Bodhi (Sanskrit: बोधि) is both a Pāli Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan language (or prakrit) of India. It is best known as the language of many of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures, as collected in the Pāḷi Canon or Tipitaka, and as the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism and Sanskrit Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism[note 1]. Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand. Sanskrit has been declared a classical language by the Government of India word traditionally translated as "enlightenment" The word 'enlightenment' can be used to refer to many different concepts. The phrase 'The Enlightenment' refers to a philosophical revolution of the 18th century based on rationalism. In a secular or a non-Buddhist context the word is often used meaning full comprehension of a situation, or having gained spiritual insight. Enlightenment is also, but frequently (and more accurately) translated as "awakening" or "to know". The word "buddha In Buddhism, buddhahood (Sanskrit: बुद् buddhatva. Pali: बुद्धत buddhatta. Or buddhabhāva) is the state of perfect enlightenment (Sanskrit: samyaksambodhi (सम्यक्संबुद्ध). Pali: sammāsambodhi (सम्मसम्बोधि)) attained by a buddha (help·info) (Pali/Sanskrit for "awakened one&" means "one who has awakened." Although its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an, bodhi is also a technical term, with various usages, in other Indian philosophies and traditions.

Etymology

Bodhi is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand,) corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (Pāli) and bodhati or budhyate (Sanskrit).

Evolution of the concept

In early Buddhism, bodhi carried a meaning synonymous to nirvana Nirvāna (Sanskrit: निर्वाण; Pali: निब्बान ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering (or dukkha). In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through Moksha. The word literally means "blowing out", using only some different metaphors to describe the experience, which implied the extinction of raga (greed), dosa (hate) and moha (delusion). In the later school of Mahayana Buddhism Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. Mahāyāna Buddhism originated in India, the status of nirvana was downgraded, coming to refer only to the extinction of greed and hate, implying that delusion was still present in one who attained nirvana, and that one needed to attain bodhi to eradicate delusion ^[1]. Therefore, according to Mahayana Buddhism, the arhat In early Buddhist scriptures, the word arahant refers to an enlightened being. A Buddha, in the most common usage, is an arahant who has discovered the path to enlightenment without learning about it from someone else has attained only nirvana, thus still being subject to delusion, while the bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva 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." It is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated not only achieves nirvana but full liberation from delusion as well.^{[citation needed]} One thus attains bodhi and becomes a buddha. In Theravada Buddhism Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India. It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population) and most of, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion. It should also be noted that in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra The Nirvana Sutra, or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Nièpán Jīng ; Japanese: Nehankyō (涅槃経); Tibetan: myang 'das kyi mdo).) is a major Mahayana sutra, which its English-translator, Kosho Yamamoto, has described as "one of the three great masterpieces of Mahayana Buddhism". It is one of several Buddhist texts having, parinirvana In Buddhism, parinirvana is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). It implies a release from the bhavachakra, Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth as well as the dissolution of the skandhas is equal in all respects to Bodhi and indeed is the state of perfect Buddhahood.^{[citation needed]}

In Theravada Buddhism

In Buddhism, bodhi means the awakening experience attained by Gautama Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha ) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." [note 1] The time of his birth and death are uncertain: and his accomplished disciples In early Buddhist scriptures, the word arahant refers to an enlightened being. A Buddha, in the most common usage, is an arahant who has discovered the path to enlightenment without learning about it from someone else and refers to the unique consciousness of a fully liberated In Indian religions, Moksha or Mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति), literally "release" (both from a root muc "to let loose, let go"), is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation) yogi A yogi or yogin is a term for a male practitioner of various forms of spiritual practice. In contemporary English yogin is an alternative rendering for the word yogi. In Hinduism it refers to an adherent of Yoga. The word is also often used in the Buddhist context to describe Buddhist monks or a householder devoted to meditation. Chatral Rinpoche. Bodhi is sometimes described as complete and perfect sanity, or awareness of the true nature of the universe The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all physical matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space, although this usage may differ with the context . The term Universe may be used in slightly different contextual senses, denoting such concepts as the cosmos,. After attainment, it is believed that one is freed from the cycle of samsāra Saṃsāra literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (i.e. reincarnation) within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other Indian religions. The word has its origins in the sramanic traditions of ancient India, and is today used in many modern Indian languages to refer to the physical: birth, suffering, death and rebirth (see moksha In Indian religions, Moksha or Mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति), literally "release" (both from a root muc "to let loose, let go"), is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation)). Bodhi is most commonly translated into English as enlightenment. This word conveys the insight and understanding (wisdom) possessed by a buddha In Buddhism, buddhahood (Sanskrit: बुद् buddhatva. Pali: बुद्धत buddhatta. Or buddhabhāva) is the state of perfect enlightenment (Sanskrit: samyaksambodhi (सम्यक्संबुद्ध). Pali: sammāsambodhi (सम्मसम्बोधि)) attained by a buddha (help·info) (Pali/Sanskrit for "awakened one& and is similarly used in Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Christian mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or awareness, such as deep prayer involving the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to convey the saint Saints are individuals of exceptional holiness who are important in many religions, particularly Christianity. In some usages, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian, or anyone who is in Heaven's condition of being lit by a higher power - the merging of the human and the divine in theosis In Christian theology, particularly in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic theology, theosis is the process of transformation of a believer who is putting into practice (called praxis) the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ and his gospel. In particular, theosis refers to the attainment of likeness to or union with God, that is the final stage of this. There is no image of "light" contained in the term "bodhi", however. Rather, it expresses the notion of awakening from a dream and of being aware and knowing Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation (reality Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be. In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has being, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible). It is thus more accurate to think of bodhi as spiritual "awake-ness" or "awakenment", rather than "enlightenment" (although it is true that imagery of light is extraordinarily prevalent in many of the Buddhist scriptures).

Bodhi is attained when the ten fetters that bind a human being to the wheel of samsara have been dissolved; when the Four Noble Truths The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: चत्वारि आर्यसत्यानि (catvāri āryasatyāni); Wylie: 'phags pa'i bden pa bzhi; Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) is one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering (or dukkha), its nature, its origin, its cessation and the path leading have been fully understood and all volitional conditioning Saṅkhāra or saṃskāra (Sanskrit; Devanagari: संस्कार) is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'. In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental " has reached cessation (nirodha), giving rise to transcendent peace (nibbana In sramanic thought, Nirvana is the state of being free from suffering. It is an important concept in Buddhism and Jainism). At this moment, the psychological roots of all greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), delusion (moha), ignorance (avijjā), craving Taṇhā or tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit; Devanāgarī: तृष्णा) literally means "thirst," figuratively denotes unwholesome "desire" or "craving," and is traditionally juxtaposed with "peace of mind" (upekkha) (tanha) and ego-centered consciousness Ātman or Atta (Pāli) literally means "self", but is sometimes translated as "soul" or "ego". The word derives from the Indo-European root *ēt-men (breath) and is cognate with the Old English æthm and German Atem. In Buddhism, the belief in the existence of an unchanging ātman is the prime consequence of ignorance, (attā) are completely uprooted.

Bodhi is the ultimate goal of Buddhist life (brahmacarya). It is achieved by observing the eightfold path The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion. The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the, the development of the paramitas Pāramitā or pāramī (Pāli) is "perfection" or "completeness." In Buddhism, the pāramitās refer to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues. In Buddhism, these virtues are cultivated as a way of purification, purifying karma and helping the aspirant to live an unobstructed life, while reaching the goal of (virtues) and profound wisdom Prajñā or paññā (Pāli) is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively expierenced through concentration of the mind. In some sects of Buddhism, it is especially the wisdom that is based on the direct realization of such things as the four into the dependently arisen The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda , often translated as "dependent arising," is a cardinal doctrine within Buddhist Philosophy. Common to all schools of Buddhism, it is the name for the mechanism by which we are tied to samsara. It is variously rendered into English as "dependent origination", "conditioned genesis", nature of phenomena.

Four Stages

The early Buddhist tradition preserved by the Theravada features four progressive stages of bodhi:

• Srotāpanna (Sanskrit; Pali: Sotapanna Sotāpanna or Srotāpanna (Sanskrit; ch: rùliú 入流, Tib. rgyun zhugs) means in the Buddhism "stream-winner" and refers to a person, who has eradicated the first three fetters (sanyojanas) of the mind. Sotapanna literally means "one who entered (āpanna) the stream (sota)", after a simile that compares attaining nibbāna)
• Sakridāgāmi (Sanskrit; Pali: Sakadagami In Buddhism, the Sakadagami , "returning once" or "once-returner," is a partially-enlightened person, who has cut off the first three chains with which the ordinary mind is bound, and significantly weakened the fourth and fifth. Sakadagamiship is the second stage of the four stages of enlightenment)
• Anāgāmi In Buddhism, an anāgāmi is a partially-enlightened person who has cut off the first five chains that bind the ordinary mind. Anagami-ship is the third of the four stages of enlightenment (Sanskrit, Pali)
• Arhat Arhat , in the śramaṇa traditions of ancient India, such as Jainism and Buddhism, signifies a spiritual practitioner who has realized certain high stages of attainment. The implications of the term may vary based on the respective schools or traditions (Sanskrit; Pali: Arahant In early Buddhist scriptures, the word arahant refers to an enlightened being. A Buddha, in the most common usage, is an arahant who has discovered the path to enlightenment without learning about it from someone else)

Practitioners eliminate the Ten Fetters:

The Pāli Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan language (or prakrit) of India. It is best known as the language of many of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures, as collected in the Pāḷi Canon or Tipitaka, and as the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism Tripitaka Tripiṭaka is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. Buddhists of the Theravāda school use the Pali variant Tipitaka to refer what is commonly known in English as the Pali Canon. Later Buddhist traditions also use other terms for their collections of scriptures, such as Kangyur (Tibetan identifies 10 fetters:[3]

1. belief in an individual self (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi)
2. doubt or uncertainty, especially about the teachings (vicikicchā)
3. attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāsa)
4. sensual desire (kāma-cchando)
5. ill will (vyāpādo or byāpādo)
6. lust for material existence, lust for material rebirth (rūpa rāga)
7. lust for immaterial existence (arūpa rāga)
8. pride in self, conceit, arrogance (māno)
9. restlessness, distraction, anxiety (uddhaccaŋ)
10. ignorance (avijjā)

In the Mahayana Sutras

Certain Mahayana Buddhist sutras Mahāyāna sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures, believed in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition to be original teachings of the Buddha. The Theravāda and other early Buddhist schools believe that they are later compositions, not taught by the Buddha stress that bodhi is always present and perfect, and simply needs to be "uncovered" or disclosed to purified vision. Thus the "Sutra of Perfect Awakening" has the Buddha teach that, like gold within its ore, bodhi is always there within the being's mind, but requires the obscuring mundane ore (the surrounding defilements of samsara Saṃsāra literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (i.e. reincarnation) within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other Indian religions. The word has its origins in the sramanic traditions of ancient India, and is today used in many modern Indian languages to refer to the physical and of impaired, unawakened perception) to be removed. The Buddha declares:

"Good sons, it is like smelting gold ore. The gold does not come into being because of smelting ... Even though it passes through endless time, the nature of the gold is never corrupted. It is wrong to say that it is not originally perfect. The Perfect Enlightenment of the Tathagata [Buddha] is also like this."

Similar doctrines are encountered in the Tathagatagarbha There are conflicting interpretations of the tathāgatagarbha in Mahāyāna thought. The idea may be traced to Abhidharma, and ultimately to statements of the Buddha in the Nikāyas sutras, which tell of the immanent presence of the Buddha Principle (Buddha-dhatu/ Buddha-nature Within many schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Buddha-nature , literally corresponds to the Sanskrit, Buddha-dhātu - "Buddha Element", "Buddha-Principle", but seems to have been used most frequently to translate the Sanskrit "Tathāgatagarbha", meaning "the one thus gone"'s referring to the Buddha womb& or Dharmakaya The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā (The Perfection of Insight In Eight Thousand Verses), composed in the 1st century BCE. It constitutes the unmanifested, "inconceivable" (Sanskrit: acintya) aspect of / Dhammakaya) within all beings. Here, the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-Matrix) is tantamount to the indwelling transformative and liberational power of bodhi, which bestows an infinitude of unifying vision. The Buddha of the Shurangama Sutra The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, often spelled Shurangama Sutra or Surangama Sutra in English, is a Mahayana sutra and one of the main texts used in the Chán school in Chinese Buddhism. Śūraṅ means [of or belonging to] a Hero or a Brave person, Gama means [style of] steps or method [for making progress, for advancing] states:

"My uncreated and unending profound Enlightenment accords with the Tathagatagarbha, which is absolute bodhi, and ensures my perfect insight into the Dharma realm Dharmadhatu may be defined as the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhatu) of Dharma and denotes the collective 'one-taste' (Sanskrit: ekarasa) dimension of Dharmata [realm of Ultimate Truth], where the one is infinite and the infinite is one."

In Shingon Shingon Buddhism is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in India from the third to fourth century C.E that originally spread to China and Korea. The esoteric teachings would later flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai, who Buddhism, the state of Bodhi is also seen as naturally inherent in the mind - the mind's natural and pure state (as in Dzogchen According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by adherents of other Tibetan Buddhist sects) - and is viewed as the perceptual sphere of non-duality, where all false distinctions between a perceiving subject and perceived objects are lifted and the true state of things (non-duality) is revealed. This is also the understanding of Bodhi found in Yogacara Buddhism. To achieve this vision of non-duality, it is necessary to recognise one's own mind. Writing on the main sutra of Shingon Buddhism - the Mahavairocana Sutra - Buddhist scholar and translator of that scripture, Stephen Hodge, comments:

'... when the MVT [i.e. Mahavairocana Sutra] speaks of knowing your mind as it truly is, it means that you are to know the inherent natural state of the mind by eliminating the split into a perceiving subject and perceived objects which normally occurs in the world and is wrongly thought to be real. This also corresponds to the Yogacara definition ... that emptiness (sunyata) is the absence of this imaginary split. ... We may further elucidate the meaning of Perfect Enlightenment and hence of the intrinsic nature of the mind by correlating terms [which Buddhist commentator on the Mahavairocana Sutra,] Buddhaguhya, treats as synonyms. For example, he defines emptiness (sunyata) as suchness (tathata) and says that suchness is the intrinsic nature (svabhava) of the mind which is Enlightenment (bodhi-citta). Moreover, he frequently uses the terms suchness (tathata) and Suchness-Awareness (tathata-jnana) interchangeably. But since Awareness (jnana) is non-dual, Suchness-Awareness is not so much the Awareness of Suchness, but the Awareness which is Suchness. In other words, the term Suchness-Awareness is functionally equivalent to Enlightenment. Finally, it must not be forgotten that this Suchness-Awareness or Perfect Enlightenment is Mahavairocana [the Primal Buddha, uncreated and forever existent]. In other words, the mind in its intrinsic nature is Mahavairocana, whom one "becomes" (or vice-versa) when one is perfectly enlightened.'^[2]

Speaking in the context of the tathagatagarbha doctrine of the Uttaratantra, Professor C. D. Sebastian writes of Bodhi:

"Bodhi is the final goal of a Bodhisattva's career and it is indicated by such words as buddha-jnana (knowledge of Buddha), sarvjnata (omniscience), sarvakarajnata (the quality of knowing things as they are), ... and acintyam jnanam (inconceivable knowledge) ... Bodhi is pure universal and immediate knowledge, which extends over all time, all universes, all beings and elements, conditioned and unconditioned. It is absolute and identical with Reality and thus it is Tathata. Bodhi is immaculate and non-conceptual, and it, being not an outer object, cannot be understood by discursive thought. It has neither beginning, nor middle nor end and it is indivisible. It is non-dual (advayam)... The only possible way to comprehend it is through samadhi by the yogin"^[3]

Levels of bodhi

Pacceka-Bodhi (Pratyeka)

Those who obtain enlightenment through self-realisation, without the aid of spiritual guides and teachers, are known as pratyekabuddhas. According to the Tripitaka,^{[citation needed]} such beings only arise in ages where the dharma has been lost. Many pratyekas may arise at a single time.

Sammā-Sambodhi or Samyak Buddha

These are perfect, most developed, most compassionate, most loving, all-knowing beings who fully comprehend the dhamma by their own efforts and wisdom and teach it skillfully to others, freeing them from samsāra. One that develops sammā-sambodhi is known as samma-sambuddha.

A sammā-sambodhi is the one who gives rise to the path (previously) unarisen, who engenders the path (previously) unengendered, who points out the path (previously) not pointed out. Knowing the path, is expert in the path, is adept at the path. And (its) disciples now keep following the path and afterwards become endowed with the path, this is the difference between an arahant and a buddha.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Buddha (general)
• Enlightenment (religious)
• Buddha-nature
• Buddhism
• Gnosis
• Nirvana
• Samādhi
• Satori
• Bodhi tree

Notes

1. ^ An important development in the Mahayana [was] that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi ('awakening' to the truth, Enlightenment), and to put a lower value on the former (Gombrich, 1992d). Originally nirvana and bodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use different metaphors for the experience. But the Mahayana tradition separated them and considered that nirvana referred only to the extinction of craving (= passion and hatred), with the resultant escape from the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion: the extinction of delusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively expressed as gnosis, Enlightenment.’’ How Buddhism Began, Richard F. Gombrich, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1997, p. 67
2. ^ Stephen Hodge, The Maha-Vairocana-Abhisambodhi Tantra, With Buddhaguya's Commentary, RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2003, pp.31-32.
3. ^ Professor C. D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 2005, p. 274)

External links

• Hundreds of free buddhist talks and huge forum.
• How to Recognize Enlightenment.
• The Bodhi-Tree Practice - A set of meditations based on the four stages of the Buddha's enlightenment

Further reading

• The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (State University Press of New York, 1999), tr. by A. Charles Muller
• The Surangama Sutra (B.I. Publications, Bombay 1978), tr. by Lu K'uan Yu
• The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment. (New York : The Edwin Mellen Press, 2005) [includes translations of the following: Bodhicitta-sastra, Benkemmitsu-nikyoron, Sammaya-kaijo], Kenneth White

Categories: Sanskrit words and phrases | Buddhist philosophical concepts | Buddhist terms

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