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Do Boddhisatvas postpone their own attainment of Nirvana?
Vincenzi
Veteran
why? if yes, shouldn't Boddhisatvas be focused on attaining Nirvāna and then teaching?
my opinion is that it doesn't make sense to postpone Nirvāna.
First, awakening. Then, teaching the Dharma as a Bodhisattva.*
*which includes remembering past lifes to better undersand and teach the Dharma
my opinion is that it doesn't make sense to postpone Nirvāna.
First, awakening. Then, teaching the Dharma as a Bodhisattva.*
*which includes remembering past lifes to better undersand and teach the Dharma
0
Comments
from :: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html
§ Recollection of Past Lives (verbatim quote)
"With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes). He recollects his manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes and details. Just as if a man were to go from his home village to another village, and then from that village to yet another village, and then from that village back to his home village. The thought would occur to him, 'I went from my home village to that village over there. There I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that village I went to that village over there, and there I stood in such a way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that village I came back home.' In the same way — with his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the monk directs and inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives... in their modes and details.
"This, too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
"many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion"
sounds like a better way of describing "big bang, big crunch"... in fact, the western science explanation seems childish in comparison. and this sutra has 2550+ years!
Why speculate about rebirth or if one was Cleopatra in a past life or a potato in the next life ? Focus on the here and now in this life, which is the only one that's important.
Interesting? What are you quoting!
You don't go anywhere to reach nirvana. It is wherever you are when you are not clinging. It can be on mount Meru or in Alaska or in Timbuktu however that is spelled.
He taught to reach nirvana....freedom from rebirth and suffering.
Enlightenment is not the goal.
Enlightenment is achieved by Buddhas, but those who follow their teachings to gain Nirvana are not being enlightened to anywhere the same degree as a Buddha is.
Reaching nirvana does not mean one becomes a Buddha.
Becoming a Buddha is not the goal....but nirvana IS.
if that is not a religion compatible with science, I don't know what is!
bodhisattvas realize that nirvana is a concept and is not something to reach for. You can only experience it in the present moment. They do not view nirvana as something to attain, as many do. This is why the question is silly to many mahayana buddhists.
Most High Bodhisattvas have already attained Nivarna which according to the mahayana tradition is freedom from samsaric rebirth and death and its causes , But what they have not yet acheived is great enlightenment complete freedom from delusions imprints,most subtle imprints that still reside even in those liberated beings.
Bodhisattvas seek to remain in samsara to help all sentient beings even though techincally this is an unfulfilable wish as to truely help all sentient beings one has to acheive Great enlightenment of Buddhahood, So Bodhisattvas strive to attain enlightenment as quickly as they can for the benifit of others.
The funny thing is most Bodhisattvas whom appeared at the time of Buddha where already full enlightened some aeons ago but they appeared in the form of arya Bodhisattvas to demonstrate how to complete the Bodhisattvas path.
To Understand the Bodhisattvas wish one has to understand the various minds of Bodhichitta.
Bodhichitta can also be divided into king-like bodhichitta, shepherd-like bodhichitta, and boatman-like bodhichitta. A Bodhisattva who has king-like bodhichitta wishes to lead all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a king serves his subjects—first by becoming powerful and wealthy himself, and then by using his resources to help his subjects. A Bodhisattva who has shepherd-like bodhichitta wishes to lead all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a shepherd leads his sheep to safety. Just as shepherds first supply all the needs of their flock and attend to their own needs last of all, so some Bodhisattvas want to lead all living beings to Buddhahood first and then attain enlightenment for themselves last of all. They have this wish because they have the least concern for their own welfare and they cherish all others before themselves. This type of bodhichitta arises from practising exchanging self with others. It is said that this is the attitude Manjushri developed. A bodhisattva who has boatman-like bodhichitta wishes to bring all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a boatman brings people to the opposite shore—by travelling along with them. This Bodhisattva has the wish for all living beings to attain enlightenment simultaneously with himself or herself. In reality, the second two types of bodhichitta are wishes that are impossible to fulfil because it is only possible to lead others to enlightenment once we have attained enlightenment ourself. Therefore, only king-like bodhichitta is actual bodhichitta. Je Tsongkhapa says that although the other Bodhisattvas wish for that which is impossible, their attitude is sublime and unmistaken. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 422, © 1990, 1995)
Hope this helps. :~)
But the only thing that happened is the cessation of clinging resulting in the clarity of the mind to be free. In the mahayana the buddha pervades all space. The truth body radiates. When a practitioner stops clinging their mind merges with the truth body. A living buddha is an expression of the truth that emananates in the world because part of the nature of truth is compassion for beings who are deluded. That is why there is a buddha in the world.
Siddhartha was able to become a buddha because the truth body pervades space. The mind is clear luminous and unimpeded and eventually all obstacles are overcome.
But we are stuck for quite some time and it takes effort and patience. 8 fold and paramitas.
...or believe the party line that we are powerless without the instruction of lamas.
If your mind were not already clear luminous and unimpeded it would have no meaning to learn from the triple gem. The lama represents all 3. It would have no meaning because you would have no capability of recognition.
Wether Shrvakayana or Bodhisattvayana the main focus should not be upon dwelling with speculative and degrading remarks about ones authenticity but rather spent in practise to try and accomplish the aims present.
Our practise is not to abuse or degrade others practise is it ?
Just pointing out some facts from my own personal experience, Cazzie dear.
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Of course it is still unwise to use personal bias and abandonment of a vehcile for grounds to attack others who gain benifit from such works is it
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It's an unskillful distinction to think bodhisattvas could take that final step to something that is neither a goal nor a conscious act, but decide not to. When a person acts unselfishly out of compassion, he or she is being a Buddha. No more or less.
There is no real distinction between Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. None. That teaching was a transition stage in the Mahayana realization that enlightenment as a selfish goal has to flower into a motivation to help others as part of the journey.
Buddhas having cleared away all imprints of delusion and thus have a completely clear mind perceiving all phenomena correctly an omniscient mind.
Bodhisattvas have not yet cleared these most subtle imprints from their mind so they are still obstructed for example when a Bodhisattva meditates upon
emptiness during such a time their mind is single pointedly focused upon the object, when they arise from Emptiness however dualistic appearance once again sets in, where as to a Buddha they cognise the Two truths at the same time rather then a Bodhisattva where they can only cognise one truth at a time.
And, there is something to be said for a teacher providing motivation and encouragement. Even when we're bored, frustrated, or just want to kick back for the night instead of meditate, showing up at the Teacher's place becomes an obligation so we grit our teeth and do it. And, some schools of Buddhism have intense and complicated methods of practice.
Having said that, the Zen school has story upon story of how people basically took the teachings, went off and meditated on them, and found their own, sometimes unique insight. So I'd say, no a personal Teacher isn't necessary. Necessary for what? You're the one who has to put the effort and come to the understanding.
i prefer the concept change... nirvana is a change.
do you consider (yourself) at least a srotapanna?
well, for whatever it is worth (or not)... i consider that you have broken at least "identity view" (one of the ten fetters).
seconded
1. the Pali does not use the word "lives". the word is "homes", "abodes", "dwellings", "abidings"
2. the word "birth" is "jati" or ego birth/self identity/social identity
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jāti
3. correctly, even the reincarnation lover Achariya Budddhaghosa, wrote in his Vissudhimagga that the meaning of 'birth' here is 'becoming'. 'Becoming' is a mental formation. For example, I was just reading something I learned in highschool and the fond thought arose of the relevent teacher. That is "becoming", when my mind, at 16 years old, became an liker of that teacher
4. the word 'kapa' in Pali does not mean 'aeons' exclusively. it can mean just a 'life cycle' or 'stretch of time', such as is used in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, when the Buddha at 80 years old said he had the power to live for a 'kapa'
5. no psychic power (Divine Eye) was required here. this recollection of past abodes simply occurred in the memory banks
6. if we read http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.079.than.html, we find the Buddha correlated "past abodes" with 'self-identification"
in short, you are interpreting this according to what you imagine the meaning to be
regards
it seems you are mixing up Mahayana & Theravada
actually, the term i use is Bodhigami ("awakening that returns")
as far as i know, it is not (it is all sanskrit/pali).
in japanese, gami is a soft version of kami. like in "shinigami" (deva of death).
anata in japanese is "you", specially when said to a husband or wife // AFAIK