Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Session 3 · The same four moves, pointed at definitions

What a Definition Actually Is

性相、名相、事例 — the three-part test for whether a definition actually works
Before class: Sessions 1–2 — you'll be testing definitions with the same four moves.

Same toggle as before — every debate line below has both versions.

Part 1

The Puzzle

Try to define "bird" in one sentence before you read on.

Most people land on something like "an animal that flies." It sounds right — until you meet a bat, which flies beautifully and is not a bird at all, or a penguin, which is unmistakably a bird and cannot fly a single inch. The definition is simultaneously too wide (it lets bats in) and too narrow (it kicks penguins out).

This happens constantly with definitions people think are obvious — "a friend is someone who's always there for you," "art is anything beautiful," "a chair is something with four legs." Every one of these breaks the moment you go looking for the wrong sort of example. Monks built a formal three-part checklist specifically so this kind of thing gets caught before it ever reaches a real debate.

Part 2

The New IdeaEvery real definition has three working parts

Quick recap — the four replies haven't changed:

"So…""It follows that…" "That's not true.""The reason is not established." "That doesn't prove it.""There is no pervasion." "Yes, I agree.""I accept it."

What's new is what those moves get tested against. A real, working definition needs three separate pieces, checked together:

The Word名相 (mtshon bya)
The term being defined."Pot"
The Test性相 (mtshan nyid)
The defining character — true of it and nothing else."Bulbous-bellied, flat-bottomed, able to hold and carry water"
A Real Example事例 (mtshan gzhi)
An actual instance proving the definition isn't empty.That copper pot in the corner

Notice what killed "an animal that flies" as a definition of bird: the Test wasn't true of the Word and only the Word. It let in an outsider (the bat) and excluded a genuine member (the penguin). A working definition has to be exactly the right size — not one creature too wide, not one creature too narrow.

Part 3

Worked ExampleCatching a definition that's too wide

Challenger
"So, a bat is a bird, because it flies." "It follows that a bat is a bird, because it is a flying thing."
Testing the proposed definiens "flies" against an outside case.
Defender
"That doesn't prove it!" "There is no pervasion."
Flying is real (true reason) but doesn't force bird-hood — "flies" is too wide a Test.
Challenger
"So, that sparrow is a bird, because it is a feathered, egg-laying, warm-blooded creature — and that's a good Word, Test, and Example, all three." "It follows that the sparrow is a proper instance, because it fulfills the definiens: feathered, egg-laying, warm-blooded."
A properly sized Test — true of every bird, and only birds — checked against a real Example.
Defender
"Yes, I agree." "I accept it."
Word, Test, and a working Example all line up. This is what a real definition looks like.
Two ways a definition dies
  • Too wide. The Test is true of things that aren't the Word — "flies" lets bats masquerade as birds.
  • Too narrow. The Test excludes real members of the Word — "flies" would exile every penguin.
A preview, not a lesson yet

Next session's subject — cause and effect — turns out to be where the "same entity, different name" idea from Session 2 gets its first real payoff. Two words that look completely different, "product" and "impermanent thing," turn out to point at exactly the same set of things in the world.

Part 4

PracticeSame three-move check as always

1. "So, my armchair is not a chair, because it doesn't have four legs."
"That doesn't prove it!""There is no pervasion." — "four legs" was never the real Test for "chair" — plenty of real chairs have three legs, one pedestal, or none at all.
2. "So, whales are fish, because whales have gills."
"That's not true!""The reason is not established." — the reason itself is false: whales don't have gills. They're mammals with lungs, and surface to breathe air.
3. "So, this creature in the yard is a bird, because it has feathers, lays eggs, and is warm-blooded."
"Yes, I agree.""I accept it." — a properly-sized Test, true of that creature and only creatures like it.
Looking ahead

Session 4 — Cause and Effect

A rooster crows every morning right before the sun rises. Did the rooster cause the sunrise? Session 4 builds the test for telling a real cause from a reliable coincidence — and cashes in the "same thing, different name" idea from Session 2 on its very first real example.

← Course overview Session 4 →