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What is Bodhi? (From Wikipedia)

Bodhi in Buddhism is the understanding possessed by a Buddha regarding the nature of things. It is traditionally translated into English with the word enlightenment and literally means awakened. Bodhi is knowledge of the causal mechanism by which beings incarnate into material form and experience suffering. Although its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism, bodhi is also present as a concept in other Indian philosophies and traditions.

Etymology

Bodhi is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand) corresponding to the verbs bujjhati and bodhati or budhyate. Also from the same root are the Sanskrit words bodha (also meaning knowledge or intelligence) and buddhi which is the exact equivalent to the Greek word nous.

Soteriological meaning

The soteriological goal of Indian religions is liberation. Liberation is simultaneously freedom from suffering and the endless round of existences. Within the Sramanic traditions, one who has attained liberation is called an arhat, an honorific term meaning "worthy" acknowledging the skill and effort required to overcome the obstacles to the goal of nirvana.

According to the Buddha the path to liberation is one of progressively coming out of delusion. This path is therefore regarded as a path of awakening. Progressing along the path towards Nirvana one gains insight into the true nature of things. A Buddha is one who has attained liberation and an understanding of the causal mechanism by means of which sentient beings come into existence. This mechanism is called pratitya samutpada or dependent origination. The knowledge or understanding of this is called bodhi.

Buddha's awakening

In the Suttapitaka, the Buddhist canon as preserved in the Theravada-tradition, a number of texts can be found in which Gautama Buddha tells about his own awakening.

In the Vanapattha Sutta the Buddha describes life in the jungle, and the attainment of awakening. After destroying the disturbances of the mind, and the concentration of the mind, he attained three knowledges:

Insight into his past lives
Insight into the workings of Karma and Reincarnation
Insight into the Four Noble Truths

Insight into the Four Noble Truths is here called awakening. The monk has

...attained the unattained supreme security from bondage.

Awakening is also described as synonymous with Nirvana, the extinction of the passions whereby suffering is ended and no more rebirths take place. The insight arises that this liberation is certain:

Knowledge arose in me, and insight: my freedom is certain, this is my last birth, now there is no rebirth.

So awakening is insight into karma and rebirth, insight into the Four Noble Truths, the extinction of the passions whereby Nirvana is reached, and the certainty that liberation has been reached.

The Buddhist Path

The Buddhist tradition gives a wide variety of descriptions of the Buddhist Path to liberation. Tradition describes the Buddha's awakening, and the descriptions of the path given in the Sutta Pitaka. By following this path Buddhahood can be attained. Following this path dissolves the ten fetters and terminates volitional actions that bind a human being to the wheel of samsara.

The Theravada-tradition follows the Path to purification described by Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhimagga. It features four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment. The four stages are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahat.

Three types of buddha are recognized:

Arhat, those who reach Nirvana by following the teachings of the Buddha. Sometimes the term Śrāvakabuddha is used to designate this kind of awakened person.
Pratyekabuddhas, those who reach Nirvana through self-realization, without the aid of spiritual guides and teachers, but don't teach the Dharma;
Samyaksambuddha, often simply referred to as Buddha, one who has reached Nirvana by his own efforts and wisdom and teach it skillfully to others.

Development of the concept

The term bodhi acquired a variety of meanings and connotations during the development of Buddhist thoughts in the various schools.

Early Buddhism

In early Buddhism, bodhi carried a meaning synonymous to nirvana, using only some different metaphors to describe the insight, which implied the extinction of greed, hate and delusion. In Theravada Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion.

Mahayana

In Mahayana-thought, bodhi is the realization of the inseparability of samsara and nirvana, and the unity of subject and object. It is similar to prajna, to realizing the Buddha-nature, realizing sunyata and realizing suchness.

Mahayana discerns three forms of bodhi:

Arahat - Liberation for oneself;
Bodhisattva - Liberation for living beings;
Full Buddhahood.

Within the various Mahayana-schools exist various further explanations and interpretations.

Buddha-nature

In the Tathagatagarbha and Buddha-nature doctrines bodhi becomes equivalent to the universal, natural and pure state of the mind:

Bodhi is the final goal of a Bodhisattva's career [...] Bodhi is pure universal and immediate knowledge, which extends over all time, all universes, all beings and elements, conditioned and unconditioned. It is absolute and identical with Reality and thus it is Tathata. Bodhi is immaculate and non-conceptual, and it, being not an outer object, cannot be understood by discursive thought. It has neither beginning, nor middle nor end and it is indivisible. It is non-dual. The only possible way to comprehend it is through samadhi by the yogin.

According to these doctrines bodhi is always there within one's mind, but requires the defilements to be removed. This vision is expounded in texts such as the Shurangama Sutra and the Uttaratantra.

In Shingon Buddhism, the state of Bodhi is also seen as naturally inherent in the mind. It is the mind's natural and pure state, where no distinction is being made between a perceiving subject and perceived objects. This is also the understanding of Bodhi found in Yogacara Buddhism and the mind's natural and pure state as in Dzogchen.

To achieve this vision of non-duality, it is necessary to recognize one's own mind:

... it means that you are to know the inherent natural state of the mind by eliminating the split into a perceiving subject and perceived objects which normally occurs in the world and is wrongly thought to be real. This also corresponds to the Yogacara definition ... that emptiness is the absence of this imaginary split

Harmonization of the various terms and meanings

During the development of Mahayana Buddhism the various strands of thought on Bodhi were continuously being elaborated. Attempts were made to harmonize the various terms. The Buddhist commentator Buddhaguhya treats various terms as synonyms:

For example, he defines emptiness as suchness (tathata) and says that suchness is the intrinsic nature of the mind which is Enlightenment. Moreover, he frequently uses the terms suchness (tathata) and Suchness-Awareness interchangeably. But since Awareness is non-dual, Suchness-Awareness is not so much the Awareness of Suchness, but the Awareness which is Suchness. In other words, the term Suchness-Awareness is functionally equivalent to Enlightenment. Finally, it must not be forgotten that this Suchness-Awareness or Perfect Enlightenment is Mahavairocana [the Primal Buddha, uncreated and forever existent]. In other words, the mind in its intrinsic nature is Mahavairocana, whom one "becomes" (or vice-versa) when one is perfectly enlightened.

Zen Classics

Daishin Patrick Vigil
Albuquerque Zen Center

THE CHUN CHOU RECORD OF THE ZEN MASTER HUANG PO (TUAN CHI)

Huang-po Hsi-yün; literally: "Xiyun of Mt. Huangbo", Japanese: Ōbaku Keun) (died 850) was an influential Chinese master of Zen Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty. Huang-po was a disciple of Baizhang Huaihai (720-840), and the teacher of Lin-chi Yixuan (died 866) (Lin-chi I-hsüan; Japanese: Rinzai Gigen, whom we know as Rinzai, the founder of Rinzai Zen).

Very little about Huang-po‘s life is known for certain as there is no biographical information included with his collection of sayings and sermons, the Essentials of Mind Transmission and the Record of Wan-ling.

From a collection of sermons and dialogues recorded by P'ei Hsiu while in the city of Chun Chou:

The Master said to me:

"All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which IS without beginning, is unborn (Unborn not in the sense of eternity, for this allows contrast with its opposite; but unborn in the sense that it belongs to no categories admitting of alteration or antithesis) and indestructible. It is not green nor yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the categories of things which exist or do not exist nor can it be thought of in terms of new or old. It is neither long nor short, big nor small, for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces, and comparisons. It IS that which you see before you--begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error. It is like the boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured. The One Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient things, but that sentient beings are attached to forms and so seek externally for Buddhahood. By their very seeking they lose it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the Buddha and using mind to grasp Mind. Even though they do their utmost for a full aeon, they will not be able to attain to it. They do not know that, if they put a stop to conceptual thought and forget their anxiety, the Buddha will appear before them, for this Mind is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings. It is not the less for being manifested in ordinary beings, nor is it greater for being manifested in the Buddhas."

Zen and Aikido Classes

Starting in This Week

Albuquerque Zen Center and Both Hands Clapping Aikido are partnered in offering traditional Zen practice integrated into the modern self-defense art of Aikido.

A quick note to let you know that the spring session Zen and Aikido classes will be starting this week, February 9th. All currently active AZC members are eligible for discounted rates (just $100 for the 13 week session).

The spring session Zen and Aikido classes will feature the classic Aikido attack called 'yokomen-uchi' (slashing strike). The slashing strike is a particularly good one for new and newer students in that it lends itself particularly well to the classic circular nature of all Aikido throws.

There is a noon class and an evening class. It looks like there may be only 1 slot available in the evening session, so if you are interested you will need to move quickly. As always, the noon session will be wide open. You can follow this link for more info.

The Zen and Aikido classes are suitable for both men and women of all ages (and mature teens). Harriet Romero is currently enrolled in the winter session and would be happy to give you an idea of her experiences. You can e-mail her by following this link.