ASIAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES, 12, 2003, 2, 148-157 MIND OR HEART? ON TRANSLATING THE _ CHARACTER XIN [1] IN CHINESE BUDDHIST MAHÄYÄNA TEXTS INTO WESTERN LANGUAGES Jana B enická Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Countries of East Asia, Faculty of Philosophy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia The aim of this article is to shortly examine some implications of the term xin mind; hearl*etc in Chinese Buddhist texts (against the background of the main philosophical implications of Mahäyäna teachings as such), to show a primary danger of interpreting (or translating) this term (and other terms like essence, principle, One mind, etc.) as entities “inherently existing”, or as independent substances. The question whether to translate the Chinese character xin mind' heart' consciousness’ intentions, thoughts jnt0 English as “mind” or as “heart” has been raised by some Buddhologists, in my opinion, mainly (or perhaps only) due to attempts by some translators to interpret the term (a process indeed, expressed by this character) with the implications of some kind of substance, thus situating (or confining in this case) the process in spatial extension limits. Of course, the implications of the term substance itself can be examined from many different aspects, varying from one philosopher to another: Substance - as necessarily implying the assumption of itself being situated or extended in space - a linear space. In the Ethics, Spinoza defines substance as what is in itself, and is conceived through itself (while “attribute” is comprehended as that which intellect perceives of a substance as constituting its essence). Substance - can be comprehended as an “ontologically prior nature or characteristics”, the term “ontological” here conveying meanings like “basic” or “first in (a linear) time”. Or, as defined by Aristotle in his Categories, substance is that which is neither predictable ( “sayable ”) of anything nor present in anything as an aspect or property in it.1 1 One of the examples given by Aristotle illustrating his definitions is a horse. We can predi cate being a horse of something but not a horse. 148