The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment (White 2005)

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The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment including a Translation into English of the Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkemmitsu-nikyōron, and Sammaya-kaijo
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People
Kūkai
source author
Kenneth R. White
author · translator
Edwin Mellen Press
publisher
Topics
Texts
DRL topics
  • Japanese Buddhism
  • History - Academic
The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment-front.png

Description

This book contains the first complete translation and interpretation of two of the works of Kūkai (744–845), the founder of the Japanese Shingon School of Buddhism. As an element of Mahāyāna Buddhist thought, bodhicitta ('enlightenment mind') is integral to an accurate understanding of the quest for Buddhist enlightenment. With the development of theories of this process, bodhicitta came to serve as that impetus urging a practitioner to engage himself in practice aiming at not merely individual release from samsara in an effort to attain nirvana, but also in other-oriented compassionate acts, the embodiment of which is the bodhisattva. This important interaction with, and responsibility for, others in the enlightenment process was particularly integral to the formulation of the ethical basis for East Asian Buddhism.

As discussion of the possibilities available to sentient beings engaged in various ritual practices and devotions progressed, the notion arose that they were actual partakers in Buddha-nature, with the potential of attaining Buddhahood. That sentient beings could even think of such a notion was indeed a radical departure from the doctrines of early Buddhism.

It was perhaps Kūkai, in his Shingon Buddhist doctrine, who took this notion to its fullest extent as he forwarded his scheme of actual integration between man and Buddha, facilitated by means of specifically directed practice, including activities of body, speech and mind. Such integration was not merely a philosophical phenomenon, but was viewed as a tangible and very immediate process. This immediacy is typified in the statement adopted by Kūkai indicating that one could even 'be a Buddha in this very body' (sokushin-jōbutsu), eliminating the necessity for countless rebirths.

Kūkai saw his unique Shingon doctrine and practice as not merely an addition to Mahāyāna Buddhist thought and Japanese Buddhist ritual, but rather as the distillation of all that Buddhist doctrine had been hinting at and attempting to explain. He took it to constitute the effective essence of Mahāyāna Buddhism, emphasizing the important notion that Buddhahood is a possibility for all. Two of Kūkai's original works, Benkemmitsu-nikyōron and Sammaya-kaijo, as well as the Bodhicitta-śāstra, a text from which he often quoted, constitute the foundation of his sokushin-jōbutsu thought, and are elucidating in an analysis of the development of his bodhicitta view. (Source: Edwin Mellen Press)

Citation
White, Kenneth R. The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment including a Translation into English of the Bodhicitta-śāstra, Benkemmitsu-nikyōron, and Sammaya-kaijo. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005.
Publisher Link
https://mellenpress.com/book/Role-of-Bodhicitta-in-Buddhist-Enlightenment-Including-a-Translation-Into-English-of-Bodhicitta-Sastrabenkemmitsu-Nikyoron-and-Sammaya-Kaijo/6385/
Table of contents
  • Preface by Dirck Vorenkampi
  • Acknowledgmentsv
  • Introduction1
    • General Background1
    • Orthography & Abbreviations4
    • Terminology5
  • I. General Historical Context of Bodhicitta Thought7
    • The Chinese Adaptation of Buddhist Concepts8
    • Kūkai's Methodology12
    • Formulating a Unique Shingon Characterization of Bodhicitta18
    • Cultivation of Bodhicitta24
    • The Bodhisattva26
    • Acknowledgement of Inherent Bodhicitta30
    • Textual Basis for Shingon Philosophy33
  • Il. History and Development of the Bodhicitta Concept39
    • Early Notions of Bodhicitta Thought39
    • Benkemmitsu-nikyōron: Comparing Exoteric and Esoteric Ideas43
    • Linguistic Issues44
    • Bodhicitta and the Path53
    • Bodhicitta as a Free-Standing Element of Enlightenment Theory55
  • III. Shingon Interpretation of Bodhicitta57
    • Life and Doctrine of Kūkai57
      • Kūkai and the University58
      • Kokūzō gumonjihō62
      • Study in China69
      • Building Kōya-san83
    • Kūkai's Works86
  • IV. The Cultivation of Bodhicitta in Kūkai's Shingon97
    • Meditation Techniques and Rituals97
      • Types Besides the Maṇḍala and Bodhicitta Cultivation105
      • Two Key Shingon Practices121
    • Shingon Maṇḍalas: History and Description131
      • The Dual Shingon Maṇḍalas132
      • Function in Bodhicitta Cultivation139
  • V. The Role of Bodhicitta in Bodhisattva Practice147
    • The Bodhisattva Concept149
    • The Compassion of the Bodhisattva155
    • 'Bodhisattva Practice and the Daśabhūmi169
    • The Bodhisattva and His Practice in Kūkai's Shingon174
  • VI. Conclusion183
    • Kūkai's Shingon Concept of Bodhicitta189
    • General Function of Bodhicitta in Bodhisattva Practice199
    • Kūkai's Bodhicitta in Bodhisattva Practice202
  • VII. Bodhicitta-śāstra209
    • Translation209
    • Chinese Text237
  • VIII. Benkemmitsu-nikyōron249
    • Translation249
      • Book 1249
      • Book 2295
    • Chinese Text329
      • Book 1329
      • Book 2345
  • IX. Sammaya-kaijo357
    • Translation357
    • Chinese Text373
  • X. Glossary of Technical Terms381
  • XI. Bibliography449
  • XII. Index463
Interconnections
Works related to this item
3 Full translation of
Kukai wikipedia.jpg
[Distinguishing the Two Teachings of the Exoteric and Esoteric].
Classical WorksAbout this item
Benkenmitsu nikyòron. (辯顯密二教論). In Japanese, literally "Distinguishing the Two Teachings of the Exoteric and Esoteric"; a relatively short treatise composed by the Japanese Shingon monk Kūkai in the early ninth century. The text is commonly known more simply as the Nikyōron. As the title suggests, the central theme of the Benkenmitsu nikyōron is the elaboration of the difference between the exoteric and esoteric teachings of Buddhism and the demonstration of the latter's superiority. The text begins with a brief introduction, followed by a series of questions and answers, and a short conclusion. The Benkenmitsu nikyōron describes the relation between the exoteric teachings preached by the nirmānakāya of the Buddha and the esoteric teachings preached by his dharmakāya as that between provisional words spoken according to the different capacities of sentient beings and ultimate truth. By meticulously citing scriptural references, such as the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Benkenmitsu nikyōron shows that the dharmakāya, like the nirmānakāya and sambhogakāya, can indeed preach and that it does so in a special language best articulated in such esoteric scriptures as the Mahāvairocanābhisambodhisūtra. Whereas the nirmānakāya speaks the dharma with reference to the six perfections (pāramitā), the dharmakāya employs the language of the three mysteries: the body, speech, and mind of Mahāvairocana expressed in mudrā, mantra, and maṇḍala. Like many of Kukai's other writings, the arguments presented in his Benkenmitsu nikyōron helped him legitimize the introduction and installment of the new teachings, now known as Mikkyō or esoteric Buddhism, which he had brought back from China. There are several commentaries on the text, including those composed by Seisen (1025-1115), Raiyu (1226-1304), Yūkai (1345-1416), and Kaijō (1750-1805). (Source: "Benkenmitsu nikyōron." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 104. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Amoghavajra 14 century National Museum Tokyo Wikipedia.jpg
Bodhicittaśāstra. Chinese Canon.
Classical WorksAbout this item
The Bodhicitta-śāstra (Taishō vol. 32, no. 1665) is extant only in Chinese translation. . . . This is a Buddhist tantric text and constitutes one of the most important śāstras in the formulation of the Shingon theory of human-buddha integration. The term “human-buddha integration,” which first appears in this śāstra, called zhi shen cheng fo in Chinese and sokushin jōbutsu in Japanese, literally means “the body, just as it is, is that of the Buddha.” This śāstra claims that human-buddha integration is possible because bodhicitta (the wisdom of knowing the true nature of self, i.e., that the self is a product of emptiness) is shared by both sentient beings and the Buddha, who in this case is Dharmakāya Mahāvairocana, the personification of emptiness. (Source: Esoteric Texts, translator's introduction, 105)
Kukai wikipedia.jpg
[Introduction to the Samaya Commitments].
Classical WorksAbout this item
Kūkai (空海, 774–835) is said to have composed his Sanmayakai jo (三昧耶戒序, Introduction to the Samaya Commitments) sometime before he gave those samaya commitments and abhiṣeka to the retired Emperor Heizei, most likely in 822 and perhaps at the Shingon-in of Tōdai-ji temple. Nearly all premodern editions of the Sanmayakai jo have that text immediately followed by the Himitsu sanmaya bukkai gi (祕密三昧耶佛戒儀, TKZ 5.161–176, Rite of the Secret Samaya Commitments of a Buddha) a text giving material for a ritual to be used for bestowing the samaya

commitments.

The Sanmayakai jo is a text deeply influenced by and indebted to the Putixin lun. In outlining the various teachings in the world, the Putixin lun has a general approach covering worldly beings, the non-Buddhists, the two vehicles, and exoteric Mahāyāna without mentioning specific schools. Kūkai refines that presentation to mention some characteristics of the ten abodes of mind, which is to say the kinds of teachings known in early ninth century East Asia. In total, the ten abodes of mind are mentioned in three separate sections of the Sanmayakai jo (§I.1, II.3.1, and III.2.1), indicating that it is a major underpinning of the teachings of this text. (Source: Thomas Eijō Dreitlein, "An Annotated Translation of Kūkai’s Sanmayakai jo, Including the Himitsu sanmaya bukkai gi" Bulletin of the Research Institute of Esoteric Buddhist Culture: Mikkyo Bunka Kenkyusho Kiyo 28 (March 2015): 1 and 4,

https://www.koyasan-u.ac.jp/laboratory/pdf/kiyo28/28_dreitlein.pdf.



Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of the Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt महायान  Tib ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།  Ch 大乘  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Mahāyāna'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhicitta'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhicitta'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhisattva'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhisattva'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhicitta'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhicitta'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhisattva'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhisattva'

Dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt धर्मकाय  Tib ཆོས་སྐུ་  Ch 法身  

Go to the page with the definition of 'dharmakāya'

Dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt धर्मकाय  Tib ཆོས་སྐུ་  Ch 法身  

Go to the page with the definition of 'dharmakāya'

Neyārtha - Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true. Skt नेयार्थ  Tib དྲང་དོན་  

Go to the page with the definition of 'provisional'

Laṅkāvatārasūtra [लङ्कावतारसूत्र]. 'phags pa lang kar gshegs pa'i theg pa chen po'i mdo [འཕགས་པ་ལང་ཀར་གཤེགས་པའི་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Sūtra on the Descent into Laṅka (84000)]. Translated by 'gos chos grub, Bodhiruci, Guṇabhadra, Śikṣānanda. Kangyur, RKTSK 107 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=107&typ=1.

Go to the page with the definition of 'Laṅkāvatārasūtra'

Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

Go to the page with the definition of 'perfections'

Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

Go to the page with the definition of 'pāramitā'

Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

Go to the page with the definition of 'wisdom'

Śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt शून्यता  Tib སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་  Ch 空;空門  

Go to the page with the definition of 'emptiness'

Dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt धर्मकाय  Tib ཆོས་སྐུ་  Ch 法身  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Dharmakāya'

Dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt धर्मकाय  Tib ཆོས་སྐུ་  Ch 法身  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Dharmakāya'
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