Nirvikalpa

Nirvikalpa (P. nibbikappa; T. rnam par mi rtog pa/rnam par rtog pa med pa རྣམ་པར་མི་རྟོག་པ་/རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་མེད་པ་; C. wu fenbie) means non-conceptual or non-discriminating.

The Rangjung Yeshe Wiki presents the following definitions of nirvikalpa (T. rnam par mi rtog pa):

• "Of or pertaining to the absence of conceptual thinking or discursive thought"
• "the state of recognizing reality which is totally freed of the distortions of discursive thought, non-discrimination"

According to Buswell, nirvikalpa describes states of direct perception.

This term is used in the Yogacara school in making distinctions between conceptual thought (vikalpa) and non-conceptual thought.

Alternate translations

Alternate translations for this term are:

• non-conceptualization
• non-discrimination

See also

• Vikalpa
• Nirvikalpa-jñāna

Further reading

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Hamlin, Edward (1983). "Discourse in the Lankavatara Sutra". Journal of Indian Philosophy. 11 (3): 267–313. 
• Kramer, Jowita (April 2018). "Conceptuality and Non-conceptuality in Yogācāra Sources". Journal of Indian Philosophy. 46: 321–338. 
• རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་མེད་པ་, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• rnam_par_mi_rtog_pa, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki

This article is developed by our editors based on the sources cited.