Bodhisattva
| Part of a series on Buddhism
|
|
History |
| Dharma or Concepts Four Noble Truths |
| Practices Three Jewels |
|
Traditions · Canons |
|
Countries and Regions |
|
Related topics |
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Sanskrit: बोधिसत्त्व, IAST: bodhisattva; Bengali: বোধিসত্ত্ব, Bodhishotto, Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་; Wylie: byang chub sems dpa; Burmese: ဗောဓိသတ် Bawdithat; Indonesian: Bodhisatwa; Vietnamese: Bồ Tát; Pali: बोधिसत्त, bodhisatta; Thai: โพธิสัตว์, phothisat; Japanese: 菩薩, bosatsu; simplified Chinese: 菩萨; traditional Chinese: 菩薩; pinyin: púsà) is either an enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva) or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi)." Another term is "wisdom-being."[1] It is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.[2]
The bodhisattva is a popular subject in Buddhist art.
Contents |
The bodhisattva in Theravāda Buddhism
The term "bodhisatta" (Pāli language) was used by the Buddha in the Pāli canon to refer to himself both in his previous lives and as a young man in his current life, prior to his enlightenment, in the period during which he was working towards his own liberation. When, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase "When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta..." The term therefore connotes a being who is "bound for enlightenment", in other words, a person whose aim is to become fully enlightened. In the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement and delusion. Some of the previous lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jātaka tales.
In the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta Siddhartha Gotama is described thus:[3]
before my Awakening, when I was an unawakened bodhisatta, being subject myself to birth, sought what was likewise subject to birth. Being subject myself to aging... illness... death... sorrow... defilement, I sought [happiness in] what was likewise subject to illness... death... sorrow... defilement.—Ariyapariyesana Sutta
While Maitreya (Pāli: Metteya) is mentioned in the Pāli canon, he is not referred to as a bodhisattva, but simply the next fully awakened Buddha to come into existence long after the current teachings of the Buddha are lost.
In later Theravāda literature, the term "bodhisatta" is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. The later tradition of commentary also recognizes the existence of two additional types of bodhisattas: the paccekabodhisatta who will attain Paccekabuddhahood, and the savakabodhisatta who will attain enlightenment as a disciple of a Buddha. According to the Theravāda teacher Bhikkhu Bodhi the bodhisattva path was not taught by Buddha [2].
Theravadin bhikku and scholar Walpola Rahula (Sri Rahula Maha Thera) has stated that the bodhisattva ideal has traditionally been held to be higher than the state of a śrāvaka not only in Mahāyāna, but also in Theravāda Buddhism. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV (956-972 CE) who had the words inscribed "none but the bodhisattvas would become kings of Sri Lanka", among other examples.[4]
There is a wide-spread belief, particularly in the West, that the ideal of the Theravada, which they conveniently identify with Hinayana, is to become an Arahant while that of the Mahayana is to become a Bodhisattva and finally to attain the state of a Buddha. It must be categorically stated that this is incorrect. This idea was spread by some early Orientalists at a time when Buddhist studies were beginning in the West, and the others who followed them accepted it without taking the trouble to go into the problem by examining the texts and living traditions in Buddhist countries. But the fact is that both the Theravada and the Mahayana unanimously accept the Bodhisattva ideal as the highest.—Walpola Rahula, Bodhisattva Ideal in Buddhism
The bodhisattva in Mahāyāna Buddhism
Mahāyāna Buddhism, on the other hand, regards the bodhisattva as a person who already has attained enlightenment and seeks to use their wisdom to help other sentient beings to become liberated. In this understanding of the concept, the bodhisattva is an already wise person who uses skillful means to lead others to see the benefits of morality and the cultivation of wisdom.
The Mahāyāna encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections.[5] Indelibly entwined with the bodhisattva vow is merit transference (pariṇāmanā).
In Mahāyāna Buddhism life in this world is compared to people living in a house that is on fire[6]. People take this world as reality pursuing worldly projects and pleasures without realising that the house is on fire and will soon burn down (due to the inevitability of death). A bodhisattva is one who has a determination to free sentient beings from samsara and its cycle of death, rebirth and suffering. This type of mind is known as the mind of awakening (bodhicitta). Bodhisattvas take bodhisattva vows in order to progress on the spiritual path towards buddhahood.
There are a variety of different conceptions of the nature of a bodhisattva in Mahāyāna. According to some Mahāyāna sources a bodhisattva is someone on the path to full Buddhahood. Others speak of bodhisattvas renouncing Buddhahood. According to the Kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung, a bodhisattva can choose any of three paths to help sentient beings in the process of achieving buddhahood. They are:
- king-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to become buddha as soon as possible and then help sentient beings in full fledge;
- boatman-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to achieve buddhahood along with other sentient beings and
- shepherd-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to delay buddhahood until all other sentient beings achieve buddhahood. Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara and Śāntideva are believed to fall in this category.
According to the doctrine of some Tibetan schools (like Theravāda but for different reasons), only the first of these is recognized. It is held that Buddhas remain in the world, able to help others, so there is no point in delay. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso notes:[7]
In reality, the second two types of bodhichitta are wishes that are impossible to fulfill because it is only possible to lead others to enlightenment once we have attained enlightenment ourself. Therefore, only king-like bodhichitta is actual bodhichitta. Je Tsongkhapa says that although the other Bodhisattvas wish for that which is impossible, their attitude is sublime and unmistaken.
The Nyingma school, however, holds that the lowest level is the way of the king, who primarily seeks his own benefit but who recognizes that his benefit depends crucially on that of his kingdom and his subjects. The middle level is the path of the boatman, who ferries his passengers across the river and simultaneously, of course, ferries himself as well. The highest level is that of the shepherd, who makes sure that all his sheep arrive safely ahead of him and places their welfare above his own.[8] East Asian doctrinal traditions also tend to emphasize the second and/or third, the idea of deliberately refraining from becoming a Buddha for others' sake.
According to many traditions within Mahāyāna Buddhism, on the way to becoming a Buddha, a bodhisattva proceeds through ten, or sometimes fourteen, grounds or bhūmis. Below is the list of the ten bhūmis and their descriptions according to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, a treatise by Gampopa, an influential teacher of the Tibetan Kagyu school. (Other schools give slightly variant descriptions.)
Before a bodhisattva arrives at the first ground, he or she first must travel the first two of the five paths:
- the path of accumulation
- the path of preparation
The ten grounds of the bodhisattva then can be grouped into the next three paths
- bhūmi 1 the path of insight
- bhūmis 2-7 the path of meditation
- bhūmis 8-10 the path of no more learning
The chapter of ten grounds in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra refers to 52 stages. The 10 grounds are:
- Great Joy
- It is said that being close to enlightenment and seeing the benefit for all sentient beings, one achieves great joy, hence the name. In this bhūmi the bodhisattvas practice all perfections (pāramitās), but especially emphasizing generosity (dāna).
- Stainless
- In accomplishing the second bhūmi, the bodhisattva is free from the stains of immorality, therefore, this bhūmi is named "stainless". The emphasized perfection is moral discipline (śīla).
- Luminous
- The third bhūmi is named "luminous", because, for a bodhisattva who accomplishes this bhūmi, the light of Dharma is said to radiate for others from the bodhisattva. The emphasized perfection is patience (kṣānti).
- Radiant
- This bhūmi is called "radiant", because it is said to be like a radiating light that fully burns that which opposes enlightenment. The emphasized perfection is vigor (vīrya).
- Very difficult to train
- Bodhisattvas who attain this bhūmi strive to help sentient beings attain maturity, and do not become emotionally involved when such beings respond negatively, both of which are difficult to do. The emphasized perfection is meditative concentration (dhyāna).
- Obviously Transcendent
- Gone afar
- Particular emphasis is on the perfection of skilful means (upāya), to help others.
- Immovable
- The emphasized virtue is aspiration.
- This, the "immovable" bhūmi, is the bhūmi at which one becomes able to choose his place of rebirth.
- Good Discriminating Wisdom
- The emphasized virtue is power.
- Cloud of dharma
- The emphasized virtue is the practice of primordial wisdom.
After the ten bhūmis, according to Mahāyāna Buddhism, one attains complete enlightenment and becomes a Buddha.
With the 52 stages, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra in East Asia recognizes 57 stages. With the 10 grounds, various Vajrayāna schools recognize 3–10 additional grounds,[9] mostly 6 more grounds with variant descriptions.[10]
A bodhisattva above the 7th ground is called a mahāsattva. Some bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra are also said to have already attained buddhahood.[11]
Some sutras said a beginner would take 3–22 countless eons (mahāsaṃkhyeya kalpas) to become a buddha.[12][13][14] Pure Land Buddhism suggests buddhists go to the pure lands to practice. Tiantai, Huayan, Zen and Vajrayāna schools say they teach ways to attain buddhahood within one karmic cycle.[15][16]
Various traditions within Buddhism believe in specific bodhisattvas. Some bodhisattvas appear across traditions, but due to language barriers may be seen as separate entities. For example, Tibetan Buddhists believe in various forms of Chenrezig, who is Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, Guanyin (Kwan-yin or Kuan-yin) in China and Korea, Quan Am in Vietnam, and Kannon (formerly spelled and pronounced: Kwannon) in Japan. Many followers of Tibetan Buddhism consider the 14th Dalai Lama and the Karmapa to be an incarnation of that same bodhisattva Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Jizo or Ti Tsang (Kṣitigarbha in Sanskrit) is another popular bodhisattva in Japan and China. He is known for aiding those who are lost. His greatest compassionate vow is:
If I do not go to the hell to help the suffering beings there, who else will go? ... if the hells are not empty I will not become a Buddha. Only when all living beings have been saved, will I attain Bodhi.
The place of a bodhisattva's earthly deeds, such as the achievement of enlightenment or the acts of dharma, is known as a bodhimanda, and may be a site of pilgrimage. Many temples and monasteries are famous as bodhimandas; for instance, the island of Putuoshan, located off the coast of Ningbo, is venerated by Chinese Buddhists as the bodhimanda of Avalokiteśvara. Perhaps the most famous bodhimanda of all is the bodhi tree under which Śākyamuṇi achieved buddhahood.
Important Bodhisattvas
- Avalokiteśvara
- Mañjuśrī
- Samantabhadra
- Kṣitigarbha
- Maitreya
- Vajrapāṇi
- Sadaparibhuta
- Guan Yin
- Akasagarbha
Teaching story
Pollock (2005): p. 43) provides a teaching story that evocatively describes the "nature of a bodhisattva" and mentions circumambulation (Tibetan: skor-ba):
The nature of the Bodhisattva is apparent from a teaching story in which three people are walking through a desert. Parched and thirsty, they spy a high wall ahead. They approach and circumnavigate it, but it has no entrance or doorway. One climbs upon the shoulders of the others, looks inside, yells "Eureka" and jumps inside. The second then climbs up and repeats the actions of the first. The third laboriously climbs the wall without assistance and sees a lush garden inside the wall. It has cooling water, trees, fruit, etc. But, instead of jumping into the garden, the third person jumps back out into the desert and seeks out desert wanderers to tell them about the garden and how to find it. The third person is the Bodhisattva.[17]
See also
- Bodhisattva vows
- List of bodhisattvas
- Karuna (compassion in Sanskrit)
- Bodhicharyavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life)
- Vegetarianism in Buddhism
- Buddhist Ceremonies
- Archangel
Notes
- ↑ Coomaraswamy, Ananda (1975). Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism. Boston: University Books, Inc.. pp. 225.
- ↑ The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, page 1, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0
- ↑ "Ariyapariyesana Sutta". Access to Insight. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ↑ "Bodhisattva Ideal in Buddhism". Access to Insight. http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/ebdha126.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ↑ The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, pages 4-12, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0
- ↑ A simile from the Lotus Sutra
- ↑ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 422
- ↑ Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher," page 218, "The king's way, called 'arousing bodhicitta with the great wish,' is the least courageous of the three. The boatman's way, called 'arousing bodhicitta with sacred wisdom,' is more courageous. It is said that Lord Maitreya aroused bodhicitta in this way. The shepherd's way, called 'the arousing of bodhicitta beyond compare,' is the most courageous of all. It is said to be the way Lord Mañjuśrĩ aroused bodhicitta."
- ↑ 大圆满隆钦宁提派前行念诵文编一遍智妙道
- ↑ 大圆满心性休息颂
- ↑ 459 因地菩薩和果地菩薩
- ↑ 三大阿僧祇劫
- ↑ 成佛的目的是到每一個世界去度眾生.
- ↑ 即身成就與三大阿僧祇劫之修行
- ↑ 顯教與密教
- ↑ 「無諍之辯」導讀
- ↑ Pollock, Neal (2005). Practices Supporting Dzogchen: The Great Perfection of Tibetan Buddhism. Source: [1] (accessed: January 8, 2008)
References
- Gampopa; The Jewel Ornament of Liberation; Snow Lion Publications; ISBN 1-55939-092-1
- White, Kenneth R.; The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment: Including a Translation into English of Bodhicitta-sastra, Benkemmitsu-nikyoron, and Sammaya-kaijo; The Edwin Mellen Press, 2005; ISBN 0-7734-5985-5
- Lampert, K.; Traditions of Compassion: From Religious Duty to Social Activism. Palgrave-Macmillan; ISBN 1-4039-8527-8
- Buddhanet.net tstang text
- Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others, Tharpa Publications (2nd. ed., 1995) ISBN 978-0-948006-50-0
- Shantideva: Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: How to Enjoy a Life of Great Meaning and Altruism, a translation of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara with Neil Elliott, Tharpa Publications (2002) ISBN 978-0-948006-88-3
External links
- The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, all-in-one page with memory aids & collection of different versions.
- What A Bodhisattva Does: Thirty-Seven Practices by Ngulchu Thogme with slide show format.
- Access to Insight Library: Bodhi's Wheel409
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||