At our last Spring Banquet, I reported news from Wah Yan in Chinese.\u00a0 Somehow, I\u00a0used the\u00a0word \u7f18\u00a0a number of times.\u00a0 For my own interest, I asked our wahyanites and guests for the English translation for the term.\u00a0 That started some discussions around the tables.
\nThree weeks later,\u00a0during the visitation hours\u00a0at the funeral of the fathter of a wahyanite, \u7f18 was again discussed.\u00a0 The English translation of fate and destiny was deemed incomplete.\u00a0 John offers the following which I asked him to send me the email.<\/p>\n
Dear Ho Sir,<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0 John\u00a0<\/em> Francis \u654f\u5eb7 Your question (and use) of \u7f18 is very interesting. My intuitive translation is FREE ENCOUNTER, not planned, not destined, not by chance, not god given.<\/em><\/p>\n After reading John’s lengthy and scholarly explanation, I feel more confident that my trans is the best.<\/em><\/p>\n Buddhism is about freedom, more so in \u79aa, as it combines all the concepts of freedom in traditional chinese wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n \u7f18 itself has no value, therefore no philosophy. It is up to those who meet to put value into it. It is therefore free.<\/em><\/p>\n Try to interpret it to our encounter and you will see the value-free nature of \u7f18<\/em><\/p>\n slk<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At our last Spring Banquet, I reported news from Wah Yan in Chinese.\u00a0 Somehow, I\u00a0used the\u00a0word \u7f18\u00a0a number of times.\u00a0 For my own interest, I asked our wahyanites and guests for the English translation for the term.\u00a0 That started some … Continue reading
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As discussed, the English language does not have a direct translation of the term \u7f18 mainly because it is an Eastern philosophy, and Western thoughts do not have the same view of life, or for that matter, afterlife.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A loan-word from Sanskrit, nidana (\u56e0\u7f18) 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, prat\u012btyasamutp\u0101da (\u7de3\u8d77). The term is also less commonly used with reference to the dhy\u0101na (\u79aa) or stages of Buddhist meditation.\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The concept of prat\u012btyasamutp\u0101da (\u7de3\u8d77), in both the general and specific meanings, is the basis for various key concepts in Buddhism, such as karma (\u696d) and sa\u1e43s\u0101ra (\u8f2a\u8ff4), the arising of dukkha (\u82e6), and the possibility of nirv\u0101\u1e47a (\u6d85\u69c3) through anatman (\u7121\u6211). The principle of prat\u012btyasamutp\u0101da that everything is interdependent is complementary to the concept of sunyata (\u7a7a).<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another loan-word from Sanskrit, karma (\u696d) is the concept of cause and effect (\u56e0\u679c\u62a5\u5e94). 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 (\u5bbf\u7f18). It is the idea that one reaps what one sows. The term is sometimes translated as destiny, or fate (\u547d\u8fd0).\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In summary, I would borrow the Sanskrit term nidana to represent the Chinese term \u7f18.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Andrew, Catherine expressed interest in the subject matter. Please forward the above to her. Thanks.)
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\nJohn Fung is a very good storyteller.\u00a0\u00a0 He treated me to an account on \u7f18, an eastern thought on cause \u56e0 and effect \u679c with no easy western translation.\u00a0\u00a0 \u7f18 has it that we were schoolmates in the past, perhaps we can expand on this to more fully <\/em>benefit from this \u7f18 endowed relationship?!<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nDear Anthony,<\/p>\n