Bodhisattva View - Commentary on this Idea from Bhante Vimalaramsi

[@253Matthew253]

The common misconception is that a Bodhisattva postpones their own enlightenment until all other beings are enlightened. If sentient beings are infinite, then the Bodhisattva would never attain enlightenment, thus abrogating the original intent of Buddhism. Instead, the Bodhisattva vows to attain enlightenment as quickly as possible to lead all other beings to enlightenment, since you can’t give what you don’t have. The Bodhisattva ideal is based on the historical Buddha’s decision to teach others the Dharma, out of compassion for the world’s suffering and delusion, after originally desiring to live as a hermit: Moved by Brahma’s passionate plea, the Buddha surveyed the world with his spiritual eye and saw that there were indeed people of different predilections - ‘some with little dust in their eyes and with much dust in their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties … easy to teach and hard to teach.’ His deep compassion (karuna) stirred by this vision, the Buddha resolved to remain in the world and accept Brahma’s request to teach the dhamma to all. www.buddhanet.net/skilful-means.htm

[@KevinLopez-rl6wq]

but how would it be possible to literally lead ALL beings to "enlightenment" if you yourself attain "enlightenment"? What is this word "enlightenment" meaning here? Nirvana/nibbana? But if we mean Nirvana, then as Buddhas we no longer reincarnate by having achieved nirvana. Therefore how is it possible once having achieved nirvana to lead ALL other beings to nirvana? Shakyamuni wasn't even able to achieve this and neither was Dipankara or any of the other Buddhas.

[@dankdude92]

@@KevinLopez-rl6wq There is a common saying in Mahayana, "Sentient beings are numberless and I vow to free them all". Ponder that. It is more about how that aspiration works on your mind than anything. How is your mind different when you have that aspiration compared to looking to escape samsara? There is no right answer but you will find your answer when you observe how your mind works when holding those two views.

[@KevinLopez-rl6wq]

@@dankdude92 🙏

[@KevinLopez-rl6wq]

@@dankdude92 "It is more about how that aspiration works on your mind than anything." Reflecting on this a year later, I'm not so sure if that is the best way of thinking about the Bodhisattva vow. Unless someone literally sincerely intends to fulfill that statement either made to one's self or another (and I think some people do have this sincere intention), then I think making that statement without a serious intention to uphold it is just playing a mental game with oneself. One is practicing a kind of mental "white lie" that is relatively not a really bad or terrible mental karma, but I do think it has some negative consequences engaging in this fabrication. It makes it harder to be honest with yourself about your own thoughts and the real intentions of your thoughts. Don't you think it would be better to make an effort to cultivate honesty and sincerity behind all of one's statements and thoughts to the extent that one is able to do so? So I think it makes more sense to take the Bodhisattva vow at face value and treat it as a sincere statement of intent. Regardless of whether we are looking at it from a Mahayana or a Theravada perspective, I think we would come to the same conclusion when analyzing the mental karma of an insincere Bodhisattva vow - that it would impede "right speech". As for escaping from samsara, that is one way of framing it. Another way of framing it would be finding ultimate peace. This can only be achieved by cultivating the Brahma viharas (understood as "Bodhichitta" in the Mahayana tradition). We do the best we can to help others achieve this as well, but even Shakyamuni (and all the countless Buddhas of the past) have been unable to liberate all sentient beings. Does it make sense to try to achieve more than what a Buddha was able to achieve?

[@sanjaytumati]

Wonderful Discourse, Bhante, wonderful.May I trouble you with a couple questions? 1. Did the Gotama Buddha inspire any potential Arahant to forego arahant-ship in order to attain Buddha-hood? 2. Isn't a Bodhisatta vow taken only in front of a Buddha? And before taking the Vow, isn't a permission of the Buddha required?

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

Sanjay Tumati 1. Have not heard anything whether that occured or not. Interesting question.v2. Yes must take in front of a Buddha. People who take them just by repeating a vow to themselves will not achieve the goal per the suttas. The Buddha doesn't give permission -he just says whether your vow will come to fruition.

[@sanjaytumati]

Bhante Vimalaramsi Thank you for your reply Bhante. This raises another question. The people who take the Boddhisatta Vow by themselves, are they aware that they need to take it in front of the Buddha and that they need to be potential arahants (in this very life) in order to take it? Perhaps they will ponder some more if they were aware of this.

[@chophel1]

Bhante, I took the bodhisattva vow with a Tibetan tulku (reborn teacher), does that count as taking a vow in front of a Buddha? Tulkus are considered to be Nirmankaya emanations of a Buddha in the Mahayana tradition.

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

Yes - it does. You can even take the vow in a different language and it will stop your meditation. You have taken the vow now.

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

1. No - never 2. Yes absolutely - If you don't fulfill certain conditions not only will you NOT become a Buddha but you will never become enlightened. At least that is the logic.

[@NewEarth25]

Bhante, what about solitary PaccekaBuddhas? Why they are not spoken about in Theravada and mahayana.?

[@nathanwatches]

Dear Bhante, when you said if one attained the first fruit of Arahant and so forth, the force of compassion will getting stronger to help others along the way, isn't this Bodhistavva spirit? can we have both the view and level of Arahat while walking Bodhisattva way? thank you.

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

Yes it is and it is far more powerful than the worldings compassion -- But you cannot be an Arahat and a bodhisattva at the same time. But you CAN help people as an arahat to get off the wheel as your main goal in life in your last lifetime. Since you know how to get to Nibbana you can really show people how to do it. It is like being a Buddha NOW!

[@nathanwatches]

What happens when we gain Arahatship? Does an Arahat stops there? Take the first fruit for example, he will be born again right, but will he forgot his previous attainments?

[@nathanwatches]

Suppose an Arahat wishes to gain higher attainments like Buddhahood, will he able to do so?

[@nathanwatches]

Thank you for your time and patience , Bhante.

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

An Arahat will not be born again. The Buddha was an Arahat in terms of attainment. He was only a Buddha because he had spent many lives purifying his conduct to a level beyond all of us. Once you have attained Arahat you are full awakened and at death pass away into the deathless --never to be born again.

[@nondualcafe]

❤️🙏

[@gabrielrock5856]

There's a very old sutta suggesting the bodhisattva's path may be shorter and better than the one proposed by the Theravada-Mahayana tradition. There's absolutely no mention of a "prophecy required to be made by another Buddha", nor there seems to be any dreams of images and statues dreamt by young boys. It doesn't even mention the ten perfections. According to the sutta, the most important course of such path might lie through loving-kindness development. Future Buddhas out there may want to shorten their search for the truth and seek a reliable translation of the "Itivuttaka: The Buddha’s Sayings - The Section of the Ones - 22. Meritorious Deeds". P.S: The logic proposed by the "old pali sutta" I'm reffering to seems to develop itself as follows: by performing certain meritorious deeds for seven years, the bodhisattva can not only experience the upper heavenly worlds over time but in due course acquire the thirty-two distinctive aspects of a world conqueror. By repeatedly obtaining these marks and having acts of loving-kindness as a sort of "basis" for everything else, he can eventually become a buddha. Also, it seems he performs seven years of loving-kindness/seven cosmic expansions of bliss before searching for the famous marks that lead to both kingship and buddhahood.

[@Liam-hx2up]

Where did you get the teaching that Bodhisattvas have a vivid dream and see themselves entering the feet or the third eye? I have not heard this

[@adamheap16]

when we're not in the expansion of the mahakapa where do we 'go'/what do we 'do'? thanks

[@DhammasukhaOrg]

Some charts we have show that when the universe collapses that beings go to the 2nd jhana realm. Its only speculation but perhaps we are reborn in another world system. Or as we call them another multiverse. The Buddha did say there were more than 10,000 world systems. Meaning 10,000 universes! And Anuruddha could see into any of them.

[@BromoMotyl]

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