Samudānītagotra
| Key Term | samudānītagotra |
|---|---|
| In Tibetan Script | ཡང་དག་པར་བསྒྲུབ་པའི་རིགས་ |
| Wylie Tibetan Transliteration | yang dag par bsgrub pa’i rigs |
| Devanagari Sanskrit Script | समुदानीतगोत्र |
| Romanized Sanskrit | samudānītagotra |
| Chinese Script | 習所成種性 |
| Chinese Pinyin | xí suǒ chéng zhǒng xìng |
| Japanese Transliteration | shūshushō |
| English Standard | lineage conditioned by habits |
| Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term | truly established lineage |
| Term Type | Noun |
| Source Language | Sanskrit |
| Basic Meaning | a disposition that is acquired, or accentuated, through past karmic actions |
| Has the Sense of | a potential that is developed through personal of habits of study, practice, and exposure to a particular vehicle of Buddhism |
| Definitions | |
| Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism |
In the Yogācāra school, a distinction is made between the indestructible, inherent “naturally endowed lineage” (prakrtisthagotra) and this changeable, continuously acquired “lineage conditioned by habits” (samudānītagotra). In contrast to the former, which predetermines a person’s orientation toward the two vehicles of either Mahäyäna or hInayäna, the latter allows for some leeway for personal adaptations and change through doctrinal study, practice, and exposure (these are what are meant by “habits”). According to this controversial Yogäcära tenet, whereas a person cannot effect change in terms of his highest spiritual potential and vehicular predisposition because of his “naturally endowed lineage,” he can nevertheless influence the speed with which he is able to attain enlightenment, and other extrinsic variations within his predetermined “lineage.” This flexibility is the lineage that is conditioned, and can be altered, by “habits.” Together and in contrast with the “naturally endowed lineage,” they are known as “the two lineages: intrinsic and acquired” (xingxi er [zhong] xing). |