In Buddhism, t'i is regarded as the fundamentally enlightened Buddha-mind that is present in all beings, whereas yung is the manifestation of that mind in actual practice-whether it be a full manifestation (enlightened Buddha) or limited manifestation (ignorant sentient being). "The Key Operative Concepts in Korean Buddhist Syncretic Philosophy: Interpenetration (通達) and Essence-Function (體用) in Wŏnhyo, Chinul and Kihwa". Japan, (1231-1253, translation in "Resources for East Asian Language and Thought", November 8, 2004). The Self in Medieval Japanese Buddhism: Focusing on Dogen cited in Philosophy East and West Volume 41, Number 3, July 1991. The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, page 78. ^ David Kalupahana, Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism."Sentient beings" cited in Buswell, Robert E. The idea that "inanimate" beings have Buddha nature was defended by Zhanran (711-782) of the Tiantai school as well as Japanese figures like Kūkai and Dōgen. Thus, in Mahayana, it is to sentient beings that the bodhisattva vow of compassion is pledged and sentient beings are the object of the all inclusive great compassion (maha karuna) and skillful means (upaya) of the Buddhas.įurthermore, in East Asian Buddhism, all beings (including plant life and even inanimate objects or entities considered "spiritual" or "metaphysical" by conventional Western thought) are or may be considered beings with buddha-nature. However, Mahayana Buddhism also simultaneously teaches that sentient beings also contain Buddha-nature-the intrinsic potential to transcend the conditions of saṃsāra and attain enlightenment, thereby obtaining Buddhahood. Thus, Dōgen writes "Those who greatly enlighten illusion are Buddhas those who have great illusion in enlightenment are sentient beings." That is, sentient beings are characteristically not awakened, and are thus confined to the death, rebirth, and dukkha (suffering) characteristic of saṃsāra. While distinctions in usage and potential subdivisions or classes of sentient beings vary from one school, teacher, or thinker to another, it principally refers to beings in contrast with buddhahood. In the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha is recorded as saying that "just as the word 'chariot' exists on the basis of the aggregation of parts, even so the concept of 'being' exists when the five aggregates are available." Įarly Buddhist sources classify sentient beings into five categories-divinities, humans, animals, tormented spirits, and denizens of hell-although sometimes the classification adds another category of beings called asuras between divinities and humans. Sentient beings are composed of the five aggregates ( skandhas): matter, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness. Less frequently, sentient beings as a class broadly encompasses all beings possessing consciousness, including Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Translating various Sanskrit terms ( jantu, bahu jana, jagat, sattva), sentient beings conventionally refers to the mass of living things subject to illusion, suffering, and rebirth ( saṃsāra). Sentient beings is a term used to designate the totality of living, conscious beings that constitute the object and audience of Buddhist teaching. 760) provides a generalist Western Buddhist encyclopedic definition: In Buddhism, sentient beings are beings with consciousness, sentience, or in some contexts life itself. Buddhist monk protecting an injured sparrow.
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