1showorigin Posted May 12, 2010 at 10:16 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 at 10:16 AM I am trying to find a word that is big enough to cover the concept of heart, mind, will, and consciousness. Anyone has a clue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shi Tong Posted May 12, 2010 at 11:32 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 at 11:32 AM A word? What? One Chinese character? I think that's a big ask.. is there "one word" in English which means all these things? ;) Heart is an odd one, because I think you mean heart with a different kind of meaning than just "heart" as the pumpin muscle. 心 means heart.. 中心 mean centre, but only when you come to things like "信心 xìnxīn" when you get to words meaning more- this means self belief or confidence, as does "自心 zìxīn" (I think this is right.. someone might want to take another look at that!) Then you have "heart" things which are related to moods, like 担心 dānxīn (wooried), 关心 guānxīn (to take care of something) 忠心 zhōngxīn (loyal) Again, mind on it own is probably not what you're looking for, because this literally means brain.. 头脑 tóunǎo.. I think you're looking for something more like "精神" which means: "jīngshén spirit / mind / consciousness / thought / mental / psychological / essence"... will.... I'm not sure there is a really good translation I can put my finger on for this I'm afraid.. there are lots of words which are like a kind of will, but I'm not aware of one which has the same spiritual conotations you're trying to get at. consciousness: funny enough, I think 精神 is probably the best and/ or closest thing to conciousness. I think you're looking for very spiritual words for which I dont know if there are all very close translations for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doraemon Posted May 12, 2010 at 11:37 AM Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 at 11:37 AM Yeah, I think 精神 is probably the best word in your case. 意念 I also think is alright. It basically means an idea or consciousness but suggests some sort of will or perseverance as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1showorigin Posted May 13, 2010 at 01:24 AM Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 01:24 AM Sorry that I didn't make myself clear. I am actually looking for an English word to express "意" in Buddhist sutra. As it covers everything from will, mind, consciousness and 阿賴耶識,I find it difficult to find a word that encompasses all these meanings. For me, "spirit" is a word for "精神"？ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shi Tong Posted May 13, 2010 at 09:17 AM Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 09:17 AM The definition of yi4 is 意yì: idea / meaning / thought / to think / wish / desire / intention / to expect / to anticipate The definition of jing1shen2 is 精神 jīngshén: spirit / mind / consciousness / thought / mental / psychological / essence / gist So, how to translate 意 is a much harder question because 意 can be combined in too many ways to mean different things for so many different words: 意思 yìsi idea / opinion / meaning / wish / desire 意义 yìyì meaning / significance etc, etc, etc.... There isn't really one word in English to describe the word 意, so use all of the words above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted May 13, 2010 at 02:05 PM Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 02:05 PM I think "will" is probably the closest you'll get, and it more or less encompasses all the concepts you want. After all, "will" is a state of consciousness, and a product of the heart and mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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