In
Buddhism, a
bodhisattva (,
IAST:
; ,
Bodhishotto, ;
Bawdithat, Vietnamese:
Bồ Tát; ,
; ; Japanese: 菩薩,
bosatsu; ) means either "enlightened (
bodhi) existence (
sattva)" or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant
Sanskrit spelling
satva rather than
sattva, "heroic-minded one (
satva) for enlightenment (
bodhi)." Another translation is "Wisdom-Being." It is the name given to anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated
bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain
Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings.
Theravada Buddhism
The term
Bodhisatta (
Pali 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 Pali 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
Jataka Tales.
In the
Pāli Canon, the Bodhisatta Siddhartha Gotama is described as thus:
While
Maitreya (
Pali: 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 Theravada 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.
Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, regards the Bodhisattva as a person who already has a considerable degree of enlightenment and seeks to use their
wisdom to help other human beings to become
liberated. In this understanding of the word the Bodhisattva is an already wise person who uses
skillful means to lead others to see the benefits of
virtue and the cultivation of wisdom.
The
Mahayana 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. Indelibly entwined with the Bodhisattva Vow is
parinamana (Sanskrit; which may be rendered in English as "merit transference").
In Mahayana Buddhism life in this world is compared to people living in a house that is on fire. They take this world as reality pursuing worldly projects and pleasures without realising that the house is on fire and will soon burn down (the inevitability of
death). A Bodhisattva is the one who has determination to free sentient beings from
samsara with the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering. This type of mind is known as
bodhicitta; Sanskrit for mind of awakening. 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 Mahayana. According to some Mahayana 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 either 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 Avalokiteshvara, Shantideva among others are believed to fall in this category.
Tibetan doctrine (like Theravada, for different reasons) recognizes only the first of these, holding that Buddhas remain in the world, able to help others, so there is no point in delay.
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso notes: "In reality, the second two types of bodhichitta are wishes that are impossible to fulfil 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."
East Asian doctrinal traditions tend to emphasize the second and/or third, the idea of deliberately refraining from becoming a Buddha, perhaps forever.
According to many traditions within
Mahayana Buddhism, on the way to becoming a Buddha, a bodhisattva proceeds through ten, or sometimes fourteen, grounds or
bhumi. Below is the list of the ten bhumis and their descriptions from
The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, a treatise by
Gampopa (an influential teacher of the
Tibetan Kagyu school) and the
Avatamsaka Sutra. 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 ten grounds of the bodhisattva then can be grouped into the next three paths
- Bhumi 1 the path of insight
- Bhumi 2-7 the path of meditation
- Bhumi 8-10 the path of no more learning
Prince
Siddhartha Gautama as a
bodhisattva, before becoming a
Buddha. He is characteristically depicted as a nobleman, posing with left hand on the hip,
Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century.
The chapter of ten grounds in the
Avatamsaka Sutra refers 52 stages, with the following 10 grounds
- *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 bhumi the bodhisattvas practice all virtues (paramita), but especially emphasizing generosity (dana).
- *In accomplishing the second bhumi, the bodhisattva is free from the stains of immorality, therefore, this bhumi is named 'Stainless'. The emphasized virtue is moral discipline (śila).
- *The third bhumi is named 'Luminous', because, for a bodhisattva who accomplishes this bhumi, the light of Dharma is said to radiate from the bodhisattva for others. The emphasized virtue is patience ().
- *This bhumi is called 'Radiant', because it is said to be like a radiating light that fully burns that which opposes enlightenment. The emphasized virtue is vigor (virya).
- *Bodhisattvas who attain this bhumi 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 virtue is meditative concentration (dhyāna).
- *"By depending on the perfection of wisdom awareness, he [the bodhisattva] does not abide in either or , so it is 'obviously transcendent'". The emphasized virtue is wisdom (prajña).
- *Particular emphasis is on the perfection of skilful means, or upaya-kaushalya, to help others.
- *The emphasized virtue is aspiration.
- *This, the 'Immovable' bhumi, is the bhumi at which one becomes able to choose his place of rebirth.
- Good Discriminating Wisdom
- *The emphasized virtue is power.
- *The emphasized virtue is the practice of primordial wisdom.
Chinese wood carving of Guanyin; Shanxi Province (A.D. 907-1125)
ese wood carving of Jizo Bosatsu; Late Heian period, 12th century
After the ten bhumis, according to Mahayana Buddhism, one attains complete enlightenment and becomes a Buddha.
With the 52 stages, the
Shurangama Sutra in East Asia recognizes 57 stages. With the 10 grounds, various
Vajrayana schools recognize 3-10 additional grounds, mostly 6 more grounds with variant descriptions.
Various traditions within Buddhism believe in certain 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
Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit,
Guanyin (other spellings: Kwan-yin, Kuan-yin) in China and Korea, Quan Am in Vietnam, and
Kannon (formerly spelled and pronounced: Kwannon) in Japan. Jizo or Ti Tsang is another popular bodhisattva in Japan and China (
Ksitigarbha in Sanskrit). Jizo is known for aiding those who are lost. His greatest compassionate Vow being: "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."
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.
The bodhisattva is a popular subject in
Buddhist art.
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
Avalokitesvara. Perhaps the most famous bodhimanda of all is the
bodhi tree under which
Shakyamuni achieved buddhahood.
Important Bodhisattvas
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.
See also
