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A Comparison of Concepts of Buddhahood

October 20, 2009 in Meditations

The Buddha attained enlightenment and preached his first sermon in India, where the

orthodox Theravada, or peech of the !lders, began" #s the $indu and Islamic religionsbecame more prevalent in India, Buddhism spread throughout #sia, dispersing Theravadathroughout" #s isolated communities reinterpreted their limited stoc% of memori&ed and orall'disseminated sutras, differing ideas and eventuall' schools of thought began to emerge, andthese are collectivel' %nown as Maha'ana, or the (reater )ehicle" The %e' differences aresummari&ed within the labels themselves, and largel' relate to each tradition*s concept ofBuddha+hood" In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha is recogni&ed as a self+enlightenedbeing, while in Maha'ana Buddhism the Buddha is transcendental, non+conceptual, and all+pervasive ground of being"

Before a discussion of the contrasts occurs, it will be useful to briefl' expound the similaritiesof the ideas of Buddha+hood between the two traditions of interest" In both traditions, man'of the same techni ues are followed to help attain -although a distinction will be made belowregarding the connotation of .attain/ enlightenment, and thus Buddha+hood" #lthough thereis a difference between a Buddha and an arhat -to be mentioned later in Theravada, bothreach the stage of enlightenment, which is an aspect of Buddha+hood" In Maha'ana andTheravada, bhi%%us, or mon%s, will reali&e the truth of the ha%'amuni Buddha*s teachings,such as the 1our oble Truths, the oble !ightfold 3ath, The 1ive #ggregates, etc" The'

will both perform samatha and vipassana meditation" 1or the most part, the path is thesame, but the goal is different" The similarities ma' become more evident b' explaining thedifferences between the concepts of Buddha in the two traditions" "

Theravada ma%es a uni ue distinction between iddhartha (autama the Buddha, and thearahants" # Buddha is an individual, who eventuall' attains enlightenment throughmechanisms and strategies of his or her own, thusl' rediscovering the dharma, which hadbeen lost since the time of the previous Buddha" #n arhat is an enlightened being, whobecame such through an encounter with and practice of the dharma, not of his or her ownaccord" In this realm of thought, there is onl' one Buddha at a time" The Buddha, andarhats, through the cultivation of wisdom, experience nirvana, attain enlightenment, die, andexperience parinirvana" There is an emphasis on the attainment of enlightenment"

Maha'ana groups have a different concept of what it means to be a Buddha" In Maha'ana,one does not attain enlightenment, and thus the Buddha+nature, but reali&es that which isalread' inherent within herself, himself, and all things" The path to enlightenment is less of agrowth process, and more of a shedding of conception and the Three 1ires" This process isperformed through the cultivation of pra4na, or wisdom, which is seeing realit' as it trul' is"But Maha'ana does not place the final emphasis on this point" It believes that, while theBuddha did in fact teach this much, this was onl' his use of upa'a, or s%illful means, meantto simpl' instigate the practice within people with the desire for the cessation of suffering"One is to practice the pra4naparamita, or the perfection of 5isdom, but even after this, oneshould then cultivate the bodhicitta"

The bodhicitta, the mind and heart of enlightenment, is the first step on the path of theBodhisattva" # Bodhisattva is one who vows, after reali&ing enlightenment, to remain within

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amsara to help others until all are free of the bonds of the c'cle of rebirth and death" Thisperson will attain the ten perfections, instead of arhat*s six" $ere, the emphasis isadditionall' placed on compassion" #nd even pra4na is understood differentl', not as

wisdom, but 5isdom, the personification of the source of the Buddha" This combination of wisdom and compassion is wh' the Maha'ana tradition is named so" It is the greater of thetwo traditions" There is a condescending label sometimes used to refer to Theravada whichis $ina'ana, meaning .lesser vehicle"/

In Maha'ana, there is not a distinction made between Buddha and arhat" !ver'one alread'has, and eventuall' will reali&e, their Buddha+nature" This also is the reason wh' there isbelieved to be more than one Buddha at a time" 1or an infinitel' large realm of existence,there surel' must be other Buddha*s teaching in their own Buddha+fields in their en4o'mentbodies, or even here in their transformation bodies" #mong these Buddhas are#valo%itesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, #mitabha, the Bodhisattva of boundlesslight, Maitre'a, the coming Buddha, and more" #mong these sub+schools of Maha'ana,

there are even more particular lines of thought, with differing ideas of how one ma' reali&ethe Buddha+nature"

1or example, there is the 3ure 6and school, who, li%e man' Theravadans believe that it isimpossible to attain enlightenment in this life and time" 5hile the Theravadans ma' hope fora positive rebirth in the time of Maitre'a, the 3ure 6andists hope to ta%e advantage of#mitabha*s vows" $e vowed to use his merit toward the creation of a land that is purel'conducive to the process of enlightenment" This is called the su%%havati, or 3ure 6and"Through the recitation of his name, one ma' be reborn in his land and easil' reali&e theirtrue nature"

#nother sub+school is 7h*an, more commonl' %nown in the 5est as 8en" The founder, TheBearded Bodhidhama, %nown as the 1irst 3atriarch, traveled from India to 7hina along thetrade route %nown as the il% oad" $e spo%e of a direct transmission from guru to student,outside of all conceptual %nowledge, to help one reali&e their true inner nature" It is said thatthis school began when iddhartha gave a sermon, where he simpl' held up a flower"#mong the thousands in attendance, one bhi%%u smiled, and had received the directtransmission" To brea% this conceptual %nowledge, bhi%%us are assigned %oans to meditateupon, which are paradoxical and contradictor' statements or stories, in an effort to shoc% themind" One ma' even be struc% with a cane, as a person would stri%e one who is sleeping to

wa%e them up"

#ll of these schools arise from one of the fundamental ideas, and probabl' the most notabledifference between the ideas of Buddha+hood between Theravada and Maha'ana" Thisidea can be found in man' places, for example, .The 5hole :niverse 7ontained in a utra/sutra" This sutra states that the Tathagata*s 5isdom is within all beings" There is a sutracontained in ever' spec% of dust" This is where the emphasis on reali&ation, and notattainment, comes from" It is also where the idea of sun'ata, or emptiness, originates"

un'ata can be thought of as the idea of anatman spread to all things, which is ver' similarto the teaching of dependent arising" The Buddha is in all things, and all things are in theBuddha" The Buddha is not the person of the historical Buddha, but the :ltimate Bod'" It isthe dharma%a'a" It is" To even sa' as much as the previous sentence is too much" Much

li%e as%ing where a fire goes after it is extinguished, an' and all uestions, statements, andconceptions do not appl'"

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