The Bodhisattva Ideal:
Buddhism and the Aesthetics of Selflessness
From Exotic India
A group
of people was once traveling through a desert, when it so happened that
three of them strayed away and got lost. Tired and thirsty this trio
wandered around the desert in the hope of finding some respite. Finally
their quest came to an end when they discovered a high well. The first
man rushed to it, looked over the wall and found it full of delicious
ambrosial water. He immediately exclaimed in a gesture of frenzied
euphoria and jumped into it never to come back. The second too did the
same. The third man finally walked over quietly over to the well, peeped
over its high wall and then turned around and went back, returning to
the desert to search for his other fellow travelers, to help guide them
to this paradise.
The life
of a bodhisattva too is made of similar stuff. In strictly canonical
terms a bodhisattva is defined as an individual who discovers the source
of the Ultimate Truth better known as nirvana, but postpones his own
enlightenment until he has guided all his fellow beings to this same
source of fulfillment. A formidable task to say the least. The path of
the bodhisattva is thus one of extreme self-denial and selflessness.
According to the Lankavatara sutra (4th century BC):
" A
bodhisattva wishes to help all beings attain nirvana. He must therefore
refuse to enter nirvana himself, as he cannot apparently render any
services to the living beings of the worlds after his own nirvana. He
thus finds himself in the rather illogical position of pointing the way
to nirvana for other beings, while he himself stays in this world of
suffering in order to do good to all creatures. This is his great
sacrifice for others. He has taken the great Vow: "I shall not
enter into final nirvana before all beings have been liberated." He
does not realize the highest liberation for himself, as he cannot
abandon other beings to their fate. He has said: "I must lead all
beings to liberation. I will stay here till the end, even for the sake
of one living soul."
The word
'bodhisattva' itself is prone to a rich etymological analysis. It is
composed of two words 'bodhi' and 'sattva' both of which connote deeply
spiritually meanings. Bodhi means "awakening" or
"enlightenment," and sattva means "sentient being."
Sattva also has etymological roots that mean "intention,"
meaning the intention to enlighten other beings. Thus the composite word
bodhisattva signifies the very essence of the divine beings it refers
to.
Buddhist
aesthetics, very much like its literature, brings home spiritual truths
in the simplest manner graspable by all. The various bodhisattvas too
dominate the spectrum of Buddhist art, illustrating this abstract
conceptualization in as hard hitting a manner as do the various myths
surrounding them. The most prominent bodhisattva in this regard is Avalokiteshvara.
The word
'Avalokiteshvara' is derived from the Pali verb oloketi which means
"to look at, to look down or over, to examine or inspect." The
word avalokita has an active signification, and the name means,
"the lord who sees (the world with pity)." The Tibetan
equivalent is spyanras-gzigs (the lord, who looks with eyes). The text
known as Karanda-vyuha (8th century AD) explains that he is so called
because he views with compassion all beings suffering from the evils of
existence. It is interesting to note here that a dominant feature in the
description of Avalokiteshvara is his capacity to "see" the
suffering of others. No wonder then that he is often represented with a
thousand eyes symbolizing his all encompassing ability to view with
compassion the suffering of others, thus sharing in their sorrows, a
first step towards their ultimate alleviation. Not only that, he further
has a thousand hands too which help in the mammoth task of delivering
innumerable beings to their ultimate spiritual fulfillment.
The
mythology associated with Avalokiteshvara is as interesting as his
iconography:
Once by
his sustained efforts, Avalokiteshvara was eventually able to deliver
all sentient beings to enlightenment, managing salvation for everyone.
Enthused, he reported the success of his efforts to his spiritual
father, Amitabha. Amitabha asked him to look behind himself. Turning
back, Avalokiteshvara saw the world again being filled with new
sufferers who awaited their escape from the constant cycle of birth and
rebirth. Sinking into despair, the eyes of Avalokiteshvara shed tears of
compassion. He wept so pitifully that his head burst. Amitabha attempted
to assemble the pieces but did not entirely succeed. In the ensuing
confusion he put together nine complete faces, each with a gentle
expression. Above this he placed the demonic head of Vajrapani that
functions to ward off evil, and finally at the very top he placed his
own head to ensure that in the future such a happening did not recur.
He thus
sits on guard at the top of the rows of heads of Avalokiteshvara making
definite that Avalokiteshvara in his infinite compassion doesn't get
carried away, leading to his own destruction.
In
addition to Avalokiteshvara two other important bodhisattvas are:
Manjushri
 Once
at a meeting of numerous bodhisattvas at the house of Vimalakirti, the
lay disciple of Buddha, a debate developed on the meaning of nonduality,
an essential precept of Buddhist thought. After many bodhisattvas had
finely expressed their opinions on the subject and their success at
understanding its essence, it came to Manjushri's turn. He got up and
announced that all the previous speeches were themselves conditioned by
linguistic limitations and were subtly dualistic. When Manjushri turned
to Vimalakirti and asked for his views, Vimalakirti just maintained
silence, thus demonstrating the truth of Manjushri's statement.
This
story is a beautiful reflection on the irony of scholarship attempting
to express itself through a medium (speech/language), which contains
within itself a contradiction of the very fundamental ideals which it
proposes to expound. In this particular case Manjushri identifies this
sublime and intrinsic inconsistency. An exalted individual may wax
eloquent upon the virtues of non-duality and his grasp of this abstract
concept, but the very language used to expresses these views is
inherently dual as it is composed of word and it's meaning, two
exclusive entities. This subtle, nonetheless significant gradation
brings home a profound truth taking the wind out of any sense of
achievement derived out of purported scholarship. Verily thus Manjushri
carries in his two hands a book and a sword.
This
sword is there to cut of fetters born not out of ignorance but those
which arise through knowledge, signified by the book. This is not a
negation of bookish knowledge, but only an assertion of the realization
that unless we gain it we cannot know the futility of it in the quest
towards ultimate spiritual truths. Manjushri appropriately suggests not
the path of renunciation but that of righteous karma. A Zen story
illuminates this aspect:
Once the
chief cook of a temple on Mount Wutai (the favorite mountain of
Manjushri), was busy making lunch. Manjushri repeatedly appeared sitting
above the rice pot. This chief cook, who later became a noted Zen
master, finally hit Manjushri with his stirring spoon and drove him
away, saying, "Even if old man Shakyamuni came, I would also hit
him" In Zen temples the position of chief cook is highly esteemed.
This story denotes the priority of taking care of everyday life, beyond
attention to high-flowing rhetoric. Caring for the details of daily life
is sometimes seen as more important than spending time in studying
sutras or in concentration in the meditation halls, and indeed many
monks perhaps including this chief cook, have been encouraged to abandon
any preference for meditation over ordinary work.
Reconciling
Manjushri's actions with his status as a bodhisattva we realize that
here we see a rare but distinctly significant affirmation in Buddhist
thought of an existence composed of normal and 'ordinary' family life
rather than that of denial. The carrying out of one's duties is as
spiritually fulfilling an activity as any other 'bodhisattvic' deed.
Consider for example the activity of cooking. The Bhagvad Gita says that
one who cooks for others acquires the highest merit, while that who
selfishly cooks food only for his own consumption commits a sin.
Likewise the temple cook was engaged in an effort of the highest merit.
Indeed for contemporary times this is an ultimate tribute to those women
of the house who diligently provide us with sustenance which fulfills
not only our physical needs, but also nourishes us spiritually.
Maitreya
 According
to some Buddhist traditions, the period of the Buddhist Law is divided
into three stages: a first period of 500 years is of the turning of the
Wheel of the Law; a second period of 1,000 years is of the deterioration
of the Law, and the third period of 3,000 years is the one during which
no one practices the Law. After this, Buddhism having disappeared, a new
Buddha will appear who will again turn the Wheel of the Law. This future
Buddha known as Maitreya is beloved to be still in the Tushita heaven,
in the state of a bodhisattva. It is believed that Gautama Buddha
himself enthroned him as his successor.
The word
'maitreya' is derived from the Sanskrit word for friendliness. Thus this
bodhisattva is fundamentally said to embody the qualities of amiability
and an attitude of well-meaning sympathy.
According
to a legend there once descended to the earth from Maitreya's Tushita
heaven a Chinese layman and teacher named Mahasattva Fu, widely regarded
as an incarnation of Maitreya.
Fu
attracted many students to his Dharma lectures. Living in a time of
great hardships and famines for the peasants, he sold all of his
possessions to feed the local villagers, and also fasted to give away
his food to the needy. Fu once undertook a long hunger fast to protest
against the king's treatment of the poor. He announced that he would
finish the fast with a fiery self-immolation, as an offering to benefit
all suffering beings. At the culmination of his fast, many of his
followers offered to burn themselves in his place, some going to the
extent of burning their fingers or cutting off their ears as offerings
and engaging in other ascetic extremes. They finally convinced Fu to
abandon his plan.
The
notion of a bodhisattva sacrificing his complete physical self or at
least parts of it conforms to a similar notion expounded in ancient
Buddhist texts. For example the 'Shat-sahasrika Prajna-paramita' (5th
century AD) says: "Besides wealth and material objects, a
bodhisattva should be ready to sacrifice his limbs for the good of
others, his hand, foot, eye, flesh, blood, marrow, limbs great and
small, and even his head." Indeed in the Jataka tales which are
legendary stories about bodhisattvas, there abound numerous instances
where they are shown sacrificing parts of their bodies or even their
lives to save that of another.
A
persistent paradox regarding Maitreya is his visualization as an entity
of the future. This presents a contrast to much of Buddhist practice and
teaching which emphasizes the importance of the present, the current
moment. This is sometimes referred to as the timeless eternal. According
to the Buddhist viewpoint time does not exist as some external
container, but is the vital expression and enactment of our own being
right now. Time does not exist separate from our own presence.
As a
bodhisattva associated with the future, as against the fundamental
stress Buddhism places on the present moment of time, Maitreya presents
a wondrous amalgamation and a complex composite on the plane of time.
Buddhist esoteric thought achieves this is in a skillful manner by
associating him with children. Children are but the 'present' of our
'future.' A number of stories abound which illustrate his
loving-kindness for children:
Once in
his incarnation as a spiritual poet, Maitreya was asked by a relative to
help in dealing with his son, who was becoming a delinquent. The poet (Maitreya)
visited the family and stayed the night without saying anything to the
son. The next morning as he prepared to depart, he asked the boy's help
in tying up his sandals. As the lad looked up from doing so, he saw a
tear roll down the poet's cheek. Nothing was said, but from that time
the boy completely reformed. The easy camaraderie with children and
attention to young people shown by Maitreyan figures amply justifies the
'friendly' origin of his name as described above.
In China
too, Maitreya is synonymous with his supposed incarnation as the
tenth-century Chinese Zen monk Hotei, popularly known as the Laughing
Buddha. Hotei is legendary as a wandering sage with supernatural powers
who spent his time in village streets rather than the security of
temples. His image is recognizable as the fat, jolly Buddha, whose
statue can be seen in all Chinese Buddhist temples.
Hotei's
name means "cloth bag," and he is believed to have carried a
sack full of candies and toys to give to children with whom he is often
depicted in play.
This
scruffy, disheveled Buddha adds to our understanding of Maitreya's
warmth and loving-kindness. Hotei's fat belly and affinity with children
reflects yet another aspect of Maitreya in popular folk religion, that
of a fertility deity. He indeed is worshipped by those wanting to have
children, This ritual is especially popular in Korea.
Conclusion
The
Samadhiraja-sutra (4th century) explains why a bodhisattva does not feel
any pain, even when he mutilates himself for the good of others. When
Buddha was asked how a bodhisattva could cheerfully suffer the loss of
his hands, feet, ears, nose, eyes and head, he explained that pity for
mankind and the love of bodhi sustain and inspire a bodhisattva in his
heroism, just as worldly men are ready to enjoy the five kinds of
sensual pleasure, even when their bodies are burning with fever.
A
bodhisattva should regard every action and movement of his body as an
occasion for the cultivation of friendly thoughts for the good of all
creatures. When he sits down he thinks thus: "May I help all beings
to sit on the throne of enlightenment." When he lies on his right
side, he thinks thus: "May I lead all beings to nirvana." When
he washes his hands, he thinks thus: May I remove the sinful
propensities of all creatures." When he washes his feet, he thinks
thus: "May I take away the dirt of sins and passion from all
creatures." In this way the body can be converted into a holy
vessel of benediction. Blessed indeed is he who loses his physical
existence in doing good to others. A bodhisattva can never love the body
for its own sake, if he cherishes it, he does so only because he will
gird himself up to save someone sometime somewhere on some occasion in
the moment of tribulation.
By
conceptualizing the lofty ideal of a bodhisattva, Buddhism sets a high
standard of virtuous conduct for us ordinary mortals to emulate, thus
striving for a spiritually enriched life radiant with the glow of
selflessness, indeed the foundation for a meaningful and fulfilling
existence, both for the individual and for the world around him, of
which he is but a microcosm.
References and Further
Reading
- Dayal,
Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature:
Delhi, 1999.
- Frederic,
Louis. Buddhism (Flammarion Iconographic Guides): Paris, 1995.
- Leighton,
Taigen Daniel. Bodhisattva Archetypes: New York, 1998.
- Meulenbeld,
Ben. Buddhist Symbolism in Tibetan Thangkas: Holland, 2001.
- Pal,
Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Los Angeles: The Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, 1990
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This article by Nitin
Kumar
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