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*{{i|8. Concluding Remarks|71}} | *{{i|8. Concluding Remarks|71}} | ||
Chapter Three: The Historical and Doctrinal Background of the Bodhicitta Concept | *'''Chapter Three: The Historical and Doctrinal Background of the ''Bodhicitta'' Concept''' | ||
1. Introductory Remarks | *{{i|1. Introductory Remarks|73}} | ||
2. Bodhicitta as a Means of Compensating for the Loss of the Historical Buddha | *{{i|2. ''Bodhicitta'' as a Means of Compensating for the Loss of the Historical Buddha|74}} | ||
3. The Doctrinal Foundations of Bodhicitta in Early Buddhism | *{{i|3. The Doctrinal Foundations of ''Bodhicitta'' in Early Buddhism|77}} | ||
(a) A Buddha as a Discoverer and | **{{i|(a) A ''Buddha'' as a Discoverer and Proclaimer of the True Reality|77}} | ||
(b) The Plurality of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Early Buddhism | **{{i|(b) The Plurality of ''Buddhas'' and ''Bodhisattvas'' in Early Buddhism|79}} | ||
(c) The Concept of the Resolve Made by Previous Buddhas | **{{i|(c) The Concept of the Resolve Made by Previous ''Buddhas''|80}} | ||
(d) The Altruism of the Historical Buddha | **{{i|(d) The Altruism of the Historical Buddha|82}} | ||
(e) Altruism in Early Buddhism | **{{i|(e) Altruism in Early Buddhism|84}} | ||
(f) Prerequisites for Becoming a Buddha in Early Buddhism | **{{i|(f) Prerequisites for Becoming a ''Buddha'' in Early Buddhism|86}} | ||
(g) The 'Golden Rule' in Early Buddhism | **{{i|(g) The 'Golden Rule' in Early Buddhism|87}} | ||
4. Concluding Remarks | *{{i|4. Concluding Remarks|89}} | ||
Chapter Four: The Buddha's First Resolve to Become a Buddha | |||
*'''Chapter Four: The Buddha's First Resolve to Become a ''Buddha'' ''' | |||
1. Introductory Remarks..... ........... ..... ...... ... ..... ... ..... ....... ... .......... ....... ............ ..... ....... 91 | 1. Introductory Remarks..... ........... ..... ...... ... ..... ... ..... ....... ... .......... ....... ............ ..... ....... 91 | ||
2. The Historical Buddha as One of Many and Yet One ofa Kind............................. 92 | 2. The Historical Buddha as One of Many and Yet One ofa Kind............................. 92 | ||
Revision as of 12:35, 10 August 2020
Becoming a buddha ('Awakened One') under the Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa) was undoubtedly the most significant event in the career of the historical Buddha, and may be
considered the starting point of Buddhism. According to both Mahāyāna ('Greater Vehicle')
and Hīnayāna ('Lesser Vehicle') or non-Mahāyāna, the historical Buddha had sometime in
the distant past resolved to become a buddha, thereby launching out on the career of a
bodhisattva, that is, a sentient being who strives to attain the highest state of awakening. A
major distinction between non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna, however, is that for the former the
status of being a bodhisattva or buddha is confined to the historical Buddha (or a few others like him), while the ultimate soteriological goal of a disciple is Arhatship (that is, the final
state of a saint who has attained release from the cycle of birth and death) primarily for
oneself. For the latter, by contrast, even an ordinary sentient being is capable of undertaking
the long and arduous career of a bodhisattva by generating bodhicitta and finally becoming a buddha (just like the historical Buddha himself), primarily for the sake of many other sentient
beings. In sum, a person who possesses or has generated bodhicitta is considered to be a
bodhisattva, and the form of Buddhism concerned with the theory and practice of a bodhisattva is known as Mahāyāna. The idea of bodhicitta in the sense of the resolve to
become a buddha is hence the bedrock of Mahāyāna, and is what distinguishes a bodhisattva from a śrāvaka, Mahāyāna from non-Mahāyāna. It is presupposed by all forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism including Vajrayāna ('Diamond Vehicle'), or tantric Mahāyāna.
Multiple internal and external factors must have contributed to the formation and further development of the concept of bodhicitta. The psychological need of the Buddhists to make up in one way or another for the demise of the historical Buddha may have been one of the principal internal factors that contributed to the formation of the idea of the resolve to become a buddha. Such an idea would not have lacked the doctrinal justification or legitimisation that it needed, for the non-Mahāyāna sources seem to abound in doctrinal elements that could easily be used to underpin the concept of bodhicitta. In its early phase of development, the idea of generating bodhicitta probably meant only the initial resolve to become a buddha, a momentous decision made by an aspirant seeking Buddhahood (buddhatva). This was seen as an indispensable but not necessarily a sufficient condition for the attainment of Buddhahood. However, gradually the idea came to encompass the entire theory and practice of a bodhisattva and to be considered not only a necessary but in fact a sufficient condition for such an attainment. In the course of time, even the true reality that a bodhisattva or buddha experiences as a spiritual event, the meditative insight or gnosis by means of which the true reality is experienced, and all conceivable resources or means—be they psycho-physiological, visual, verbal, or visional impulses that could be employed for becoming a buddha—came to be regarded as bodhicitta. It is this idea as found explicated in Indian and Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhism that the present study seeks to examine. (Wangchuk, introductory remarks, 21–22)
| Citation | Wangchuk, Dorji. The Resolve to Become a Buddha: A Study of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series 23. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2007. https://dorjipenjore.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/the-resolve-to-become-a-buddha-a-study-of-the-bodhicitta-concept-in-indo-tibetan-buddhism.pdf. |
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