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Bodhi Mind

anatamananataman Who needs a title?Where am I? Veteran
in Buddhism Basics

What is Bodhi mind?

In the avatamsaka sutra it is the attainment of awakening, according to Samanabhadra in his statement of the ten vows, it is using this awakened state of mind to awaken others, and it appears essential that samadhi, or one pointedness of mind or having a focussed mind is essential.

So when meditating and find that you enter that state of samadhi - that's bodhi mind, and you're helping others achieve that state too, especially when you dedicate the merit to every other being...

Is enlightenment that easy?

Well yes it must be if you have bodhi mind!

Comments

  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    When the dharma went from India to Tibet they tried to translate 'awakening' into Tibetan language. Well it turns out that the direct translation just means someone is groggy and just got out of bed! So they had to change the language to something like 'fully bloomed'. I tend to think from my studies is samadhi is a glimpse of nirvana. But then those glimpses have to stabilize the glimpse. But we have the awake nature that is already there shining a light on us for the path. That light on us is the reason for the curious statements in some of the Mahayana sutras that there are an infinite number of Buddhas in every poor on your skin for your whole body.

    anataman
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran

    Indeed and in every pixel on the screen in front of you!

  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran

    Is the Bodhisattva an ideal
    Or real?

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    It's a real ideal, I believe.

    anatamanBunksRowan1980
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    There is a great line I find inspirational in a meditation prayer I listen to regularly:

    May the precious bodhi mind not yet born arise and grow

    NirvanaRowan1980
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    The bodhisattva is real as 'magically alive' and not real as a concept. I think it is like a sunset can be alive but on the other hand can be deadened by grasping.

    That's how I think of it. I am trying from reading some things this week to think how appearances fool us as 'real' but are also a kind of magical display that everything is born from.

  • BuddhadragonBuddhadragon Ehipassiko & Carpe Diem Samsara Veteran

    You could find the following link useful:
    http://www.purifymind.com/Bodhi.htm

    "The Bodhi Mind (Bodhicitta) is the most important ingredient in Buddhism.
    What is Bodhi Mind? The mind that perceives the real behind the seeming, believes in moral consequences, and that all have the Buddha nature, and aims at buddhahood."

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