Y

yab yum. A Tibetan term, literally meaning “father-mother,” referring to the theme common in VAJRAYĀNA iconography, especially that of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, viz., male and female deities in sexual union. The deities are depicted either standing face-to-face or sitting, with the male deity in the VAJRĀSANA and the female deity seated on the male deity’s lap, with her legs wrapped around his back, their arms embracing each other. Although interpreted in numerous ways, the male figure is generally understood to represent compassion (KARUṆĀ) and method (UPĀYA) and the female figure wisdom (PRAJÑĀ). Their union represents the indivisibility of these two qualities in the state of buddhahood. Although often described in such symbolic terms, numerous SĀDHANAs associated with the anuttarayogatantras include the practice of sexual union.

yakṣa. (P. yakkha; T. gnod sbyin; C. yecha; J. yasha; K. yach’a 夜叉). In Indian mythology, a class of nature spirit, commonly serving as local guardians of the earth and of trees and the treasures hidden there. They possess supernatural powers—including the ability to fly, to change their appearance, and to disappear—which they can employ for good or for evil. They appear often in Buddhist texts, sometimes serving as benevolent protectors of and messengers for the Buddha and his disciples. The most famous of them is VAJRAPĀṆI, who accompanies the Buddha as his bodyguard. They are commonly listed among the audience of the Buddha’s sermons, with some attaining the rank of stream-enterer. There are also demonic yakṣas, especially the female yakṣas or yakṣiṇī, who devour infants and corpses and must be subdued by the Buddha, an ARHAT, or a BODHISATTVA. The continent of UTTARAKURU and the island of Sri Lanka were considered to be abodes of the yakṣas.

Yakushiji. (藥師寺). In Japanese, “Medicine Buddha Monastery.” One of the seven great monasteries of Nara, Japan. Yakushiji is currently the headquarters (daihonzan) of the Hossō (C. FAXIANG ZONG) tradition. In 680, Emperor Tenmu (r. 673–686) ordered the construction of a statue of the Medicine Buddha (BHAIṢAJYAGURU) and a new monastery to pray for the recovery of his ill consort, who later succeeded him as Empress Jitō (r. 687–697). Due to the emperor’s death and the lack of sufficient funds, construction began under Empress Jitō’s reign in the old capital of Fujiwarakyō in present-day Kashihara city. Construction was completed in 697, but the monastery was physically relocated to the new capital Heijōkyō in 718 after the transfer of the capital in 710. The monastery originally consisted of two pagodas to the east and the west flanking a central golden hall (kondō) and a lecture hall (kōdō) behind it. After a great fire in 973, only the pagodas and the golden hall remained. The hall collapsed during a typhoon in 1445 and the west pagoda was lost to fire during a war in 1528. Reconstruction of the monastery took place during most of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The golden hall houses the famed Medicine Buddha triad from the Hakuhō period (645–710), now designated a national treasure.

Yama. (T. Gshin rje; C. Yanmo wang; J. Enma ō; K. Yŏmma wang 閻魔王). In the Buddhist pantheon, the lord of death and the king of hell. Among the six rebirth destinies (ṢAḌGATI), Yama is considered a divinity (DEVA), even though his abode is variously placed in heaven (SVARGA), in the realm of the ghosts (PRETA), and in the hells (see NĀRAKA). Birth, old age, sickness, and punishment are said to be his messengers, sent among humans to remind them to avoid evil deeds and to live virtuously. Since KARMAN functions as a natural law, with suffering resulting from unvirtuous actions and happiness from virtuous actions, the process of moral cause and effect should proceed without the need for a judge to mete out rewards and punishments. However, in Indian sources, Yama is sometimes described as the judge of the dead, who interrogates them about their deeds and assigns the wicked to the appropriate hell. This role of Yama was expanded in China, where he oversaw a quintessentially Chinese infernal bureaucracy: Yama is said to have organized the complex array of indigenous “subterranean prisons” (C. diyu) into a streamlined system of ten infernal courts, each presided over by a different king who would judge the incoming denizens. These judges were known collectively as the ten kings of hell (C. SHIWANG) and are the subject of the eponymous Shiwang jing, a Chinese indigenous scripture (see APOCRYPHA). See also KṢITIGARBHA.

yāma. (T. ’thab bral; C. yemo tian; J. yamaten; K. yama ch’ŏn 夜摩天). In Sanskrit and Pāli, proper name of a heaven in the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU); also known as suyāma (“where the seasons are always good”). The yāma heaven is the third from the bottom of the six heavens located in the sensuous realm above Mount SUMERU, between TRĀYASTRIṂŚA below and TUṢITA above. Like all Buddhist heavens, it is a place of rebirth and not a permanent post-mortem abode. Because this heaven is located in the sky, the divinities who inhabit it do not need to engage in combat with the ASURAs who dwell on the slopes of Mount Sumeru, hence the Tibetan interpretation of the name as “free from conflict.” (The Chinese is a Sinographic transcription of the Sanskrit.) The life span in this heaven is said to be two thousand years, with each day lasting two hundred human years.

yamabushi. (山伏). In Japanese, lit. “those who lie down [or sleep] in the mountains”; itinerant mountain ascetics associated with the SHUGENDŌ (way of cultivating supernatural power) tradition; also known as shugenja, or “those who cultivate supernatural powers.” Records reveal that as early as the Nara period (although possibly before), yamabushi practiced a variety of severe austerities in the mountains, which were thought to be numinous places that housed the spirits of the dead. Thanks to the special powers accumulated through this training, such adepts were able to mediate with the realm of the dead, convert baleful spirits, and provide healing services. During this early period, the yamabushi were not formally ordained but instead operated independently, drawing freely from Buddhism, Daoism, and indigenous religious beliefs. In the mid to late Heian period (794–1185), such Shugendō sites as the mountains of Yoshino and KUMANO became affiliated with Japanese Tendaishū (TIANTAI) and SHINGONSHŪ institutions, and yamabushi increasingly incorporated esoteric Buddhism into their training, whereby they strove to attain buddhahood (SOKUSHIN JŌBUTSU) through severe asceticism, such as immersion under waterfalls, solitary confinement in caves, fasting, meditating, and the recitation of spells (MANTRA). In addition, yamabushi guided people on pilgrimages through their mountain redoubts and performed powerful rites for the aristocratic nobility and royal court. During the Tokugawa period (1600–1868), they were forced because of temple regulations (J. jin hatto) to adopt permanent residences. While higher-ranking practitioners stayed at the mountain centers, many others settled down in villages, where they performed shamanic rituals and offered healing and prayers. Later in the Tokugawa period, many of these practices would provide the foundation for Japan’s so-called new religions. When Shugendō was proscribed in 1872, yamabushi were forced to join either Buddhist or Shintō institutions and to forgo many of their former practices. When this ban was lifted in the late 1940s following World War II, yamabushi at some centers, including Mt. Haguro and Kumano, resumed their former practice, which continues to the present.

Yamaka. In Pāli, “Pairs”; one of the principal books of the Pāli abhidhammapiṭaka (see ABHIDHARMAPIṬAKA), which has no precise analogue in the abhidharmas of other MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. The text belongs to the second stratum of Pāli abhidhamma works and is traditionally dated to the time of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD) (c. third–second century BCE). The Yamaka is divided into ten chapters: (1) nine kinds of faculties or roots (mūla), for example, the three wholesome faculties (see KUŚALAMŪLA), the three unwholesome faculties (see AKUŚALAMŪLA), and the three neutral faculties; (2) five aggregates (see SKANDHA); (3) six sensory bases (ĀYATANA); (4) eighteen elements (DHĀTU); (5) the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS; (6) conditioning factors (see SAṂSKĀRA) created via body, speech, and mind; (7) the proclivities (see ANUŚAYA); (8) mind (CITTA); (9) factors (see DHARMA); and (10) faculties (INDRIYA). Each of these chapters is organized into three sections: (1) delimitation of terminology, viz., the precise denotation of the terms covered in a chapter; (2) process, viz., discussions of how the terms are deployed in the course of abhidhamma analysis; and (3) penetration, viz., what understandings are generated through this analysis. The coverage proceeds through series of paired exchanges. An example is the opening discussion of the truth of suffering (P. dukkhasacca; S. DUḤKHASATYA). Exchange A asks: “Are painful sensations (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) always included in the truth of suffering? Yes.” Exchange B asks: “Does the truth of suffering always refer to painful sensations? No, the truth of suffering involves other types of suffering apart from physical and psychological suffering.” Through this exchange, the text clarifies that the term dukkha cannot be limited solely to physical or psychological pain (see DUḤKHADUḤKHATĀ), but suggests that it may also involve the suffering caused by change (see VIPARIṆĀMADUḤKHATĀ) and in fact lies at the very root of conditioning itself (see SAṂSKĀRADUḤKHATĀ). Perhaps because its format of paired exchanges does not readily lend itself to systematic analysis, the Yamaka has the dubious distinction of being probably the least read of all the works in the Pāli abhidhammapiṭaka.

yamakaprātihārya. (P. yamakapāṭihāriya; T. cho ’phrul ya ma zung; C. shuangshenbian; J. sōjinpen; K. ssangsinbyŏn 雙神變). In Sanskrit, “paired miracle” or “twin miracle”; this and the MAHĀPRĀTIHĀRYA are the two most famous of the miracles performed by the Buddha during his career, which are frequently narrated in both canonical and commentarial literature and widely depicted in Buddhist art. Both types are generally understood to have taken place in the city of ŚRĀVASTĪ and thus are often referred to collectively in the literature as the ŚRĀVASTĪ MIRACLES. The yamakaprātihārya involved the manifestation of the contrasting physical elements (MAHĀBHŪTA) of fire and water. After the Buddha established a rule preventing monks from displaying miraculous powers, he was challenged by a group of non-Buddhist yogins to a display of his own supranormal powers. As a buddha, he was exempt from this prohibition, so he accepted their challenge and stated that he would perform a miracle at the foot of a mango tree. To keep him from proceeding, his opponents uprooted all the mango trees in the vicinity, leading the Buddha to cause a great tree to grow spontaneously from a mango seed. At the appointed time, the Buddha created a bejeweled walkway in the sky and then proceeded back and forth on it, causing flames to emerge from the upper part of his body and streams of water from the lower part, then water from the upper part and flames from the lower part, then flames from the right side and water from the left side, then from his front and back, right eye and left eye, right ear and left ear, etc. He then created a double of himself (see MANOMAYAKĀYA), with whom he conversed. It is because of the simultaneous presence of fire and water (and perhaps because of his creation of his doppelgänger) that the event is called the “paired miracle.” After performing the miracle and preaching for sixteen days, the Buddha departed for the heaven of the thirty-three (TRĀYASTRIṂŚA), where he spent the rains retreat (VARṢĀ) teaching the ABHIDHARMA to his mother MĀYĀ (who had been reborn as a divinity in the TUṢITA heaven). This miracle is said to be performed by all buddhas (and only by a buddha) and always in Śrāvastī.

Yamāntaka. (T. Gshin rje gshed; C. Yanmandejia/Daweide mingwang; J. Enmantokuka/Daiitoku myōō; K. Yŏmmandŏkka/Taewidŏk myŏngwang 焰曼德迦/大威德明王). In Sanskrit, “Destroyer of Death” (lit. “he who brings an end (antaka) to death (yama)”), closely associated with BHAIRAVA (“The Frightening One”) and VAJRABHAIRAVA; one of the most important tantric deities. In Tibetan Buddhism, he was one of the three primary YI DAM of the DGE LUGS sect (together with GUHYASAMĀJA and CAKRASAṂVARA). Yamāntaka is considered to be a fully enlightened buddha, who appears always in a wrathful form. He is depicted both with and without a consort; the solitary depiction, called “sole hero” (ekavīra), is particularly popular. Bhairava also appears in the Hindu tantric pantheon as a wrathful manifestation of the god Śiva. According to Buddhist mythology, MAÑJUŚRĪ, the bodhisattva of wisdom, took the form of the terrifying bull-headed deity in order to destroy the Lord of Death (YAMA) who was ravaging the country; hence the epithet Yamāntaka (Destroyer of Death). Yamāntaka has nine heads, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs, each arm holding a different weapon or frightening object, and each foot trampling a different being. Each of these receives detailed symbolic interpretation in ritual and meditation texts associated with Yamāntaka. Thus, his two horns are said to represent the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of MADHYAMAKA philosophy: ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAṂVṚTISATYA). His nine heads represent the nine categories (NAVAṄGA[PĀVACANA]) of Buddhist scriptures. His thirty-four arms, together with his body, speech, and mind, symbolize the thirty-seven “factors pertaining to awakening” (BODHIPĀKṢIKADHARMA). His sixteen legs symbolize the sixteen emptinesses (ŚŪNYATĀ). The humans and animals that he tramples with his right foot represent the attainment of the eight accomplishments, viz., supernatural abilities acquired through tantric practice, including the ability to fly, to become invisible, and travel underground. The birds that he tramples with his left foot represent the attainment of the eight powers, another set of magical abilities, including the ability to travel anywhere in an instant and the power to create emanations. His erect phallus represents great bliss, his nakedness means that he is not covered up with obstacles, and his hair standing on end symbolizes his passage beyond all sorrow (DUḤKHA). The Yamāntaka root tantras are the Sarvatathāgatakāyavāgcittakṛṣṇayamāritantra (“Body, Speech, and Mind of All Tathāgatas: Black Enemy of Death Tantra”) in eighteen chapters; Sarvatathāgatakāyavāgcittaraktayamāritantra (“Red Enemy of Death Tantra,” in large part, a different version of the same tantra in nineteen chapters); and the important Kṛṣṇayamārimukhatantra, also called the “Three Summaries Tantra” (T. Rgyud sdom gsum) because it has no chapters. Also included in the cycle is the Yamāntakakrodhavijayatantra (“Victorious Wrathful Yamāntaka Tantra”), a CARYĀTANTRA. Based on these three works, in Tibet, the three varieties of Yamāntaka are called the “red, black, and the frightening” (T. dmar nag ’jigs gsum) derived from Raktayamāri (Red Enemy of Death), Kṛṣṇayamāri (Black Enemy of Death), and Vajrabhairava.

yāna. (T. theg pa; C. sheng; J. jō; K. sŭng 乘). In Sanskrit, “vehicle,” “conveyance”; a common Sanskrit term for any means of transportation (in Pāli materials and in many of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, the term is generally used in this literal sense). In MAHĀYĀNA literature, the term takes on great significance in the metaphorical sense of a mode of transportation along the path to enlightenment, becoming a constituent of the term Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) itself. In Mahāyāna SŪTRAs and ŚĀSTRAs, this rhetorical sense of the term is often put to polemical use, with the followers of the Buddha being placed into three or two vehicles. The three vehicles are the BODHISATTVAYĀNA or Mahāyāna, the PRATYEKABUDDHAYĀNA, and the ŚRĀVAKAYĀNA. The two vehicles are the Mahāyāna and the HĪNAYĀNA (the “lesser vehicle,” or even more disparagingly, “base vehicle” or “vile vehicle”), which subsumes the pratyekabuddhayāna and the śrāvakayāna. Other uses of the term yāna include the BUDDHAYĀNA and the EKAYĀNA (“one vehicle”), whose precise relationship to the bodhisattvayāna and the Mahāyāna is discussed in the scholastic literature. Among the Mahāyāna sūtras, the most celebrated expression of the rhetoric of the yānas occurs in the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”) where, in the parable of the burning house, a father promises to reward his children with three different carriages (yāna) when in fact there is only a single magnificent carriage. With the rise of tantric Buddhism, the Mahāyāna itself is divided into two, the PĀRAMITĀYĀNA or “perfection vehicle,” referring to the path to buddhahood involving successive mastery of the perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) as set forth in the sūtras, and the MANTRAYĀNA or “mantra vehicle,” referring to the path to buddhahood as set forth in the TANTRAs (although some scholars have argued that the proper term here is not yāna, but naya, meaning “mode” or “principle”). The tantric teachings are also variously referred to as the GUHYAMANTRAYĀNA (“secret mantra vehicle”), the PHALAYĀNA (“fruition vehicle”), and, most famously, as the VAJRAYĀNA (“diamond vehicle” or “thunderbolt vehicle”).

yang ’dul gtsug lag khang. (yangdul tsuklakang). In Tibetan, the four “extra-taming temples” or “extra-pinning temples” of BU CHU, MKHO MTHING, DGE GYES, and PRA DUM RTSE said to have been constructed during the time of the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO to pin down the limbs of the demoness (T. srin mo) who was impeding the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. The LHA SA temple (gtsug lag khang) pins down her heart and the four extra taming temples pin down her right and left elbows and right and left knees.

Yang le shod. (Yangleshö). An important pilgrimage site south of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, sacred to Tibetan and Newar Buddhists as well as to Hindus, although the source and meaning of the name are unclear. According to traditional Buddhist accounts, PADMASAMBHAVA practiced meditation in a cave here, subdued NĀGA demons through the practice of VAJRAKĪLAYA, and attained realization of MAHĀMUDRĀ. Hindus relate the site to the avatāra of Viṣṇu called Śeṣa Nārāyaṇa.

Yangqi Fanghui. (J. Yōgi Hōe; K. Yanggi Panghoe 楊岐方會) (992–1049). Chinese CHAN master and patriarch of the YANGQI PAI collateral line of the LINJI ZONG; one of the two major Linji sublineages, along with the HUANGLONG PAI. Yangqi was a native of Yuanzhou prefecture in present-day Jiangxi province. After studying under various teachers, he visited the Chan master Shishuang Chuyuan (986–1039), himself a successor of Fenyang Shanzhao (947–1024), and became one of Shishuang’s leading disciples. Yangqi was later invited to serve as abbot of the monastery Putong Chanyuan on Mt. Yangqi in his hometown of Yuanzhou, whence he acquired his toponym. In 1046, he moved his residence to the monastery of Haihuisi on Mt. Yung’ai. Among his many talented disciples, the most famous is BAIYUN SHOUDUAN (1025–1072). His teachings are recorded in the Yangqi Fanghui chanshi yulu, Yangqi Fanghui chanshi houlu, and Yangqi Hui chanshi yuyao. See also WU JIA QI ZONG.

Yangqi pai. (J. Yōgiha; K. Yanggi p’a 楊岐派). One of the two major branches of the LINJI ZONG of the CHAN school, which is listed among the five houses and seven schools (WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chinese Chan tradition. The school is named after its founder, YANGQI FANGHUI (995–1049), who taught at Mt. Yangqi in what is now Yuanzhou province. Yangqi was a disciple of Shishuang Chuyuan (986–1039), a sixth-generation successor in the Linji school, who also taught HUANGLONG HUINAN (1002–1069), the founder of the HUANGLONG PAI sublineage of the Linji school. The Yangqi lineage flourished under its third-generation successors, Fojian Huiqin (1059–1117), Foyan Qingyuan (1067–1120), and YUANWU KEQIN (1063–1135), who promoted it among the literati, and it became one of the dominant schools of Song-dynasty Buddhism thanks to the decisive role played by Yuanwu’s disciple DAHUI ZONGGAO (1089–1163). It was especially within this lineage that the meditative technique of the Chan of investigating the meditative topic or questioning meditation (KANHUA CHAN) flourished. The Yangqi masters took a different approach to GONG’AN (public case) training, criticizing “lettered Chan” (WENZI CHAN), a style of Chan developed by Yunmen and Huanglong masters, which gained popularity among the literati officials in the Northern Song period with its polished language and elegant verse explanations of the meaning of the gong’an. Dahui in particular presented the gong’an as a meditative tool for realizing one’s innate enlightenment, not to demonstrate one’s talent in clever repartee or one’s literary prowess; at the same time, he critiqued the approaches of rival Chan schools, criticizing such Huanglong masters as JUEFAN HUIHONG (1071–1128) for clinging to intellectual and literary endeavors and such CAODONG ZONG masters as HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (1091–1157) for clinging to tranquillity and simply waiting for one’s innate enlightenment to manifest itself. The school also produced many gong’an collections, including the BIYANLU (“Blue Cliff Record”), complied by Yuanwu Keqin, and the WUMEN GUAN (“Gateless Checkpoint”), compiled by the seventh-generation successor WUMEN HUIKAI (1183–1260). The Yangqi lineage was formally introduced to Korea by T’AEGO POU (1301–1382), who studied with the eleventh-generation Yangqi teacher Shiwu Qinggong (1272–1352); some modern Korean monks and scholars argue that the contemporary Korean Sŏn tradition should be traced back to T’aego and his Yangqi lineage, rather than to POJO CHINUL (1158–1210). The Yangqi school reached Japan in the thirteenth century through pilgrim monks, including Shunjō (1166–1227), who studied with the Yangqi teacher Meng’an Yuancong (1126–1209), and NANPO JŌMYŌ (1235–1309), better known by his imperially bestowed title Entsū Daiō Kokushi (“state preceptor,” see GUOSHI), who studied with the ninth-generation teacher XUTANG ZHIYU (1185–1269). All Linji lineages in contemporary Japan are affiliated with the Yangqi pai.

Yangshan Huiji. (J. Gyōzan/Kyōzan Ejaku; K. Angsan Hyejŏk 仰山慧寂) (807–883). Chinese CHAN master and patriarch of the GUIYANG ZONG [alt. Weiyang zong]. Yangshan was a native of Shaozhou prefecture in present-day Guangdong province. According to his biography, Yangshan’s first attempt to enter the monastery at age fifteen failed because his parents refused to give their required permission. Two years later he cut off two of his fingers as a sign of his resolve to become a monk and became a ŚRĀMAṆERA under the guidance of Chan master Tong (d.u.) of Nanhuasi. After he received his monastic precepts, Yangshan studied the VINAYAPIṬAKA. Yangshan is said to have received the teachings of the circle diagrams from Danyuan Yingzhen (d.u.), and he later became a disciple of Chan master GUISHAN LINGYOU after serving him for fifteen years. He later moved to Mt. Yang in Yuanzhou prefecture (present-day Jiangxi province), whence he acquired his toponym, and established a name for himself as a Chan master. Yangshan later moved to Mt. Dongping in his hometown of Shaozhou, where he passed away in the year 883 (alternative dates for his death are 916 and 891). He was posthumously honored with the title Dengxu dashi (Great Master Clear Vacuity) and a purple robe. He was also named Great Master Zhitong (Penetration of Wisdom). His teachings are recorded in the Yuanzhou Yangshan Huiji chanshi yulu. The names of the mountains on which Yangshan and his teacher Guishan resided were used in compound to designate their lineage, the Guiyang.

Yangs pa can. (Yangpachen). The monastic residence of the ZHWA DMAR incarnations in Tibet, founded under the direction of the fourth Zhwa dmar Chos kyi grags pa (Chökyi Drakpa, 1453–1524) and located near MTSHUR PHU monastery west of LHA SA; it was also known as Thub bstan Yangs pa can (Tupten Yangpachen). After the tenth Zhwa dmar was found guilty of treason, the monastery was converted to DGE LUGS and renamed Kun bde gling.

Yang Wenhui. (J. Yō Bunkai; K. Yang Munhoe 楊文會) (1837–1911). Chinese Buddhist layman at the end of the Qing dynasty, renowned for his efforts to revitalize modern Chinese Buddhism. A native of Anhui province, Yang fled from the Taiping Rebellion to Hangzhou prefecture. In 1862, he serendipitously acquired a copy of the DASHENG QIXIN LUN (“Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna”) and became interested in Buddhism. In 1878, he traveled to England, where he served at the Chinese Embassy in London, befriending the Japanese Buddhist scholar NANJŌ BUN’YŪ (1849–1927), who helped him to acquire Chinese Buddhist texts that had been preserved in Japan. After his return to China, Yang established a publishing press called the Jingling Kejing Chu and published more than three thousand Buddhist scriptures. In 1893, ANAGĀRIKA DHARMAPĀLA visited Yang in Shanghai. In 1894, Yang and the British missionary Timothy Richard translated the DASHENG QIXIN LUN into English. In 1907, the Jingling Kejing Chu began to publish primers of Buddhism in various languages. In 1910, Yang also founded the Fojiao Yanjiu Hui (Buddhist Research Society), where he regularly lectured until his death in 1911.

Yanshou. (C) (延壽). See YONGMING YANSHOU.

yantra. (T. ’khrul ’khor; C. tuxiang; J. zuzō; K. tosang 圖像). In Sanskrit, “diagram” or “instrument.” Although the term can have many meanings in Sanskrit, within the Buddhist tradition it is most commonly used to refer to a picture made of images and/or geometric shapes, usually triangles, which are repeated in such a way that they form a pattern. Such magical diagrams are used in tantric rituals and meditations to depict in visual form the power of the invoked deities, representing the universe, or certain spiritual or cosmological powers in the universe. A yantra is commonly understood as rendering through lines and colors the sacred sound of a MANTRA. Yantras are used for such purposes as gaining magical protection, worshipping tantric deities, or facilitating meditation. The term is in some cases interchangeable with a MAṆḌALA, although there are some differences: a yantra is typically small in size while a maṇḍala is variously sized and may even be large enough for a practitioner to enter during the rituals; a yantra, except for those under temple statues, is often portable, while a maṇḍala is not; and deity figures rarely appear on a yantra, while they are common on a maṇḍala. A yantra can be two- or three-dimensional and may range from such simple geometric designs as dots or triangles to more elaborate temple structures. Some texts suggest that merely seeing a maṇḍala or drawing or imagining a yantra also brings benefits. Yantra tattooing (Thai, yak sant) is a common practice in Southeast Asia among both monks and laity. It is generally performed by specialist monks using traditional needles.

yaoshi. (J. yakuseki; K. yaksŏk 藥石). In Chinese, lit. “herbal medicine (yao) and stone probes” (shi); “medicine stone,” the Chinese Buddhist euphemism for “supper.” The VINAYA restricts monks and nuns from eating after noon; anytime afterwards is an “improper time.” There are waivers allowed for certain types of “medicine,” however, which may legally be consumed. To circumvent this prohibition against eating after noon, the Chinese referred to food consumed after noon as “medicine,” and an evening meal therefore euphemistically came to be referred to as a “medicine stone.”

Yaśas. (P. Yasa; T. Grags pa; C. Yeshe; J. Yasha; K. Yasa 耶舍). An early ARHAT disciple of the Buddha. The son of a wealthy merchant of Vārāṇasī, Yaśas was brought up in luxury. He had three mansions, one for the winter, one for the rainy season, and one for the summer, and was attended by a troupe of female musicians. Once, he happened to awake in the middle of the night and witnessed his attendants sleeping in an indecorous manner. Greatly disturbed, he put on a pair of golden sandals and wandered in the direction of the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA) where the Buddha was dwelling, exclaiming, “Alas, what distress, what danger.” The Buddha saw him approach and, knowing what he was experiencing, called out to him, “Yaśas, come. Here there is neither distress nor danger.” Yaśas approached the Buddha, took off his golden sandals, and sat down beside him. The Buddha preached a graduated discourse (ANUPUBBIKATHĀ) to him, at the conclusion of which Yaśas became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). He thus became the Buddha’s sixth disciple and the first who had not known him prior to his achievement of enlightenment (as had his first five disciples, the bhadravargīya or PAÑCAVARGIKA). Yaśas was also the first person to become an enlightened lay disciple (UPĀSAKA), although he ordained a few minutes later. Later, Yaśas’s father, who had come searching for his son, arrived at the Buddha’s residence. The Buddha used his magical powers to make Yaśas invisible and, inviting his father to sit, preached a discourse to him. Yaśas’s father also became a stream-enterer, while Yaśas, who overheard the sermon from his invisible state, became an arhat. When the Buddha made Yaśas visible to his father, he informed him that, since his son was now an arhat, it would be impossible for him to return home to a householder’s life and he would have to become a monk. Yaśas thus became the sixth member of the Buddha’s monastic order. Yaśas accompanied the Buddha to his father’s house the next day to receive the morning meal. After the meal, the Buddha preached a sermon. Yaśas’s mother, SUJĀTĀ, and other members of the household became stream-enterers, his mother thus becoming the first female disciple (UPĀSIKĀ) of the Buddha and the first woman to become a stream-enterer. At that time, fifty-four of Yaśas’s friends also were converted and entered the order of monks, swelling its ranks to sixty members. It was at this time that the Buddha directed his disciples to go forth separately and preach the dharma they had realized for the welfare and benefit of the world. ¶ There was a later monk, also named Yaśas, whose protest led to the second Buddhist council (COUNCIL, SECOND), held at VAIŚĀLĪ. Some one hundred years after the Buddha’s death, Yaśas was traveling in Vaiśālī when he observed the monks there receiving gold and silver as alms directly from the laity, in violation of the VINAYA prohibition against monks touching gold and silver. He also found that the monks had identified ten points in the vinaya that were identified as violations but that they felt were sufficiently minor to be ignored. The ten violations in question were: (1) carrying salt in an animal horn; (2) eating when the shadow of the sundial was two fingerbreadths past noon; (3) after eating, traveling to another village to eat another meal on the same day; (4) holding several assemblies within the same boundary (SĪMĀ) during the same fortnight; (5) making a monastic decision with an incomplete assembly and subsequently receiving the approval of the absent monks; (6) citing precedent as a justification to violate monastic procedures; (7) drinking milk whey after mealtime; (8) drinking unfermented wine; (9) using mats with a fringe; and (10) accepting gold and silver. Yaśas told the monks that these were indeed violations, at which point the monks are said to have offered him a share of the gold and silver they had collected. When he refused the bribe, they expelled him from the order. Yaśas sought the support of several respected monks in the west, including Sambhūta, ŚĀṆAKAVĀSIN, and REVATA. Together with other monks, they went to Vaiśālī, where they convened a council (SAṂGĪTI) at which Revata submitted questions about each of the disputed points to Sarvagāmin, the eldest monk of the day, who is said to have been a disciple of ĀNANDA. In each case, he said that the practice in question was a violation of the vinaya. Seven hundred monks then gathered to recite the vinaya. Those who did not accept the decision of the council held their own convocation, which they called the MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA or “Great Assembly,” the rival group coming to be called the STHAVIRANIKĀYA, or “School of the Elders.” This event is sometimes referred to as “the great schism,” since it marks the first permanent schism in the order (SAṂGHABHEDA).

Yasenkanna. [alt. Yasenkanwa] (夜船閑話). In Japanese, “Idle Talk on a Night Boat”; a short meditative text composed by the ZEN master HAKUIN EKAKU in the RINZAISHŪ, and his most popular piece. The Yasenkanna was first published in 1757 and has remained in print ever since. The title seems to be an allusion to the popular saying, “night boat on the Shirakawa River” (Shirakawa yasen), which refers to the story of a man from the countryside and the lies he tells about his trip to Kyōto. Hakuin wrote the Yasenkanna to offer beginners of meditation an expedient technique for overcoming “Zen illness” (zenbyō) and fatigue. The Yasenkanna details Hakuin’s own bout with this illness and his miraculous recovery with the help of a secret technique known as inner discernment or visualization (naikan), which he purports to have learned from the obscure hermit Hakuyū. Different versions of this story also appear in Hakuin’s other writings, such as the Kanzanshi sendai kimon, Orategama, and Itsumadegusa.

Yaśodharā. (P. Yasodharā; T. Grags ’dzin ma; C. Yeshutuoluo; J. Yashudara; K. Yasudara 耶輸陀羅). The Sanskrit proper name of wife of the prince and BODHISATTVA, SIDDHĀRTHA GAUTAMA, and mother of his son, RĀHULA (she is often known in Pāli sources as Rāhulamātā, Rāhula’s Mother); she eventually became an ARHAT, who was declared by the Buddha to be foremost among nuns possessing the six superknowledges (ABHIJÑĀ; P. abhiññā). According to Pāli accounts, she was born on the same day as Prince Gautama and had skin the color of gold, hence another of her epithets, Bhaddā Kaccānā. She is also referred to in Pāli commentaries as Bimbā. Yaśodharā married the prince when she was sixteen, after he had proved his superior skill in archery and other manly arts. She was chief consort in a harem of forty thousand women. On the day her son, Rāhula, was born, the prince renounced the world and abandoned his wife, child, and palace to become a mendicant. According to another version of the story, Rāhula was conceived on the night of the prince’s departure and was not born until the night of the prince’s enlightenment, six years later. Yaśodharā was so heartbroken at her husband’s departure that she took up his ascetic lifestyle, eating only one meal per day and wearing the yellow robes of a mendicant. When the Buddha returned to his former palace in KAPILAVASTU after his enlightenment, Yaśodharā was allowed the honor of worshipping him in the manner she saw fit. After seven days, as the Buddha was about to depart, Yaśodharā instructed her son Rāhula to ask for his inheritance. In response, the Buddha instructed ŚĀRIPUTRA to ordain his son. As Rāhula was the first child to be admitted to the order, he became the first Buddhist novice (ŚRĀMAṆERA). Yaśodharā and Rāhula’s grandfather ŚUDDHODANA were greatly saddened at losing the child and heir to the order; hence, at Śuddhodana’s request, the Buddha passed a rule that, thenceforth, no child should be ordained without the consent of its parents. When later the Buddha allowed women to enter the order, Yaśodharā became a nun (BHIKṢUṆĪ) under MAHĀPRAJĀPATĪ, who was chief of the nuns’ order and the Buddha’s stepmother. Yaśodharā cultivated insight and became an arhat with extraordinary supranormal powers. She could recall her past lives stretching back an immeasurable age and one hundred thousand eons without effort. The JĀTAKA records numerous occasions when Yaśodharā had been the wife of the bodhisattva in earlier existences. Also mentioned as the wife of the Buddha is Gopā, although it is unclear whether this refers to another wife or is another name for Yaśodharā.

Yaśomitra. (T. Grags pa bshes gnyen) (fl. c. late sixth century). Indian ĀBHIDHARMIKA scholastic, probably affiliated with the SAUTRĀNTIKA school, and author of the SPHUṬĀRTHĀ-ABHIDHARMAKOŚAVYĀKHYĀ, an important commentary on VASUBANDHU’s ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA. His commentary is noted for its detail and clarity, and for its attempt to identify the adherents of the various doctrinal positions mentioned by Vasubandhu. The text is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan. Yaśomitra’s text was among the first ABHIDHARMA works to be studied in Europe; it was one of the Sanskrit manuscripts send by BRIAN HOUGHTON HODGSON from Kathmandu to Paris, where it was read by EUGÈNE BURNOUF, who discusses it in his Introduction à l’histoire du Buddhisme indien (1844).

Yasutani Hakuun. (安谷白雲) (1885–1973). Japanese ZEN teacher in the SŌTŌSHŪ, who was influential in the West. Born in Japan, Yasutani attended public school until he entered a Sōtō Zen seminary at the age of thirteen. Yasutani was trained as a teacher and taught elementary school. He was married at the age of thirty and raised five children before turning to a life dedicated to the work of a Sōtō priest. He met Sogaku Harada in 1924 while lecturing in Tōkyō. Yasutani began intensive study with Harada roshi and dedicated his life to teaching the dharma to laypeople. Yasutani organized a group called the Sanbō Kyodan (Fellowship of the Three Jewels), which became independent of the Sōtō school in 1954. Yasutani was the teacher of PHILIP KAPLEAU, who studied with him for eight years, and maintained a close relationship with him until 1967. Kapleau’s The Three Pillars of Zen was based heavily on Yasutani’s teachings. Yasutani traveled to the United States for the first time at the age of seventy-seven, three years after SHUNRYŪ SUZUKI arrived. For seven years, Yasutani taught Zen to many laypeople in the USA and, although he had prepared to live somewhat permanently in the country, a tuberculosis test prevented him from receiving a permanent visa. In his later years, Yasutani continued to travel in the United States as well as in India. He preferred to teach Zen in a nonmonastic environment. He died in Kamakura in 1973.

Yatana Htut-hkaung zedi. The Yatana Htut-hkaung Pagoda (Burmese, JEDI; P. cetī; S. CAITYA) is located on Min-wun Hill in the northern part of the Sagaing Hills in Upper Burma (Myanmar). It was built in 1315 CE by Princess Soe Min-gyi, the daughter of Sagaing’s founder, King Athinkaya Saw-yun. Over the course of time, the neighboring village, along with its monastery and line of SAYADAWs (abbots), came to be known as Htut-hkaung. One such abbot was Htut-hkaung Sayadaw, who flourished in the nineteenth century, was greatly respected by King MINDON (r. 1853–1878) for his learning and piety. The king built for the sayadaw a famous monastery named Mahādhammika Kyaung where he taught scripture and meditation to many hundreds of monks and nuns. This sayadaw was a prolific writer, and his catechisms are famous in Burmese literature. He received many titles from the King Mindon and was believed by some to have been an arahant (S. ARHAT).

yathābhūtajñānadarśana. (P. yathābhūtañāṇadassana; C. rushi zhijian; J. nyojitsu chiken; K. yŏsil chigyŏn 如實知見). In Sanskrit, “knowledge and vision that accord with reality”; a crucial insight leading to deliverance (VIMUKTI), which results in dispassion toward the things of this world because of seeing things as they actually are: i.e., as impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANĀTMAN). “Knowledge and vision (jñānadarśana)” is usually interpreted to suggest the direct insight into things “as they are” (yathābhūta), meaning these three marks of existence (TRILAKṢAṆA), or sometimes the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. Yathābhūtajñānadarśana is presumed to be closely related to wisdom (PRAJÑĀ), but with one significant difference: yathābhūtajñānadarśana is the first true insight, but it is intermittent and weak, while prajñā is continuous and strong. Seeing things as they are, however, is intense enough that the insight so gleaned is sufficient to transform an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) into an ĀRYA. ¶ In the Upanisāsutta of the SAṂYUTTANIKĀYA, the standard twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA) is connected to an alternate chain that is designated the “supramundane dependent origination” (P. lokuttara-paṭiccasamuppāda; S. lokottara-pratītyasamutpāda), which outlines the process leading to liberation and prominently includes the knowledge and vision that accord with reality. Here, the last factor in the standard chain, that of old age and death (JARĀMARAṆA), is substituted with suffering (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA), which in turn becomes the first factor in this alternate series. According to the Nettipakaraṇa, a Pāli exegetical treatise, this chain of supramundane dependent origination consists of: (1) suffering (P. dukkha; S. duḥkha), (2) faith (P. saddhā; S. ŚRADDHĀ), (3) delight or satisfaction (P. pāmojja; S. prāmodya), (4) rapture or joy (P. pīti; S. PRĪTI), (5) tranquility or repose (P. passaddhi; S. PRAŚRABDHI), (6) mental ease or bliss (SUKHA), (7) concentration (SAMĀDHI), (8) knowledge and vision that accord with reality (P. yathābhūtañāṇadassana; S. yathābhūtajñānadarśana), (9) disgust (P. nibbidā; S. NIRVEDA), (10) dispassion (P. virāga; S. VAIRĀGYA), (11) liberation (P. vimutti; S. VIMUKTI), and (12) knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants (P. āsavakkhayañāṇa; S. āsravakṣayajñāna; see ĀSRAVAKṢAYA). The Kimatthiyasutta of the AṄGUTTARANIKĀYA gives a slightly different version of the first links, replacing suffering and faith with (1) observance of precepts (P. kusalasīla; S. kuśalaśīla) and (2) freedom from remorse (P. avippaṭisāra; S. avipratisāra). In both formulations, yathābhūtajñānadarśana arises as a result of the preceding factor of meditative concentration (samādhi); it is regarded as the specific awareness (JÑĀNA) of the nature of reality, which is seen (DARŚANA) vividly and directly. In this context, yathābhūtajñānadarśana is essentially synonymous with insight (VIPAŚYANĀ). As this chain of transcendental dependent origination is sometimes interpreted, the stage of faith (P. saddhā; S. śraddhā) is made manifest through generosity (DĀNA) and observing precepts (ŚĪLA), which frees the mind from feelings of remorse and guilt (avipratisāra). The stage of delight or satisfaction (prāmodya) refers to a satisfied or relaxed state of mind, which is freed from any mental disturbances that might prevent concentration. The stages of rapture (prīti), bliss (sukha), and concentration (samādhi) are factors associated with the four levels of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). The knowledge and vision that accord with reality arise in dependence on the preceding samādhi; it is able to destroy the afflictions (KLEŚA), rather than simply suppress them, as occurs in the state of concentration, and thus leads to liberation from SAṂSĀRA. The fact that samādhi provides a basis for seeing things “as they are,” which generates an insight that can bring about liberation, demonstrates the explicitly soteriological dimensions of concentration in a Buddhist meditative context. ¶ In Pāli sources, such as the VISUDDHIMAGGA, yathābhūtajñānadarśana is the fifteenth of eighteen principal types of superior insight (P. mahāvipassanā), which liberate the mind from delusions regarding the world and the self. The eighteen insights are contemplations of: (1) impermanence (aniccānupassanā); (2) suffering (dukkhānupassanā); (3) nonself (anattānupassanā); (4) aversion (nibbidānupassanā); (5) dispassion (virāgānupassanā); (6) extinction (nirodhānupassanā); (7) abandoning (paṭinissaggānupassanā); (8) waning (khayānupassanā); (9) disappearing (vayānupassanā); (10) change (vipariṇāmānupassanā); (11) signlessness (animittānupassanā); (12) wishlessness (appaṇihitānupassanā); (13) emptiness (suññatānupassanā); (14) advanced understanding into phenomena (adhipaññādhammavipassanā); (15) knowledge and vision that accord with reality (yathābhūtañāṇadassana); (16) contemplation of danger (ādīnavānupassanā); (17) contemplation involving reflection (paṭisaṅkhānupassanā); and (18) contemplation of turning away (vivaṭṭanānupassanā). The counterparts which are overcome through these eighteen insights are: (1) the idea of permanence, (2) the idea of pleasure, (3) the idea of self, (4) delighting, (5) greed, (6) origination, (7) grasping, (8) the idea of compactness, (9) the accumulation of action (kamma), (10) the idea of lastingness, (11) signs, (12) desire, (13) misinterpretation, (14) misinterpretation due to grasping, (15) misinterpretation due to confusion, (16) misinterpretation due to reliance, (17) nonreflection or thoughtlessness, (18) misinterpretation due to entanglement.

yathābhūtaparijñāna. (T. ji lta ba mkhyen pa’i ye shes). An alternate term for YATHĀVADBHĀVIKAJÑĀNA (knowledge of the mode).

yathāvadbhāvikajñāna. (T. ji lta ba mkhyen pa’i ye shes; C. ruli zhi; J. nyorichi; K. yŏri chi 如理智). In Sanskrit, lit. “knowledge of the mode”; a buddha’s knowledge of the single mode of being of the universe. This type of knowledge is typically mentioned in conjunction with the “knowledge of the multiplicities” (YĀVADBHĀVIKAJÑĀNA), a buddha’s knowledge of each of the phenomena of the universe in its specificity. Only a buddha possesses these two knowledges and possesses them simultaneously; thus, only he is able to perceive all of the various phenomena of the universe as well as their ultimate nature. This joint awareness is referred to as the simultaneous knowledge of the two truths (SATYADVAYA).

yāvadbhāvikajñāna. (T. ji snyed pa mkhyen pa’i ye shes; C. ruliang zhi; J. nyoryōchi; K. yŏryang chi 如量智). In Sanskrit, lit., “knowledge of the multiplicities” or “knowledge of the varieties”; a buddha’s knowledge of each of the phenomena of the universe in its specificity. This type of knowledge is typically mentioned in conjunction with a buddha’s “knowledge of the mode” (YATHĀVADBHĀVIKAJÑĀNA), which understands the single mode of being of the universe. Only a buddha possesses these two knowledges and possesses them simultaneously; thus, only he is able to perceive all of the various phenomena of the universe as well as their ultimate nature. This joint awareness is referred to as the simultaneous knowledge of the two truths (SATYADVAYA).

yavana. (T. yol ba; C. biandi; J. henji; K. pyŏnji 邊地). In Sanskrit (from Greek Ionian), “peripheral” or “outlying regions”; referring to the regions beyond the civilizing influences of Buddhism and higher spiritual culture. The term was used to designate Greeks (Ionians) and later even Arab Muslims. In Buddhist cosmology, the term was used to designate regions north and west of India proper, which are inhabited by illiterate, barbaric peoples hostile to Buddhism. The birth into a “peripheral region” is considered to be one of the “insuperable difficulties” (see AKṢAṆA) to the attainment of enlightenment in the present lifetime. See also BIANDI.

Yazawin-kyaw. In Burmese, “Celebrated Chronicle”; the traditional title given to the MAHĀSAMMATAVAṂSA, the oldest extant yazawin, or Burmese (Myanmar) royal chronicle. It was completed in two installments by the monk MAHĀSĪLAVAṂSA of AVA, the first completed in 1502, the second in 1520. The chronicle is written in mixed Burmese and Pāli and contains the earliest surviving examples of the Burmese nissaya (Pāli to Burmese word-by-word translation) style of writing. The text follows roughly the outline of the MAHĀVAṂSA and devotes most of its coverage to the history of Buddhist dynasties in India and Sri Lanka. Only the last seventh of the work concerns the history of Burma from the time of the Buddha through the PAGAN (Bagan) and Ava periods. The text contains the assertion that the Buddhism of Burma was established by the elder Mahāpuṇṇa during the lifetime of the Buddha and hence is older and longer-lived than that of Sri Lanka. The Yazawin-kyaw concludes with an account of the meritorious deeds of Shwe-nan-kyaw-shin (r. 1502–1527), the king of Ava at the time the work was composed.

ye dharmā. In Sanskrit, lit. “those phenomena…”; the opening words of perhaps the most famous synopsis of the teachings of Buddhism; the full declaration in Sanskrit is “ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha, evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ”: “Of those phenomena produced through causes, the TATHĀGATA has proclaimed their causes (HETU) and also their cessation (NIRODHA). Thus has spoken the great renunciant (ŚRAMAṆA).” This statement plays a central role in the story of ŚĀRIPUTRA’s conversion. Śāriputra, who was a disciple of the agnostic teacher SAÑJAYA VAIRĀṬĪPUTRA, encountered one of the Buddha’s five original disciples (PAÑCAVARGIKA), AŚVAJIT. Noticing Aśvajit’s serene countenance, Śāriputra asked him who his teacher might be, to which Aśvajit replied that his teacher was the Buddha. When Śāriputra asked what it was that the Buddha taught, Aśvajit demurred, explaining that he had only recently renounced the life of a householder and was unable to present the teaching in full. Śāriputra asked Aśvajit to give him the gist of the Buddha’s teaching. Aśvajit replied with this famous ye dharmā line. Immediately upon hearing these words, Śāriputra is said to have gained the rank of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), the first stage of sanctity (ĀRYAMĀRGA). He then asked the whereabouts of the Buddha and was ordained, going on to become the disciple most renowned for his wisdom. Aśvajit’s précis points to the central importance of causality in the Buddha’s teachings and provides a kind of summary of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. The Buddha has identified the causes (such as KARMAN and KLEŚA) of those things that have causes (such as suffering, S. DUḤKHA), and he has also identified their cessation in the experience of NIRVĀṆA. What may therefore have begun as a simple statement to mollify an eager questioner eventually became a slogan and ultimately a MANTRA, the very recitation of which was said to produce apotropaic powers. Like a mantra, the words of the ye dharmā slogan were often transcribed phonetically, rather than translated, into various languages across Asia. These words were also often written on strips of paper and enshrined in STŪPAs; they thus became a dharmaverse relic (ŚARĪRA), serving as a substitute for a bodily relic of the Buddha.

Yellow Hats. (C. huangmao 帽). A popular designation in both European languages and Chinese for the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism, whose monks do indeed wear yellow hats. Although the term zhwa gser, or “yellow hat,” does occur occasionally in Tibetan as a term of self-appellation for the Dge lugs, the Western and Chinese division of major Tibetan sects into Yellow Hats, RED HATS, and BLACK HATS has no corollary in Tibetan Buddhism and should be avoided.

Yel pa bka’ brgyud. (Yelpa Kagyü). One of the four major and eight minor subsects of the BKA’ BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism (BKA’ BRGYUD CHE BZHI CHUNG BRGYAD), originating with Ye shes brtsegs pa (b. 1134), a student of Bka’ brgyud hierarch PHAG MO GRU PA RDO RJE RGYAL PO. After a period of decline, it was revived by CHOS KYI ’BYUNG GNAS but was latter absorbed into KARMA BKA’ BRGYUD.

ye shes. (yeshe). In Tibetan, lit. “primordial knowledge,” with ye meaning “original” or “primordial.” The term renders the Sanskrit JÑĀNA; in the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, it refers to the originally pure mind. See RIG PA; JÑĀNA.

Ye shes mtsho rgyal. (Yeshe Tsogyal) (c. 757–817). A renowned female Tibetan Buddhist master, generally regarded as a wisdom ḌĀKINĪ and venerated especially as consort and disciple of the Indian adept PADMASAMBHAVA. Ye shes mtsho rgyal was born into an aristocratic family in central Tibet, south of LHA SA. According to traditional biographical accounts, a nearby lake miraculously swelled at the time of her birth and she was thus given the name “victor of the lake” (mtsho rgyal). This lake, near the cave complex of SGRAG YANG RDZONG, is believed to still hold Ye shes mtsho rgyal’s life essence (bla). Her remarkable beauty even at a young age drew numerous suitors, but rather than submit to a marriage arranged by her father, she fled in order to undertake religious practice. She spent a brief period of time in the court of the Tibetan ruler KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN (perhaps as one of his wives), after which she met Padmasambhava and was accepted as one of his chief disciples. In addition to receiving and practicing numerous tantric instructions, Ye shes mtsho rgyal helped to conceal many of Padmasambhava’s treasure teachings (GTER MA), many of which are said to be her transcriptions of Padmasambhava’s teachings. She is regarded as the first Tibetan to achieve buddhahood in a single lifetime. As a wisdom ḍākinī, she is also known as Bde chen rgyal mo (“Great Bliss Queen”).

Ye shes ’od. (Yeshe Ö) (947–1024). A Tibetan king of the western region of GU GE credited with inspiring a revival of Buddhism that initiated the latter dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet. He decried the state of Tibetan Buddhist practice, especially the practice of TANTRA, in a famous ordinance (bka’ shog), complaining that people were engaging in murder and illicit sex under the guise of the tantric practices of “liberation” (grol) and “union” (sbyor). According to a famous story, Ye shes ’od was captured by a Gar log Turk chieftain while seeking to raise the capital necessary to invite ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA to Tibet. He then sacrificed his own life by commanding his grandnephew BYANG CHUB ’OD to use whatever gold had been accumulated not as a ransom for his own release, but rather as an offering to the Indian scholar. Atiśa was so moved by the king’s act of selflessness that, despite his previous declinations, he agreed to make the journey north. Traditional accounts also suggest that Ye shes ’od sponsored a group of twenty-two young scholars to study Indian languages and tantric literature in Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA), of whom only two survived: the translators RIN CHEN BZANG PO and RNGOG LEGS PA’I SHES RAB. Both the story of his noble death for the sake of Atiśa’s invitation and the story of his sponsorship of Rin chen bzang po present difficulties in chronology, suggesting that they are embellishments. He is also credited with inspiring the establishment of numerous religious institutions, including THO LING, NYAR MA, and TA PHO. He is also known as Lha bla ma (Lha Lama).

Ye shes sde. (Yeshe De) (fl. late eighth/early ninth century). A Tibetan translator (LO TSĀ BA) during the early dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet; a native of Ngam shod of the Sna nam clan, also referred to by the clan name Zhang. He is said to have been a disciple of both PADMASAMBHAVA and ŚRĪSIṂHA, from whom he received tantric instructions, especially in the SEMS SDE (mind class) of RDZOGS CHEN. He collaborated with some fifteen Indian scholars, among them Jinamitra, Śīlendrabodhi, and Dānaśīla, on the translation of as many as 347 different works, if the later canonical records are correct. His translations includes upwards of 163 Mahāyāna sūtras, among them the PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA, and RATNAKŪṬASŪTRA collections, translations of the YOGĀCĀRABHŪMI and other basic MADHYAMAKA and YOGĀCĀRA treatises, as well as a number of works by his contemporaries ŚĀNTARAKṢITA and KAMALAŚĪLA. He is also credited with the translation of tantric works that would come to be known as the “old translations” used by the RNYING MA sect. He is said to have been a practitioner of the VAJRAKĪLAYA tantras. He is also author of a number of original compositions, among them the Lta ba’i khyad par (“Differences in Views”), preserved in both a BSTAN ’GYUR and DUNHUANG version, which divides the Madhyamaka school into Sautrāntika-Madhyamaka and Yogācāra-Madhyamaka. See also DPAL BRTSEGS; KLU’I RGYAL MTSHAN.

yi bao. (C) (依報). See ER BAO.

yi dam. In Tibetan, a term often translated as “meditational deity” or “tutelary deity.” In the practice of Buddhist tantra, it is the enlightened being, whether male or female, peaceful or wrathful, who serves as the focus of one’s SĀDHANA practice. One is also to visualize one’s tantric teacher (VAJRĀCĀRYA) as this deity. The term is of uncertain origin and does not seem to be a direct translation of a Sanskrit term, although iṣṭadevatā is sometimes identified with the term. The etymology that is often given sees the term as an abbreviation of yid kyi dam tshig, meaning “commitment of the mind.” Traditionally, the yi dam is selected by throwing a flower onto a MAṆḌALA, with the deity upon whom the flower lands becoming the “chosen deity.” However, when one receives a tantric initiation, the central deity of that tantra typically becomes the yi dam, with daily practices of offering and meditation often required. Through the propitiation of the deity and recitation of MANTRA, it is said that the deity will bestow accomplishments (SIDDHI). In the practice of DEVATĀYOGA, one meditates upon oneself as that deity in order to achieve buddhahood in the form of that deity. The yi dam is considered one of the three roots (rtsa gsum) of tantric practice, together with the GURU and the ḌĀKINĪ: the guru is considered to be the source of blessings; the yi dam, the source of accomplishments; and the ḍākinī, the source of activities. These three roots are considered the inner refuge, with the Buddha, DHARMA, and SAṂGHA being the outer refuge, and the channels (NĀḌĪ), winds (PRĀṆA), and drops (BINDU) being the secret refuge.

yidashi. (一大事). In Chinese, the “one great matter.” See DASHI.

Yifu. (J. Gifuku, K. Ŭibok 義福) (661–736). Chinese CHAN master associated with the Northern school (BEI ZONG) of the early Chan tradition. Yifu was a native of Luzhou prefecture in present-day Shanxi province, who became a student of the lay master DU FEI (d.u.), the author of the CHUAN FABAO JI, at Fuxiansi in Luoyang. After Yifu received the full monastic precepts in 690, he went to the monastery of YUQUANSI in Jingzhou prefecture to study with the eminent Chan master SHENXIU. Yifu became Shenxiu’s close disciple and continued to study under him probably until his master’s death. Later, Yifu moved to the monastery of Huagansi on ZHONGNANSHAN, where he lived for about twenty years. During his stay at Huagansi, Yifu attracted a large following. In 722, he moved again to the grand monastery of DACI’ENSI in Chang’an, where he was patronized by the upper echelons of Tang Chinese society. At the request of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756), Yifu returned once again to Luoyang and resided at the monasteries of Fuxiansi and Nanlongxingsi. He received the posthumous title Chan Master Dazhi (Great Wisdom).

yi ge brgya pa. (yi ge gyapa). In Tibetan, “hundred-syllable MANTRA”; term used to describe a number of lengthy MANTRAs, most commonly that of VAJRASATTVA, recited as part of a Tibetan tantric confession and purification practice. This is one of the preliminary practices (SNGON ’GRO) of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, involving one hundred thousand repetitions of the Vajrasattva mantra.

yiji. (J. yuige; K. yuge 遺偈). In Chinese, “bequeathed verse” or “death verse”; a verse (C. ji; lit. S. GĀTHĀ) left by eminent monks and nuns, especially in the CHAN school, just before the moment of death, as a final expression of their enlightenment experience; also called a “taking leave of the world hymn” (cishi song) or, especially in the Korean tradition, a “moment of death gāthā” (imjongge). The verse may be either recited or written and is left as the master’s last bequeathed teaching immediately before he passes away, often delivered as part of a final sermon. The final instructions of a buddha or a monk for the edification of his disciples are referred to as a “bequeathed teaching” (yijiao; see also YIJIAO JING), and the tradition of specifically bequeathing a verse as part of this final instruction is thought to have originated in the Tang-dynasty Chan tradition. Such bequeathed verses usually consisted of four lines of four, five, or seven Sinographs per line and thus are similar in format to other types of verses found within the Chan tradition, such as an “enlightenment hymn” (C. wudao song), the verse recited by a student upon achieving enlightenment, and “dharma-transmission gāthā” (C. chuanfa ji), the verse bestowed on a dharma successor as an authorization to teach. As an example of such a bequeathed verse, HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (1091–1157), a well-known teacher in the CAODONG ZONG, is said to have written the following gāthā just before his death: “An illusory fantasy and a flower in the sky (KHAPUṢPA),/ Are these sixty-seven years,/ A white bird fades into the mist,/ The autumnal waters merge with the sky.” Not all renowned Chan masters left yiji and others derided the practice. The yiji of DAHUI ZONGGAO (1089–1163), the influential LINJI ZONG master and a contemporary of Hongzhi, expressed ironically his indifference to yiji: “Birth is thus,/ Death is thus,/ Verse or no verse,/ What’s the fuss?” In Japan, handwritten death verses were treasured as precious calligraphic art and a virtual relic of the deceased master. They were thus often hung in the abbot’s quarters (J. hōjō, C. FANGZHANG) or in the retirement cloisters.

Yijiao jing. (J. Yuikyōgyō; K. Yugyo kyŏng 遺教經). In Chinese, “Scripture on the Bequeathed Teachings”; also known as Foshuo banniepan jiaojie jing (“Scripture on the Admonishments Taught by the Buddha [before] his PARINIRVĀṆA”) and Fo yijiao jing (“Scripture on the Teachings Bequeathed by the Buddha”). Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of this text are not known to have existed. The Chinese translation of this text is attributed to KUMĀRAJĪVA, but the text is now widely assumed to be an indigenous Chinese Buddhist scripture (see APOCRYPHA). The sūtra is set against the backdrop of the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, when he imparts his final instructions to the gathered disciples. The Buddha instructs his disciples to uphold the precepts and regard them as their teacher after his entry into parinirvāṇa. He then instructs them to control sensuality (KĀMA) and cultivate serenity and DHYĀNA. Finally, the Buddha asks the assembly if they have any questions regarding the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. When no one replies, the Buddha succinctly expounds upon impermanence and the need to seek liberation (VIMOKṢA). This sūtra bears striking resemblances in style and content to the MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTA and AŚVAGHOṢA’s BUDDHACARITA. Along with the SISHI’ER ZHANG JING and GUISHAN JINGCE, the Yijiao jing has been cherished by the CHAN tradition for its simple and clear exposition. Sometime during the late Tang and early Song dynasties, the three texts were edited together as the Fozu sanjing (“The Three Scriptures of the Buddhas and Patriarchs”) and recommended to Chan neophytes.

yijing. (C) (疑經). In Chinese, lit. “suspicious scriptures” or “scriptures of doubtful [provenance].” See APOCRYPHA.

Yijing. (J. Gijō; K. Ŭijŏng 義淨) (635–713). Chinese Buddhist monk and pilgrim. Ordained at the age of twenty, Yijing dreamed of following in the footsteps of the renowned pilgrims FAXIAN and XUANZANG. He eventually set out for India in 671 via the southern maritime route. After visiting the major Indian pilgrimage sites (see MAHĀSTHĀNA), Yijing traveled to the monastic university at NĀLANDĀ, where he remained for the next ten years. On his return trip to China, Yijing stopped at ŚRĪVIJAYA (Palembang in Sumatra) to continue his studies. He praised the monks there for their high level of learning, describing them as primarily HĪNAYĀNA in affiliation. It was in Śrīvijaya that he began to compose his record of his travels, the NANHAI JIGUI NEIFA ZHUAN, which remains an important source on the practice of Buddhism in the many regions where he traveled and for understanding the various NIKĀYA affiliations of the period. It was also during his time in Śrīvijaya that Yijing began his translation of the massive MŪLASARVĀSTIVĀDA VINAYA. When he ran out of paper and ink, he made a brief trip back to China in 689 to retrieve more writing supplies and then returned to Śrīvijaya. After a thirty-year sojourn overseas, Yijing finally returned to China in 695 with some four hundred Sanskrit texts and three hundred grains of the Buddha’s relics (ŚARĪRA). Yijing was warmly welcomed in the capital of Luoyang by Empress WU ZETIAN, who appointed him to the monastery of Foshoujisi. Later, from 695 to 699, Yijing participated in ŚIKṢĀNANDA’s new translation of the AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA and devoted the next decade or so to the translation of the scriptures that he had brought back with him from India. In addition to the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, his translations also include several important YOGĀCĀRA treatises and TANTRAs. His writings also include a collection of the biographies of renowned East Asian Buddhist pilgrims to India, the DA TANG XIYU QIUFA GAOSENG ZHUAN.

yijing sanzang. (J. yakukyō sanzō; K. yŏkkyŏng samjang 譯經三藏). In Chinese, lit. “master of the three repositories, translator of scriptures.” See TREPIṬAKA.

Yingluo jing. (C) (瓔珞經). See PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING.

Yinguang. (J. Inkō; K. In’gwang 印光) (1862–1940). Chinese monk renowned for his efforts to revitalize modern Chinese Buddhism, especially of the PURE LAND tradition; also sometimes referred to as the thirteenth patriarch of the Chinese JINGTU school and as Chang Cankui Seng (Forever Ashamed Monk). Yinguang was a native of Geyang in Shaanxi province. At a young age, Yinguang suffered from an eye ailment, probably conjunctivitis, which he is said to have cured by studying the Buddhist scriptures. He was formally ordained later at the monastery of Xing’an Shuangqisi in his home province. Yinguang’s interest in pure land thought and practice is said to have been catalyzed by his encounter with the writings of the CHAN master Jixing Chewu (1741–1810), who came to be known as the twelfth patriarch of the pure land tradition in China. For more than twenty years, he resided in isolation at the monastery of Fayusi on the sacred mountain of PUTUOSHAN, where he studied the scriptures and practiced the recitation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA (NIANFO; cf. NAMU AMIDABUTSU). Yinguang’s reputation grew with the publication of his private correspondences and his collected essays known as Jingtu jueyi lun (“Treatise on Resolving Doubts about the Pure Land”). His writings were often critical of Chan and emphasized the efficacy of pure land practice instead. Yinguang also worked to restore monasteries and to republish important pure land writings until his death in 1940. See also TAIXU; XUYUN.

yingwu Chan. (J. ōmuzen; K. aengmu Sŏn 鸚鵡禪). In Chinese, lit. “parrot Chan”; a CHAN Buddhist expression referring to the way some practitioners merely parrot with their mouths the pithy sayings and GONG’AN dialogues of the patriarchs and masters (ZUSHI), but fail to realize their true message and attain enlightenment for themselves. This pejorative description is also applied to pundits of the traditional Buddhist scholastic schools (C. jiao, see K. KYO), whose intellectual erudition and doctrinal prowess were caricatured as “parrot Chan,” in contrast to the Chan school’s supposed subitist spiritual approach that did not rely on mere intellectual understanding (see BULI WENZI). These pundits are likened to parrots in that they also mimic other people’s understanding through their doctrinal exegeses, but without comprehending it themselves. Cf. KOUTOU CHAN.

yingyan. (應驗). In Chinese, “responsive attestation.” See GANYING.

yinian sanqian. (J. ichinen sanzen; K. illyŏm samch’ŏn 一念三千). In Chinese, lit. “the TRICHILIOCOSM in a single instant of thought”; a TIANTAI teaching that posits that any given thought-moment perfectly encompasses the entirety of reality both spatially and temporally. An instant (KṢAṆA) of thought refers to the shortest period of time and the trichiliocosm (TRISĀHASRAMAHĀSĀHASRALOKADHĀTU) to the largest possible universe; hence, according to this teaching, the microcosm contains the macrocosm and temporality encompasses spatiality. Thus, whenever a single thought arises, there also arise the myriad dharmas; these two events occur simultaneously, not sequentially. Any given thought can be categorized as belonging to one of the ten realms of reality (DHARMADHĀTU). For example, a thought of charity metaphorically promotes a person to the realm of the heavens at that instant, whereas a subsequent thought of consuming hatred metaphorically casts the same person into the realm of the hells. Tiantai exegetes also understood each of the ten dharmadhātus as containing and pervading all the other nine dharmadhātus, making one hundred dharmadhātus in total (ten times ten). In turn, each of the one hundred dharmadhātus contains “ten aspects of reality” (or the “ten suchnesses”; see SHI RUSHI) that pervade all realms of existence, which makes one thousand “suchnesses” (qianru, viz., one hundred dharmadhātus times ten “suchnesses”). Finally the one thousand “suchnesses” are said to be found in the categories of the “five aggregates” (SKANDHA), “sentient beings” (SATTVA), and the physical environment (guotu). These three latter categories times the one thousand “suchnesses” thus gives the “three thousand realms,” which are said to be present in either potential or activated form in any single moment of thought. This famous dictum is attributed to the eminent Chinese monk TIANTAI ZHIYI, who spoke of the “trichiliocosm contained in the mind during an instant of thought” (sanqian zai yinian xin) in the first part of the fifth roll of his magnum opus, MOHE ZHIGUAN. Zhiyi’s discussion of this dictum appears in a passage on the “inconceivable realm” (ACINTYA) from the chapter on the proper practice of ŚAMATHA and VIPAŚYANĀ. Emphatically noting the “inconceivable” ability of the mind to contain the trichiliocosm, Zhiyi sought through this teaching to emphasize the importance and mystery of the mind during the practice of meditation. Within the context of the practice of contemplation of mind (GUANXIN), this dictum also anticipates a “sudden” theory of awakening (see DUNWU). TIANTAI exegetes during the Song dynasty expanded upon the dictum and applied it to practically every aspect of daily activity, such as eating, reciting scriptures, and ritual prostration. See also SHANJIA SHANWAI.

yinke. (J. inka; K. in’ga 印可). In Chinese, lit. “seal of/in approval,” “certification” and often seen in Western sources in its Japanese pronunciation inka; a seal of approval, certification, or transmission, which is given by masters in the various CHAN traditions across East Asia to practitioners who, in their estimation, have attained a satisfactory level of awakening or maturity of understanding to serve as public exponents of their lineage. Because these lineages are presumed to trace back to BODHIDHARMA, the founder of the Chan school, and ultimately to the person of the Buddha himself, the person who receives such certification is considered to be qualified to speak for the current generation of Chan adepts on behalf of the Chan patriarchs, masters, and even the Buddha, to accept and train students, and to give them certification in turn once their training is complete. The manner of certification differs within traditions. Certification often entails admission into the master’s lineage; the conferral of such symbols of religious authority and memorial worship as robes, bowls, chowries (BINGFU), or portraits; and the right to serve in high ecclesiastical office in a sectarian monastery. In the modern ZEN traditions of Japan, certification is offered by a RŌSHI, a teacher who has himself been previously certified. Especially in the Japanese traditions, receiving inka need not necessarily be testimony to the profundity of a person’s enlightenment experience, but may simply be public recognition that a student has sufficient maturity and ability to serve as abbot or hold other high ecclesiastical office in the monasteries and temples of a specific sectarian lineage. In some cases, yinke is an abbreviation for yinke zhengming, or “certification via seal of approval.” Certification is also known as yinding (seal of meditation), renke (acceptance and approval), and yinzheng (seal and certify). See also CHUANFA; FASI.

yinke zhengming. (J. inka shōmyō; K. in’ga chŭngmyŏng 印可證明). In Chinese, “certification via a seal of approval.” See YINKE.

yinsheng nianfo. (J. inshō nenbutsu/inzei nenbutsu; K. insŏng yŏmbul 引聲念佛). In Chinese, “intoning [the name of] the Buddha by drawing out the sound” (see NIANFO); one of the “five-tempo intonations of [the name of] the Buddha” (WUHUI NIANFO) devised by FAZHAO. Yinsheng nianfo involves the long, drawn-out intonation of the name of the buddha AMITĀBHA. Even before Fazhao, the practice of yinsheng nianfo is known to have been practiced by the CHAN master CHŎNGJUNG MUSANG (680–756 [alt. 684–762]), who recommended this practice for those who wished to attain “no recollection” (wuyi), “no thought” (WUNIAN), and “no forgetting” (mowang).

Yinyuan Longxi. (J. Ingen Ryūki 隠元隆琦) (1592–1673). Chinese CHAN master and founding patriarch of the Japanese ŌBAKUSHŪ. Yinyuan was a native of Fuzhou, in present-day Fujian province. He began his training as a monk in his early twenties on PUTUOSHAN and was formally ordained several years later at Wanfusi on Mt. Huangbo. Yinyuan continued his training under the Chan master MIYUN YUANWU and, while serving under the Chan master FEIYIN TONGRONG at Wanfusi Yinyuan, was formally recognized as an heir to Feiyin’s lineage in 1633. Seven years later, in 1640, Yinyuan found himself at the monastery of Fuyansi in Zhejiang province and at Longquansi in Fujian province in 1645. The next year, in 1646, he returned to Mt. Huangbo and revitalized the community at Wanfusi. In 1654, at the invitation of Yiran Xingrong (1601–1668), the abbot of the Chinese temple of Kōfukuji in Nagasaki, Yinyuan decided to leave China to escape the succession wars and political turmoil that had accompanied the fall of the Chinese Ming dynasty. He was to be accompanied by some thirty monks and artisans. Due to political issues, however, Yinyuan was only allowed to enter Japan a year later in 1655. That same year, largely through the efforts of the Japanese monk Ryōkei Shōsen (1602–1670), the abbot of MYŌSHINJI, Yinyuan was allowed to stay at Ryōkei’s home temple of Fumonji under virtual house arrest. The next year when Yinyuan expressed his wishes to return to China, Ryōkei arranged a visit to Edo and an audience with the young shōgun. At the end of 1658, Yinyuan made the trip to Edo and won the patronage of the shōgun and his ministers. With their support, Yinyuan began the construction of MANPUKUJIs in Uji in 1661. The site came to be known as Mt. Ōbaku, the Japanese pronunciation of his mountain home of Huangbo, and served as the center for the introduction of Ming-dynasty Chan into Japan. Yinyuan’s teachings, especially those concerning monastic rules, catalyzed institutional and doctrinal reform among the entrenched Japanese ZEN communities. In 1664, Yinyuan left his head disciple MU’AN XINGTAO in charge of all administrative matters involving the monastery and retired to his hermitage on the compounds of Manpukuji. Nine years later Emperor Gomizunoo (r. 1611–1629) bestowed upon him the title state preceptor (J. kokushi, C. GUOSHI) Daikō Fushō (Great Radiance, Universal Illumination). He died shortly thereafter. Yinyuan brought many texts and precious art objects with him from China, and composed numerous texts himself such as the Huangbo yulu, Hongjie fayi, Fushō kokushi kōroku, Ōbaku oshō fusō goroku, Ingen hōgo, and Ōbaku shingi.

Yiqiejing yinyi. (J. Issaikyō ongi; K. Ilch’egyŏng ŭmŭi 一切經音義). In Chinese, “Pronunciation and Meaning of All the Scriptures”; a specialized Chinese glossary of Buddhist technical terminology. As more and more Indian and Central Asian texts were being translated into Chinese, the use of Sanskrit and Middle Indic transcriptions and technical vocabulary increased, leading to the need for comprehensive glossaries of these abstruse terms. Because of the polysemous and sacred character of such Buddhist doctrinal concepts as BODHI, NIRVĀṆA, and PRAJÑĀ, many Chinese translators also preferred to transcribe rather than translate such crucial terms, so as not to limit their semantic range to a single Chinese meaning. The Indian pronunciations of proper names were also commonly retained by Chinese translators. Finally, the spiritual efficacy thought to be inherent in the spoken sounds of Buddhist spells (MANTRA) and codes (DHĀRAṆĪ) compelled the translators to preserve as closely as possible in Chinese the pronunciation of the Sanskrit or Middle Indic original. By the sixth century, the plethora of different transcriptions used for the same Sanskrit Buddhist terms led to attempts to standardize the Chinese transcriptions of Sanskrit words, and to clarify the obscure Sinographs and compounds used in Chinese translations of Buddhist texts. This material was compiled in various Buddhist “pronunciation and meaning” (yinyi) lexicons, the earliest of which was the twenty-five-roll Yiqiejing yinyi compiled by the monk Xuanying (fl. c. 645–656). Xuanying, a member of the translation bureau organized in the Chinese capital of Chang’an by the renowned Chinese pilgrim, translator, and Sanskritist XUANZANG (600/602–664), compiled his anthology in 649 from 454 of the most important MAHĀYĀNA, ŚRĀVAKAYĀNA, VINAYA, and ŚĀSTRA materials, probably as a primer for members of Xuanzang’s translation team. His work is arranged by individual scripture, and includes a roll-by-roll listing and discussion of the problematic terms encountered in each section of the text. For the more obscure Sinographs, the entry provides the fanqie (a Chinese phonetic analysis that uses paired Sinographs to indicate the initial and final sounds of the target character), the Chinese translation, and the corrected transcription of the Sanskrit, according to the phonologically sophisticated transcription system developed by Xuanzang. Xuanying’s compendium is similar in approach to its predecessor in the secular field, the Jingdian shiwen, compiled during the Tang dynasty in thirty rolls by Lu Deming (c. 550–630). The monk Huilin (783–807) subsequently incorporated all of Xuanying’s terms and commentary into an expanded glossary that included difficult terms from more than 1,300 scriptures; Huilin’s expansion becomes the definitive glossary used within the tradition. Still another yinyi was compiled later during the Liao dynasty by the monk Xilin (d.u.). In addition to their value in establishing the Chinese interpretation of Buddhist technical terms, these “pronunciation and meaning” glossaries also serve as important sources for studying the Chinese phonology of their times.

yiqing. (J. gijō; K. ŭijŏng 疑情). In Chinese, lit. the “sensation of doubt,” or simply “doubt”; a feeling of puzzlement and sense of questioning that is a crucial factor in the meditation technique of “questioning meditation” (KANHUA CHAN) as systematized by DAHUI ZONGGAO (1089–1163). In the kanhua technique, doubt refers to the puzzlement and perplexity that the meditator feels when trying to understand the conundrum that is the GONG’AN (public case) or HUATOU (meditative topic). This doubt arises from the inability to understand the significance of the huatou through rational thought. This loss of confidence in one’s conceptual and intellectual faculties releases the mind from the false sense of security engendered through habitual ways of thinking, creating a feeling of frustration that is often compared to “a mosquito trying to bite an iron ox.” The meditator’s sense of self ultimately becomes so identified with the huatou that the intense pressure created by the doubt “explodes” (C. po), freeing the mind from the personal point of view that is the self. Hence, by cutting off conceptualization and producing a state of intense concentration, the sensation of doubt helps to impel meditation forward toward the experience of awakening (WU). The term “sensation of doubt” was not coined by Dahui. One of its earliest usages is in the enlightenment poem of Luohan Guichen (867–928), the teacher of FAYAN WENYI (885–958), which describes enlightenment as shattering the “ball of doubt” (YITUAN). Dahui’s grandteacher, WUZU FAYAN (d. 1104), also taught his students to keep the great ball of doubt. But it was Dahui who put doubt at the core of his interpretation of kanhua Chan meditation; for him, the sensation of doubt becomes an effective antidote to conceptual thinking as well as the force that drives the student forward toward enlightenment. The Chinese term yi is also used as the translation for the Sanskrit term VICIKITSĀ, or skeptical doubt, which was one of the five hindrances (NĪVARAṆA) to meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). But rather than being viewed as it had been in India as a hindrance, in Dahui’s interpretation doubt instead plays a crucial role in the meditative process.

Yishan Yining. (J. Issan Ichinei; K. Ilsan Illyŏng 一山一寧) (1247–1317). Chinese CHAN master in the LINJI ZONG; a native of Taizhou prefecture in present-day Zhejiang province. At a young age, Yishan became a student of a certain Wudeng Rong (d.u.) at the monastery of Hongfusi on Mt. Fu near his hometown in Taizhou. He was later ordained at the monastery of Puguangsi in Siming in Zhejiang province and continued to study VINAYA at Yingzhensi and TIANTAI thought and practice at Yanqingsi. Yishan then began his training in Chan under several teachers. He eventually became a disciple of Wanji Xingmi (d.u.), a disciple of the Chan master CAOYUAN DAOSHENG. In 1299, the Yuan emperor Chengzong (r. 1294–1307) bestowed upon him the title Great Master Miaoci Hongji (Subtle Compassion, Universal Salvation) and an official post as the overseer of Buddhist matters in Zhejiang. That same year, he was sent to Japan as an envoy of the court, but was detained temporarily at the temple of Shūzenji in Izu by the Kamakura shogunate. When the Hōjō rulers learned of Yishan’s renown in China, Yishan was invited to reside as abbot of the powerful monasteries of KENCHŌJI, ENGAKUJI, and Jōchiji in Kamakura. In 1313, Yishan was invited by the retired Emperor Gouda (r. 1274–1287) to reside as the third abbot of the monastery NANZENJI in Kyōto. Yishan had many students in Japan including the eminent Japanese monk MUSŌ SOSEKI. Yishan became ill and passed away in the abbot’s quarters (J. hōjō; C. FANGZHANG) of Nanzenji in 1317. The emperor bestowed upon him the title state preceptor (J. kokushi; C. GUOSHI) Issan (One Mountain). Yishan is also remembered for his calligraphy and for introducing to Japan the new commentaries written by the great Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (1130–1200) to Japan. He and his disciples, such as Shiliang Rengong (1266–1334), Mujaku Ryōen (d.u.), Monkei Ryōsō (d. 1372), and Tōrin Yūkyū (d. 1369), contributed much to the development of GOZAN culture in Japan.

yishen. (J. yuishin; K. yusin 遺身). In Chinese, lit., “to let go of the body,” viz., “self-immolation.” See SHESHEN.

Yisheng xianxing jiao. (C) (一乘顯性教). See HUAYAN WUJIAO.

yituan. (J. gidan; K. ŭidan 疑團). In Chinese, “ball of doubt”; also referred to as dayituan, or “great ball of doubt.” Although the term appears in a verse recorded in the JINGDE CHUANDENG LU that is attributed to Luohan Guichen (867–928), the teacher of FAYAN WENYI, it was the CHAN master DAHUI ZONGGAO who systematized and popularized its use. Dahui probably inherited the notion of a ball of doubt from his teacher YUANWU KEQIN, whose teacher WUZU FAYAN also mentions a ball of doubt in his teachings. Dahui described the arousal of the sensation of doubt (YIQING) or the ball of doubt as an important tool in his meditative approach called KANHUA CHAN, or investigation of the meditative “topic” (HUATOU).

yixin. (S. ekacitta; J. isshin; K. ilsim 一心). In Chinese, “one mind”; the ground of being and the principle (LI) foundational to all phenomena (SHI). The LAṄKĀVATĀRASŪTRA and the DASHENG QIXIN LUN (“Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna”), both central texts in the TATHĀGATAGARBHA corpus of literature, treat the “one mind” as a central doctrine. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra states that the “calm extinction [of NIRVĀṆA] is called the one mind, and this one mind is called the tathāgatagarbha.” The Dasheng qixin lun presents all of Buddhism in terms of the one mind and its two aspects: the mind’s true-thusness aspect (xin zhenru men) and production-and-cessation aspect (xin shengmie men). The Dasheng qixin lun, arguably the most influential tathāgatagarbha text within the East Asian Buddhist tradition, has long been considered the principal treatise outlining the doctrine of the one mind and its associations with the YOGĀCĀRA theory of consciousness and tathāgatagarbha thought. ¶ The exegeses to the Dasheng qixin lun by JINGYING HUIYUAN (523–592), WŎNHYO (617–686), and FAZANG (643–712), which the tradition has regarded as its three major commentaries (san dashu), have each elucidated in considerable detail the foundational role that the notion of the one mind plays in that text. Fazang, for example, glossed the one mind of the Dasheng qixin lun as the “one tathāgatagarbha mind” and thus identified the one mind with the tathāgatagarbha; the two aspects of the one mind, true thusness and production-and-cessation, were correlated, respectively, with either MADHYAMAKA and YOGĀCĀRA or principle (li) and phenomena (shi). Fazang thus places tathāgatagarbha thought above both the SAN LUN ZONG (the Chinese analogue of the Madhyamaka school) and the FAXIANG ZONG (Yogācāra) teachings in his doctrinal taxonomy (panjiao; see JIAOXIANG PANSHI). By contrast, Huiyuan’s commentary treats the one mind within the context of the nine-consciousnesses theory of the SHE LUN ZONG, an early Yogācāra-oriented strand of Chinese Buddhist thought. In his analysis of the two aspects of the one mind, Huiyuan correlates the true-thusness aspect of the one mind with the ninth “immaculate consciousness” (AMALAVIJÑĀNA); he correlates the production-and-cessation aspect of the one mind with the eighth “storehouse consciousness” (ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA). Unlike Fazang’s interpretation, tathāgatagarbha is here not identified with the one mind but is instead viewed as the production-and-cessation aspect of the mind. In Wŏnhyo’s case, rather than seeking as Fazang did to distinguish the Faxiang teachings of Yogācāra from tathāgatagarbha thought, he sought instead to reconcile the Faxiang perspective on consciousness with the Dasheng qixin lun’s analysis of mind. Like Huiyuan, Wŏnhyo identified the tathāgatagarbha with the production-and-cessation aspect of the one mind. ¶ The one mind is also a central theme of the ZONGJING LU, an encyclopedic CHAN anthology compiled by YONGMING YANSHOU (904–976) in the FAYAN ZONG, which seeks to unify the various Chinese schools of Buddhism, including HUAYAN, Yogācāra, and TIANTAI, and to demonstrate the compatibility of doctrinal teachings and meditative practice. Yanshou draws on the doctrinal classification schema of GUIFENG ZONGMI (780–841), the Chan scholiast who was also the fifth patriarch of the Huayan school, in positing three broad strands of Buddhist teaching: dharma characteristics (Faxiang zong), destruction of characteristics (Poxiang), dharma nature (FAXING ZONG). Yanshou states that the Faxing (dharma nature) teachings, which include both the Huayan and Chan schools and which are based on tathāgatagarbha thought, treat both aspects of true thusness or the one mind, that is, the aspect of “immutability” (bubian) and “adaptability” (lit., “according to conditions,” suiyuan); the Faxiang (dharma characteristics) teachings, by contrast, only treat the aspect of “adaptability.” ¶ In the TIANTAI school, one mind or sometimes one thought (yinian) is said to be the ground of all things in existence in both their tainted and pure manifestations, a notion expressed in the aphorism “one thought [contains] the TRICHILIOCOSM” (YINIAN SANQIAN), one of the main doctrines of the school. The Tiantai teaching that “one mind,” viz., a single instance of thought, contains all three “viewpoints” (yixin sanguan) also expresses how the three inseparable aspects of phenomena (SANDI)—viz., the truth of emptiness (kongdi), the truth of being only provisionally real (jiadi), and the truth of the mean (zhongdi)—are each contained in one thought moment. In the PURE LAND tradition, one mind generally refers to single-minded recollection (NIANFO) of, especially, the buddha AMITĀBHA, and is a synonym of one-pointedness of mind.

yixin chuanxin. (J. ishin denshin; K. isim chŏnsim 以心傳心). In Chinese, “mind-to-mind transmission.” An oft-repeated phrase used mainly by the East Asian CHAN traditions to refer to a special transmission of the “mind” of the Buddha from master to disciple in a “telepathic” way that does not rely on words or letters (see JIAOWAI BIECHUAN and BULI WENZI). In an attempt to distinguish itself from the other Buddhist traditions that sought the teachings of the Buddha in sūtras and commentaries, the burgeoning Chan tradition of the eighth and ninth centuries emphasized the nonverbal transmission of the Buddha’s teachings. The notion of mind-to-mind transmission has thus served as an important trope in the self-fashioning of the Chan tradition. Mind-to-mind transmission is often explained by reference to a famous Chan legend that first appears in the Tiansheng guangdeng lu. While at Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA), the Buddha is said to have raised a flower in front of a large assembly, whereupon the elder MAHĀKĀŚYAPA smiled in response. The Buddha then announced that he had thereby entrusted his “treasury of the true dharma eye” (ZHENGFAYANZANG) to Mahākāśyapa, thus recognizing him as the Buddha’s successor and first patriarch (ZUSHI). For this legend, see NIANHUA WEIXIAO.

Yixing. (J. Ichigyō; K. Irhaeng 一行) (683–727). In Chinese, “Single Practice”; a famous student of CHAN and master of esoteric Buddhism (MIJIAO), translator, and distinguished astronomer. Yixing was a native of Julu prefecture in present-day Hebei province. He became a monk under the eminent Chan master PUJI (651–739) in the Northern school (BEI ZONG) of the early Chan tradition and also studied the VINAYA under a monk by the name of Huizhen (d.u.). Having made a name for himself at the monastery of Guoqingsi on Mt. Tiantai, in 717, Yixing was invited by Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756) to the palace in Luoyang. While residing at the palace, Yixing became a disciple of the TREPIṬAKA ŚUBHAKARASIṂHA and, together, they translated the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHISŪTRA. Based on Śubhakarasiṃha’s oral interpretations provided in the course of preparing their translation, Yixing also composed an important commentary on the sūtra, the Darijing shu. In 727, Yixing’s reputation in astronomy and calendrics prompted the emperor to have him devise a new calendar, which is known as the Dayan li. Yixing also devised an elaborate celestial globe, which used hydraulic power to portray the precise movements of the sun, moon, and constellations across the firmament. After his death, he was bestowed the posthumous title Chan master Dahui (Great Wisdom).

yixing sanmei. (S. ekavyūhasamādhi; J. ichigyō zanmai; K. irhaeng sammae 一行三昧). In Chinese, “single-practice SAMĀDHI.” The term yixing sanmei seems to first appear in a passage in the Chinese translation of the SAPTAŚATIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA: “The DHARMADHĀTU has only a single mark; to take the dharmadhātu as an object is called one-practice samādhi.” Two practices are then recommended by the text for cultivating yixing sanmei, viz, the perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) and recollection of the Buddha’s name (S. BUDDHĀNUSMṚTI; C. NIANFO). The concept of yixing sanmei was later incorporated into the apocryphal Chinese treatise DASHENG QIXIN LUN and the influential meditation manual MOHE ZHIGUAN. TIANTAI ZHIYI, the author of the Mohe Zhiguan, identified the practice of constant sitting, the first of the so-called four kinds of samādhi (sizhong sanmei), with yixing sanmei. Famous teachers of the early CHAN community, such as DAOXIN, HUINENG, and HEZE SHENHUI, also emphasized the importance of yixing sanmei, which they identified with seated meditation (ZUOCHAN) and the cultivation of prajñāpāramitā. According to the LIUZU TANJING (“Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch”), Huineng interpreted yixing sanmei as the maintenance of a straightforward mind (yizhi xin) while walking, standing, sitting, and lying. Shenhui identified yixing sanmei with “no mind” (WUXIN; see also WUNIAN).

Yixuan. (C) (義玄). See LINJI YIXUAN.

yizhi Chan. (J. isshi no zen; K. ilchi sŏn 一指禪). In Chinese, “one-finger Chan”; the famous pedagogical technique used by the CHAN master Juzhi Yizhi (c. ninth century) and his teacher Hangzhou Tianlong (d.u.) in the lineage of MAZU DAOYI. “One-finger Chan” refers to Juzhi’s propensity to answer any question he was asked by simply raising one finger, so as not to allow any conceptual understanding of Buddhism to arise in the student’s mind. The phrase appears in Case 19 of the BIYAN LU and Case 3 of the WUMEN GUAN, and is frequently cited in Chan sources. In one well-known Chan case (GONG’AN), Juzhi is said to have cut off the finger of a boy who mimicked him without understanding the meaning of the gesture.

yizi guan. (J. ichijikan; K. ilcha kwan 一字關). In Chinese, “one-word checkpoint” or “one-word barrier”; a pedagogical device developed by YUNMEN WENYAN (864–949), the founder of the YUNMEN ZONG of the classical CHAN tradition, which used only a single utterance to respond to a student’s question. For example, once a monk asked him, “When you kill your parents, you repent before the Buddha. But when you kill the buddhas and patriarchs, to whom do you repent?” Yunmen answered, “Lu” (“exposed”). Another time a monk asked him, “What is the treasury of the true dharma eye (ZHENGFAYANZANG)?” Yunmen answered, “Pu” (“universal”). Such terse answers offered no basis for conceptual understanding, instead demanding that students have a direct realization of truth. These one-word checkpoints were highly praised by DAHUI ZONGGAO for fostering especially close concentration during KANHUA CHAN meditation: “Once you enter into the gate of the one-word GONG’AN, even nine oxen wouldn’t be able to pull you out.”

yoga. (T. sbyor ba/rnal ’byor; C. xiu/xiuxing/xiuxi/yuqie; J. shu/shugyō/shujū/yuga; K. su/suhaeng/susŭp/yuga 修/修行/修習/瑜伽). In Sanskrit, “bond,” “restraint,” and by extension “spiritual discipline”; in Buddhism, a generic term for soteriological training or contemplative practice, including tantric practice.

Yogabhāvanāmārga. [alt. Bhāvanāyogamārga; Yogabhāvanāpatha] (T. Rnal ’byor bsgom pa’i lam). In Sanskrit, “Path of Yogic Cultivation”; a work on the BODHISATTVA path usually attributed to the eighth-century Indian master Jñānagarbha, who is known as the teacher of ŚĀNTARAKṢITA (c. 725–788) and a disciple of Śrīgupta. It is presumed that the Yogabhāvanāmārga is an example of the later MADHYAMAKA school’s attention to the theme of the stages of meditative cultivation (BHĀVANĀ), as best exemplified by KAMALAŚĪLA’s three BHĀVANĀKRAMAs. There are two Jñānagarbhas known to the tradition, one from the early ninth century and the other from the eleventh century. Some scholars suggest that the commentary to the Maitreya chapter of the SAṂDHINIRMOCANASŪTRA should be attributed to the first Jñānagarbha, while authorship of the Yogabhāvanāmārga should be ascribed to the second. The Yogabhāvanāmārga, along with Jñānagarbha’s two other works, the Satyadvayavibhaṅga (“Analysis of the Two Truths”) and its autocommentary Satyadvayavibhaṅgavṛtti (“Commentary on Analysis of the Two Truths”), are only extant in Tibetan translation.

Yogācāra. (T. Rnal ’byor spyod pa; C. Yuqiexing pai; J. Yugagyōha; K. Yugahaeng p’a 瑜伽行派). In Sanskrit, “Practice of YOGA”; one of the two major MAHĀYĀNA philosophical schools (along with MADHYAMAKA) in India, known especially for its doctrines of “mind-only” (CITTAMĀTRA) or “representation-only” (VIJÑAPTIMĀTRATĀ), the TRISVABHĀVA, and the ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA. In addition, much of the exposition of the structure of the Mahāyāna path (MĀRGA) and of the Mahāyāna ABHIDHARMA derives from this school. The texts of the school were widely influential in Tibet and East Asia. Although several of the terms associated with the school occur in such important Mahāyāna sūtras as the DAŚABHŪMIKASŪTRA, the LAṄKĀVATĀRASŪTRA, and especially the SAṂDHINIRMOCANASŪTRA, the exposition of the key doctrines was largely the work of two Indian scholastics of the fourth to fifth centuries CE, the half brothers ASAṄGA and VASUBANDHU and their commentators, especially STHIRAMATI and DHARMAPĀLA. Asaṅga’s major works include the central parts of the YOGĀCĀRABHŪMI, the MAHĀYĀNASAṂGRAHA, and the ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA. Vasubandhu’s most famous Yogācāra works are the VIṂŚATIKĀ and the TRIṂŚIKĀ (his most famous work of all, the ABHIDHARMAKOŚABHĀṢYA, is said to have been composed prior to his conversion to the Mahāyāna). Among the “five books of MAITREYA” (see BYAMS CHOS SDE LNGA), three are particularly significant in Yogācāra: the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA, the DHARMADHARMATĀVIBHĀGA, and the MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṂKĀRA. Important contributions to Yogācāra thought were also made by the logicians DIGNĀGA and DHARMAKĪRTI. Although Yogācāra and Madhyamaka engaged in polemics, in the latter phases of Buddhism in India, a synthesis of Yogācāra and Madhyamaka took place in the works of such authors as ŚĀNTARAKṢITA and KAMALAŚĪLA; Tibetan doxographers dubbed this synthesis YOGĀCĀRA-SVĀTANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. ¶ Yogācāra authors offered detailed presentations and analyses of virtually all of the important topics in Buddhist thought and practice, built upon an edifice deriving from meditative experience. The school is perhaps most famous for the doctrines of “mind-only” (cittamātra) and “representation-only” (vijñaptimātra), according to which the conception of the objects of experience as existing external to and independent of the consciousness perceiving them was regarded as the fundamental ignorance and the cause of suffering. Instead of the standard six consciousnesses (VIJÑĀNA) posited by other Buddhist schools (the five sensory consciousnesses and the mental consciousness), some Yogācāra texts described eight forms of consciousness: these six, plus the seventh “afflicted mind” (KLIṢṬAMANAS), which mistakenly generates the false notion of a perduing self (ĀTMAN), and the eighth foundational, or “storehouse,” consciousness (ālayavijñāna). This foundational consciousness is the repository of seeds (BĪJA) or imprints (VĀSANĀ) produced by past actions (KARMAN) that fructify as experience, producing simultaneously consciousness and the objects of consciousness. The afflicted mind mistakenly regards the foundational consciousness as a permanent and independent self. The doctrine of the three natures (trisvabhāva), although variously interpreted, is also often explained in light of the doctrine of representation-only. The imaginary nature (PARIKALPITA) refers to misconceptions, such as the belief in self and in the existence of objects that exist apart from consciousness. The dependent nature (PARATANTRA) encompasses impermanent phenomena, which are products of causes and conditions. The consummate nature (PARINIṢPANNA) is reality, classically defined as the absence of the imaginary nature in the dependent nature. By removing these latent predispositions from the ālayavijñāna and overcoming the mistaken bifurcation of experience between a perceiving subject and perceived objects (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA), a transformation of consciousness (ĀŚRAYAPARĀVṚTTI) occurs which turns the deluded mind of the sentient being into the enlightenment cognition of the buddhas (BUDDHAJÑĀNA), with the ālayavijñāna being transformed into the mirrorlike wisdom (ĀDARŚAJÑĀNA). In the realm of soteriology, much of what would become the standard Mahāyāna elaboration of the five paths (PAÑCAMĀRGA) and the bodies (KĀYA, e.g., TRIKĀYA) of a buddha is found in works by Yogācāra authors, although there are important differences between Yogācāra and Madhyamaka on a number of key soteriological questions, including whether there is one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) or three final vehicles (TRIYĀNA), that is, whether all beings are destined for buddhahood, or whether some, such as the ARHATs of the mainstream Buddhist schools, are stuck in a soteriological dead end. ¶ Not all the scholastics regarded as Yogācāra exegetes adhered to all of the most famous doctrines of the school. The most common division of the school is into those who do and do not assert the existence of eight consciousnesses (and hence the ālayavijñāna). The former, who include Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, are called “followers of scripture” (āgamānusārin), and the latter, who include the famous logicians DIGNĀGA and DHARMAKĪRTI, are called “followers of reasoning” (nyāyānusārin). Yogācāra strands of Buddhism were extremely influential in the development of indigenous East Asian schools of Buddhism, including the mature schools of HUAYAN and even CHAN. For specifically East Asian analogues of Yogācāra, see FAXIANG ZONG, XIANG ZONG, DI LUN ZONG, and SHE LUN ZONG.

Yogācārabhūmiśāstra. [alt. Yogācārabhūmi] (T. Rnal ’byor spyod pa’i sa’i bstan bcos; C. Yuqieshidi lun; J. Yugashijiron; K. Yugasaji non 瑜伽師地論). In Sanskrit, “Treatise on the Stages of Yogic Practice”; an encyclopedic work that is the major treatise (ŚĀSTRA) of the YOGĀCĀRA school of Indian Buddhism. It was widely influential in East Asia and Tibet, being translated into Chinese by XUANZANG between 646 and 648 and into Tibetan circa 800. Authorship is traditionally ascribed to ASAṄGA (or, in China, to MAITREYA), but the size and scope of the text suggest that it is the compilation of the work of a number of scholars (possibly including Asaṅga) during the fourth century CE. The work is divided into five major sections. The first and longest, comprising approximately half the text, is called the “Multiple Stages” (Bahubhūmika or Bhūmivastu) and sets forth the stages of the path to buddhahood in seventeen sections. The two most famous of these sections (both of which are preserved in Sanskrit and which circulated as independent works) are the ŚRĀVAKABHŪMI and the BODHISATTVABHŪMI, the latter providing one of the most detailed discussions of the bodhisattva path (MĀRGA) in Indian literature. In this section, many of the central doctrines of the Yogācāra school are discussed, including the eight consciousnesses, the ĀLAYAVIJÑĀNA, and the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA). The structures and practices of the paths of the ŚRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA are presented here in the form that would eventually become normative among MAHĀYĀNA scholasts in general (not just adherents of Yogācāra). The second section, “Compendium of Resolving [Questions]” (Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī), considers controversial points that arise in the previous section. The third section, “Compendium of Interpretation” (Vyākhyānasaṃgrahaṇī), examines these points in light of relevant passages from the sūtras; it is interesting to note that the majority of the texts cited in this section are Sanskrit ĀGAMAs rather than Mahāyāna sūtras. The fourth, called “Compendium of Synonyms” (Paryāyasaṃgraha) considers the terms mentioned in the sūtras. The fifth and final section, “Compendium of Topics” (Vastusaṃgraha), considers central points of Buddhist doctrine, including PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA and BODHI. This section also contains a discussion of VINAYA and (in the Chinese version) ABHIDHARMA.

Yogācāra-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka. (T. Rnal ’byor spyod pa’i dbu ma rang rgyud pa). According to Tibetan exegetes, who coined the term, one of the two branches of the SVĀTANTRIKA school of MADHYAMAKA, together with the SAUTRĀNTIKA-SVĀTANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. Its main proponents include ŚĀNTARAKṢITA and KAMALAŚĪLA. Like YOGĀCĀRA, the school holds that external objects do not exist and that objects are of the nature of consciousness. Like MADHYAMAKA, the school holds that consciousness is empty of true existence. In its presentation of the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA), it correlates each vehicle with a different wisdom, thus bringing together the views of the HĪNAYĀNA, Yogācāra, and Madhyamaka. In order to achieve liberation from rebirth as an ARHAT, the ŚRĀVAKA must understand that a perduring self (ATMAN) does not exist. A PRATYEKABUDDHA must understand that objects, and hence the external world, do not exist separately from the consciousnesses that perceive them, thereby abandoning the GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA, the misconception of there being a bifurcation between subject and object. In order to achieve buddhahood, the BODHISATTVA must understand the emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ) of all phenomena.

yogatantra. (T. rnal ’byor rgyud). One of the four traditional Indian categories of tantric texts. In a late Indian categorization of Buddhist TANTRA, a hierarchy was established that placed texts into one of four categories, in descending order: ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, yogatantra, CARYĀTANTRA, and KRIYĀTANTRA. The precise meaning of these categories, their parameters, and their contents were widely discussed, especially in Tibet. In one influential description, yogatantra was said to emphasize internal yoga over external ritual practice and therefore did not employ the practice of sexual union. An examination of texts included in this category shows, however, that this description is somewhat arbitrary. Important texts classed as yogatantras include the SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAṂGRAHA, the MAÑJUŚRĪMŪLAKALPA, the SARVADURGATIPARIŚODHANATANTRA, and the VAJRAŚEKHARA. MAṆḌALAs with the buddha VAIROCANA as the central deity occur often in the yogatantras.

yogin. (T. rnal ’byor pa; C. xiuxing ren; J. shugyōnin; K. suhaeng in 修行人). A male practitioner of YOGA (generally in the generic sense of meditative practice) who has gained some level of attainment in his practice. The term can be used to refer to any advanced Buddhist practitioner, although it refers especially to advanced practitioners of Buddhist TANTRA.

yoginī. (T. rnal ’byor ma). A female practitioner of YOGA, or contemplative practice, but used especially to refer to female adepts of Buddhist TANTRA, particularly those who engage in tantric rituals (including sexual rituals) with tantric YOGINs. The term is sometimes synonymous with ḌĀKINĪ.

yoginītantra. (T. rnal ’byor ma’i rgyud). Also known as “mother tantras” (MĀTṚTANTRA) and “wisdom tantras” (T. shes rab kyi rgyud), one of the two categories into which the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRAs are divided, the other being “father tantras” (PITṚTANTRA). Developing in India from the SIDDHA tradition, the yoginītantras apparently receive this name because the majority (and in some cases all) of the deities in the tantra’s MAṆḌALA are female. According to a traditional explanation, these tantras emphasize wisdom (PRAJÑĀ), especially the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARACITTA), while father tantras emphasize method (UPĀYA), especially the illusory body (MĀYĀDEHA). See CAKRASAṂVARATANTRA.

yogipratyakṣa. (T. rnal ’byor mngon sum; C. dingguan zhi; J. jōkanchi; K. chŏnggwan chi 定觀知). In Sanskrit, “yogic direct perception”; a specific variety of direct perception (PRATYAKṢA) that is typically presumed to derive from meditative practice (BHĀVANĀ; YOGA). A direct intuition of the real obtained through meditative practice, this type of understanding was accepted as a valid means of knowledge by most of the traditional Indian religious schools. In Buddhism, the psychological analysis of the notion of yogipratyakṣa and the related yogijñāna (yogic knowledge or cognition) was undertaken by DHARMAKĪRTI (c. 600–670) in his PRAMĀṆAVĀRTTIKA and NYĀYABINDU, as well as by his commentators. Dharmakīrti’s predecessor DIGNĀGA (c. 480–540) had posited that there were only two reliable sources of knowledge (PRAMĀṆA): direct perception (PRATYAKṢA) and logical inference (ANUMĀNA). Dharmakīrti, however, subdivided direct perception (pratyakṣa) into four subtypes, viz., sensory cognition (indriyajñāna), mental discrimination (MANOVIJÑĀNA), self-awareness (SVASAṂVEDANA), and yogic cognition (yogijñāna). In Dharmakīrti’s analysis, yogic cognition (yogijñāna) is a form of yogic perception (yogipratyakṣa), because it fulfills the two conditions of perception (pratyakṣa): (1) it is devoid of conceptual construction (KALPANĀ); and (2) it is a cognition that is “nonerroneous” (abhrānta), viz., real. The treatment of yogipratyakṣa in the literature thus focuses on how yogipratyakṣa fulfills these two conditions of perception. Yogic knowledge is devoid of conceptual construction (kalpanā), Dharmakīrti maintains, because it is nonconceptual (akalpa; NIRVIKALPA) and thus “vivid” or “distinct” (spaṣṭa). This type of perception is therefore able to perceive reality directly, without the intercession of mental images or concepts. Since yogic cognition is said to be devoid of conceptual construction, this raises the issue of its second condition, its lack of error. Why is meditatively induced perception true and reliable? How does a meditator’s yogic perception differ from the hallucinations of the deranged, since both of them presume they have a vivid cognition of an object? The reason, Dharmakīrti maintains, is that the objects of yogic knowledge are “true” or “real” (bhūta; sadbhūta), whereas hallucinations are “false” or “unreal” objects (abhūta; asadbhūta). The only true objects of yogic knowledge offered by Dharmakīrti are the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: that is, the perception of these truths is true and reliable because they enable one to reach the goal of enlightenment, not because they involve a perception of an ultimate substance. In this sense, Dharmakīrti’s understanding of yogijñāna is more focused on the direct realization of the soteriological import of the four noble truths than on extraordinary sensory ability. Therefore, yogic direct perception is qualitatively different from the various forms of clairvoyance that are the byproducts of deep states of concentration that may be achieved by both Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners. Yogipratyakṣa is a form of insight (VIPAŚYANĀ) posssessed only by noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA); and among the five paths it occurs only on the path of vision (DARŚANAMĀRGA) and above. See also DARŚANA.

yojana. (T. dpag tshad; C. youxun; J. yujun; K. yusun 由旬). In Sanskrit, a “league”; a standard measure of distance in ancient India, and often used in Buddhist texts; it is said to be the distance a yoked team of oxen could travel in one day. Modern estimates of this distance vary widely, with the figure of eight miles often provided as an approximation, although estimates of from four to ten miles (six to sixteen kilometers) are also found.

Yōkan. (永觀) (1032–1111). Japanese VINAYA master of the Sanronshū (C. SAN LUN ZONG); also known as Eikan. Yōkan wrote two important works on PURE LAND doctrine known as the Ōjōjūin and the Ōjōkōshiki. In contrast to the TENDAISHŪ and SHINGONSHŪ interpretation of the practice of NENBUTSU (C. NIANFO) as the contemplation of the buddha AMITĀBHA, Yōkan emphasized instead the efficacy of the vocal recitation of name of Amitābha (NAMU AMIDABUTSU). Doctrinally, Yōkan supported the view that enlightenment and afflictions, like buddhas and human beings, are not two but of a single essence. Yōkan or Eikan is also well known for the monastery in Kyōto that took his name, Eikandō, which is also called Zenrinji.

Yokawa. (横川). The northern of the three main subcomplexes of the TENDAISHŪ (C. TIANTAI ZONG) monastery ENRYAKUJI on HIEIZAN in Japan. In 848, the Japanese pilgrim-monk ENNIN established the Shūryōgon’in complex in Yokawa; subsequent expansion projects were undertaken by the monks RYŌGEN and GENSHIN. The Yokawa complex is famous for its central hall, now known as the Yokawa chūdō, also founded in 848, and the Eshin’in (or Eshindō) established by Genshin, which came to function as a special hall for practicing nenbutsu (C. NIANFO).

Yona. One of nine adjacent lands (P. paccantadesa) converted to Buddhism by missionaries dispatched by the elder MOGGALIPUTTATISSA at the end of the third Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, THIRD), which was held in PĀṬALIPUTRA during the reign of AŚOKA in the third century BCE. The region is generally identified as located in northwest India, homeland of the Bactrian Greeks, and is also known as Yonakā or YAVANA. Yona was converted by the elder Mahārakkhita, who preached the Aggikkhandhopamasutta. The third Buddhist council at Pāṭaliputra, and the nine Buddhist missions are known only in STHAVIRANIKĀYA sources and are first recorded in the fifth-century DĪPAVAṂSA.

Yŏndam Yuil. (蓮潭有一) (1720–1799). Korean SŎN master and exegete during the Chosŏn dynasty; also known as Mui. Shortly after his parents’ death in 1737, Yŏndam became a student of the monk Sŏngch’ŏl (d.u.) at the monastery of Pŏpch’ŏnsa on Mt. Sŭngdal and received the monastic precepts the next year from the VINAYA master Anbin (d.u.). In 1739, he began scriptural studies under the Sŏn master Pyŏkha Taeu (1676–1763), which he continued under Yongam Ch’ejo (1714–1779) and Sŏlp’a Sangŏn (1707–1791). In 1741, Yŏndam began training in Sŏn meditation under Hoam Ch’ejŏng (1687–1748) and eventually became his disciple. Yŏndam established himself as a talented exegete of Sŏn materials and was installed as the abbot of the monastery of Sŏbongsa in 1779. He left many writings, including the Imha nok, Chabo haengŏp, Tosŏ kwamok pyŏngip sagi, Sŏnyo sagi, Sŏjang sagi, Wŏn’gak sagi, Simsŏng non, and others. In his influential Imha nok, Yŏndam addressed the anti-Buddhist polemics of the Confucian scholars. His “personal notes” (sagi) on the CHANYUAN ZHUQUANJI DUXU, DAHUI SHUZHUANG, CHANYAO, and YUANJUE JING are still widely used in Korean monastic seminaries, or kangwŏn.

yŏndŭng hoe. (燃燈會). In Korean, “lantern-lighting ceremony”; a Korean Buddhist celebration that originated sometime during the Koryŏ dynasty. To celebrate the lunar New Year, lanterns were lit on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and kept lit for two nights. Although King Sŏngjong (r. 982–997) banned the ceremony, the ban was lifted in the first year of King Hyŏnjong’s (r. 1010–1031) reign and the ceremony was held again on the fifteenth day of the second lunar month and continued to be held on the second month from that point onward. In 1352, the celebration of the yŏndŭng hoe took place in the palace on the traditional East Asian date of the Buddha’s birthday (the eighth day of the fourth lunar month) with one hundred monks in attendance, and the event was subsequently held on the Buddha’s birthday throughout the remainder of the Chosŏn dynasty. This custom of lighting lanterns to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday continues today in Korea.

yong. (J. yū; K. yong 用). In Chinese, “function,” or “application”; a term often deployed in the East Asian religious traditions, including Buddhism, as a philosophical pair with “essence” (TI). Chinese Daoist and “Dark Learning” (XUANXUE) texts first imbued the term with philosophical implications: the Daode jing refers to yong as the “attributes” of the way, and the Daodejing zhu, Wang Bi’s (226–249) commentary to the text, employs the term to indicate the functions or attributes of “nonbeing” (WU) or “voidness” (xu). However, yong, along with its companion ti, was not widely used until the Buddhists adopted both terms to provide a basic conceptual frame for reality or truth. For example, the SAN LUN ZONG master JIZANG (549–623) used ti and yong to explicate his theory of the middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD). He connected the middle (zhong) to ti, which he described as “neither ultimate nor conventional” (feizhen feisu), and the provisional (jia) to yong, which he described as “ultimate and conventional” (zhensu). The ti and yong pair was often used in the HUAYAN, TIANTAI, and CHAN traditions. GUIFENG ZONGMI (780–841), a Tang-dynasty master of both the HUAYAN ZONG and Heze Chan traditions, provided a systematic explanation for yong and ti, based on the DASHENG QIXIN LUN (“Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna”). In particular, he distinguished between two different types of function in his theory of mind: the “inherent function of the self-nature” (zixing benyong), which he called “numinous awareness” (LINGZHI), and the responsive functions that accord with conditions (suiyuan yingyong), which he described as the various mental functions that derive from the inherent function of the mind. Many Chinese and Korean Neo-Confucian thinkers, such as Cheng Yi (1033–1107), Zhu Xi (1130–1200), and Yi Hwang (1501–1570), applied Zongmi’s interpretation of this pair to their own philosophical systems.

Yongjia Xuanjue. (J. Yōka Genkaku; K. Yŏngga Hyŏn’gak 永嘉玄覺) (675–713). Chinese CHAN monk renowned for his writings on meditation, also known as Mingdao, Yishujue, and Great Master Zhenjue (True Awakening); Yongjia is his toponym, the name of his hometown in Zhejiang province. Yongjia made a name for himself at a young age as an expert on meditation and the TIANTAI practices of calmness and insight (see ŚAMATHA and VIPAŚYANĀ). He is said to have later received a seal of approval (YINKE) from the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan, HUINENG, after studying under the master for only one day and a night; hence, his cognomen Yishujue (Single-Night Enlightened, or Overnight Guest). His teachings are primarily known through the influential works attributed to him, such as the ZHENGDAO GE and Yongjia ji. Yongjia was given the posthumous title Great Master Wuxiang (No Marks).

Yongjusa. (龍珠寺). In Korean, “Dragon Pearl Monastery”; the second district monastery (PONSA) of the contemporary CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism, located on Mt. Hwa in Kyŏnggi province. The temple was constructed in 854 and originally named Karyangsa. It was rebuilt in 1790 to serve as the royal tomb of Prince Sado (1735–1762), the father of King Chŏngjo (r. 1776–1800). During the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), Yongjusa became one of thirty-one head monasteries (PONSA) and it managed forty-nine branch temples (malsa) in several regions. A monks’ training school was established in 1955, followed by a meditation hall in 1969. Yongjusa’s main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHŎN) was constructed in 1790 and enshrines images of the buddhas ŚĀKYAMUNI, BHAIṢAJYAGURU, and AMITĀBHA. Other cultural properties at the site include the main temple bell, bronze censers, and a hanging painting of the Buddha (KWAEBUL).

yongmaeng chŏngjin. (S. ārabdhavīrya; T. brtson ’grus rtsom pa, C. yongmeng jingjin; J. yūmyōshōjin 勇猛精進). In Korean, “ferocious effort”; an especially rigorous period of practice performed during a SŎN (C. CHAN) meditative retreat (K. kyŏlche; C. JIEZHI) in Korea. The term most commonly refers to a one-week period during the winter retreat and leading up to the enlightenment day of the Buddha (Puch’ŏnim sŏngdo il) on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (usually in early January), during which all the monks (or nuns) in the meditation hall will undertake the ascetic practice (see DHUTAṄGA) of constantly sitting and never lying down to sleep (K. CHANGJWA PURWA) for the entire seven days. This practice is a ritual reenactment of the Buddha’s own final fervent effort to awaken. The phrase has also come to refer more generally to an intense session of meditation carried out by a small group of elite monks during a three-year retreat (samnyŏn kyŏlsa). See also SESSHIN; RŌHATSU SESSHIN.

Yongming Yanshou. (J. Yōmei Enju; K. Yŏngmyŏng Yŏnsu 永明延壽) (904–975). Chinese CHAN master in the FAYAN ZONG during the Five Dynasties and Song dynasty periods; also known as Chongxuan and Baoyizi. Yongming was a native of Lin’an prefecture in Zhejiang province. At the age of twenty-seven, Yongming left his post as a minor official to become a monk under Cuiyan Lingcan (d.u.), a disciple of the Chan master XUEFENG YICUN (822–908); he subsequently studied under TIANTAI DESHAO (891–972) and inherited his Fayan lineage. Beginning in 952, Yongming served as abbot of a series of different monasteries, including Zishengsi on Mt. Xuedou, Lingyinsi (at the request of the king of Wuyue), and Yongmingsi, whence he acquired his toponym. Yongming was renowned for his advocacy of the simultaneous cultivation of Chan meditation and NIANFO (recitation of the Buddha’s name) and for his magnum opus ZONGJING LU, a massive Chan genealogical history, in one hundred rolls. His writings also include the famous WANSHAN TONGGUI JI and the WEIXIN JUE. Although Yongming’s Fayan lineage declined in China during the Song dynasty, thirty-six envoys sent by the Koryŏ king to study under Yongming returned with his teachings to Korea, where the line continued to flourish. Yongming was posthumously given the title Chan master Zhijue (Wise Awakening).

Yongningsi. (J. Eineiji; K. Yŏngnyŏngsa 永寧寺). In Chinese, “Eternal Peace monastery”; one of the most important monasteries in the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang. After the Wei rulers moved the Chinese capital to Luoyang, Empress Dowager Ling, the birth mother of Emperor Xiao Mingdi (r. 515–528), began construction of Yongningsi in 516. According to the LUOYANG QIELAN JI, Yongningsi was a grand complex that could house more than a thousand monks and was located to the west of the imperial highway and south of the Changhe gate. In the northern precinct of the monastery was a buddha hall, which housed various golden images, and to the south, a triple-gated tower more than two hundred feet in height. A nine-story pagoda that rose a thousand feet supported a tall golden pole with golden disks to collect the dew. Golden bells were also hung from the pagoda. Since it overlooked the palace, only Emperor Xiao Mingdi and the Empress Dowager were allowed to climb the pagoda to gaze at the entire capital. All the scriptures and paintings from foreign countries available at the time are said to have been stored at the monastery. The eminent translator BODHIRUCI also translated many scriptures while in residence at Yongningsi. The monastery was devastated by a fire and was left in ruins after the capital was moved again to Ye. Several restorations were made during the Sui and Tang dynasties, but the monastery remains in ruins today.

Yŏngsanjae. (山齋). In Korean, “Vulture Peak Ceremony”; a Korean Buddhist rite associated with the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA (“Lotus Sūtra”), which has been performed in Korea since the mid to late Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). This elaborate ritual is a loose reenactment of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra and is intended to depict the process by which all beings, both the living and the dead, are led to enlightenment. Its performance often occurs in conjunction with the forty-ninth day ceremony (K. sasipku [il] chae; C. SISHIJIU [RI] ZHAI), which sends a deceased being in the intermediate transitional state (ANTARĀBHAVA) on to the next rebirth. The Yŏngsanjae is renowned for including the most complete repertoire of Buddhist chant and dance preserved in the Korean tradition. The rite may last for between one day and a week, although it is rare nowadays to see it extend beyond a single day; briefer productions lasting a couple of hours are sometimes staged for tourists. The Yŏngsanjae is protected through the Korean Cultural Property Protection Law as an intangible cultural asset (Muhyŏng Munhwajae, no. 50), and the group responsible for protecting and preserving the rite for the future consists of monks at the monastery of PONGWŎNSA in Seoul, the headquarters of the T’AEGO CHONG. The monks at the monastery also train monks and nuns from other orders of Buddhism, as well as laypeople, in different components of the rite. In recent years, the dominant CHOGYE CHONG of Korean Buddhism has also begun to perform the Yŏngsanjae again, thanks to training from the Pongwŏnsa specialists in the tradition. ¶ The Yŏngsanjae is held in front of a large KWAEBUL (hanging painting) scroll depicting ŚĀKYAMUNI teaching at Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA), delivering the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra to his followers. A day-long version of the ceremony starts with bell ringing and a procession escorting the attending spirits in a palanquin, which then proceeds to a ceremonial raising of the kwaebul. The rest of the day is made up of the following sequence of events: chanting spells (DHĀRAṆĪ) to the bodhisattva AVALOKITEŚVARA (K. Kwanseŭm posal); the cymbal dance, or PARACH’UM, as monks chant the Ch’ŏnsu kyŏng (C. QIANSHOU JING) dedicated to the thousand-handed incarnation of Avalokiteśvara (see SĀHASRABHUJASĀHASRANETRĀVALOKITEŚVARA); PŎMP’AE; purification of the ritual site (toryanggye), during which the butterfly dance, or NABICH’UM, is performed to entice the dead to attend the ceremony while the pŏmp’ae chants entreat the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) and dragons (NĀGA) to be present; the dharma drum dance, or PŎPKOCH’UM, during which a large drum is beaten to awaken all sentient beings; a group prayer to the Buddha and bodhisattvas, where everyone in attendance has the chance to take refuge in the three jewels (ratnatraya); an offering of flowers and incense (hyanghwagye) to the Buddha and bodhisattvas is made by the nabich’um dancers, followed by offering chants; a chant hoping that the food offerings on the altar will be sufficient as the parach’um is performed again together with four dhāraṇī chants; placing the offerings on the altar while chanting continues; culminating in a transfer of merit (kongdŏkkye) to all the people in attendance, including sending off the spiritual guests of the ceremony. The siktang chakpŏp, an elaborate ceremonial meal, is then consumed. A recitation on behalf of the lay donors who funded the ceremony (hoehyang ŭisik) concludes the rite.

Yongsŏng Chinjong. (龍城震鐘) (1864–1940). Korean monk during the Japanese colonial period (1910–1945), also known as Paek Yongsŏng; leader of a conservative group of monastic reformers, and one of the thirty-three signatories to the Korean Declaration of Independence in 1919. Ordained at the monastery of HAEINSA in 1879, he received full monastic precepts five years later and became a disciple of Taeŭn Nango (1780–1841) at the hermitage of Ch’ilburam. Later, he had a great awakening while he was studying the JINGDE CHUANDENGLU at the monastery of SONGGWANGSA, where he became a disciple of the SŎN master HWANSŎNG CHIAN. One year after Korea was annexed by Japan, he established the monastery of Taegaksa and a Sŏn center (Sŏnhagwŏn) in Seoul in an attempt to propagate Buddhism among a wider public. On March 1, 1919, he signed the Korean Declaration of Independence as a representative of the Buddhist community and was consequently incarcerated by the Japanese colonial government for eighteen months. During his year and a half in prison, he translated many sūtras (such as the voluminous AVATAṂSAKASŪTRA, or Hwaŏmgyŏng) from literary Chinese into han’gŭl, the Korean vernacular script, in order to make more Buddhist texts accessible to ordinary Koreans. After his release from prison in March 1921, he established a community known as the Taegakkyo (Teaching of Great Awakening) and a translation center called Samjang Yŏkhoe (Society for Translating the TRIPIṬAKA), and devoted most of his time to the translation of Buddhist scriptures. In 1928 he published the journal Mua (“No Self”) and with HANYŎNG CHŎNGHO also published the journal Puril (“Buddha Sun”). In May 1929, he and 127 other monks submitted a petition to the Japanese colonial government asking for the restoration of the tradition of celibacy in the Buddhist monasteries. Because of his interest in ensuring the continuance of the BHIKṢU and BHIKṢUṆĪ traditions, Yongsŏng personally established many ordination platforms and transmitted the complete monastic precepts (kujokkye) several times during his career. He also stressed the need for monasteries to be self-sustaining economically. In accordance with his plan for self-sustenance, he participated in the management of a mine in Hamgyŏng province, and in 1922, he bought some land in Manchuria and ran a farm on the compounds of a branch of the Taegakkyo. He also started a Ch’amsŏn Manil Kyŏlsahoe (Ten-Thousand Day Meditation Retreat Society) at the monastery of Ch’ilbulsa and attracted many followers from other monasteries. Yongsŏng was a prolific writer who left behind many works, including his famous Kwiwŏn chŏngjong (“The Orthodox Teaching that Returns to the Source”), a tract that compared Buddhism to Confucianism, Daoism, and Christianity, a modern twist on the old “three teachings” syncretism of medieval East Asian philosophy. This work was one of the first attempts by Buddhists to respond to the inroads made by Christianity in modern Korea. In his treatment, he suggests that Confucianism presented a complete moral doctrine but was deficient in transcendental teachings; Daoism was deficient in moral teachings but half-understood transcendental teaching; Christianity was fairly close to the Buddhist ch’ŏn’gyo (“teachings of [humans] and divinities”), which taught the kinds of meritorious actions that would lead to rebirth in heavenly realms but was completely ignorant of the transcendental teaching. Only Buddhism, Yongsŏng concluded, presented all facets of both moral and transcendental teachings. Yongsŏng’s other works include his Kakhae illyun, Susim non, and Ch’ŏnggong wŏnil. See also IMWŎTKO.

Yongzhong. (C) (J. Eichū; K. Yŏngchung 永中) (d.u.). Yuan-dynasty CHAN master in the LINJI ZONG, also known as Jueji Yongzhong, and author of the ZIMEN JINGXUN.

yoni. (T. skye gnas; C. sheng; J. shō; K. saeng 生). In Sanskrit and Pāli, “modes of birth”; four modes by which sentient beings are born into the three realms of existence (TRAIDHĀTUKA): (1) oviparous birth (aṇḍajayoni), viz., beings born from eggs, such as birds, reptiles, fish, and insects; (2) viviparous birth (jarāyuja-yoni), viz., beings born from a womb, such as mammals and human beings; (3) moisture-born (saṃsvedajayoni), viz., beings such as maggots generated by rotten meat or mosquitoes born from swamp water, which are understood to be born as the result of the combination of heat and moisture; (4) metamorphic birth (UPAPĀDUKAYONI), viz., spontaneously generated beings, such an divinities (DEVA), hungry ghosts (PRETA), denizens of hell (NĀRAKA), and those residing in the intermediate state (ANTARĀBHAVA). In some interpretations, even beings generally classified in one category may in certain circumstances be born through other modes. For example, although human beings are viviparously born, the five hundred sons of the king of Pañcāla, one of the sixteen ancient kingdoms of India, are said to have been born from eggs, King Māndhātṛ was born from moisture, and the first humans to appear at the beginning of the KALPA are born by metamorphosis. Among animals, although the first three modes of birth are most common, there are also some animals born by metamorphosis, such as NĀGAs and GARUḌAs. Finally, among beings that are born through metamorphosis, there are certain types of preta who are said to be born viviparously.

yoniśomanaskāra. [alt. yoniśomanasikāra] (P. yonisomanasikāra; T. tshul bzhin yid la byed pa; C. ruli zuoyi/zheng siwei; J. nyorisai/shōshiyui; K. yŏri chagŭi/chŏng sayu 如理作意/正思惟). In Sanskrit, “systematic attention”; attention directed to an object or a phenomenon purposely and thoroughly, without becoming entranced by its external marks (LAKṢAṆA) and secondary characteristics (ANUVYAÑJANA). The term is used in the context of meditation to refer to the thoroughgoing reflection in which one traces an object or a phenomenon back to its cause or origin, so that one perceives how it arises and perishes in accordance with conditions. Thus, yoniśomanaskāra ultimately refers to attention directed to the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, which reveals that the things of this compounded world are fundamentally impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANĀTMAN). While unsystematic attention (AYONIŚOMANASKĀRA) to the characteristics of sensory objects creates false views, craving, and eventually subjection to the objective order of SAṂSĀRA, systematic attention instead brings this unsystematic attention to an end so that the practitioner perceives the true nature of things. Thus, because of systematic attention, as yet unarisen erroneous views (MITHYĀDṚṢṬI) do not arise, already arisen ones cease, unarisen right views arise (SAMYAGDṚṢṬI), and already arisen ones increase. Systematic attention is thus foundational to the path that leads to liberation from saṃsāra. See also YUKTI.

yŏnji. (C. ranzhi; J. nenshi 燃指). In Korean, “finger burning.” Although not officially sanctioned by the Korean Buddhist SAṂGHA, the ascetic practice of finger burning is sometimes performed by a handful of devoted Korean monks and nuns. Unlike a similar Chinese practice, the practice of finger burning is not performed in the context of ordination, and is held in high regard. The rationale for such a practice is often traced to the self-immolation of the bodhisattva BHAIṢAJYARĀJA in the SADDHARMAPUṆḌARĪKASŪTRA and the bodhisattva SADĀPRARUDITA’s self-mutilation in the AṢṬASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ. See also DEHADĀNA; SHESHEN.

yon mchod. [alt. mchod yon] (yön chö). In Tibetan, “priest-patron,” a term used to describe the relationship between various Tibetan Buddhist hierarchs and Mongol, Manchu, and Chinese rulers. The compound is composed of abbreviations of two terms. The first, “yon bdag,” connotes a powerful benefactor or patron, often a political or military leader. The second “mchod gnas” connotes a religious official, such as a court chaplain. The relationship between Tibetan hierarchs and Mongol rulers is traced to the meeting of SA SKYA PAṆḌITA and Godan Khan (1206–1251, the grandson of Genghis Khan). When Mongol troops invaded Tibet, Sa skya Paṇḍita led a delegation to the Mongol court in 1247, during which he cured Godan Khan of an illness and offered him religious instruction. Subsequently, Godan Khan became his disciple, sparing Tibet from further invasion and granting control of central Tibet to Sa skya Paṇḍita. The classic example of the “priest-patron” relationship occurred when Sa skya Paṇḍita’s nephew ’PHAGS PA BLO GROS RGYAL MTSHAN served as religious preceptor and close advisor to Qubilai Khan. Other Tibetan Buddhist hierarchs would serve in similar roles during the Ming and Qing dynasties. As often invoked in Tibetan sources, in the “priest-patron” relationship, the Tibetan Buddhist lama provides religious instruction and spiritual protection (through the performance of tantric rituals) to the Mongol, Manchu, or Chinese chieftain and in return the Mongol, Manchu, or Chinese ruler provides material support and military protection, while allowing Tibet to remain independent.

Yon tan rgya mtsho. (Yöntan Gyatso) (1589–1616). In Tibetan, “Ocean of Good Qualities”; the fourth DALAI LAMA. The DGE LUGS monk BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO, later recognized as the third Dalai Lama, visited the court of the Mongol ruler, the Altan Khan, in 1578. It was the Altan Khan who first used the term “Dalai Lama” to refer to this leader of the Dge lugs sect. The third Dalai Lama soon returned to Tibet but came back to Mongolia after the death of the Altan Khan, spending the next five years giving Buddhist teachings and founding monasteries before dying in 1588. His incarnation was identified by the Mongols among their own people, as the grandson of Altan Khan’s successor. He was given the name Yon tan rgya mtsho. He was thus the only Dalai Lama who was not ethnically Tibetan. The Dge lugs hierarchy in Tibet did not immediately recognize the Mongol as the incarnation of Bsod nams rgya mtsho. To assuage their concerns, a Mongolian delegation was sent to Tibet in 1600 to invite a group of Dge lugs dignitaries to come to Mongolia and administer the traditional tests to determine the boy’s identity. After the tests convinced the Tibetan delegation that he was indeed the fourth Dalai Lama, they took the boy back to LHA SA in 1602, where he was ordained as a novice at the JO KHANG. He received BHIKṢU ordination in 1614 from his tutor BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN, who would later become the first (or according to a different reckoning, the fourth) PAṆ CHEN LAMA. Tibet was on the brink of civil war, with the king of Gtsang, a patron of the KARMA BKA’ RGYUD, seeking to control central Tibet, where the Dge lugs were in power with the support of the Mongols. Although the young fourth Dalai Lama appears not to have been involved in politics, the fact that he was a foreigner seems to have been resented in some quarters. He died of uncertain causes in 1616 at the age of twenty-seven. The close relations that developed between the Mongols and the Dge lugs sect as a result of his selection as Dalai Lama would be an important factor in the eventual political ascendancy of his successor, the fifth Dalai Lama, NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MSHO, in 1642.

Yōsai. (J) (榮西). See MYŌAN EISAI.

Yose. (K) (了世). See WŎNMYO YOSE.

Yu. (J. U; K. U 于). Ethnikon used in China for monks who hailed from KHOTAN (transcribed as Yutian in Chinese), an Indo-European oasis kingdom at the southern edge of the Takla Makhan desert in Inner Asia, along the northern slope of the Kunlun mountains. Khotan was a major center of Buddhism in Central Asia and an important conduit for the transmission of Buddhism from India to China along the SILK ROAD.