Bodhisattva Resolve

Nicholas Weeks

Nicholas Weeks

Bodhicitta
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From Nagarjuna's Strand of Jewels, verse 74; Kalavinka Press edition:

The Bases for the Realization of Bodhi [enlightenment]

The foundation of this bodhi
Is resolve as solid as the king of mountains.
It is caused by compassion as expansive as the ten directions,
And wisdom free of any bases in duality.

So one needs a solid vow, aspiration or resolve that is rooted in vast compassion & non-dual wisdom.

Here is the classic Ratnavali in pdf, for free!

http://kalavinka.org/ebooks_NEW/Strand of Jewels_Bilingual_ebk_08-19-23.pdf
 
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Wonderfully complete dissertation and summary. One for the ages.

My lingering question:

Still "Why" carry any compassion for the souls in Maya ---if IMO the goal NOT actually a "Person"?

The inspiration to forego liberation, to stay behind, to undergo another birth (repeadedly "on-purpose") . . . unless IMO, the real mysterious goal is a **Person?

**By "Person" ---I refer to God as "SPG" ---***Supreme Personality of Godhead.

***By "Supreme Personality of Godhead" ---I refer to God as a singular absolute persona that is the origin of all the half-explained/half-revealed truth revelation of God As-He-Is without a murky speculation. When Godhead is revealed ---it is on God's terms.
 
bhaktajan said:
Wonderfully complete dissertation and summary. One for the ages.

My lingering question:

Still "Why" carry any compassion for the souls in Maya ---if IMO the goal NOT actually a "Person"?

The inspiration to forego liberation, to stay behind, to undergo another birth (repeadedly "on-purpose") . . . unless IMO, the real mysterious goal is a **Person?

**By "Person" ---I refer to God as "SPG" ---***Supreme Personality of Godhead.

***By "Supreme Personality of Godhead" ---I refer to God as a singular absolute persona that is the origin of all the half-explained/half-revealed truth revelation of God As-He-Is without a murky speculation. When Godhead is revealed ---it is on God's terms.
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God is a non sequitur in the Mahayana path. The concern is with beings' sufferings - not with whether their suffering is 'real' from a higher point of view.

When a child screams in terror at a clown, or an adult does the same when seeing what looks like a 'snake' - the point is to help them with their suffering. It is not to ignore their reaction to the mayavic nature of things.
 
"For a devotee who has actually developed love of Godhead, the pleasure derived from religiosity, economic gain, material desires and liberation appears like a drop in the presence of the sea."

-- Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 7.85
 
It seems to me that believing you can save countless people is very egoistic.

To forgo your liberation because you want to save others, it seems to present yourself as all-knowing, like you know what is best for the other.

A liberated man need not even speak to liberate another, being in his presence is enough.

Thinking it is your doing is delusion.
 
bhaktajan said:
"For a devotee who has actually developed love of Godhead, the pleasure derived from religiosity, economic gain, material desires and liberation appears like a drop in the presence of the sea."

-- Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 7.85
Click to expand...

God is a thought, your consciousness has the power to make it a reality.

Consider though, God now exists in your consciousness, you are now bigger than God-head when this happens.

Find out what this is.
 
As Shankara has said, Ishwara is only another appearance in maya.

Certainly it is an aspect of Brahman, but what isn't?

The path is towards truth, to overcome maya.

Worship cannot accomplish this, it is only further confirming the illusion.

You worship what you are and confirm what you're not... strange.
 
Going back to the original point of the thread though, I think something has to be understood.

A vow to avoid liberation is really an admittance of defeat. Yet, if you have forgone liberation, what help can you actually be? No, it is better to be liberated and then help those brought to you for help.

You see, a Bodhisatva cannot be made, cannot be our will, for then it is clear we are not free, we have not attained to nirvana, the ego is still there wanting to be somebody - in this case someone that can assist others. A true bodhisatva is more as Buddha, a reluctant assistant on others journey. Only when you don't want to try to assist can you actually assist, because now there is no delusion in you that there is some goal that is liberation.

This is where so many go wrong, liberation cannot be attained, it is the cessation of this desire to attain, this contentment with simply being. To make the liberation of others your reason for being, you have missed the point.

Only a liberated being, only one who knows nirvana can cease others suffering because he has seen the nature of the other. This is why true gurus are always quite vicious, they are not trying to soothe your ego, they are trying to kill it.

Only in the death of the false can the truth be seen.

Only one who knows he can't help stands any chance of actually helping.
 
AZ,
When I read some specific criticisms of the "Vow to Benefit Mankind" piece in the OP, then I might respond. That article is based on traditional Mahayana teachings which Buddha encouraged.
 
Skull said:
AZ,
When I read some specific criticisms of the "Vow to Benefit Mankind" piece in the OP, then I might respond. That article is based on traditional Mahayana teachings which Buddha encouraged.
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Did Buddha encourage it?

It seems a strange statement, and certainly the Theraveda school seems to disagree.

Buddha did not speak for 7 days after awakening, he is said to have been visited by Gods who begged him to teach what he has found - refusing this request for a time.

Work on yourself, complete your journey, only then can you ever be of any assistance.

If you are not yourself awakened, you are doing no one any help by talking on it.

Yet talking without actually attaining is exactly what Bodhisatva vows are about.

This usually causes more harm than good.
 
AZ, if you had read the Vow article you would know that the Theravada (not veda) do teach the bodhisatta path.

The Devas just reminded Buddha of his long ago vows, which he would have fulfilled without their reminder anyway.
 
Skull said:
AZ, if you had read the Vow article you would know that the Theravada (not veda) do teach the bodhisatta path.

The Devas just reminded Buddha of his long ago vows, which he would have fulfilled without their reminder anyway.
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Why should I believe this article over many others which disagree, and indeed scripture that disagrees?
 
My principle point here is that you must work on yourself, forget the world and dive inward.

Only when you resurface can you do any good.
 
Also, you say Buddha would have fulfilled these vows no matter.

Mahavira is another of the Samkhya saints, he rejected the Devas and let go of life through what many would consider suicide.

He saw consumption of anything as a violent act, and so he starved to death, seeing his own life as not more important than anything that would sustain it.

You cannot say Buddha would have taught no matter what... thousands of enlightened beings have gone unknown.
 
Near the end of the Avatamsaka Sutra are some verses called the "King of Prayers". These are examples of what a bodhisattva vows or aspires to think, say & do, far into the future.

This is how it begins...

The King of Prayers

O lions amongst men,
Buddhas past, present, and future,
To as many of you as exist in the ten directions
I bow down with my body, speech, and mind.

On waves of strength of this king
Of prayers for exalted sublime ways,
With bodies as numerous as atoms of the world
I bow down to the buddhas pervading space.

On every atom is found a buddha
Sitting amongst countless buddha sons,
I look with eyes of faith to the victorious ones
Thus filling the entire dharmadhatu.

Of these with endless oceans of excellence
Endowed with an ocean of wondrous speech
I sing praises of the greatness of all buddhas,
A eulogy to those gone to bliss.

Garlands of flowers I offer them,
And beautiful sounds, supreme perfumes,
Butter lamps and sacred incense,
I offer to all the victorious ones.
 
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Pointless to exalt the Buddhas.
It only shows your lack of understanding.
They are nothings and you make them great.
Only to avoid your own Buddha-nature.
Stop worrying about them.
Return home.
 
The King of Aspirations continues with the preliminary purificatory practices:

Excellent food, supreme fragrances,
And a mound of mystic substances high as Mount Meru
I arrange in a special formation
And offer to those who have conquered themselves.
 
And all peerless offerings I hold up
In admiration of those gone to bliss;
With the strength of faith in sublime ways
I prostrate and make offerings to the conquerors.
 
Long overpowered by attachment, aversion, and ignorance
Countless evils I have committed
With acts of body, speech, and mind.
Each and every one of these I now confess.
 
In the perfections of the buddhas and bodhisattvas,
The arhats, training and beyond,
And in the latent goodness of every living being,
I lift up my heart and rejoice.
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These ten bodhisattva vows are a model for many aspiring bodhisattvas. Here is that part of the Avatamsaka Sutra where they are given.

Mahavaipulya Sutra of Buddha Adornment: The Universally Worthy Action Vow to Enter the Inconceivable Liberation State

First, make obeisance to Buddhas.
Second, praise Tathāgatas.
Third, make expansive offerings.
Fourth, repent of karma, the cause of hindrances.
Fifth, express sympathetic joy over others’ merits.
Sixth, request Buddhas to turn the Dharma wheel.
Seventh, beseech Buddhas to abide in the world.
Eighth, always follow Buddhas to learn.
Ninth, forever support sentient beings.
Tenth, universally transfer all merits to others.
 
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To make in each lifetime a resolution to become a buddha which helps all beings to also become buddhas has causes. Here is one list of them:

This bodhi resolve is the king among all forms of goodness. It is certainly the case that there are causal bases upon which one then becomes able to generate it.

Now, when we speak of causal bases, generally speaking, there are ten categories. Of what do these ten consist?

The first is mindfulness of the extreme kindness of the Buddha.
The second is mindfulness of the kindness of one’s parents.
The third is mindfulness of the kindness of teachers and seniors.
The fourth is mindfulness of the kindness of benefactors.
The fifth is mindfulness of the kindness of beings.
The sixth is mindfulness of the sufferings in cyclic birth-and death.
The seventh is reverence for one’s own spiritual mind.
The eighth is repentance of one’s karmic obstacles.
The ninth is the aspiration to gain rebirth in the Pureland.
The tenth is mindful concern that right Dharma long endure.

From Exhortation to Resolve on Buddhahood By the Dhyāna Master and Pureland Patriarch, Shixian (1686–1734); Kalavinka Press
 
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