At our last Spring Banquet, I reported news from Wah Yan in Chinese. Somehow, I used the word 缘 a number of times. For my own interest, I asked our wahyanites and guests for the English translation for the term. That started some discussions around the tables.
Three weeks later, during the visitation hours at the funeral of the fathter of a wahyanite, 缘 was again discussed. The English translation of fate and destiny was deemed incomplete. John offers the following which I asked him to send me the email.
Dear Ho Sir,
As discussed, the English language does not have a direct translation of the term 缘 mainly because it is an Eastern philosophy, and Western thoughts do not have the same view of life, or for that matter, afterlife. A loan-word from Sanskrit, nidana (因缘) means chain of causation. The more common use refers to the concatenation of cause and effect which is also called the links of dependent origination, or in Sanskrit, pratītyasamutpāda (緣起). The term is also less commonly used with reference to the dhyāna (禪) or stages of Buddhist meditation.
The concept of pratītyasamutpāda (緣起), in both the general and specific meanings, is the basis for various key concepts in Buddhism, such as karma (業) and saṃsāra (輪迴), the arising of dukkha (苦), and the possibility of nirvāṇa (涅槃) through anatman (無我). The principle of pratītyasamutpāda that everything is interdependent is complementary to the concept of sunyata (空).
Another loan-word from Sanskrit, karma (業) is the concept of cause and effect (因果报应). It means the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of his existence, regarded as determining his next incarnation (宿缘). It is the idea that one reaps what one sows. The term is sometimes translated as destiny, or fate (命运).
In summary, I would borrow the Sanskrit term nidana to represent the Chinese term 缘.
John
(Andrew, Catherine expressed interest in the subject matter. Please forward the above to her. Thanks.)
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John Fung is a very good storyteller. He treated me to an account on 缘, an eastern thought on cause 因 and effect 果 with no easy western translation. 缘 has it that we were schoolmates in the past, perhaps we can expand on this to more fully benefit from this 缘 endowed relationship?!
Francis 敏康
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Dear Anthony,
Your question (and use) of 缘 is very interesting. My intuitive translation is FREE ENCOUNTER, not planned, not destined, not by chance, not god given.
After reading John’s lengthy and scholarly explanation, I feel more confident that my trans is the best.
Buddhism is about freedom, more so in 禪, as it combines all the concepts of freedom in traditional chinese wisdom.
缘 itself has no value, therefore no philosophy. It is up to those who meet to put value into it. It is therefore free.
Try to interpret it to our encounter and you will see the value-free nature of 缘
slk
Teleology as a philosophy in the west has been explored since Plato and Aristotle. The Greek root ‘τελε-‘ means purpose. It is one of the main arguments for the existence of God, which is referred to as the First Cause, suggesting perfection.
The cause-effect concept was formed early in human civilization. It is espoused in both objective and subjective explanations or theories. Such a universal concept is quite interesting. It seems that we cannot accept any effect without cause, implying that we should always ask why about anything as if we can always give an answer starting with “because”. A child growing up is likely to ask more whys, thus annoying the parents. Science may provide the answer to “cause” such as in a series of cascade effects but actually does not to “why” or “for what purpose”.
再：
緣源彿義，得緣覺而入湼槃。當為哲理。見 http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/緣覺。
Meant to be, free will? Free chance encounter?
YK
The link should be:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/緣覺
Dear Mr Ho,
The following is Amy’s view on the translation of ” 緣＂。
She finds it very difficult to use a single English word to express this Chinese word.
Regards
Terence
Actually words like 緣 has evolved into uses manifold and so should be translated in accordance with the context that it appears. Ponder the meaning and the use of 緣 in the following contexts:
1. 張愛玲’s book : “半生緣”
2. ＂緣＂as in Buddhism
3. A new business friend that you’ve met casually in 2 consecutive days
4. 唐伯虎 starting a conversation with 秋香
5. A mom who has moved to another town finds to her surprise that her kid and a grade school alumnus’ kid are now classmates.
Other than context, the style of the target text is another issue that must be considered.
Dear Anthony
Once, when you have a chunk of time, and interest to dig into the meaning of “緣” in the western sense (of course influenced by eastern thoughts), you can read James Joyce’s An Encouter, which is easy reading. And when you are really drawned, then read Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, which is difficult.
I suddenly realized that my answer to you was not intuitive.
It came from the depth of my mind, involving a lot of readings in the past.
So encounter is a good translation for 緣.
Cheers,
slk
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In one of Hemingway’s novels, two soldiers of warring countries meet in the battlefield, (an encounter), they were supposed to kill one another, but they cound not. They did not know each other, nor had they done anything to one another before. They were just there. There was no reason to kill. But kill they must, for many real and unreal reasons. One is to survive the other. They decided, however, to throw away their guns and walked away, free.
There is no religion in this.
The encounter is free.
slk
缘, in the sense of general eastern mythical philosophy, really refers to the unexplained encounters or relationships in one’s life,. Their cause and outcome cannot be understood or analyzed. As such, they are viewed as manifestations of destiny, and 缘 is certainly not free. This notion is also common in western culture. For example, one of Verdi’s operas is called “La forza del destiny (The force of destiny)”.
The complex meaning of 缘 cannot be adequately translated into one English word.