pratyekabuddha (Chinese 辟支佛; Pali: pacceka-buddha)
  • Interpreted in Chinese as either "enlightened by contemplation on dependent origination" or "solitary realizer," self-enlightened one," "individual illuminate."
  • One of two kinds of lesser vehicle Buddhist sages (the other being the śrāvaka), whose practice, according the Mahāyāna scriptures, is aimed toward the "lesser" goal of arhatship, rather than toward complete buddhahood.
  • The first Chinese rendering of the term, "enlightened by contemplation on dependent origination", emphasizes the method by which the practitioner attains the goal, that is by analyzing the principle of the twelve-part dependent origination.
  • The second rendering, "solitary realizer," refers to the fact that this practitioner attains liberation through his or her own study and effort, not relying on the sermons of a teacher, and by staying alone, absorbed in contemplation. This term was originally borrowed from the non-Buddhist Jain sect.
  • Related to the second rendering, a person who attains liberation but who does not come to the world and teach sentient beings.

References

  • Kloppenberg, Ria. The Paccekabuddha: A Buddhist Ascetic. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974)
  • Norman. "The Pratyeka-Buddha in Buddhism and Jainism," in Buddhist Studies (Ancient and Modern), eds. Denwood and Piatigorsky; reprinted in Norman (1991), Collected Papers, vol. 2, pp. 233-249.

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