Viparyāsa
viparyāsa. (P. vipallāsa; T. phyin ci log; C. diandao 顚倒). Literally "inversion."[1] This term is used to refer to "perverted," “corrupted,” or “inverted” views;[1] it is commonly translated as “error,” "misperception," "misapprehension," etc.[2]
There is a standard list of "four inverted views" (Skt. catvāro viparyāsāḥ; T. phyin ci log pa bzhi):[2][3]
- to view as permanent what is actually impermanent (nityaviparyāsa)
- to view as pleasurable what is actually suffering (sukhaviparyāsa)
- to view as pure what is actually tainted (śuciviparyāsa)
- to view as self what is actually non-self (ātmaviparyāsa)
Jamgon Kongtrul described the four inverted views as "fixating on the deluded experiences of samsara as being permanent, real, pleasant, and having attributes (འཁོར་བའི་འཁྲུལ་སྣང་ལ་རྟག་པ་བདེན་པ་བདེ་བ་མཚན་མར་འཛིན་པ་)".[2]
The Princeton Dictionary states:
- These four inversions are corrected through insight into the true nature of reality, which prompts the realization that the aggregates (skandha) are in fact suffering, impermanent, impure, and devoid of self. In the tathāgatagarbha literature, these four putatively correct views are in turn said also to be inversions from the standpoint of the tathāgatagarbha, which is said to possess four perfect qualities (guṇapāramitā): bliss, permanence, purity, and selfhood.[1]
In canonical literature
These four inverted views are "often described in Buddhist canonical literature as the main underpinnings of sentient beings’ mistaken view of the world."[4]
They are discussed extensively in the Abhidharma and also in:[4]
- the Catuḥśataka (where each is treated in a separate chapter), and
- the Dharmārthavibhaṅga (a Mahayana sutra)
Alternate translations
- four inverted views (Princeton Dictionary)
- four perverted views (Princeton Dictionary)
- four distortions
- four errors
- four misapprehensions
- four misconceptions
- four wrong views
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. viparyāsa.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བཞི་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. List of lists, "four perverted views".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
Dharmachakra Translation Comittee (2023), Distinguishing Phenomena and What Is Meaningful, 84000 Reading Room
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University- Dharmachakra Translation Comittee (2023), Distinguishing Phenomena and What Is Meaningful, 84000 Reading Room
External links
- ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བཞི་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
phyin_ci_log_bzhi, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
Four misapprehensions, Rigpa Shedra Wiki