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Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 6:59 pm
by zenman
Does anyone know the Sanskrit word for non-meditation?

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:36 pm
by Jainarayan
Here's a wild guess...

Dhyāna = meditation.
A = not/non/without (advaita, not two; ahimsā, not/non violence; avidyā, not knowledge, i.e. ignorance).

Adhyāna, non/not meditation, non/not meditating?

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:46 pm
by dzogchungpa
This note from "Mahamudra" by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal says 'abhāvanā':
http://tinyurl.com/mjd7ua3

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:53 pm
by Jainarayan
Abhāvanā (a + bhāvanā) is absence of judgement according to Monier-Williams.

http://sanskritdictionary.com/?q=abh%C4%81van%C4%81

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 8:17 pm
by dzogchungpa
I am not an expert, but my understanding is that 'bhāvanā' basically means something like "causing to become or develop". In the context of spiritual practice it can mean something like "developing a mental state or mood", basically working with one's mind for a spiritual purpose, so, very similar to how 'meditation' and 'cultivation' are used in English now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavana
I don't know if 'abhāvanā' was ever actually used in India, but I think it makes good sense as a back translation from Tibetan. If the OP was not about the Tibetan term 'sgom med', then all bets are off.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 8:27 pm
by Jainarayan
That's possible. Sanskrit words carry many meanings. Sanskrit is so highly inflected a word could be an inflection of a word that is an inflection of a completely different word. Know what I mean? And when words are adopted into another language, the meaning and usage can change. Context is important.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:06 pm
by zenman
I've heard bhava being used as a description of some specific spiritual mood. Therefore abhava sounds right as non-meditation is complete absence of any specific mood. Thanks all.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:57 pm
by dzogchungpa
I believe 'abhava' mean nonexistence.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:03 pm
by Jainarayan
Don't forget that a long or short vowel can change a word too. Hara is a name for Shiva, but Harā is a name for Radhā. Hare is either the vocative of Hari or the vocative of Harā. That's why Sanskrit lends itself to poetry and word play so well.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:08 pm
by dzogchungpa
I just remembered that 'abhava' corresponds to Tibetan 'med pa', which is the first of the famous 4 samayas from Longchenpa's "Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding".

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:36 am
by Jinzang
This note from "Mahamudra" by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal says 'abhāvanā'
abhāvanā means not dwelling.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:55 am
by dzogchungpa
Jinzang wrote:
This note from "Mahamudra" by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal says 'abhāvanā'
abhāvanā means not dwelling.
Well 'bhavana' means dwelling, so possibly 'abhavana' might mean not dwelling, but the word in question is
'abhāvanā'.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:59 am
by Aemilius
Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon gives AdhyAna; meditating upon, reflecting, etc.. There is also the prefix na meaning; no, non, nor.
nadhyAna or adhyAna is not found in Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon or in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 11:56 am
by zenman
Aemilius wrote:Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon gives AdhyAna; meditating upon, reflecting, etc..
Interesting, adhyana makes sense as well, as simple as it is, even though the translation seems not right. I wonder if this term has been used in any classic sources...

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:46 pm
by Aemilius
Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon uses an adapted version of Harvard Kyoto Convention for transliteration of sanskrit.Thus A signifies a long vowel a,ie aa. Translation of aadhyaana or AdhyAna is correct.

There is the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon, where you can search; adhyana gave no results, there are results for mahamudra.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 2:18 pm
by yegyal
If you're looking for the Mahamudra term 'nonmeditation', then I'd say Dzogchungpa has it right, as abhAvanA would be the closest you can get to sgom med. DhyAna is the Sanskrit equivalent of the term bsam gtan, not sgom, so if you're looking for sgom med, then it wouldn't be adhyAna. However, abhAvanA isn't in the Mahavyutpatti, so you're probably not going to find a standard term that was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan for nonmeditation. At least not in any dictionary.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 2:38 pm
by Jainarayan
Aemilius wrote:Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon gives AdhyAna; meditating upon, reflecting, etc.. There is also the prefix na meaning; no, non, nor.
nadhyAna or adhyAna is not found in Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon or in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary.
True, 'na' is indeed a negation... astika/nastika; asmi/nasmi (I am, I am not). But so is 'a'. Iirc it's sandhi that determines which is used. Moreover, Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit are quite different in some areas. Just some more info.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:28 pm
by dzogchungpa
zenman, it just occurred to me that if you are not necessarily looking for a Buddhist term you might like 'anupaya' from Kashmir Shaivism.
From http://www.universalshaivafellowship.or ... chapter-5/:
Beyond these three upayas, shambhavopaya, shaktopaya, and anavopaya, there is another upaya. Although it is not actually an upaya, yet it is mentioned in Kashmir Shaivism. This upaya is called anupaya. The word anupaya means “no upaya.” Thoughtlessness is called shambhavopaya. One-pointedness is called shaktopaya. Concentration on and with the support of mantra and breathing and all other elements is called anavopaya. Above all of these is anupaya. In anupaya, the aspirant has only to observe that nothing is to be done. Be as you are. If you are talking, go on talking. If you are sitting, go on sitting. Do not do anything, only reside in your being. This is the nature of anupaya. Anupaya is attributed to ananda shakti of Shiva and is called anandopaya.

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 11:44 pm
by Huifeng
zenman wrote:
Aemilius wrote:Monier Williams Sanskrit Lexicon gives AdhyAna; meditating upon, reflecting, etc..
Interesting, adhyana makes sense as well, as simple as it is, even though the translation seems not right. I wonder if this term has been used in any classic sources...
A long aa = A is not the same as a short a, the former is almost an intensifier, the latter is a negation.

~~ Huifeng

Re: Sanskrit for nonmeditation

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 11:45 pm
by Huifeng
zenman wrote:Does anyone know the Sanskrit word for non-meditation?
Quite possibly there is no actual word for such a thing. Or, it may not be a word, but a phrase. Unless one can be sure that this originally comes from an actual Sanskrit source. Otherwise you may just be creating a neologism. Not necessarily a bad thing, but needs to be acknowledged for what it is.

~~ Huifeng