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The English termenlightenment is the Western translation of variousBuddhist terms, most notablybodhi andvimutti. The abstract nounbodhi (/ˈboʊdi/;Sanskrit:बोधि;Pali:bodhi) means the knowledge orwisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha.[web 1] The verbal rootbudh- means "to awaken", and its literal meaning is closer toawakening. Although the termbuddhi is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context ofBuddhism.Vimutti is the freedom from or release of thefetters andhindrances.
The termenlightenment was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of British philologistMax Müller. It has the Western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight (prajna (Sanskrit),wu (Chinese),kensho andsatori (Japanese));[1][2] knowledge (vidya); the "blowing out" (nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires; and the attainment of supremeBuddhahood (samyak sam bodhi), as exemplified byGautama Buddha.
What exactly constituted the Buddha's awakening is unknown. It may have involved the knowledge that liberation was attained by the combination of mindfulness anddhyāna, applied to the understanding of the arising and ceasing of craving. The relation betweendhyana and insight is a core problem in the study of Buddhism, and is one of the fundamentals of Buddhist practice.
Bodhi,Sanskritबोधि,[web 2] "awakening",[3] "perfect knowledge",[web 2] "perfect knowledge or wisdom (by which a man becomes a बुद्ध [Buddha[web 3]] or जिन [jina,arahant; "victorious", "victor"[web 4]], the illuminated or enlightened intellect (of a Buddha or जिन)".[web 1]
The word Bodhi is anabstract noun, formed from the verbal root*budh-,[3] Sanskritबुध,[web 3][web 5] "to awaken, to know",[3] "to wake, wake up, be awake",[web 5] "to recover consciousness (after a swoon)",[web 5] "to observe, heed, attend to".[web 5]
It corresponds to the verbsbujjhati (Pāli) andbodhati, बोदति, "become or be aware of, perceive, learn, know, understand, awake"[web 6] orbudhyate (Sanskrit).
The feminine Sanskrit noun of*budh- isबुद्धि,buddhi, "prescience, intuition, perception, point of view".[web 3]
Robert S. Cohen notes that the majority of English books on Buddhism use the term "enlightenment" to translate the termbodhi.[4] The rootbudh, from which bothbodhi andBuddha are derived, means "to wake up" or "to recover consciousness".[4] Cohen notes thatbodhi is not the result of an illumination, but of a path of realization, or coming to understanding.[4] The term "enlightenment" is event-oriented, whereas the term "awakening" is process-oriented.[4] The western use of the term "enlighten" has Christian roots, as in Calvin's "It is God alone who enlightens our minds to perceive his truths".[5]
Early 19th-centurybodhi was translated as "intelligence".[5] The term "enlighten" was first being used in 1835, in an English translation of a French article,[6] while the first recorded use of the term 'enlightenment' is credited (by the Oxford English Dictionary) to theJournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (February 1836). In 1857The Times used the term "the Enlightened" for the Buddha in a short article, which was reprinted the following year byMax Müller.[7] Thereafter, the use of the term subsided, but reappeared with the publication of Max Müller'sChips from a german Workshop, which included a reprint from theTimes article. The book was translated in 1969 into German, using the term "der Erleuchtete".[8] Max Müller was anessentialist, who believed in anatural religion, and saw religion as an inherent capacity of human beings.[9] "Enlightenment" was a means to capture natural religious truths, as distinguished from mere mythology.[10][note 1] This perspective was influenced byKantian thought, particularly Kant's definition of theEnlightenment as the free, unimpeded use of reason. Müller's translation echoed this idea, portraying Buddhism as a rational and enlightened religion that aligns with the natural religious truths inherent to human beings.[11]
By the mid-1870s it had become commonplace to call the Buddha "enlightened", and by the end of the 1880s the terms "enlightened" and "enlightenment" dominated the English literature.[7]
While the Buddhist tradition regardsbodhi as referring to full and complete liberation (samyaksambudh), it also has the more modest meaning of knowing that the path that is being followed leads to the desired goal. According toJohannes Bronkhorst,[12] Tillman Vetter,[13] and K.R. Norman,[14]bodhi was at first not specified. K.R. Norman:
It is not at all clear what gainingbodhi means. We are accustomed to the translation "enlightenment" forbodhi, but this is misleading ... It is not clear what the buddha was awakened to, or at what particular point the awakening came.[15]
According to Norman,bodhi may basically have meant the knowledge thatnibbana was attained,[16][17] due to the practice ofdhyana.[14][13] Originally only "prajna" may have been mentioned,[12] and Tillman Vetter even concludes that originally dhyana itself was deemed liberating, with the stilling of pleasure or pain in the fourth jhana, not the gaining of some perfect wisdom or insight.[13] Gombrich also argues that the emphasis on insight is a later development.[18]
InTheravada Buddhism,bodhi refers to the realisation of thefour stages of enlightenment and becoming anArahant.[19] In Theravada Buddhism,bodhi is equal to supreme insight, and the realisation of the four noble truths, which leads to deliverance.[19] According to Nyanatiloka,
(Through Bodhi) one awakens from the slumber or stupor (inflicted upon the mind) by the defilements (kilesa, q.v.) and comprehends theFour Noble Truths (sacca, q.v.).[20]
This equation ofbodhi with the four noble truths is a later development, in response to developments within Indian religious thought, where "liberating insight" was deemed essential forLiberation.[12][13] The four noble truths as the liberating insight of the Buddha eventually were superseded byPratītyasamutpāda, the twelvefold chain of causation, and still later by anatta, the emptiness of the self.[12]
InMahayana Buddhism,bodhi is equal toprajna, insight into theBuddha-nature,sunyata andtathatā.[21] This is equal to the realisation of the non-duality ofabsolute and relative.[21]
In Theravada Buddhismpannā (Pali) means "understanding", "wisdom", "insight".[22] "Insight" is equivalent tovipassana, insight into the three marks of existence, namelyanicca,dukkha andanatta.[22] Insight leads to the four stages of enlightenment and Nirvana.[22]
In Mahayana Buddhism Prajna (Sanskrit) means "insight" or "wisdom", and entails insight intosunyata. The attainment of this insight is often seen as the attainment of "enlightenment".[23][need quotation to verify]
Wu is the Chinese term for initial insight.[2]Kensho andsatori are Japanese terms used inZen traditions.Kensho means "seeing into one's true nature".Ken means "seeing",sho means "nature", "essence",[24] c.q Buddha-nature.Satori (Japanese) is often used interchangeably with kensho, but refers to theexperience of kensho.[24] TheRinzai tradition seeskensho as essential to the attainment ofBuddhahood, but considersfurther practice essential to attain Buddhahood.
East-Asian (Chinese) Buddhism emphasizes insight into Buddha-nature. This term is derived from Indian tathagata-garbha thought, "the womb of the thus-gone" (the Buddha), the inherent potential of every sentient being to become aBuddha. This idea was integrated with the Yogacara-idea of theālaya vijñāna, and further developed inChinese Buddhism, which integratedIndian Buddhism with native Chinese thought. Buddha-nature came to mean both the potential of awakeningand the whole of reality, a dynamic interpenetration of absolute and relative. In this awakening it is realized that observer and observed are not distinct entities, but mutually co-dependent.[25][26]
The termvidhya is being used in contrast toavidhya, ignorance or the lack of knowledge, which binds us tosamsara. TheMahasaccaka Sutta[note 2] describes the three knowledges which the Buddha attained:[27][28][29]
According to Bronkhorst, the first two knowledges are later additions, while insight into the four truths represents a later development, in response to concurring religious traditions, in which "liberating insight" came to be stressed over the practice ofdhyana.[12]
Vimukthi, also calledmoksha, means "freedom",[30] "release",[30][web 7] "deliverance".[31] Sometimes a distinction is being made betweenceto-vimukthi, "liberation of the mind", andpanna-vimukthi, "liberation by understanding".[32] The Buddhist tradition recognises two kinds ofceto-vimukthi, one temporarily and one permanent, the last being equivalent topanna-vimukthi.[32][note 3]
Yogacara uses the termāśraya parāvŗtti, "revolution of the basis",[34]
... a sudden revulsion, turning, or re-turning of theālaya vijñāna back into its original state of purity [...] the Mind returns to its original condition of non-attachment, non-discrimination and non-duality".[35]
Nirvana is the "blowing out" of disturbing emotions, which is the same as liberation.[web 8] The usage of the term "enlightenment" to translate "nirvana" was popularized in the 19th century, in part, due to the efforts of Max Müller, who used the term consistently in his translations.[36]
There arethree recognized types of Buddha:[37]
Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, is said to have achieved full awakening, known assamyaksaṃbodhi (Sanskrit; Pāli:sammāsaṃbodhi), "perfect Buddhahood", oranuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, "highest perfect awakening".[39] Specifically,anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, literally meaning unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment, is often used to distinguish the enlightenment of a Buddha from that of an Arhat.
The termBuddha and theway to Buddhahood is understood somewhat differently in the various Buddhist traditions. An equivalent term forBuddha isTathāgata, "the thus-gone".
In thesuttapitaka, the Buddhist canon as preserved in theTheravada tradition, a couple of texts can be found in which the Buddha's attainment of liberation forms part of the narrative.[40][41][note 4]
TheAriyapariyesana Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 26) describes how the Buddha was dissatisfied with the teachings ofĀḷāra Kālāma andUddaka Rāmaputta, wandered further through Magadhan country, and then found "an agreeable piece of ground" which served for striving. The sutta then only says that he attained Nibbana.[42]
In theVanapattha Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 17)[43] the Buddha describes life in the jungle, and the attainment of awakening. TheMahasaccaka Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 36) describes his ascetic practices, which he abandoned. Thereafter he remembered a spontaneous state of jhana, and set out for jhana-practice. Both suttas narrate how, after destroying thedisturbances of the mind, and attainingconcentration of the mind, he attained three knowledges (vidhya):[27][28][29]
Insight into theFour Noble Truths is here called awakening.[28] The monk (bhikkhu) has "...attained the unattained supreme security from bondage."[44] Awakening is also described as synonymous withNirvana, the extinction of the passions whereby suffering is ended and no more rebirths take place.[45] The insight arises that this liberation is certain: "Knowledge arose in me, and insight: my freedom is certain, this is my last birth, now there is no rebirth."[45]
Schmithausen[note 5] notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[46][12][13] Bronkhorst notices that
...the accounts which include the Four Noble Truths had a completely different conception of the process of liberation than the one which includes the Four Dhyanas and the destruction of the intoxicants.[47]
It calls in question the reliability of these accounts, and the relation betweendhyana and insight, which is a core problem in the study of early Buddhism.[13][12][18] Originally the termprajna may have been used, which came to be replaced by the four truths in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas.[48] Bronkhorst also notices that the conception of what exactly this "liberating insight" was developed throughout time. Whereas originally it may not have been specified, later on the four truths served as such, to be superseded bypratityasamutpada, and still later, in the Hinayana schools, by the doctrine of the non-existence of a substantial self or person.[49] And Schmithausen notices that still other descriptions of this "liberating insight" exist in the Buddhist canon:
"that the five Skandhas are impermanent, disagreeable, and neither the Self nor belonging to oneself";[note 6] "the contemplation of the arising and disappearance (udayabbaya) of the five Skandhas";[note 7] "the realisation of the Skandhas as empty (rittaka), vain (tucchaka) and without any pith or substance (asaraka).[note 8][50]
An example of this substitution, and its consequences, is Majjhima Nikaya 36:42–43, which gives an account of the awakening of the Buddha.[51]
The term bodhi acquired a variety of meanings and connotations during the development of Buddhist thoughts in the various schools.
In early Buddhism,bodhi carried a meaning synonymous tonirvana, using only a few different metaphors to describe the insight, which implied the extinction oflobha (greed),dosa (hate) andmoha (delusion).
InTheravada Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning: that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion.Bodhi, specifically, refers to the realisation of thefour stages of enlightenment and becoming anArahant.[19] It is equal to supreme insight, the realisation of the four noble truths, which leads to deliverance.[19] Reaching full awakening is equivalent in meaning to reachingNirvāṇa.[web 9] Attaining Nirvāṇa is the ultimate goal of Theravada and other śrāvaka traditions.[web 10] It involves the abandonment of theten fetters and the cessation of dukkha or suffering. Full awakening is reached in four stages. According to Nyanatiloka,
(Through Bodhi) one awakens from the slumber or stupor (inflicted upon the mind) by the defilements (kilesa, q.v.) and comprehends theFour Noble Truths (sacca', q.v.).[20]
Since the 1980s, western Theravada-oriented teachers have started to question the primacy of insight. According toThanissaro Bhikkhu,jhana andvipassana (insight) form an integrated practice.[52] Polak and Arbel, following scholars like Vetter and Bronkhorst, argue thatright effort, c.q. thefour right efforts (sense restraint, preventing the arising ofunwholesome states, and the generation ofwholesome states), mindfulness, anddhyana form an integrated practice, in whichdhyana is the actualisation of insight, leading to an awakened awareness which is "non-reactive and lucid".[53][54]
In Mahayana-thought, bodhi is the realisation of the inseparability ofsamsara andnirvana, and the unity of subject and object.[21] Similar toprajna, therealizing of the Buddha-nature, bodhi realizessunyata andsuchness.[21] In time, the Buddha's awakening came to be understood as an immediate full awakening and liberation, instead of the insight into and certainty about the way to follow to reach enlightenment. In some Zen traditions, however, this perfection came to be relativized again; according to one contemporary Zen master, "Shakyamuni buddha and Bodhidharma are still practicing."[55]
Mahayana discerns three forms of awakened beings:[21]
Within the various Mahayana-schools exist various further explanations and interpretations.[21] InMahāyāna Buddhism, theBodhisattva is the ideal. The ultimate goal is not only of one's own liberation in Buddhahood, but the liberation of all living beings. The cosmology of Mahayana Buddhism regards a wide range of buddhas and bodhisattvas, who assist humans on their way to liberation.
Nichiren Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, regards Buddhahood as a state of perfect freedom, in which one is awakened to the eternal and ultimate truth that is the reality of all things. This supreme state of life is characterized by boundless wisdom and infinite compassion. The Lotus Sutra reveals that Buddhahood is a potential in the lives of all beings.[web 11]
In theTathagatagarbha andBuddha-nature doctrines, bodhi becomes equivalent to the universal, natural and pure state of the mind:
Bodhi is the final goal of a Bodhisattva's career [...]Bodhi is pure universal and immediate knowledge, which extends over all time, all universes, all beings and elements, conditioned and unconditioned. It is absolute and identical with Reality and thus it isTathata.Bodhi is immaculate and non-conceptual, and it, being not an outer object, cannot be understood by discursive thought. It has neither beginning, nor middle nor end and it is indivisible. It is non-dual (advayam) [...] The only possible way to comprehend it is throughsamadhi by the yogin.[56]
According to these doctrines, bodhi eternally exists within one's mind, although requiring the mind's defilements to be removed. This vision is expounded in texts such as theShurangama Sutra and theUttaratantra.
InShingon Buddhism as well, the state of Bodhi is regarded as naturally inherent in the mind. Bodhi is the mind's natural and pure state, where no distinction is being made between a perceiving subject and perceived objects. This is also the understanding of Bodhi found inYogacara Buddhism.
To achieve this vision of non-duality, it is necessary to recognise one's own mind:
... it means that you are to know the inherent natural state of the mind by eliminating the split into a perceiving subject and perceived objects which normally occurs in the world and is wrongly thought to be real. This also corresponds to the Yogacara definition ... that emptiness (sunyata) is the absence of this imaginary split[57]
During the development of Mahayana Buddhism, the various strands of thought on Bodhi were continuously being elaborated. Attempts were made to harmonize the various terms.
The Vajrayana Buddhist commentatorBuddhaguhya treats various terms as synonyms:
For example, he defines emptiness (sunyata) as suchness (tathata) and says that suchness is the intrinsic nature (svabhava) of the mind which is Enlightenment (bodhi-citta). Moreover, he frequently uses the terms suchness (tathata) and Suchness-Awareness (tathata-jnana) interchangeably. But since Awareness (jnana) is non-dual, Suchness-Awareness is not so much the Awareness of Suchness, but the Awareness whichis Suchness. In other words, the term Suchness-Awareness is functionally equivalent to Enlightenment. Finally, it must not be forgotten that this Suchness-Awareness or Perfect Enlightenmentis Mahavairocana [the Primal Buddha, uncreated and forever existent]. In other words, the mind in its intrinsic nature is Mahavairocana, whom one "becomes" (or vice versa) when one is perfectly enlightened.[57]
Sakyamuni's enlightenment is celebrated onBodhi Day. In Sri Lanka and Japan, different days are used for this celebration. According to the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka, Sakyamuni reached Buddhahood at thefull moon in May. This is celebrated atVesākha Pūjā, the full moon in May, known asSambuddhatva jayanthi (or Sambuddha jayanthi).[web 12] Secular Bodhi day is celebrated on December 8 in Japan, while China, South Korea and Vietnam, Bodhi Day is observed on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month.[58]
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