U

U Ba Khin. (1899–1971). See BA KHIN, U.

ubhayatobhāgavimukta. (P. ubhatobhāgavimutta; T. gnyis ka’i cha las rnam par grol ba; C. ju jietuo; J. kugedatsu; K. ku haet’al 解). In Sanskrit, “liberated both ways.” This is the type of liberation achieved by those noble persons (ĀRYA) who are liberated, first, by way of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA; P. JHĀNA), which is called “liberation of mind” (CETOVIMUKTI; P. cetovimutti), and second, “liberation through wisdom” (PRAJÑĀVIMUKTI; P. paññāvimutti), which involves insight by way of any of the four noble paths (ĀRYAMĀRGA), viz., the path of the stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) to the path of the ARHAT. Liberation may be achieved via wisdom alone, but arhats enlightened in this manner, without any attainment of dhyāna, are in some materials pejoratively termed “dry insight workers” (P. SUKKHAVIPASSAKA); strands of contemporary Burmese VIPASSANĀ meditation theory, however, emphasize this focus on wisdom alone as a more subitist approach to enlightenment that does not require lengthy perfection of the dhyānas. Twofold liberation is thought to be a more complete experience, and all buddhas and their chief disciples are liberated in both these two ways. The ubhayatobhāgavimukta is also one of the VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA (“twenty varieties of the ĀRYASAṂGHA”) based on the list given in the MAHĀVYUTPATTI.

ucchedadṛṣṭi. (P. ucchedadiṭṭhi; T. chad lta; C. duanjian; J. danken; K. tan’gyŏn 斷見). In Sanskrit, lit. the “[wrong] view of annihilationism”; one of the two “extreme views” (ANTAGRĀHADṚṢṬI) together with ŚĀŚVATADṚṢṬI, the “[wrong] view of eternalism.” Ucchedadṛṣṭi is variously defined in the Buddhist philosophical schools but generally refers to the wrong view that causes do not have effects, thus denying the central tenets of KARMAN and rebirth (the denial of the possibility of rebirth was attributed to the Cārvāka school of ancient India). Among the divisions of the root affliction (MŪLAKLEŚA) of “wrong view” (DṚṢṬI), ucchedadṛṣṭi occurs in connection with SATKĀYADṚṢṬI, where it is defined as the mistaken belief or view that the self is the same as one or all of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) and that as such it ceases to exist at death. In this context, it is contrasted with ŚĀŚVATADṚṢṬI, the mistaken belief that the self is different from the aggregates and that it continues to exist eternally from one rebirth to the next. Annihilationism is thus a form of antagrāhadṛṣṭi, “[wrong] view of holding to an extreme,” i.e., the view that the person ceases to exist at death and is not reborn (ucchedadṛṣṭi), in distinction to the view that there is a perduring soul that continues to be reborn unchanged from one lifetime to the next (śāśvatadṛṣṭi). The Buddhist middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between these two extremes posits that there is no permanent, perduring soul (countering eternalism), and yet there is karmic continuity from one lifetime to the next (countering annihilationism). In the MADHYAMAKA school, ucchedadṛṣṭi is more broadly defined as the view that nothing exists, even at a conventional level. Thus, following statements in the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ SŪTRAs, the Madhyamaka school sets forth a middle way between the extremes of existence and nonexistence. In general, the middle way between extremes is able to acknowledge the insubstantiality of persons and phenomena (whether that insubstantiality is defined as impermanence, no-self, or emptiness) while upholding functionality, most importantly in the realm of cause and effect (and thus the conventional reality of karman and rebirth).

ucchedānta. (T. chad mtha’; C. duanbian; J. danhen; K. tanbyŏn 斷邊). In Sanskrit, “extreme of annihilation” or “extreme of nihilism”; along with the extreme of permanence (ŚĀSVATĀNTA), one of the two extremes to be avoided in pursuit of the middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD). Precisely how these two extremes are defined varies among the schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy. All Buddhist schools would consign the various non-Buddhist schools of Indian philosophy to one of the two extremes, with the Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, JAINA, Vedānta, Mīmāṃsaka, and Nyāya falling into the extreme of permanence (ŚĀŚVATĀNTA) and the Cārvāka falling into the extreme of nihilism (ucchedānta). The Buddhist schools each claim to avoid these two extremes, avoiding the extreme of permanence by denying the existence of a perduring, indivisible, and independent self, and avoiding the extreme of annihilation by upholding the existence of moral cause and effect (KARMAN) and of rebirth. Beyond this basic analysis, the various Buddhist schools refine the two extremes according to their specific tenets and charge their rivals with falling into one or the other of the two extremes. For example, the YOGĀCĀRA school claims that the MADHYAMAKA doctrine that all phenomena are devoid of intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHĀVA) flirts with the extreme of nihilism, and the Madhyamaka claims that the Yogācāra emphasis on the autonomy of consciousness (VIJÑĀNA; VIJÑAPTIMĀTRATĀ) tends toward the extreme of permanence.

ucchedavāda. (T. chad par smra ba; C. duanjian lun; J. dankenron; K. tan’gyŏn non 斷見論). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “teaching on annihilationism,” a synonym of UCCHEDADṚṢṬI.

Udam Honggi. (優曇洪基) (1822–1881). Korean SŎN monk of the late Chosŏn dynasty; his original dharma name was Uhaeng, and his sobriquet was Udam. A native of Andong, he lost his parents at an early age and entered the SAṂGHA in 1837. Honggi studied under the monks Chasin (d.u.) at the monastery of Hŭibangsa and Yŏnwŏl (d.u.) at the major monastery of SONGGWANGSA. Honggi also studied under Ch’immyŏng Hansŏng (1801–1876) and received the full monastic precepts from the VINAYA master Inp’a (d.u.). Honggi is most famous for his treatise, the Sŏnmun chŭngjŏng nok (“Record of Attesting to Orthodoxy in the Sŏn School”), a criticism of PAEKP’A KŬNGSŎN’s magnum opus, the Sŏnmun sugyŏng (“Hand Mirror of the Sŏn School”). Honggi criticized Paekp’a for mistakenly positing three types of Sŏn, drawing heavily on CH’OŬI ŬISUN’s arguments in his Sŏnmun sabyŏnmanŏ (“Prolix Words on Four Distinctive Types in the Sŏn School”) to posit that there are, in fact, only two. SŎLTU YUHYŎNG (1824–1889), a second-generation successor in Paekp’a’s lineage, responded to Honggi’s critique by writing his own treatise, the Sŏnwŏn soryu (“Tracing the Source of Sŏn”), where he also criticizes Ch’oŭi Ŭisun’s treatise Sŏnmun sabyŏnmanŏ. Ch’ugwŏn Chinha (1861–1926) criticized Paekp’a and Sŏltu from Ch’oŭi’s standpoint in his short treatise, Sŏnmun chaejŏng nok (“Reconsidering Orthodoxy in Sŏn Writings”), written in 1890, arguing for the ultimate unity of all types of Sŏn.

udāna. (T. ched du brjod pa; C. youtuona; J. udana; K. udana 優陀那). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. “utterance,” or “meaningful expression,” a term with three important denotations. ¶ The Udāna is the third book of the Pāli KHUDDAKANIKĀYA and comprises eighty stories containing eighty utterances of the Buddha. The utterances are mostly in verse and are accompanied by prose accounts of the circumstances that prompted the Buddha to speak on those occasions. ¶ The name udāna is also given to a broader classification of texts within the Pāli canon as a whole, and in this usage it refers to a set of eighty-two suttas containing verses uttered out of joy. ¶ Finally, udāna are one of the standard sections in the division of the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) into nine NAVAṄGA (Pāli) or twelve (DVĀDAŚĀṄGA) categories based on genre. In that context, udāna are defined as solemn utterances intended to convey an understanding of the dharma. Many of the Buddha’s statements in the DHAMMAPADA are said to fall into this category.

Udānavarga. (T. Ched du brjod pa’i tshoms; C. Chuyao jing; J. Shutchōgyō; K. Ch’uryo kyŏng 出曜經). In Sanskrit, “Groups of Utterances,” a Sanskrit text associated with the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school that corresponds to the DHAMMAPADA (S. Dharmapada) in the Pāli scriptural tradition. The Udānavarga collects some 1,050 verses in thirty-three groups, or vargas, and is therefore more than twice as long as the Pāli Dhammapada, which includes 423 verses in twenty-six vaggas. Approximately 360 verses appear to be shared by the two texts. There are four translations of varying recensions of the Udānavarga cum Dharmapada made into Chinese, the earliest of which was produced by ZHU FONIAN in 374 CE. The Tibetan translation (c. 900) of the Udānavarga is of an anthology compiled by Dharmatrāta (Chos skyob); it is included in both the BKA’ ’GYUR and the BSTAN ’GYUR. There is also a Tibetan translation of a commentary by Prajñāvarman. The Udānavarga was one of the six basic texts (gzhung drug) of the BKA’ GDAMS pa school.

udayabbayānupassanāñāṇa. In Pāli, “knowledge arising from the contemplation of arising and passing away”; the first of nine knowledges (P. ñāṇa) cultivated as part of the “purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path” (P. PAṬIPADĀÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI), according to the account in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (P. visuddhi; S. VIŚUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of arising and passing away refers to the clear comprehension of the arising, presence, and dissolution of material and mental phenomena (NĀMARŪPA). Through contemplating this process, the three universal marks of existence (P. tilakkhaṇa; S. TRILAKṢAṆA) become apparent, viz., (1) impermanence (ANITYA), (2) suffering (DUḤKHA), and (3) no-self (ANĀTMAN). Full comprehension of the three universal marks of existence is not possible so long as the mind is disturbed by attachment to any of the ten “defilements of insight” (P. vipassanūpakkilesa), which arise as concomitants of insight meditation (P. vipassanābhāvanā); these are (1) a vision of radiant light (obhāsa), (2) knowledge (ñāṇa), (3) rapture (pīti), (4) tranquillity (passaddhi), (5) happiness (sukha), (6) determination (adhimokkha), (7) energy (paggaha), (8) heightened awareness (upaṭṭhāna), (9) equanimity (upekkhā), and (10) delight (nikanti). The ten defilements are overcome by understanding them for what they are, as mere by-products of meditation. This understanding is developed through perfecting the “purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path” (P. MAGGĀMAGGAÑĀṆADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the fifth of seven “purities” (visuddhi) to be developed along the path to liberation.

Udāyana Buddha. (C. Youtian wang Shijia xiang; J. Uten’ō Shakazō; K. Ujŏn wang Sŏkka sang 優塡王釋迦像). An Indian sandalwood image of ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha that is purported to be the world’s first Buddha image; supposedly commissioned by the VATSĀ king Udāyana (also called Rudrāyana in some versions) and hence named after him. While ancient Indian sources only mention a buddha image made for king PRASENAJIT, the story of this supposedly earlier image made for King Udāyana first appears in the 397 CE Chinese translation of the EKOTTARĀGAMA. XUANZANG later reports a legend about the image’s production. According to this legend, when ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha ascended to the TRĀYASTRIṂŚA (heaven of the thirty-three) to preach the DHARMA to his mother MĀYĀ, King Udāyana so missed his teacher that he asked MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA to transport an artist to the heaven to observe the Buddha’s thirty-two bodily marks (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA) and carve a sandalwood image of the master. Subsequent Indian rulers were unable to dislodge the miraculously powerful statue from its spot and therefore made copies of it for their own realms. FAXIAN and Xuanzang remark in their travel records that they saw a sandalwood image at the JETAVANA VIHĀRA in ŚRĀVASTĪ, which had been commissioned by King Prasenajit on the model of the Udāyana image. In addition, Xuanzang saw a Udāyana Buddha image enshrined in a large vihāra at Kauśāmbī, and mentions a third one, which was reputedly the original statue, that had flown north over the mountains to the Central Asian oasis kingdom of KHOTAN. Both KUMĀRAJĪVA and Xuanzang are claimed to have brought the Udāyana Buddha image to the Chinese capital of Chang’an. The Japanese pilgrim Chōnen (938–1016), during his sojourn in China, saw a replica of the allegedly original Indian statue at Qishenyuan in Kaifeng. He hired the artisans Zhang Yanjiao and Zhang Yanxi to make an exact copy of this replica. According to the legend, the original statue spoke to Chōnen in a dream, expressing its wish to go to Japan. Chōnen thus darkened the copy with smoke and took the original to Japan in 986. The tenth-century Chinese wooden sculpture is commonly known as the Seiryōji Shaka, since it was enshrined in 1022 in the monastery of Seiryōji. In February 1954, a group of Japanese scholars, including the renowned Buddhologist and Seiryōji abbot, Tsukamoto Zenryū (1898–1980), opened the cavity in the back of the image and discovered that it contained silk and brocade textiles, coins, mirrors, glass fragments, a small brass bell, textile intestines, wood-block prints of texts such as the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (“Diamond Sūtra”), a Japanese manuscript of the SUVARṆAPRABHĀSOTTAMASŪTRA (“Sūtra of Golden Light”) dated 804, as well as other handwritten documents, such as a vow written by Chōnen and Gizō dated 972, which they witnessed with the imprint of their hands in their own blood. The veneration of the Udāyana Buddha image reached its peak in thirteenth-century Japan, when further copies of the Seiryōji Shaka were made, for example, at SAIDAIJI (dated 1249) and TŌSHŌDAIJI (dated 1258) in Nara and at Gokurakuji (second half of the thirteenth century) in Kamakura.

Udāyin. (P. Udāyī; T. ’Char ka; C. Youtuoyi; J. Udai; K. Ut’ai 優陀夷). Sanskrit proper name of an eminent ARHAT disciple of the Buddha. According to the Pāli accounts, where he is known as Udāyī, he was a brāhmaṇa from Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU), who first encountered the Buddha when the Buddha visited his native Sākiya (S. ŚĀKYA) clan who resided in the city. Attracted by the Buddha’s charisma, he entered the order and later became an arhat. Udāyī once uttered sixteen verses, which compared the Buddha to a majestic elephant. Udāyī was a gifted preacher who attracted large, enthusiastic audiences; once, while staying at Todeyya’s mango grove in Kāmandā, he converted a pupil of a brāhmaṇa belonging to the clan of Lady Verahaccāni. Hearing of his triumph, Verahaccāni invited Udāyī to her home several times to preach and eventually became a convert to the Buddha’s teachings. In several suttas, Udāyī is described discussing points of doctrine with his fellow monks. In the Udāyīsutta, he asks ĀNANDA whether consciousness can also be deemed as lacking selfhood, and elsewhere he explains the concept of sensation (VEDANĀ) to the carpenter Pañcakaṅga. Ānanda reports this conversation to the Buddha, who confirms the accuracy of Udāyī’s understanding. Udāyī requested instruction in the limbs of enlightenment (P. bhojjaṅga; S. BODHYAṄGA) from the Buddha, and later reported to him how he won liberation through their cultivation. Although an arhat, Udāyī was not without fault. Once he ridiculed Ānanda for not taking advantage of his close association with the Buddha to attain arhatship. The Buddha chastised Udāyī for his remark, pointing out to him that Ānanda was destined to become an arhat in that very life.

Uḍḍandapura. See ODANTAPURĪ.

Uḍḍiyāna. One of the twenty-four sacred sites associated with the CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA. See PĪṬHA; OḌḌIYĀNA.

Udgata. (P. Uggata; T. ’Phags pa; C. Yujiatuo; J. Utsukada; K. Ulgat’a 欝伽陀). Lay disciple of the Buddha deemed to be foremost among laymen who served the order (SAṂGHA). According to the Pāli account, where he is known as Uggata, he was a wealthy householder living in the town of Hatthigāma. One day, while the Buddha was sojourning at the Nāgavanuyyāna garden in the town, Uggata visited the garden in a drunken state, accompanied by dancers, after a drinking binge that had lasted seven days. Seeing the Buddha, he was filled with shame and immediately sobered up. The Buddha preached to him, and he became a nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN) on the spot. He dismissed the dancers and, from that time onward, devoted himself to serving the order. He used to receive visitations from the divinities, who told him of the attainments of various members of the order and suggested that he favor these above the rest. Uggata, however, treated all monks equally and showed no preference in his benefactions between those who had attained distinction as ĀRYAPUDGALA and those who were still unenlightened. When queried, Uggata said that there were eight wonderful things that happened to, and were done by, him in this life: he recovered his sobriety the very moment he saw the Buddha; he readily understood the Buddha’s teaching of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS; when he took a vow of celibacy, he provided for his four wives even to the point of finding one of them a new husband of her choice; he shared his great wealth with persons of good conduct; he served monks wholeheartedly, listening to their sermons or preaching to them when they did not speak; he was equally generous to all monks without making distinctions; he was not prideful of his conversations with the divinities; and he did not worry about death, for the Buddha had assured him that he would not return to this world.

Udraka Rāmaputra. (P. Uddaka Rāmaputta; T. Rangs byed kyi bu lhag spyod; C. Yutoulanfu; J. Utsuzuranhotsu; K. Ulturambul 欝頭藍弗). One of two teachers (the other being ĀRĀḌA KĀLĀMA) from whom Prince SIDDHĀRTHA received instruction in meditation after he renounced the world and before he achieved enlightenment. Both teachers are mentioned in the ARIYAPARIYESANĀSUTTA, one of the sparest accounts of the Buddha’s quest that is considered by some scholars to be among the earliest. After having studied with Ārāḍa Kālāma and determining that his teachings did not lead to liberation, the BODHISATTVA next studied with Udraka Rāmaputra, whose father, Rāma, taught a form of meditation resulting in the state of neither perception nor nonperception (identified by commentators as the fourth immaterial DHYĀNA; see NAIVASAṂJÑĀNĀSAṂJÑĀYATANA). When the bodhisattva attained this state, Udraka Rāmaputra offered him the position of teacher of his disciples. Realizing that this state was not in fact liberation from rebirth, the bodhisattva declined and left Udraka Rāmaputra to practice austerities in URUVILVĀ. After his achievement of enlightenment, the Buddha determined that Ārāḍa Kālāma and Udraka Rāmaputra would be the most suitable recipients of his teachings, but both had recently died, so he proceeded to ṚṢIPATANA to teach the “group of five” (PAÑCAVARGIKA).

udumbara. (T. u dum bā ra; C. youtan hua; J. udonge; K. udam hwa 優曇華). In Sanskrit and Pāli, name of a flowering tree (the Ficus glomerata) that is said to bloom only once every one thousand or three thousand years. Because it blossoms so infrequently, Buddhist texts often use the udumbara in similes to indicate something exceedingly rare, such as the appearance of a buddha in the world or the chance of encountering the BUDDHADHARMA during one’s lifetime.

Udumbaragiri. A mountain in Sri Lanka and legendary abode of demons (P. yakkha; S. YAKṢA), site of a monastery of forest-dwelling monks noted (according to the Mahāvaṃsaṭīkā) for their scholarship and piety; also known as Udumbarapabbata, Dhūmarakkha, and Dimbulāgala. By the twelfth century CE, the Udumbaragiri monastery became the standard bearer of orthodoxy and played a central role in the monastic purifications of PARAKRĀMABĀHU I and his successors, Vijayabāhu III and Parakrāmabāhu II. The monastic reforms instituted by these three kings represented a watershed in Sinhalese Buddhist history, insofar as patterns of SAṂGHA organization and saṃgha–state relations were established that were to remain essentially unchanged from that period onward. These reforms were transmitted in stages to Burma (Myanmar) beginning in the twelfth century. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Udumbaragiri monastery was again the fountainhead of a major THERAVĀDA revival that was propagated into the Thai kingdoms of AYUTHAYA, SUKHOTHAI, and Chiangmai and the Mon kingdom of PEGU.

Udumbarikasīhanādasutta. (C. Santuona jing; J. Sandanagyō; K. Sandana kyŏng 散陀那經). In Pāli, the “Discourse on the Lion’s Roar at Udumbarika Park,” the twenty-fifth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the eighth SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA), preached by the Buddha to the ascetic Nigrodha and his followers at the Udumbarikā hermitage near RĀJAGṚHA. The Buddha explains to Nigrodha the relative merits of ascetic practices and the superiority of his own path that can lead to liberation in seven days. Infatuated with MĀRA’s deceits, Nigrodha and his followers remain skeptical and do not heed the Buddha’s message.

uggahanimitta. In Pāli, “eidetic image” or “learning sign,” the second of the three major visualization signs experienced in calmness or tranquillity (P. samatha; S. ŚAMATHA) exercises, along with the PARIKAMMANIMITTA (preparatory image) and the PAṬIBHĀGANIMITTA (counterpart, or representational, image). The signs are listed sequentially according to the degree of concentration necessary for them to appear. These three visualization signs and the meditative exercises employed to experience them are discussed in detail in BUDDHAGHOSA’s VISUDDHIMAGGA. These signs are particularly associated with 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 earth, fire, or light, 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. With the fire kasiṇa, for example, the eidetic image of the visualized flame appears like a detached flame, with any embers, ashes, or smoke that were present in the preparatory image still visible. This uggahanimitta, however, still represents a relatively weak degree of concentration, and it must be strengthened until the paṭibhāganimitta, or “counterpart/representational image,” emerges, which marks the access to meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA).

Ugra. (P. Ugga; T. Drag shul can; C. Yuqie; J. Ikuga/Ikuka; K. Ukka 郁伽). An eminent lay disciple of the Buddha whom he declared to be foremost among laymen who give pleasant gifts. According to the Pāli accounts, where he is known as Ugga, he was a householder who lived in Vesāli (S. VAIŚĀLĪ). He became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) when he saw the Buddha the first time and later became a nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN). He vowed to give to the Buddha and his followers whatever they found most agreeable. The Buddha, reading his mind, appeared before him, whereupon he provided them with a sumptuous meal and communicated his intentions to the Buddha. The list of favorite things included rice cakes in the shape of sāla flowers, pork, and Kāsī cloth. He was possessed of six special qualities: steadfast confidence in the Buddha, his teachings, and the order, noble conduct, insight, and liberation. Ugga declared that there were eight wonderful things that happened to him and that he did in this life. The list is similar to what is found in the story of UDGATA and concludes with the freedom he achieved from the five lower fetters (SAṂYOJANA) that bind living beings to the cycle of existence: belief in the existence of the body as a real person (P. sakkāyadiṭṭhi; S. SATKĀYADṚṢṬI), doubt about the efficacy of the path (P. vicikicchā; S. VICIKITSĀ), clinging to the rules and rituals (P. sīlabbataparāmāsa; S. ŚĪLAVRATAPARĀMARŚA), sensuous craving (KĀMARĀGA), and ill will (VYĀPĀDA). When Ugga died, he was reborn in the realm of subtle materiality (RŪPALOKA) among the divinities who project mind-made bodies (MANOMAYAKĀYA). He visited the Buddha and informed him that he had attained arhatship in that existence.

Ugraparipṛcchā. (T. Drag shul can gyis zhus pa; C. Yuqie zhangzhe hui; J. Ikuga chōjae; K. Ukka changja hoe 郁伽長者會). In Sanskrit, “The Inquiry of Ugra,” an influential MAHĀYĀNA SŪTRA, dating perhaps from the first century BCE, making it one of the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras. The text has not survived in any Indic-language version, but has been preserved in five translated versions: three in Chinese, one in Tibetan, and one in Mongolian. The sūtra is structured as a dialogue, mainly between the Buddha and the lay BODHISATTVA UGRA, whose inquiry prompts the Buddha to launch into a protracted discourse on the bodhisattva path (MĀRGA). Ugra is labeled a GṚHAPATI, a term that literally means “lord of the house” but that comes to refer to men belonging to the upper stratum of what would later be labeled as the vaiśya (often rendered as “merchant”) caste. The sūtra is divided into two parts, one directed toward the lay bodhisattva and the other toward renunciants. In the oldest version of the sūtra, Ugra and his friends, after hearing the Buddha’s discourse, ask for and receive ordination as monks; in later translations, this event takes place in the middle of the sūtra. In all versions, however, the overall message is that, although a lay practitioner may be capable of performing at least preliminary parts of the bodhisattva path, to attain the final goal of buddhahood he must become a monk. The Buddha declares, “For no bodhisattva who lives at home has ever attained supreme perfect enlightenment.” Accordingly, the sūtra urges the lay bodhisattva to break the ties of affection that bind him to his family and, above all, to his wife; the condemnation of marriage and family life is striking. Moreover, he is urged to emulate the conduct of the monks in his local monastery even while he still lives at home—involving, among other things, complete celibacy. This sort of practice is congruent with what was required of the UPĀSAKA, the lay adherent who has taken the three refuges and the five or eight precepts and dresses in white as a sign of his semirenunciant status. The lay bodhisattva described in the Ugraparipṛcchā is repeatedly urged to seek ordination as soon as he possibly can. If the lay bodhisattva is portrayed as the best of all possible laymen, the renunciant bodhisattva is portrayed as the best of all possible monks. Not only does he follow the standard requirements of the monastic life, but he goes beyond them, spending large periods of time (ideally, his whole lifetime) performing strict ascetic practices in the wilderness. This is a reenactment of the biography of ŚĀKYAMUNI Buddha; it appears that aspiring bodhisattvas, both lay and monastic, took the stories of the Buddha’s life—including his previous lives, described in the JĀTAKA stories—as prescriptive for those who wished to become buddhas themselves. The Ugraparipṛcchā never portrays any actual female practitioner, whether lay or monastic, as a bodhisattva. Apart from a formulaic reference to “sons and daughters of good lineage,” which appears at the beginning and the end of the sūtra (and may have been added long after its initial composition), there is no indication that the authors of the sūtra believed that women were capable of embarking upon the bodhisattva path. The Ugraparipṛcchā was a highly influential sūtra in both India and East Asia, where it was widely quoted and commented upon and is regarded by scholars as an important and influential work in the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Uhaeng. (K) (禹行/幸). See UDAM HONGGI.

Ŭich’ŏn. (C. Yitian 義天) (1055–1101). Korean prince, monk, and bibliophile, and putative founder of the CH’ŎNT’AE CHONG (C. TIANTAI ZONG) in Korea. Ŭich’ŏn was born the fourth son of the Koryŏ king Munjong (r. 1047–1082). In 1065, Ŭich’ŏn was ordained by the royal preceptor (WANGSA) Kyŏngdŏk Nanwŏn (999–1066) at the royal monastery of Yŏngt’ongsa in the Koryŏ capital of Kaesŏng. Under Nanwŏn, Ŭich’ŏn studied the teachings of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA and its various commentaries. In 1067, at the age of twelve, Ŭich’ŏn was appointed “saṃgha overseer” (K. sŭngt’ong; C. SENGTONG). Ŭich’ŏn is known on several occasions to have requested permission from his royal father to travel abroad to China, but the king consistently denied his request. Finally, in 1085, Ŭich’ŏn secretly boarded a Chinese trading ship and traveled to the mainland against his father’s wishes. Ŭich’ŏn is said to have spent about fourteen months abroad studying under various teachers. His father sent his friend and colleague NAKCHIN (1045–1114) after Ŭich’ŏn, but they ended up studying together with the Huayan teacher Jingyuan (1011–1088) of Huiyinsi in Hangzhou. Ŭich’ŏn and Nakchin returned to Korea in 1086 with numerous texts that Ŭich’ŏn acquired during his sojourn in China. While residing as the abbot of the new monastery of Hŭngwangsa in the capital, Ŭich’ŏn devoted his time to teaching his disciples and collecting works from across East Asia, including the Khitan Liao kingdom. He sent agents throughout the region to collect copies of the indigenous writings of East Asian Buddhists, which he considered to be the equal of works by the bodhisattva exegetes of the imported Indian scholastic tradition. A large monastic library known as Kyojang Togam was established at Hŭngwangsa to house the texts that Ŭich’ŏn collected. In 1090, Ŭich’ŏn published a bibliographical catalogue of the texts housed at Hŭngwangsa, entitled Sinp’yŏn chejong kyojang ch’ongnok (“Comprehensive Catalogue of the Doctrinal Repository of All the Schools”), which lists some 1,010 titles in 4,740 rolls. The Hŭngwangsa collection of texts was carved on woodblocks and titled the Koryŏ sokchanggyŏng (“Koryŏ Supplement to the Canon”), which was especially important for its inclusion of a broad cross section of the writings of East Asian Buddhist teachers. (The one exception was works associated with the CHAN or SŎN tradition, which Ŭich’ŏn refused to collect because of their “many heresies.”) Unfortunately, the xylographs of the supplementary canon were burned during the Mongol invasion of Koryŏ in 1231, and many of the works included in the collection are now lost and known only through their reference in Ŭich’ŏn’s catalogue. In 1097, Ŭich’ŏn was appointed the founding abbot of the new monastery of Kukch’ŏngsa (named after the renowned Chinese monastery of Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai). There, he began to teach Ch’ŏnt’ae thought and practice and is said to have attracted more than a thousand students. Ŭich’ŏn seems to have seen the Tiantai/Ch’ŏnt’ae synthesis of meditation and doctrine as a possible means of reconciling the Sŏn and doctrinal (KYO) traditions in Korea. Ŭich’ŏn’s efforts have subsequently been regarded as the official foundation of the Ch’ŏnt’ae school in Korea; however, it seems Ŭich’ŏn was not actually attempting to start a new school, but merely to reestablish the study of Ch’ŏnt’ae texts in Korea. He was awarded the posthumous title of state preceptor (K. kuksa; C. GUOSHI) Taegak (Great Enlightenment).

Ŭisang. (C. Yixiang; J. Gishō 義湘/相) (625–702). Influential Korean monk during the Silla dynasty, who was a leader in the Chinese HUAYAN ZONG and founder of the HWAŎM tradition in Korea. After ordaining at Hwangboksa in 644, Ŭisang left for China in 650 with his friend and colleague WŎNHYO (617–686) via the overland route, but was arrested by Koguryŏ border guards and forced to return to Silla. In 661, Ŭisang was able to reach China by sea and studied at Zhixiangsi on ZHONGNANSHAN under the guidance of ZHIYAN (602–668), the second patriarch in the Chinese Huayan school. In China, Ŭisang was a close colleague of FAZANG (643–712), a fellow student of Zhiyan’s, who was eighteen years his junior; he is also said to have had associations with DAOXUAN (596–667), the founder of the NANSHAN LÜ ZONG, a major Chinese school of Buddhist discipline (VINAYA). According to some accounts, Ŭisang took over the leadership of Zhiyan’s community after his master’s death, but eventually returned to Korea in 671 to warn the Silla king Munmu (r. 661–681) of an impending Chinese invasion of Silla by the Tang emperor Gaozong (628–683). In gratitude, the Silla king provided munificent support for Ŭisang’s Hwaŏm school and installed the master at the new monastery of PUSŎKSA near T’aebaeksan, where Ŭisang is said to have attracted more than three thousand students. Ŭisang is also presumed to have established a network of Hwaŏm monasteries around the peninsula, which included Mirisa, HWAŎMSA, and HAEINSA. Thanks to royal support, by the time of Ŭisang’s death, the Hwaŏm school had emerged as the predominant scholastic tradition in Korean Buddhism. ¶ Even after his return to Korea, Ŭisang continued to exchange letters and to work with his Chinese colleague FAZANG. In 692, Fazang sent Ŭisang a copy of his HUAYAN JING TANXUAN JI, asking for his comments; this correspondence is still extant today. The most influential of Ŭisang’s writings is the HWAŎM ILSŬNG PŎPKYE TO (“Diagram of the DHARMADHĀTU according to the One Vehicle of Hwaŏm”), which summarizes the gist of the Huayan school’s interpretation of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA. His only other extant work is the Paekhwa toryang parwŏn mun (“Vow Made at the White Lotus Enlightenment Site”), a short paean to the bodhisattva AVALOKITEŚVARA (K. Kwanŭm); works attributed to Ŭisang that are no longer extant, most of which addressed aspects of Hwaŏm thought, include Simmun kanpŏp kwan, Ip pŏpkye p’um ch’ogi, and Ilsŭng parwŏn mun, as well as a commentary to the AMITĀBHASŪTRA (So Amit’a ŭigi).

Ŭisun. (K) (意恂). See CH’OŬI ŬISUN.

*ullambana. (T. yongs su skyob pa’i snod; C. yulanben; J. urabon; K. uranbun 盂蘭盆). A hypothetical BUDDHIST HYBRID SANSKRIT, Middle Indic, or perhaps even Iranian reconstruction of the Chinese term yulanben and sometimes interpreted to correspond to the Sanskrit avalambana (lit. “hanging downward,” “suspended”); the term would then refer to the “ghost festival,” a ritual that sought the salvation of condemned beings who were “suspended” in hell. This interpretation of yulan is questionable, however, since this connotation of the Sanskrit term avalambana is unknown in Indian Buddhist contexts. The Tibetan translation of yulanben as yongs su skyob pa’i snod, or “vessel of complete protection,” also does not correspond to any of the connotations of “hanging down”; the Tibetan rendering does, however, seem to better fit an alternate explanation of the derivation of yulan(ben) as the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit term ullumpana (sometimes wrongly transcribed as ullampana, ullambana, etc.), lit. “rescuing, extracting [from an unfortunate fate].” A more recent hypothesis concerning the transcription yulanben is that “yulan” is a transcription of the Sanskrit and Pāli term odana (cooked rice) and ‘ben’ a native word for bowl; the compound ‘yulanben’ is thus not a transcription of the hypothetical Sanskrit word *ullambana but actually means a “rice bowl,” perhaps even a special kind of rice bowl for making offerings on the PRAVĀRAṆĀ day. The Japanese BON FESTIVAL (alt. Obon) derives from this term ullambana; it is celebrated in either mid-July or mid-August to honor the spirits of deceased ancestors. During this three-day period, family members return to their ancestral homes to make offerings to their ancestors (who are thought to return on those days) and to clean the family grave sites. On the last night, the celebrants light paper lanterns and float them down the river (J. tōrō nagashi) to help light the spirits’ way back. See also YULANBEN; YULANBEN JING.

Ulūka. (T. ’Ug pa; C. Youlouqu; J. Urukya; K. Uruga 優樓佉). One of the non-Buddhist philosophers of India mentioned in Buddhist texts; he is identified with Kaṇāda of the Vaiśeṣika school. He is often listed as one of a group of three, the other two being Kapila and Ṛṣabha.

U-min Ko-zei Pagoda. A multitowered pagoda (Burmese, JEDI) located in the Sagaing Hills in Upper Burma (Myanmar). Its name means “ninety caves,” and it was given this epithet in imitation of another famous shrine found in the Sagaing Hills called U-min Thon-zei, or the “Thirty Caves Shrine.” U-min Ko-zei Pagoda is in actuality not comprised of ninety caves but is a freestanding structure with more than thirty entrances leading to an interior artificial cave. U-min Ko-zei Pagoda is one of four related pagodas originally built during the AVA period that are collectively known as Hsin-bo-lei Hpaya (“the four pagodas equal in value to an elephant”). This unusual name is explained by the following story. On one occasion, King Min-hkaung-gyi of Ava (r. 1481–1502) went by elephant to pay his respects to the monk Ariyawuntha, a famous scholar whose monastery was located between four hillocks. As it happened, while the king was meeting with this monk, his elephant ate leaves from the monastery’s BODHI TREE and promptly fell unconscious. Luckily, the elephant was revived with medicinal herbs gathered from the four surrounding hills. In memory of this event, the king built a pagoda on each of the four hilltops, the total cost of which equaled the value of his elephant.

U-min Thon-zei Zedi. An artificial cave shrine (Burmese, u-min) located in the Sagaing Hills in Upper Burma (Myanmar), on the same mountain ridge as the Swam-oo Ponnya Shin Pagoda. It was built in 1366 CE by Padu Thinga-yaza, a monk from Padu Village. He was the royal preceptor (SAṂGHARĀJAN) of the king of Sagaing, Tara-hpya Min-gyi, and was also venerated by Thato Min-hpaya, the king of AVA. Thinga-yaza built the cave with thirty entrances in memory of the Buddha’s thirty moral perfections (P. pāramī; S. PĀRAMITĀ); hence, its name U-min Thon-zei, which means “thirty caves.” This cave also contains forty-five statues of the Buddha in memory of the Buddha’s forty-five-year teaching ministry.

undō. (J) (雲堂). In Japanese, “cloud hall.” See SENGTANG.

Ŭnhaesa. (銀海寺). In Korean, “Silver Sea Monastery,” the tenth district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located in Yŏngch’ŏn, near Taegu, on the slopes of P’algong Mountain. It was built by state preceptor (kuksa; C. GUOSHI) Hyech’ŏl (785–861) in 809 and was originally named Haeansa (Oceanic Eye Monastery), but was moved to the present site and received its new name in 1546. The monastery burned down in 1563 and was reconstructed in the following year. The monastery once again burned to the ground in 1861 and was substantially reconstructed under the supervision of the monks Palbong (d.u.) and Haewŏl (d.u.). Along with TONGHWASA, Ŭnhaesa is one of the representative monasteries on Mount P’algong and is known for the many hermitages that have been established in the surrounding mountains. The monastery’s current site is near to Kŏjo Hermitage, which dates to approximately 738 and was once the main monastery in the area. The hermitage is noted for the Yŏngsan Chŏn (Vulture Peak Hall), built in 1375, which enshrines images of the Buddha and 526 stone ARHATs. Another hermitage, Unbuam, has a statue of a bodhisattva that is three-feet high, with a crown decorated with flames, flowers, and a bird of paradise. Paekhŭngam, a hermitage at Ŭnhaesa reserved for nuns, houses in its kŭngnak chŏn (hall of ultimate bliss) a pedestal called a sumidan (MT. SUMERU altar; J. SHUMIDAN) with a statue of the Buddha on top. The sumidan is also decorated with fine carvings of birds, animals, flowers, and demons. There are some ten buildings on the Ŭnhaesa grounds. The site is noted for its enshrined image of AMITĀBHA, and Ŭnhaesa is famous in Korea as a center of Amitābha worship. Ŭnhaesa is also home to one of the most recognized KWAEBUL, or giant hanging Korean religious art works (see also T’AENGHWA; T. THANG KA). Painted in 1750 on silk, it depicts the Buddha in a PURE LAND resplendent with birds and peonies.

Unmuk. (雲默) (d.u.; fl. late fourteenth century). Korean monk from the late Koryŏ dynasty, also known as Puam and Mugi. He entered the SAṂGHA and studied Ch’ŏntae (C. TIANTAI) philosophy under the state preceptor (KUKSA) Purin Chŏngjo (d.u.) at the White Lotus Society (see JIESHE) on Mandŏksan. After passing the monastic examinations (SŬNGKWA), he was appointed as the abbot of Kuramsa but soon left his post to travel throughout the country. He built a hermitage and settled down at Mt. Sihŭng, where he spent the next twenty years painting Buddhist images, copying scriptures, and chanting the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”). He is the author of the two-roll Sŏkka yŏrae haengjŏk song, a verse retelling of the life of the Buddha, and the single-roll Ch’ŏnt’ae marhak Unmuk hwasang kyŏngch’aek, a book of his teachings and admonitions, which is only partially extant.

unsui. (雲水). In Japanese, lit. “clouds and water,” referring to itinerant Buddhist monks, and especially monks in training. See YUNSHUI.

upacārasamādhi. In Pāli, “access concentration,” “neighborhood concentration,” or “threshold concentration”; the more elementary of the two broad types of concentration (SAMĀDHI) described in Pāli commentarial literature. Both of these two types of samādhi are used with reference to meditators who are specializing in calmness (P. samatha; S. ŚAMATHA) techniques. Upacārasamādhi precedes full meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA) and is the highest level of concentration that may be developed from the more discursive topics of meditation (KAMMAṬṬHĀNA), viz., the first eight of ten recollections (P. anussati; S. ANUSMṚTI), on the Buddha, dharma, SAṂGHA, morality, generosity, divinities, death, and peace, as well as the contemplation on the loathsomeness of food, and the analysis of the four material elements. Upacārasamādhi is characterized by the visualization in the mind of a luminous “counterpart” or “representational” “image” (PAṬIBHĀGANIMITTA) of the object of meditation. It is through further concentration on this stable representational image that the mind finally attains “full concentration” (APPANĀSAMĀDHI), which leads to jhāna. (See also KHANIKASAMĀDHI; SĀMANTAKA.) According to some THERAVĀDA accounts (e.g., in the modern VIPASSANĀ movement), concentration of at least the level of upacārasamādhi is said to be required for the achievement of the state of stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA).

upādāna. (T. len pa; C. qu; J. shu; K. ch’wi 取). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “clinging,” “grasping,” or “attachment”; the ninth of the twelve links (NIDĀNA) of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), which is preceded by craving (TṚṢṆĀ) and followed by becoming (BHAVA). Clinging is regarded as a more intense form of craving, with craving defined as the desire not to separate from a feeling of pleasure, the desire to separate from a feeling of pain, or as a nondiminution of a neutral feeling. Upādāna is a stronger, and more sustained, type of attachment, which is is said to be of four types: (1) clinging to sensuality (RĀGA), which is strong attachment to pleasing sensory objects; (2) clinging to false views and speculative theories (DṚṢṬI); (3) clinging to faulty disciplinary codes and superstitious modes of conduct (ŚĪLAVRATAPARĀMARŚA); and (4) clinging to mistaken beliefs in a perduring self (ĀTMAVĀDA), viz., the attachment to the transitory mind and body as a real I and mine. In the context of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), craving (tṛṣṇā) leads to the clinging (upādāna) that nourishes the actions that will serve as the cause of “becoming” (bhava), viz., the next lifetime. Clinging that occurs near the moment of death is therefore particularly consequential.

upādānakāraṇa. (T. nyer len gyi rgyu; C. xianqu yin; J. genshuin; K. hyŏnch’wi in 現取因). In Sanskrit, “material cause” or “proximate cause”; the cause that produces an effect that is of the same substance (DRAVYA) as itself. For example, in the case of a sprout, the upādānakāraṇa is its seed; in the case of a pot, it is clay.

upādānaskandha. (P. upādānakandha; T. nyer len gyi phung po; C. quyun; J. shuun; K. ch’wion 取蘊). In Sanskrit, “aggregates that are the objects of clinging,” “aggregates of attachment”; the five aggregates (SKANDHA), which are viewed as the foundational objects of clinging (UPĀDĀNA). In the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the definition of the first noble truth, that of suffering (DUḤKHASATYA), specifies that “the five upādānaskandha themselves are suffering,” which suggests that suffering is intrinsic to existence itself (see SAṂSKĀRADUḤKHATĀ), and that as long as one clings to continuing existence (BHAVA), the cycle of suffering within SAṂSĀRA will continue. The term upādānaskandha can also be translated as “appropriated aggregates,” which suggests that the aggregates are caused, or appropriated, by KARMAN and KLEŚA and thus also serve in turn as the cause of future karman and kleśa. Again, the term may also be translated as “appropriating aggregates,” which connotes that, although the skandhas are empty of a self or soul (ĀTMAN) that appropriates a new form of existence, they provide the locus for the karman and kleśa (viz., the clinging or grasping itself) that produce future forms of the aggregates and future suffering.

upadeśa. (P. upadesa; T. man ngag/gtan phab; C. youpotishe; J. upadaisha; K. ubajesa 優波提舍). In Sanskrit, “instruction,” “teaching”; one of the nine (NAVAṄGA) (Pāli) or twelve (DVĀDAŚĀṄGA[PRAVACANA]) (Sanskrit) categories (AṄGA) of Buddhist scripture according to their structure or literary style, where it may refer to the subsequent elaboration by the great disciples of a sūtra that the Buddha had just spoken. In Mahāyāna treatises (ŚĀSTRA), upadeśa may suggest that the text is conveying something hidden or special in the Buddha’s words (BUDDHAVACANA) that the student may not immediately realize is there. In Tibet, there was the question of whether a teacher’s personal instructions (man ngag) to a student were superior to the explanation in a Buddhist text. The name BKA’ GDAMS, literally, “those who take the words of the Buddha as instructions” (gdams ngag), may reflect a response to such a view. See also AṄGA.

upadeśasaṃpramoṣa. (T. gdams ngag brjed pa; C. wang shengyan; J. bōshōgon; K. mang sŏngŏn 忘聖言). In Sanskrit, lit. “loss of the instruction,” a term that appears in instructions for developing SAMĀDHI, to describe the point in the early stages of developing concentration where the meditator loses focus upon the chosen object of concentration, thus allowing the mind to wander.

upadhi. (T. rdzas; C. yi; J. e; K. ŭi 依). In Sanskrit and Pāli, the “substratum” of rebirth or the “bonds” that bind one to continued existence in SAṂSĀRA. Upadhi is typically equated either with the five aggregates (SKANDHA) or with the afflictions (KLEŚA) of sensuality (RĀGA), ill will (DVEṢA), and delusion (MOHA). Less specifically, any of the ties that bind one to the world, whether family, possessions, or property are described as upadhi. In the NIDDESA of the Pāli KHUDDAKANIKĀYA, the upadhi were ultimately systematized into a list of ten bonds. ¶ In an Indian monastic context, upadhi also refers to the “material objects” held in common by the monastery, a meaning of the term unknown in Pāli. The “provost” or “guardian of the material objects” of a monastery was given the title upadhivārika.

upādhyāya. (P. upajjhāya; T. mkhan po; C. heshang; J. oshō/wajō/kashō; K. hwasang 和尚). In Sanskrit, a religious instructor or “preceptor.” The upādhyāya is first and foremost a monk who confers the lower ordination (see PRAVRAJITA) to new novices (ŚRĀMAṆERA) and higher ordination (UPASAṂPADĀ) to monks (BHIKṢU). To act as an upādhyāya, a monk must be qualified and competent and be of at least ten years standing in the order since his own higher ordination. The relationship of the preceptor to the disciple is described as being like that of father and son. The preceptor is enjoined to teach the DHARMA and VINAYA to his disciple and, as necessary, to supply him with requisites, such as robes and an alms bowl. He should tend to his disciple if he is ill and discipline him if he commits some wrongdoing. If the disciple should begin to entertain doubts about the religion, the preceptor should try to dispel them. If the disciple should commit a grave offense against the monastic rules and regulations, the preceptor is to prevail upon him to go before the SAṂGHA to seek expiation. If the disciple misbehaves or becomes disobedient, the preceptor is enjoined to expel him. But if the disciple shows remorse and asks forgiveness, the preceptor is to take him under guidance again. A monk ceases to be an upādhyāya when he goes away, dies, secedes from the order, changes religion, or expels his disciple. For the East Asian usage of the term, see also HESHANG.

upādhyāyā. (P. upajjhāyā; T. mkhan mo; C. heshangni; J. oshōni; K. hwasangni 和尚尼). In Sanskrit, a female religious instructor or “female preceptor.” A qualified nun (BHIKṢUṆĪ) of at least twelve years standing may confirm the UPASAṂPADĀ ordination on a female probationer (ŚIKṢAMĀṆĀ). The ordination can be performed only after formal agreement has been received from the bhikṣuṇī SAṂGHA. The newly ordained nun must live under the tutelage of the upādhyāyā as a disciple for a minimum of two years. The duties of the upādhyāyā and her disciple are the same as those for a male preceptor (UPĀDHYĀYA) and his disciple.

Upagupta. (T. Nyer sbas; C. Youpojuduo; J. Ubakikuta; K. Ubagukta 優婆毱多). An Indian ARHAT, said to have lived in the MATHURĀ region of India. Upagupta is unknown in Pāli canonical sources but appears frequently in the Sanskrit AVADĀNA literature, especially the AŚOKĀVADĀNA and the DIVYĀVADĀNA. Upagupta is famed for having tamed (and in some versions, converted) MĀRA by placing a garland of corpses around his neck. Upagupta was later invited to PĀṬALIPUTRA by King AŚOKA, and then conducted the monarch on a tour of the sacred sites (MAHĀSTHĀNA) associated with the life of the Buddha. The cult of Upagupta became popular in Southeast Asian Buddhist countries from the twelfth century onward, thanks to his prominent appearance in Sanskrit materials, and he eventually comes to be featured in noncanonical Pāli materials as well. Upagupta occupies pride of place in Burmese (Myanmar) Buddhism, where he is presumed to reside in a pavilion in the southern ocean, whence he is invited to rituals to protect the Burmese from Māra’s interference. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, an image of Upagupta is placed on a raft and floated downstream. Upagupta is listed in SARVĀSTIVĀDA sources as the fifth of the Indian patriarchs who are said to have succeeded the Buddha as head of the SAṂGHA, following MAHĀKĀŚYAPA, ĀNANDA, MADHYĀNTIKA, and ŚĀṆAKAVĀSIN; the East Asian CHAN tradition typically lists him instead as the fourth patriarch. According to a Chinese account of the origins of the VINAYA, Upagupta had five major disciples who were said to have established their own schools based on their differing views regarding doctrine; these five also redacted separate editions of the vinaya, which the Chinese refer to as the “five vinaya recensions” (wubu lü).

upakleśa. (P. upakkilesa; T. nye ba’i nyon mongs; C. sui fannao; J. zuibonnō; K. su pŏnnoe 隨煩惱). In Sanskrit, “secondary afflictions” (as opposed to the “root afflictions,” or MŪLAKLEŚA), or “subsidiary defilements”; a group of ten (according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA), sixteen (according to Pāli materials), or twenty (according to the YOGĀCĀRA school) mental afflictions, including anger (KRODHA), envy (ĪRṢYĀ), deceit (MĀYĀ), selfishness (MĀTSARYA), and enmity (UPANĀHA).

upalabdhi. (T. dmigs pa; C. suode; J. shotoku; K. sodŭk 所得). In Sanskrit, “observation” or “perception,” i.e., “getting at” something, a common term for the cognition of an object. Upalabdhi is sometimes used in a pejorative sense to refer to the cognition of, or getting at, factors that do not exist in an object, notably, a perduring self. To be preferred to upalabdhi is cognition that that is “unascertainable” (ANUPALABDHI), viz., without any bifurcation between subject and object and thus freed from any kind of false dichotomization; this is the type of perception that occurs in enlightenment.

Upāli. (T. Nye bar ’khor; C. Youboli; J. Upari; K. Ubari 優波離). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an ARHAT who was foremost among the Buddha’s disciples in his knowledge of the monastic code of discipline (VINAYA). According to Pāli accounts, Upāli was a barber from the city of Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU) and was in the service of the Sākiya (S. ŚĀKYA) princes who ruled there. Upāli accompanied Anuruddha (S. ANIRUDDHA) and his cousins when they decided to renounce the world and take ordination from the Buddha in Anupiyā grove. They handed him all their clothes and ornaments in preparation, but Upāli refused the gift, asking instead to be allowed to take ordination with them. Anuruddha and the others requested the Buddha to confer ordination on Upāli first so that their barber would always be senior to them and thus quell their pride in their noble birth. The Buddha refused Upāli’s request to be allowed to retire to the forest to practice meditation in solitude, realizing that, while Upāli had the qualities to attain arhatship through that course, he would as a consequence neglect the study of dharma. Following the Buddha’s advice, Upāli practiced insight (P. VIPASSANĀ; S. VIPAŚYANĀ) and became an arhat without retiring to the forest, thus allowing the Buddha to teach him the entire VINAYAPIṬAKA. Upāli was frequently sought out to render decisions on matters of discipline, and he is frequently shown discussing with the Buddha the legal details of cases brought before him. Even during the Buddha’s lifetime, monks frequently sought training in monastic discipline under Upāli; he was also regarded as a sympathetic guardian to monks facing difficulties. After the Buddha’s demise, MAHĀKĀŚYAPA chose Upāli to recite the vinaya at the first Buddhist council (SAṂGĪTI; see COUNCIL, FIRST); ĀNANDA was chosen to recite the Buddha’s sermons (SŪTRA). A succession of vinaya masters descended from Upāli, including MOGGALIPUTTATISSA, leader of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD). Upāli’s low status as a barber is often raised as evidence that the Buddha accepted disciples from all classes and castes in society and that all were capable of becoming arhats.

Upālisutta. (C. Youpoli jing; J. Ubarikyō; K. Ubari kyŏng 優婆離經). In Pāli, “Discourse to Upāli,” the fifty-sixth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 133rd SŪTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached to the householder (P. gahapati; S. GṚHAPATI) Upāli, a wealthy lay disciple of Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta (S. NIRGRANTHA JÑĀTĪPUTRA; a.k.a. MAHĀVĪRA; see also JAINA) at the Pāvārika’s mango grove in NĀLANDĀ. Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta dispatched his lay disciple Upāli to engage the Buddha in a debate on the nature of action (P. kamma; S. KARMAN). The Jaina leader held that, of the three types of action, physical, verbal, and mental, it is bodily action that is the most productive of consequences for the actor. The Buddha maintained, in contrast, that it is mental action that is the most productive of consequences for the actor, since it is the mental intention (CETANĀ) that initiates the physical action. Convinced of the Buddha’s explanations, Upāli dedicated himself as a lay disciple of the Buddha. When Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta heard of Upāli’s conversion, he was filled with rage and vomited blood.

upanāha. (T. ’khon du ’dzin pa; C. hen; J. kon; K. han 恨). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “enmity,” “resentment,” “malice,” or “animosity”; one of the ten (according to the VAIBHĀṢIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA), sixteen (according to Pāli materials), or twenty (according to the YOGĀCĀRA school) secondary afflictions or subsidiary defilements (UPAKLEŚA). Upanāha is described as a pent-up anger that takes the form of a wish to harm others. Upanāha refers to a long-held grievance or bitterness and is one possible manifestation of aversion (PRATIGHA; DVEṢA). Upanāha is distinguishable from “anger” (KRODHA) in that anger is a more powerful but more quickly dissipated kind of emotion, whereas “enmity” is a longer-term, simmering grudge.

Upananda. (T. Nye dga’ po; C. Youbonantuo; J. Upananda; K. Ubanant’a 優波難陀). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of a monk disciple of the Buddha, who was regularly chastised for his greed. There are numerous stories in the VINAYA of his attempts to procure the best and most of all offerings made to monks, and especially of robes and food. The Buddha typically rebukes Upananda for his misconduct, and then goes on to promulgate a new rule of conduct in order to deter monks from committing such transgressions in the future.

upapādukayoni. (P. opapātikayoni/upapātikayoni; T. rdzus te skye ba; C. hua sheng; J. keshō; K. hwa saeng 化生). In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, “metamorphic” or “spontaneous birth”; one of the four modes of birth (see YONI) of living beings in the three realms of existence, along with oviparous birth or birth from an egg (aṇḍajayoni), viviparous birth or birth from a womb (jarāyujayoni), and birth from moisture (saṃsvedajayoni). Beings born via this fourth mode are spontaneously generated and include divinities (DEVA), hungry ghosts (PRETA), denizens of hell (NĀRAKA), and those residing in the intermediate state (ANTARĀBHAVA). In addition, even beings that are generally classified under another mode of birth may in certain circumstances be spontaneously generated, such as human beings who are the first to be born at the beginning of an eon (KALPA) and certain animals, such as NĀGAs and GARUḌAs. Unlike the other three modes of birth, beings born via metamorphosis appear spontaneously at their rebirth destiny, are fully mature at the time of their birth, and leave no physical corpse behind at death. A spontaneously born being recognizes his appropriate rebirth destination at the moment of his death and generates a desire to appear in that specific destiny, even if that desire be directed toward a baleful place like the hells. Beings born into SUKHĀVATĪ are said to be born either spontaneously into a lotus flower in the PURE LAND, or, if they are not yet advanced enough to be born directly into the pure land, viviparously to other beings at the outer perimeter of that land. Beings born metamorphically are the most numerous of all the four modes of birth and are regarded as superior.

upapadyaparinirvāyin. [alt. utpattiparinirvāyin] (T. skyes nas yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa; C. sheng ban/sheng banniepan; J. shōhatsu/shōhatsunehan; K. saeng pan/saeng panyŏlban 生般/生般涅槃). In Sanskrit, “one who achieves NIRVĀṆA at birth,” a particular sort of nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAṂGHA (see VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). According to the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, the utpattiparinirvāyin are nonreturners who, having linked up with any of the sixteen birth states of the subtle-materiality realm (RŪPADHĀTU), enter the “nirvāṇa with remainder” (SOPADHIŚEṢANIRVĀṆA) on that support. They are those who make an effort, unlike the ANABHISAṂSKĀRAPARINIRVĀYIN, but to whom effort comes naturally, unlike the SĀBHISAṂSKĀRAPARINIRVĀYIN.

upapadyavedanīyakarman. (P. upapajjavedanīyakamma; T. skyes nas myong ’gyur gyi las; C. shunci shengshou ye; J. junjishōjugō; K. sunch’a saengsu ŏp 順次生受業). In Sanskrit, “action experienced upon birth,” a category of deed whose karmic effect is experienced in the immediately following lifetime, as opposed to the present life or some other lifetime in the future.

upaputra. (T. nye sras). In Sanskrit, lit. “close sons,” a group of eight BODHISATTVAs often depicted with the Buddha in MAHĀYĀNA iconography. They are MAÑJUŚRĪ, VAJRAPĀṆI, AVALOKITEŚVARA, KṢITIGARBHA, SARVANĪVARAṆAVIṢKAMBHIN, ĀKĀŚAGARBHA, MAITREYA, and SAMANTABHADRA.

upāsaka. (T. dge bsnyen; C. youposai; J. ubasoku; K. ubasae 優婆塞). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “[male] lay disciple,” a lay Buddhist man who takes the three refuges (TRIŚARAṆA) and the five basic precepts (PAÑCAŚĪLA): (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual misconduct, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to use intoxicants. These precepts are taken permanently, with three other precepts observed on full-moon and new-moon days (S. UPOṢADHA; P. uposatha), for a total of eight lay precepts (aṣṭāṅgaśīla; see AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ): (6) not to eat at an inappropriate time (generally interpreted to mean between noon and the following dawn), (7) not to dance, sing, play music, attend performances, or adorn one’s body with garlands, perfumes, or cosmetics, and (8) not to sleep on high beds. Also, during the full-moon and new-moon days, the vow not to engage in sexual misconduct is interpreted to mean complete celibacy. The term is often translated simply as “layman,” but given the level of religious commitment, “[male] lay disciple” is a more accurate rendering. See also ŚIKṢĀPADA; ŚĪLA.

upāsakasaṃvara. (T. dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa; C. jinshi lüyi; J. gonjiritsugi; K. kŭnsa yurŭi 近事律儀). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “restraints of a [male] lay disciple,” any or all the five precepts (PAÑCAŚĪLA) taken by a lay disciple for life: (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual misconduct, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to use intoxicants. These precepts are meant to be observed every day, with three other precepts observed on full moon and new moon days (UPOṢADHA). The three additional precepts are (6) not to eat at an inappropriate time (generally interpreted to mean between noon and the following dawn); (7) not to dance, sing, play music, attend performances, or adorn one’s body with garlands, perfumes, or cosmetics; and (8) not to sleep on high beds. Also, during the full-moon and new-moon days, the vow not to engage in sexual misconduct is interpreted to mean complete celibacy. See also ŚIKṢĀPADA; ŚĪLA.

upasaṃpadā. (P. upasampadā; T. bsnyen par rdzogs pa; C. shoujie; J. jukai; K. sugye 受戒). In Sanskrit, “ordination” or “higher ordination,” the ecclesiastical ceremony whereby a male novice (ŚRĀMAṆERA) becomes a fully ordained monk (BHIKṢU) and a female postulant (ŚIKṢAMĀṆĀ) becomes a fully ordained nun (BHIKṢUṆĪ). Although there are some variations in the procedure according to the different VINAYAs, the ordination ceremony is largely the same; that described in the Pāli vinaya is outlined here. In the case of a male novice, the ordinand, who must be at least twenty years of age, must first shave his hair, moustache, and beard and be provided with a monk’s robe and bowl. He must have chosen a preceptor (P. upajjhāya; S. UPĀDHYĀYA) who will confer ordination upon him. The upajjhāya must be an elder (P. thera; S. STHAVIRA) of at least ten years standing, who is qualified morally and intellectually to act as preceptor. The candidate will then be brought before an assembly comprising at least ten monks, if the ceremony is held within the Buddhist heartland of India; if not, a minimum of five monks is necessary to conduct a valid ordination. The ordination ritual must be conducted within the confines of a SĪMĀ, or consecrated ordination boundary, and proceeds as follows. Seated in a squatting position, the candidate requests the assembly three times to confer ordination upon him. The assembly then asks him a set of stock questions concerning his age, his sex, his health, his legal liabilities, his preceptor, whether he has received permission from his parents, etc. If the candidate passes the inquiry, a formal petition is then put before the assembly three times that the candidate be admitted to the SAṂGHA. Silence from the assembly indicates approval, and the candidate is thereby ordained. Immediately upon receiving the higher ordination, the new monk is apprised of the four requisites (NIŚRAYA) of the monk, and of the four PĀRĀJIKAs or “defeats,” these being grave misdeeds that would result in expulsion from the SAṂGHA. The following types of persons may not be ordained: branded thieves, fugitives from the law, convicted thieves; those punished by flogging or branding, patricides, matricides, murderers of arahants (S. ARHAT); those who have shed the blood of a buddha, eunuchs, false monks, seducers of nuns, hermaphrodites; those without an upajjhāya, persons who are maimed, disabled, or deformed in various ways; and those afflicted with various communicable diseases. In the case of a female postulant seeking higher ordination as a nun, the candidate is required to undergo a double ordination. First she is brought before the order of nuns (P. bhikkhuṇīsaṅgha, S. BHIKṢUṆĪSAṂGHA), where she is queried and, if found suitable, given the first upasaṃpadā. She is then brought before the order of monks, where she is given a second upasaṃpadā.

Upasena. (T. Nye sde; C. Youbosina; J. Upashina; K. Ubasana 優波斯那). Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of an eminent ARHAT declared by the Buddha to be foremost among his monk disciples in being altogether charming; also known in Pāli as Upasena Vaṅgantaputta. According to Pāli accounts, he was born into a brāhmaṇa family in Nālaka and was the younger brother of ŚĀRIPUTRA. His father was Vaṅganta, hence his name Vaṅgantaputta. Like his brother, Upasena was learned in the three Vedas. He was converted when he heard the Buddha preach and immediately entered the order. When he had been a monk for only one year, he ordained a new monk, for which offense he was severely rebuked by the Buddha. Chastened by the criticism, Upasena took up the practice of insight in earnest and attained arahantship. Upasena became a skilled and charismatic preacher who won many converts to the religion. He engaged in various ascetic practices (DHUTAṄGA) and convinced many followers to do likewise. Each of his followers was charming in his own way, with Upasena the most charming of all. Upasena had resolved to attain such preeminence during the time of the previous buddha Padumuttara, when, as a householder of Haṃsavatī, he overheard a monk so praised and wished the same for himself in the future. Upasena’s death was attended by a miracle. He was sitting at the mouth of a cave after his morning meal, mending his robe amid a pleasant breeze. At that time two snakes were in the vines above the cave door when one fell on his shoulder and bit him. As the venom coursed through his body, he requested Śāriputra and other monks near him to carry him outside so that he could die in the open. In a few moments he died, and his body immediately scattered in the breeze like chaff.

upāsikā. (T. dge bsnyen ma; C. youpoyi; J. ubai; K. ubai 優婆夷). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “[female] lay disciple,” a lay Buddhist woman who takes the three refuges (TRIŚARAṆA) and the five basic precepts (PAÑCAŚĪLA): (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual misconduct, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to use intoxicants. These precepts are meant to be observed every day, with three other precepts observed on full-moon and new-moon days (S. UPOṢADHA; P. uposatha). The three are (6) not to eat at an inappropriate time (generally interpreted to mean between noon and the following dawn); (7) not to dance, sing, play music, attend performances, or adorn one’s body with garlands, perfumes, or cosmetics; and (8) not to sleep on high beds. Also, during the full-moon and new-moon days, the vow not to engage in sexual misconduct is interpreted to mean complete celibacy. The term is often translated simply as “laywoman,” but given the level of religious commitment, “[female] lay disciple” is a more accurate rendering. See also MAE CHI; ŚIKṢĀPADA.

upāsikāsaṃvara. (T. dge bsnyen ma’i sdom pa; C. youpoyi jie; J. ubaikai; K. ubai kye 優婆夷戒). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “restraints of a [female] lay disciple”; any or all the five restraints taken by a lay disciple for life: (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to engage in sexual misconduct, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to use intoxicants. These precepts are meant to be observed every day, with three other precepts observed on full-moon and new-moon days (S. UPOṢADHA; P. uposatha), making a total of eight precepts (aṣṭāṅgaśīla; see AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ). The three additional precepts are (6) not to eat at an inappropriate time (generally interpreted to mean between noon and the following dawn); (7) not to dance, sing, play music, attend performances, or adorn one’s body with garlands, perfumes, or cosmetics; and (8) not to sleep on high beds. Also, during the full-moon and new-moon days, the precept not to engage in sexual misconduct is interpreted to mean complete celibacy. See ŚĪLA; ŚIKṢĀPADA.

upavāsa. (T. bsnyen gnas; C. jinzhu; J. gonjū; K. kŭnju 近住). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “fasting” or “abstinence,” a term used to refer to the abstention practiced by lay disciples during the fortnightly UPOṢADHA observance. In this context, the term also refers to the eight precepts (AṢṬĀṄGAŚĪLA; see AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ), also referred to as the “one-day precepts” observed by lay disciples at this time. They are the eight precepts: not to kill, steal, engage in sexual activity, lie, use intoxicants, eat after noon, adorn their bodies, or sleep on high beds.

upavasatha. (S). See UPOṢADHA.

upāya. (T. thabs; C. fangbian; J. hōben; K. pangp’yŏn 方便). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “stratagem,” “method”; term with at least four important denotations: (1) as a synonym for “skillful means” (UPĀYAKAUŚALYA); (2) as a general term for the activities necessary for the attainment of buddhahood; and (3) as one of the two essential components of the path, along with “wisdom” (PRAJÑĀ). In this latter sense, method refers to the actions a BODHISATTVA takes on behalf of all sentient beings. In this formulation, the various deeds that fall under the rubric of upāya are said to fructify as the RŪPAKĀYA of a buddha, while the bodhisattva’s development of prajñā is said to fructify as his DHARMAKĀYA. (4) In Buddhist tantra, the superiority of the esoteric path of the VAJRAYĀNA over the exoteric path in bringing about buddhahood is often attributed to the superior stratagems or methods set forth in the TANTRAs, compared to those found in the sūtras. In tantra, upāya is associated with the male and prajñā with the female.

upāyakauśalya. (P. upāyakosalla; T. thabs mkhas; C. fangbian shanqiao; J. hōbenzengyō; K. pangpy’ŏn sŏn’gyo 方便善巧). In Sanskrit, “skillful means,” “skill-in-means,” or “expedient means,” a term used to refer to the extraordinary pedagogical skills of the buddhas and advanced BODHISATTVAs; indeed, upāyakauśalya is listed as one of the ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) mastered on the bodhisattva path. (The rare Pāli form refers specifically to the Buddha’s teaching proficiency.) The notion of skillful means is adumbrated in the famous “simile of the raft” from the ALAGADDŪPAMASUTTA, where the Buddha compares his teachings to a makeshift raft that will help one get across a raging river to the opposite shore: after one has made it across that river of birth and death to the “other shore” of NIRVĀṆA, the teachings have served their purpose and may be abandoned; in one sense, therefore, all his teachings are merely an expedient. The notion of skill-in-means also suggests that the Buddha intentionally fashions different versions of his teachings to fit the predelictions and aptitudes of his audience. Because of a buddha’s direct understanding of his disciples’ abilities, he is able to teach what is most appropriate for each of them, like a doctor prescribing a treatment for a specific malady. Skillful means may also be used to justify why certain acts perceived as immoral by beings of lesser capacity become virtues when performed by a bodhisattva, who has their best interests at heart (see UPĀYAKAUŚALYASŪTRA). ¶ The Buddha’s skill-in-means is often used to reconcile apparent contradictions in his teaching, since those teachings ultimately are provisional expressions of his realization. The notion of skillful means has also been put to polemical use, especially in the MAHĀYĀNA (and most famously in the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA), when previous teachings of the Buddha, such as the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA), are declared by him to have been merely expedients that he employed to instruct disciples who were unable to comprehend the more profound teaching of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) of buddhahood. The concept of skillful means may thus also be deployed as a hermeneutical or polemical device to critique earlier, and implicitly inferior, formulations of Buddhist doctrine as expedient teachings given to those who are temporarily incapable of understanding and benefitting from the Buddha’s more advanced teachings (as variously identified by different Buddhist schools).

Upāyakauśalyasūtra. (T. Thabs la mkhas pa’i mdo; C. Dasheng fangbian hui; J. Daijō hōben’e; K. Taesŭng pangp’yŏn hoe 大乘方便會). In Sanskrit, “Skillful Means Sūtra,” an early MAHĀYĀNA sūtra included in the RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA collection, where it is also known as the Jñānottarabodhisattvaparipṛcchā. (In addition to the recension embedded in the 410 CE Chinese translation of the Ratnakūṭa, as transcribed above, there are also two other Chinese translations, one made in 285 CE, the other c. 980.) The first part of the sūtra extols the virtues of the practice of “skillful means” (UPĀYAKAUŚALYA), generally understood in this context to refer to the dedication of the merit from a virtuous deed, such as offerings made for the welfare and ultimate enlightenment of all beings. The sūtra goes on to explain how apparently nonvirtuous acts, such as sexual misconduct, become virtues when performed by a bodhisattva with skillful means, noting, “Something that sends other sentient beings to hell sends the bodhisattva who is skilled in means to rebirth in the world of BRAHMĀ.” Also recounted is the famous story of the Buddha’s previous life as a ship captain, when he kills a potential murderer in order to save others’ lives. In the second part of the sūtra, the Buddha recounts the events of his life (see BAXIANG), from his entry into his mother’s womb to his decision to teach the dharma as instances of his skillful means; none of these events are presented as the consequences of his own past nonvirtuous actions or indeed of any fault whatsoever on his part. For example, after his enlightenment, the Buddha has no hesitation to teach the dharma; nonetheless, he compels the god BRAHMĀ to descend from his heaven to implore the Buddha to teach. He forces this act so that beings who worship Brahmā will have faith in the Buddha and so that the myriad forms of the god Brahmā will generate BODHICITTA. The sūtra concludes with a discussion of ten cases in the life of the Buddha in which he apparently undergoes suffering (such as a headache, backache, and being pierced by a thorn) that had previously been ascribed to his nonvirtuous deeds in a past life; in each case, these are instead explained as being examples of the Buddha’s skillful means.

upekṣā. (P. upekkhā; T. btang snyoms; C. she; J. sha; K. sa 捨). In Sanskrit, “equanimity,” a term with at least four important denotations: (1) as a sensation of neutrality that is neither pleasurable nor painful; (2) as one of eleven virtuous mental concomitants (KUŚALA-CAITTA), referring to a state of evenness of mind, without overt disturbance by sensuality, hatred, or ignorance; (3) as a state of mental balance during the course of developing concentration, which is free from lethargy and excitement; and (4) one of the four “divine abidings” (BRAHMAVIHĀRA), along with loving-kindness (MAITRĪ), compassion (KARUṆĀ), and sympathetic joy (MUDITĀ). As a divine abiding, upekṣā indicates an even-mindedness toward all beings, regarding them with neither attachment nor aversion, as neither intimate nor remote; in some descriptions of the four “divine abidings,” there is the additional wish that all beings attain such equanimity. In the VISUDDHIMAGGA, equanimity is listed as one of the meditative topics for the cultivation of tranquillity meditation (samathābhāvanā; see S. ŚAMATHA). Of the four divine abidings, equanimity is capable of producing all four levels of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA), while the other divine abidings are capable of producing only the first three of four. The text indicates that, along with the other three divine abidings, equanimity is used only for the cultivation of tranquillity, not for insight training (P. vipassanābhāvanā; see S. VIPAŚYANĀ).

upekṣāpramāṇa. (P. upekkhāppamaññā; T. btang snyoms tshad med; C. she wuliangxin; J. shamuryōshin; K. sa muryangsim 捨無量心). In Sanskrit, “unlimited equanimity” or “boundless equanimity,” a state of equanimity toward unlimited numbers of sentient beings, or the wish that unlimited sentient beings abide in a state of equanimity that is free from desire and hatred.

upoṣadha. [alt. poṣadha; upavasatha] (P. uposatha; T. gso sbyong; C. busa; J. fusatsu; K. p’osal 布薩). In Sanskrit, the fortnightly retreat (the term is generally left untranslated into English). It is the semimonthly ceremony (observed on the new moon and the full moon) in which monks and nuns are to assemble within a specified boundary (SĪMĀ) to recite the monastic rules of conduct set forth in the PRĀTIMOKṢA. The observance involves the confession of faults, following which the prātimokṣa is recited. The bhikṣuprātimokṣa is recited by fully ordained monks, the bhikṣunīprātimokṣa by fully ordained nuns; novices and laypeople are prohibited from participating in either observance. The purpose of the ceremony is for the SAṂGHA to purify itself of misdeeds through confession and to renew its commitment to moral conduct, thus helping to ensure harmony within the monastic community and between the clergy and the laity. Laypeople will often maintain eight precepts (AṢṬĀṄGASAMANVĀGATAṂ UPAVĀSAṂ) on this day, which essentially turn them into monks or nuns for a day: not to kill, steal, engage in sexual activity, lie, use intoxicants, eat after noon, adorn their bodies, or sleep on high beds. The term upoṣadha means to abide in a state of fasting or abstinence, a practice that was pre-Buddhist in origin; in Vedic times, it specifically referred to the day prior to a soma sacrifice. The practice seems to have been adopted from other religious sects in India during the Buddha’s lifetime. There are several types of upoṣadha ceremony, the most common and important of which is the saṃgha upoṣadha, which is attended by four or more monks who recite the prātimokṣa and is held on the new- and full-moon days of the month. When three or fewer monks are present, the ceremony is held but the prātimokṣa is not recited. According to the Pāli vinaya, there are twenty-one types of persons in whose presence a monk’s upoṣadha ceremony may not be held, viz., nuns, women in training to become nuns, male and female novices, persons who have seceded from the order, persons guilty of a PĀRĀJIKA offense, monks who refuse to acknowledge their own wrongdoing (of three kinds), eunuchs, ersatz monks who wear monastic attire without having been ordained, monks who have joined other religions, nonhumans, patricides, matricides, murderers of ARHATs, seducers of nuns, schismatics, hermaphrodites, laypersons, and those who have shed the blood of a buddha.

ūrdhvasrotas. (T. gong du ’pho ba; C. shangliu ban/shangliu banniepan; J. jōruhatsu/jōruhatsunehan; K. sangnyu pan/sangnyu panyŏlban 上流般/上流般涅槃). In Sanskrit, “one who goes higher” or “upstreamer”; a specific type of nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAṂGHA (see VIṂŚATIPRABHEDASAṂGHA). There are different accounts of the types of ūrdhvasrotas. According to Ārya VIMUKTISENA’s explanation of the list of āryasaṃgha found in the ABHISAMAYĀLAṂKĀRAVṚTTI, based on the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, there are four: the pluta (those who leap over), ardhapluta (those who leap over half), sarvasthānacyuta (those who die in every place), and bhavāgraparama (those who journey to the summit of existence). All cultivate a meditation that enters and exits uncontaminated (ANĀSRAVA) states that cause them to take birth in the ŚUDDHĀVĀSA (pure abodes). This meditation allows them to jump at will from one meditative state (a DHYĀNA or SAMĀPATTI) to another without having to go through the intermediate stages. The pluta enters the first dhyāna, is reborn among the BRAHMAKĀYIKA divinities of the first meditative absorption and, through the force of earlier meditative development, emerges from that level of absorption, forsakes all levels in between, and is reborn in the pure abode region of the AKANIṢṬHA heaven of the highest divinities, where he enters NIRVĀṆA. The ardhapluta is similarly reborn among the brahmakāyika divinities of the first meditative absorption, also forsakes the levels in between the first and fourth absorption, and is reborn in the pure abodes, but not each in turn. Omitting some of them, he is then born in the AKANIṢṬHA heaven, where he enters nirvāṇa. The sarvasthānacyuta, as the name suggests, is born among the brahmakāyika divinities of the first meditative absorption and then goes through the process of taking birth in every other heaven in the subtle materiality and immaterial realms except the great Brahmā heaven until he enters nirvāṇa in the akaniṣṭha heaven. The bhavāgraparama are born as divinities in the heavens up to the level of the BṚHATPHALA (great fruition) heaven, forsake the pure abodes, and, having taken rebirths in stages in the immaterial realm (ĀRŪPYADHĀTU), enter nirvāṇa in the BHAVĀGRA (the summit of existence) heaven.

ūrṇā. (S). See ŪRṆĀKEŚA.

ūrṇākeśa. [alt. ūrṇākośa, ūrṇā] (P. uṇṇākesa; T. mdzod spu; C. baihao; J. byakugō; K. paekho 白毫). In Sanskrit, “hair treasure” or “tuft”; a spiral of hair said to be infinite in length located between the eyebrows of a buddha. It is frequently depicted as a gem inlaid between the eyebrows on buddha and BODHISATTVA images. In some lists, the ūrṇākeśa is the thirty-first of the thirty-two major marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA) and is said to be endowed with a variety of magical powers. In many sūtras, the Buddha sometimes emits a ray of light from his ūrṇākeśa in order to illuminate distant worlds; see KĀYAPRABHĀ; TOUGUANG.

Uruvilvā. (P. Uruvelā; T. Lteng rgyas; C. Youloupinluo; J. Urubinra; K. Urubinna 優樓頻螺). In Sanskrit, said to mean “Great Bank of Sand,” the name of an area, encompassing several villages, on the banks of the NAIRAÑJANĀ River in MAGADHA (today in the Indian state of Bihar), and the site of several important events in the life of the Buddha. It was in Uruvilvā that the BODHISATTVA practiced austerities for six years together with the group of five ascetics (PAÑCAVARGIKA). It was also there that he renounced the practice of asceticism, as a result of which he was repudiated by his five companions, who left him in Uruvilvā and departed for ṚṢIPATANA. The bodhisattva then proceeded to the BODHI TREE, where he achieved enlightenment. In the forty-nine days after his enlightenment, the Buddha sat under various trees in Uruvilvā, where shrines were eventually established. It was also at Uruvilvā that BRAHMĀ SAHAṂPATĪ appeared before the Buddha and implored him to teach the dharma. After turning the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA) for the group of five in Ṛṣipatana, the Buddha returned to Uruvilvā, where he converted thirty young men, as well as the “Kāśyapa brothers,” led by URUVILVĀ-KĀŚYAPA and their followers.

Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa. (P. Uruvela-Kassapa; T. Lteng rgyas ’od srung; C. Youloupinluo Jiashe; J. Urubinra Kashō; K. Urubinna Kasŏp 優樓頻螺迦葉). The chief of the three “Kāśyapa brothers” (together with NADĪ-KĀŚYAPA and GAYĀ-KĀŚYAPA), also known in Pāli as the Tebhātika Jaṭila. Prior to their encounter with the Buddha, the three brothers were matted-hair ascetics engaged in fire worship, living with their followers on the banks of the NAIRAÑJANĀ River. Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa himself is said to have had five hundred followers. After his first teachings in the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA; ṚṢIPATANA) at SĀRNĀTH, the Buddha returned to Uruvilvā, where he had practiced asceticism prior to this enlightenment. There he encountered Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, who mistakenly believed that he was already an ARHAT and was liberated from the bonds of rebirth. Knowing that Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa could be dissuaded from his false views by a display of yogic power, the Buddha spent the rains retreat with him, performing 3,500 magical feats to demonstrate his mastery of supernatural powers (S. ṚDDHI), including subduing a fire serpent (NĀGA) without being burned, a scene depicted in Indian rock carvings. Using his ability to read Kāśyapa’s mind, the Buddha was able to convince the ascetic that he was not an arhat. When the Buddha told Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa that the fire worship that he taught did not lead to enlightenment, Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa requested ordination. Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa and his five hundred followers all cut off their long locks and threw them in the river. When the other two brothers and their followers saw the hair floating by, they came to investigate and in turn sought ordination. In one fell swoop, the Buddha’s community of monks grew to over a thousand monks. The Buddha taught them the so-called “Fire Sermon” (ĀDITTAPARIYĀYA), at which point they all become arhats. They then traveled together to RĀJAGṚHA where, in the presence of King BIMBISĀRA, the new monks proclaimed their allegiance to the Buddha. The three brothers are often listed among the audience of MAHĀYĀNA sūtras.

ūṣman. [alt. ūṣmagata] (T. drod; C. nuan; J. nan; K. nan 煖). In Sanskrit, “heat”; the first of the “aids to penetration” (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA) that are developed during the “path of preparation” (PRAYOGAMĀRGA) and mark the transition from the mundane sphere of cultivation (LAUKIKA[BHĀVANĀ]MĀRGA) to the supramundane vision (viz., DARŚANAMĀRGA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (CATVĀRY ĀRYASATYĀNI). This stage is called heat, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀṢĀ says, because it “can burn all the fuel of the afflictions (KLEŚA).” Heat involves ardent faith (ŚRADDHĀ) regarding the DHARMAVINAYA: when that faith is conditioned by the noble truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA), it produces ardency regarding the right DHARMA; when it is faith conditioned by the noble truth of extinction (NIRODHASATYA), it produces ardency regarding the VINAYA. Ūṣman and summit (MŪRDHAN), the first two of the nirvedhabhāgīyas, are still subject to retrogression and thus belong to the worldly path of cultivation (laukikabhāvanāmārga).

uṣṇīṣa. (P. uṇhīsa; T. gtsug tor; C. foding/rouji; J. butchō/nikukei; K. pulchŏng/yukkye 佛頂/肉髻). In Sanskrit, lit. “turban,” the protuberance appearing on the crown of a buddha’s head, which is commonly depicted in buddha images. The MAHĀPADĀNASUTTANTA and LAKKHAṆASUTTANTA of the Pāli DĪGHANIKĀYA refer to the uṇhīsasīsa (“wearing a turban on the head”) as one of the thirty-two major “marks of a superman” (P. mahāpurisalakkhaṇa; S. MAHĀPURUṢALAKṢAṆA). Many texts report that the uṣṇīṣa is endowed with a variety of magical powers. For example, it is said that, although the uṣṇīṣa is perfectly proportional to the Buddha’s head, it cannot be measured. It is impossible to see the top of the uṣṇīṣa, and divinities (DEVA) are unable to fly above it. Many scriptures, including the Uṣṇīṣavijayadhāraṇī, also mention the Buddha radiating light from his uṣṇīṣa. Later Buddhist works in Sanskrit refer to this protuberance as the uṣṇīṣa-śiraskatā (lit. “head-bone”). The origin and precise interpretation of this unique feature of a Buddha remains in dispute. The Sanskrit term uṣṇīṣa is in fact a common word for turban. Some art historians have argued that the uṣṇīṣa originated as a topknot of hair, such as is found depicted in Graeco-Gandhāran Buddhist sculpture from northwestern India from around the first century CE; the interpretation of the uṣṇīṣa as a protuberance on the top of the skull subsequently evolved at MATHURĀ, where artists began to cover the uṣṇīṣa with little snail-curled hair, due to a misinterpretation of the wavy hairstyle of Gandhāran sculptures. The Chinese pilgrims FAXIAN and XUANZANG report seeing the “uṣṇīṣa bone” of the Buddha being worshipped at a monastery in Haḍḍa (in present-day Afghanistan).

Uṣṇīṣasitātapatrā. (S). See TATHĀGATOṢṆĪṢASITĀTAPATRĀ.

utpāda. (P. uppāda; T. skye ba; C. shengqi; J. shōki; K. saenggi 生起). In Sanskrit, “production,” or “arising,” the generation of a specific fruition or effect (PHALA) from a given cause (HETU). In generic Buddhist accounts of causality or etiology, hetu designates the main or primary cause of production, which operates in conjunction with various concomitant or subsidiary conditions (PRATYAYA); together, these two bring about the production (utpāda) of a specific “fruition” or result (phala). In the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ literature and the MADHYAMAKA school, the notion of production comes under specific criticism (see VAJRAKAṆĀ), with NĀGĀRJUNA famously asking, e.g., how an effect can be produced from a cause that is either the same as or different from itself. The prajñāpāramitā sūtras thus famously declare that all dharmas are actually ANUTPĀDA, or “unproduced.”

Utpalavarṇā. (P. Uppalavaṇṇā; T. Ut pa la’i mdog; C. Lianhuase; J. Rengeshiki; K. Yŏnhwasaek 蓮華色). One of two chief nun disciples of the Buddha, the first being KṢEMĀ. According to Pāli accounts, where she is known as Uppalavaṇṇā, she was born into a banker’s family in Sāvatthi (ŚRĀVASTĪ) and was renowned for her beauty. Her name, lit. “blue-lotus colored,” refers to her skin complexion, which was dark like a blue lotus flower. Men of all ranks, royals and commoners, sought her hand in marriage. Her father, fearing to offend any of them, suggested to her that she renounce the world. Already inclined by nature to renunciation, Uppalavaṇṇā became a Buddhist nun. While sweeping an uposatha (S. UPOṢADHA) assembly hall, she attained meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; DHYĀNA) by concentrating on the light of a candle, and soon became an ARHAT possessed of the analytical attainments (P. paṭisambhidā; S. PRATISAṂVID). Uppalavaṇṇā was renowned for her various supernatural powers born from her mastery of meditative absorption. The Buddha declared her to be chief among his nun disciples in supranormal powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI). After she had become a nun and an arhat, Uppalavaṇṇā was raped by her cousin Ānanda (not the Ānanda who was the Buddha’s attendant), who had been enamored of her when she was a laywoman. Although he was swallowed by the earth for his heinous crime, the case raised the question within the monastic community as to whether arhats are capable of experiencing sensual pleasure and thus had sexual desire. The Buddha asserted categorically that arhats are immune to sensuality. Several verses of the THERĪGĀTHĀ are attributed to Uppalavaṇṇā. She and ŚĀRIPUTRA are also said to have been the first to greet the Buddha at SĀṂKĀŚYA when he descended on ladders from the TRĀYASTRIṂŚA heaven, where he had been instructing his mother, MĀYĀ; in order to make her way through the large crowd that had gathered, she disguised herself as a CAKRAVARTIN. Among the many crimes of the Buddha’s evil cousin DEVADATTA was beating her to death after she chastised him for attempting to assassinate the Buddha; he thus committed the deed of immediate retribution (ĀNANTARYAKARMAN) of killing an arhat. The commentary to the Therīgāthā and the Sanskrit VINAYAVIBHAṄGA provide differing accounts of how she became a nun. The first is briefer and has her come from Sāvatthi (S. ŚRĀVASTĪ); the latter is more extensive and has her come from TAKṢAŚILĀ (P. Taxila). In both accounts, she gives birth to two children by two different men and becomes separated from both children. Years later, she unknowingly marries her son, who then marries her daughter (whom Utpalavarṇā also does not recognize) as his second wife, making Utpalavarṇā husband to her son and co-wife to her daughter. In the Pāli account, her eventual recognition of this state of affairs is sufficient to cause her to renounce the world. In the Sanskrit account, she gives birth to a son by her first son and when she realizes this, she becomes a courtesan, who is hired to seduce MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. She is unsuccessful, and his words convince her to renounce the world and become a nun.

utpattikrama. (T. bskyed rim; C. shengqi cidi; J. shōkishidai; K. saenggi ch’aje 生起次第). In Sanskrit, “stage of generation” or the “creation stage,” one of the two major phases (along with the NIṢPANNAKRAMA or the “stage of completion”) of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA practice. The term encompasses a wide range of practices that commence after one has received initiation (ABHIṢEKA), generally involving the practice of the SĀDHANA of a particular deity with the aim of the “generation” or transformation of the body, environment, enjoyments, and activities of the practitioner into the body, environment, enjoyments, and activities of a buddha. This is done through the practice of deity yoga (DEVATĀYOGA), in which the meditator visualizes himself or herself as a buddha and the environment as a MAṆḌALA. In the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, MAHĀYOGA generally corresponds to the utpattikrama.

uttamanirmāṇakāya. (T. mchog gi sprul sku; C. shanghua shen; J. jōkeshin; K. sanghwa sin 上化身). In Sanskrit, “supreme emanation body,” one of the forms of the emanation body (NIRMĀṆAKĀYA) of a buddha. A buddha may appear in any form in order to benefit sentient beings, including as an inanimate object. The form of a buddha that appears in the world and performs the twelve deeds or the eight episodes in the life of a buddha (BAXIANG), including achieving enlightenment, teaching the dharma, and passing into PARINIRVĀṆA, is called a “supreme emanation body.” The “supreme emanation body” is a body adorned with the major and minor marks of a MAHĀPURUṢA and dressed in the robes of a monk, such as ŚĀKYAMUNI. This type of nirmāṇakāya is contrasted with the JANMANIRMĀṆAKĀYA, or “created emanation body,” which are the nonhuman or inanimate forms a buddha assumes in order to help others overcome their afflictions. See also TRIKĀYA.

uttamasiddhi. (T. mchog gi dngos grub; C. zuishang daxidi; J. saijōdaishijji; K. ch’oesang taesilchi 最上大悉地). In Sanskrit, “supreme attainment”; a term used, especially in a tantric context, to refer to the attainment of buddhahood, in distinction to the common attainments (SĀDHĀRAṆASIDDHI), such as the ability to fly, walk through walls, and find buried treasure, which can be achieved through the recitation of MANTRA and the propitiation of deities.

uttarakuru. (T. sgra mi snyan; C. beijuluzhou; J. hokkurushū; K. pukkuro chu 北盧洲). Sanskrit and Pāli name of one of the four island continents located in the four cardinal directions surrounding Mount SUMERU, according to traditional Buddhist cosmology. Uttarakuru is the northern continent and is square in shape. Its inhabitants, classified as humans among the six types of beings who inhabit SAṂSĀRA, are said to be thirty-two cubits in height and to live for a thousand years. Their language is said to be very unpleasant to the ear.

Uttaramūlanikāya. A monastic fraternity in Sri Lanka, deriving from the ABHAYAGIRI sect. The main monastery of the group was the Uttarola VIHĀRA, built by King Mānavamma, and donated to the monks of the Abhayagiri Vihāra for having permitted his elder brother to be ordained, despite the fact that he had lost one eye and therefore would normally have been disqualified. The first head of the Uttarola monastery was the king’s brother himself, whose duties included the supervision of the guardians of the TOOTH RELIC. The late-eleventh or early-twelfth century scholiast ANURUDDHA, author of the famous ABHIDHAMMA primer, ABHIDHAMMATTHASAṄGAHA, describes himself in a colophon as an elder of the Uttaramūlanikāya.

Uttarā-Nandamātā. An eminent laywoman declared by the Buddha to be foremost in the attainment of meditative power. According to Pāli accounts, she was the daughter of Puṇṇaka, a servant of the wealthy man Sumana of Rājagaha (S. RĀGAGṚHA). Uttarā’s family was devoted to the Buddha and, on one occasion, while listening to a sermon he was preaching, Uttarā and her parents became stream-enterers (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA). When Sumana requested that Uttarā be betrothed to his son, he was at first refused on the grounds that his family was not Buddhist. Agreement was reached when Sumana promised that Uttarā would be supplied with sufficient requisites to continue her daily devotions to the Buddha. Her new husband, however, reneged on the agreement and refused to allow her to observe the uposatha (S. UPOṢADHA) retreat day because she would have to refrain from intercourse for the night. In order that she could observe the uposatha, Uttarā requested money from her father-in-law so she could hire a courtesan named Sirimā to service her husband. According to legend, there subsequently ensued an incident that led to the enlightenment of the courtesan, her husband, and her father-in-law. It so happened that one day while Uttarā busied herself preparing a magnificent offering for the Buddha and his disciples, her husband was strolling hand in hand with Sirimā. Seeing his wife toiling, he smiled at her foolishness for not using her riches for herself. Uttarā saw her husband and likewise smiled at his foolishness for wasting his life in self-indulgence. Sirimā, misunderstanding their smiles, flew into a jealous rage and threw boiling oil at Uttarā. But through the power of Uttarā’s compassion for Sirimā, the oil did not burn her, and, witnessing this miracle, Sirimā understood her mistake and begged forgiveness. Uttarā brought Sirimā to the Buddha, who preached to her, whereupon she became a once-returner (P. sakadāgamī; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN). Uttarā’s husband and father-in-law, who also heard the sermon, became stream-enterers.

uttarāsaṃga. (P. uttarāsaṅga; T. bla gos; C. zhongjiayi; J. chūgee; K. chunggaŭi 中價衣). In Sanskrit, the “upper robe” or “cassock”; one of the three robes (TRICĪVARA) permitted for a monk or nun, along with the ANTARVĀSAS, or lower robe, and the SAṂGHĀṬĪ, or outer robe or waistcloth. The uttarāsaṃga is large enough to cover the body from the neck to the middle of the calf; it is normally made of one layer of cloth. See also CĪVARA; KĀṢĀYA.

Uttaratantra. (T. Rgyud bla ma). See RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA.