The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2650 page)

Vimok
a
:

see
VIMOKKHA
.

 
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(P
li, ‘freedom’, ‘release’, ‘deliverance’). Freedom from suffering (
dukkha
), the goal of the Buddhist path. Canonical Buddhism distinguishes two kinds: freedom through understanding (pañña-vimutti) and freedom of mind (ceto-vimutti). The former means final release from suffering, the ending of rebirth,
nirv
na
, and is so named because it is brought about by understanding (
prajña
) which develops out of the practice of insight meditation (
vipassan
). The latter represents the qualified freedom from suffering which arises out of the practice of concentration meditation (
sam
dhi
), Ceto-vimutti can only become permanent and unshakeable (
akuppa
), synonymous with final release, if it is combined with paññ
vimutti, that is, if the meditator cultivates insight as well as concentration.

 
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(‘that which separates’). The rules which govern the
sa
gha
, and thus lives of Buddhist
bhikkhus
and bhikkun
s. It is one of the three parts (‘baskets’) of the
Tripi
aka
. It is divided into three parts:
Sutta Vibha
ga
(
S
travibha
ga
, also known as Vinayavibha
ga), which has incorporated an earlier disciplinary text,
Pratimok
a S
tra
: it thus becomes a statement and explication of the pratimok
a rules. The second part is
Skandhaka
(
Khandhaka
, ‘Chapters’, also called Vinayavastu), of more diverse materials, and itself divided into
Mah
vagga
(‘Greater Section’) and C
lavagga (‘Smaller Section’): in addition to rules governing rituals and communal occasions, e.g.
uposatha
,
vassa
, admission to the order,
schism
, it contains a partial biography of the
Buddha
and an account of the first two
Councils
; it also establishes the importance of
s
m