The Bodhisatta in Theravada Buddhism by Nico Moonen (best books to read now .TXT) 📖

a series of many, then others had to be active elsewhere, and the world had to be full of Bodhisattvas who are all striving for the welfare of others.[38] In place of the liberation by ones own effort came the liberation by another through the mercy of the Buddha or of Bodhisattvas. The function of the Bodhisattva was that of a liberator, a saviour.[39] The Bhakti-movement of Hinduism that started about 400 B.C.E., probably influenced the Mahāyāna-school. Bhakti (faith and devotion) was a good way for the common people who could not follow the way of wisdom.[40]

    Two important schools developed in Mahāyāna, namely the Mādhyamika and the Yogācāra School. The Mādhyamika was founded by Nāgārjuna at the end of the first or beginning of the second century C.E. He expounded the philosophy behind the teachings of anattā, not-self, and of dependent origination. The key concept in his teachings was sūnyatā, emptiness. Nāgārjuna formulated that all things are temporary, spurious, empty of own-being or self.[41] If emptiness did not exist, a realisation of Nirvāna would not be possible. According to him that emptiness does not change and is therefore equal to Nirvāna. Samsāra and Nirvāna are identical, are two forms of the same reality. The ultimate emptiness is here, is everywhere and all-embracing. In fact there is no difference between emptiness and the perceptible world. All here is only an illusion, a product of the mind. And the one who considers those representations of the mind as reality, experiences frustrations. The one who sees them as illusions, and who considers oneself as not-self, as empty of own-being, that person is liberated. All beings could participate in the emptiness that is Nirvāna. They all had a Buddha-nature. They only had to develop that Buddha-nature.[42]

    The Yogācāra School was founded by the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu in the fourth century C.E. They were born in Peshawar in Gandhāra. Some say that  Maitreya or Maitreyanātha (3rd-4th century) was also one of the founders. He was the teacher of Asanga. The practice of yoga was thought important as a means for religious advance. This school taught that there are no visible objects; the perceptible world is a manifestation of the mind. Another name for this school was therefore Vijñānavāda, the teaching of consciousness. Consciousness is real, the objects of consciousness are not real. And the subject too, the individual, is shaped out of mind. There merely is mind, without a self. In the Yogācāra, mind is a definition of the absolute. It taught a “central consciousness” that is the essence of the world and out of which originates all that is. It contains the experiences of the individual life and the germs for every spiritual phenomenon. The central consciousness played a part as permanent “self” although they denied the existence of a self.[43] This school taught three levels of the mind: (1) consciousness of thinking (objective world); (2) thinking; (3) central consciousness (the absolute out of which all is originated). In Theravāda there must be an object to cause object-consciousness. According to the Vijñānavāda consciousness creates the sense-object.[44]

    This school, too, taught emptiness. It also developed the doctrine of the “three bodies of the Buddha”. As we have seen already, it was preceded by the doctrine of the Mahāsanghikas concerning nirmānakāya, the spiritual image of the Buddha. The three bodies (Trikāya) are:

1. Dharma-kāya. The true, invisible body; the body of the Law; the body of essence, of truth and reality. There are innumerable Buddhas on earth; however there is only one dharma-kāya. The beings on lower levels of insight see a multiple of Buddhas. But the enlightened beings experience in dharma-kāya the essential unity, not only of the Buddhas with each other, but also of the Buddhas with the beings in the world. The body of essence was identified with Nirvāna. Certain schools honour the dharma-kāya as the Primordial Buddha (ādibuddha) who pervades the whole universe. It is then in fact the World’s Soul, the Brahman of the Upanishads, in a new form.

2. Sambhoga-kāya. The heavenly body of bliss and delight; the transcendental body that is only spiritually perceptible to Bodhisattvas. It is the spiritual manifestation of dharmakāya. In this body the Buddhas enjoy their glory and wisdom. The transcendental Buddhas co-operate in the liberation of beings. For they are the teachers of the Bodhisattvas. There are spiritual Bodhisattvas in the sambhoga-kāya who have not (yet) lived on earth.[45] In the sambhoga-kāya they are aware of each other – in states of higher consciousness. This body of bliss remains eternal in the heavens as a kind of supreme god. In its turn it is the result of dharma-kāya and the spiritual creator of nirmāna-kāya.

3. Nirmāna-kāya. The magic body, the visible body of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. It is only the nirmāna-kāya that lives on earth. Its task is to preach the Teaching. It is a spiritual product of a heavenly Buddha, of sambhoga-kāya. Because Buddhas disappear forever as individual after their death, it is useless to pray to them. But praying to them may bring about a wholesome mood.[46]

    According to Mahāyāna at the same time that the Buddha Gotama taught the Dhamma in India, his supernatural original in heaven preached another, deeper and secret teaching. That secret teaching was first preserved by the nāgas (snakes, dragons). And only a few centuries later it was brought to earth by Nāgārjuna and other teachers. The Dhamma taught by the Buddha was for simple people. The supreme teaching of the Buddha was brought from heaven to earth only when there were teachers who were able to interpret that teaching and who could make it public. However, as Warder justly remarked, that would mean the Buddha would not have been able during his lifetime to teach what others 600 years later were able to do.[47]

    The Buddha taught that there are three types of perfect beings: (1) Buddhas; (2) Paccekabuddhas; and (3) Arahants. According to the early schools a serious disciple should strive after Arahantship.[48] But the Mahāyāna scriptures condemned the sthrāvakas, persons who commit themselves to attaining the state of Arahant. They also condemned the pratyekabuddhas, persons who only attain their own Enlightenment.[49] The followers of Theravāda and of other early Buddhist schools focussed all their attention on the study of the Abhidhamma. Their aim was to achieve the state of Arahant. They sought their own spiritual good and salvation and they undertook nothing to help others by preaching or by serving as models. The followers of Mahāyāna thought that one should not only work for ones own spiritual welfare, but that the Dhamma should be spread among the masses, as far as possible. Their aim was attaining the state of Bodhisattva, someone who as an enlightened being promises to help others to gain liberation.[50]

    It is suggested that Hinayāna was centred around the monastic community, while Mahāyāna arose among the lay followers of that time. But probably there were monks who were not satisfied with the attitude of Hinayāna and who added their powers to the lay leaders.[51]

 

    Mahāyāna teaches that all life is mutually dependent. The absolute is present in every being and is indivisible. Therefore all beings are identical with the absolute. There is no self; however there is a common unity. Karma therefore is not individual but familial, national and universal as well.[52] In Mahāyāna the universal aspect of karma is emphasised. The spiritual system is like a great ocean. Individual karma is therefore connected with the whole. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are able to liberate human beings by their compassion, namely by means of guidance and inspiration that we receive if we open our heart and our mind for the spiritual presences around and within us. This is a transference of merit and it happens inward and outward through the power of compassion.[53]

    Further, according to Mahāyāna, all life is a manifestation of the Buddha principle, or Mind. We all possess the absolute, the liberation in us. However we are not aware of it. Our life is a stream, a process of becoming. Energy is identical with consciousness, and consciousness (mind) is all that is. Nirvāna and samsāra are identical. Nirvāna is found within samsāra, and not outside.[54]

    In Mahāyāna many divine beings were also added. Thousands of Buddhas, innumerable Bodhisattvas and numerous deities, adopted from Hinduism, were admitted into the Mahāyāna-world of the gods.[55]

 

Fig. 1.

 

Aluvihara, Matala District, Sri Lanka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Bodhisattva in Mahāyāna

 

    According to original Buddhism the Buddha was a teacher. Liberation took place through one’s own power, one’s own energy. In Mahāyāna liberation is possible through the mercy of the Buddha or of Bodhisattvas. Further, highest insight in Mahāyāna is not the insight of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, but an enclosing and penetrating knowing, an all-knowing. Even the Buddha was not able to attain to that insight in one single night. Innumerable existences were needed. The true Buddhist follows the Buddha and therefore he must aim at that all-knowing and start the career of a Bodhisattva.[56] The monk exerts himself to reach Arahantship. But it is argued that the layman through his generosity, patience and energy is much nearer to the Buddha than the monk.[57]

    The concept of Bodhisattva in Mahāyāna replaced the Arahant ideal as the goal of Buddhist life. Some say that the Bodhisattva ideal was a revival of the original genius of Buddhism. In original Buddhism Arahantship was open to all, monks and laymen. Later this ideal was restricted to those who stayed in a monastery. The monks of the Hinayana schools would strive after Arahantship only for themselves and would not spread the teaching among the people. In Mahāyāna the Bodhisattva is a being who aims at Buddhahood through systematic development of the perfections (pāramitā). He aims at helping all other beings on the way to liberation. He lives only for the sake of others. The Arahant on the contrary was considered to be selfish because he would aim at Enlightenment only for himself. The Arahant is considered to be inferior to the Bodhisattva, for Arahantship is attained by the disciple, the one who hears the Teaching and follows the Eightfold Path.[58] The followers of Mahāyāna did not care for Arahantship but called attention to reaching Buddhahood.

    The quality of compassion is emphasised equally with wisdom in the Mahāyāna. Compassion and wisdom are found equally in the Bodhisattva. Through compassion he selflessly postpones his entrance into the bliss of Nirvana so