Vikṣepa
Vikṣepa is a Buddhist and Hindu term that is translated as "distraction", "mental wandering", etc. In the Mahayana tradition, vikṣepa is defined as the mental motion or wandering towards an object which causes the inability to remain one-pointedly on a virtuous objective.
Vikṣepa is identified as:
- One of the twenty secondary unwholesome factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
- One of the attributes of Maya in advaita vedanta. Adi Sankara mentions in his Viveka Choodamani that Vikshepa is an effect of Rajo Guna.
Definitions
Mipham Rinpoche states:The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
Alexander Berzin explains: