In the Chinese Buddhist canons, the character “xiang” （相）hasmany corresponding terms in Sanskirt such as lakṣaṇa, nimitta,ākāra, and liՉga, etc. This paper will use the Sankirt version of theMahāyānasūtrālaΥkāra to investigate the meaning of the termslakṣaṇa and nimitta. To begin with, the core meaning of the term lakṣaṇa implies “characteristic”; for example, Yogācāra schoolstates that all phenomena have three characteristics: pervasivelydiscriminated (parikalpita-lakṣaṇa), arising in dependence on other things (paratantra-lakṣaṇa) and completely perfected(pariniṣpanna-lakṣaṇa). On the other hand, nimitta has the meaning of “mark” and “cause”. “Mark” implies misinterpreteddelusion and is “pervasively discriminated”; but nimitta also implies deluded discrimination and is “arising in dependence on other things”. And cause implies “the cause of confusion”(bhrānti-nimitta). When the terms nimitta and hetu appear togetherto signify the meaning of cause, hetu refers to the most importantcause, “the direct internal causes that produce a result (hetu-pratyaya)” and can also be understood as the “material cause”, while nimitta refers to “the causes beyond direct motivation (adhipati-pratyaya)” that can be seen as the “efficient cause”
