Chapter 281 – 290

THE SORROWLESS FLOWERS
Thiện Phúc

VOLUME II

281. Karma Does Not Get Lost
282. Five Reluctant Situations the Majority of People go to Temple
283. Five Areas of Spending of a Layperson
284. Celestial beings (Deva)
285. Sound Hearer
286. Pratyeka-Buddha
287. Bodhisattvas
288. The Origination of the Bodhisattva Ideal
289. A Contradictory of Wisdom and Compassion
290. Should Bodhisattvas Be Considered As Heavenly Gods?

281. Karma Does Not Get Lost

Body, speech, and mind all make karma when we cling. We create habits that can make us suffer in the future. This is the fruit of our attachment, of our past defilement. Remember, not only body but also speech and mental action can make conditions for future results. If we did some act of kindness in the past and remember it today, we will be happy, and this happy state of mind is the result of past karma. In other words, all things conditioned by cause, both long-term and moment-to-moment. If we act positively, the happy result will eventually occur. When we do negative actions, the imprints aren’t lost even though they may not bring their results immediately. When we act, either good or bad, we see our own actions, like an outsider who witnesses. The pictures of these actions will automatically imprint in our Alaya-vijnana (subconscious mind); the seed of these actions are sown there, and await for enough conditions to spring up its tree and fruits. Similarly, the effect in the alaya-vijnana (subconscious mind) of the one who has received our actions. The seed of either love or hate has been sown there, waiting for enough conditions to spring up its tree and fruits. Devout Buddhists should always remember that, “the ocean’s water may dry up, mountain may waste away, the actions done in former lives are never lost; on the contrary, they come to fruit though aeons after aeons pass, until at last the debt is paid.” When we plant a black-pepper seed, black-pepper plant grows and we will reap black-pepper, not oranges. Similarly, when we act positively, happiness follows, not suffering. When we act destructively, misery comes, not happiness. Just as small seed can grow into a huge tree with much fruit, small actions can bring large result. Therefore, we should try to avoid even small negative actions and to create small negative ones.

282. Five Reluctant Situations the Majority of People go to Temple

According to Venerable Thích Hải Quang in the Letters to Buddhist Followers, there are very few people who honestly wish to escape the cycle of rebirths, be liberated from birth and death, to seek rebirth to the Pureland to come to temple to cultivate. There are five reasons that Buddhists reluctantly go to temple. No matter what reasons, such cultivation is still producing some wholesome deeds, is still better than no cultivation or having no faith. Some people go to the temple to pray to quickly overcome their sickness or ailment. Some people go to the temple to chant sutras and practice Buddha Recitation with the purpose to pray for their deceased parents as a way to repay their parents’ kindness. Some people come to the temple to prostrate to Buddha and make offerings with the purpose to pray for their homes and daily subsistence to remain prosperous. Some people are afraid of calamities and disasters so they come to the temple to vow to become vegetarians. Some people come to the temple because they wish to repay something they vowed before when they experienced hardships.

283. Five Areas of Spending of a Layperson

In the Pattakamma Sutta, the Buddha reminded a person should spend his wealth in five areas. First, expenditure on food and clothing and other needs. Second, maintain of parents, wife and children and servants. Third, expenditure on illness and other emergencies. Fourth, expenditure on charitable purposes. Fifth, expenditures on the followings: treating one’s relatives, treating one’s visitors, offering alms in memory of the departed, offering merit to the deities, offerings to monks and nuns, and payment of state taxes and dues in time.

284. Celestial beings (Deva)

“Deva” is a term which Eastern Asian peoples used to call “Heaven.” Celestial beings or gods, one of the three good modes of existence as a reward for their previous good deeds. Devas allotted a very long, happy life in the Deva although they are still subject to the cycle of rebirth. However, this happiness may constitute a substantial hindrance on their path to liberation for they cannot recognize the truth of suffering. “Deva” is a Sanskrit term for “gods,” or “Celestial beings”, beings that inhabit the highest of the six destinies (gati) within cyclic existence (samsara). Although Buddhism denies the existence of an almighty god, but there are a number of mentioned gods in Buddhist literature. According to Buddhism, celestial beings or gods, are merely sentient beings whose good deeds in past lives result in their being born as gods. They are beings in one of the three good modes of existence as a reward for their previous good deeds. Devas allotted a very long, happy life in the Deva although they are still subject to the cycle of rebirth. These are superhuman beings who are above the human level. Heavenly beings are believed to inhabit the heavens above the human realm, but are still unenlightened and still bound to Samsara (luân hồi) and subject to birth and death. However, gods are living beings who can only enjoy various kinds of pleasure to satisfy their senses brought back as the result of effort and cultivation of their past lives. Their pleasure is considered to be better than human’s and other suffering realms, but they are not aware of the law of impermanence or the inevitable end of such temporary bliss, then after that they will fall down to the suffering worlds of human, asura, hungry ghost, animal or even hell. According to Buddhism, this happiness may constitute a substantial hindrance on their path to liberation for they cannot recognize the truth of suffering, and after their good karma is exhausted, they will be reborn in one of the lower realms and experience suffering. Therefore, in Buddhism, gods are not objects of prayers or religious cultivation, and they have no important role in Buddhism. Divine Vehicle is one of the five vehicles. It transports observers of the ten good qualities (thập thiện) to one of the six deva realms of desire, and those who observe dhyana meditation to the higher heavens of form and non-form. Celestials, the state of gods, Gods’ realm is reserved to those who observe the five basic commandments and have practiced the Ten Meritorious Action and abstained to do the Ten Evil Deeds. Although the celestial path is blessed with more happiness than our world, it is still marked by the five signs of decay and the things that go against our wishes.

285. Sound Hearer

The Sanskrit term ‘Sravaka’ literally means ‘hearer.’ This name was given to the disciple of the Buddha, may be a monk, a nun, a layman or a laywoman, bent on his or her liberation. A Sravaka hears and learns the truth from the Buddha, then follows and practices the teachings of the Buddha and finally attains Nirvana. He or she also serves others, but his or her capacity to do so is limited. Sravakas are yet under the covering of too great a karma-hindrance; they are unable to cherish such great vows are made by the Bodhisattvas for the spiritual welfare of all beings; their insight is not clear and penetrating deep enough to see all the secrets of life; they have not yet opened the wisdom-eye. A disciple of a Buddha, may be a monk, a nun, a layman or a laywoman. Bent on his or her liberation, a Sravaka hears, follows and practises the teaching of the Buddha and finally attains Nirvana. He or she also serves others, but his or her capacity to do so is limited. A Sravaka usually asks for the guidance of a superior enlightened instructor, after hearing, he realizes the nature of things, then, gets enlightenment. A slight indication from an experienced and wise teacher would alone be sufficient for a morally advanced aspirant to progress on the upward path of enlightenment. Voice-hearer who undertakes the practice and becomes a Sramanera or a student who seeks personal enlightenment and an attains this only by listening to the teaching and gaining insight into the four noble truths, so that he can cultivate to reach his supreme goal of nirvana without earthly remainder. At the time of the Buddha, sravakas were disciples of the Buddha who heard his words and practiced them in accordance with their capacities. They include such notable figures as Kasyapa, Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Rahula, etc. Venerable Sariputra, for example, attained the first stage of Sainthood, hearing only a half stanza from Arahant Assaji. Suddhipanthaka, who tried to learn just two words “Sweep” and “Broom,” for four months, but could not distinguish their meanings; however, he was able to attain Arahantship by contemplating on the impermanent nature of a clean handkerchief, which he was handling while gazing at the sun. According to Mahayana traditions, they constitute one of the three main types of Buddhist practitioners, the other being Pratyeka-buddhas and Bodhisattvas; however, Sravakas are considered as “Mahayanists” because they seek a personal liberation.

Those belong to the Sravaka order who are delighted at listening to such doctrines as concern the Skandhas, Dhatus, or Ayatanas, but take no special interest in the theory of causation, who have cut themselves loose from the bondage of evil passions but have not yet destroyed their habit-energy. They have attained the realization of Nirvana, abiding in which state they would declare that they have put an end to existence, their life of morality is now attained, all that is to be done is done, they would not be reborn. These have gained an insight into the non-existence of an ego-substance in a person but not yet into that in objects. These philosophical leaders who believe in a creator or in the ego-soul may also be classified under this order. The Dharma realm of Sound Hearers consists of Hearers of the First Fruition, Hearers of the Second Fruition, Hearers of the Third Fruition, and Hearers of the Fourth Fruition. These can further be divided into the threshold to the first fruition (those who have not actually realized the first fruition), the first fruition, the threshold to the second fruition, the second fruition, the threshold to the third fruition, the third fruition, the threshold to the fourth fruition, and the fourth fruition. Sound Hearers are also called Arhats. They can fly through the air and manifest transformations, and they are endowed with spiritual powers. Those of the first fruition have to sever the delusions of views. Those of the second fruition have to sever the delusions of thoughts. Those of the third fruition have to sever tiny delusions which are as small and as many as dust and sand. Those of the fourth fruition not only have to sever tiny delusions which are as small and as many as dust and sand, but also have to destroy a bit of ignorance.

Hearer of the four noble truths and limited to that degree of development. The objective is personal salvation. Therefore, in the assembly of the Gandavyuha in the Jetavana, all the great Sravakas, including Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, etc., have no stock of merit, no wisdom-eye, no samadhi, no emancipation, no power of transformation, no sovereignty, no energy, no mastery, no abode, no realm, which enable them to get into the assemblage of the Bodhisattvas and participate in the performance of the great spiritual drama that is going on in Jetavana. As they have sought their deliverance according to the vehicle and way of Sravakahood, what they have accomplished does not go beyond Sravakahood. They have indeed gained the knowledge whereby the truth is made manifest, they are abiding in the limit of reality (bhutakoti), they are enjoying the serenity of the ultimate (atyantasanti); but they have no great compassionate all-embracing heart for all beings, for they are too intently occupied with their own doings (atmakarya) and have no mind to accumulate the Bodhisattva-knowledge and to discipline themselves in it. They have their own realization and emancipation, but they have no desire, make no vows to make others also find their resting abode in it. They do not thus understand what is really meant by the inconceivable power of the Tathagata.

According to the Prajnaparamita-sutra, there are contrasts between a Bodhisattva and a Sravaka. A Bodhisattva is an Enlightened Being who vow to save all other sentient beings, while a Sravaka thinks: “There is only one single self we need to care for, one single self we will tame, one single self we will pacify, one single self we will lead into Nirvana.” Then a Sravaka will undertake exercises which bring about wholesome roots for the sake of taming himself, pacifying himself, nirvanasing himself. Certainly, the Bodhisattva should not train himself like that. He should undertake exercises for bringing about wholesome roots with the idea: ‘My self, I will place in Suchness (Nirvana), and, for the sake of helping all the world, I will also place all beings in Suchness, the immeasurable world of beings I will lead to Nirvana.”

286. Pratyeka-Buddha

Pratyeka Buddha is a Sanskrit term for “Solitary realizer.” A Pratyeka Buddha is the solitary (awakened) sage of Indian life whose ideal was incompatible with that of the Bodhisattva, in that he walked alone, and having attained his Enlightenment, passed into Nirvana, indifferent to the woes of men. He attains enlightenment through the insight of the twelve nidanas by himself (independently of a teacher and attainment of his enlightenment rather than that of others). In summary, Pratyeka-Buddha is one who lives in seclusion and obtains emancipation for himself only. In Nikaya Buddhism it is said that Pratyeka-buddhas can only exist during a time and place in which there is no Buddha. They are said to to be superior to Arhats in terms of meditative attainment and wisdom, but far inferior to Buddhas. The path of the Pratyeka-buddha is said in Mahayana to be one of the three possible paths to salvation taught by the Buddha, along with the path of the Sound-hearer or Sravaka and that of the Bodhisattva. According to Buddhism, those who become enlightened when Sakyamuni Buddha is in the world are called ‘Those Enlightened to Conditions’, but those who become enlightened when there is no Buddha in the world are called ‘Solitary Enlightened Ones’. The word ‘Pratyeka’ means ‘private,’ ‘individual,’ ‘single,’ or ‘solitary.’ Pratyeka-buddha is one who is in ‘solitary singleness,’ in independence of all external support, attains Arhatship. They like to cultivate at solitary places or on mountain peaks alone. They observe ‘the blooming of hundreds of flowers in the springtime, and the falling of yellow leaves in the autumn,’ and awaken to how the myriad things naturally come into being and then cease to be. Pratyeka Buddhas are those who become fully enlightened by meditating on the principle of causality (the Buddhist enlightenment arises from pondering over the twelve nidanas). Unlike the Perfect Buddhas, however, they do not exert themselves to teach and help others. Pratyekabuddha does not share with others his hard-won knowledge of the means for the attainment of Nirvana. He believes that others too, driven by the stern reality of the miseries of life, may some day take to the holy path, but does not bother to teach or enlighten them. They consider enlightenment as an individual not a social or cosmic achievement. He is enlightened to conditions, or a person who realize Nirvana by himself or herself at a time when there is no Samyaksambuddha in the world. He or she also renders services to others, but in a limited way. He or she is not capable of revealing the Truth to others as a Samyaksambuddha, a fully enlightened does. He obtains the individual enlightenment. He is the one who lives apart from others and attains enlightenment alone, or for himselfcontrast with the alturism of the bodhisattva principle. Those who become enlightened when a Buddha is still in the world are called Those Enlightened to Conditions. Those who become enlightened when there is no Buddha in the world are called Solitarily Enlightened Ones. The term Solitarily Enlightened Ones (Pratyeka-buddha) is not limited to the Buddhists, but is a general term for those who attain enlightenment by living in isolation (recluses), pondering alone over the meaning of life, observing the “flying flowers and falling leaves.” They are called Solitarily Enlightened Ones because they get enlightened by themselves. They like to sleep high on mountain peaks alone. Springtime’s flowers wither in the fall. They observe “the blooming of hundreds of flowers in the springtime, and the falling of yellow leaves in the fall,” and awaken to how the myriad things naturally come into being and then cease to be. They also contemplate the reasons of birth and death in the cycle of twelve interconnecting links or the twelve links of conditioned co-production.

Those of the Pratyekabuddha order or realizer of conditions. This is one of the ten stages toward the Buddhahood. Pratyekabuddhas are those who are enlightened to conditions. In the spring, they watch the white blossoms open. In the autumn, they see the yellow leaves fall, etc., they awake to the knowledge that all phenomena are not existent permanently. They see that everything must follow the same process: birth, formation, decay, and death. Pratyeka-buddha who understands the twelve nidanas, or chain of causation, and so attains to complete wisdom. His stage of attainment is Pratyeka-buddha stage. One who seeks enlightenment for himself, defined in the Lotus sutra as a believer who is diligent and zealous in seeking wisdom, loves loneliness and seclusion, and understands deeply the nidanas. It is a stage above Sravaka and is known as the middle vehicle. T’ien-T’ai distinguishes as an ascetic in a period without a Buddha, as a pratyeka-buddha. He attains his enlightenment alone, independently, of a teacher, and with the object of attaining nirvana and his own salvation rather than that of others, as is the object of a Bodhisattva. The “middle conveyance” period, characterized as that of the pratyeka-buddha, who is enlightened by the twelve nidanas. It is consider as an advance on the Hinayana, but not yet the standard of the altruistic bodhisatva-vehicle or the Mahayana. Pratyeka-Buddhas are those who become fully enlightened by meditating the principle of causality. Unlike the perfect Buddha; however, they do not exert themselves to teach others. A person who realizes Nirvana alone by himself at a time when there is no Samyaksambuddha in the world. He or she also renders services to others, but in a limited way. He or she is not capable of revealing the Truth to others as a Samyaksambuddha, a fully enlightened Buddha does. A person who enlightens through cultivating on the reasoning of the riddle of life, especially as defined in the twelve nidanas. This person is also called Solitary Enlightened One or Individual Enlightenment. Who are enlightened in the twelve nidanas (Thập nhị nhân duyên); however, the objective is personal salvation or own enlightenment. Pratyeka-buddhas enlightened by themselves. They have attained to supreme and perfect insight, but they enter Nirvana without proclaiming the truth to the world. This is totally different from the Bodhisattva’s ideal. However, ordinary people should always remember that how much efforts Pratyeka-buddhas did in their situation. So they deserve our admiration and respect.

287. Bodhisattvas

Bodhisattva is a Sanskrit term for an Enlightened Being. This is the one whose essence is bodhi whose wisdom is resulting from direct perception of Truth with the compassion awakened thereby. Enlightened being who is on the path to awakening, who vows to forego complete enlightenment until he or she helps other beings attain enlightenment. A Sanskrit term which means “Awakening being” or a “being of enlightenment,” or “one whose essence is wisdom,” or “ a being who aspires for enlightenment.” This is the ideal of Mahayana Buddhism. The beginning of the bodhisattva’s career is marked by the dawning of the “mind of awakening” (Bodhi-citta), which is the resolve to become a Buddha in order to benefit others. So, Bodhisattva is considered as a human being with his own karmas at his very birth as all other creatures, but he can be able to get rid of all his inner conflicts, including bad karmas and sufferings, and external crises, including environments, calamities and other dilema, can change this unfortunate situation and can make a peaceful, prosperous and happy world for all to live in together by using his effort and determination in cultivating a realisitc and practical way without depending on external powers. In Mahayana literature, this is commonly followed by a public ceremony of a vow to attain Buddhahood (Pranidhana) in order to benefit other sentient beings. That is to say: “Above to seek bodhi, below to save (transform) beings.” This is one of the great vows of a Bodhisattva. After that point the bodhisattva pursues the goal of Buddhahood by progressively cultivating the six, sometimes ten, “perfections” (Paramita): generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. The two primary qualities in which the Bodhisattva trains are compassion and wisdom, and when the perfections are fully cultivated and compassion and wisdom developed to their highest level, the Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha. The Bodhisattva path is commonly divided into ten levels (Bhumi). The term Bodhisattva is not, however, confined solely to Mahayana Buddhism: in Theravada, Sakyamuni Buddha is referred to as “Bodhisatta” (Bodhisattva) in the past lives described in the Jatakas, during which he is said to have gradually perfected the good qualities of a Buddha. In the Mahayana sense, however, the Bodhisattva concept is an explicit rejection of Nikaya Buddhism’s ideal religious paradigm, the Arhat. In Mahayana the Arhat is characterized as limited and selfish, concerned only with personal salvation, in contrast to the Bodhisattva, who works very hard for all sentient beings. So the term”Bodhisattva” in general, means a “Bodhi being”. It denotes a being who is destined to obtain fullest Enlightenment or Buddhahood. According to the Digha Nikaya, literally, a “Bodhisattva” means one who is an intellectual, or one who is resolved or maintained only to the paths that lead to enlightenment.

Several centuries after the Buddha’s parinirvana, Bodhisattva is one of the most important ideas of Mahayana Buddhists. However, the concept was not a sole creation of the Mahayana. The term “Bodhisattva” had been mentioned in the Pali Canon and it stems from the original Pali Buddhism which is used more or less exclusively to designate Sakyamuni Buddha prior to His Enlightenment. According to Sarvastivada school, “Bodhisattva” is defined as a person who is certain to become a Buddha. He is a person who is born of wisdom and protected and served by the wise. According to the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita, nothing real is meant by the word “Bodhisattva,” because a Bodhisattva trains himself in non-attachment to all dharmas. For the Bodhisattva, the great being awakes in non-attachment to full enlightenment in the sense that he understands all the dharmas, because he has enlightenment as his aim, an enlightened being. In short, a Bodhisattva is an enlightener of sentient beings. He usually vows to take the enlightenment that he has been certified as having attained and the wisdom that he has uncovered to enlighten all other sentient beings. A Bodhisattva’s job is not easy at all. Though his appearance is not rare as that of a Buddha, but it is extremely difficult for a Bodhisattva to appear, and it is also extremely difficult for ordinary people to encounter a real Bodhisattva.

A Bodhisattva is a Mahasattva as defined in Sanscrit language. ‘Maha’ means ‘great’ and ‘sattva’ means either ‘being’ or ‘courage’. Nagarjuna gives a number of reasons why Bodhisattvas are called ‘great beings’. It is because they achieve a great work, stand at the head of a great many beings, activate great friendliness and great compassion, save a great number of beings. The Tibetans translate Mahasattvas as ‘great spiritual hero’ and their aspirations are truly on a heroic scale. They desire to discipline all beings everywhere, to serve and honor all the Buddhas everywhere. They want to retain firmly in their minds all the teachings of the Buddhas, to have a detailed knowledge of all the Buddha-fields to comprehend all the assemblies which anywhere gather around a Buddha, to plunge into the thoughts of all beings, to remove their defilements and to fathom their potentialities. In other words, Mahasattva is like Bodhisattva who will be able to eliminate all his bad karmas and sufferings and will show the emancipation way to all beings with all skills by his compassion. A Bodhisattva is the one who benefis himself to help others. A great creature, having a great or noble essence, or being. Mahasattva is a perfect bodhisattva, greater than any other being except a Buddha. Also great being is one with great compassion and energy, who brings salvation to all living beings. In the beginning of the Astasahasrika Prajna paramita, the Buddha explained the meaning of ‘Mahasattva’ (great being) when Subhuti asked about it. The Buddha says that a Bodhisattva is called ‘ a great being’ in the sense that he will demonstrate Dharma so that the great errors should be forsaken, such erronous views as the assumption of a self, a being, a living soul, a person, of becoming, of not becoming, of annihilation, of eternity, of individuality, etc. According to the Saddharmapundarika Sutra, Mahasattvas have good qualities and method of practice paramita and under many hundred thousands of Buddhas had planted the roots of goodness.

In the Theravada Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a person in the school of the elders who is desirous of acquiring the characteristics of a perfect being, the enlightened one. It appears as such in the Pali Nikayas. The accomplishment of such a state makes him content. But the ideal of Mahayana induces him to greater effort based on dynamic activity to help other beings attain ultimate bliss; before that he does not lay ore to save beings from the state of suffering. Not satisfied with his own mitigation of desire some actions that make him subjected to malice and all kind of craving, he strives up on helping all other beings to overcome their afflictions. While the Buddha reminded Mahamati in the Lankavatara Sutra as follows: “Oh Mahamati, the distinction between the Bodhisattva and the Two Vehicles is emphasized, as the latter are unable to go up further than the sixth stage where they enter into Nirvana. At the seventh stage, the Bodhisattva goes through an altogether new spiritual experience known as anabhogacarya, which may be rendered “a purposeless life.” But , supported by the majestic power of the Buddhas, which enters into the great vows first made by the Bodhisattva as he started in his career, the latter now devises various methods of salvation for the sake of his ignorant and confused fellow-beings. But from the absolute point of view of the ultimate truth in the Lankavatara Sutra, attained by the Bodhisattva, there is no such graded course of spirituality in his life; for here is really no gradation (krama), no continuous ascension (kramanusandhi), but the truth (dharma) alone which is imageless (nirabhasa), and detached altogether from discrimination.

According to the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Buddha told Maitreya, “You should know that there are two categories of Bodhisattvas: those who prefer proud words and a racy style, and those who are not afraid (of digging out) the profound meanings which they can penetrate. Fondness of proud words and a racy style denotes the superficiality of a newly initiated Bodhisattva; but he who, after hearing about the freedom from infection and bondage as taught in profound sutras, is not afraid of their deep meanings which he strives to master, thereby developing a pure mind to receive, keep, read, recite and practise (the Dharma) as preached is a Bodhisattva who has trained for a long time. Maitreya, there are two classes of newly initiated Bodhisattvas who cannot understand very deep Dharmas: those who have not heard about profound sutras and who, giving way to fear and suspicion, cannot keep them but indulge in slandering them, saying: ‘I have never heard about them; where do they come from?’, and those who refuse to call on, respect and make offerings to the preachers of profound sutras or who find fault with the latter; these are two classes of newly initiated Bodhisattvas who cannot control their minds when hearing the deep Dharma, thereby harming themselves. Maitreya, further, there are two categories of Boshisattvas who harm themselves and fail to realize the patient endurance of the uncreate in spite of their belief and understanding of the deep Dharma: they are (firstly) those who belittle newly initiated Boshisattva and do not teach and guide them; and (secondly) those who, despite their faith in the deep Dharma, still give rise to discrimination between form and formlessness.” After hearing the Buddha expound the Dharma, Maitreya said: “World Honoured One, I have not heard all this before. As you have said, I shall keep from these evils and uphold the Dharma of supreme enlightenment which the Tathagata has collected during countless aeons. In future, if there are virtuous men and women who seek for Mahayana, I shall see to it that this sutra will be placed in their hands, and shall use transcendental power to make them remember it so that they can receive, keep, read, recite and proclaim it widely.

288. The Origination of the Bodhisattva Ideal

Some 200 or 300 years after the Buddha’s death, a new variation of the Buddhist ideal began to emerge. Dissatisfied with the seemingly limited goal of the arhat, this new vision emphasized the Bodhisattva as the highest aspiration for all. A Bodhisattva is a being who resolves to become a fully enlightened Buddha and who dedicates his efforts to helping other sentient beings to attain salvation. These compassionate beings figure predominantly in the Mahayana tradition; indeed, the most distinguishing feature of Mahayana Buddhism may be its advocacy of the Bodhisattva as the vehicle to liberation. The Bodhisattva follows a long and arduous path, often described as having ten stages and spanning many lives at the end of which he attains complete Buddhahood. The Mahayana is thus able to consider a host of Bodhisattvas, at different stages along the path, as intervening in the lives of sentient beings. An advanced Bodhisattva, for example, can create “Buddha-Fields,” to which humans can aspire to be reborn by devotion and righteousness. The notion of the Bodhisattva is at times combined with the doctrine of the “Three Bodies” of the Buddha. This theory maintains that the ultimate form of Buddhahood and the true nature of things is the “Body of Dharma” itself (Dharmakaya). The Body of Dharma is revealed progressively by two other bodies: the “Enjoyment Body” (Sambhogakaya), a subtle form perceptible only to those advanced in the path, and the “Transformation Body” (Nirmanakaya), a physical form apparent to all. According to this scheme, Gautama was merely a Transformation Body, an apparition of ultimate Buddhahood. Other Bodhisattvas, who are Enjoyment Bodies, can also teach and intervene through transformation and apparition. Important Mahayana Bodhisattvas include Avalokitesvara; Manjusri, who personifies great wisdom and is often represented holding a sword, which he uses to cut through the veil of ignorance; and Maitreya, “The Kindly One,” who will be the next Buddha and who, after attaining Buddhahood, will send the next Transformation Body to teach on earth. Other great Buddhist teachers are sometimes associated with Bodhisattvas, and are even seen as their incarnations. One of these is Nagarjuna, who was an abbot at the Buddhist university of Nalanda in the second century A.D. Nagarjuna is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka, a school of Buddhist philosophy that was active in Buddhist India. Madhyamaka greatly influenced certain forms of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, such as Zen, and still flourishes today in Tibet.

In Tibetan, Bodhisattva is translated as “Heroic Being.” The heroic quality of the Bodhisattva is brought out by the Prajnaparamita: “Suppose a hero, endowed with great accomplishments, had gone out with his mother, father, sons, and daughters. By some set of circumstances, they would get into a huge wild forest. The foolish among them would be greatly frightened. The hero would, however, fearlessly say to them ‘Do not be afraid! I will speedily take you out of this great and terrible jungle, and bring you to safety.’ Since he is fearless, vigorous, exceedingly tender, compassionate, courageous and resourceful, it does not occur to him to take himself alone out of the jungle, leaving his relatives behind. Against the Arhat, Mahayana Buddhism claimed that we must take the whole of the creation with us to enlightenment, that we cannot just abandon any beings, as all beings are as near to us as our relatives are. What a man should do is to make no discrimination between himself and others, and to wait until he had helped everybody into Nirvana before loosing himself into it. The Mahayanists thus claimed that the Arhat had not aimed high enough. According to the Mahayana Buddhism, the ideal man, the aim of the Buddhist effort, was not the rather self-centered, cold and narrow-minded Arhat, but the all compassionate Bodhisattva, who abandoned the world, but not the beings in it. Wisdom had been taught as the highest quality for an Arhat, and compassion as a subsidiary virtue; but to a Bodhisattva, compassion came to rank as equal with wisdom. While the wisdom of an Arhat had been fruitful in setting free in himself. What there was to be set free, it was rather sterile in ways and means of helping ordinary people. The Bodhisattva would be a man who does not only set himself free, but who is also skilful in devising means for bringing out and maturing the latent seeds of enlightenment in others. According to the Prajna-paramita-sutra, the Buddha taught: “Doers of what is hard are the Bodhisattvas, the great beings who have set out to win supreme enlightenment. They do not wish to attain their own private Nirvana. On the contrary, they have survey the highly painful world of being, but they do not tremble at birth-and-death. They have set out for the benefit of the world, for the peace and happiness of the world. They have resolved, and yet desirous to win supreme enlightenment, they do not tremble at birth and death. They have set out for the benefit of the world, for the ease of the world, out of pity for the world. They have resolved: ‘We will become a shelter for the world, a refuge for all beings, the world’s place of rest, the final belief of all beings, islands of the world, lights of the world, leaders of the world, the world’s means of salvation.

According to the Mahayana Buddhism, the ideal of the Bodhisattva was partly due to social pressure on the Order, but to a great extent it was inherent in the practice of the ‘Unlimited,’ which had trained the monks not to discriminate between themselves and others. As we saw, Buddhism has at its disposal two methods by which it reduces the sense of separateness on the part of individuals. The one is the culture of the social emotions, or sentiments, such as loving-kindness (friendliness) and compassion. The other consists in acquiring the habit of regarding whatever one thinks, feels or does as an interplay of impersonal forces, called ‘Dharmas,’ weaning oneself slowly from such ideas as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ or ‘self.’ There is a logical contradiction between the method of wisdom, which sees no persons at all, but only Dharmas, and the method of the ‘Unlimited’ which cultivates relations to people as persons. The meditation on Dharmas dissolves other people, as well as oneself, into a conglomeration of impersonal and instantaneous dharmas. It reduces our manhood into 5 heaps, or pieces, plus a label. If there is nothing in the world except bundles of Dharmas, as cold and as impersonal as atoms, instantaneously perishing all the time, there is nothing which friendliness and compassion could work on. One cannot wish well to a Dharma which is gone by the time one has come to wish it well, nor can one pity a Dharma, say a ‘mind-object,’ or a ‘sight-organ,’ or a ‘sound-consciousness.’ In those Buddhist circles where the method of Dharmas was practiced to a greater extent than the ‘Unlimited,’ it led to a certain dryness of mind, to aloofness, and to lack of human warmth. The true task of the Buddhist is to carry on with both contradictory methods at the same time. As the method of Dharmas leads to boundless expansion of the self, because one identifies oneself with more and more living beings. As the method of wisdom explodes the idea that there are any persons at all in the world, so the method of the ‘Unlimited’ increases the awareness of the personal problems of more and more persons. How then does the Mahayana resolve this contradiction? The Buddhist philosophers differs from philosophers bred in the Aristotelean tradition in that they are not frightened but delighted by a contradiction. They deal with this, as with other contradictions, by merely stating it in an uncompromising form, and then they leave it at that. According to the Diamond Sutra: “Here, oh! Subhuti! A Bodhisattva should think thus ‘As many beings as there are in the universe of beings, be they being egg-born, or from a womb, or moisture-born, or miraculously born; be they with form, or without; be they with perception, without perception, or with neither perception nor no-perception, as far as any conceivable universe of beings is conceived; all these should be led by me into Nirvana, into that realm of Nirvana which leaves nothing behind. And yet, although innumerable beings have thus been led to Nirvana, no being at all has been led to Nirvana. And why? If in a Bodhisattva the perception of a ‘being’ should take place, he would not be called an ‘enlightenment-being’ or a Bodhisattva.”

The ideal of the Bodhisattva was partly due to social pressure on the Sangha Order, but to a great extent it was inherent in the practice of the unlimited, which had trained the monks not to discriminate between themselves and others. As we saw, Buddhism has at its disposal two methods by which it reduces the sense of separateness on the part of individuals. The one is the culture of the social emotions, or sentiments, such as friendliness and compassion. The other consists in acquiring the habit of regarding whatever one thinks, feels or does as an interplay of impersonal forces, called Dharma, weaning oneself slowly from such ideas as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ or ‘self’. There is a logical contradiction between the method of wisdom , which sees no person at all, but only Dharmas, and the method of the Unlimited which cultivates relations to people as persons. The meditation on Dharmas dissolves other people, as well as oneself, into a conglomeration of impersonal and instantaneous dharmas. It reduces our manhood into five heaps, or pieces, plus a label. If there is nothing in the world except bundles of Dharmas, as cold and as impersonal as atoms. Instantaneously perishing all the time, there is nothing which friendliness and compassion could work on. One cannot wish well to a Dharma which is gone by the time one has come to wish it well, nor can one pity a Dharma, say a ‘mind-object,’ or a ‘sight-organ,’ or a ‘sound-consciousness.’ In those Buddhist traditions where the method of Dharmas was practiced to a greater extent than the Unlimited, it led to a certain dryness of mind, to aloofness, and to lack of human warmth. The true task of a Buddhist is to carry on with both contradictory methods at the same time. As the method of Dharmas leads to boundless contraction of the self because everything is emptied out of it, so the method of Unlimited leads to a boundless expansion of the self because one identifies oneself with more and more living beings. As the method of wisdom explodes the idea that there are any persons at all in the world, so the method of the Unlimited increases the awareness of the personal problems of more and more persons.

289. A Contradictory of Wisdom and Compassion

A Bodhisattva is a being compounded of the two contradictory forces of wisdom and compassion. In his wisdom, he sees no persons; in his compassion he is resolved to save them. His ability to combine these contradictory attitudes is the source of his greatness, and of his ability to save himself and others. What a man should do is to make no discrimination between himself and others, and to wait until he had helped everybody into Nirvana before losing himself into it. The Mahayanists thus claimed that the Arhat had not aimed high enough. The ideal man, the aim of the Buddhist effort, was, according to them, not the rather self-centered, cold and narrow-minded Arhat, but the all-compassionate Bodhisattva, who abandoned the world, but not the beings in it. Whereas in Theravada tradition, wisdom had been taught as the highest, and compassion as a subsidiary virtue; in Mahayana, compassion now came to rank as equal with wisdom. While the wisdom of the Arhat had been fruitful in setting free in himself what there was to be set free, it was rather sterile in ways and means of helping ordinary people. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva would be a man who does not only set himself free, but who is also skilful in devising means for bringing out and maturing the latent seeds of enlightenment in others. According to the Prajnaparamita Sutra, “Doers of what is hard are the Bodhisattvas, the great beings who have set out to win supreme enlightenment, but they do not wish to attain their own private Nirvana. On the contrary, they have surveyed the highly painful world of being, and yet, desirous to win supreme enlightenment, they do not tremble at birth-and-death. They have set out for the benefit of the world, for the ease of the world, out of pity for the world. They have resolved: ‘We will become a shelter for the world, a refuge for the world, the world’s place of rest, the final relief of the world, islands of the world, leaders of the world, the world’s means of salvation.’”

290. Should Bodhisattvas Be Considered As Heavenly Gods?

Bodhisattvas should never be considered as heavenly gods or devas, or permanent entities for worship. Buddhists should always remember that the Idea of Bodhisattva is only a symbolic method of Buddha-dhamra created by intellectual patriarchs after the Buddha’s parinirvana only to satisfy the religious need of followers and to adjust Buddhism in some special circumstances. The concept of Bodhisattvahood appears in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhisms. So the idea of Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism is in no way a strange idea to the Theravada Buddhism. According to the Buddhist canon, both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhisms inherited the idea of Bodhisattva from the oldest oral tradition rather than borrowed from one another. According to E. J. Thomas in a book titled “Buddhism,” no school of Buddhism may be called as the originator of the concept of Bodhisattva, nor any document can be justified which school borrowed the idea from the others. According to Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are those who develop Bodhicitta, fulfill the paramitas, to eventually become a Buddha. The development of the Bodhicitta requires that the adept must dedicate himself in his several lives to the services of others, and should not desire his own emancipation unless and until all others have attained it, because seeking one’s own emancipation before that of others would mean that he has not developed the virtue of self-sacrifice to the fullest extent. Also according to Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are unnumerable as sand particles in the Ganges. In fact, ontologically speaking, every human being is a Bodhisattva as he or she has the potentiality to become a Buddha in this very life or in lives to come. Thus, according to Mahayana Buddhism, a Bodhisattva can be a monk, a nun, or an ordinary person like we are. As a matter of fact, most of the Bodhisattvas in Buddhist history were laity. This is so because to do the deeds a Bodhisattva ought to do, the Bodhisattva should be in close contact with the people in a community. However, Theravada Buddhism believes that only Gotama Buddha was born as Bodhisattva in his previous existences.