What is a bodhisattva?
1. The Bodhisattva in early Buddhism
This relief from Borobodur illustrates a Jataka tale in which the bodhisatta (the Buddha in a previous life) is a great turtle who first saves a group of shipwrecked sailors by taking them on his back, then offers his body to them as food to relieve their hunger.
The Pali equivalent to bodhisattva is bodhisatta (satta having the same meaning as Sanskrit sattva — or sakta), and this is a word that appears in the Pali canon to refer to:
a) The historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, before his enlightenment, and,
b) The current life or lives of the Buddha-to-come, Maitreya (Pali Metteya).
The word bodhisattva therefore originally meant something like “a being who is well on the way to becoming a Buddha.” The previous lives of the bodhisatta Sakyamuni are told in the Pali Jataka (”birth”) Tales, a collection of folk tales that later became the basis for Aesop’s fables, and that illustrate the Buddha-to-be’s development of good qualities such as patience, generosity, and compassion.
Comments
Comment from Wendy
Time: September 20, 2007, 8:25 pm
Please help me find the web site where I learned the following mantras (I cannot be sure of the spelling but I am sure of how they sounded phonetically):
1) Om burh vah svah
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dimahi
Dihyo yonah
Prachodayat.
2) Om shri manah, Lakshmiyai namah.
I hope you can help me find out more about these. They have really helped me. Thank you. Wendy
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: September 20, 2007, 8:36 pm
Hi Wendy,
The first is the “gayatri mantra” which is one of the best-known Hindu mantras. It was incorporated into the theme music of Battlestar Galactica’s second season!
oṃ bhūr bhuvah svah
tāt savitūr várenyam
bhārgo devāsya dhīmahi
dhīyo yōnah prachodāyāt
There’s a decent article about it on Wikipedia.
The second mantra is “Om Sri Maha Lakshmyai Namah”.
This should be enough information for you to search online.
But you shouldn’t be asking me about this. I’m a Buddhist! :)
Comment from ira
Time: October 27, 2007, 4:33 pm
Sounds like the Gayatri mantra to me–check Sai Baba sites, i.e., Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Comment from Cora
Time: December 28, 2007, 11:37 am
My computer does not access the audio part re: translations
Is there another site where the pronunciation is available.
eg. The green tara mantra:
swaha ????
soha, swaha ???????
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: December 28, 2007, 8:12 pm
Hi Cora,
What’s the precise nature of the problem? I’m guessing it’s that you don’t have RealPlayer — I really ought to convert the mantras to MP3 format to make them more accessible. I’ll try to do that as soon as possible.
Also, the pronunciation is now more fully explained in the article.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
Comment from terramie asher
Time: January 20, 2008, 7:11 pm
I am a bit confused. I have not been able to meditate in two years. I was able to meditate well for a number of years prior to this block (?). What I think I am looking for is a mantra to use that would help me. I did not use them before, just breathing and was able to meditate for long periods of time. A mantra may be helpful with concentration and focus and blocking distractions.
I think that the root of the problem is that i have noticed in the last two years difficulty concentrating and focusing on anything.
Is there a particular mantra that might help one with concentration and focus.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: January 21, 2008, 5:37 pm
Hi Terramie,
That brings up an interesting point. Classically, something like the Manjushri mantra would be said to be good for helping focus and concentration, but there can be many things that stand in the way of our focusing. For example the mind can be unsteady because of a lack of energy (in which case a good mantra might be that of Vajrapani), or because of problems will ill will or self-hatred (in which case Tara, or Avalokitesvara might be good). In short, you may need to do a bit more exploring to find out in more detail what the cause of your problem is.
On this that raises a flag with me is you talking about “blocking distractions.” Generally that’s not a very helpful way to think about meditation, in which we may often acknowledge distractions and then patiently return to the object of concentration, or we may even have to work on accepting and exploring our distractions. It may be that it would be helpful for you to work with a teacher. If there’s nothing available locally you could always consider our online courses.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
Comment from cat
Time: March 7, 2008, 10:12 am
When the body is not functioning properly, a ‘block’ may develop. That is what happened to me recently. Try giving your body a detox or flush. Look for cleaning the Liver.
I’m sorry, I guess I shouldn’t be answering.
Cat
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