Nimitta

nimitta (T. mtshan ma མཚན་མ་; C. xiang/ruixiang 相/瑞相) is translated as "mark," "sign," "distinguishing characteristic," etc. This term can have the following meaings:

1. In Buddhist epistemology, it refers to the generic appearance of an object as distinct from its secondary characteristics (anuvyañjana).
2. In Theravada meditation practice, it refers to an image that appears to the mind after developing a certain level of mental concentration (samadhi).
3. In the life story of Siddhartha Gautama, Siddhartha encountered four "signs" or "sights" or "portents" which influenced his path. See Four sights.

In Buddhist epistomology

In Buddhist epistemology, nimitta refers to the generic appearance of an object as distinct from its secondary characteristics (anuvyañjana).

The Princeton Dictionary states:

Advertence toward the generic sign and secondary characteristics of an object produces a recognition or perception (saṃjñā) of that object, which may in turn lead to clinging or rejection and ultimately suffering. Thus nimitta often carries the negative sense of false or deceptive marks that are imagined to inhere in an object, resulting in the misperception of that object as real, intrinsically existent, or endowed with self. Thus, the apprehension of signs (nimittagrāha) is considered a form of ignorance (avidyā), and the perception of phenomena as signless (ānimitta) is a form of wisdom that constitutes one of three “gates to deliverance” (vimokṣamukha), along with emptiness (śūnyatā) and wishlessness (apraṇihita).

The 84000 glossary states:

A polyvalent term, [nimitta] generally refers to the characteristic features of an object or image. Nimitta can refer to features of an object that attract the mind’s attention, engage with it more deeply, and develop emotional responses to it. Such marks or features are often considered to be ultimately false and deceptive.

In meditation practice

In Theravada meditation practice, according to works such as the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), nimitta refers to an image that appears to the mind after developing a certain level of mental concentration (samadhi).

The 84000 glossary states:

...nimitta can refer to the focus of meditation practice. The term applies to both external objects and visualized images that are used to deepen meditative concentration and absorption.

The Princeton Dictionary states:

At the beginning of a meditation exercise that relies, e.g., on an external visual support (kasiṇa), such as a blue circle, the initial mental image one recalls is termed the “preparatory image” (parikamma-nimitta). With the deepening of concentration, the image becomes more refined but is still unsteady; at that stage, it is called the “acquired image” or “eidetic image” (uggaha-nimitta). When one reaches access or neighborhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi), a clear, luminous image appears to the mind, which is called the “counterpart image” or “representational image” (paṭibhāga-nimitta). It is through further concentration on this stable “representational image” that the mind finally attains “full concentration” (appanā-samādhi), i.e, meditative absorption (P. jhāna; S. dhyāna).

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

External links

• མཚན་མ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary