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[Full title: 3.1: The concept of 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 Buddhism (b): The Bodhisattva Ideal]

The key teachings in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 revolve around the idea of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is a saint like individual who has advanced along the way of cultivation. Instead of deciding to move on to the final extinction of 狈颈谤惫腻峁嘺, the Bodhisattva decides to remain in the world of samsara, of constant rebirth, in order to help others achieve enlightenment. The Bodhisattva is motivated by a strong sense of compassion (karuna), and compassion is the primary religious emotion stressed in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 writings. In juxtaposition is wisdom (辫谤补箩帽腻). The Bodhisattva must develop karuna and 辫谤补箩帽腻 equally during the cultivation process.

As the religious way of salvation for all sentient being, Buddhism holds the appropriate vehicle (测腻苍补) to carry them from this sorrowful earthly existence to the yonder shore. ^[1] The first possibility of salvation is provided by the vehicle of the 鈥渉earers鈥� (蝉谤腻惫补办补). Hearers who comprehend the Buddha鈥檚 teaching and faithfully follow it acquire salvation for themselves through contemplation (蝉补尘腻诲丑颈) and become saints (arhats). All the disciples of early Buddhism followed 艢腻办测补尘耻苍颈 on this path and entered 苍颈谤惫腻峁嘺. Mention is occasionally made in the 笔腻濒颈 Canon of self-enlightened Buddhas (pratyekabuddhas) who attained perfect Buddhahood through their own power. The third vehicle that of the Bodhisattva, is deemed superior to the other two by 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 devotees. It alone is called 鈥済reat鈥� (尘补丑腻) and assures all sentient being of perfect salvation. On the highest authority, the 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 蝉奴迟谤补蝉 reveal the perfection of the Bodhisattva vehicle.

惭补丑腻测腻苍补 doctrine developed religiously and philosophically around the Bodhisattva ideal. The term Bodhisattva signifies a 鈥渂eing fixed on (sakta) enlightenment,鈥� or simply a 鈥渂eing (sattva) of enlightenment.鈥�^[2]

Although perfectly enlightened and in possession of the omniscience of a Buddha, the Bodhisattva forgoes final entrance into 狈颈谤惫腻峁嘺 in order to aid sentient beings on their path to enlightenment. Indeed, all sentient beings participate in the Buddha nature and are thus able to achieve perfect enlightenment. The idea of the Bodhisattva is thus related to the other basic teaching of 惭补丑腻测腻苍补, namely that of the Buddha nature within all living things.

Were the Bodhisattvas nothing but the image of the perfect follower of the Buddha, the way to enlightenment as a Bodhisattva, the 鈥淏odhisattva career鈥� (产辞诲丑颈蝉补迟迟惫补惫补肠补谤测腻), could be said to correspond to the Christian way of perfection. But the Bodhisattva plays a more farreaching role in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 Buddhism. Because Bodhisattvas aid sentient beings on the way to salvation they enjoy a cultic veneration second only to that accorded the Buddha himself. Carried off into the realm of the miraculous, their phenomenal contours often give way to the cosmic.

Total dedication to the law of the Buddha is a condition for becoming a Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva career begins with the awakening of the resolve for enlightenment (bodhiciua-耻迟辫腻诲补) and the taking of the vow (辫谤补苍诲丑腻苍补) to ascend tirelessly through the perfections of all the stages until supreme enlightenment is attained, in order then to assist all sentient beings in their quest for salvation. The ten stages of the Bodhisattva鈥檚 career are described in various 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 scriptures.^[3] According to the description provided in the 顿补艣补产丑奴尘颈办补 Sutra, the level of Arhat, at which the four dh测腻苍补s have been mastered, is reached in the first six stages. From the seventh stage on, it is the Bodhisattva who carries on (诲奴谤补尘驳补尘腻). The peculiarity of the Bodhisattva career in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 is evident in the practice of the ten perfect virtues (辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻).鈥�^[4] Originally, only six were mentioned, the first five of which鈥揼iving (诲腻苍补), morality (艣墨濒补), patience (办蝉腻苍迟颈), energy (惫墨谤测补), and meditation (dh测腻苍补)鈥搘ere directed toward the sixth鈥搘isdom ( 辫谤补箩帽腻)鈥揳s the goal and fruit of all spiritual striving in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补. Later, four other perfect virtues were added and the goal became excellence of knowledge (箩帽腻苍补), which connoted intellectual cognition in contrast to the more intuitive, enlightened insight of 辫谤补箩帽腻. ^[5] Through the practice of these perfections, the Bodhisattva in the seventh stage has entered the sea of omniscience. From there he ascends, through contemplation of the emptiness and unbornness of all things, to the tenth stage, that of the 鈥�Dharma clouds鈥� (诲丑补谤尘补尘别驳丑腻).Where he achieves 鈥渁ll forms of contemplation.鈥� Seated on a vast lotus flower, he possesses the composure known as 鈥渢he knowledge of the Omniscient One.鈥� The sutra describes the magnificent scene of his consecration (abhiseka), where he becomes manifest as a fully enlightened Buddha. At this point, however, he does not enter nirvana, but out of great compassion descends by skillful means (耻辫腻测补) from the Tusita heaven back to earth to save all sentient beings.

The concept of the Bodhisattva is many-sided and comprehensive, in 罢丑别谤补惫腻诲补 Buddhism the term is applied in a more limited way only to the final stage before attaining perfectly enlightened Buddhahood; it is applied particularly to 艢腻办测补尘耻苍颈 during his previous existences and during the time of the ascetic practices that preceded his attainment of the great enlightenment, in contrast, according to the fully formed doctrine of 惭补丑腻测腻苍补, the Bodhisattva is possessed of perfected enlightenment (辫谤补箩帽腻辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻, literally, 鈥渨isdom that has gone beyond鈥�).^[6] The detailed teaching on the Bodhisattva that developed in the Praj帽膩辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻 蝉奴迟谤补蝉 is already contained in the basic text known as the Astas膩hasrik膩辫谤补箩帽腻辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻 厂奴迟谤补, which consists of 8,000 艣濒辞办补蝉 (thirty-two-syllable lines and whose oldest portions date back to 100 BCE).^[7]

Without perfect enlightenment, as this 蝉奴迟谤补 states, all virtues and achievements are worthless:

Even if a Bodhisattva, after he has raised his mind to full enlightenment, would, for countless aeons, give gifts, guard his morality, perfect his patience, exert his vigor, and enter the trances... if he is not upheld by perfect wisdom and lacks in skill in means, he is bound to fall on the level of Disciple (艣谤腻惫补办补) or Pratyekabuddha.^[8]

The 鈥減erfection of wisdom鈥� (辫谤补箩帽腻辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻) cannot be attained without total emptiness of spirit. Unenlightened persons hear talk of 鈥渆mptiness鈥� and try to express their understanding of it in signs, but the Bodhisattva is one who has 鈥済ained the path of emptiness鈥� and 鈥渃oursed in the signless.鈥�^[9] The perfection of wisdom is beyond all concepts and words. But above all, the Bodhisattvas, who 鈥渇ind rest in one thought鈥� (eka-citta-辫谤补蝉腻诲补尘), are freed from all bondage to the ego. Their spirit is hampered neither by the concept of Dharma nor by its non-concept. Bodhisattvas do not grasp at ideas, they cling to nothing; their perfected knowledge is empty. This is the essence of supreme wisdom: 鈥淭he Bodhisattva should stand in perfect wisdom through standing in emptiness.鈥�^[10]

Although Bodhisattvas see through the emptiness of all things, they do not renounce the world, but rather renounce entry into 苍颈谤惫腻峁嘺 in order to work for the salvation of all sentient beings. They keep close to the 鈥渂oundary line of reality鈥� (产丑奴迟补-koti), without either taking so much as a single step into nirvana or continuing to cling to the unenlightened restlessness of 蝉补尘蝉腻谤补. Aware of the nothingness of all things and the ultimate irrelevance of every spiritual effort, they nevertheless work ceaselessly for the benefit of all that lives. 鈥淭his logic of contradiction,鈥� D. T. Suzuki says, 鈥渋s what may be called the dialectics of 辫谤补箩帽腻.鈥�

It is not by chance that Suzuki dedicates the greater part of the third volume of his Essays in Zen Buddhism to a field marked off by the notions of 辫谤补箩帽腻 and the Bodhisattva.^[11] There he finds the sources of Zen Buddhist enlightenment. For Suzuki, the psychology of the Bodhisattva is one of the greatest mysteries in the life of the spirit. He describes its 鈥渋nbetween鈥� attitude in similes and paradoxes reminiscent of Zen literature. The Bodhisattva 鈥渉olds a spade in his hands and yet the tilling of the ground is done by him empty-handed. He is riding on the back of a horse, and yet there is no rider in the saddle and no horse under it. He passes over a bridge, and it is not the water that flows, but the bridge.鈥� ^[12] The bond between enlightened insight (辫谤补箩帽腻) and compassion (办补谤耻苍腻) allows the Bodhisattva to strive continually for ever greater insight while at the same time working for the welfare of all sentient beings. Suzuki uses paradox to explain his understanding of this way of life: 鈥淚t is like a master of archery shooting one arrow after the other into the air: he can keep all the arrows in the air because each one supports the one that went before. He does this for as long as he wishes.鈥� ^[13] In such a description of the Bodhisattva way the proximity of 辫谤补箩帽腻 to Zen enlightenment is unmistakable.

The ideal of the Bodhisattva stems from the Indian spirit, for which images, desires, wishes, and vows are as much realities as are humans and their deeds. This form鈥揵etween Buddha and human, neither male nor female鈥搃s the product of creative fantasy. With their enlightened insight the Bodhisattvas embody the Great Compassion (尘补丑腻办补谤耻苍腻). The attraction this image had for the common people proved enormous, in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 Buddhism Bodhisattvas became the highly revered divinities of salvation for all errant humankind. Their compassion and miraculous power soon came to be esteemed more highly than the enlightened wisdom that was the source of their salvific acts.

Over the centuries, the concept of the Bodhisattva was broadened. In addition to the heavenly enlightened beings, great historical personalities like 狈腻驳腻谤箩耻苍补 and 础蝉补峁単补 were designated and honored as Bodhisattvas. In the end all holy, enlightened individuals, lay or monk, were referred to as Bodhisattvas because of their great knowledge and compassion. Yet the distinction between these three types of Bodhisattvas has remained in religious consciousness. In cultic devotion heavenly enlightened beings and historical personalities do not stand on the same level.

The Bodhisattva ideal has wrought a persistent influence on the whole of Buddhism, particularly in the dh测腻苍补, where it has borne rich fruit. Even today, the vows of the Bodhisattva play an important role in the life of the dh测腻苍补 disciple.

They are pronounced at the very beginning of the journey and repeated constantly throughout the long years of practice:

However innumerable the sentient beings, I vow to save them all.

However inexhaustible the passions, I vow to extinguish them all.

However immeasurable the dharmas, I vow to master them all.

However incomparable the truth of the Buddha, I vow to attain it. ^[14]

In the last of the four vows, the initiates bind themselves to supreme enlightenment. By their omniscience, Bodhisattvas dwell in the realm of the Absolute. The dh测腻苍补 disciples commit themselves to follow the way of the Bodhisattva, whose goal is supreme enlightenment. In striving for this goal the image of the Bodhisattva is ever before them. Not a few Bodhisattvas are mentioned, and their fortunes vividly described, in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补 literature. The supernatural world is teeming with Bodhisattvas and heavenly beings. The dh测腻苍补 students are especially familiar with the Bodhisattva 惭补帽箩耻艣谤墨 (Jpn., Monju) whose statue is to be found in every the dh测腻苍补 hall. The Bodhisattvas 础惫补濒辞办颈迟别艣惫补谤补 (Jpn., Kannon), Ksitigarbha (Jpn., Jiz艒) and Maitreya (Jpn., Miroku), the Buddha of the future who is still tarrying in the Bodhisattva state, hold an important place in Japanese Zen. All these figures are objects of cultic veneration, but more important, they represent for Zen followers the incarnation of the Bodhisattva ideal.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

惭补丑腻测腻苍补 doctrine names the three vehicles: of hearers (艣谤补惫补办补), of those awakened for themselves alone (pratyekabuddha), and of enlightened beings (bodhisattva).

[2]:

Zen Buddhism: A History, Op. Cit., p. 29.

[3]:

The fullest treatment appears in the 顿补艣补产丑奴尘颈办补 厂奴迟谤补, one of the Avata峁僺aka 蝉奴迟谤补蝉. A piece of the same title in the 惭补丑腻惫补蝉迟耻 explains the ten stages (产丑奴尘颈) of the bodhisartva course from a 罢丑别谤补惫腻诲补 point of view. The two logographs of the title of the 惭补丑腻惫补蝉迟耻 in its Chinese translation literally mean 鈥済reat deed鈥� or 鈥済reat event,鈥� referring to the enlightenment of 艢腻办测补尘耻苍颈. On the doctrine of the bodhisatrva ideal, see the massive Japanese work Dajj艒 bosatsud艒 no kenky奴 (Studies on the Way of the Bodhisattva in 惭补丑腻测腻苍补), edited by Nishi Yoshio (Kyoto, 1968).

[4]:

There is a list of ten perfect virtues in the P茫li Canon that differs from the ten perfect virtues of 惭补丑腻测腻苍补.

[5]:

W. E. Soothill and L. Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (London, 1937), p. 51. The Chinese characters of the transcription of the two Sanskrit terms point in the same direction.

[6]:

Zen Buddhism: A History p. 30.

[7]:

E. Conze, The Praj帽膩辫腻谤补尘颈迟腻 Literature (The Hague, 1960), pp. 51-57.

[8]:

E. Conze. (trans.) The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and its Verse Summary, (Bolinas, Cal., 1975), 16:311, p. 196.

[9]:

E. Conze, The Perfection of Wisdom, 16:310, p. 195.

[10]:

Ibid. 2:35, p. 97. Also cited by 顿墨驳丑补-狈颈办腻测补 T. Suzuki in his Studies in the 尝补峁卥腻惫补迟腻谤补 厂奴迟谤补 (London, 1930), p. 95.

[11]:

顿墨驳丑补-狈颈办腻测补 T. Suzuki. Essay in Zen Buddhism, Vol. II., Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2005, p. 75.

[12]:

Following Suzuki鈥檚 free translation in Essay in Zen Buddhism, Vol. III, p. 325.

[13]:

顿墨驳丑补-狈颈办腻测补 T. Suzuki 2005: p. 268.

[14]:

Zen Buddhism: A History p. 32.