{{short description|Buddhist meditative practices}} {{For|the Hindu term|Vichara (Hinduism)}} {{Buddhist term | fontsize=100% | title=Vitarka | pi= vitakka | sa= वितर्क | my= ဝိစာရ | en= thought{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=39}}<br/>applied thought{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}}<br/>inquiry{{sfn|Wayman|1997|p=48}}<br/>initial inquiry{{sfn|Sangpo|Dhammajoti|2012|p=2413}}<br/>applied attention{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}}<br/>initial mental application{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}}<br/>initial intellectual investigative intent{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}}<br/>reflection{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=39}} | bo= རྟོག་པ། | bo-Latn=[[Wylie transliteration|Wylie]]: rtog pa; <br />[[THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription|THL]]: tokpa | zh=尋 (T) / 寻 (S) | ja=尋 | ja-Latn=jin | ko=심 | ko-Latn=sim | th=วิตก | th-Latn=witok |vi=Tầm (tìm)|id=penempelan awal{{Sfn|Kheminda|2019|p=6}}{{br}}penempatan awal pikiran{{Sfn|Kusaladhamma|2022|p=518}}}} {{Buddhist term | fontsize=100% | title=Vicāra | pi= vicāra | sa= vicāra, विचार | en= examination{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=39}}<br/>investigation{{sfn|Wayman|1997|p=48}}{{sfn|Sangpo|Dhammajoti|2012|p=2413}}<br/>subsequent discursive reasoning and thought{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}}<br/>investigating what has been focused on by ''vitakka''{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}} | bo= དཔྱོད་པ། | bo-Latn=[[Wylie transliteration|Wylie]]: dpyod pa; <br />[[THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription|THL]]: chöpa | zh=伺 (T) / 伺 (S) | ja=伺 | ja-Latn=shi | ko=사 | ko-Latn=sa | th=วิจาร | th-Latn=wichan |vi=Tứ (Hán Việt): dò xét|id=penempelan terus-menerus{{Sfn|Kheminda|2019|p=6}}{{br}} penempatan sinambung pikiran{{Sfn|Kusaladhamma|2022|p=518}}}}{{Cetasika|occasional}} In [[Buddhism]], '''''vitarka''''' ({{script|Deva|वितर्क}}; {{langx|pi|𑀯𑀺𑀢𑀓𑁆𑀓|vitakka}}; {{bo|t=རྟོག་པ།|w=rtog pa|s=tokpa}}), "applied thought,"{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}}(initial) inquiry,"{{sfn|Wayman|1997|p=48}}{{sfn|Sangpo|Dhammajoti|2012|p=2413}} and '''''vicāra''''' ({{script|Deva|विचार}} and {{script|Brah|𑀯𑀺𑀘𑀸𑀭}}; {{bo|t=དཔྱོད་པ།|w=dpyod pa|s=chöpa}}), "investigating what has been focused on by ''vitakka'',{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}} are qualities or elements of the first ''[[Dhyana in Buddhism|dhyāna]]'' or ''jhāna''.
In the [[Pali canon]], ''Vitakka-vicāra'' form one expression, which refers to directing one's thought or attention on an object (''vitarka'') and investigating it (''vicāra''),{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89, 116}}{{sfn|Rhys-Davids|Stede|1921–25}}{{sfn|Guenther|Kawamura|1975|p=Kindle Locations 1030-1033}}{{sfn|Kunsang|2004|p=30}}{{sfn|Berzin|2006}} "breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it [and] distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=116}}
The later Theravada commentarial tradition, as represented by [[Buddhaghosa]]'s [[Visuddhimagga]], interprets ''vitarka'' and ''vicāra'' as the initial and sustained application of attention to a meditational object, which culminates in the stilling of the mind. According to Fox and Bucknell ''vitarka-vicāra'' may also refer to "the normal process of discursive thought," which is quieted through absorption in the second ''jhāna''.{{sfn|Fox|1989|p=82}}{{sfn|Bucknell|1993|p=375-376}}
==Etymology== ''Vitarka'' ([[Sanskrit]]: वितर्क ) - "thoughts,"{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2003|p=56-57}}{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} "applied thought,"<ref>[[Visuddhimagga]] ( IV, 88)</ref>{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} "applied attention,"{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} "inquiry,"{{sfn|Wayman|1997|p=48}} "initial inquiry,"{{sfn|Sangpo|Dhammajoti|2012|p=2413}} "initial mental application, or initial intellectual investigative intent."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}} Its roots are: * वि ''vi'', a prefix to verbs and nouns it expresses; * तर्क ''tarka'', "reasoning, inquiry."<ref>Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit, [http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95&direct=au ''tarka'']</ref> ''Vitarka'' may refer to mental activities that are manifest both in normal consciousness and in the first stage of ''dhyana''.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} According to Buswel and Lopez, in general, it means "thought," "applied thought," or "distracted thoughts."{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, "In the Suttas, the word Vittaka is often used in the loose sense of thought, but in the Abhidhamma it is used in a precise technical sense to mean the mental factor that mounts or directs the mind towards an object."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2003|p=56-57}}
''Vicāra'' ([[Sanskrit]]: विचार) - "investigation,"{{sfn|Wayman|1997|p=48}}{{sfn|Sangpo|Dhammajoti|2012|p=2413}} "subsequent discursive reasoning and thought, i.e., investigating what has been focused on by ''vitakka''."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}} Its roots are: * वि ''vi'', a prefix to verbs and nouns it expresses; * चर् ''car'', to move, roam, obtain knowledge of <ref>{{cite book|title=the Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary|author=V.S.Apte|publisher=Digital Dictionaries Of South Asia|page=1422|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=apte&query=%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|archive-date=2016-01-19|access-date=2018-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119220651/http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=apte&query=%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|url-status=dead}}</ref> * The term is cognate with the Tamil vicāram (Tamil: விசாரம்; [ʋitɕaːɾɐm]), which similarly denotes philosophical inquiry or investigation, and is related to the modern Tamil term for a legal or formal inquiry, vicāraṇai (விசாரணை; [ʋitɕaːɾɐɳaɪ]).
''Vitarka'' investigates things roughly, while ''[[vicāra]]'' investigates things exactly.{{sfn|Rhys-Davids|Stede|1921–25}}{{sfn|Guenther|Kawamura|1975|p=Kindle Locations 1030-1033}}{{sfn|Kunsang|2004|p=30}}{{sfn|Berzin|2006}} According to [[Dan Lusthaus]], it is "subsequent discursive reasoning and thought, i.e., investigating what has been focused on by ''vitakka''."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=89}}
==Mental factors in meditation== {{main|Dhyāna in Buddhism#The rūpa jhānas|l1 = Rūpa jhānas}} {{JhanaFactors}}
''Vitarka'' and ''vicāra'' are two of the [[Mental factors (Buddhism)|mental factors]] (''cetasika'') present during the first ''dhyāna'' (Pali: ''jhāna''), and which are absent in the higher jhanas.{{sfn|Bucknell|1993}}{{sfn|Keown|2004|p=333}} According to Shankman, "two distinct meanings are suggested [...] one indicating mental activities such as thinking, reflecting, and so on, and the other referring to the mental activity of connecting and sustaining the attention on a meditation object."{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=39}}
===Investigation=== According to [[Dan Lusthaus]], ''vitarka-vicāra'' is analytic scrutiny, a form of ''[[Prajñā (Buddhism)|prajna]]''. It "involves focusing on [something] and then breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it, "distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event."{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=116}}
According to Polak, in the [[Pali Canon]] ''vitarka'' and ''vicāra'' are mostly related to thinking about the sense-impressions, which [[Pratityasamutpada|give rise]] to further egoistical thought and action.{{sfn|Polak|2011}} The stilling of this thinking fits into the Buddhist training of sense-withdrawal and right effort, culminating in the equanimity and mindfulness of ''dhyana''-practice.{{sfn|Polak|2011}}{{sfn|Arbel|2017}}
In [[Tibetan Buddhism]], Ulrich Timme Kragh explains ''vitarka'' (discernment) and ''vicāra'' (discursiveness), as understood by the ''[[Yogacarabhumi-sastra|Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra]],'' thus: discernment is "the cognitive operation that is responsible for ascertaining what is perceived by the senses by initially labeling it with a name", while discursiveness is "the subsequent conceptual operation of deciding whether the perceived sense-object is desirable and what course of action one might want to take in relation to it".<ref>Ulrich Timme Kragh (editor), ''The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners'': ''The Buddhist Yogācārabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaptation in India, East Asia, and Tibet, Volume 1'' Harvard University, Department of South Asian studies, 2013, p. 72.</ref>
According to Naichen, in [[Mahayana Buddhism]], "''Samādhi'' with general examination and specific [[Dhamma vicaya|in-depth investigation]] means getting rid of the [[Five hindrances|not virtuous dharmas]], such as greedy desire and hatred, to stay in joy and pleasure caused by nonarising, and to enter the first meditation and fully dwell in it."{{sfn|Chen|2017}}
===Commentatorial tradition=== According to Stuart-Fox, the Abhidhamma separated ''vitarka'' from ''vicāra'', and ''[[ekaggatā]]'' (onepointedness) was added to the description first ''jhāna'' to give an equal number of five hindrances and five antidotes.{{sfn|Fox|1989|p=85-87}} The commentarial tradition regards the qualities of the first ''jhāna'' to be antidotes to the five hindrances, and ''ekaggatā'' may have been added to the first ''jhāna'' to give exactly five anti-dotes for the five hindrances.{{sfn|Fox|1989}}{{refn|group=note|Stuart-Fox further notes that ''vitarka'', being discursive thought, will do very little as an anti-dote for sloth and torpor, reflecting the inconsistencies which were introduced by the scholastics.{{sfn|Fox|1989}}}}
While initially simply referring to thought, which is present at the onset of ''dhyāna'', the terms ''vitarka'' and ''vicāra'' were re-interpreted by the developing Abhidharma and commentarial tradition. In Theravāda, ''vitarka'' is one of the mental factors that apprehend the quality of an object. It is the "initial application of attention"{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=983}} or the mind to its object,{{sfn|Keown|2004|p=333}} while ''vicāra'' is the sustained application of the mind on an object.{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2003|p=56-57}} ''Vitarka'' is regarded in the Theravāda tradition as an antidote for ''[[thina-middha]]'' (sloth and torpor), one of the [[five hindrances]].{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2003|p=56-57}}
===Normal process of discursive thought=== According to Roderick S. Bucknell, "''vitakka-vicāra'', the factor that particularly characterizes the first jhāna, is probably nothing other than the normal process of discursive thought, the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of [[mental imagery]] and verbalization".{{sfn|Bucknell|1993}}{{refn|group=note|Bucknell refers to:<br>* Martin Stuart-Fox, "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 12.2 (1989): 79-110<br>* Paul Griffiths, "Buddhist Jhana: A form-critical study," Religion 13 (1983): 55-68.<br><br>See also [[Bhante Sujato]], [https://sujato.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/why-vitakka-doesnt-mean-thinking-in-jhana/ ''Why vitakka doesn’t mean ‘thinking’ in jhana'']}}
Martin Stuart-Fox explains, referring to Rhys Davids and Stede, when ''vitarka-vicāra'' are mentioned in tandem, they are one expression, "to cover ''all'' varieties of thinking, including sustained and focused thought. It is thinking in this inclusive sense that the meditator suppresses through concentration when he attains one-ness of mind and thus moves from first to second ''jhāna''".{{sfn|Fox|1989|p=82}}
===Yogacara=== The [[Yogacara]] term ''[[Yogachara#Transformations of consciousness|manas]]'' means both "intentionality"{{sfn|Zhu|2005}} or 'self-centered thinking',{{sfn|Kalupahana|1992|p=138-140}} and "discriminative thinking" (''[[Nirvikalpa|vikalpa]]''). The process of meditation aims at "non-thinking," stopping both these cognitive processes.{{sfn|Zhu|2005}}
==Vitarka Mudrā== [[File:VitarkaMudra.JPG|thumb|right|238px|Vitarka mudrā, [[Tarim Basin]], 9th century]] The ''Vitarka mudrā'', "[[mudra]] of discussion," expresses ''vitarka,'' joining the tips of the thumb and the index together, and keeping the other fingers straight. This mudra has a great number of variants in [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna Buddhism]], and is also known as ''{{IAST|Prajñāliṅganabhinaya}}'' and ''Vyākhyāna mudrā'' ("mudra of explanation"). The ''Vitarka mudrā'' is thought to symbolize teaching and instruction and is associated with significant moments in the Buddha's life, such as his first discourse on the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the miracle at [[Sravasti]], where he revealed his divine form. Initially depicted with the right hand, since the 8th century CE, it has also been represented using the left hand.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ghori |first1=Ahmer K. |last2=Chung |first2=Kevin C. |date=2007 |title=Interpretation of Hand Signs in Buddhist Art |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0363502307003498 |journal=The Journal of Hand Surgery (American Volume) |language=en |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=918–922 |doi=10.1016/j.jhsa.2007.03.006|pmid=17606078 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==See also== * [[Mental factors (Buddhism)]] * [[Sananda Samadhi]]
==Notes== {{reflist|group=note|35em}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
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==External links== Mahāyāna tradition: * [http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/rtog_pa Ranjung Yeshe wiki entry for ''rtog pa'']
Theravāda tradition: * [https://archive.today/20130505104141/http://www.zolag.co.uk/Cetasikas/html_node/Applied-thinking-and-Sustained-thinking.html%23Applied-thinking-and-Sustained-thinking#Applied-thinking-and-Sustained-thinking ''Applied thinking and sustained thinking'', Nina van Gorkom] * [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:1489.pali Definition of vitakka, Pali Text Society, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708170643/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:1489.pali |date=2012-07-08 }}
[[Category:Meditation]] [[Category:Mental factors in Buddhism]]