The Bodhisattva Ideal in Mahayana Buddhism

[Aloka]

The Jataka tales of the Buddha’s past lives are among the oldest Buddhist literature. The development of the Mahayana as a distinct tradition of Buddhism perhaps started with an effort to emulate the Buddha in his previous lives as a Bodhisattva, leading up to his final rebirth.

This article by respected Buddhist scholar Bhikkhu Analayo might be of interest :

"Canonical Jataka Tales in Comparative Perspective - The Evolution of Tales of the Buddha's Past Lives".

https://www.scribd.com/document/2055769 ... l-Jataka-s

Excerpt:

A well known feature of Jataka tales is the integration of various Indian fables, anecdotes and parables which became jatakas through the simple act of identifying one of the protagonists - usually though not always the most heroic and exemplary one -with the Buddha in one of his former lives.

[Santi253]

When one looks past the cultural accretions, Mahayana and Theravada are not so different:
https://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title= ... d_Mahayana

The Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattva path are functionally equivalent to the Eightfold Path:

Dāna pāramitā: generosity, the attitude of giving
Śīla pāramitā : virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct
Kṣānti (kshanti) pāramitā : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
Vīrya pāramitā : energy, diligence, vigor, effort
Dhyāna pāramitā : one-pointed concentration, contemplation
Prajñā pāramitā : wisdom, insight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_ ... liberation

High-level Bodhisattvas have already attained Nirvana, yet they voluntarily choose to remain in the world out of compassion for all beings:

As a result of these understandings bodhisattvas manifest meditative wisdom and avoid attachment to either cyclic existence or nirvana.[13] Having overcome all attachments, bodhisattvas on this level can attain nirvana, but because of the force of the mind of awakening they decide to remain in the world in order to benefit other sentient beings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bh%C5%ABmi_(Buddhism)

It would not be surprising if, rather than keeping things esoteric or secret, the Buddha taught Bodhisattva teachings for those interested in the path to Buddhahood, and other teachings for those interested in the personal liberation of an Arahant. Even in the Pali canon, the Buddha taught different things to different people with different temperaments in different circumstances and situations.

The 500 Arahants who participated in the First Buddhist Council would not have compiled the teachings for Bodhisattvas, because that simply wasn't the path they'd chosen. The Bodhisattva teachings, however, were still preserved in either a separate oral lineage or instead in an otherworldly realm.

When the Lotus Sutra teaches that all those who've attained the liberation of an Arahant will ultimately attain full Buddhahood, this shows perfect equality between Bodhisattvas and the Buddha's Arahant disciples, who will ultimately attain Buddhahood too, even if they don't know it yet.

If one has attained the perfect wisdom of an Arahant, this will inevitably lead to also attaining the perfect compassion of a Buddha. It is only a matter of time.

[chownah]

High-level Bodhisattvas have already attained Nirvana, yet they voluntarily choose to remain in the world out of compassion for all beings:

How many are there? Is there a list? Do they have meetings?...or are they aware of each other's status?
chownah

[santa100]

High-level Bodhisattvas have already attained Nirvana, yet they voluntarily choose to remain in the world out of compassion for all beings

When in doubt, always go back to the suttas/sutras. Even the highest level Bodhisattvas still have some remaining trace amount of ignorance left and hence have not attained Nirvana. Refer to the last chapter Gandavyuha about the 52 levels in the Mahayana Avatamsaka Sutra for more details.

[Santi253]

High-level Bodhisattvas have already attained Nirvana, yet they voluntarily choose to remain in the world out of compassion for all beings

When in doubt, always go back to the suttas/sutras. Even the highest level Bodhisattvas still have some remaining trace amount of ignorance left and hence have not attained Nirvana. Refer to the last chapter Gandavyuha about the 52 levels in the Mahayana Avatamsaka Sutra for more details.

The 10 Bodhisattva Stages are outlined in the Dasabhumika Sutra, which is the final section of the Flower Ornament Sutra:

The unshakeable/The Immovable (Acala):

The eighth level is called the “Immovable” because bodhisattvas overcome all afflictions regarding signs and their minds are always completely absorbed in the dharma. At this stage, the bodhisattva has attained realization equivalent to a Theravada Arhat. At this level, a bodhisattva has achieved nirvana. According to Nargarjuna:

The eighth is the Immovable, the youthful stage,
Through nonconceptuality he is immovable;
And the spheres of his body, speech and mind’s
Activities are inconceivable.

Because they are fully acquainted with signlessness, their minds are not moved by ideas of signs. Eighth Bhumi bodhisattvas are said to be “irreversible,” because there is no longer any possibility that they might waver on the path or backslide. They are destined for full buddhahood and there are no longer any inclinations to seek a personal nirvana.
http://buddhajourney.net/the-ten-levels ... dhisattva/

The 10 Bodhisattva Stages are mainstream Mahayana teaching, and the Flower Ornament Sutra is one of the most influential scriptures in the history of Mahayana Buddhism.

[Santi253]

High-level Bodhisattvas have already attained Nirvana, yet they voluntarily choose to remain in the world out of compassion for all beings:

How many are there? Is there a list? Do they have meetings?...or are they aware of each other's status?
chownah

Since it can take kalpas and kalpas to fully attain Buddhahood, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of high-level Bodhisattvas in our world is very few.

There are other worlds in the Mahayana Buddhist cosmology where it's easier and takes less time to attain Buddhahood, because they don't have as many obstacles and afflictions as our world.

I am not referring to Pure Lands. Instead, there are worlds like our own where it happens to be easier than in our's to attain Buddhahood.

[Aloka]

I am not referring to Pure Lands. Instead, there are worlds like our own where it happens to be easier than in our's to attain Buddhahood

What is your evidence for this ? Have you been to these worlds?.....where are they ?


.

[Santi253]

I am not referring to Pure Lands. Instead, there are worlds like our own where it happens to be easier than in our's to attain Buddhahood

What is your evidence for this ? Have you been to these worlds?.....where are they ?


.

I don't claim to have evidence other than what's taught in the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. Even the Pali scriptures acknowledge the existence of Buddhas in other world systems.

[Santi253]

In the long and arduous journey of a Bodhisattva, the compassionate action one has for others is, in every stage of the journey, more important than one's personal attainments.

As explained in the Jataka tales, which are accepted in Theravada Buddhism, it took many lifetimes of selfless service for the Buddha to attain Buddhahood.

As explained by Ajahn Brahm, being overly concerned with one's personal attainments, as if that's the real point of Buddhism, rather than loving-kindness and compassion, is a form of spiritual materialism:

phpBB .

[Aloka]

Even the Pali scriptures acknowledge the existence of Buddhas in other world systems.

Could you provide a quote from the Pali canon to support your statement, please ?

[santa100]

The eighth level is called the “Immovable” because bodhisattvas overcome all afflictions regarding signs and their minds are always completely absorbed in the dharma. At this stage, the bodhisattva has attained realization equivalent to a Theravada Arhat. At this level, a bodhisattva has achieved nirvana.

I don't know that Quan Tri guy who made the statement above. Anyway, that's an opinion without any support from the sutras. The Buddha clearly instructed us to always reference the Discourses and Disciplines to verify the words of later teachers:

Here, monks, a monk might speak like this: ‘I have heard this directly from the Gracious One, friends, directly I learned it: “This is the Teaching, this is the Discipline, this is the Teacher’s Dispensation.”’ That monk’s speech, monks, is not to be rejoiced over, not to be scorned at. Without having rejoiced over it, without having scorned it, after learning those words and syllables well, they should be laid alongside the Discourses, they should be compared with the Discipline.

If, when these are laid alongside the Discourses, compared with the Discipline, they do not fit in with the Discourses, they do not compare well with the Discipline, you may here come to this conclusion: ‘Certainly this is not the Gracious One’s word, it is not well learned by that monk,’ and, monks, you should abandon it. If when these are laid alongside the Discourses, compared with the Discipline, they do fit in with the Discourses, they do compare well with the Discipline, you may come to this conclusion: ‘Certainly this is the Gracious One’s word, it is well-learned by that monk.’ This, monks, is the first Great Referral you should bear in mind."

[Santi253]

Anyway, that's an opinion without any support from the sutras.

Please stop attempting to gaslight me. If you choose to be willfully ignorant regarding the Flower Ornament Sutra, whose final section contains the Ten Bodhisattva Stages, that's not my problem.

There's an entire chapter on the Ten Bodhisattva Stages in Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/ ... dition.pdf

[santa100]

Please stop attempting to gaslight me. If you choose to be willfully ignorant regarding the Flower Ornament Sutra, whose final section contains the Ten Bodhisattva Stages, that's not my problem.

Gaslighting you? You'd better check your papanca 'cuz it's gotten pretty bad. You have not provided any sutra quotes to explicitly back up your claim that "Highlevel Bodhisattas have already attained Nirvana". All you have provided are opinions from some people. If you truely respect the Avatamsaka Sutra, please provide some quotes. Otherwise, you are slandering the Buddha by saying things that He never said.

[Santi253]

Even the Pali scriptures acknowledge the existence of Buddhas in other world systems.

Could you provide a quote from the Pali canon to support your statement, please ?

If the Pali canon itself doesn't mention that there are Buddhas in other world systems, it is nonetheless a very early Buddhist belief:

The Nikāyas already mention six Buddhas preceding Gotama and one, Metteyya (Skt: Maitreya), to follow him. Since cosmic time is without any discernible beginning or conceivable end, the inference was drawn that there must have been even earlier Buddhas, and thus the number of past Buddhas was increased. Stories about some of these entered into circulation and brought them to life. Since space was likewise unbounded, with world systems like our own spread out in “the ten directions,” some schools posited the present existence of Buddhas in other world systems beyond our own— Buddhas still alive whom one might worship and, by means of meditative power, actually see with contemplative vision. While the school derived from the Pāli Canon held to the thesis that Buddhas arise only in our own world system, other schools—most notably the Mahāsāṅghikas—proposed that Buddhas were spread out throughout the boundless cosmos and that they might be discerned by those with sufficient powers of mental concentration.
https://info-buddhism.com/Arahants-Budd ... Bodhi.html

The Mahsanghikas, whose name means the great assembly, were the majority party who the Sthaviradins broke off from in the Second Buddhism Council:

Most sources place the origin of the Mahāsāṃghikas to the Second Buddhist council. Traditions regarding the Second Council are confusing and ambiguous, but it is agreed that the overall result was the first schism in the Sangha between the Sthavira nikāya and the Mahāsāṃghika nikāya, although it is not agreed upon by all what the cause of this split was.[6] Andrew Skilton has suggested that the problems of contradictory accounts are solved by the Mahāsāṃghika Śāriputraparipṛcchā, which is the earliest surviving account of the schism.[7] In this account, the council was convened at Pāṭaliputra over matters of vinaya, and it is explained that the schism resulted from the majority (Mahāsaṃgha) refusing to accept the addition of rules to the Vinaya by the minority (Sthaviras).[7] The Mahāsāṃghikas therefore saw the Sthaviras as being a breakaway group which was attempting to modify the original Vinaya.[8]
Scholars have generally agreed that the matter of dispute was indeed a matter of vinaya, and have noted that the account of the Mahāsāṃghikas is bolstered by the vinaya texts themselves, as vinayas associated with the Sthaviras do contain more rules than those of the Mahāsāṃghika vinaya.[7] Modern scholarship therefore generally agrees that the Mahāsāṃghika vinaya is the oldest.[7] According to Skilton, future historians may determine that a study of the Mahāsāṃghika school will contribute to a better understanding of the early Dhamma-Vinaya than the Theravāda school.[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81 ... ka#Origins

Mahsanghika ultimately developed into what we know today as Mahayana, while Sthaviravada developed into what we know today as Theravada.

It's also worth noting that nowhere does the Buddha of the Pali canon deny the existence of Buddhas in other world systems:

The likelihood that we are alone in this universe is decreasing to near nil by the day. Which means that there must be other "Buddhas" in these other worlds; no conflict to Buddha-Dhamma, which never stated that the Buddha of our time is the only one.
https://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Aliens

It wouldn't be surprising that the Pali canon, as we have it today, didn't mention Buddhas in other world-systems simply because the compilers of the Pali canon wanted to differentiate themselves from other Buddhist sects who already accepted the existence of Buddhas in other world-systems.

It would be interesting to see whatever mentions of Buddhas in other world-systems there might be in the Agamas, which are as old, if not older, than the Pali scriptures. The Buddha, after all, didn't speak Pali.

[Santi253]

Please stop attempting to gaslight me. If you choose to be willfully ignorant regarding the Flower Ornament Sutra, whose final section contains the Ten Bodhisattva Stages, that's not my problem.

Gaslighting you? You'd better check your papanca 'cuz it's gotten pretty bad. You have not provided any sutra quotes to explicitly back up your claim that "Highlevel Bodhisattas have already attained Nirvana". All you have provided are opinions from some people. If you truely respect the Avatamsaka Sutra, please provide some quotes. Otherwise, you are slandering the Buddha by saying things that He never said.

This seems to be the Flower Ornament Sutra in its entirety, in which the 10 Bodhisattva Stages are mentioned in its final section:
https://archive.org/details/TheFlowerOr ... dfdtyxxytd

Please also go back and read the chapter on the stages of the Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, as provided above.

The existence of the 10 Bodhisattva Stages, as taught in the Flower Ornament Sutra, are common knowledge, at least within Mahayana Buddhism itself. I have no interest for other Buddhists to join a sect to which they don't already belong. May you be happy and well.