The evidence shows that: (1) \u201cBook of Dzyan\u201d is not the actual or proper name of the book in question; (2) of the two meanings given by Blavatsky, \u201cdzyan\u201d would be \u201cwisdom\/knowledge\u201d rather than \u201cmeditation\u201d; (3) therefore the \u201cBook of Dzyan\u201d is a generic name signifying only \u201cBook of Wisdom\u201d or \u201cBook of Knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. That \u201cBook of Dzyan\u201d is not the actual or proper name can be seen from this quotation from The Secret Doctrine<\/i> (vol. 1, p. xxii): \u201cThe Book of Dzyan (or \u2018Dzan\u2019) is utterly unknown to our Philologists, or at any rate was never heard of by them under its present name.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Blavatsky gives two meanings for the word \u201cdzyan.\u201d The most well-known one is \u201cmeditation,\u201d the meaning of the similar-looking Sanskrit word dhy\u0101na<\/i>. It is found in \u201cThe Secret Books of \u2018Lam-rim\u2019 and Dzyan\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 3, 1897, p. 405; Adyar edition, vol. 5, p. 389; Collected Writings<\/i>, vol. 14, p. 422):<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Book of Dzyan\u2014from the Sanskrit word \u201cDhy\u00e2na\u201d (mystic meditation)\u2014 . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
The other meaning given for \u201cdzyan\u201d is \u201cwisdom,\u201d or \u201cknowledge,\u201d the meaning of the similar-sounding Sanskrit word j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>. It is found in these places:<\/p>\n
(a) Footnote to Book of Dzyan* in her French article, \u201cNotes su \u00abL\u2019\u00c9sot\u00e9risme du Dogme Chr\u00e9tien\u00bb de M. l\u2019Abb\u00e9 Roca\u201d; English translation, \u201cNotes on Abb\u00e9 Roca\u2019s \u2018Esotericism of Christian Dogma\u2019\u201d (Collected Writings<\/i>, vol. 8, p. 361 fn.; p. 380 fn.):<\/p>\n
\u201c*Mot tib\u00e9tain, du mot sanscrit djnyana: sagesse occulte, connaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c*A Tibetan word, the Sanskrit J\u00f1\u00e2na, occult wisdom, knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
(b) In \u201c\u2018Reincarnations\u2019 of Buddha\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 3, 1897, p. 386; Adyar edition, vol. 5, p. 373; Collected Writings<\/i>, vol. 14, p. 400):<\/p>\n
\u201c. . . on the \u2018Path of Dzyan\u2019 (knowledge, wisdom).\u201d<\/p>\n
(c) In The Theosophical Glossary<\/i>, under \u201cDzyn or Dzyan<\/i> (Tib<\/i>.). Written also Dzen<\/i>.\u201d (p. 107):<\/p>\n
\u201cA corruption of the Sanskrit Dhyan<\/i> and Jn\u00e2na<\/i> (or gny\u00e2na<\/i> phonetically)\u2014Wisdom, divine knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last quotation, although defining dzyan as \u201cwisdom\u201d or \u201cdivine knowledge,\u201d gives as equivalents both the Sanskrit words, dhy\u0101na<\/i> (meaning \u201cmeditation\u201d) and j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>. In another place, she combines their two meanings when giving the meaning of \u201cdzyan\u201d (The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, vol. 1, p. 434):<\/p>\n
\u201cSays the Book of Dzyan (Knowledge through meditation)\u2014 . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the word \u201cdzyan\u201d cannot be the Tibetan equivalent of both the Sanskrit dhy\u0101na<\/i> and j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>. It must be one or the other. Fortunately, as noted in my 1983 book, The Books of Kiu-te<\/i> (pp. 46-47), we do not have to guess about this. Since dhy\u0101na<\/i> is translated into Tibetan as bsam gtan<\/i>, and j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> is translated into Tibetan as ye \u015bes<\/i>, \u201cdzyan\u201d is not a translation; it is a transliteration. Which one is made clear by the fact that when transliterating Sanskrit words into Tibetan, the Tibetan translators always transliterated the Sanskrit letter \u201cj\u201d as the Tibetan letter \u201cdz\u201d, even though Tibetan has a letter \u201cj\u201d of its own. Thus, Sanskrit j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> is transliterated into Tibetan as dz\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Then, as is well known, the word j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> is often pronounced gyana<\/i> in India. Thus, for example, we find a book on J\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> Yoga<\/i> titled Gyana Yoga<\/i>. The palatal \u201c\u00f1\u201d, a \u201cnya\u201d sound, disappears after the initial \u201cj\u201d, leaving a \u201cy\u201d sound. So phonetically, we now have dzy\u0101na<\/i>. Lastly, in North Indian pronunciation, a final short \u201ca\u201d is very frequently dropped. Thus, for example, the name Shiva Kumara is pronounced Shiv Kumar. So our dzy\u0101na<\/i> becomes dzy\u0101n<\/i>. This is a reasonably good phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit word j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> as transliterated into Tibetan letters, dzny\u0101na<\/i>, and then pronounced.<\/p>\n
The meaning, too, can only be one or the other. As we saw, \u201cwisdom\u201d or knowledge\u201d is given for \u201cdzyan\u201d by Blavatsky on three occasions. This is the meaning of j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>. On one occasion she gives \u201cmeditation,\u201d the meaning of dhy\u0101na<\/i>. In addition, she gives a combined definition, \u201cKnowledge through meditation.\u201d While j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i> no doubt most often arises through meditation, this is not part of its meaning. So where did Blavatsky get the meaning \u201cmeditation\u201d for \u201cdzyan\u201d? Apparently from Rev. Joseph Edkins. In The Secret Doctrine<\/i>, Blavatsky writes (vol. 1, p. xx and footnote):<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, the secret portions of the \u2018Dan<\/em>\u2019 or<\/em> <\/i>\u2018Jan-na<\/em>\u2019* (\u2018Dhyan<\/em>\u2019) of Gautama\u2019s metaphysics\u2014grand as they appear to one unacquainted with the tenets of the Wisdom Religion of antiquity\u2014are but a very small portion of the whole.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c*Dan<\/em>, now become in modern Chinese and Tibetan phonetics ch<\/em>\u2019an<\/em><\/i>, is the general term for the esoteric schools, and their literature. In the old books, the word Janna<\/i> is defined as \u2018to reform one\u2019s self by meditation and knowledge,\u2019 a second inner<\/em> birth. Hence Dzan, Djan<\/em> phonetically, the \u2018Book of Dzyan<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Compare Rev. Joseph Edkins, Chinese Buddhism<\/i>, 1880 (p. 129, fn.):<\/p>\n \u201cThe word Ch\u2019an<\/i> (in old Chinese, jan<\/i> and dan<\/i>), originally signifying \u2018resign,\u2019 had not the meaning to \u2018contemplate\u2019 (now its commonest sense), before the Buddhists adopted it to represent the Sanscrit term Dhyana<\/i>. The word in Chinese books is spelt in full jan-na<\/i>, and is explained, \u2018to reform one\u2019s self by contemplation or quiet thought.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Rev. Edkins further writes about what he called the esoteric schools, and their founder Bodhidharma (pp. 155-156):<\/p>\n \u201cHe became the chief founder of the esoteric schools, which were divided into five principal branches. The common word for the esoteric schools is dan<\/i>, the Sanscrit Dhyana<\/i>, now called in the modern sound given to the character, ch\u2019an<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Chinese word ch\u2019an<\/i> does indeed render the Sanskrit word dhy\u0101na<\/i>, \u201cmeditation,\u201d and this became the name of the school that made meditation primary, the Ch\u2019an school, which in turn became the Zen school in Japan. Rev. Edkins, writing with the scanty information available before 1880, for some reason called this school and its subdivisions the esoteric schools. This is apparently how Blavatsky associated the name dan<\/i> with the esoteric schools, and equated it with \u201cdzyan.\u201d But as we have seen, the other information given by Blavatsky shows that \u201cdzyan\u201d is from j\u00f1\u0101na<\/i>, not dhy\u0101na<\/i>.<\/p>\n 3. \u201cBook of Dzyan,\u201d then, is a generic name signifying only \u201cBook of Wisdom\u201d or \u201cBook of Knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The evidence shows that: (1) \u201cBook of Dzyan\u201d is not the actual or proper name of the book in question; (2) of the two meanings given by Blavatsky, \u201cdzyan\u201d would be \u201cwisdom\/knowledge\u201d rather than \u201cmeditation\u201d; (3) therefore the \u201cBook of Dzyan\u201d is a generic name signifying only \u201cBook of Wisdom\u201d or \u201cBook of Knowledge.\u201d 1. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-of-dzyan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":959,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions\/959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}