''Kyōgai'' ( ja, 境界) is a concept in
Zen Buddhism
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
for a person's state of mind.
''Kyōgai'' is a Japanese word and does not have a direct English translation,
but it is often variously described as a person's state of being,
or more specifically their "consciousness" or "behavior" or "experience". Though not an accurate defintiion, the literal translation of the word ''kyōgai'' into English is "boundary", and the origin of the word ''Kyōgai'' comes from the Pali word ''gocara'' ( pi, गोच) and the Sanskrit word ''
Viśayā'' ( sa, विषया),
specifically in their contexts as a pasture where animals graze and the boundary of that pasture.
The ''kyōgai'' is a private experience, such that one person's ''kyōgai'' will be different from another's,
and a person's ''kyōgai'' changes with time and experience.
The term is also used to describe a person's behavior or attitude,
for example an routine action done by a person or a person's way of doing things is described as their ''kyōgai''.
In the
Rinzai school
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...
especially, it is a person's ''kyōgai'' that is judged when being tested with ''
kōan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.
Etymology
The Japanese term is the Sino-Jap ...
s'', as opposed to an intellectual understanding of a fixed answer to the ''kōan'' itself.
The term can also less commonly refer to a shared viewpoint, such as a Western ''kyōgai'' being used to describe the experiences and understanding of the world through the lens of a person in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. .
References
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Zen Buddhist philosophical concepts