緣
Từ Điển Thuật Ngữ Phật Học Hán Ngữ
pratyaya means conviction, reliance, but with Buddhists especially it means ‘a co-operating cause, the concurrent occasion of an event as distinguished from its proximate cause’. M.W. It is the circumstantial, conditioning, or secondary cause, in contrast with 因 hetu, the direct or fundamental cause. hetu is as the seed, pratyaya the soil, rain, sunshine, etc. To reason, conclude. To climb, lay hold of. The mind 能緣can reason, the objective is 所緣, the two in contact constitute the reasoning process. The four kinds of causes are 因緣; 次第緣; 緣緣, and 增上緣 q.v.