Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, especially the Chan (

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

) traditions, non-abidance (in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: ''apratiṣṭhita'', with the '' a-'' prefix, ‘unlimited’, ‘unlocalized’) refers to being unfixed and without dwelling. Some

schools of Buddhism The schools of Buddhism are the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism, which have often been based on historical sectarianism and the differing teachings and interpretations of specific Buddhist texts. The branching of Buddhi ...

, especially the

Mahāyāna Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

, consider ''apratiṣṭhita-

nirvāṇa Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

'' ("non-abiding cessation") to be the highest form of

Buddhahood In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indo-Aryan languages, Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are Enlightenment in Buddhism, spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the Buddhist paths to liberat ...

, more profound than ''pratiṣṭhita-

'', the ‘localized’, lesser form. According to Robert Buswell and Donald Lopez, ''apratiṣṭhita-

'' is the standard

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

view of

, which enables them to freely return to samsara in order to help sentient beings, while still remaining in

and being a buddha via the usage of the nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya.

Term

Here, '' abide'' is used to translate ''pratiṣṭhita'', meaning "to be contained in locale or "situated", from the prefix ''prati-'' ('towards', 'in the direction of') and ''ṣṭhita'' ('established', 'set up'). To translate ''pratiṣṭhita'', Chinese Buddhists used ''zhù'' (住), literally "to reside, lodge, remain". Both ''wúsuǒzhù'' (無所住 'no means of staying') and ''wúzhù'' (無住 'not staying') are used for ''apratiṣṭhita''.

Sutras

The ''

Diamond Sutra The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of th ...

'', a

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

Buddhist text, is primarily concerned with the idea of non-abidance. The concept seems to have originated with the 1st-century Buddhist philosopher

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

, whose version of ''

śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( ; ; ), translated most often as "emptiness", " vacuity", and sometimes "voidness", or "nothingness" is an Indian philosophical concept. In Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and other Indian philosophical traditions, the concept ...

'', or

emptiness Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation, nihilism, and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression (mood), depression, loneliness, anhedonia, wiktionary:despair, despair, or o ...

, entails that

entities An entity is something that exists as itself. It does not need to be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is animate, or ...

neither exist, nor do they not exist. The ''

Platform Sutra Double page from the Korean woodblock print of "''The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra''", Bibliothèque_Nationale_de_France.html" ;"title="Goryeo, c. 1310. Bibliothèque Nationale de France">Goryeo, c. 1310. Bibliothèque National ...

'' relates how the spiritual patriarch

Huineng Dajian Huineng or Hui-nengThe Sutra of Hui-neng, Grand Master of Zen, with Hui-neng's Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambhala Publications, 1998 (; February 27, 638 – August 28, 713), also commonly known as the ...

attained

sudden enlightenment Sudden awakening or Sudden enlightenment (), also known as subitism, is a Buddhist idea which holds that practitioners can achieve an instantaneous insight into ultimate reality (Buddha-nature, or the nature of mind). This awakening is described ...

after hearing his master Hongren reciting from the ''Diamond Sutra'': Huineng then responds that self-nature is intrinsically pure, cannot be generated or extinguished, is self-sufficient and capable of generating ''

dharmas The Abhidharma are a collection of Buddhist texts dating from the 3rd century BCE onwards, which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. It also refers to ...

,'' though this response is absent in the older

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

version of the text. The scholar-monk Qisong (契嵩) also noted in his foreword of the ''Platform Sutra'': Non-abiding leads to '' prajñā'' (wisdom), as it enables one to consider that worldly issues are empty, so there is no point in retaliation or disputes.''The Platform Sutra'', chapter 4.

References

{{reflist Buddhist philosophical concepts