Bodhicitta
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Translations of bodhicitta | |
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English | enlightenment-mind |
Tibetan | བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས (byang chub kyi sems) |
Thai | โพธิจิต (RTGS: photichit) |
Vietnamese | Bồ-đề tâm |
Glossary of Buddhism |
In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhicitta,[a] ("enlightenment-mind" or "the thought of awakening"), is the mind (citta) that is aimed at awakening (bodhi), with wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings.[1][2] Bodhicitta is the defining quality of the Mahayana bodhisattva (a being striving towards Buddhahood) and the act of giving rise to bodhicitta (bodhicittotpāda) is what makes a bodhisattva a bodhisattva. The Daśabhūmika Sūtra explains that the arising of bodhicitta is the first step in the bodhisattva's career.[3]
Etymology
Etymologically, the word is a combination of the
Definition
Indian sources
The term bodhicitta is defined and explained in different ways by different
According to the
"O may I obtain supreme and perfect Enlightenment, promote the good of all beings, and establish them in the final and complete nirvana and in the Buddha-knowledge!"[7]
Thus, according to the Bodhisattvabhumi, bodhicitta has two objects of thought or themes (alambana): bodhi and the good of the living beings (sattv-ārtha).[7]
According to Indian sources, the bodhicitta aspiration provides incalculable merit (such as good rebirths, a weakening of the defilements, increased mindfulness and luck).[8] Bodhicitta is what makes someone a Mahayana bodhisattva, a child of the Buddha. Thus, the Indian Buddhist author Shantideva (8th century) writes in his Bodhicaryavatara:
Those who long to transcend the hundreds of miseries of existence, who long to relieve creatures of their sorrows, who long to enjoy many hundreds of joys, must never abandon bodhicitta. When bodhicitta has arisen in him, a wretch, captive in the prison of existence, he is straightway hailed son of the Sugatas [the Buddhas], to be revered in the worlds of gods and men.[9]
According to Paul Williams, bodhicitta in early Mahāyāna works was less well defined and meant a "certain state of mind" characteristic of a bodhisattva.[10] According to Ulrich Pagel, numerous Mahāyāna sūtras, like the Bodhisattvapiṭaka, see the arising of bodhicitta (bodhicittotpāda) as an ongoing process which must be constantly refurbished (rather than as a static event).[10]
Modern definitions
According to the 14th Dalai Lama, bodhicitta is:
the aspiration to bring about the welfare of all sentient beings and to attain buddhahood for their sake - is really the distilled essence, the squeeze juice, of all the Buddha's teachings, because ultimately, the Buddha's intention is to lead all sentient beings to perfect enlightenment.[11]
Some modern East Asian authors on Buddhism, such as D.T. Suzuki and M. Anesaki, define bodhicitta as an immanent inner awakening. For example, Anesaki writes that bodhicitta is "the primordial essence of our mind, which in itself consists in the supreme bodhi."[12]
According to Zoketsu Norman Fischer, bodhicitta is a spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all sentient beings, accompanied by a falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently existing self.[13]
Fischer adds that bodhicitta, along with the mind of great compassion (mahakaruna), motivates one to attain enlightenment
Types and stages of bodhicitta
Mahayana Buddhist thinkers also developed different models which described different forms and levels of bodhicitta.[14]
According to the Bodhisattvabhumi, there are two main stages of the development of bodhicitta:[14]
- a kind of bodhicitta which can be lost
- the permanent kind of bodhicitta which cannot be lost and leads directly to enlightenment.
Furthermore, according to Shantideva, there are two types of bodhicitta:[14]
- bodhicitta which is a mere wish or aspiration (bodhipranidhicitta)
- active bodhicitta (bodhiprasthanacitta) which consists of actually practicing the path in line with one's intent
In Tibetan Buddhism
A common Tibetan Buddhist distinction is that between relative and absolute (or ultimate) bodhicitta.
In his book Words of My Perfect Teacher, the
- King-like bodhicitta, in which a bodhisattva primarily seeks his own benefit but who recognizes that his benefit depends crucially on that of his kingdom and his subjects.
- Boatman-like bodhicitta, in which a bodhisattva ferries his passengers across the river and simultaneously, of course, ferries himself as well
- Shepherd-like bodhicitta, who makes sure that all his sheep arrive safely ahead of him and places their welfare above his own.
According to Patrul Rinpoche, the way of the shepherd bodhisattva is the best and highest way.
Some bodhicitta practices emphasize the absolute (e.g.
Practice
Cultivation
The Mahāyāna tradition provides specific methods for the intentional cultivation of both absolute and relative bodhicitta.
Tibetan Methods
Among the many methods for developing uncontrived bodhicitta given in Tibetan Mahāyāna teachings are:
- A. So as to arouse Bodhicitta, the main aspect, the Four Immeasurables (Brahmavihara) contemplation and practice:
- B. So as to aspire Bodhicitta:
- The Lojong (mind training) practices:
- Others as equal to self: Exchanging self and others: (Tonglen) the Sending and Receiving while breathing practice,
- Others as more important: Viewing all other sentient beings as having been our mothers in infinite past lives, and feeling gratitude for the many occasions on which they have taken care of us.
- The Lojong (mind training) practices:
- C. So as to apply Bodhicitta and achieve enlightenment:
- The repeated Pāramitās practice cycle: 5) Meditation, and 6) Insight.
- The repeated Pāramitās practice cycle:
In Lojong's 59 slogans, Point Two: The main practice, which is training in absolute and relative bodhicitta.
- A. Absolute Bodhicitta
- Slogan 2. Regard all dharmas as dreams; although experiences may seem solid, they are passing memories.
- Slogan 3. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
- Slogan 4. Self-liberate even the antidote.
- Slogan 5. Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence, the present moment.
- Slogan 6. In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.
- B.Relative Bodhicitta
- Slogan 7. Sending and taking should be practiced alternately. These two should ride the breath (aka. practice Tonglen).
- Slogan 8. Three objects, three poisons, three roots of virtue—the 3 objects are friends, enemies and neutrals. The 3 poisons are craving, aversion and indifference. The 3 roots of virtue are the remedies.
- Slogan 9. In all activities, train with slogans.
- Slogan 10. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.
When only realizing Śūnyatā, the practitioner might not benefit others, so the Mahayana path unites emptiness and compassion, this keeps from falling into the two limits and remaining on the middle way. Traditionally, Bodhisattvas practice meditative concentration at the beginning toward attaining the noble one's wisdom level, then the main practice becomes benefiting others spontaneously, unlike other paths that might discontinue benefiting others.
All the conducive causes and auspicious conditions should be complete for bodhicitta to properly arise. After continued training, these qualities can arise in the mind without contrivance.
The two main traditions in taking the Bodhicitta vows are: 1) Nagarjuna's profound view chariot and, 2) Asanga's vast conduct chariot. After which this is guarded with what to avoid, and what to adopt.
The practice can be divided into three parts: 1) mind training, 2) arousing bodhicitta, and 3) training in what to adopt and what to avoid. These can be called the 1) preliminary practice, 2) main practice, and 3) concluding practice. The preliminary practice is training in the four boundless qualities. The main practice is arousing Bodhicitta and taking vows. The concluding practice is training in what to adopt and guarding without fail against what to avoid.[22]
The
Two practice lineages
Tibetan Buddhists maintain that there are two main ways to cultivate Bodhichitta, the "Seven Causes and Effects" that originates from Maitreya and was taught by Atisha, and "Exchanging Self and Others," taught by Shantideva and originally by Manjushri.
According to Tsongkhapa the seven causes and effects are thus:
- recognizing all beings as your mothers;
- recollecting their kindness;
- the wish to repay their kindness;
- love;
- great compassion;
- wholehearted resolve;
- bodhichitta.
According to Pabongka Rinpoche the second method consists of the following meditations:[24][25]
- how self and others are equal;
- contemplating the many faults resulting from self-cherishing;
- contemplating the many good qualities resulting from cherishing others;
- the actual contemplation on the interchange of self and others;
- with these serving as the basis, the way to meditate on giving and taking (tonglen).
Universality
The practice and realization of bodhicitta are independent of sectarian considerations, since they are fundamentally a part of the human experience. Bodhisattvas are not only recognized in the Theravāda school of Buddhism,[26] but in all other religious traditions and among those of no formal religious tradition.[27] The present fourteenth Dalai Lama, for instance, regarded Mother Teresa as one of the greatest modern bodhisattvas.[28]
Source texts
Important later source texts on bodhicitta for Tibetan Buddhism include:
- Bodhisattvabhumi(The Bodhisattva Levels)
- A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life(c. 700 CE),
- Bodhipathapradipa
- Thogme Zangpo's Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva[29] (12th century CE),
- Langri Tangpa's Eight Verses for Training the Mind[30] (c. 1100 CE), and
- Geshe ChekhawaTraining the Mind in Seven Points in the 12th century CE.
See also
- Bodhisattva vow
- Bodhisattva Precepts
- Consciousness (Buddhism)
Notes
References
- ISBN 0-76790157-6.
- ^ Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 59. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 50. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ISBN 0-76790157-6.
- ISBN 9780190622596.
- ^ Williams, Paul (2008). Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, pp. 194-195. Routledge.
- ^ a b Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 61. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 62. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ Williams, Paul (2008). Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, p. 195. Routledge.
- ^ ISBN 9781134250578.
- ^ His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2011). Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment, p. 108.Thubten Dhargye Ling
- ^ Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 59. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ ISBN 9781611800401.
- ^ a b c Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 62. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ ISBN 1-55939-049-2.
- ISBN 978-1570629570.
- ISBN 1-57062412-7.
- ^ "The Practice of Tonglen". Shambhala International. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ISBN 978-1726335799.
- ISBN 9781559390927.
- ^ Dayal, Har (1970). The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, pp. 59-63. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
- ^ NAMDROL, KHENPO (October 6, 2010). AROUSING BODHICITTA, THE ROOT OF THE MAHAYANA: COMMENTARY BY KHENPO NAMDROL: KUNZANG LAMA'I ZHALUNG (PDF). Knandrol. p. 2. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0980173055.
- ISBN 978-1559391689.
- ISBN 978-0861711260.
- ISBN 978-9679920048.
- ^ Ray, Amit (16 March 2017). "Bodhicitta The Path of Compassionate Enlightenment". Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-0316930932.
- ^ "The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva". Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ^ "Eight Verses for Training the Mind" (PDF). Prison Mindfulness Institute. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
Further reading
- ISBN 9781559390927.
- ISBN 978-0861710973.
- Harvey, Peter (2000). An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics. ISBN 978-0521556408.
- Lampert, Khen (2006). Traditions of Compassion: From Religious Duty to Social Activism. ISBN 978-1403985279.
- Matics, Marion L. (1970). Entering the Path of Enlightenment: The Bodhicaryavatara of the Buddhist Poet Santideva. Macmillan.
- Powers, John (2007). Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. ISBN 978-1559392822.
- ISBN 978-1907314056.
- ISBN 978-0861713035.
- Wangchuk, Dorji (2007). Studia Philologica Buddhica XXIII. The Resolve to Become a Buddha: A Study of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The International Institute for Buddhist Studies. ISBN 978-4-906267-59-0.
- White, Kenneth R. (2005). The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. The Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-5985-4. [includes translations of the following: Bodhicitta-sastra, Benkemmitsu-nikyoron, Sammaya-kaijo]