Avici Hell and wujian (無間) in the Cognitive Process: Observations on Some Technical Terms in the Jie to dao lun (*Vimuttimagga)

Abstract

The text Ji, tuAi dA o lA(1)n, or Chinese translation of *Vimuttimagga mentions the AvA << ci Hell all of a sudden in the section on the cognitive process. The problematic phrase wA(0)jiAn shA"ng AEuropidAnot signyA(1) (c"e-"c"Yeyae-yae degrees ci") has been interpreted in different ways by several scholars. Japanese scholars tend to skip the phrase, or regard the term AEuropidAnot signyA(1) as a typographic error. Given that we do not have an original text, however, the phrase needs to be understood as it is. In contrast, the English translation interprets the term wA(0)jiAn as a name of hell, and considers it as a synonym of AEuropidAnot signyA(1), namely the AvA << ci Hell. Even though the Chinese term wA(0)jiAn itself is usually understood as the AvA << ci Hell, namely, WA(0)jiAndAnot signyA(1) or AEuropidAnot signyA(1), of which the corresponding PAli is AvA << ci-niraya, it is not the case here since a hell as such has nothing to do with the cognitive process. Assuming that the term AEuropidAnot signyA(1) is not a typographic error, I propose to understand this problematic phrase as the simile in the sentence 'seven mind-moments [immediately proceed just as one who has performed] the Five Sins is reborn into the AvA << ci Hell [as soon as (s)he dies]'. The term wA(0)jiAn meaning 'no-gap' in the cognitive process section conveys that there is not any intermission between the successive mind-moments. In PAli perspectives, it implies that the successive mind-moments are in the proximity condition (anantara-paccaya). The Ji, tuAi dA o lA(1)n was likely to use a metaphor in order to set a rule for governing the cognitive process rather than making a specific technical term.