Talk:Bodhisattva
From Academic Kids
Two questions
This seems a little questionable to me, so please educate. Who considers Maitreya to be a Buddha? Who considers Padmasambhava to be a bodhisattva? - Nat Krause 07:58, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)
If a person beseches an enlightened being, that being cannot have achieved Nirvana (the end of existance) as there would be no one to beseech to. Thus, many "Buddhas" are actually Bodhisattvas. The reason this is so problematic is two-fold. Many languages don't distinguish between the two especially in common terms. Secondly many practicing Buddhists arn't scholars of their religion and thus they know little about it (look at how many Christians think that "Immaculate Conception" is a reference to Jesus's birth). Anyway, both are Bodhisattvas. Dustin Asby 08:19, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Dustinasby, I think you may be slightly reductive in your assertion. Remember that there are doctrinal differences of opinion regarding the nature of Nirvana, which in fact lay at the root of distinction of the Mahasamghika. Namely, as to whether or not a Buddha remains actively engaged in benefiting others after bodily death. Nagarjuna (and most other Mahayanists after him) argued that SamyaksamBuddhas actively benefit others for all time - and indeed this capability was what distinguished a SamyaksamBuddha from a SravakaBuddha or a PratyekaBuddha, both of whom rested in peace. So it would be rather odd to say that Nagarjuna was not a Buddhist scholar, and yet his position appears to differ radically from yours. Regardless, there are deeper issues regarding the nomenclature of 'SamyaksamBuddha', which is why I partly concur, but for different reasons. It appears that by definition, a SamyaksamBuddha needs to manifest in a place where the teaching has not been before and to turn the wheel of Dharma there. Until a fully enlightened Bodhisattva has achieved that, he remains a Bodhisattva, though his experience (in terms of realisation of Dharmakaya) can be no less than that of a SamyaksamBuddha. This is why eg. Mahayana traditions generally assert that Gautama Buddha was already enlightened when he was born, and his journey to enlightenment in his life was primarily skillful means. Of course this doctrinal structure belongs firmly to the Mahayana traditions, as the Theravadans consider Nirvana to be final peace with no remainder. I am unsure about the issues of just how long a Bodhisattva remains unable to manifest in the Nirmanakaya form of a SamyaksamBuddha, as due to the effortlessness of distance and omniscience, it may well be that an enlightened Bodhisattva is able to turn the wheel of Dharma at very the moment of acheiving omniscience in some far-off universe. Different Buddhist scholars have mildy different interpretations on these issues.(20040302 08:49, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC))
