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The meaning of the word bodhisattva. Encyclopedia of modern esotericism Who knows that a bodhisattva lives

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The meaning of the word bodhisattva

bodhisattva in the crossword dictionary

Mythological dictionary

bodhisattva

(Buddha) - “a being striving for enlightenment” - a person striving to become a Buddha and save all living beings from the suffering of samsara. It is placed above the arhat, since the arhat strives only for his own enlightenment. Using six paramitas (spiritual perfections) - generosity, morality, patience, masculinity, the ability to contemplate, wisdom - B. reaches the "opposite shore" and is filled with higher understanding and higher compassion for all living beings. Since the Buddhas are completely immersed in nirvana and can no longer help living beings, the greatest B. prefer to voluntarily remain in samsara and obey the laws of karma until all living beings are saved. To B. can really be reckoned existing people(teachers of Buddhism, founders of Tibetan schools of Buddhism), but mythological B. is considered the main one. In the Mahayana, a list of eight such B. is given: Samantabhadra, Vajrapani, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Maitreya, Akashagarbha, Ksitigarbha, Sarvanivaranavishkambhin. Sometimes two more are added to them - Mahasthamapraptu and Trailokavijaya. Mythological B. relate to certain Buddhas and act as an active aspect of this Buddha.

Wikipedia

Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva, bodhisattva, body sativa awakening" or "being with awakened consciousness", the term consists of two words - "bodhi" - awakening and "sattva" - essence, being) - in Buddhism, a being with bodhichitta, who decided to become a Buddha for the benefit of all beings. The motivation for such a decision is the desire to save all living beings from suffering and get out of the infinity of rebirth - samsara. In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is also called an enlightened person who refused to go into nirvana in order to save all living beings.

The word "bodhisattva" in Tibetan sounds like "jang-chub-sem-pa", which means "purified the awakened consciousness."

Examples of the use of the word bodhisattva in the literature.

This sutra starts from the seat of all buddhas, aims to make all sentient beings aspire to achieve Buddhahood, and stops where everyone practices. bodhisattvas.

What is the difference between Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha?

Arhat translated from Sanskrit(अर्हत् ) means "worthy"). The term is used both in Hinduism, where it refers to a hermit engaged in spiritual practice, and in Buddhism, where it refers to a person who has reached nirvana and left the "wheel of rebirth", but does not have the omniscience of the Buddha. In Mahayana Buddhism, the term Arhat has a well-defined place. It denotes a person who has reached the crown of the "Small Vehicle" of Buddhism - Hinayana, who has reached nirvana, who has come out of the wheel of samsara, but who has achieved this all for the sake of personal liberation, and not for the benefit of all living beings. When an Arhat desires to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings, he takes the path of a Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva is thus the next stage after the Arhat, preceding the state of the Buddha. The main difference between a Buddhist Arhat and a Bodhisattva is the absence of the former's motivation for the common good.
Bodhisattva (Skt. बोधिसत्त्व or bodhisattva, Pali bodhisatta , literally, “a being striving for enlightenment”), unlike Artakh, is a primordially Buddhist concept.
The Teaching uses both the term Arhat and the term Bodhisattva. The first of them is used much more often than the last and, based on the analysis of the context of its use, goes beyond the understanding of the concept of Arhat in Buddhism. As a result of the analysis of many statements about Arhats in the text of the Teaching and the notes of H.I. Roerich, we can conclude that the term Arhat is used in the Teaching to denote "dedicated" high level , regardless of its further degrees. At the same time, Arhatship has its own levels. By and large, Bodhisattvas and even Buddhas can be called Arhats in the Teaching. So Lord Maitreya Himself, who was once a Bodhisattva and who is now a Buddha, does not hesitate to speak on behalf of the Teachers "We, the Arhats...".
But despite the fact that the term Arhat is often used in the Teaching in the broadest sense, denoting high initiates, members of the Brotherhood, nevertheless, in the letters of H.I.: " Lord Maitreya higher than the Arhat!" (H.I. Roerich to the American collaborators on December 17, 1929). The same applies to the fact that Maitreya Buddha sometimes called himself an Arhat, this can be explained by the fact that the degree of Buddha includes the degree of Arhat, therefore the Buddhas are certainly Arhats.
However, a Bodhisattva is not necessarily an Arhat, since A bodhisattva can be called one who has entered the path of the Mahayana and taken the bodhisattva vows. At the same time, such a person is not necessarily one who has reached nirvana, only in which case he can be simultaneously called an Arhat.
If we analyze the qualities of an Arhat expounded in the Teaching, then we can conclude that the concept of an Arhat in the Teaching corresponds to the Buddhist concept of a Bodhisattva. The following points speak in favor of this:
1) The Arhat is called lower in relation to the Buddha (see quote above)
2) The Arhat is called the male equivalent of Tara: "Tara is the goddess, or the female equivalent of the Arhat" (E.I. Roerich to M.E. Tarasov on January 16, 1935)
3) An Arhat in the Teaching is inseparable from serving the Common Good.
All this in Buddhism corresponds to the concept of an Arhat-Bodhisattva, i.e. A Bodhisattva who has reached Nirvana, or an Arhat who follows the path of the Mahayana. Thus, the terms Arhat and Bodhisattva used in the Teaching are in fact synonyms. This moment should be taken into account when using the term Arhat, in communication with representatives of other teachings and religions. This requirement follows from the canon "by thy Lord". As the letters show E.I. Roerich , she herself knew about the meaning of the concept of Arhat in Buddhism and Hinduism, and even asked Klizovsky A.I. do not write about Arakhatov and Tar in his book, because this may have caused resentment among Buddhists and Theosophists and Hindus. Therefore, let us be careful when using the term Arhat when speaking with representatives of other religions.

At the same time, the practical usefulness of this topic should also be taken into account, in accordance with the following instruction:
" I strongly advise you not to be too interested in the names of the Initiations, because this does not lead to anything. Each religious-philosophical school or Occult Brotherhood had its own subdivisions or degrees and their designations. And be sure that the true steps are not denoted by the names that are now found in books. If you so desire, then take the excellent definitions of the steps of spiritual advancement given in Agni Yoga. After all, there are students of occultism who are convinced that the Solar Initiation takes place on the physical Sun!!! All the steps of Initiation are within ourselves. When the student is ready, he receives the Ray of Illumination corresponding to the level of purification and expansion of consciousness and fiery transmutation of the centers he has reached. But this true initiation has nothing to do with the sham initiations in the occult lodges now in existence, which in most cases have become mere clubs. For your pleasure, I present to you the ancient Egyptian degrees of Initiation in their Greek equivalents. The first degree was called Pastophoris; Second Neokoris; Third degree Melanophoris; Fourth Christophoris; Fifth Balakhat; Sixth Astrologos; Seventh Prophet, or Safknaf Pankakh. Will you advance to spiritual path from the knowledge of these conditional names?" (E.I. Roerich to M.E. Tarasov on January 16, 1935).

And save all living beings from suffering. The concept of a bodhisattva in the teachings and is somewhat different. According to the Hinayana, only the Buddhas of already completed world periods (their number does not exceed 24) and the Buddha of the modern era Shakyamuni have passed the path of the bodhisattva; the Buddha of the Coming Maitreya passes this way. All other people can only reach the state of an arhat. In the Mahayana, the bodhisattva path is open to all. The number of bodhisattvas in the Mahayana is theoretically infinite, and they live not only in the earthly world, but also in other worlds (the number of which is also approaching infinity).

The path of the bodhisattva begins with "raising the spirit of enlightenment", after which the bodhisattva (usually in the presence of one Buddha or another bodhisattva) makes vows to save all sentient beings from bondage. Using the six paramitas (perfections) on his way, the bodhisattva reaches the “opposite shore”, i.e. . With the help of perfection, a bodhisattva achieves the highest understanding and highest compassion for all living beings, which is considered the ideal state of a bodhisattva.

Since the Buddhas, after reaching full nirvana, can no longer help living beings, the greatest bodhisattvas (mahasattvas), having achieved enlightenment, prefer to stay in samsara, voluntarily obeying the laws, until all living beings are saved.

The path of the bodhisattva is divided into levels (bhumi). In the early Mahayanist sutras, there are seven of these levels, but from about the 3rd century BC. n. e. their number increases to ten. The duration of the path of a bodhisattva is approximately three "incalculable kalpas" (each - millions of years), and during the first kalpa only the first level is reached, during the second - the seventh, and during the third - the tenth. On his way, the bodhisattva is reborn many times, and in the guise of not only a person, but also any other being in samsara. A bodhisattva of the tenth level can choose the form of his existence himself and even have several incarnations at the same time.

The Mahayana pantheon includes as bodhisattvas real people who later (and partly even during their lifetime) were endowed with mythological features. Among them are Indian teachers and theorists of Buddhism (, Shantideva, Asanga), the founders of the Tibetan schools of Buddhism. But leading role purely mythological bodhisattvas play in the Mahayana. Their names are already found in the earliest Mahayanist sutras. The Sadharmapundarika mentions 23 bodhisattvas, the Vimalakirtinirdesa mentions more than 50. Mahayana literature often lists eight bodhisattvas:

Samantabhadra,
vajrapani,
Avalokiteshvara,
Manjushri,
Maitreya,
Akashagarbha,
Ksitigarbha,
Sarvanivaranavishkambhin;

two more are added to them - Mahasthamapraptu and Trailokavijaya.

In India, the most popular bodhisattvas are Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Mahasthamaprapta and Maitrya; in China and Japan - Avalokiteshvara, whose image has undergone a significant metamorphosis here and acquired a female appearance (Kuan-yin, Kannon), and Ksitigarbha (Ditsang-wang, Jizo); in Tibet and Mongolia - Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and Manjushri.

Each bodhisattva belongs to the mythological family of some Buddha (for example, Avalokiteshvara acts as an emanation of Buddha Amitabha, etc.) and represents an active aspect of this Buddha. In Vajrayana mythology, each of the five Buddhas of Contemplation (Dhyanibuddhas) corresponds to a specific bodhisattva. Thus, mythological bodhisattvas do not always follow the path of the bodhisattva, but rather are emanations of the Buddhas. From mythological bodhisattvas, other bodhisattvas and deities can in turn emanate (for example, Yamantaka - from Manjushri).

The highest spiritual hierarch of Tibet is considered the incarnation of a bodhisattva

(Sanskrit) Awakened. Enlightened. Saint. Indian cultural term. The status of a bodhisattva and the practice of achieving the state of a bodhisattva developed in Buddhism. The Bodhisattva is opposed to and, the provisions of which were developed in the early and operate in modern schools (). Bodhisattva in a state of supreme enlightenment ( anuttara-samyak-sambodhi), does not leave in order to continue to help people on the path to salvation. With it, everyone can count on. This is compared to a stone that swims across a river while lying in a boat. The main quality of a bodhisattva is great compassion ( , ) for all living beings (ayu , ). To become a bodhisattva, you need to go a long way, climbing fifty-two steps (), acquiring perfections () that contribute to the crossing "to the other side", i.e. into nirvana. The last ten steps (dasha-bhumi) are usually mentioned. must overcome sensual desires (kama-raga, kamacchedana), ill-will (vyapada), laziness (thina-middha, kaushidya), impatience ( uddhaccha-kukachcha), doubts ( , ), etc. After the death of the body, the bodhisattva resides in the body of the bliss of the Buddha (sambhogakaya) or in the body of the Law (), which is equivalent to the state. The bodhisattva institution quickly gained popularity in various countries. Emperors, Buddhist hierarchs, wealthy fellow citizens who supported monasteries were declared Bodhisattvas. In the Japanese Tendai school, in order to become a bodhisattva (mahasattva), one had to pass a special certification. Buddhist teachers Asanga, Nagarjuna and others are considered to be Bodhisattvas. There are three types of Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattva-King helps people from the height of his greatness. Bodhisattva-boatman goes to nirvana together with others (“in the same boat”). The shepherd bodhisattva is the last to enter nirvana, after having “driven the last sheep.” Each bodhisattva personifies some kind of perfection. The most revered are the four bodhisattvas who reside in the body (in the field) of the cosmic Buddha and continue to support people on the path to liberation. Bodhisattva is one of the titles of the Buddha.

Synonyms: , - ( Sanskrit).

Avalokitesvara. Padmapani. "Watching the Sounds of the World" Emanation of Buddha Amitabha. Also associated with it is the direction

Or “a being with an awakened consciousness”, the term consists of two words - “ bodhi" - awakening and " sattva" - essence, being) - in Buddhism, a being (or person) with bodhichitta, who decided to become a buddha for the benefit of all beings. The motivation for such a decision is the desire to save all living beings from suffering and get out of the infinity of rebirth - samsara. In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is also called an enlightened person who refused to go into nirvana in order to save all living beings.

The word "bodhisattva" in Tibetan sounds like "jang-chub-sem-pa", which means "purified the awakened consciousness."

Bodhisattva in early Buddhism

The image of the bodhisattva appeared already in early Buddhism. The path of the bodhisattva was passed by the Buddhas of the past and Shakyamuni Buddha - the Buddha of the modern period. In addition, the bodhisattva Maitreya (in Pali - Metteya) is revered, who in the future will be born among people and become a Buddha, and his coming will become a golden age.

Bodhisattva in Mahayana

In another sense, a bodhisattva is a person who has already become an arhat (the 6th stage of the path, according to the Dashabhumika Sutra) and continues to cultivate up to the 10th stage of the “clouds of Dharma”. At the end of his journey, the bodhisattva attains prajnaparamita ("perfect wisdom" or "transcendent knowledge"), which is different from "complete enlightenment", according to the Ashtasahasrika-prajnaparamita sutra:

Even if a bodhisattva, after he has raised his consciousness to full enlightenment, performs gifts for countless times, maintain moral purity, improve his patience, exercise diligence and remain in a state of meditation, but if at the same time he does not have perfect wisdom and does not know how to resort to skillful means, then he is doomed to descend to the level of a simple student (shravaka) ipi pratyekabuddha.

In a narrower sense, bodhisattvas are called bodhisattvas-mahasattvas (great beings) - mythologized characters of the Mahayana pantheon. Such are Avalokiteshvara - the bodhisattva of compassion, Manjushri - the bodhisattva of wisdom, Tara - a female bodhisattva who turned her femininity into a means of saving sentient beings, and many others. In folk Buddhism, these great bodhisattvas-mahasattvas are perceived as givers of worldly blessings, but for seriously practicing people they retain their significance as leaders and assistants on the path of awakening. Special Text: 37 Bodhisattva Practices.

Gallery

Mural Worshipping Bodhisattva.jpg

Gathering of bodhisattvas. China, 6th century

Chinese mural of a bodhisattva, ink and color on plaster, c. 952, Honolulu Academy of Arts.jpg

Fresco of a bodhisattva. China, 10th century

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Notes

Literature

Dumoulin G. The Bodhisattva Ideal // History of Zen Buddhism. India and China. - St. Petersburg. : ORIS, 1994. - 336 p. - ISBN 5-88436-026-6.
Jatakas. Per. B. Zakharyin. M. 1979.
Arya Shura "Garland of Jatakas or Tales of the Bodhisattva's Feats. Translated from Sanskrit by Academician A. Barannikov \\ edited by O. F. Volkova. M.1962.

Excerpt characterizing the Bodhisattva

"It's over, I'm gone! he thought. Now a bullet in the forehead - one thing remains, ”and at the same time he said in a cheerful voice:
Well, one more card.
- Good, - answered Dolokhov, having finished the summary, - good! 21 rubles are coming, - he said, pointing to the number 21, which equaled 43 thousand, and taking a deck, he prepared to throw. Rostov obediently turned back the corner and instead of the prepared 6,000, he diligently wrote 21.
“I don't care,” he said, “I just want to know if you kill or give me that ten.
Dolokhov seriously began to throw. Oh, how Rostov hated at that moment these hands, reddish with short fingers and hair visible from under his shirt, which had him in his power ... Ten was given.
“You have 43 thousand behind you, Count,” Dolokhov said and stood up from the table, stretching. “But you get tired of sitting for so long,” he said.
"Yes, and I'm tired too," said Rostov.
Dolokhov, as if reminding him that it was indecent for him to joke, interrupted him: When will you order me to receive the money, count?
Rostov flushed and called Dolokhov into another room.
“I can’t suddenly pay everything, you will take the bill,” he said.
“Listen, Rostov,” Dolokhov said, smiling clearly and looking into Nikolai’s eyes, “you know the saying: “Happy in love, unhappy in cards.” Your cousin is in love with you. I know.
"O! it’s terrible to feel so at the mercy of this man,” thought Rostov. Rostov understood what a blow he would inflict on his father and mother by announcing this loss; he understood what happiness it would be to get rid of all this, and understood that Dolokhov knew that he could save him from this shame and grief, and now he still wanted to play with him, like a cat with a mouse.
“Your cousin…” Dolokhov wanted to say; but Nicholas interrupted him.
“My cousin has nothing to do with it, and there’s nothing to talk about her!” he shouted furiously.
So when do you get it? Dolokhov asked.
“Tomorrow,” said Rostov, and left the room.

It was not difficult to say "tomorrow" and maintain a tone of propriety; but to come home alone, to see sisters, brother, mother, father, confess and ask for money to which you have no right after the given word of honor, it was terrible.
Haven't slept at home yet. The youth of the Rostovs' house, having returned from the theatre, had supper, sat at the clavichord. As soon as Nikolai entered the hall, he was seized by that loving, poetic atmosphere that reigned that winter in their house and which now, after Dolokhov's proposal and Yogel's ball, seemed to thicken even more, like the air before a thunderstorm, over Sonya and Natasha. Sonya and Natasha, in the blue dresses they wore at the theatre, pretty and knowing it, were happy and smiling at the clavichord. Vera and Shinshin were playing chess in the living room. The old countess, expecting her son and husband, was playing solitaire with an old noblewoman who lived in their house. Denisov, with shining eyes and disheveled hair, was sitting with his leg thrown back at the clavichord, and clapping his short fingers on them, he took chords, and rolling his eyes, in his small, hoarse, but true voice, sang the poem he had composed "The Enchantress", to which he tried to find music.
Sorceress, tell me what power
Draws me to abandoned strings;
What kind of fire did you plant in your heart,
What delight spilled over the fingers!
He sang in a passionate voice, shining at the frightened and happy Natasha with his agate, black eyes.
- Wonderful! Great! Natasha screamed. “Another verse,” she said, not noticing Nikolai.
“They have everything the same,” thought Nikolai, looking into the living room, where he saw Vera and his mother with an old woman.
- BUT! here's Nikolenka! Natasha ran up to him.
- Is daddy at home? - he asked.
- I'm glad you came! - Without answering, Natasha said, - we have so much fun. Vassily Dmitritch stayed another day for me, you know?
“No, dad hasn’t arrived yet,” said Sonya.
- Coco, you have arrived, come to me, my friend! said the voice of the countess from the living room. Nikolai went up to his mother, kissed her hand, and, silently sitting down at her table, began to look at her hands, laying out the cards. Laughter and cheerful voices were heard from the hall, persuading Natasha.
“Well, all right, all right,” Denisov shouted, “now there is nothing to excuse, barcarolla is behind you, I beg you.
The Countess looked back at her silent son.
- What happened to you? Nikolai's mother asked.
“Ah, nothing,” he said, as if he was already tired of this one and the same question.
- Is daddy coming soon?
- I think.
“They have the same. They don't know anything! Where can I go? ” thought Nikolai and went back to the hall where the clavichords stood.
Sonya sat at the clavichord and played the prelude of that barcarolle that Denisov especially loved. Natasha was going to sing. Denisov looked at her with enthusiastic eyes.
Nikolai began to pace up and down the room.
“And here is the desire to make her sing? What can she sing? And there is nothing funny here, thought Nikolai.
Sonya took the first chord of the prelude.
“My God, I am lost, I am a dishonorable person. Bullet in the forehead, the only thing left, not to sing, he thought. Leave? but where to? anyway, let them sing!”
Nikolai gloomily, continuing to walk around the room, looked at Denisov and the girls, avoiding their eyes.
"Nikolenka, what's wrong with you?" asked Sonya's gaze fixed on him. She immediately saw that something had happened to him.
Nicholas turned away from her. Natasha, with her sensitivity, also instantly noticed the state of her brother. She noticed him, but she herself was so happy at that moment, she was so far from grief, sadness, reproaches, that she (as often happens with young people) deliberately deceived herself. No, I'm too happy now to spoil my fun with sympathy for someone else's grief, she felt, and said to herself:
"No, I'm sure I'm wrong, he must be as cheerful as I am." Well, Sonya, - she said and went to the very middle of the hall, where, in her opinion, the resonance was best. Raising her head, lowering her lifelessly hanging hands, as dancers do, Natasha, stepping from heel to tiptoe with an energetic movement, walked across the middle of the room and stopped.
"Here I am!" as if she were speaking, answering the enthusiastic look of Denisov, who was watching her.
“And what makes her happy! Nikolay thought, looking at his sister. And how she is not bored and not ashamed! Natasha took the first note, her throat widened, her chest straightened, her eyes took on a serious expression. She was not thinking of anyone or anything at that moment, and sounds poured out of the smile of her folded mouth, those sounds that anyone can produce at the same intervals and at the same intervals, but which leave you cold a thousand times, in make you shudder and cry for the thousand and first time.
Natasha this winter began to sing seriously for the first time, and especially because Denisov admired her singing. She sang now not like a child, there was no longer in her singing that comic, childish diligence that had been in her before; but she did not yet sing well, as all the judges who heard her said. “Not processed, but a beautiful voice, it needs to be processed,” everyone said. But they usually said this long after her voice had fallen silent. At the same time, when this unprocessed voice sounded with incorrect aspirations and with efforts of transitions, even the experts of the judge did not say anything, and only enjoyed this unprocessed voice and only wished to hear it again. There was that virginal innocence in her voice, that ignorance of her own strengths and that still unprocessed velvety, which were so combined with the shortcomings of the art of singing that it seemed impossible to change anything in this voice without spoiling it.