Bodhisattvacharyavatara

by Andreas Kretschmar | 246,740 words

The English translation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (“entering the conduct of the bodhisattvas”), a Sanskrit text with Tibetan commentary. This book explains the bodhisattva concept and gives guidance to the Buddhist practitioner following the Mahāyāna path towards the attainment of enlightenment. The text was written in Sanskrit by Shantideva ...

(2) The individual explanation of realization [rtogs pa], as included in the second interpretation of the term ’sugata’, is that since the Buddha has ’realized’ the natural state as it is, he has gone without returning [chos nyid gyi don ji lta ba bzhin du rtogs pas na slar mi ldog par gshegs pa].

Gone without returning [phyir mi ldog par gshegs pa] means that the Buddha has eradicated the seeds of the view of an identity [bdag lta / ngar ’dzin], and, consequently, he does not return to saṃsāra, just as firewood which has been burned will not again flare up.

The sugatas have ’realized’ the wisdom of egolessness [bdag med rtogs pa’i shes rab]. They are free from holding on to an identity [bdag ’dzin]. They have totally eradicated ignorance [ma rig pa] and can never fall back into saṃsāra. The example is a person who has recovered from smallpox [rims nad], because after recovering from smallpox one is then immune.

The Buddha has surpassed all the paths of the tīrthikas. Even when the tīrthikas reach the peak of worldly existence, they can never go beyond the confines of worldly existence [srid pa]. The great masters of the tīrthika systems can reach saṃsāra’s peak but never go beyond that point because they have not realized the wisdom of egolessness. Tīrthika masters can temporarily overcome gross afflictions, but they never attain the wisdom of egolessness.

Tīrthika meditation masters at best take rebrith in the subtle spheres of the realms of formlessness [gzugs med khams]. These are the most subtle states within saṃsāra and are reached through worldly meditation [’jig rten pa’i bsam gtan] that still holds on to ego.[1]

Once the karma to remain in these states is exhausted, the tīrthika meditation masters again fall into the lower realms. The Buddha has reached a state completely beyond saṃsāric existence and can, therefore, never fall back into any of saṃsāra’s three realms.

The three realms [khams gsum] of saṃsāra are

  1. the realm of desire [’dod khams],
  2. the realm of form [gzugs khams],
  3. and the realm of formlessness [gzugs med khams].

Therefore, the Buddha is vastly superior to all tīrthika teachers.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

There are ’four formless realms’ [gzugs med khams pa’i gnas bzhi], which are called ‚the four absorptions of the realm of formlessness’ [gzugs ped pa’i snyoms ’jug bzhi]: 1) the field of infinite space [nam mkha’ mtha’ ya kyi skye mched], 2) the field of infinite consciousness [rnam shes mtha’ yas kyi skye mched], 3) the field of nothing whatsoever [ci yang med pa’i skye mched], and 4) the field of neither perception nor non-perception [’du shes med ’du shes med min gyi skye mched]. See Myriad Worlds, pages 123-125.

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