lesser category of violations of the monastic code (PRĀTIMOKṢA). Transgressions fall under three major headings: (1) those that result in “defeat” (PĀRĀJIKA), (2) those that are expiated through penance and probation imposed by the SAṂGHA (SAṂGHĀVAŚEṢA), and (3) those that are expiated simply by being confessed to another monk. The pāyattika constitute this last category. In the Pāli VINAYA, there are ninety-two acts that fall under this category, comprising a wide range of offenses, ranging from lying to digging in the earth, damaging a plant, lying down in the same lodging with a woman, not putting away bedding, sewing the robe of a nun who is not a relative, drinking alcohol, swimming for pleasure, offering food to a naked ascetic, staying more than two or three consecutive nights with an army, and hiding another monk’s bowl as a joke. The term also appears in another category of transgressions, called “forfeiture” (S. NAIḤSARGIKAPĀYATTIKA; P. nissaggiyapācittiya), in which a monk or nun possesses an object that is prohibited or has been wrongly acquired; in that case, the object must be forfeited and the deed confessed.

Pegu. [alt. Bago]. Former capital of the Mon (Talaing) kingdom of Rāmaññadesa (1287–1539) in Lower Burma; also called Hanthawaddi. Founded c. 825 CE on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, Pegu served as an important entrepôt, which had flourishing commercial and cultural links with Sri Lanka, India, and ports farther east. The port was made the Mon capital in 1353 when the Mon court was transferred there from the city of Muttama (Martaban). The kingdom of Rāmaññadesa had originally gained independence in 1287 with the collapse of its former suzerain, the Burmese empire of PAGAN (Bagan), and for much of the next two and a half centuries it was engaged in internecine warfare with Pagan’s landlocked successor state, AVA, for control of the maritime province of Bassein on Pegu’s western flank. As the capital of a wealthy trading kingdom, Pegu was filled with numerous Buddhist shrines and monasteries. These included the Kyaikpien, Mahazedi, Shwegugale, and Shwemawdaw pagodas, and the nearby Shwethalyaung, a colossal reclining buddha built in 994. The most important Mon king in the religious sphere to rule from Pegu was Dhammacedi (r. 1472–1492) who, in 1476, conducted a purification of the Mon sāsana along the lines of the reformed Sinhalese tradition. The purification is recorded in the KALYĀṆĪ INSCRIPTIONS erected in Pegu at site of Kalyāṇī Sīmā Hall. Pegu fell to the Burmese in 1539, who retained it as the capital of their new Burmese Empire until 1599. The beauty of Pegu was regularly extolled in the travelogues of European merchants and adventurers. Pegu again briefly became the capital of an independent Mon kingdom between 1747 and 1757, after which it was utterly destroyed by the Burmese king ALAUNGPAYA (r. 1752–1760), founder of the Konbaung empire (1752–1885). It was rebuilt and subsequently served as the British capital of Lower Burma between 1852 and 1862 and is currently the capital of Bago District.

Pe har rgyal po. (Pehar Gyalpo). A god of the Tangut people (T. Mi nyag; C. Xixia), who was adopted into Tibetan Buddhism as the state oracle. According to Tibetan legend, at the completion of the BSAM YAS monastery at the end of the eighth century, the monastery was in need of a protector god. At that time, Pe har was in residence at a hermitage in Bhata hor, having come there from Bengal. In the early ninth century, the Tibetan king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN sent his nephew Prince Mu rug btsan po to conquer Mi nyag and destroy Bhata hor, which he did with the assistance of the god VAIŚRAVAṆA. Pe har fled, turning himself into a vulture to escape. A YAKṢA in Vaiśravaṇa’s command shot him with an arrow, and brought him to Bsam yas, where PADMASAMBHAVA installed him as the monastery’s protector. Other versions credit Padmasambhava with the actual capture of Pe har, and still others have GE SAR defeat Pe har. The kingdom of Mi nyag was finally destroyed by the Mongol Genghis Khan in the twelfth century, leading to an influx in Mi nyag refugees; this was a time when Pe har’s legends were being developed. From that point, Pe har, as a captured deity made to serve the Tibetan state, is a figure much interwoven in the events of the history of Tibetan imperial expansion. Pe har is said to have resided at Bsam yas for some seven centuries before moving to the Gnas chung shrine below ’BRAS SPUNGS monastery outside of LHA SA at the time of the fifth DALAI LAMA. It is at GNAS CHUNG, a monastery with both RNYING MA and DGE LUGS PA affiliations, that he serves as the state oracle. The legends of his move involve an initial move to a Rnying ma monastery on the banks of the Skyid chu upriver from Lha sa. Pe har and the abbot of the monastery did not get along, and, after causing a fair amount of mischief, Pe har was locked in a wooden box that was thrown into the river. Various accounts relate how the box was retrieved by monks of ’Bras spungs, and how Pe har then escaped, alighting in the form of a white dove in a tree below Gnas chung monastery where Pe har subsequently took up residence. (See GNAS CHUNG ORACLE for Pe har’s activities as the Tibetan state oracle.) Pe har has been fully integrated into native Tibetan spirit pantheons: he is the head of the worldly DHARMAPĀLA, chief of the three hundred sixty rgyal po spirits, and leader of a group of deities known as the rgyal po sku lnga, the “kings of the five bodies,” who in addition to Pe har are Brgya byin, Mon bu pu tra, Shing bya can, and Dgra lha skyes gcig bu, all of whom are also seen as emanations of Pe har. His consort is named Bdud gza’ smin dkar. In iconography Pe har is frequently pictured as white, with three faces and six arms riding a white lion, although he is also shown with one face and two hands. Finally, the spelling of his name varies considerably, including Dpe kar, Pe dkar, Spe dkar, Dpe dkar, Be dkar, Dpe ha ra, and Pe ha ra.

Pelliot, Paul. (1878–1945). French Sinologist, whose retrieval of thousands of manuscripts from DUNHUANG greatly advanced the modern understanding of Buddhism along the ancient SILK ROAD. A pupil of SYLVAIN LÉVI (1863–1935), Pelliot was appointed to the École Française d’Extrême-Orient in Hanoi in 1899. In 1906, Pelliot turned his attention to Chinese Central Asia, leading an expedition from Paris to Tumchuq and KUCHA, where he unearthed documents in the lost TOCHARIAN language. In Urumchi, Pelliot received word of the hidden library cave at Dunhuang discovered by AUREL STEIN and arrived at the site in February 1908. There, he spent three weeks reading through an estimated twenty thousand scrolls. Like Stein, Pelliot sent thousands of manuscripts to Europe to be studied and preserved. Unlike Stein, who knew no Chinese or Prakritic languages, Pelliot was able to more fully appreciate the range of documents at Dunhuang, selecting texts in Chinese, Tibetan, Khotanese, Sogdian (see SOGDIANA), and Uighur and paying particular attention to unusual texts, including rare Christian and Manichaean manuscripts. Today these materials form the Pelliot collection of Dunhuang materials in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris. Ironically, it was Pelliot’s announcement of the Dunhuang manuscript cache to scholars in Beijing in May 1908 that resulted in the immediate closing of the site to all foreigners. Pelliot returned to Paris in 1909, only to be confronted by the erroneous claim that he had returned with forged manuscripts. These charges were proved false only in 1912 with the publication of Stein’s book, Ruins of Desert Cathay, which made clear that Stein had left manuscripts behind in Dunhuang. In 1911, Pelliot was made chair of Central Asian Languages at the Collège de France and dedicated the rest of his career to the study of both China and Central Asia. During the First World War, Pelliot served as French military attaché in Beijing. In the postwar years he was an active member of the Société Asiatique. In 1920, he succeeded Édouard Chavannes as the editor of the journal T’oung Pao. His vast erudition, combined with his knowledge of some thirteen languages, made him one of the leading scholars of Asia of his generation.

Peng Shaosheng. (彭紹升) (1740–1796). A Confucian literatus turned Buddhist adherent during the Qing dynasty (1683–1839); his cognomen was Peng Jiqing. Peng authored several important biographical collections of Chinese Buddhist adherents who were mostly ignored in the traditional collections of biographies of eminent monks (GAOSENG ZHUAN); these include a collection of biographies of laypeople, the JUSHI ZHUAN (“Record of [Eminent] Laymen”) and the SHANNÜREN ZHUAN (“Record of [Eminent] Laywomen”), along with a c. 1783 collection of biographies of pure land figures titled Jingtu shengxian lu (“A Record of Pure Land Sages”). See JUSHI ZHUAN; SHANNÜREN ZHUAN.

perfect and sudden teaching. See YUANDUN JIAO.

perfection of wisdom. See PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ.

perfection of wisdom sūtras. See PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ.

perfection(s). See PĀRAMITĀ.

person. See PUDGALA.

perverted views. See VIPARYĀSA.

Peṭakopadesa. In Pāli, “Piṭaka-Disclosure”; a paracanonical Pāli text dedicated to the interpretation of canonical texts, which is included in the longer Burmese edition of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA. The work is traditionally ascribed to the Buddha’s disciple Kaccāna (S. KĀTYĀYANA; MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA), but was likely composed in India as early as the second century BCE. A work in eight chapters, it is meant to assist those who are already versed in the dharma in the proper exegesis and explanation of specific passages, allowing them to rephrase a passage in such a way that it remains consistent in meaning with the teaching as a whole. In this way it offers an early guide to authors of commentaries. In the Pāli tradition, it was superseded by a somewhat later and similar text, the NETTIPPAKARAṆA. Both the Netti and the Peṭakopadesa develop an elaborate hermeneutical theory based on the broad rubrics of “interpretation” or “guidance” (P. netti; cf. S. netri) regarding “sense” (vyañjana) and interpretation regarding “meaning” (P. attha; S. ARTHA). See also SANFEN KEJING; VYĀKHYĀYUKTI.

Petavatthu. In Pāli, “Accounts of Ghosts,” the seventh book of the KHUDDAKANIKĀYA of the Pāli SUTTAPIṬAKA. It consists of fifty-one stories of petas (S. PRETA, often translated as “ghosts” or “hungry ghosts”) who are suffering the negative consequences of their unsalutary deeds in a previous life. The stories seem to have been intended to serve as cautionary tales for the laity; the Petavatthu describes the horrors that await the wicked, just as the VIMĀNAVATTHU describes the pleasures in the heavens that await the good. In most of the stories, a monk encounters a peta and asks how he or she has come to suffer this fate. The peta then recounts the negative deeds in a former life that led to the present sorrowful rebirth.

Pha dam pa sangs rgyas. (Padampa Sangye) (d. 1117). An Indian tantric master renowned in Tibet for his teachings on the practice of “pacification” (ZHI BYED). His name in Sanskrit is sometimes given as Paramabuddha, although Pha dam pa is also regarded as an affectionate title, “Excellent Father.” According to traditional accounts, he was from a family of seafaring merchants on the southeast coast of India. After his father’s death, he was ordained at VIKRAMAŚĪLA, with the ordination name Kamalaśīla, leading some Tibetan sources to claim that he was the great paṇḍita of the same name who participated in the BSAM YAS DEBATE several centuries earlier. Other sources give his Indian name as Kamalaśrī. He visited Tibet on numerous occasions (according to some sources, seven times). Referred to by Tibetans as the “little black Indian” (rgya gar nag chung), he attracted few disciples initially, gaining greater fame on subsequent visits. He spent much time in the region of Ding ri in central Tibet, especially around the village of GLANG ’KHOR, where he is still venerated for the earthy and practical advice he gave on how to practice Buddhism. The most famous of these teachings is his Ding ri brgya tsa ma (“Dingri One Hundred”). He dressed as an Indian ascetic and sometimes taught simply through gestures, although it is unclear whether this was his tantric mode of expression or was because he initially spoke little Tibetan. Pha dam pa sangs rgyas reportedly encountered the famous YOGIN MI LA RAS PA on a nearby mountain pass, where they exchanged teachings and acknowledged each other’s spiritual attainment. He was known for including women among his disciples. Indeed, his most famous disciple, the great female adept MA GCIG LAB SGRON, based her practice tradition known as severance (GCOD) partly on his instructions. After leaving Tibet for the last time, he is said to have traveled to China; according to a Tibetan tradition, he was known in China as BODHIDHARMA.

Phag mo gru pa Rdo rje rgyal po. (Pakmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo) (1110–1170). A Tibetan scholar and adept who is counted as one of the great disciples of the key BKA’ BRGYUD founder SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, and is venerated as the source for many subsequent Bka’ brgyud lineages. Born in the ’Bri lung rme shod region of eastern Tibet, Phag mo gru pa’s parents died while he was still young. Receiving ordination as a novice Buddhist monk at the age of eight, he studied under a variety of teachers during the early part of his life. At eighteen, he traveled to central Tibet, receiving full ordination at the age of twenty-five. There he trained under a number of BKA’ GDAMS pa teachers, and later, under the great SA SKYA master SA CHEN KUN DGA SNYING PO, from whom he received extensive instruction in the tradition of the path and its result (LAM ’BRAS). At the age of forty, he traveled to DWAGS LHA SGAM PO in southern Tibet, where he met Sgam po pa, who became his principal guru. Sgam po pa famously held up a half-eaten ball of parched barley flour mixed with tea and said to Phag mo gru pa, “This is greater than the results of all your previous meditation.” After he demonstrated his humility by carrying stones to build a STŪPA, Sgam po pa gave Phag mo gru pa the transmission of instructions on MAHĀMUDRĀ meditation and, through their practice, is said to have attained great realization. In 1158, Phag mo gru pa established a simple meditation hut where he lived until his death in 1170; this location later served as the foundation for the influential monastery of GDAN SA MTHIL. Phag mo gru pa was renowned for his strict adherence to the VINAYA, even going on alms rounds, a rare practice in Tibet. Several individuals among his many followers established a number of important branch lineages, the so-called “eight minor Bka’ brgyud subsects” (see BKA’ BRGYUD CHE BZHI CHUNG BRGYAD) that collectively came to be known as the Phag gru Bka’ brgyud.

’Phags pa Blo gros rgyal mtshan. (Pakpa Lodrö Gyaltsen) (1235–1280). An eminent scholar of the SA SKYA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, famed for the position of political power he held at the court of the Mongol emperor of Qubilai Khan (r. 1260–1294). He is also revered as one of the five great Sa skya forefathers (SA SKYA GONG MA RNAM LNGA). ’Phags pa’s uncle, SA SKYA PAṆḌITA, was summoned to the court of the Mongol prince Godan in 1244, eventually meeting the prince in 1247. ’Phags pa and his younger brother accompanied their uncle during this journey. After Sa skya Paṇḍita cured Godan Khan of a disease and converted him to Buddhism, the khan appointed him as regent of Tibet under Mongol patronage, and the young ’Phags pa was invited to remain at the Mongol court. After the death of Godan Khan, Qubilai Khan summoned ’Phags pa to his court (at what would come to be called Shangdu), seeking to solidify Mongol rule over Tibet by controlling the politically powerful Sa skya leaders. En route, he gave teachings in eastern Tibet and converted the Rdzong gsar region from BON to Buddhism, establishing the Sa skya tradition there. According to some accounts, ’Phags pa arrived at Qubilai Khan’s court in 1253. He soon impressed the emperor with his erudition and display of magical powers, which apparently outshone those of other religious figures at the Mongol court, defeating Daoist priests in debate. By 1258, ’Phags pa had so impressed his hosts, first the emperor’s wife Chabi and then Qubilai himself, that he was asked to bestow tantric initiations and teachings, thus converting the imperial couple to Buddhism. According to an arrangement suggested by Chabi, ’Phags pa would sit in a lower position than the emperor during state rituals, and the emperor would sit in a lower position than ’Phags pa in religious rituals. ’Phags pa would later identify Qubilai Khan as an incarnation of MAÑJUŚRĪ and as a CAKRAVARTIN. In 1260, the year Qubilai ascended to the rank of Great Khan, ’Phags pa was given the official positions of imperial preceptor (C. dishi) and state preceptor (C. GUOSHI). In this latter position, he was the head of the Buddhist clergy of the entire empire, including Tibet, although he himself remained in China. A new office of dpon chen (great minister) was created for a Mongol-appointed Tibetan official who would serve as civil and military administrator for Tibet. In 1280, ’Phags pa died, allegedly having been poisoned by the dpon chen. The relationship between ’Phags pa and Qubilai is often cited as the model for the subsequent relationship between Tibet and China known as “patron and priest” (YON MCHOD). According to the Tibetan view, this relationship was formed between the leading lama of Tibet (a position later filled by the DALAI LAMAs) who acted as chief spiritual advisor and priest to the emperor, who in return acted as patron and protector of the lama and the dominion of the Buddhist realm, Tibet. ’Phags pa is often called by the honorific title chos rgyal, or “dharma king,” and is also credited with creating in 1269 a new script for the pan-empire use of the Mongolian language. The square forms of the ’Phags pa script had been thought by some scholars to have been the model for the creation of the indigenous Korean alphabet of Han’gŭl in the mid-fifteenth century. However, it is now generally believed that the shapes of the Han’gŭl letters mimic the mouth’s shape when articulating classes of consonants, although probably with some influence from the ’Phags pa forms.

’Phags pa wa ti lha khang. (Pakpawati Lhakhang). A Nepalese pagoda-style temple located in the southwest Tibetan village of Skyid grong (Kyirong). It is named after its principal image, the famed ’Phags pa wa ti, said to be one of FOUR BROTHER STATUES OF AVALOKITEŚVARA (alt. three or five according to some sources) miraculously formed from the trunk of a single sandalwood tree. The ’Phag pa wa ti of Skyid grong, also called the Skyid grong Jo bo (Kyirong Jowo), is a likeness of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the form known as Khasarpāṇi and is considered one of the most sacred Buddhist images in Tibet. Its praises have been sung by many of the country’s leading masters. The image was secretly removed to India in 1959 by Tibetan guerilla fighters and currently resides in the private chapel of the present DALAI LAMA in DHARMAŚĀLĀ. The other brother statues have been identified as the ’Phags pa Lokeśvara of the PO TA LA palace and the white and red MATSYENDRANĀTH statues in the Kathmandu Valley.

phala. (T. ’bras bu; C. guo; J. ka; K. kwa 果). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. “fruition,” and thus “effect” or “result”; the term has three principal denotations. First, in discussions of causation, phala refers to the physical or mental “effect” produced by a cause (HETU), such as a sprout produced from a seed, or a moment of sensory consciousness (VIJÑĀNA) produced through the contact (SPARŚA) between a sense base (INDRIYA) and a sense object (ĀYATANA; ĀLAMBANA). Second, in discussions of the path (MĀRGA), phala refers to the fruition of the four supramundane paths (ĀRYAMĀRGA), i.e., stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT). Third, in discussions of the process of moral causality, the specific type of fruition called the VIPĀKAPHALA (retributive fruition) refers to the maturation of a deed (KARMAN). ¶ Given the centrality of theories of causation in Buddhist philosophy and practice, the notion of cause and effect is analyzed in detail in Buddhist literature, particularly in the ABHIDHARMA systems. In the SARVĀSTIVĀDA abhidharma and the YOGĀCĀRA system, five types of phala are enumerated. These are (1) NIṢYANDAPHALA, “correlative fruition,” wherein the effect may correlate with the cause of the previous action, e.g., as a result of giving a gift in a past life, a person might either enjoy the act of charity or receive charity in a future life; or, as a result of committing murder in a past life, a person might enjoy killing or be murdered in a future life; (2) VIPĀKAPHALA or “retributive fruition,” which refers to the ripening of past actions; (3) VISAṂYOGAPHALA, or “disconnection fruition,” which refers to the state of absence of, or separation from, the afflictions (KLEŚA), e.g., NIRVĀṆA is an effect that is disconnected from the afflictions; (4) PURUṢAKĀRAPHALA, lit. “effect caused by a being,” or “virile fruition,” which would include such things as a pot produced by a potter and a level of attainment that results from the practice of meditation; (5) ADHIPATIPHALA, or “predominant fruition,” which would include the effects of past deeds that take the form of one’s present environment and resources. ¶ Finally, the term phala is also used as one of the epithets of Buddhist TANTRA, which is called the PHALAYĀNA or “fruition vehicle” because it incorporates the fruition of buddhahood into the practice of the path.

phalacitta. In Pāli, “fruition consciousness”; the moment or moments of consciousness following the practitioner’s entry into any of the four noble paths (P. ariyamagga, S. ĀRYAMĀRGA) of stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna, S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi, S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi, S. ANĀGĀMIN) or worthy one (P. arahant, S. ARHAT). These four paths are entered through attaining path consciousness (MAGGACITTA), and it is through the force of this moment of path consciousness that fruition consciousness (phalacitta) arises. Fruition consciousness continues for two or three moments, after which the mind subsides into the subconscious mental continuum (BHAVAṄGASOTA). The difference between path consciousness and fruition consciousness may be described in the following way with reference to the stream-enterer: through the path of stream-entry one becomes free of the first three fetters (SAṂYOJANA), whereas through the fruition of stream-entry one actually is free of the first three fetters. Because path consciousness represents the first moment of attaining the path, it occurs only once to any given practitioner for each of the four noble paths. Fruition consciousness, on the other hand, is not so limited in its definition and therefore may repeat itself innumerable times during a lifetime. A synonym of phalacitta is phalañāṇa, or “knowledge of the path.”

phalapratipannaka. (P. phalapaṭipannaka; T. ’bras bu la zhugs pa; C. deguo; J. tokuka; K. tŭkkwa 得果). In Sanskrit, “one who has entered upon the fruition [of the path]”; a term used to describe four preparatory steps on the path to becoming a “noble one” (ĀRYA). For each of the four stages of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT), there are two steps: entering upon the fruition (phalapaṭipannaka) and abiding in the fruition (PHALASTHITA). These two steps are distinguished as (1) achieving one of the four stages of the path, followed by (2) the state of having achieved that step.

phalasthita. [alt. phalastha] (P. phalaṭhita; T. ’bras bu la gnas pa; C. zhuguo; J. jūka; K. chugwa 住果). In Sanskrit, “abiding in the fruition,” a term used to describe four resultant steps on the path to becoming a “noble one” (ĀRYA). For each of the four stages of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT), there are two steps: entering upon the fruition (PHALAPAṬIPANNAKA) and abiding in the fruition (phalasthita). These two steps are distinguished as (1) achieving one of the four stages of the path, followed by (2) the state of having achieved that step.

phalayāna. (T. ’bras bu theg pa). In Sanskrit, “fruition vehicle”; one of the epithets of the VAJRAYĀNA. In this context, the “effect” or “fruition” (PHALA) refers to buddhahood, specifically the pure abode, body, resources, and deeds of a buddha. In tantric practice, one visualizes oneself as a buddha, in a MAṆḌALA palace, with the possessions of a buddha such as the VAJRA and bell, performing the deeds of a buddha such as purifying environments and the beings who inhabit them. This practice is referred to as bringing the fruition to the path; as a means of proceeding quickly on the path to buddhahood, one imagines that the fruition of buddhahood has already been achieved.

Pháp Loa. (法螺) (1284–1330). In Vietnamese, “Dharma Conch”; the second patriarch of the TRÚC LÂM school of Vietnamese Buddhism. His personal name was Đồng Kiên Cương and was a native of Nam Sách (in northern Vietnam). He met TRẦN NHÂN TÔNG for the first time in 1304 and became his disciple. He received full ordination from Trần Nhân Tông in 1305 and was given the dharma name Pháp Loa. In 1308, he was officially recognized as the second patriarch of the Trúc Lâm School. Buddhism prospered under his leadership. In support of Trần Nhân Tông’s goal of a unified SAṂGHA, Pháp Loa established in 1313 a national monastic hierarchy, according to which all monks had to register and were under his jurisdiction. Every three years, he would organize a collective ordination ceremony. He also oversaw the construction of many monasteries. By 1314, some thirty-three monasteries had been built, several with large libraries. He was also a tireless teacher, who gave frequent lectures on Chan texts and Buddhist scriptures. This was a period when many aristocrats either entered the monastic order or received precepts as lay practitioners and donated vast tracts of land to Buddhist temples. Among his disciples were the kings Trần Anh Tông and Trần Minh Tông. In 1311, he oversaw the printing of the complete canon and other Buddhist manuals. He also composed several works, most now lost, including commentaries on several MAHĀYĀNA sūtras.

phi. In Thai, “spirit”; used to refer to a diverse group of entities believed to have power over humans and thus requiring propitiation. In some cases, they are local demigods; in others, they are reincarnations of the dead. The category also includes the ghosts of the prominent dead as well as those who died mysterious or violent deaths. Phi inhabit trees, hills, water, the earth, and certain animals. “Spirit houses” are constructed for the phi, to which offerings are made.

’pho ba. (powa). In Tibetan, “transferring consciousness,” a tantric practice included among the “six yogas of NĀROPA” (NĀ RO CHOS DRUG) by which one is able to eject one’s consciousness from one’s body (through the aperture at the top of the skull) at the moment of death and send it into a pure realm, with SUKHĀVATĪ of the buddha AMITĀBHA generally the preferred destination. In order to gain this ability, the practitioner requires instruction and initiation. Although the practice is found in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism (as well as in BON), it is particularly associated with the BKA’ BRGYUD, and within it the ’BRI GUNG. It is one of the few forms of meditation in Tibet that is practiced by laypeople and one of the few forms that is practiced in a group setting.

phra. In Thai, “holy” or “venerable”; an honorific prefix used when referring to the Buddha (see PHRA PHUTTHA JAO) and before the names of monks, monasteries, relics, buddha images (e.g., PHRA KAEW MORAKOT), Hindu deities, and members of the Thai royal family. It is also used as a generic designation for “monk.”

Phra Bodhirak (Thai). See BODHIRAK, PHRA.

Phra Buddhacharn Toh Phomarangsi. (Thai). See SOMDEJ TOH.

Phra Kaew Morakot. In Thai, “The Emerald Buddha” (full name: Phra Phuttha Maha Mani Ratana Patimakorn; P. Buddhamahāmaṇiratnapaṭimā); this most sacred and venerated buddha image in Thailand is currently enshrined at Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), an ornate temple located on the grounds of the royal palace in the Thai capital of Bangkok. The image, which is in the seated meditation posture, is 29.5 inches (forty-five centimeters) tall; despite its name, it is in fact not made of emerald, but is carved from a single block of a green stone thought to be either jasper or jade. Kaew is an indigenous Thai word for “glass” or “translucence”; morakot derives from the Sanskrit word for emerald (S. morakata). According to legend, the Emerald Buddha was the first buddha image ever made and was carved five hundred years after the Buddha’s death out of a sacred gem that came from INDRA’s palace. The image is said to have been made by NĀGASENA (c. 150 BCE), the interlocutor of the MILINDAPAÑHA, in the north Indian city of PĀṬALIPUTRA around 43 BCE. The image was then taken to Sri Lanka in the fourth century CE, and was on its way to Burma in 457, when the ship carrying it went off course and the image next appeared in Cambodia. The image eventually came into Thai hands and made its way to AYUTHAYA, Chiangrai, Chiangmai, and ultimately Bangkok. The image’s actual provenance is a matter of debate. Some art historians argue that on stylistic grounds the Emerald Buddha appears to have been carved in northern Thailand around the fifteenth century, while others argue for a south Indian or Sri Lankan origin based on its meditative posture, which is uncommon in Thai buddha images. The Emerald Buddha first enters the historical record upon its discovery in 1434 CE, in the area that is now the northern Thai province of Chiangrai, when lightning struck a chedi (P. cetiya, S. CAITYA) and a buddha image made of stucco was found inside. As the stucco began to flake off, the image of the Emerald Buddha was revealed. At that time, Chiangrai was ruled by the Lānnā Thai kingdom, whose king attempted to bring the image back to his capital of Chiangmai. The chronicles relate that three times he sent an elephant to bring the Emerald Buddha to Chiangmai, but each time the elephant went to Lampang instead, so the king finally relented and allowed the image to remain there. In 1468, the new Chiangmai monarch, King Tiloka, finally succeeded in moving the image to Chiangmai and installed it in the eastern niche of a large STŪPA at Wat Chedi Luang. The image remained there until 1552, when it was taken to LUANG PRABANG, then the capital of Laos, by the Lao ruler, who was also ruling Chiangmai at the time. In 1564, the king then took the image to Vientiane, where he set up a new capital after fleeing the Burmese. The Emerald Buddha remained in Vientiane for 214 years, until 1778 when the Siamese general Taksin captured the city and took the Emerald Buddha to Thonburi, then the Siamese capital. In 1784, when Bangkok was established as the capital, the image was installed there, in Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, as the palladium of the nation (then known as Siam). Because Wat Phra Kaew is located within the palace grounds, the temple is unique in Thai Buddhism for having no monastic residences; the grounds contain only sacred shrines, stūpas, and the main ubosoth (UPOṢADHA hall), where the Buddha resides. The image of the Emerald Buddha is always clothed in golden raiments, which are changed according to the seasons. King Rāma I (r. 1782–1809) had two seasonal costumes made for the statue: a ceremonial robe for the hot season and a monastic robe for the rainy season. King Rāma III (1824–1851) had another costume made for the cold season: a mantle of gold beads. The ruling monarch performs the ceremonial changing of the garments each season.

Phra Malai. (P. Māleyya). A legendary arahant (S. ARHAT) and one of the most beloved figures in Thai Buddhist literature. According to legend, Phra Malai lived on the island of Sri Laṅka and was known for his great compassion and supramundane abilities, including the power to fly to various realms of the Buddhist universe. On one of his visits to the hells, he alleviated the suffering of hell beings and then returned to the human realm to advise their relatives to make merit on their behalf. One day as he was on his alms round, he encountered a poor man who presented him with eight lotus blossoms. Phra Malai accepted the offering and then took the flowers to tāvatimsa (S. TRĀYASTRIṂŚA) heaven to present them at the Cūḷāmaṇi cetiya (S. caitya), where the hair relic of the Buddha is enshrined. Phra Malai then met the king of the gods, INDRA, and asked him various questions: why he had built the caitya, when the future buddha Metteya (S. MAITREYA) would come to pay respects to it, and how the other deities coming to worship had made sufficient merit to be reborn at such a high level. The conversation proceeded as one divinity after another arrived, with Indra’s explanation of the importance of making merit by practicing DĀNA (generosity), observing the precepts and having faith. Eventually Metteya himself arrived and, after paying reverence to the chedi, asked Phra Malai about the people in the human realm. Phra Malai responded that there is great diversity in their living conditions, health, happiness, and spiritual faculties, but that they all hoped to meet Metteya in the future and hear him preach. Metteya in response told Phra Malai to tell those who wished to meet him to listen to the recitation of the entire VESSANTARA-JĀTAKA over the course of one day and one night, and to bring to the monastery offerings totaling a thousand flowers, candles, incense sticks, balls of rice, and other gifts. In the northern and northeastern parts of Thailand, this legend is recited in the local dialects (Lānnā Thai and Lao, respectively) as a preface to the performance or recitation of the Vessantara-Jātaka at an annual festival. In central and south Thailand, a variant of the legend emphasizing the suffering of the hell denizens was customarily recited at funeral wakes, a practice that is becoming less common in the twenty-first century.

phra pa. In Thai, “forest monk,” referring to monks who live in the forests rather than in towns or villages. The monks practice meditation and perform certain permitted forms of physical labor, rather than devoting their efforts to studying texts and interacting with laypeople, as village monks do. In Thailand, the most influential of the forest monk traditions was the KAMMAṬṬHANA or “meditation” tradition begun by Ajahn (Āčhān) Sao Kantisīla (1861–1941) and AJAHN MUN BHŪRIDATTA, which emphasized strict adherence to the VINAYA and the practice of meditation techniques derived from the Pāli canon. See also ARAÑÑAVĀSI, ĀRAṆYA.

Phra Pathom Chedi. In Thai, lit. “Noble First Shrine,” said to be the tallest Buddhist CAITYA (P. cetī) in the world at over 394 feet (120 meters); located in the Thai town of Nakhon Pathom. The original stūpa, located in the region where the first Buddhist missionaries taught in Thailand, may date from the fourth century CE. The stūpa was rebuilt in the Khmer style in the eleventh century and eventually fell into ruins. These ruins were visited by Prince Mongkut (the future RĀMA IV) during his years as a monk. After Mongkut ascended the throne, he ordered that a new stūpa be constructed at the site, which was completed in 1870 after seventeen years of construction.

Phra Phuttha Jao. In Thai, “the Venerable Lord Buddha,” the most common vernacular Thai term for Gotama (S. GAUTAMA) Buddha.

Phra Phuttha Sihing. A highly revered image of the Buddha (PHRA PHUTTHA JAO) in Thailand, second in importance only to the Emerald Buddha (PHRA KAEW MORAKOT). According to legend, the Phra Phuttha Sihing image was created in Sri Lanka, and was being transported across the ocean when the ship carrying it sank; the image next appeared in the southern Thai city of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Stylistically, the image, seated in the earth-touching posture (BHŪMISPARŚAMUDRĀ), with its broad chest, fleshy face, and open robe with a short flap on the left side, belongs to the Lānnā, or northern Thai school, which flourished around the fifteenth century. In addition to uncertainties concerning the image’s origin, there are questions of authenticity; at least three sculptures in Thailand are identified as the Phra Phuttha Sihing: they are found in the Buddhaisawan Chapel in the Bangkok National Museum compound, in an eponymous chapel in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and at Wat Phra Singh in Chiangmai.

Phra Sangkachai. A figure depicted in Thai sculpture as a fat monk seated in meditation. He resembles the figure of BUDAI (d. 916), the “Laughing Buddha,” found in East Asia, although he may represent Mahākaccāyana (MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA). He is believed to be of Mon origin.

Phúc ĐiỂn. (福田) (c. late-nineteenth century). Scholar-monk of the Nguyễn dynasty, considered one of the most important historians of Buddhism in premodern Vietnam. His biography is recorded in the Thiền Uyển Truyền Đăng Lục (“Recorded Transmission of the Lamplight in the CHAN Community”). According to this source, he was a native of Sơn Minh, Hà Nội province. His family name was Vũ. He left home to become a monk at the age of twelve and first studied under the Venerable Viên Quang of Thịnh Liệt Đại Bi Temple. After three years, Viên Quang passed away, and Phúc Điền went to study under the Venerable Từ Phong of Nam Dư Phúc Xuân Temple. When he was twenty years old Từ Phong passed away, and Phúc Điền moved to Pháp Vân Temple in Bắc Ninh province and received full ordination under the Venerable Từ Quang. Phúc Điền’s biography shows that he was not only an author, translator, and historian, but also an activist who tirelessly built and repaired many monasteries. Besides reprinting, editing, translating (from classical Chinese into vernacular Nôm Vietnamese) numerous Buddhist texts, and recording detailed histories of various temples, he also left behind several independent works, the most important of which are the Tam Giáo Nguyên Lưu (“Sources of the Three Religions”), the Đại Nam Thiền Uyển Truyền Đăng Tập Lục (“Recorded Transmission of the Lamplight [in the Chan Community] of Vietnam”), and the Thiền Uyển Truyền Đăng Lục (“Transmission of the Lamplight in the Chan Community”). His extant writings include more works on history than on Buddhist doctrine. His aspiration was to collect all the extant materials regarding the origin and transmission of Vietnamese Buddhism. Because he was convinced that Vietnamese Buddhism was a continuation of the orthodox school of Chinese Buddhism (and specifically the CHAN ZONG), he implicitly accepted the hermeneutical strategies of Chinese Chan in constructing his view of Vietnamese Buddhist history. However, in addition to Chinese Chan documents, he also consulted Vietnamese sources, together with copious notes drawn from his own fieldwork at various temples. His writings, therefore, provide valuable sources for the understanding of Vietnamese Buddhist history.

phur pa. [alt. phur bu] (S. kīla). A Tibetan ritual dagger. Although the word is used colloquially for any form of stake driven into the ground, such as a tent peg, in the context of Tibetan Buddhism it refers to a ritual implement used in the performance of tantric ceremonies. In its most common design, the phur pa is shaped like a stake with a three-sided blade tapering to a point, while the shaft of its handle is frequently capped with three wrathful or semiwrathful faces and a half-VAJRA. They are fashioned from a variety of materials and may be carved in clay, wood, or bone and are regularly cast from metal alloys. In some instances, phur ba daggers revealed as treasure (GTER MA) are said to be formed from meteorites (rnam lcags). The phur pa is regularly used in rituals for the subjugation of harmful or obstructive forces, such as the “black hat dance” in which participants repeatedly strike an effigy believed to embody those forces. It is also associated with the tantric literature of Rdo rje phur ba (S. VAJRAKĪLAYA) attributed to PADMASAMBHAVA, in which the lower portion of the central deity takes the form of a ritual dagger.

Phyag chen chos sku mdzub tshugs. (Chakchen Chöku Dzuptsuk). In Tibetan, “MAHĀMUDRĀ: Pointing Out the DHARMAKĀYA”; the briefest of three major texts composed by the ninth KARMA PA DBANG PHYUG RDO RJE on the doctrine and practice of the great seal (mahāmudrā). See also PHYAG CHEN MA RIG MUN GSAL (“Mahāmudrā: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance”) and PHYAG CHEN NGES DON RGYA MTSHO (“Mahāmudrā: Ocean of Definitive Meaning”).

Phyag chen ma rig mun gsal. (Chakchen Marik Munsel). In Tibetan, “MAHĀMUDRĀ: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance”; the intermediate of three major texts composed by the ninth KARMA PA DBANG PHYUG RDO RJE on the doctrine and practice of the great seal (mahāmudrā). See also PHYAG CHEN CHOS SKU MDZUB TSHUGS (“Mahāmudrā: Pointing out the DHARMAKĀYA”) and PHYAG CHEN NGES DON RGYA MTSHO (“Mahāmudrā: Ocean of Definitive Meaning”).

Phyag chen nges don rgya mtsho. (Chakchen Ngedön Gyatso). In Tibetan, “MAHĀMUDRĀ: Ocean of Definitive Meaning”; the most extensive of three major texts composed by the ninth KARMA PA DBANG PHYUG RDO RJE on the doctrine and practice of the great seal (mahāmudrā). See also PHYAG CHEN CHOS SKU MDZUB TSHUGS (“Mahāmudrā: Pointing out the DHARMAKĀYA”) and PHYAG CHEN MA RIG MUN GSAL (“Mahāmudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance”).

Phyag chen zla ba’i ’od zer. (Chakchen Dawe Öser). In Tibetan, “Moonbeams of MAHĀMUDRĀ”; an encyclopedic treatise on the doctrine and practice of the great seal (mahāmudrā) composed by the sixteenth-century BKA’ BRGYUD scholar DWAGS PO BKRA SHIS RNAM RGYAL. It is highly regarded as a sourcebook and meditation manual for the practice of mahāmudrā, offering many quotations from Indian and Tibetan sources. The work is divided into two major divisions: the first on the practice of ŚAMATHA and VIPAŚYANĀ, the second on the practice of mahāmudrā.

phyi dar. (chi dar). In Tibetan, “later dissemination.” Tibetan historians have traditionally divided the dissemination of Buddhist teachings in Tibet into two periods. The “earlier dissemination” (SNGA DAR) began in the seventh century with the conversion of king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO to Buddhism and continued with the arrival of the Indian masters ŚĀNTARAKṢITA and PADMASAMBHAVA and the founding of the first monastery at BSAM YAS during the reign of king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN. This period ended in 842 with the assassination of king GLANG DAR MA and the fall of the Tibetan monarchy. There ensued a “dark period” of almost two centuries, during which recorded contact between Indian and Tibetan Buddhists declined. The “later dissemination” commenced in earnest in the eleventh century. It is marked by patronage of Buddhism by king YE SHES ’OD in western Tibet and especially the work of the noted translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO, who made three trips to India to study and to retrieve Buddhist texts, as well as the work of RNGOG LEGS PA’I SHES RAB. The noted Bengali monk ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA arrived in Tibet in 1042. The “later dissemination” was a period of extensive translation of Indian texts; these new (GSAR MA) translations of tantras became central to the so-called “new” sects of Tibetan Buddhism: BKA’ GDAMS, SA SKYA, BKA’ BRGYUD, and later DGE LUGS, with the RNYING MA (“ancient”) sect basing itself on “old” translations from the earlier dissemination. Of particular importance during this later dissemination was the resurgence of monastic ordination, especially that of the MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA. New artistic styles were also introduced from neighboring regions during this period.

Phywa pa [alt. Cha pa] Chos kyi Seng ge. (Chapa Chökyi Senge) (1109–1169). The sixth abbot of GSANG PHU NE’U THOG, a BKA‘ GDAMS monastery founded in 1073 by RNGOG LEGS PA’I SHES RAB. Among his students are included the first KARMA PA, DUS GSUM MKHYEN PA and the SA SKYA hierarch BSOD NAMS RTSE MO. His collected works include explanations of MADHYAMAKA and PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ. With his influential Tshad ma’i bsdus pa yid kyi mun sel rtsa ’grel he continued the line of PRAMĀṆA scholarship started by RNGOG BLO LDAN SHES RAB, one that would later be challenged by SA SKYA PAṆḌITA. He is credited with originating the distinctively Tibetan BSDUS GRWA genre of textbook (used widely in DGE LUGS monasteries) that introduces beginners to the main topics in abhidharma in a peculiar dialectical form that strings together a chain of consequences linked by a chain of reasons. He also played an important role in the formation of the BSTAN RIM genre of Tibetan Buddhist literature, the forerunner of the more famous LAM RIM.

pibo sat’ap sŏl. (裨補寺塔). In Korean, “reinforcing [the land] through monasteries and STŪPAs”; geomantic theory of the Korean monk TOSŎN (827–898), who proposed that building monasteries and pagodas at geomantically fragile locations around the Korean peninsula could correct adverse energy flows in the native geography and thus alleviate topological weaknesses, in much the same way that acupuncture could correct adverse energy flows within the physical body. This term pibo (lit. “assisting and supplementing,” and thus “reinforcing,” or “remediation”) is not attested as a technical term in Chinese geomancy, but seems to have been coined by Tosŏn. Pibo also comes to be used as an official ecclesiastical category to designate important monasteries that had figured in the founding of the Koryŏ dynasty.

pilgrimage. See MAHĀSTHĀNA; GNAS SKOR BA; XINGJIAO.

Pilindavatsa. (P. Pilindavaccha; T. Pi lin da ba tsa; C. Bilingqie Pocuo; J. Hitsuryōgabasha; K. P’illŭngga Pach’a 畢陵伽婆蹉). An eminent ARHAT declared by the Buddha foremost among monk disciples who are beloved of the gods. According to the Pāli account, he was born to a brāhmaṇa family named Vaccha (S. Vatsa) in the city of Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ); Pilinda was his personal name. Pilinda became a hermit and mastered the magical science called cūḷa (or “lesser”) gandhāravijjā, which allowed him to make himself invisible and walk through walls. However, in the presence of the Buddha the science was ineffective. Believing the Buddha to have canceled out his power through a mastery of mahā (or “greater”) gandhāravijjā (the ability to read the minds of others and fly through the air), he entered the order to learn the Buddha’s science. The Buddha instructed him in meditation, by means of which Pilinda became an arhat. In a previous existence, Pilinda had been a righteous ruler who had led many of his subjects to a heavenly rebirth. As a consequence, many of his former subjects, now divinities (DEVA), waited upon Pilinda morning and evening in gratitude. It is for this reason that he earned distinction as the disciple most beloved of the gods. Pilinda had the unfortunate habit of addressing everyone he met with the derogatory epithet of vasala, meaning outcaste. The Buddha explained that this was because he had been born an outcaste for a hundred lives. Once Pilinda inquired of a passerby carrying a bowl of peppers, “What is in the bowl, vasala?” Insulted, the passerby said, “rat dung,” whereupon the peppers turned to rat dung. The passerby begged Pilinda to return the contents to their original state, which he did using his powers. Pilinda used his extraordinary powers on several other occasions. Once, he created a crown of gold for an impoverished girl so that her family could partake of a feast day; on another occasion he rescued two girls who had been kidnapped by robbers and returned them to their family. The involvement with females prompted some of his fellow monks to blame him for impropriety, but the Buddha ruled that no misdeed had been committed. He figures in several MAHĀYĀNA sūtras, being mentioned as a member of the audience of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA and appearing in the *ŚŪRAṂGAMASŪTRA.

piṇḍapāta. (T. bsod snyoms; C. qishi; J. kotsujiki; K. kŏlsik 乞食). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “alms food” (or, according to other etymologies, “alms bowl”); the food received in the alms bowl (S. PĀTRA; P. patta) of a monk or nun; by extension, the “alms round” that monks and nuns make each morning to accept alms from the laity. There are numerous rules found in all Buddhist traditions concerning the proper ways of receiving and consuming alms food. In the Pāli VINAYA, for example, this food must be received and consumed between dawn and noon and may consist of five types: cooked rice, baked or roasted flour, pulse and rice, fish, and meat. The monk may not, on his own initiative, intimate to the donor that he desires food or a specific kind of food; indeed, the monk makes little if any acknowledgement of receiving the food, but simply accepts whatever is offered and continues along his route. In East Asia, and especially Japan, TAKUHATSU, lit., “carrying the bowl,” is often conducted by a small group of monks who walk through the streets with walking staffs (KHAKKHARA) and bells that alert residents of their presence. Because East Asian Buddhism was generally a self-sufficient cenobitic tradition that did not depend on alms food for daily meals, monks on alms round would typically receive money or uncooked rice in their bowls as offerings from the laity. The alms round was one of the principal points of interaction between monastic and lay Buddhists, and theirs was a symbiotic relationship: monks and nuns would receive their sustenance from the laity by accepting their offerings, the laity would have the opportunity to generate merit (PUṆYA) for themselves and their families by making offerings (DĀNA) to the monastics. Indeed, one of the most severe penalties the SAṂGHA can administer to the laity is to refuse their donations; this act of censure is called “overturning the bowl” (see PĀTRANIKUBJANA).

Piṇḍola-Bhāradvāja. (T. Bha ra dhwa dza Bsod snyoms len; C. Bintoulu Poluoduo zunzhe; J. Binzuruharada sonja; K. Pinduro Pallat’a chonja 賓頭盧頗羅墮尊者). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of a prominent monk-disciple of the Buddha, born as the son of a brāhmaṇa priest in the service of King Udāyana of Kauśāmbī. He was a successful teacher of the Vedas, first encountering the Buddha when his travels took him to RĀJAGṚHA. Gluttonous by nature, he was impressed by all the offerings the Buddha’s disciples received and so resolved to enter the order. For this reason, he carried with him an exceptionally large alms bowl (PĀTRA) made from a gourd. After he was finally able to conquer his avarice, he became an ARHAT and uttered his “lion’s roar” (SIṂHANĀDA) in the presence of the Buddha, for which reason he was declared the foremost lion’s roarer (siṃhanādin) among the Buddha’s disciples. In a famous story found in several recensions of the VINAYA, the Buddha rebuked Piṇḍola for performing the following miracle before a crowd. A rich merchant had placed a valuable sandalwood alms bowl (pātra) atop a pole and challenged any mendicant to retrieve it with a magical display. Encouraged by MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA, Piṇḍola entered the contest and used his magical powers to rise into the air and retrieve the bowl. The Buddha rebuked Piṇḍola for his crass exhibitionism, and ordered that the bowl be ground into sandalwood powder (presumably for incense). The incident was the occasion for the Buddha to pass the “rule of defeat” (PĀRĀJIKA), forbidding monks from displaying supernatural powers before the laity. Sanskrit sources state that the Buddha rebuked Piṇḍola for his misdeed and ordered him not to live in JAMBUDVĪPA, but to move to aparagodānīya (see GODĀNĪYA) to proselytize (where he is said to reside with a thousand disciples). The Buddha also forbade him from entering PARINIRVĀṆA so that he would remain in the world after the Buddha’s demise and continue to serve as a field of blessings (PUṆYAKṢETRA) for sentient beings; for this reason, Piṇḍola is also known in Chinese as the “World-Dwelling Arhat” (Zhushi Luohan). This is the reason why some traditions still today invoke his name for protection and why he is traditionally listed as the first of the sixteen ARHAT elders (ṢOḌAŚASTHAVIRA), who are charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. According to the DIVYĀVADĀNA, Piṇḍola was given the principal seat at the third Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI) called by Emperor AŚOKA (see COUNCIL, THIRD); at that point, he was already several hundred years old, with long white hair and eyebrows that he had to hold back in order to see. In China, DAO’AN of the Eastern Jin dynasty once had a dream of a white-haired foreign monk, with long, flowing eyebrows. Later, Master Dao’an’s disciple LUSHAN HUIYUAN read the SARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA and realized that the monk whom his teacher had dreamed about was Piṇḍola. From that point on, Dao’an offered Piṇḍola food every day, and, for this reason, a picture or image of Piṇḍola is often enshrined in monastic dining halls in China. This is also why Piṇḍola was given another nickname in Chinese, the “Long-Browed Monk” (Changmei Seng). In CHANYUE GUANXIU’s standard Chinese depiction of the sixteen arhats, Piṇḍola-Bharadvāja is portrayed as squatting on a rock, holding a staff in his left hand, leaning on a rock with his right, with a text placed on his knees. In Tibetan iconography Piṇḍola holds a pātra; other East Asian images depict him holding a text and either a chowrie (C. FUZI; S. VĀLAVYAJANA) or a pātra.

pirit. In Sinhalese, “protection.” See PARITTA.

piśāca. (P. pisāca; T. sha za; C. pisheshe; J. bishaja; K. pisasa 毘舍闍). In Sanskrit, “flesh-eater,” a class of ogres or goblins, similar to RĀKṢASA and YAKṢA, who eat human flesh. A female ogress is called a piśācinī (P. pisācīnī). Among the six rebirth destinies (GATI), they are included in the realm of the ghosts (PRETA). The term is also used to refer to the people of the Paiśācī district, who spoke one of the vernacular PRAKRIT dialects used during the Buddha’s lifetime.

piṭaka. (T. sde snod; C. zang; J. zō; K. chang 藏). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “basket” (in a figurative sense), or canonical “collection,” viz. a collection of scriptures organized by category. (The Chinese translates piṭaka as “repository.”) The use of the term piṭaka to refer to such collections of scriptures may derive from the custom of collecting in baskets the individual bark slips on which the pages of the scriptures were written. The VINAYA, SŪTRA, and ABHIDHARMA (alt. śāstra) piṭakas together constitute the TRIPIṬAKA (P. tipiṭaka), the “three baskets” of the Buddhist canon, a term that is employed in both the mainstream and MAHĀYĀNA schools. The various schools of Indian Buddhism differ, however, on precisely which texts are to be included in these collections. The abhidharma was likely added later, since early texts refer only to monks who are masters of the SŪTRAPIṬAKA and the VINAYAPIṬAKA. A number of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS seem also to have had a bodhisattvapiṭaka, which included texts related to the past lives of the BODHISATTVA, such as the JĀTAKA. This term BODHISATTVAPIṬAKA was adopted in the MAHĀYĀNA, and it was used as the title of a single text, a specific set of Mahāyāna sūtras, as well as to refer to the Mahāyāna sūtras collectively. With the rise of tantric Buddhism, the term vidyādharapiṭaka, the piṭaka of the “keepers of knowledge” (VIDYĀDHARA), came to be used to refer collectively to the Buddhist TANTRAs. See also DAZANGJING.

Pitalkhorā. An early Buddhist monastic cave site in western India, around fifty miles southwest of the cave sites of AJAṆṬĀ and twenty-three miles northwest of ELLORĀ, which was connected to Pitalkhorā by an ancient caravan route. Most of the fourteen caves are in ruins today, due at least partly to the fact that the original excavators, when translating the forms of wooden architecture into stone, neglected the structural features necessary to support the stone’s extra weight. Cave 3, a large sanctuary (CAITYA), is divided by octagonal pillars (but without either bases or capitals) into a nave and two aisles, with half-barrel-vaulted side aisles flanking the central space; it resembles a similar sanctuary at BHĀJĀ. The STŪPA in Cave 3 contained crystal reliquaries set into oblong sockets, which were then plugged with fitted stone slabs; their presence indicates the practice of relic (ŚARĪRA) enshrinement. Cave 4 is entered through a doorway that is flanked by two gently smiling door guardians (DVĀRAPĀLA) holding javelins and shields. Extending to the right of this entrance is a row of nine life-size carved elephants, who appear to be bearing the weight of the cave; the sculptures are remarkable for their realistic modeling and resemble those at the SĀÑCĪ stūpa.

Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra. (T. Yab dang sras mjal ba’i mdo; C. Pusa jianshi jing/Fuzi heji jing; J. Bosatsu kenjitsukyō/Fushi gōjūkyō; K. Posal kyŏnsil kyŏng/Puja hapchip kyŏng 菩薩見實經/父子合集經). In Sanskrit, “Sūtra on the Meeting of Father and Son,” a MAHĀYĀNA scripture found in the RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA, often cited in MADHYAMAKA texts, especially for its expositions of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). It is quoted in such famous works as NĀGĀRJUNA’s SŪTRASAMUCCAYA and ŚĀNTIDEVA’s ŚIKṢĀSAMUCCAYA. The Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra was translated into Chinese by Rajendrayaśas in 568 as the Pusa jianshi jing and was included in the massive Dabaoji jing (Ratnakūṭasūtra) compilation. It was subsequently retranslated in the eleventh century by Richeng and others as the Fuzi heji jing.

pīṭha. (T. gnas). In Sanskrit, “abode” or “seat,” in tantric literature, a location where YOGINĪs congregate and hence a potent site for tantric practice. There are various lists of such locations, sometimes numbering twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-two; the number twenty-four is the most common, but the lists of twenty-four vary in the names and locations of the specific sites. The pīṭha figure prominently in yoginītantras such as the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA and the HEVAJRATANTRA. They also appear commonly in scenes from the lives of the MAHĀSIDDHAs. Many of the sites can be linked to geographical locations on the Indian subcontinent, although some remain unidentified and the location of others shifts according to different traditions. They are considered, however, to form a network, both in the external world and inside the body of the tantric practitioner; the external sites are called bāhyapīṭha, and the internal sites are called nāḍīsthāna, that is, places where important energy channels (NĀḌĪ) are located according to tantric physiology. In both their external and internal forms, the pīṭha are presumed to form a MAṆḌALA. The pīṭha are said to be the abodes of tantric goddesses, called yoginī or ḌĀKINĪ, associated with a particular tantric cycle. They are described as places where male and female tantric practitioners congregate in order to engage in a variety of ritual practices, after having identified each other using secret codes. Tantric texts extol the benefits of visiting the pīṭha, either externally or internally, and Tibetan pilgrims have long sought to find the twenty-four sites. Based on the conquest and transformation of Maheśvara (Śiva) by the Buddhist deity VAJRAPĀṆI, the twenty-four names of the Cakrasaṃvara sacred sites are the four seats (pīṭha) Uḍḍiyāna, Jālandhara, Pullīramalaya, and Arbuda; four outer seats (upapīṭha) Godāvarī, Rāmeśvara, Devīkoṭa, and Mālava; two fields (kṣetra) Kāmarūpa and Oḍra; two outer fields (upakṣetra) Triśakuni and Kośala; two pleasing places (chandoha) Kaliṅga and Lampāka; two outer delightful places (upacchanda) Kāñci and Himālaya; two meeting places (melāpaka) Pretapuri and Gṛhadevatā; two outer meeting places (upamelāpaka) Saurāṣṭra and Suvarṇadvīpa; two cremation grounds (ŚMAŚĀNA) Nagara and Sindu; and two outer cremation grounds (upaśmaśāna) Maru and Kulatā. The twenty-four sites were later symbolically “transferred” to locations in Nepal and Tibet. To Newar Buddhists, the Kathmandu Valley conceptually mirrors the structure of the Cakrasaṃvara MAṆḌALA, and the twenty-four temples of different Cakrasaṃvara goddesses make the valley a sacred space. In Tibet, DAGS PA SHEL RI (Crystal Mountain) in the TSA RI region also mapped the Cakrasaṃvara maṇḍala. Every twelve years pilgrims would make the arduous pilgrimage around the sites mapped onto that sacred space.

pitṛtantra. (T. pha rgyud). In Sanskrit, “father tantra,” one of the categories of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA. This category is paired with “mother tantra” (MĀTṚTANTRA); in some cases a third category of “nondual” (ADVAYA) tantras is added. The father tantras are those that place particular emphasis on method (UPĀYA) over wisdom (PRAJÑĀ), especially as it pertains to the achievement of the illusory body (MĀYĀDEHA) on the stage of generation (UTPATTIKRAMA). The chief tantra of this category is the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA.

Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. See LIUZU TAN JING.

Pŏbun. (K) (法雲). See CHINHŬNG WANG.

Pohwa. (普化) (1875–1958). Influential SŎN master and ecclesiastical leader in the modern Korean Buddhist tradition; also known as Sŏgu. In 1912, while he was studying the writings of POJO CHINUL (1158–1210) at the monastery of POMŎSA, he decided to become a monk and subsequently went to CHANGANSA, where he was ordained by Yŏndam Ŭngsin (d.u.). The same year Pohwa received the precepts from Tongsŏn Chŏngŭi (1856–1936) at YUJŎMSA. After spending twenty years at Yŏngwŏnsa, he subsequently moved to Ch’ilbul hermitage on CHIRISAN, established the Haegwan hermitage in Namhae, and taught at the major monastery of HAEINSA. In 1955, at the end of the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), Pohwa was appointed the first supreme patriarch (CHONGJŎNG) of the new Korean Buddhist CHOGYE CHONG after it was reorganized by MANAM CHONGHŎN. During his three years as patriarch, he led a “purification movement” (chŏnghwa undong) that sought to purge the Chogye order of what were considered to be the vestiges of nontraditional practices foisted on Korean Buddhism during the Japanese colonial period, such as clerical marriage and meat eating. Pohwa passed away at TONGHWASA near Taegu at the age of eighty-four.

poisons, three. See TRIVIṢA.

Pojo Chinul. (C. Puzhao Zhine; J. Fushō Chitotsu 普照知訥) (1158–1210). In Korean, lit. “Shining Universally, Knowing Reticence”; the premier Korean SŎN master of the Koryŏ dynasty and one of the two most influential monks in the history of Korean Buddhism (along with WŎNHYO); he usually referred to himself using his cognomen Moguja (Oxherder). Chinul was a native of the Tongju district to the west of the Koryŏ capital of Kaesŏng (present-day Sŏhŭng in Hwanghae province). In 1165, he was ordained by the Sŏn master Chonghwi (d.u.) at Kulsansa on Mt. Sagul, one of the monastic centers of the so-called “Nine Mountains school of Sŏn” (see KUSAN SŎNMUN). In 1182, Chinul passed the Sŏn clerical examinations (SŬNGKWA) held at the monastery of Pojesa in the capital of Kaesŏng, but rather than take an ecclesiastical position he opted instead to form a retreat society (KYŎLSA) with some fellow monks. Chinul left the capital and headed south and began his residence at Ch’ŏngwŏnsa in Ch’angp’yŏng (present-day South Chŏlla province). There, Chinul is said to have attained his initial awakening while reading the LIUZU TAN JING. In 1185, Chinul relocated himself to Pomunsa on Mt. Haga (present-day North Kyŏngsang province), where he had his second awakening while reading LI TONGXUAN’s HUAYAN JING HELUN (“Commentary to the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA”). In 1188, Chinul and the monk Tŭkchae (d.u.) launched the first Samādhi and Prajñā Retreat Society (CHŎNGHYE KYŎLSA) at the monastery of Kŏjosa on Mt. Kong (present-day North Kyŏngsang province). Chinul subsequently moved the community to the Kilsangsa on Mt. Songgwang, which was later renamed SUSŎNSA, or the Sŏn Cultivation Community, by King Hŭijong (r. 1204–1211); this is the major monastery now known as SONGGWANGSA. On his way to establish the retreat society, Chinul is said to have briefly resided at the hermitage Sangmujuam on CHIRISAN, where he attained his final awakening while reading the recorded sayings (YULU) of the CHAN master DAHUI ZONGGAO. In addition to reciting the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA, the practice of the Sŏn Cultivation Community at Kilsangsa was purportedly based on the three principles of the concurrent practice of SAMĀDHI and PRAJÑĀ as taught in the Liuzu tan jing, faith and understanding of the perfect and sudden teachings (K. wŏndon kyo; C. YUANDUN JIAO) according to the Avataṃsakasūtra, and the shortcut method of “questioning meditation” (K. kanhwa Sŏn; C. KANHUA CHAN) developed by Dahui. Chinul is renowned for developing an ecumenical approach to Buddhist thought and practice, which sought to reconcile the insights of the “word of the Buddha”—viz., the scriptures, or KYO—with the “mind of the Buddha”—viz., Sŏn practice. He taught an approach to Buddhist practice that combined an initial sudden awakening followed by continued gradual cultivation (K. donŏ chŏmsu; C. DUNWU JIANXIU), which he saw as the optimal soteriological schema for most practitioners. Chinul also was the first to introduce “questioning meditation” (kanhwa Sŏn) into the Korean Sŏn tradition, and this type of meditation would hold pride of place in Korean Buddhism from that point forward. Chinul was later given the posthumous title Puril Pojo (Buddha-Sun That Shines Universally). His many works include the SUSIM KYŎL (“Secrets on Cultivating the Mind”), KANHWA KYŎRŬI RON (“Resolving Doubts About Observing the Meditative Topic”), WŎNDON SŎNGBUL NON (“The Complete and Sudden Attainment of Buddhahood”), and his magnum opus, the PŎPCHIP PYŎRHAENGNOK CHŎRYO PYŎNGIP SAGI (“Excerpts from the ‘Dharma Collection and Special Practice Record’ with Personal Notes”), which is included in the SAJIP (“Fourfold Collection”).

Polonnaruva. [alt. Polonaruva; Polonnaruwa]. An ancient capital of Sri Lanka, it was declared the capital by King Vijayabāhu I after his defeat of the Cōḷa in 1070. The city’s golden age occurred under King PARĀKRAMABĀHU I, the grandson of Vijayabāhu, during whose reign agriculture and trade flourished and numerous architectural projects were undertaken. The city remained the capital until the late thirteenth century. Polonnaruva was the site of several important monasteries and STŪPAs, the ruins of which remain today. The ancient city was declared a World Heritage Site in 1982. Perhaps its most famous site is the Gal Viharaya, where three large statues of the Buddha (standing, seated, and reclining) were cut from a single granite wall during the reign of Parākramabāhu I. A stone inscription at the site details the king’s efforts to unite the saṅgha (S. SAṂGHA) under a single NIKĀYA tradition and sets forth his sāsana reforms of the dispensation (P. sāsana; S. ŚĀSANA).

Pŏmnang. (法郎) (fl. c. 632–646). The proper name of the Korean monk who is credited by tradition with having first transmitted the teachings of the SŎN school (C. CHAN ZONG) to the Korean peninsula. Pŏmnang is said to have studied the East Mountain Teachings (DONGSHAN FAMEN) under the fourth patriarch of Chan, DAOXIN (580–651), but there is no independent evidence supporting this assertion. After returning to Korea, Pŏmnang is claimed to have passed his teachings on to Sinhaeng (704–779), a vaunt-courier in the Hŭiyangsan Sŏn school, thus making Pŏmnang the ancestor of this oldest lineage in the Nine Mountains school of Sŏn (KUSAN SŎNMUN). Unfortunately, next to nothing is known about Pŏmnang’s life and career, and he may have been introduced merely as a way of burnishing the luster of Sinhaeng’s lineage.

Pŏmŏsa. (梵魚寺). In Korean, “BRAHMĀ Fish Monastery”; the fourteenth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Kŭmjŏng (Golden Well) Mountain outside the southeastern city of Pusan. According to legend, Pŏmŏsa was named after a golden fish that descended from heaven and lived in a golden well located beneath a rock on the peak of Kŭmjŏng mountain. The monastery was founded in 678 by ŬISANG (625–702) as one of the ten main monasteries of the Korean Hwaŏm (C. HUAYAN) school, with the support of the Silla king Munmu (r. 661–680), who had unified the three kingdoms of the Korean peninsula in 668. Korea was being threatened by Japanese invaders, and Munmu is said to have had a dream that told him to have Ŭisang go to Kŭmjŏng mountain and lead a recitation of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA (K. Hwaŏm kyŏng) for seven days; if he did so, the Japanese would be repelled. The invasion successfully forestalled, King Munmu sponsored the construction of Pŏmŏsa. During the Koryŏ dynasty the monastery was at the peak of its power, with more than one thousand monks in residence, and it actively competed for influence with nearby T’ONGDOSA. The monastery was destroyed during the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions of the late-sixteenth century, but it was reconstructed in 1602 and renovated after another fire in 1613. The only Silla dynasty artifacts that remain are a stone STŪPA and a stone lantern. Pŏmŏsa has an unusual three-level layout with the main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHŎN) located at the upper level and the Universal Salvation Hall (Poje nu) anchoring the middle level. The lower level has three separate entrance gates. Visitors enter the monastery through the One-Pillar Gate (Ilchu mun), built in 1614; next they pass through the Gate of the Four Heavenly Kings (Sach’ŏnwang mun), who guard the monastery from baleful influences; and finally, they pass beneath the Gate of Nonduality (Puri mun), which marks the transition from secular to sacred space. The main shrine hall was rebuilt by Master Myojŏn (d.u.) in 1614 and is noted for its refined Chosŏn-dynasty carvings and its elaborate ceiling of carved flowers. In 1684, Master Hyemin (d.u.) added a hall in honor of the buddha VAIROCANA, which included a famous painting of that buddha that now hangs in a separate building; and in 1700, Master Myŏnghak (d.u.) added another half dozen buildings. Pŏmŏsa also houses two important stūpas: a three-story stone stūpa located next to the Poje nu dates from 830 during the Silla dynasty; a new seven-story stone stūpa, constructed following Silla models, enshrines relics (K. sari; S. ŚARĪRA) of the Buddha that a contemporary Indian monk brought to Korea. After a period of relative inactivity, Pŏmŏsa reemerged as an important center of Buddhist practice starting in 1900 under the abbot Sŏngwŏl (d.u.), who opened several hermitages nearby. Under his leadership, the monastery became known as a major center of the Buddhist reform movements of the twentieth century. Tongsan Hyeil (1890–1965), one of the leaders of the reformation of Korean Buddhism following the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), who also served as the supreme patriarch (CHONGJŎNG) of the CHOGYE CHONG from 1958 to 1961, resided at Pŏmŏsa.

Pŏmŭmjong po. (梵音宗譜). In Korean, “Lineage of the Brahmā’s Voice School,” a one-roll lineage record of Korean chanting (pŏmp’ae) monks, written by TAEHWI (fl. c. 1748) during the Chosŏn dynasty, which traces this distinctive “Indian-style” of chanting back to CHIN’GAM HYESO (774–850). See FANBAI.

Pongsŏnsa. (奉先寺). In Korean, “Respecting Ancestors Monastery”; the twenty-fifth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Mount Unak in Kyŏnggi province. The monastery was constructed by T’anmun (d.u.) in 968, in the twentieth year of the reign of Koryŏ King Kwangjong (r. 949–975), and was originally named Unaksa, after the mountain on which it was built. In 1469, the first year of the reign of King Yejong (r. 1468–1469), Queen Chŏnghŭi (1418–1483) decided that the tomb of her deceased husband, King Sejo (r. 1445–1468), should be established on this mountain, and she therefore had the monastery renamed “Respecting Ancestors Monastery” (Pongsŏnsa). The monastery became the headquarters of the KYO school when the two schools of Kyo (Doctrine) and SŎN (Meditation) were restored in 1551, during the reign of the Chosŏn king Myongjong (r. 1545–1567). The monastery was repeatedly destroyed by fire during several wars, including the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions of the late-sixteenth century, the Manchu invasions of the seventeenth century, and the Korean War.

Pongwan. (K) (奉玩). See HAN YONGUN.

Pongwŏnsa. (奉元寺). In Korean, “Respecting Primacy Monastery”; the head monastery of the T’AEGO CHONG of Korean Buddhism. Pongwŏnsa was founded in 889 by state preceptor (K. kuksa; C. GUOSHI) TOSŎN (827–898) on the grounds of what is currently the campus of Yonsei University in Seoul. It was moved by the great masters (TAESA) Ch’anjŭp and Chŭngam up the hill overlooking the present-day sites of Yonsei and Ewha universities in 1748, during the reign of king Yŏngjo (r. 1724–1776). During the reign of the next king, Chŏngjo (r. 1776–1800), an institute to reform and police Buddhism was established at Pongwŏnsa. A signboard for the monastery shows the calligraphy of the noted Confucian scholar Chŏng Tojŏn (1337–1398). The monastery is arguably the most beautiful in Seoul, partially due to the now well-weathered reconstruction carried out in 1911 by abbot Yi Podam (1859–?). The present main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHŎN) was built in 1966. Today the monastery is well known for its association with Korean Buddhist art and culture. Not only is it the current home of the troupe of monks who perform and preserve the Buddhist rite YŎNGSANJAE, including the dances NABICH’UM, PARACH’UM, and PŎPKO CH’UM, and the chanting of pŏmp’ae (C. FANBAI), but it has also been home to the premier master of TANCH’ŎNG and other types of Buddhist painting. The monastery also houses the Okchŏn Buddhist Music College, which trains laity as well as monks and nuns from other sects of Buddhism in traditional Korean music.

ponsa. (C. bensi; J. honji 本寺). In Korean, lit. “foundational monastery”; the major district or parish monasteries of the CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism; also referred to as ponsan, or “foundational mountain [monastery].” The institution of ponsa was started by the Korean state as one means of exerting state control over the Buddhist ecclesiastical community. When the Chosŏn king T’aejong (r. 1400–1418) in 1407 combined the preexisting eleven Buddhist schools into seven, a ponsa was designated for each school, all of them located in the vicinity of the Chosŏn capital of Hanyang (Seoul). King Sejong (r. 1418–1450) reduced the number of schools again in 1424 to the two schools of Doctrine (KYO) and Meditation (SŎN) (SŎN KYO YANGJONG) and designated HŬNGCH’ŎNSA and HŬNGDŎKSA as the ponsa of the Kyo and Sŏn schools, respectively. The institution of ponsa was discontinued during the reign of the Chosŏn king Myŏngjong (r. 1545–1567) because of the abolition of the two schools of Kyo and Sŏn. The institution was revived in 1911 during the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), when the “Monastery Act” (Sach’allyŏng) of the Japanese government-general divided the colony into thirty districts, with a ponsa heading each of them. One more was added in 1924, creating a total of thirty-one ponsa. After Korea was liberated in 1945, the South Korean Buddhist community established an independent Chogye order, which organized the monasteries of the peninsula into twenty-four districts, each headed by a ponsa. Each district monastery loosely presides over several affiliated “branch monasteries” (MALSA), each located in the geographical vicinity of its ponsa. The twenty-five ponsa of the contemporary Chogye order are (1) CHOGYESA, (2) YONGJUSA, (3) SINHŬNGSA, (4) WŎLCH’ŎNGSA, (5) PŎPCHUSA, (6) MAGOKSA, (7) SUDŎKSA, (8) CHIKCHISA, (9) TONGHWASA, (10) ŬNHAESA, (11) PULGUKSA, (12) HAEINSA, (13) SSANGGYESA, (14) PŎMŎSA, (15) T’ONGDOSA, (16) KOUNSA, (17) KŬMSANSA, (18) PAEGYANGSA, (19) HWAŎMSA, [(20) SŎNAMSA (control ceded to the rival T’AEGO CHONG)], (21) SONGGWANGSA, (22) TAEHŬNGSA, (23) KWANŬMSA, (24) SŎNUNSA, and (25) PONGSŎNSA.

ponsan. (本山). In Korean, “foundational mountain [monastery]” an alternate name for the major district or parish monasteries of the CHOGYE order of Korean Buddhism. See PONSA.

Pŏpchip pyŏrhaengnok chŏryo pyŏngip sagi. (法集別行節要竝入私). In Korean, “Excerpts from the ‘Dharma Collection and Special Practice Record’ with Personal Notes” (according to the traditional parsing of the title within the Korean commentarial tradition), and often known by its abbreviated title Chŏryo (“Excerpts”); the magnum opus of the mid-Koryŏ Sŏn master POJO CHINUL (1158–1210), which provides an exhaustive analysis of the sudden-gradual issue in East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. Chinul’s treatise is constructed around excerpts from a lesser-known work of the Chinese CHAN and HUAYAN teacher GUIFENG ZONGMI (780–841), which compares the approach to practice in four different schools of early Chinese Chan Buddhism. Chinul used Zongmi’s analysis as a foil for a wider exploration of the sudden-gradual issue. After examining in meticulous detail the various schemata of awakening and cultivation outlined by such Buddhist teachers as Zongmi, CHENGGUAN (738–839), and YONGMING YANSHOU (904–975), Chinul comes out strongly in favor of sudden awakening/gradual cultivation (K. donŏ chŏmsu; C. DUNWU JIANXIU), a soteriological approach championed by Zongmi. In this approach, the Buddhist path (MĀRGA) begins with an initial sudden “understanding-awakening” (JIEWU), in which one gains correct conceptual understanding of the Buddhist teachings and awakens to the fact that one is inherently a buddha. But simply knowing that one is a buddha is not enough to ensure that one is able always to act like a buddha. Only after continued gradual cultivation (jianxiu) following this initial understanding-awakening will one remove the habitual tendencies or predispositions (VĀSANĀ) that have suffused the mind for an essentially infinite amount of time, eventually integrating one’s knowledge and conduct. That correspondence marks the final “realization-awakening” (ZHENGWU) and is the point at which the practitioner truly realizes the complete, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAṂBODHI). This soteriological process is compared by Chinul to that of an infant who is born with all the faculties of a human being (sudden understanding-awakening) but who still needs to go through a long process of maturation (gradual cultivation) before he will be able to embody his full potential as an adult human being (realization-awakening). While Chinul also accepts the validity of a “sudden awakening/sudden cultivation” (K. tono tonsu; C. dunwu dunxiu) approach, in which all aspects of cultivation are perfected simultaneously with the awakening experience, he ultimately concludes that this approach targets only the most advanced of practitioners and is actually sudden awakening/gradual cultivation when viewed from the standpoint of multiple lifetimes: viz., awakening and cultivation can be perfected simultaneously only for someone who has already had an initial sudden understanding-awakening in a previous life and who has been continuing to cultivate that experience gradually over multiple past lives. Chinul’s treatise is also important for being the first Korean work to advocate the practice of Sŏn “questioning meditation” (K. kanhwa Sŏn; C. KANHUA CHAN), a type of meditation that subsequently comes to dominate Korean Sŏn practice. The Chŏryo is included in the “Fourfold Collection” (SAJIP), the core of the Korean monastic curriculum since at least the seventeenth century.

Pŏpchusa. (法住寺). In Korean, “Monastery Where the Dharma Abides”; the fifth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located at the base of Songni (Leaving Behind the Mundane) Mountain in North Ch’ungch’ŏng province. Pŏpchusa was founded in 553, during the reign of the Silla King Chinhŭng (r. 540–576), by the monk Ŭisin (d.u.) who, according to legend, returned from the “western regions” (viz. Central Asia and India) with scriptures and resided at the monastery; hence the monastery’s name. In 1101, during the Koryŏ dynasty, ŬICH’ŎN (1055–1101) held an assembly to recite the RENWANG JING (“Scripture for Humane Kings”) here for the protection of the state (see HUGUO FOJIAO), which is said to have been attended by thirty thousand monks. On entering the monastery, to the back and left of the front gate there are two granite pillars that date from the eleventh century, which were used to support the hanging paintings (KWAEBUL) that were unfurled on such important ceremonial occasions as the Buddha’s birthday. A pavilion on the right houses a huge iron pot dated to 720 CE, which was purportedly once used to prepare meals for monks and pilgrims; off to the side is a water tank made of stone that would have held about 2,200 gallons (ten cubic meters) of water. There is also a lotus-shaped basin dating from the eighth century and a lion-supported stone lantern sponsored by the Silla monarch Sŏngdŏk (r. 702–737) in 720. The main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHŎN) houses images of VAIROCANA, ŚĀKYAMUNI, and Rocana buddhas. Behind these three statues are three paintings of the same buddhas, accompanied by BODHISATTVAs, a young ĀNANDA, and the elderly MAHĀKĀŚYAPA. In the paintings Śākyamuni and Rocana are surrounded by rainbows and Vairocana by a white halo. Pŏpchusa is especially renowned for its five-story high wooden pagoda, which dates from the foundation of the monastery in 553; it may have been the model for the similar pagoda at HŌRYŪJI in Nara, Japan. The current pagoda was reconstructed in 1624 and is the oldest extant wooden pagoda in Korea. The pagoda is painted with pictures of the eight stereotypical episodes in the life of the Buddha (see BAXIANG). Inside are four images of Śākyamuni: the east-facing statue is in the gesture of fearlessness (ABHAYAMUDRĀ); the west, in the teaching pose (DHARMACAKRAMUDRĀ); the south, in the touching-the-earth gesture (BHŪMISPARŚAMUDRĀ); and the north, in a reclining buddha posture, a rare Korean depiction of the Buddha’s PARINIRVĀṆA. Around the four buddha images sit 340 smaller white buddhas, representing the myriad buddhas of other world systems. The ceiling inside is three stories high, and the beams, walls, and ceiling are painted with various images, including bodhisattvas and lotus flowers. Outside the pagoda is Pŏpchusa’s most striking image, the thirty-three-meter (108-foot), 160-ton bronze statue of the bodhisattva MAITREYA. The original image is said to have been constructed by the Silla VINAYA master CHINP’YO (fl. eighth century), but was removed by the Taewŏn’gun in 1872 and melted down to be used in the reconstruction of Kyŏngbok Palace in Seoul. A replacement image was begun in 1939 but was never completed; another temporary statue was crafted from cement and installed in 1964. The current bronze image was finally erected in 1989. Near the base is a statue of a woman with a bowl of food, representing the laywoman SUJĀTĀ, who offered GAUTAMA a meal of milk porridge before his enlightenment.

Pŏphae pobŏl. (法海寶筏). In Korean, “Precious Raft on the Ocean of Dharma.” See SŎNMUN CH’WARYO.

pŏpkoch’um. (法鼓). In Korean, “dharma drum dance”; a CHAKPŎP ritual dance performed by Buddhist monks during such Korean Buddhist rites as the YŎNGSANJAE. The dance is performed with a giant drum that has a head often almost as wide as a person’s outstretched arms. The dance seeks to teach human beings about the prospect of rebirth in the heavens and to rescue the denizens of hell from their suffering. The dancer uses two drumsticks and beats the drum while drawing the Sinograph sim (mind). The actual dance is in two parts: the first part, called the pŏpkoch’um, begins before the drumming, when the drummer is dancing without sound; the second part, called the honggoch’um, begins when the drumming starts. Because the dance is performed in conjunction with pŏmp’ae (C. FANBAI) chanting, the dancer moderates his movements and the strength of the drumbeats in accordance with the chant. The beating of the drum is intended to awaken all sentient beings in order to deliver them from suffering. Just as in the cymbal dance (PARACH’UM), the monk performing the dance wears grey ceremonial robes with long sleeves. This dance is sometimes performed with one drummer and one dancer on opposite sides of the drum.

pŏpsŏng chong. (法性宗). In Korean, “dharma-nature school”; one of the five schools of Korean doctrinal Buddhism (KYO) that are traditionally presumed to have developed during the Silla dynasty (668–935). This school is most closely associated with the scholiast WŎNHYO (617–686) and his interest in the fundamental qualities that underlie all phenomenal existence, such as the TATHĀGATAGARBHA. See FAXING ZONG; KYO.

poṣadha. (S). See UPOṢADHA.

posal. (菩薩). In Korean, “BODHISATTVA.” In addition to its use as a transcription of bodhisattva, the term posal is also used in Korean to designate female adherents, and especially lay residents of monasteries, who assist with the menial chores of cooking, preserving food, doing laundry, etc. These women have often been widows or divorcées, who work for the monastery in exchange for room and board for themselves and their children. The posal often serve the monastery permanently and may even end up retiring there. The compound posal is generally followed by the honorific suffix -nim and then pronounced posallim.

postulant. See XINGZHE.

postures, four. See ĪRYĀPATHA.

Po ta la. The most famous building in Tibet and one of the great achievements of Tibetan architecture. Located in the Tibetan capital of LHA SA, it served as the winter residence of the DALAI LAMAs and seat of the Tibetan government from the seventeenth century until the fourteenth Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in 1959. It takes its name from Mount POTALAKA, the abode of AVALOKITEŚVARA, the bodhisattva of compassion, of whom the three Tibetan dharma kings (chos rgyal) and the Dalai Lamas are said to be human incarnations. The full name of the Potala is “Palace of Potala Peak” (Rtse po ta la’i pho brang), and it is commonly referred to by Tibetans simply as the Red Palace (Pho brang dmar po), because the edifice is located on Mar po ri (Red Hill) on the northwestern edge of Lha sa and because of the red palace at the summit of the white structure. In the early seventh century, the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO is said to have meditated in a cave located on the hill; the cave is preserved within the present structure. The earliest structure to have been constructed there was an elevenstoried palace that he had built in 637 when he moved his capital to Lha sa. In 1645, three years after his installation as temporal ruler of Tibet, the fifth Dalai Lama NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO began renovations of what remained of this original structure, with the new structure serving as his own residence, as well as the site of his government (known as the DGA’ LDAN PHO BRANG), which he moved from the DGE LUGS PA monastery of ’BRAS SPUNGS, located some five miles outside the city. The exterior of the White Palace (Pho brang dkar po), which includes the apartments of the Dalai Lama, was completed in 1648 and the Dalai Lama took up residence in 1649. The portion of the Po ta la known as the Red Palace was added by the regent SANGS RGYAS RGYA MTSHO in honor of the fifth Dalai Lama after his death in 1682. Fearing that the project would cease if news of his death became known, Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho was able successfully to conceal the Dalai Lama’s death for some twelve years (making use of a double who physically resembled the Dalai Lama to meet foreign dignitaries) until construction could be completed in 1694. The current structure is thirteen stories (approximately 384 feet) tall and is said to have over a thousand rooms, including the private apartments of the Dalai Lama, reception and assembly halls, temples, chapels containing the stūpas of the fifth and seventh through thirteenth Dalai Lamas, the Rnam rgyal monastery that performed state rituals, and government offices. From the time of the eighth Dalai Lama, the Po ta la served as the winter residence for the Dalai Lamas, who moved each summer to the smaller NOR BU GLING KHA. The first Europeans to see the Po ta la were likely the Jesuit missionaries Albert Dorville and Johannes Grueber, who visited Lha sa in 1661 and made sketches of the palace, which was still under construction at the time. During the Tibetan uprising against the People’s Liberation Army in March 1959, the Po ta la was shelled by Chinese artillery. It is said to have survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the intervention of the Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai, although many of its texts and works of art were looted or destroyed. In old Lha sa, the Po ta la stood outside the central city, with the small village of Zhol located at its foot. This was the site of a prison, a printing house, and residences of some of the lovers of the sixth Dalai Lama. In modern Lha sa, the Po ta la is now encompassed by the city, and much of Zhol has been destroyed. The Po ta la still forms the northern boundary of the large circumambulation route around Lha sa, called the gling bskor (ling khor). Since the Chinese opened Tibet to foreign access in the 1980s, the Po ta la has been visited by millions of Tibetan pilgrims and foreign tourists. The stress of tourist traffic has required frequent restoration projects. In 1994, the Po ta la was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. See also PUTUOSHAN.

Potalaka. (T. Po ta la; C. Butuoluoshan; J. Fudarakusen; K. Pot’araksan 補陀落山). According to the GAṆḌAVYŪHASŪTRA, a mountain that is the abode of the bodhisattva of compassion, AVALOKITEŚVARA. The precise location of the mountain is the subject of considerable speculation. According to XUANZANG, it is located in southern India to the east of the Malaya Mountains. He describes it as a perilous mountain with a lake and a heavenly stone palace at the summit. A river flows from the summit, encircling the mountain twenty times before flowing into the South Sea. Those who seek to meet the bodhisattva scale the mountain, but few succeed. Xuanzang says that the bodhisattva appears to his devotees at the base the mountain in the form of Maheśvara (Śiva) or an ascetic sadhu covered in ashes. Modern scholarship has speculated that Xuanzang was describing the mountain called Potikai or Potiyil in Tamil Nadu. Other sources place the mountain on an island in the Indian Ocean. In East Asian Buddhism, it is called PUTUOSHAN and is identified as a mountainous island in the Zhoushan Archipelago, about sixty-two miles off the eastern coast of Zhejiang province. When the fifth DALAI LAMA constructed his palace in LHA SA, he named it PO TA LA, after this mountain identified with Avalokiteśvara, of whom he is considered the human incarnation.

Potaliyasutta. (C. Buliduo jing; J. Horitakyō; K. P’orida kyŏng 晡利多經). The “Discourse to Potaliya,” the fifty-fourth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 203rd sūtra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the mendicant (P. paribbājaka, S. PARIVRĀJAKA) Potaliya at a grove in the town of Āpaṇa in the country of the Aṅguttarāpas. Potaliya had recently left the householder’s life to cut off his involvement with the affairs of the world and had taken up the life of itinerant mendicancy. When the Buddha encounters him, Potaliya had not abandoned his ordinary layman’s attire, so the Buddha addresses him as “householder,” to which the new mendicant takes great offense. The Buddha responds by telling Potaliya that the noble discipline rests on the support of eight abandonments: the abandonment of killing, stealing, lying, maligning others, avarice, spite, anger, and arrogance. The Buddha then enumerates the dangers of sensual pleasure and the benefits of abandoning it. Having thus prepared the ground, the Buddha explains that the noble disciple then attains the three knowledges (P. tevijja, S. TRIVIDYĀ), comprised of (1) recollection of one’s own previous existences (P. pubbenivāsānussati, S. PŪRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI); (2) the divine eye (P. dibbacakkhu, S. DIVYACAKṢUS), the ability to see the demise and rebirth of beings according to their good and evil deeds; and (3) knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants (P. āsavakkhaya, S. ĀSRAVAKṢAYA). This, the Buddha explains, is true cutting off of the affairs of the world. Delighted and inspired by the discourse, Potaliya takes refuge in the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) and dedicates himself as a lay disciple of the Buddha.

Poṭṭhapādasutta. (C. Buzhapolou jing; J. Futabarōkyō; K. P’ot’abaru kyŏng 布婆樓經). In Pāli, “Discourse to Poṭṭhapāda,” the ninth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a separate DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the twenty-eighth SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the mendicant (P. paribbājaka, S. PARIVRĀJAKA) Poṭṭhapāda in a hall erected in Mallika’s park in Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ). The Buddha is invited to the hall by Poṭṭhapāda to express his opinion on the attainment of the cessation of thought (abhisaññānirodha). Various theories advocated by other teachers are put to the Buddha, all of which he rejects as unfounded. The Buddha then explains the means by which this attainment can be achieved, beginning with taking refuge in the Buddha, the DHARMA, and the SAṂGHA, observing the precepts, renouncing the world to become a Buddhist monk, controlling the senses with mindfulness (P. sati, S. SMṚTI), cultivating the four meditative absorptions (P. JHĀNA, S. DHYĀNA), developing the four formless meditations (P. arūpāvacarajhāna, S. ĀRŪPYĀVACARADHYĀNA), and finally attaining the cessation of thought. Poṭṭhapāda then asks about the existence of the soul (ĀTMAN), and whether or not the universe is eternal. The Buddha responds that he holds no opinions on these questions as they neither relate to the holy life (P. brahmacariya; S. BRAHMACARYA) nor lead to NIRVĀṆA. Rather, he teaches only the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS of suffering (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA), its cause (SAMUDAYA), its cessation (NIRODHA), and the path leading thereto (P. magga, S. MĀRGA). Some days later, Poṭṭhapāda approaches the Buddha with his friend CITTA, the elephant trainer’s son, and inquires again about the soul. Pleased with the Buddha’s response, he becomes a lay disciple. Citta enters the Buddhist order and in due time becomes an arahant (S. ARHAT).

Pou. (K) (普雨). See HŎŬNG POU.

Pou. (K) (普愚). See T’AEGO POU.

Prabhākaramitra. (C. Boluopojialuomiduoluo; J. Harahakaramitsutara; K. Parap’agaramiltara 波羅頗迦羅蜜多羅) (564–633). A monk from NĀLANDĀ monastery who traveled to China in 626, where he translated a number of important texts, including the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṂKĀRA of MAITREYANĀTHA and the PRAJÑĀPRADĪPA of BHĀVAVIVEKA.

prabhākarībhūmi. (T. ’od byed pa; C. faguang di; J. hokkōji; K. palgwang chi 發光地). In Sanskrit, “illuminating,” the name of the third of the ten BODHISATTVA BHŪMI, as found in a list of ten stages (DAŚABHŪMI) enumerated in the DAŚABHŪMIKASŪTRA (“Sūtra on the Ten Stages”), a sūtra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA. The first bhūmi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA), the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). Prabhākarībhūmi is so called because the light of the bodhisattva’s wisdom burns brightly through the attainment of the four meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA) and the five superknowledges (ABHIJÑĀ). When the practice of the six (or ten) perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) is aligned with the ten bhūmi, the prabhākarībhūmi is especially an occasion for the practice of the perfection of patience (KṢĀNTIPĀRAMITĀ), where the bodhisattva’s patience becomes so great that even if someone were to mutilate his body, he would not respond in anger. The bodhisattva remains on this bhūmi until he is able to abide consistently in the limbs of enlightenment (BODHIPĀKṢIKADHARMA).

prabhāsvara. (P. pabhassara; T. ’od gsal; C. guangming; J. kōmyō; K. kwangmyŏng 光明). In Sanskrit, “luminous,” “resplendent”; referring to an effulgence of light and often used as a metaphor for either deep states of meditation or, especially, the nature of the mind. This notion of the innate effulgence of the mind has a long pedigree in Buddhism, and its locus classicus is the oft-quoted passage in the Pāli AṄGUTTARANIKĀYA: “The mind, O monks, is luminous (P. pabhassara), but is defiled by adventitious defilements” (pabhassaraṃ idaṃ bhikkave cittaṃ tañ ca kho āgantukehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhaṃ). A similar sentiment appears in the early MAHĀYĀNA scripture AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA, where it states that the “thought of enlightenment is no thought, since in its essential original nature thought is transparently luminous.” Through enlightenment, the mind’s innate luminosity is restored to its full intensity so that it shines through all objects, revealing their inherent vacuity and lack of substance. This same strand eventually develops into TATHĀGATAGARBHA thought, which sees the mind as inherently enlightened, the defilements of mind as ultimately extrinsic to the mind (cf. ĀGANTUKAKLEŚA), and the prospect of buddhahood as innate in all sentient beings. The concept of the “mind of clear light” (see PRABHĀSVARACITTA) becomes particularly important in ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, where it is described as the primordial and fundamental form of consciousness, which becomes manifest at particular moments, such as falling asleep, awaking from sleep, orgasm, and especially, at the moment of death. Many practices of the stage of completion (NIṢPANNAKRAMA) are devoted to making manifest this mind of clear light and using it to understand the nature of reality. As such, the practice of clear light is one of the six yogas of Nāropa (NA RO CHOS DRUG).

prabhāsvaracitta. [alt. ābhāsvaracitta] (T. ’od gsal gyi sems; C. guangmingxin; J. kōmyōshin; K. kwangmyŏngsim 光明心). In Sanskrit, “mind of clear light.” According to the systems of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, this state of mind is the most subtle form of consciousness, which must be used to perceive reality directly in order to achieve buddhahood. There are various views as to the location and accessibility of this type of consciousness, with some asserting that it resides in an indestructible drop (BINDU) located at the center of the heart CAKRA in the central channel (AVADHŪTĪ), entering at the moment of conception and departing at the moment of death. Because the mind of clear light must be made manifest in order to achieve buddhahood, various practices are set forth to simulate the process of its manifestation at the moment of death, including sexual yogas. Other views hold that the mind of clear light is present in all moments of awareness and needs only to be recognized in order to achieve enlightenment. See also ĀGANTUKAKLEŚA; PRABHĀSVARA.

prabhava. (P. pabhava; T. rab tu skye ba). In Sanskrit, “successive production,” or “series of causes,” used especially in the context of the process by which action (KARMAN) and the afflictions (KLEŚA) constantly produce different forms of suffering in an unrelenting manner. As such, prabhava is one of the four aspects of the second of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the truth of origin (SAMUDAYA).

Prabhūtaratna. (T. Mthu ldan rin chen; C. Duobao rulai; J. Tahō nyorai; K. Tabo yŏrae 多寶如來). In Sanskrit, “Abounding in Jewels”; the name of a buddha who appears in chapter eleven of the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA, the influential “Lotus Sūtra.” In this chapter, the audience is surprised to see a magnificent jeweled STŪPA emerge from the earth and float in space. The Buddha explains that it is the stūpa of the buddha Prabhūtaratna, who resides in a buddha-field (BUDDHAKṢETRA) named ratnaviśuddha, or “bejeweled purity.” Prabhūtaratna appears because, as a BODHISATTVA, he made a vow that he would appear in his bejeweled stūpa whenever the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra was taught by any TATHĀGATA, in any world system. At the invitation of Prabhūtaratna, ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha enters the jeweled stūpa, and the two buddhas sit side by side. The audience also rises into the sky so that they can see the two buddhas. Although Prabhūtaratna never became an object of cultic worship, the image of the two buddhas sitting together was a frequent subject of Buddhist sculpture as early as the fifth century.

pradakṣiṇa. (P. padakkhiṇa; T. skor ba; C. yourao; J. unyō; K. uyo 右遶). In Sanskrit, “circumambulation” (lit. “moving to the right”); a common means of demonstrating reverence to a person, place, or sacred object in the Indian tradition, since it places the object of reverence at the center of one’s worship activity. Traditionally, circumambulation was performed in a clockwise direction with the worshipper’s right side facing the object (the left side being considered polluted because of Indian toilet practices). In Buddhism, adherents might circumambulate a relic (ŚARĪRA) or reliquary (STŪPA), a monastery, an image, or even an entire geographical location, such as a sacred mountain. Reliquary mounds were designed to facilitate this practice, as they are often surrounded by reliefs depicting important stereotypical episodes in the life of the Buddha (see BAXIANG), which worshippers would review and recollect as they circumambulated the stūpa. The custom of making ritual circumambulations around stūpas appears to have come into popularity early in the Buddhist tradition. See also GNAS SKOR BA.

pradāsa. [alt. pradāśa] (P. padāleti; T. ’tshig pa; C. nao; J. nō; K. noe 惱). In Sanskrit, “irritation,” “maliciousness,” “vexation,” or “contentiousness”; one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA-VAIBHĀṢIKA school of ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGĀCĀRA school. “Irritation” appears in conjunction with envy (ĪRṢYĀ) and disparaging others’ achievements or wholesome qualities (MRAKṢA), and may be viewed as one of the possible derivative emotions of hatred (DVEṢA) or aversion (PRATIGHA). “Irritation” is the compulsive resistance to letting anyone gain advantage over oneself. Irritation may also arise when one dwells compulsively on unpleasant events from the past or present and is closely associated with “remorse” (KAUKṚTYA), “worries,” and “sadness.”

pradhānacitta. (P. padhānacitta; T. gtso sems). In Sanskrit, “chief mind,” a term used in Buddhist epistemology in the context of treatments of mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CAITTA). A “chief mind” would refer to any instance of the six consciousnesses (citta, here the functional equivalent of VIJÑĀNA)—visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousnesses. A moment of any one of these consciousnesses will be accompanied by a combination of various mental concomitants (caitta). These mental concomitants fall into five categories and include the omnipresent (SARVATRAGA), the determining (viṣayapratiniyama), the virtuous (KUŚULA), the root afflictions (MŪLAKLEŚA), the secondary afflictions (UPAKLEŚA), and the indeterminate (ANIYATA). The chief mind and the mental concomitants that accompany it are said to have five similarities. They have the same basis (ĀŚRAYA); in the case of sense perception, this would be the same organ. They have the same object (ĀLAMBANA). They are produced in the same aspect (ĀKĀRA) or image of the object. They occur at the same time (KĀLA). Finally, they are the same entity (DRAVYA), in the sense that the mind and its mental factors are produced, abide, and cease simultaneously.

Pra dum rtse. (Tradumtse). In Tibetan, one of the four “extra taming temples” or “extra pinning temples” (YANG ’DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG) said to have been constructed during the time of the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO to pin down the limbs of the demoness (T. srin mo) in order to introduce Buddhism into Tibet. It is located in Byang (Jang) and pins down her left knee.

Prāgbodhi(giri). (C. Qianzhengjueshan/Boluojiputishan; J. Zenshōgakusen/Haragōbodaisen; K. Chŏnjŏnggaksan/Pallagŭpporisan 前正覺山/鉢羅笈菩提山). Literally, “Before Enlightenment,” or “Before Enlightenment Mountain,” a mountain near BODHGAYĀ that ŚĀKYAMUNI is said to have ascended shortly before his enlightenment. In the account of his travels in India, XUANZANG recounts a story that does not seem to appear in Indian versions of the life of the Buddha. After accepting the meal of milk porridge from SUJĀTĀ, the BODHISATTVA climbed a nearby mountain, wishing to gain enlightenment there. However, when he reached the summit, the mountain began to quake. The mountain god informed the bodhisattva that the mountain was unable to bear the force of his SAMĀDHI, and if he practiced meditation there the mountain would collapse. As the bodhisattva descended the mountain he came upon a cave; he sat down there to meditate, but the earth began to tremble again. Deities then informed him that the mountain was not the appropriate place for him to achieve enlightenment and directed him to a pipal tree fourteen or fifteen leagues (li; approximately three miles) to the southwest. However, the dragon that lived in the cave implored him to stay and achieve enlightenment there. The bodhisattva departed, but left his shadow on the wall of the cave for the dragon; among the souvenirs that Xuanzang took back to China was a replica of this shadow. Based on Xuanzang’s account, the story of the Buddha’s ascent and descent of Prāgbodhi became popular in East Asia, and is the apparent source for the theme in poetry and painting of “ŚĀKYAMUNI Descending the Mountain.”

prahāṇa. [alt. pradhāna] (P. padrāna; T. spang ba; C. duan/si zhengqin; J. dan/shishōgon; K. tan/sa chŏnggŭn 斷/四正勤). In Sanskrit, “abandonment,” “relinquishment,” “exertions,” “right effort”; the effort that a practitioner must apply to ridding himself of the afflictions (KLEŚA) and wrong views (MITHYĀDṚṢṬI) that bind one to suffering (DUḤKHA). Because the term implies the abandonment of the causes that bring about suffering, prahāṇa can also mean something that heals, thus an “antidote.” Prahāṇa is commonly used to indicate the practice of meditation, through which afflictions and wrong views are abandoned; in the context of the Abhisamācārikā Dharmāḥ, for instance, the term is used when explaining how meditation is to be performed. ¶ Prahāṇa also has a second denotation of “strenuous exertion” or “right effort.” This denotation is seen in a common list of four “exertions” (catvari prahāṇāni), also called the four “right efforts” (SAMYAKPRADHĀNA), viz., the practitioner exerts himself (1) to bring about the nonproduction [in the future] of evil and unwholesome dharmas that have not yet been produced; (2) to eradicate evil and unwholesome dharmas that have already been produced; (3) to bring about the production of wholesome dharmas that have not yet been produced; (4) to enhance those wholesome dharmas that have already been produced.

prahāṇaśālā. (T. spong khang; C. chanfang; J. zenbō; K. sŏnpang 禪房/禪坊). In Sanskrit, lit. “hall for religious exertion”; a “meditation hall.” Prescriptions as to how and why to build such a structure are found in various literary sources, but most often in the VINAYA. For example, in the MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA, the Buddha orders a prahāṇaśālā built so that monks will have some degree of privacy during their meditative practice. In the Abhisamācārikā Dharmāḥ, the Buddha lists the prahāṇaśālā as an appropriate place for the bimonthly confession and recitation of precepts (UPOṢADHA) and explains how the hall is to be maintained from day to day. See also SENGTANG.