Guṇa

guṇa (T. yon tan ཡོན་ཏན་). Good qualities, virtue, knowledge, etc.

The Rangjung Yeshe wiki states:

1. attributes, good quality, excellence, taste, effect, virtue, accomplishment.
2. skill, ability. Syn ནུས་རྩལ་
3. medical term. secondary quality, capability, capabilities, talents, attainment, achievement.
4. valuable property.
5. learning, knowledge; education.
6. objects, properties.
7. praise. (positive) quality; qualities, capabilities, talents; knowledge; enlightened attributes. offering, a present, gift, offering, fee, benefit, to repay

Translating the term guṇa (T. yon tan) into English

As understood in the Mahayana tradition, there is no one single English term that captures the full meaning of the Sanskrit term guṇa (T. yon tan).

In the introduction to his translation of the Sakya Lekshé, John Davenport states:

Of central concern throughout this book is the subject of "yon tan," which we have translated in two ways, depending on the context. Often we use "good qualities," or "good personal qualities," and we also use "knowledge." At first glance, these may not appear to be equivalent terms in English, because our modern secularized notion of knowledge is usually that of acquired, practical, often career-oriented information or skills of one sort or another that enable us to perform some function, such as to program computers, fix cars, practice medicine or law. We also recognize that someone might be knowledgeable about some subject as a result of study or experience – again, the notion of acquired information.

The Tibetan term "yon tan," however, embraces a dynamic interrelationship between what is known, the knower, and the experience of knowing, and hence denotes that in the act or experience of knowing, the knower becomes characterized by qualities or attributes that are consistent with the nature of what is known. In the context of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist cultural heritage, knowledge most often refers to a penetrating inquiry into the nature of the self and the manner of existence. Therefore, becoming learned would imply not merely acquiring information about a given subject, for example, of the six perfections, but would also include becoming so deeply familiar with that knowledge through study, contemplation, and meditation that it becomes thoroughly internalized, allowing one gradually to acquire the "good qualities" of generosity, patience, enthusiastic perseverance, and so forth.

See also

• buddhaguṇa - enlightened qualities
• three gunas

Sources

• Sakya Pandita (2000), Ordinary Wisdom: Sakya Pandita's Treasury of Good Advice, translated by John T. Davenport, Boston: Wisdom . Archive version