nyi (gNyis)

two

Nyi is the number two in Tibetan. It occurs in a number of phrases in Buddhist teachings, such as:

• nyi nang (gNyis sNang) – dualism; dualistic perception / experience / phenomena / appearance; the dualitic way of perceiving; dualistic thought
• nyi tong (gNyis sTong) – voidness of subject & object; being empty of the two types of self, empty of perceiver and perceived; empty of duality
• nyi tong yeshé or nyi mèd yeshé (gNyis sTong ye shes or gnyis med ye shes) – nondual wisdom
• nyi du (gNyis bsDus) – samsara and nirvana
• nyi-mèd (gNyis med) – the third of the four naljors of Dzogchen sem-dé, usually translated as ‘nonduality’. Literally it means ‘not two’.