BEING IN BUDDHISM
QUESTION:
Please list for me all the original terms the Buddha used in early scripture that stand for “being.” Indicate the different shades of meaning for each, along with the contexts for each. In particular, single out from these terms that are used in a positive sense; in relation to the possession or acquisition of a solid core or essence or center.
GEMINI:
The Buddha used a precise vocabulary to distinguish between the "being" who is drifting mechanically in samsara and the "being" who has forged an unshakable inner center.
Since you are looking for parallels to the Gurdjieffian concept of "crystallization"—the acquisition of a solid core or essence—you will find the Positive/Constructive terms below most relevant. These terms (Group 2) refer to a state where the scattered "many I's" have been unified into a singular, cultivated will.
Group 1: The Raw Material (Neutral or Negative)
These terms describe the ordinary state of existence: fluid, changing, and often defined by attachment.
1. Satta (Sanskrit: Sattva)
Literal Meaning: Being, creature, living thing.
Nuance: The Buddha often glossed this word via a pun on the verb sanjati (to cling or stick). When asked "Why is one called a 'being' (satta)?", he replied: "Because one is stuck (satta) and clinging to desire... therefore one is called a being."
Context: Used for ordinary, unenlightened beings who are trapped by their own attachments. It implies a lack of freedom; one is "stuck" in the machine of samsara.
2. Bhava (Sanskrit: Bhava)
Literal Meaning: Becoming, existence, state of being.
Nuance: This is active existence. It is not a static state but a process of becoming something else based on craving.
Context: usually negative or diagnostic (e.g., bhava-tanha, the craving to "become"). In Gurdjieffian terms, this is the constant flux of the "man-machine" reacting to stimuli, perpetually "becoming" angry, happy, or sad without any permanent center.
3. Puggala (Sanskrit: Pudgala)
Literal Meaning: Person, individual.
Nuance: The "functional person." While the Buddha denied an eternal, changeless soul (atman), he used puggala to talk about the character, the moral agent, or the specific individual who takes rebirth.
Context: Used in lists of types of people (e.g., "The person who torments himself," "The person of integrity").
Group 2: The Acquired Center (Positive/Solid)
These are the terms you are looking for. They describe a being who has undergone "self-creation" or "cultivation" (bhavana). These terms suggest that while a metaphysical soul is denied, a functional, fortified center is absolutely required for liberation.
4. Bhāvitatta (Sanskrit: Bhāvitātman)
Literal Meaning: "Cultivated Self" or "Developed Self."
Etymology: Bhāvita (developed/cultivated) + Attā (self).
The "Solid Core" Nuance: This is perhaps the closest Pāli equivalent to a "crystallized" being. It refers to someone whose body, virtue, mind, and wisdom have been fully developed. They are not a "raw" human anymore; they have been "cooked" or processed by the Dhamma.
Context: "He is a bhāvitatta (developed self)... he dwells with a mind that is immeasurable." It implies a self that is no longer fragile or reactive but has mass and gravity.
5. Pahitatta (Sanskrit: Prahitātman)
Literal Meaning: "Self-sent" or "Resolute Self."
Nuance: A being who has "sent" or directed their attā (self/mind) toward a single aim (Nirvana). It implies total unification of will. The "many I's" are gone; there is only one "I" directed at the goal.
Context: Used to describe the ardent meditator: "Energetic, with a resolute self (pahitatta)."
6. Attā-dīpa (Sanskrit: Ātma-dvīpa)
Literal Meaning: "Self as Island" or "Self as Lamp" (the word dīpa means both).
Nuance: Radical self-reliance. This term appears in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. The Buddha tells Ananda not to look for an external savior but to make his own "self" (attā) an island of safety in the flood of samsara.
Context: "Be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves... seeking no external refuge." This is the command to form an inner center that cannot be washed away by external shocks.
7. Brahmabhūta (Sanskrit: Brahmabhūta)
Literal Meaning: "Become Brahma" or "Become Divine."
Nuance: The term Brahma here implies "best," "excellent," or "sublime." It does not mean merging with a Godhead, but rather that the human being has transformed into the embodiment of the Holy.
Context: Used for the Arahant or Buddha. They have not just "improved"; they have become the Dhamma itself. "He is Dhamma-become (dhammabhūta), Brahma-become (brahmabhūta)."
8. Sāra (Sanskrit: Sāra)
Literal Meaning: Heartwood, pith, essence, core.
Nuance: The Buddha often used the analogy of a tree. The outer bark and twigs are the superficial personality (ethics, concentration). The Sāra is the hard heartwood at the center (Liberation/Wisdom).
Context: "He who takes the unessential to be essential (asāre sāramatino)... never finds the essence." The goal of the path is to locate and become the Sāra—the solid, unrotting core.
Group 3: The Unshakable State (Crystallized)
9. Tādi (The "Such" One)
Literal Meaning: "Like that," "Such," or "Unshakable."
Nuance: A term for the Arahant. It means one who is stable, constant, and "such" regardless of the "eight worldly winds" (gain/loss, fame/disrepute, etc.).
Context: A mountain of solid rock. "Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise or blame." The Tādi is the man who cannot be moved—Gurdjieff’s "Man No. 7."
10. Thita (Stable/Firm)
Literal Meaning: Standing, firm, established.
Nuance: Used to describe the consciousness of an enlightened being which no longer "growls" or moves toward objects.
Context: "His mind is firm (thita), attained to imperturbability."
Summary for your Blog/Practice
If you are writing on the higher bodies, Bhāvitatta (The Developed Self) is your bridge. It confirms that while the "ego" is a delusion to be dissolved, the "system" must be cultivated into a stable, reliable vehicle (Attā-dīpa) capable of holding the "weight" of enlightenment.
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