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bīja

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

bīja (Skt., seed). A term used in Yogācāra Buddhism to denote the ‘packets’ of karmic energy produced through habitual actions and stored in the ālaya-vijñāna. Just as in more conventional understandings of the operation of karma, it is believed that these ‘seeds’ will produce their ‘fruit’ at a future date in the form of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The term is also used in Vajrayāna to denote the mantric syllables from which deities and other divine objects are generated.

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "bīja." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "bīja." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-bja.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "bīja." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-bja.html

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Bīja

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Bīja (Skt., ‘seed, potency’). In both Hinduism and Buddhism, the latent power underlying every manifest appearance. In particular, bīja is the power concentrated in a symbolic sound, which a guru has learnt in experience, and which he passes on to a pupil in a bīja mantra (seed syllable). An aspect of the absolute reality is thus concentrated in the mantra.

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JOHN BOWKER. "Bīja." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Bīja." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Bja.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Bīja." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Bja.html

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