BUDDHISM by Damien Keown

Author:Damien Keown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1996-01-19T21:00:00+00:00

Mahāyanā Virtues

The Six Perfections (pāramitās) of a Bodhisattva are:

1. Generosity (dāna)

2. Morality (sîla)

3. Patience

4. Courage (vīrya)

5. Meditation (samādhi)

6. Wisdom (prajñā).

Bodhisattvas who had reached the higher stages of their careers were visualized as enormously powerful beings, virtually identical to the Buddha in his heavenly form. Indeed, the distinction between a Buddha and an advanced bodhisattva becomes extremely blurred. Two of the most important in the ranks of these ‘celestial’ bodhisattvas are Avalokiteśvara, ‘The Lord who Looks Down (in compassion)’ (see p. 65), and Mañjuśrī, ‘Gentle Glory’. The former (of whom the Tibetan Dalai Lamas are said to be incarnations) epitomizes compassion (karuṇā) and the latter wisdom (prajñā). Avalokiteśvara is depicted as having many arms, outstretched to help suffering beings, while Mañjuśrī carries the flaming sword of wisdom which cuts through ignorance. Alongside these, a rich pantheon of Buddhas and bodhisattvas comes into being, conceived of as inhabiting a majestic unseen universe. Just as our own world-system was graced by a Buddha, it seemed not unreasonable to suppose that others had been too. The Mahāyāna therefore proceeded to invent names and characteristics for these fictional Buddhas and located them in magnificent Buddha-realms. A ‘family’ of five Buddhas became standard, often depicted in circular mystic diagrams known as maṇḍalas. A common arrangement in these colourful diagrams is to find the historical Buddha Śākyamuni (Pali: Sakyamuni) located at the centre of a circle with four ahistorical Buddhas located around him to the north, south, east, and west.

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