topics: |  tibet | sanskrit | buddhism

The mahAyana (greater vehicle) tradition of Buddhism followed in Tibet
and further east, evolved from the older, theravAda (doctrine of elders)
or hinAyana (lesser vehicle) tradition, and one of the main differences
is in the concept of the bodhisattva ("enlightened mind"):

	The religious ideal of Hinayana Buddhism is the arahat, the person
	who has achieved nirvana and escaped the cycle of rebirth. In
	contrast, the religious ideal of the Mahayana school is the
	bodhisattva, the person who vows to postpone entrance into nirvana,
	although deserving it, until all others become enlightened and
	liberated.
	     	- M. Martin, Cambridge Companion to Atheism p. 224

This discourse by the present Dalai Lama draws on the work of the 8th
c. Buddhist philosopher Shantideva, one of the leading thinkers who expanded
on the Bodhisattva ideal.

Dalai Lama sermon and the Bodhisattva tradition

In July 2008, Rita, Zubin and I were fortunate to catch a sermon by the Dalai
Lama at Dharamsala.  Since then he has severely curtailed his appearances,
so this may turn out to be one of his last major appearances.  Thousands of
people had congregated on several floors of this vast temple, and we were
fortunate to have managed to find some seats immediately
outside the main hall where he was seated along with delegates from a
large Korean group who had requested this audience.  As it turned out we were
in the section of the audience intended for devotees from Taiwan, and the
public speakers in this area were broadcasting in Chinese translation.

It was the highlight of our visit to Dharamaala, and we had acquired passes
for the event severy days in advance from the registration office of the
Tibet government in exile.  At that point, we had been informed that we
should carry an FM radio.  On the morning of the sermon we were small
paritcles in an immense viscous flow from the hotel area of Macleodganj to
the monastery compound where the DL lives.  After being frisked for security,
we went upstairs, where entrance to the main hall was permitted by special
invitation only, and so we ended up in the Chinese section.  However, the
many people carrying FM sets could tune into one of several channels to hear
the translation into several languages including Korean or English.  The
person making the English translation was obviously very knowledgeable
himself, using an impressive array of theologically approved terminology, and
expanding on several themes and with great freedom.

At this meeting, the Dalai Lama spoke of several aspects, particularly how the
reality of life is duHkha [which is a deep notion - see Matilal's
Logical and Ethical Issues: An Essays on Indian Philosophy of Religion
excerpt:chapter 2, where it is
defined as
	the undesirability or non-finality of the worldly life for persons
	who strive to discover a higher, better, greater, and transcendent
	truth beyond all this. - p.11

Since rebirth is yet another cycle through the path of Duhkha, what
concerns the true seer is the process of avoiding all rebirth.  In the
sermon that day, the Dalai Lama talked at length about the processes of
avoiding Duhkha, but what concerns us here is that at one point, DL
mentioned the bodhisattvas, those whose souls have been awakened for the
sake of others; i.e. those who are concerned not with their own salvation,
but in helping everyone achieve it as well.  In the Buddhist tradition,
there are several levels of enlightenment, and the level of the
bodhisattvas is the highest.  At this level, one's view of the sufferings
of others is so deeply compassionate that one can no longer distinguish
these sorrows from one's own.

Later I found that this message re: the bodhisattva was reflecting a
thought from the work bodhicaryAvatAra, a key 8th c. Mahayana text by
Shantideva, which has been referred to as "the work that has had the most
influence on the present Dalai Lama" [from Paul Williams' Intro to
Poems of sadness: the erotic verse of the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, p.3-5)

This text, "A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night", is essentially a
commentary on Shatideva, and reflects on what it means to be a bodhisattva,
which is how the Dalai Lama is venerated in the Tibetan tradition.  The
primary quality that marks such a person is awareness compassion and
fellow-feeling, that it seeks to remedy the suffering not for himself but for
the whole world.  While the Dalai Lama does not say so, clearly, it has been
part of his personal goal, and one that has endeared him to millions of
follwers across the world.

I append below some notes I had prepared for Zubin on this aspect of the
Dalai Lama, based on a scattered body of readings including My land, my
people (MLMP), and also the above text by Paul Williams.

What it means to be a Dalai Lama

It is common for the Dalai Lama to be referred to in popular parlance as a
"god-king".  This is, however, very misleading.  Buddhism believes in any
number of 'gods' (deva-s).  To be a 'god' (or a 'goddess') is not Buddhist
enlightenment.  It is a type of rebirth.  In infinite cycles of rebirths we
have all been gods many times.  Gods are beings who in general have a
pleasant life ... in a pleasant world called 'heaven'.  But Buddhism denies
altogether the existence of a loving creator God, a Necessary Being, as
understood in the theistic world religions such as Christianity or Islam.
Such a God could not possibly actually exist.

To be a 'king' on the other hand, is a secular lay occupation seen very much
as... unenlightenment (saMsArA), spiritual immaturity.  If [the] DL is in some
sense a king, it should at least be in terms of Tibetan Buddhism.

One's religion, as it relates to the individual, is for the Tibetan
Buddhist tradition a matter of motivation.  Its purpose in the final
analysis in one way or another is seen as the achievement of complete,
supreme, happiness....  The Indian missionary Atisha, in the 12th c, when
asked by his Tibetan hosts for a direct and down-to-earth practical
teaching, provided the framework into which so many later generations of
Tibetan scholars sought to fit the spiritual path... "three types of
person" (Tibetan: skyes bu gsum) = three types of motivation:

- lowest: concerned with personal gain, with pleasures in the realm of the
  saMsAra (unenlightenment), incl. seeking to reach heaven.  = most of us.
- middle: aim for ending all suffering and rebirth - including the gods in
  the heavens = nirvana.  Noble and rare though this motivation is, there is
  something higher
- higher: "Someone who wishes by all means truly to bring an end to all the
  suffering of others... that person is Supreme" [Atisha]  Such a person, who
  makes no ultimate distinction between his or her own sufferings, and those
  of others, is called a bodhisattva.  The goal is not just nirvana, but full
  Buddha-hood.

This is known as Mahayana Buddhism, the form of Buddhism that Tibetans aspire
to.  The Maha (great) yAna (vehicle) of the bodhisattva - is not a matter of
doctrines rituals etc but of motivation.  Truly to have this motivation, to
have what is called the compassionate 'awakening mind' (bodhicitta) is aking
to the conversion experience in some forms of Christianity, albeit much
rarer.  The Indian Shantideva (8th c.), wrote of the awakening mind in his
bodhicaryAvatAra ("Guide to the Buddhist path to awakening") - probably the
work that has had the most infl on the present Dalai Lama:

  That jewel, the Mind, which is the seed of pure happiness in the world and
  the remedy for the suffering of the world, how at alll can its merit be
  measured.

Also from Santideva, is the current DL's favourite verse, the one that most
perfectly articulates his own spiritual aspirations:

  As long as space abides and as long as the world abides, so long may I
  abide, destroying the suffererings of the world.

This is one dimension of what a DL really is.

The bodhicitta or awakening mind, requires a prescribed set of meditations,
to be performed at appropriate stages of the spiritual path.  This
meditation, and then the revolution of awakening, the 14th DL says he has
undergone in many prev lives.

---
blurb:
Compassion is the guiding principle of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to
attain enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings from the
suffering and confusion of imperfect existence. To this end, they must
renounce all self-centered goals and consider only the well-being of
others. The bodhisattvas' enemies are the ego, passion, and hatred; their
weapons are generosity, patience, perseverance, and wisdom. In Tibetan
Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is considered to be a living embodiment of this
spiritual ideal. His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama presents here a
detailed manual of practical philosophy, based on The Way of the Bodhisattva
(Bodhicharyavatara),a well-known text of Mahayana Buddhism written by
Shantideva. The Dalai Lama explains and amplifies the text, alluding
throughout to the experience of daily life and showing how anyone can
develop bodhichitta, the wish for perfect enlightenment for the sake of
others. This book will surely become a standard manual for all those who wish
to make the bodhisattva ideal a living experience.