Man painting in gold a statue of the Buddha

''Adhihāna'' (

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

; from ''adhi'' meaning "foundational" or "beginning" plus ''sthā'' meaning "standing";

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, अधिष्ठान) has been translated as "decision," "resolution," "self-determination," "will", "strong determination" and "resolute determination." In the late canonical literature of

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, ''adhihāna'' is one of the ten "perfections" (''dasa pāramiyo''), exemplified by the

bodhisatta In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

's resolve to become fully awakened.

Pāli Canon texts

While ''adhihāna'' appears sporadically in the early

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

, various late-canonical and post-canonical accounts of the

Lord Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

's past lives clearly contextualize ''adhihāna'' within the Theravadin tenfold perfections.

Digha Nikaya analysis

In the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

, in the

Digha Nikaya Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal. Hi ...

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...

entitled, "Chanting Together" ( DN 33), Ven. Sariputta states that the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

has identified the following: :'Four kinds of resolve (''adhihānī''): o gain(a)

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...

, (b) truth (''

sacca ''Sacca'' ( sa, Satya सत्य) is a Pali word meaning "real" or "true". In early Buddhist literature, ''sacca'' is often found in the context of the "Four Noble Truths",_a_crystallization_of_Buddhist_wisdom.__In_addition,_''sacca''_is_one_o ...

''), (c) relinquishment (''cāga''), (d) tranquility (''upasama'').'

Bodhisatta Sumedho

In the late-canonical Buddhavamsa, the

Bodhisatta In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Sumedha declares (represented in English and Pali):

Temiya the Wise

In the late-canonical Cariyapitaka, there is one account explicitly exemplifying ''adhiṭṭhāna'', that of "Temiya the Wise" (Cp III.6, '). In this account, at an early age Temiya, sole heir to a throne, recalls a past life in purgatory (''

niraya Naraka ( sa, नरक; pi, 𑀦𑀺𑀭𑀬 Niraya) is a term in Buddhist cosmology usually referred to in English as " hell" (or "hell realm") or "purgatory". The Narakas of Buddhism are closely related to ''Diyu'', the hell in Chinese my ...

'') and thus asks for release ('). In response, a compassionate devatā advises Temiya to act unintelligent and foolish and to allow himself to be an object of people's scorn. Understanding the devatā's virtuous intent, Temiya agrees to this and acts as if mute, deaf and crippled. Seeing these behaviors but finding no physiological basis for them, priests, generals and countrymen decry Temiya as "inauspicious" and plan to have Temiya cast out. When Temiya is sixteen years old, he is ceremonially anointed and then buried in a pit. The account concludes: :... I did not break that resolute determination which was for the sake of Awakening itself. Mother and father were not disagreeable to me and nor was self disagreeable to me. Omniscience 'sabbaññuta''was dear to me, therefore I resolutely determined on that itself. Resolutely determining on those factors I lived for sixteen years. There was no one equal to me in resolute determination — this was my perfection of Resolute Determination.For the whole account, see Horner (2000), pp. 36-38. The final quotation is from Horner (2000), pp. 37-38, vv. 17-19.

Notes

Sources

* Horner, I.B. (trans.) (1975; reprinted 2000). ''The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon (Part III): 'Chronicle of Buddhas' (Buddhavamsa) and 'Basket of Conduct' (Cariyapitaka)''. Oxford:

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...

. . * Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). ''The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary''. Chipstead:

. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. * Walshe, Maurice (trans.) (1987; reissued 1995). ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya''. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .

External links

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{{Buddhism topics Buddhist philosophical concepts