Non-abidance
In Buddhism, especially the Chan (Zen) traditions, non-abidance (in Sanskrit: apratiṣṭhita, with the a- prefix, {{abbr|lit.|literally}} ‘unlimited’, ‘unlocalized’Sanskrit-English Dictionary, by M. Monier William) refers to being unfixed and without dwelling.
Some schools of Buddhism, especially the Mahāyāna, consider apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa ("non-abiding cessation") to be the highest form of Buddhahood, more profound than pratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa, the ‘localized’, lesser form.A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003 According to Robert Buswell and Donald Lopez, apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa is the standard Mahayana view of Buddhahood, which enables them to freely return to samsara in order to help sentient beings, while still remaining in nirvāṇa and being a buddhaBuswell, Robert E; Lopez, Donald S. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism Princeton University press. Entry: apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa. via the usage of the nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya.
Term
Here, abideFrom wikt:abide: "To stay; to continue in a place; to remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to be left."
From wikt:abidance: The sense of 'continuance; dwelling' is older than 'compliance' (19th century). is used to translate pratiṣṭhita, meaning "to be contained in [a locale]" or "situated", from the prefix prati- ('towards', 'in the direction of') and ṣṭhita ('established', 'set up').The [http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=DI&beginning=0+&tinput=pratisthita+&trans=Translate&direction=AU Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary]
To translate pratiṣṭhita, Chinese Buddhists used zhù (住), literally "to reside, lodge, remain". Both wúsuǒzhù (無所住 'no means of staying') and wúzhù (無住 'not staying'){{cite book|last1=Soothill|first1=W.E.|authorlink1=William Edward Soothill|last2=Hodous|first2=Lewis|authorlink2=Lewis Hodous|title=A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279298|year=1937}} are used for apratiṣṭhita.
Sutras
The Diamond Sutra, a classic Buddhist text, is primarily concerned with the idea of non-abidance. The concept seems to have originated with the 1st-century Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, whose version of śūnyatā, or emptiness, entails that entities neither exist, nor do they not exist. The Platform Sutra relates how the spiritual patriarch Huineng attained sudden enlightenment after hearing his master Hongren reciting from the Diamond Sutra:{{quote|Responding to the non-abiding, yet generating the mind.
(應無所住，而生其心。 Yìng wúsuǒzhù, er sheng qi xin.){{Cite book | last =McRae | first =John | year =2000 | title =The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. Translated from the Chinese of Zongbao |publisher=Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research|location=Berkeley| url =http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Translations/PlatformSutra_McRaeTranslation.pdf |page=34}}}}
Huineng then responds that self-nature is intrinsically pure, cannot be generated or extinguished, is self-sufficient and capable of generating dharmas, though this response is absent in the older Dunhuang version of the text.{{cite journal|last=Schlütter|first=Morten|title=Transmission and Enlightenment in Chan Buddhism Seen Through the Platform Sūtra|journal=Chung-hwa Buddhist Journal|year=2007|issue=20|page=396|location=Taipei|url=http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/HistoricalZen/Transmission_and_Enlightenment.pdf}}
The scholar-monk Qisong (契嵩) also noted in his foreword of the Platform Sutra:
{{quote|
: The formless is the essence. (無相為體 wúxiang wei ti)
: Non-thought is the tenet. (無念為宗 wúnian wei zong)
: Non-abiding is the fundamental. (無住為本 wúzhù wei ben)}}
Non-abiding leads to prajñā (wisdom), as it enables one to consider that worldly issues are empty, so there is no point in retaliation or disputes.The Platform Sutra, chapter 4.
References
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