Avijñaptirūpa

avijñaptirūpa (T. rnam par rig byed ma yin pa’i gzugs རྣམ་པར་རིག་བྱེད་མ་ཡིན་པའི་གཟུགས་; C. wubiaose) is translated as "imperceptible form," "nonindicative form," etc. It is identified within the Sanskrit Abhidharma tradition as a type of rūpa (form) that is not perceptible to the senses. For example, a vow is categorized as avijñaptirūpa.

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics states:

Nonindicative form, such as the form of a vow, is material form that does not reveal or indicate the mind that motivates it.

Avijñaptirūpa is identified as:

• one of eleven types of resultant forms in the Abhidharma-kosa
• one of five types of mental objects (within the skandha of form) in the Abhidharma-samuccaya

In the abhidharma tradition of the Vaibhāṣika school, the imperceptible forms are understood as substantially existent entities. In the Sautrantika Abhidharma and in the Higher Abhidharma traditions, imperceptible forms are understood as mental objects (that is, aspects of the mind).

Alternate translations

• imperceptible form (Erik Pema Kunsang, GTK)
• imperceptible form (Rigpa wiki)
• nonindicative form (Coghlan, Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics)
• nonindicative form (Coghlan, Ornament of Abhidharma)
• unmanifest material force (Buswell, Princeton Encyclopedia)

External links

rnam_par_rig_byed_ma_yin_pa'i_gzugs, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki