Redefining
Bodhisattvas
A
few years ago I read the following quote from Yasutani Hakuun Roshi,
a famous Japanese zen buddhist master of the 20th
century:
”In
the deepest sense, even the Bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteshvara)
might be said to be attached to compassion, otherwise he would be a
buddha, free of all attachments.*”
*quote
from The Three Pillars of Zen, Philip Kapleau
Wikipedia
gives the following definition of bodhisattva plus categorises three
kinds of them:
”In
Buddhism, bodhisattva is the Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated
by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous
wish and a compassionate mind to attain buddhahood for the benefit of
all sentient beings.”
- king-like
bodhisattva - one who aspires to become buddha as soon as possible
and then help sentient beings in full fledge;
- boatman-like
bodhisattva - one who aspires to achieve buddhahood along with other
sentient beings;
- shepherd-like
bodhisattva - one who aspires to delay buddhahood until all other
sentient beings achieve buddhahood. Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara
and Śāntideva are believed to fall in this category.
Bodhisattvas
going up the hill
By
bodhisattvas who are on their way towards the top of the hill, I mean
samsaric beings who are still bound by their dualistic vision but who
have the motivation and make efforts to become fully realised buddhas
for the benefit of all beings, in this, past or future lives.
Bodhisattvas
coming down the hill
As
Yasutani Roshi and the third category of mahayana bodhisattvas in the
Wikipedia article describe, some bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara
are said to not have attained buddhahood but are still making their
way up the hill towards it while simultaneously answering to the
cries of those who suffer below them. This would mean that
bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Mahasthamaprapta,
Akasagarbha, Ksitigarbha and so on, are still subtly deluded with an
impaired vision,. This would make them samsaric beings.
It
has always made sense to me to turn for example towards
Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of compassion, to receive his
blessings and assiatance but it never made sense to me that he would
still be a deluded being, more or less like me. At some point I
started feeling that there must be some misunderstandings in this
view. I would never take refuge in samsaric beings, regardless how
subtle their delusion was. Neither would I recommend it to anyone.
One
of my criticisms towards Tibetan buddhism and it's high lamas, who
extremely rarely actually are living buddhas, is that their followers
should not take refuge to lamas who aren't buddhas for certain. Doing
this keeps the wheel of samsara spinning and is an impediment for
actualisation of the buddhist teaching. If we don't know whether or
not one's guru is a buddha or not, we need to find out to be sure. If
we don't have ways of finding out, we have to start from the
beginning and start thinking about it constructively. This matter
cannot be left on faith. I encourage people to study the dharma and
to revere and respect their teachers but not taking refuge in
samsaric beings. The Open
Heart Bhumi Model and it's analytical application reveals what
the actual level of anyone's attainment is.
If
bodhisattvas were buddhas in the making, they would also have to take
refuge in buddhas and mahasiddha gurus, just like us ordinary
samsaric beings. This doesn't make much sense.
My
understanding is that sambhogakaya bodhisattvas, bodhisattvas of the
energetic realms (deities), are fully enlightened buddhas who have
gone up the hill to the top and then returned back down to reside on
certain areas of the mind (ref. to Bodhisattva Bhumis) to help those
who are trapped in the wheel of confusion and ignorance. For this
reason bodhisattva deities are actually buddhas who have chosen to do
their work from the bodhisattva bhumis (1-10), relating to the vast
range of energy centers, that is, the mind of man (sem) and the
various realms that can be accessed from each of these centers.
Thank
you for reading.
Bows
to the Five Jewels.
-
Kim, 8.6.2017
