THE BODHISATTVA.
{277}
/Next/ to the conception of Buddha, what is important in Mahâyâna
Buddhism is that of Bodhisattva (intelligence-being) and of that which
constitutes its essence, Bodhicitta, intelligence-heart. As stated
above, the followers of Mahâyânism do not call themselves Çrâvakas
or Pratyekabuddhas or Arhats as do those of Hînayânism; but they
distinguish themselves by the title of Bodhisattva. What this means
will be the subject-matter of this chapter.
Let us begin with a quotation from the _Saddharma-pundarîka Sûtra_,
in which a well-defined distinction between the Çrâvakas and the
Pratyekabuddhas and the Bodhisattvas is given.[119]
_The Three Yânas._
“Now, Çâriputra, the beings who have become wise, have faith in the
Tathâgata, the father of the world, and consequently apply themselves
to his commandments.
“Amongst them there are some who, wishing to follow the dictate of an
authoritative voice, apply themselves to the commandment of the
Tathâgata to {278} acquire the knowledge of the Four Great Truths,
for the sake of their own complete Nirvana. These, one may say, to be
those who, seeking the vehicle of the Çrâvaka, fly from the triple
world.....
“Other beings desirous of the unconditioned knowledge, of
self-restraint and tranquillity, apply themselves to the commandment
of the Tathâgata to learn to understand the Twelve Chains of
Dependence, for the sake of their own complete Nirvana. These, one may
say, to be those who, seeking the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddha, fly
from the triple world.....
“Other beings again desirous of omniscience, Buddha-knowledge,
absolute knowledge, unconditioned knowledge, apply themselves to the
commandment of the Tathâgata and to learn to understand the knowledge,
powers, and conviction of the Tathâgata, for the sake of the common
weal and happiness, out of compassion to the world, for the benefit,
weal and happiness of the world at large, of both gods and men, for
the sake of the complete Nirvana of all beings. These, one may say,
to be those who seeking the Great Vehicle (_Mahâyâna_) fly from the
triple world. Therefore, they are called Bodhisattva-mahâsattvas.”.....
This characterisation of the Bodhisattvas as distinct from the
Çrâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas constitutes one of the most significant
features of Mahâyâna Buddhism. Here the Bodhisattva does not exert
himself in religious discipline for the sake of his own weal, but for
the sake of the spiritual benefit of all his fellow-creatures. If he
will, he could, {279} like the Çrâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, enter
into eternal Nirvana that never slides back; he could enjoy the
celestial bliss of undisturbed tranquillity in which all our worldly
tribulations are forever buried; he could seclude himself from the
hurly-burly of the world, and, sitting cross-legged in a lonely cave,
quietly contemplate on the evanescence of human interests and the
frivolity of earthly affairs, and then self-contentedly await the time
of final absorption into the absolute All, as streams and rivers
finally run into one great ocean and become of one taste. But, in
spite of all these self-sufficient blessings, the Bodhisattva would
not seek his own ease, but he would mingle himself in the turmoil of
worldly life and devote all his energy to the salvation of the masses
of people, who, on account of their ignorance and infatuation, are
forever transmigrating in the triple world, without making any
progress towards the final goal of humanity.
Along this Bodhisattvaic devotion, however, there was another current
of religious thought and practice running among the followers of
Buddha. By this I mean the attitude of the Çrâvakas and the
Pratyekabuddhas. Both of them sought peace of mind in asceticism and
cold philosophical speculation. Both of them were intently inclined to
gain Nirvana which may be likened unto an extinguished fire. It was
not theirs to think of the common weal of all beings, and, therefore,
when they attained their own redemption from earthly sins and
passions, their religious discipline was completed, and no further
attempt was {280} made by them to extend the bliss of their personal
enlightenment to their fellow-creatures.[120] They recoiled from
mingling themselves among vulgar people lest their holy life should
get contaminated. They did not have confidence enough in their own
power to help the masses to break the iron yoke of ignorance and
misery. Moreover, everybody was supposed to exert himself for his own
emancipation, however unbearable his pain was for others could not do
anything to alleviate it. Sympathy was of no avail; because the reward
of his own karma good or evil could be suffered by himself alone, nor
could it be avoidable even by the doer himself. Things done were done
{281} once for all, and their karma made an indelible mark on the
pages of his destiny. Even Buddha who was supposed to have attained
that exalted position by practising innumerable pious deeds in all his
former lives, could not escape the fruit of evil karma which was quite
unwittingly committed by him. This iron arm of karma seizes everybody
in person and does not allow any substitute whatever. Those who wish
to give a halt to the working of karma could do so only by applying a
counter-force to it, and this with no other hand than his own. The
Mahâyânist conception of Bodhisattvahood may be considered an effort
somewhat to mitigate this ruthless mechanical rigidity of the law of
karma.
{282}
_Strict Individualism._
The Buddhism of the Çrâvakas and the Pratyekabuddhas is the most
unscrupulous application to our ethico-religious life of the
individualistic theory of karma. All things done are done by oneself;
all things left undone are left undone by oneself. They would say:
“Your salvation is exclusively your own business, and whatever
sympathy I may have is of no avail. All that I can do toward helping
you is to let you see intellectually the way to emancipation. If you
do not follow it, you have but to suffer the fruition of your folly. I
am helpless with all my enlightenment, even with my Nirvana, to
emancipate you from the misery of perpetual metempsychosis.” But with
the Buddhism of the Mahâyâna Bodhisattvas the case is entirely
different. It is all-sympathy, it is all-compassion, it is all-love. A
Bodhisattva would not seclude himself into the absolute tranquillity
of Nirvana, simply because he wishes to emancipate his
fellow-creatures also from the bondage of ignorance and infatuation.
Whatever rewards he may get for his self-enjoyment as the karma of his
virtuous deeds, he would turn them over (_parivarta_) towards the
uplifting of the suffering masses. And this self-sacrifice, this
unselfish devotion to the welfare of his fellow-beings constitutes the
essence of Bodhisattvahood. The ideal Bodhisattva, therefore, is
thought to be no more than an incarnation of Intelligence and Love, of
Prajñâ and Karunâ.
The irrefragability of karma seems to be satisfactory {283} from the
intellectual and individualistic standpoint, for the intellect demands
a thorough application of logic, and individualism does not allow the
transferring of responsibility from one person to another. From this
viewpoint, therefore, a rigorous enforcement as demanded by Hînayânism
of the principle of self-emancipation does not show any logical fault;
divine grace must be suspended as the curse of karma produced by
ignorance tenaciously clings to our soul. But when viewed from the
religious side of the question, this inflexibility of karma is more
than poor mortals can endure. They want something more elastic and
pliable that yields to the supplication of the feeling. When
individuals are considered nothing but isolated, disconnected atoms,
between which there is no unifying bond which is the feeling, they are
too weak to resist and overcome the ever-threatening force of evil,
whose reality as long as a world of particulars exists cannot be
contradicted. This religious necessity felt in our inmost
consciousness may explain the reason why Mahâyâna Buddhism proposed
the doctrine of parivarta (turning over) founded on the oneness of
Dharmakâyâ.
_The Doctrine of Parivarta._
The doctrine of turning over (_parivarta_) of one’s own merits to
others is a great departure from that which seems to have been the
teaching of “primitive Buddhism.” In fact, it is more than a departure,
it {284} is even in opposition to the latter in some measure. Because
while individualism is a predominant feature in the religious practice
of the Çrâvakas and the Pratyekabuddhas, universalism or
supra-individualism, if I am allowed to use these terms, is the
principle advocated by the Bodhisattvas. The latter believe that all
beings, being a manifestation of the Dharmakâya, are in their essence
of one nature; that individual existences are real so far as
subjective ignorance is concerned; and that virtues and merits issuing
directly from the Dharmakâya which is intelligence and love, cannot
fail to produce universal benefit and to effect final emancipation of
all beings. Thus, the religion of the Bodhisattvas proposes to achieve
what was thought impossible by the Çrâvakas and the Pratyekabuddhas,
that is, the turning over of one’s own merits to the service of others.
It is in this spirit that the Bodhisattvas conceive the seriousness of
the significance of life; it is in this spirit that, pondering over
the reason of their existence on earth, they come to the following
view of life:
“All ignorant beings are daily and nightly performing evil deeds in
innumerable ways; and, on this account, their suffering beggars
description. They do not recognise the Tathâgata, do not listen to
his teachings, do not pay homage to the congregation of holy men. And
this evil karma will surely bring them a heavy crop of misery. This
reflection fills the heart of a Bodhisattva with gloomy feelings,
which in turn {285} gives rise to the immovable resolution, that he
himself will carry all the burdens for ignorant beings and help them
to reach the final goal of Nirvana. Inestimably heavy as these burdens
are, he will not swerve nor yield under their weight. He will not rest
until all ignorant beings are freed from the entangling meshes of
desire and sin, until they are uplifted above the darkening veil of
ignorance and infatuation; and this his marvelous spiritual energy
defies the narrow limitations of time and space, and will extend even
to eternity when the whole system of worlds comes to a conclusion.
Therefore, all the innumerable meritorious deeds practised by the
Bodhisattvas are dedicated to the emancipation of ignorant beings.
“The Bodhisattvas do not feel, however, that they are being compelled
by any external force to devote their lives to the edification and
uplifting of the masses. They do not recognise any outward authority,
the violation of which may react upon them in the form of a punishment.
They have already passed beyond this stage of world-conception which
implies a dualism; they are on the contrary moving in a much wider and
higher sphere of thought. All that is done by them springs from their
spontaneous will, from the free activity of the Bodhicitta, which
constitutes their reason of existence; and thus there is nothing
compulsory in their thoughts and movements. [To use Laotzean
terminology, they are practising non-action, _wu wei_, and whatever
may appear to the ignorant and unenlightened as a strenuous and
restless life, is merely a natural {286} overflow from the
inexhaustible fount of energy called Bodhicitta, heart of
intelligence].”[121]
_Bodhisattva in “Primitive” Buddhism._
The notion of Bodhisattva was not entirely absent in “primitive”
Buddhism, only it did not have such a wide signification. All Buddhas
were Bodhisattvas in their former lives. The Jâtaka stories minutely
describe what self-sacrificing deeds were done by them and how by the
karma of these merits they finally attained Buddhahood. Çâkyamuni
was not the only Buddha, but there had already been seven or
twenty-four Buddhas prior to him, and the coming Buddha to be known as
Maitreya is believed to be disciplining himself in the Tuṣita heaven
and going through the stages of Bodhisattvahood. The one who is thus
destined to be the future Buddha must be extraordinarily gifted in
spiritual energy. He must pass through eons of self-discipline, must
practise deeds of non-atman with unflinching courage and fortitude
through innumerable existences.
The following quotation from the Jâtaka tales will be sufficient to
see what ponderous and exacting conditions were conceived by the
so-called Hînayânists to be necessary for a human being to become a
fully qualified Buddha.[122]
{287}
“Of men it is he, and only he, who is in a fit condition by the
attainment of saintship in that same existence, that can successfully
make a wish to be a Buddha. Of those in a fit condition it is only he
who makes the wish in the presence of a living Buddha that succeeds in
his wish; after the death of a Buddha a wish made at a relic shrine,
or at the foot of a Bo-tree, will not be successful. Of those who make
the wish in the presence of a Buddha it is he and only he who has
retired from the world that can successfully make the wish, and not
one who is a layman. Of those who have retired from the world it is
only he who is possessed of the Five High Powers and is master of the
Eight Attainments that can successfully make the wish, and no one can
do so who is lacking in these excellences. Of those, even, who possess
these excellences, it is he, and only he, who has such firm resolve
that he is ready to sacrifice his life for the Buddhas that can
successfully make the wish, but no other. Of those who possess this
resolve it is he, and only he, who has great zeal, determination,
strenuousness, and endeavor in striving for the qualities that make a
Buddha that is successful. The following comparisons will show the
intensity of the zeal. If he is such a one as to think: ‘The man who,
if all within the rim of the world were to become water, would be
ready to swim across it with his own arms and get further shore,--he
is the one to attain the Buddhaship: or, in case all within the rim of
the world were to become a {288} jungle of bamboo, would be ready to
elbow and trample his way through it and get to the further side,--he
is the one to attain the Buddhaship; or, in case all within the rim of
the world were to become a _terra firma_ of thick-set javelins, would
be ready to tread on them and go afoot to the further side,--he is the
one to attain the Buddhaship; or, in case all within the rim of the
world were to become live coals, would be ready to tread on them and
so get to the further side,--he is the one to attain the
Buddhaship,’--if he deems not even one of these feats too hard for
himself but has such great zeal, determination, strenuousness, and
power of endeavor that he would perform these feats in order to attain
the Buddhaship, then, but not otherwise, will his wish succeed.”
From this it is apparent that everybody could not become a Buddha in
“primitive” Buddhism; the highest aspiration that could be cherished
by him was to believe in the teachings of Buddha, to follow the
precepts laid down by him, and to attain at most to Arhatship. The
idea of Arhatship, however, was considered by Mahâyânists cold,
impassionate, and hard-hearted, for the saint calmly reviews the sight
of the suffering masses; and therefore Arhatship was altogether
unsatisfactory to be the object for the Bodhisattvas of their high
religious aspirations.
The Mahâyânists wanted to go even beyond the attainment of Arhatship,
however exalted its spirituality may be. They wanted to make every
humble soul {289} a being like Çâkyamuni, they wanted lavishly to
distribute the bliss of enlightenment; they wanted to remove all the
barriers that were supposed to lie between Buddhahood and the common
humanity. But how could they do this when the iron hands of karma held
tight the fate of each individual! How was it possible for him to
identify his being with the ideal of mankind? Perhaps this serious
problem could not very well be solved by Buddhists, when their memory
of the majestic personality of Çâkyamuni was still vivid before their
mental eyes. It was probably no easy task for them to overcome the
feeling of awe and reverence which was so deeply engraved in their
hearts, and to raise themselves to such a height as reached by their
Master, even ideally. This was certainly an act of sacrilege. But, as
time advances, the personal recollection of the Master would naturally
wane and would not play so much influence as their own religious
consciousness which is ever fresh and active. Generally speaking, all
great historical characters that command the reverence and awe of
posterity do so only when their words or acts or both unravel the
deepest secrets of the human heart. And this feeling of awe and
reverence and even of worship is not due so much to the great
characters themselves as to the worshiper’s own religious
consciousness. History passes, but the heart persists. An individual
called Çâkyamuni may be forgotten in the course of time, but the
sacred chord in the inmost heart struck by him reverberates through
eternity. So with the Mahâyâna Buddhists, {290} the religious sentiment
at last asserted itself in spite of the personal recollection and
reverential feeling for the Master. And perhaps in the following way
was the reasoning then advanced by them relative to the great problem
of Buddhahood.
_We are all Bodhisattvas._
As Çâkyamuni was a Bodhisattva in his former lives destined to become
a Buddha, so we are all Bodhisattvas and even Buddhas in a certain
sense, when we understand that all sentient beings, the Buddha not
excepted, are one in the Dharmakâya. The Dharmakâya manifests in us as
Bodhi which is the essence of Buddhas as well as of Bodhisattvas. This
Bodhi can suffer no change whatever in quantity even when the
Bodhisattva attains finally to the highest human perfection as
Çâkyamuni Buddha. In this spirit, therefore, the Buddha exclaimed when
he obtained enlightenment, “It is marvelous indeed that all beings
animate and inanimate universally partake of the nature of
Tathâgatahood.” The only difference between a Buddha and the ignorant
masses is that the latter do not make manifest in them the glory of
Bodhi.
They only are not Bodhisattvas who, enveloped in the divine rays of
light in a celestial abode, philosophically review the world of
tribulations. Even we mortals made of dust are Bodhisattvas,
incarnates of the Bodhi, capable of being united in the all-embracing
love of the Dharmakâya and also of obliterating the {291} individual
curse of karma in the eternal and absolute intelligence of the
Dharmakâya. As soon as we come to live in this love and intelligence,
individual existences are no hindrance to the turning over
(_parivarta_) of one’s spiritual merits (_punya_) to the service of
others. Let us only have an insight into the spirituality of our
existence and we are all Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. Let us abandon the
selfish thought of entering into Nirvana that is conceived to
extinguish the fire of heart and leave only the cold ashes of
intellect. Let us have sympathy for all suffering beings and turn over
all our merits, however small, to their benefit and happiness. For in
this way we are all made the Bodhisattvas.[123]
_The Buddha’s Life._
This spirit of universal love prevails in all Mahâyâna literature,
and the Bodhisattvas are everywhere represented as exercising it with
utmost energy. The Mahâyânists, therefore, could not rest satisfied
with a simple, prosaic, and earthly account of Çâkyamuni, {292} they
wanted to make it as ideal and poetic as possible, illustrating the
gospel of love, as was conceived by them, in every phase of the life
of the Buddha.
The Mahâyânists first placed the Buddha in the Tuṣita heaven before
his birth, (as was done by the Hînayânists), made him feel pity for
the distressed world below, made him resolve to deliver it from “the
ocean of misery which throws up sickness as its foam, tossing with the
waves of old age, and rushing with the dreadful onflow of death,” and
after his Parinirvana, they made him abide forever on the peak of the
Mount Vulture delivering the sermon of immortality to a great
assemblage of spiritual beings. In this wise, they explained the
significance of the appearance of Çâkyamuni on earth, which was
nothing but a practical demonstration of the “Great Loving Heart”
(_mahâkarunâcitta_).
_The Bodhisattva and Love._
Nâgârjuna in his work on the _Bodhicitta_[124] elucidates the
Mahâyânist notion of Bodhisattvahood as follows:
“Thus the essential nature of all Bodhisattvas is a great loving heart
(_mahâkarunâcitta_), and all sentient beings constitute the object
of its love. Therefore, all the Bodhisattvas do not cling to the
blissful taste {293} that is produced by the divers modes of mental
tranquilisation (_dhyâna_), do not covet the fruit of their
meritorious deeds, which may heighten their own happiness.
“Their spiritual state is higher than that of the Çrâvakas, for they
do not leave all sentient beings behind them [as the Çrâvakas do].
They practise altruism, they seek the fruit of Buddha-knowledge
[instead of Çrâvaka-knowledge].
“With a great loving heart they look upon the sufferings of all
beings, who are diversely tortured in Avici Hell in consequence of
their sins--a hell whose limits are infinite and where an endless
round of misery is made possible on account of all sorts of karma
[committed by sentient creatures]. The Bodhisattvas filled with pity
and love desire to suffer themselves for the sake of those miserable
beings.
“But they are well acquainted with the truth that all those diverse
sufferings causing diverse states of misery are in one sense
apparitional and unreal, while in another sense they are not so. They
know also that those who have an intellectual insight into the
emptiness (_çûnyatâ_) of all existences, thoroughly understand why
those rewards of karma are brought forth in such and such ways
[through ignorance and infatuation].
“Therefore, all Bodhisattvas, in order to emancipate sentient beings
from misery, are inspired with great spiritual energy and mingle
themselves in the filth of birth and death. Though thus they make
themselves {294} subject to the laws of birth and death, their hearts
are free from sins and attachments. They are like unto those
immaculate, undefiled lotus-flowers which grow out of mire, yet are
not contaminated by it.
“Their great hearts of sympathy which constitute the essence of their
being never leave suffering creatures behind [in their journey towards
enlightenment]. Their spiritual insight is in the emptiness
(_çûnyatâ_) of things, but [their work of salvation] is never outside
the world of sins and sufferings.”
_The Meaning of Bodhi and Bodhicitta._
What is the meaning of the word “Bodhisattva”? It is a Sanskrit term
consisting of two words, “Bodhi,” and “sattva.” _Bodhi_ which comes
from the root _budh_ meaning “to wake,” is generally rendered
“knowledge” or “intelligence.” _Sattva_ (_sat-tva_) literally means
“state of being”; thus “existence,” “creature,” or “that which is,”
being its English equivalent. “Bodhisattva” as one word means “a being
of intelligence,” or “a being whose essence is intelligence.” Why the
Mahâyânists came to adopt this word in contradistinction to Çrâvaka is
easily understood, when we see what special significance they attached
to the conception of Bodhi in their philosophy. When Bodhi was used by
the Çrâvakas in the simple sense of knowledge, it did not bear any
particular import. But as soon as it came to express some metaphysical
relation to the conception of Dharmakâya, it ceased to be used in its
generally accepted sense.
{295}
Bodhi, according to the Mahâyânists, is an expression of the
Dharmakâya in the human consciousness. Philosophically speaking,
Suchness or Bhûtatathâtâ is an ontological term, and Dharmakâya or
Tathâgata or Buddha bears a religious significance; while all these
three, Bodhi, Bhûtatathâtâ, and Dharmakâya, and their synonyms are
nothing but different aspects of one and the same reality refracting
through the several defective lenses of a finite intellect.
Bodhi, though essentially an epistemological term, assumes a
psychological sense when it is used in conjunction with citta, i.e.
heart or soul. Bodhicitta, or Bodhihṛdaya which means the same thing,
is more generally used than Bodhi singly in the Mahâyâna texts,
especially when its religious import is emphasised above its
intellectual one. Bodhicitta, viz. intelligence-heart is a reflex in
the human heart of its religious archetype, the Dharmakâya.
Bodhicitta when further amplified is called
anuttara-samyak-sambodhicitta, that is, “intelligence-heart that is
supreme and most perfect.”
It will be easily understood now that what constitutes the essence of
the Bodhicitta is the very same thing that makes up the Dharmakâya.
For the former is nothing but an expression of the latter, though
finitely, fragmentarily, imperfectly realised in us. The citta is an
image and the Dharmakâya the prototype, yet one is just as real as
the other, only the two must not be conceived dualistically. There is
a Dharmakâya, there is a human heart, and the former reflects itself
{296} in the latter much after the fashion of the lunar reflection in
the water:--to think in this wise is not perfectly correct; because
the fundamental teaching of Buddhism is to view all these three
conceptions, the Dharmakâya, human heart, and the reflections of the
former in the latter, as different forms of one and the same activity.
_Love and Karunâ._
The Bodhicitta or Intelligence-heart, therefore, like the Dharmakâya
is essentially love and intelligence, or, to use Sanskrit terms,
_karunâ_ and _prajñâ_. Here some may object to the use of the term
“love” for karunâ, perhaps on the ground that karunâ does not exactly
correspond to the Christian notion of love, as it savors more of the
sense of commiseration. But if we understand by love a sacrifice of
the self for the sake of others (and it cannot be more than that),
then karunâ can correctly be rendered love, even in the Christian
sense. Is not the Bodhisattva willing to abandon his own Nirvanic
peace for the interests of suffering creatures? Is he not willing to
dedicate the karma of his meritorious deeds performed in his
successive existences to the general welfare of his fellow-beings? Is
not his one fundamental motive that governs all his activities in life
directed towards a universal emancipation of all sentient beings? Is
he not perfectly willing to forsake all the thoughts and passions that
arise from egoism and to embrace the will of the Dharmakâya? If this
be the case, then there is {297} no reason why karunâ should not
be rendered by love.
Christians say that without love we are become sounding brass or a
tinkling cymbal; and Buddhists would declare that without karunâ we
are like unto a dead vine hanging over a frozen boulder, or like unto
the cold ashes left after a blazing fire.
Some may say, however, that the Buddhist sympathy or commiseration
somewhat betrays a sense of passive contemplation on evils. When
Christians say that God loves his creatures, the love implies activity
and shows God’s willingness to do whatever for the actual benefits of
his subject-beings. Quite true. Yet when the Buddha is stated to have
declared that all sentient beings in the triple world are his own
children or that he will not enter into his final Nirvana unless all
beings in the three thousand great chiliocosms, not a single soul
excepted, are emancipated from the misery of birth and death, his
self-sacrificing love must be considered to be all-comprehensive and
at the same time full of energy and activity. Whatever objections
there may be, we do not see any sufficient reason against speaking of
the love-essence of the Dharmakâya and the Bodhicitta.
_Nâgârjuna and Sthiramati on the Bodhicitta._
Says Nâgârjuna in his _Discourse on the Transcendentality of the
Bodhicitta_: “The Bodhicitta is free from all determinations, that is,
it is not included in the categories of the five skandhas, the twelve
âyatanas, and the eighteen dhâtus. It is not a particular {298}
existence which is palpable. It is non-atmanic, universal. It is
uncreated and its self-essence is void [_çûnya_, immaterial, or
transcendental].
“One who understands the nature of the Bodhicitta sees everything with
a loving heart, for love is the essence of the Bodhicitta.
“The Bodhicitta is the highest essence.
“Therefore, all Bodhisattvas find their raison d’être of existence in
this great loving heart.
“The Bodhicitta, abiding in the heart of sameness (_samatâ_) creates
individual means of salvation (_upaya_).[125] {299} One who
understands this heart becomes emancipated from the dualistic view of
birth and death and performs such acts as are beneficial both to
oneself and to others.”
Sthiramati advocates in his _Discourse on the
Mahâyâna-Dharmadhâtu_[126] the same view as Nâgârjuna’s on the
nature of the Bodhicitta, which I summarise here: “Nirvâna, Dharmakâya,
Tathâgata, Tathâgata-garbha, Paramârtha, Buddha, Bodhicitta, or
Bhûtatathâtâ,--all these terms signify merely so many different
aspects of one and the same reality; and Bodhicitta is the name given
to a form of the Dharmakâya or Bhûtatathâtâ as it manifests itself in
the human heart, and its perfection, or negatively its liberation from
all egoistic impurities, constitutes the state of Nirvana.”
Being a reflex of the Dharmakâya, the Bodhicitta is practically the
same as the original in all its characteristics; so continues
Sthiramati: “It is free from compulsive activities; it has no
beginning, it has no end; it cannot be defiled by impurities, it
cannot be obscured by egoistic individualistic prejudices; it is
incorporeal, it is the spiritual essence of Buddhas, {300} it is the
source of all virtues earthly as well as transcendental; it is
constantly becoming, yet its original purity is never lost.
“It may be likened unto the ever-shining sunlight which may
temporarily be hidden behind the clouds. All the modes of passion and
sin arising from egoism may sometimes darken the light of the
Bodhicitta, but the Citta itself forever remains free from these
external impurities. It may again be likened unto all-comprehending
space which remains eternally identical, whatever happenings and
changes may occur in things enveloped therein. When the Bodhicitta
manifests itself in a relative world, it looks as if being subject to
constant becoming, but in reality it transcends all determinations, it
is above the reach of birth and death (_samsâra_).
“So long as it remains buried under innumerable sins arising from
ignorance and egoism, it is productive of no earthly or heavenly
benefit. Like the lotus-flower whose petals are yet unfolded, like the
gold that is deeply entombed under the débris of dung and dirt, or
like the light of the full moon eclipsed by Açura; the Bodhicitta,
when blindfolded by the clouds of passion, avarice, ignorance, and
folly, does not reveal its intrinsic spiritual worth.
“Destroy at once with your might and main all those entanglements;
then like the full-bloomed lotus-flower, like genuine gold purified
from dirt and dust, like the moon in a cloudless sky, like the sun in
its full glory, like mother earth producing all kinds of {301}
cereals, like the ocean containing innumerable treasures, the eternal
bliss of the Bodhicitta will be upon all sentient beings. All sentient
beings are then emancipated from the misery of ignorance and folly,
their hearts are filled with love and sympathy and free from the
clinging to things worthless.
“However defiled and obscured the Bodhicitta may find itself in
profane hearts, it is essentially the same as that in all Buddhas.
Therefore, says the Muni of Çakya: ‘O Çâriputra, the world of sentient
beings is not different from the Dharmakâya; the Dharmakâya is not
different from the world of sentient beings. What constitutes the
Dharmakâya is the world of sentient beings; and what constitutes the
world of sentient beings is the Dharmakâya.’
“As far as the Dharmakâya or the Bodhicitta is concerned, there is no
radical distinction to be made between profane hearts and the Buddha’s
heart; yet when observed from the human standpoint [that is, from the
phenomenal side of existence] the following general classification can
be made:
“(1) The heart hopelessly distorted by numberless egoistic sins and
condemned to an eternal transmigration of birth and death which began
in the timeless past, is said to be in the state of profanity.
“(2) The heart that, loathing the misery of wandering in birth and
death and taking leave of all sinful and depraved conditions, seeks
the Bodhi in the ten virtues of perfection (_pâramitâ_) and 84,000
Buddha-dharmas and disciplines itself in all meritorious deeds, {302}
is said to be the [spiritual] state of a Bodhisattva.
“(3) The state in which the heart is emancipated from the obscuration
of all passions, has distanced all sufferings, has eternally effaced
the stain of all sins and corruptions, is pure, purer, and purest,
abides in the essence of Dharma, has reached the height from which the
states of all sentient beings are surveyed, has attained the
consummation of all knowledges, has realised the highest type of
manhood, has gained the power of spiritual spontaneity which frees one
from attachment and hesitation,--this spiritual state is that of the
fully, perfectly, enlightened Tathâgata”.
_The Awakening of the Bodhicitta._
The Bodhicitta is present in the hearts of all sentient beings. Only
in Buddhas it is fully awakened and active with its immaculate
virility, while in ordinary mortals it is dormant and miserably
crippled by its unenlightened intercourse with the world of
sensuality. One of the most favorite parables told by the Mahâyânists
to illustrate this point is to compare the Bodhicitta to the moonlight
in the heavens. When the moon shines with her silvery light in the
clear, cloudless skies, she is reflected in every drop and in every
mass of water on the earth. The crystal dews on the quivering leaves
reflect her like so many pearls hung on the branches. Every little
water-pool, probably formed temporarily by heavy showers in the
daytime, reflects her like so many stars descended {303} on earth.
Perhaps some of the pools are muddy and others even filthy, but the
moonlight does not refuse to reflect her immaculate image in them. The
image is just as perfect there as in a clear, undisturbed, transparent
lake, where cows quench their thirst and swans bathe their taintless
feathers. Wherever there is the least trace of water, there is seen a
heavenly image of the goddess of night. Even so with the Bodhicitta:
where there exists a little warmth of the heart, there it unfailingly
glorifies itself in its best as circumstances permit.
Now, the question is: How should this dormant Bodhicitta in our hearts
be awakened to its full sense? This is answered more or less
definitely in almost all the Mahâyâna writings, and we may here
recite the words of Vasubandhu from his _Discourse on the Awakening of
the Bodhicitta_,[127] for they give us a somewhat systematic
statement of those conditions which tend to awaken the Bodhicitta from
its lethargic inactivity. (Chap. II.)
The Bodhicitta or Intelligence-heart is awakened in us (1) by thinking
of the Buddhas, (2) by reflecting on the faults of material existence,
(3) by observing the deplorable state in which sentient beings are
living, and finally (4) by aspiring after those virtues which are
acquired by a Tathâgata in the highest enlightenment.
{304}
To describe these conditions more definitely:
(1) _By thinking of the Buddhas._ “All Buddhas in the ten quarters, of
the past, of the future, and of the present, when first started on
their way to enlightenment, were not quite free from passions and sins
(_kleça_) any more than we are at present; but they finally succeeded
in attaining the highest enlightenment and became the noblest beings.
“All the Buddhas, by strength of their inflexible spiritual energy,
were capable of attaining perfect enlightenment. If enlightenment is
attainable at all, why should we not attain it?
“All the Buddhas, erecting high the torch of wisdom through the
darkness of ignorance and keeping awake an excellent heart, submitted
themselves to penance and mortification, and finally emancipated
themselves from the bondage of the triple world. Following their
steps, we, too, could emancipate ourselves.
“All the Buddhas, the noblest type of mankind, successfully crossed
the great ocean of birth and death and of passions and sins; why,
then, we, being creatures of intelligence, could also cross the sea of
transmigration.
“All the Buddhas manifesting great spiritual power sacrificed the
possessions, body, and life, for the attainment of omniscience
(_sarvajñâ_); and we, too, could follow their noble examples.”
(2) _The faults of the material existence._ “This our bodily existence
consisting of the five skandhas and the four mahats (elements) is a
perpetuator of innumerable {305} evil deeds; and therefore it should
be cast aside. This our bodily existence constantly secretes from its
nine orifices filths and impurities which are truly loathsome; and
therefore it should be cast aside. This our bodily existence,
harboring within itself anger, avarice, and infatuation, and other
innumerable evil passions, consumes a good heart; and therefore it
should be destroyed. This our bodily existence is like a bubble, like
a spatter, and is decaying every minute. It is an undesirable
possession and should be abandoned. This our bodily existence engulfed
in ignorance is creating evil karma all the time, which throws us into
the whirlpool of transmigration through the six gatis.”
(3) _The miserable conditions of sentient beings which arouse the
sympathy of the Bodhisattvas._ “All sentient beings are under the
bondage of ignorance. Spell-bound by folly and infatuation, they are
suffering the severest pain. Not believing in the law of karma, they
are accumulating evils; going astray from the path of righteousness,
they are following false doctrines; sinking deeper in the whirlpool of
passions, they are being drowned in the four waters of sin.
“They are being tortured with all sorts of pain. They are needlessly
haunted by the fear of birth and death and old age, and do not seek
the path of emancipation. Mortified with grief, anxiety, tribulation,
they do not refrain from committing further foul deeds. Clinging to
their beloved ones and being always afraid of separation, they do not
understand that there {306} is no individual reality, that individual
existences are not worth clinging to. Trying to shun enmity, hatred,
pain, they cherish more hatred.”........
(4) _The virtues of the Tathâgata._ “All the Tathâgatas, by virtue
of their discipline, have acquired a noble, dignified mien which
aspires every beholder with the thought that dispels pain and woe. The
Dharmakâya of all the Tathâgatas is immortal and pure and free from
evil attachments. All the Tathâgatas are possessed of moral
discipline, tranquillity, intelligence, and emancipation. They are not
hampered by intellectual prejudices and have become the sanctuary of
immaculate virtues. They have the ten bâlas (powers), four abhayas
(fearlessness), great compassion, and the three smṛtyupasthânas
(contemplations). They are omniscient, and their love for suffering
beings knows no bounds and brings all creatures back to the path of
righteousness, who have gone astray on account of ignorance.”
* * *
In short, the Intelligence-heart or Bodhicitta is awakened in us
either when love for suffering creatures (which is innate in us) is
called forth, or when our intellect aspires after the highest
enlightenment, or when these two psychical activities are set astir
under some favorable circumstances. As the Bodhicitta is a
manifestation of the Dharmakâya in our limited conscious mind, it
constantly longs for a unification with {307} its archetype, in spite
of the curse of ignorance heavily weighing upon it. When this
unification is not effected for any reason, the heart (_citta_) shows
its dissatisfaction in some way or other. The dissatisfaction may take
sometimes a morbid course, and may result in pessimism, or misanthropy,
or suicide, or asceticism, or some other kindred eccentric practices.
But if properly guided and naturally developed, the more intense the
dissatisfaction, the more energetic will be the spiritual activity of
a Bodhisattva.
_The Bodhisattva’s Pranidhâna._
Having awakened his Bodhicitta from its unconscious slumber, a
Bodhisattva will now proceed to make his vows.
Let me remark here, however, that “vow” is not a very appropriate term
to express the meaning of the Sanskrit _pranidhâna_. Pranidhâna is a
strong wish, aspiration, prayer, or an inflexible determination to
carry out one’s will even through an infinite series of rebirths.
Buddhists have such a supreme belief in the power of will or spirit
that, whatever material limitations, the will is sure to triumph over
them and gain its final aim. So, every Bodhisattva is considered to
have his own particular pranidhânas in order to perform his share in
the work of universal salvation. His corporeal shadow may vanish as
its karma is exhausted, but his pranidhâna survives and takes on a
new garment, which procedure being necessary to {308} keep it ever
effective. All that is needed for a Bodhisattva to do this is to make
himself a perfect incarnation of his own aspirations, putting
everything external and foreign under their controlling spiritual
power. Buddhists are so thoroughly idealistic and their faith in ideas
and ideals is so unshakable that they firmly believe that whatever
they aspire to will come out finally as real fact; and, therefore, the
more intense and permanent and born of the inmost needs of humanity,
the more certain are our yearnings to be satisfied. (This belief, by
the way, will help to explain the popular belief among the Buddhists
that any strong passion possessed by a man will survive him and take a
form, animate or inanimate, which will best achieve its end.)
According to Vasubandhu whom we have quoted several times, the
Bodhisattvas generally are supposed to make the following ten
pranidhânas, which naturally spring from a great loving heart now
awakened in them:[128]
(1) “Would that all the merits I have accumulated in the past as well
as in the present be distributed among all sentient beings and make
them all aspire after supreme knowledge, and also that this my
pranidhâna be constantly growing in strength and sustain me
throughout my rebirths.
(2) “Would that, through the merits of my work, {309} I may, wherever
I am born, come in the presence of all Buddhas and pay them homage.
(3) “Would that I be allowed all the time to be near Buddhas like
shadow following object, and never to be away from them.
(4) “Would that all Buddhas instruct me in religious truths as best
suited to my intelligence and let me finally attain the five spiritual
powers of the Bodhisattva.
(5) “Would that I be thoroughly conversant with scientific knowledge
as well as the first principle of religion and gain an insight into
the truth of the Good Law.
(6) “Would that I be able to preach untiringly the truth to all
beings, and gladden them, and benefit them, and make them intelligent.
(7) “Would that, through the divine power of the Buddha, I be allowed
to travel all over the ten quarters of the world, pay respect to all
the Buddhas, listen to their instructions in the Doctrine, and
universally benefit all sentient beings.
(8) “Would that, by causing the wheel of immaculate Dharma to revolve,
all sentient beings in the ten quarters of the universe who may listen
to my teachings or hear my name, be freed from all passions and awaken
in them the Bodhicitta.
(9) “Would that I all the time accompany and protect all sentient
beings and remove for them things which are not beneficial to them and
give them innumerable blessings, and also that through the sacrifice
{310} of my body, life, and possessions I embrace all creatures and
thereby practise the Right Doctrine.
(10) “Would that, though practising the Doctrine in person, my heart
be free from the consciousness of compulsion and unnaturalness, as all
the Bodhisattvas practise the Doctrine in such a way as not practising
it yet leaving nothing unpractised; for they have made their
pranidhânas for the sake of all sentient beings.”