Apramāda (Sanskrit; Pali: appamāda; Tibetan Wylie: bag yod pa) is a Buddhist term translated as "conscientious" or "concern". It is defined as taking great care concerning what should be adopted and what should be avoided.[1][2] In the Pāli Canon, a collection of the Buddha's earliest teachings, the term appamāda is quite significant and the essence of the meaning cannot be captured with one English word. "Heedfulness", "diligence", and "conscientiousness", are all words that capture some aspects of appamāda. It is identified as one of the eleven virtuous mental factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings.
The word is a negation of pamāda, which means "negligent" or "lax."[3] Appamāda, therefore, means non-negligence, or non-laxity, non-intoxication, non-deluded correctly translated as "heedfulness", or whichever word fully captures the mood of the term. "Heedfulness", "diligence", and "conscientiousness", all captures certain aspects of the word.
What is concern? From taking its stand on non-attachment (alobha), non-hatred (adveṣa), and non-deludedness (amoha) coupled with diligence (vīrya), it considers whatever is positive and protects the mind against things which cannot satisfy. Its function is to make complete and to realize all worldly and transworldly excellences.
A caring attitude (bag-yod, carefulness) is a subsidiary awareness that, while remaining in a state of detachment, imperturbability, lack of naivety, and joyful perseverance, causes us to meditate on constructive things and safeguards against leaning toward tainted (negative) things. In other words, being disgusted with and not longing for compulsive existence, not wanting to cause harm in response to its suffering, not being naive about the effects of our behavior, and taking joy in acting constructively, a caring attitude brings us to act constructively and to refrain from destructive behavior. This is because we care about the situations of others and ourselves and about the effects of our actions on both; we take them seriously.
Robert Thurman emphasizes the high degree of apramāda of someone who has realized emptiness (a.k.a. "voidness"):[5]
This denotes a type of awareness of the most seemingly insignificant aspects of daily life, an awareness derived as a consequence of the highest realization of the ultimate nature of reality. As it is stated in the Anavataptaparipṛcchasutra: "He who realizes voidness, that person is consciously aware." "Ultimate realization," far from obliterating the relative world, brings it into highly specific, albeit dreamlike, focus.
This term is described at length in chapter four of the Bodhicharyavatara.
Berzin, Alexander (2006), Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors
Guenther, Herbert V. & Leslie S. Kawamura (1975), Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding". Dharma Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Kunsang, Erik Pema (translator) (2004). Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1. North Atlantic Books.
Thurman, Robert (2008), The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, Pennsylvania State University
External linksedit
dhammapada appamada chapter English
dhammapada appamada chapter Pali
parinibbana sutta
April 10, 2024
appamāda, apramāda, sanskrit, pali, appamāda, tibetan, wylie, buddhist, term, translated, conscientious, concern, defined, taking, great, care, concerning, what, should, adopted, what, should, avoided, pāli, canon, collection, buddha, earliest, teachings, term. Apramada Sanskrit Pali appamada Tibetan Wylie bag yod pa is a Buddhist term translated as conscientious or concern It is defined as taking great care concerning what should be adopted and what should be avoided 1 2 In the Pali Canon a collection of the Buddha s earliest teachings the term appamada is quite significant and the essence of the meaning cannot be captured with one English word Heedfulness diligence and conscientiousness are all words that capture some aspects of appamada It is identified as one of the eleven virtuous mental factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings Translations ofApramadaEnglishcarefulness concern conscientiousness conscious awarenessSanskritअप रम द apramadaPaliappamadaChinese不放逸 T 不放逸 S Korean불방일 RR bulbangil Tibetanབག ཡ ད པ Wylie bag yod pa THL bakyo pa Vietnamesebất phong dậtGlossary of Buddhism Contents 1 Etymology 2 Explanation 3 Alternate translations 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksEtymology editThe word is a negation of pamada which means negligent or lax 3 Appamada therefore means non negligence or non laxity non intoxication non deluded correctly translated as heedfulness or whichever word fully captures the mood of the term Heedfulness diligence and conscientiousness all captures certain aspects of the word Explanation editThe Abhidharma samuccaya states 1 What is concern From taking its stand on non attachment alobha non hatred adveṣa and non deludedness amoha coupled with diligence virya it considers whatever is positive and protects the mind against things which cannot satisfy Its function is to make complete and to realize all worldly and transworldly excellences Alexander Berzin states 4 A caring attitude bag yod carefulness is a subsidiary awareness that while remaining in a state of detachment imperturbability lack of naivety and joyful perseverance causes us to meditate on constructive things and safeguards against leaning toward tainted negative things In other words being disgusted with and not longing for compulsive existence not wanting to cause harm in response to its suffering not being naive about the effects of our behavior and taking joy in acting constructively a caring attitude brings us to act constructively and to refrain from destructive behavior This is because we care about the situations of others and ourselves and about the effects of our actions on both we take them seriously Robert Thurman emphasizes the high degree of apramada of someone who has realized emptiness a k a voidness 5 This denotes a type of awareness of the most seemingly insignificant aspects of daily life an awareness derived as a consequence of the highest realization of the ultimate nature of reality As it is stated in the Anavataptaparipṛcchasutra He who realizes voidness that person is consciously aware Ultimate realization far from obliterating the relative world brings it into highly specific albeit dreamlike focus This term is described at length in chapter four of the Bodhicharyavatara Alternate translations editA caring attitude Alexander Berzin Carefulness Alexander Berzin Conscious awareness Robert Thurman Conscientiousness Concern Herbert Guenther Prudent Heedfulness often used in Theravada sources See also editBuddhist meditation Mental factors Buddhism MindfulnessReferences edit a b Guenther 1975 Kindle Locations 634 635 Kunsang 2004 p 24 Tan Piya 2013 Chakka Appamada Sutta PDF The Dharmafarers pp 118 119 Retrieved 22 March 2017 Berzin 2006 Thurman 2008 p 158 Sources editBerzin Alexander 2006 Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors Guenther Herbert V amp Leslie S Kawamura 1975 Mind in Buddhist Psychology A Translation of Ye shes rgyal mtshan s The Necklace of Clear Understanding Dharma Publishing Kindle Edition Kunsang Erik Pema translator 2004 Gateway to Knowledge Vol 1 North Atlantic Books Thurman Robert 2008 The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti Pennsylvania State UniversityExternal links editdhammapada appamada chapter English dhammapada appamada chapter Pali parinibbana sutta Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Appamada amp oldid 1217593096, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
