Kṣānti

Kṣānti (Sanskrit) or (Pāli) is patience, forbearance and forgiveness. It is one of the pāramitās in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism. The term can be translated as "patience," "steadfastness," or "endurance," and encompasses meanings such as "forbearance," "acceptance," and "receptivity."Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 446. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013.

Kṣānti has several applications: It can refer to patience with others, that is, the ability to endure abuse and hardship inflicted by sentient beings while maintaining compassion and commitment to their liberation. Kṣānti can also refer to endurance on the path, the resolve to withstand the difficulties encountered during the long journey toward Buddhahood without losing focus on liberating all beings from saṃsāra. Finally, it can also mean receptivity to the truths of reality. This is a profound acceptance of the ultimate truths, including impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, as realized during advanced stages of meditation.

Canonical sources

Examples in the Pāli canon identify using forbearance in response to others' anger, cuckolding, torture, and even fatal assaults.

Dhammapada verses

is the first word of the (Pāli for "pāṭimokkha Exhortation Verse"), found in the Dhammapada, verse 184:

Elsewhere in the ''Dhammapada'', khanti is found in verse 399:

Lord Sakka's restraint

In the '' Samyutta Nikaya'', the Buddha tells of an ancient battle between '' devas'' and ''asuras'' during which the ''devas'' were victorious and the ''asura'' king Vepacitti was captured and imprisoned. When the ''deva'' lord Sakka visited Vepacitti in prison, Vepacitti "abused and reviled him with rude, harsh words," to which Sakka did not respond in kind. Afterwards, Sakka's charioteer questioned Sakka about this, expressing concern that some would see Sakka's response as indicative of fear or weakness. Sakka replied:

The Buddha then praised Sakka to his followers for "patience and gentleness" ().

A cuckold's forbearance

In a ''Jātaka'' tale, ''Exposition on Patience Birth Story'' (: J 225), the Buddha tells of a former life when he was Brahmadatta, a king of Benares. At the time, a courtier of the king "fell into an intrigue in the king's harem." This same courtier was being similarly betrayed by one of his own servants and complained to the king about that servant. In response, the king disclosed his knowledge of the courtier's betrayal and stated:

Shamed by the king's awareness of their deeds, the courtier and his servant henceforth ceased their betrayals.

Parables of torture

The '' Majjhima Nikāya'' has a classic parable of Buddhist forbearance, the ''Buddha's Simile of the Saw'':

Similarly, in the ''Jātaka'' Tale ''Patience Teacher Birth Story'' (''Khantivādī Jātaka'': J 313), a jealous king repeatedly asked an ascetic what the ascetic taught, to which the ascetic replied, "Patience," which the ascetic further defined as "not to get angry when injured, criticized or struck." To test the ascetic's patience, the king had the ascetic struck two thousand times with a whip of thorns, had the ascetic's hands and feet axed off, cut off the ascetic's nose and ears, and then kicked the ascetic in the heart. After the king left, the ascetic wished the king a long life and said, "Those like myself do not feel wrath." The ascetic died later that day.

Mahayana

Kṣānti (Tibetan: ''bzod pa''; Chinese: 忍辱, ''renru''; Japanese: ''ninniku'') is one of the six pāramitās in Mahayana Buddhism and is thus a central aspect of the bodhisattva path. In the path of preparation (''prayogamārga''), ''kṣānti'' serves as one of the "aids to penetration" (''nirvedhabhāgīya''), marking a transition to the direct vision of the Four Noble Truths (''darśanamārga''). It bridges mundane cultivation and supramundane realization, leading to deeper insight into these truths.

Anutpattikadharmakṣānti

Mahāyāna and some northern Buddhist sources also teach a special doctrine on the term anutpattikadharmakṣānti (Tibetan: ''mi skye ba’i chos la bzod pa''; Chinese: 無生法忍, ''wushengfaren''): "receptivity to the non-production of dharmas." In Mahāyāna, this denotes a bodhisattva's unwavering conviction that all phenomena ('' dharmas'') are intrinsically "unproduced" ('' anutpāda'') and "empty" (''śūnyatā''), lacking any inherent essence (''niḥsvabhāva'').Buswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 55. Princeton University Press, Nov 24, 2013.

This realization is crucial for attaining the stage of nonretrogression (''avaivartika''), often identified with the first or eighth ''bhūmi'' on the bodhisattva path. It empowers the bodhisattva to persist in benefiting others, recognizing that ultimately there is no self to liberate and no beings to save. This insight inoculates the practitioner against the temptation to prematurely abandon the bodhisattva path for personal liberation and emphasizes the nonduality of ''saṃsāra'' and ''nirvāṇa''.

In non-Mahāyāna contexts, the term ''anutpattikadharmakṣānti'' aligns with the realization of no-self (''anātman'') and the Four Noble Truths, marking the ''darśanamārga''.

Citations

General sources

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External links

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{{Virtues

Sanskrit words and phrases
Wholesome factors in Buddhism