Key Terms/Anumodanā
Study details
- Abhidharma (Indo-Tibetan): In Abhidharma systems, anumodanā (T. rjes su yi rang ba) is associated with wholesome mental states that counteract the affliction of jealousy (īrṣyā). It is a form of sympathetic joy that acknowledges and takes pleasure in the virtuous actions and successes of others. By delighting in the merit of others, the practitioner effectively shares in that merit, which is described as a psychological process that purifies the mind of resentment and competitive comparison.
- Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): Within the Mahāyāna context, rejoicing is established as the fourth of the seven branches of supreme worship (anuttarā-pūjā). The practice involves three primary levels of focus:
- Rejoicing in one's own virtuous actions of the past, present, and future, which strengthens the resolve to continue the path.
- Rejoicing in the merit of ordinary sentient beings, such as their acts of generosity, ethical discipline, and kindness.
- Rejoicing in the vast merit and realization of noble beings, such as śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisatvas, and especially the perfect buddhas.
- It is famously taught in the Bhadracarīpraṇidhāna and the Bodhicaryāvatāra as a method to amass immeasurable merit simply by having a sincere, appreciative heart. It is often described as the "laziest way" to accumulate merit because it requires no physical or financial resources, only a genuine shift in attitude.
- Vajrayāna (Indo-Tibetan): In Tantric practice, rejoicing is integrated into the preliminary and main sections of a sādhana. It is used to stabilize the practitioner's positive mental state before engaging in deity yoga. In this context, it also involves rejoicing in the profound "secret" activities of the gurus and vidyādharas who have mastered the path. By rejoicing in the enlightened activities of the lineage, the practitioner creates an auspicious connection (tendrel) to those same qualities within their own continuum.
- Other Traditions (Brief Context): In the Pāli tradition, anumodanā often refers to the expression of appreciation or the sharing of merit, particularly the blessing or short talk given by monks after receiving an offering of food (dāna) from laypeople.
In Sanskrit and Pali, "admiration" or "gratification," also written anumodanā; the act of taking delight in the virtuous acts of others, which, in contrast to the unwholesome emotion of envy (īrṣyā), enables one also to accumulate virtue for oneself. It is considered an effective means of gaining merit (puṇya) and figures as a standard component in Mahāyāna liturgies, including the three-part Mahāyāna liturgy (triskandhaka) and the sevenfold pūjā (saptāṅgavidhi). Anumodanā is also used in mainstream Buddhism to refer to the "benedictions" (C. zhouyuan) that monks recite after receiving a meal or a gift, which express thanks or "gratification" to the donors for their offerings.
ཡིད་ལ་བབ་པའམ་མོས་པ། གཞན་གྱི་དགེ་བ་ལ་རྗེས་སུ་ཡི་རང་བ། ཁོས་དམངས་ལ་ཕན་ཐོགས་ཡོད་པའི་བྱ་བ་བྱེད་པར་ཚང་མས་རྗེས་སུ་ཡི་རང་བྱས།
