Enlightenment in Buddhism
Encyclopedia
The English term enlightenment has commonly been used in the western world to translate several Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Japanese terms and concepts, especially bodhi
, prajna
, kensho
, satori
and buddhahood
.
(Sanskrit
) is a Thetavada-term. It means literally means awakening and understanding. Someone who is awakened has gained insight into the workings of the mind which keeps us imprisoned in craving, suffering and rebirth, and has also gained insight into the way to liberate oneself from this imprisonment.
Prajna
is a Mahayana-term. It refers to insight into out true nature, which according to Madhyamaka
is empty of a personal essence in the stream of experience. But it also refers to the tathagata-garba or Buddha-nature
, the essential basic-consciousness beyond the stream of experience.
Kensho
means 'seeing into one's true nature'. Ken means 'seeing', sho means 'nature', 'essence'. Satori is often used interchangeably with kensho, but refers to the experience of kensho.
(Skt. samyaksambuddha). Buddhahood
means the full abandonment
of the ten fetters
. Attaining Buddhahood is the ultimate goal of Buddhism
. In many Buddhist traditions, reaching full enlightenment is equivalent in meaning to reaching Nirvana
. It involves the process of cessation of dukkha
). An equivalent term for Buddha
is Tathāgata
, 'the thus-gone'.
is somewhat differently understood in the various buddhist tradition. Nevertheless, for all traditions the study of the sutras is essential, and gaining insight a prerequisite.
follows the classical Noble Eightfold Path. Insight is to be gained in the three caracteristics of life, namely dukkha
, anatta
and anicca. From thise insight follows the practice of moral just behaviour and meditation, to gain full buddhahood. It distinguishes four stages of enlightenment
, in which the ten fetters
arge gradually abandoned.
In the Visuddhimagga
(Path to insight), written in approximately 430 CE, the Indian
Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa
has summarized the various descriptions within the Pali canon
of the elements of the path to buddhahood.
stresses prajna
and Karuṇā
, insight and compassion. It has developed a rich variety of teachings, including the use of mantras
(such as the Daimoku in Nichiren Buddhism
) and devotion to Buddha ancestors.
. They are are elaborations of Atiśa
's 11th Century root text A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment
(Bodhipathapradīpa).
two main views on the way to enlightenment are discernable: sudden and gradual enlightenment. Early ch'an recognized the "transcendence of the body and mind", followed by "non-defilement [of] knowledge and perception"In the 8th-century the Ch'an-history was effectively re-fashioned by Shenhui, who placed Hui-neng into prominence and enphsized sudden enlightenment, as oppoesd to the concurrent northern School's gradual enlightenment. According to the sudden enlightenment propagated by Shenhui insight into true nature is sudden; there-after there can be no misunderstanding anymore about this true nature. This emphasis is also maintained by the contemporary Rinzai-school.
In opposition to this, the Soto-school enphasizes silent illumination and the practice of shikan-taza, just sitting. Chinul
, a 12th-century Koran Seon master, emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. This is also the standpoint of the contemporary Sanbo Kyodan
, according to whom kensho is at the start of the path to full enlightenment..
This gradual cultivation is also recognized by Tozan, who described the Five ranks of enlightenment . Another example of depiction of stages on the path are the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures
which detail the steps on the Path.
and the true self
, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning.
, then independent use of reason to gain insight into the true nature of our world. As a matter of fact there are more resemblances with Romanticism
than with the Enlightenment: the emphasis on feeling, on intuitive insight, on a rue essence beyond the world of appearences.
. Dumoulin viewed metafysics as the expression of a transcendent truth, which according to hin was expressed by Mahayana buddhism, but not by the pragmatic analysis of the oldest buddhism, which emphasizes anatta
. This romantic vision is also recognizable in the works of Ken Wilber
.
In the oldest buddhism this essentialisme is not recognizable. According to critics it doesn't really contribute to a real insight into buddhism:
. in Sri Lanka and Japan different days are being used for this celebration.
According to the Theravada-tradition in Sri Lanka Sakyamuni reached Buddhahood at the full moon in may. This is celebrated at Wesak Poya
, the full moon in may, as Sambuddhatva jayanthi
(also known as Sambuddha jayanthi).
According to the Zen-tradition the Buddha reached his decisive insight at 8 december. This is celebrated in Zen-monasteries with an very intensive eight-day sesshin, rohatsu.
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
, prajna
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
, kensho
Kensho
Kenshō is a Japanese term for enlightenment experiences. It is most commonly referred to in Zen Buddhism.Literally it means "seeing one's nature" or "true self." It generally "refers to the realization of nonduality of subject and object." Frequently used in juxtaposition with satori , there is...
, satori
Satori
is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment that literally means "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana....
and buddhahood
Buddhahood
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
.
Insight
BodhiBodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
(Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
) is a Thetavada-term. It means literally means awakening and understanding. Someone who is awakened has gained insight into the workings of the mind which keeps us imprisoned in craving, suffering and rebirth, and has also gained insight into the way to liberate oneself from this imprisonment.
Prajna
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
is a Mahayana-term. It refers to insight into out true nature, which according to Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
is empty of a personal essence in the stream of experience. But it also refers to the tathagata-garba or Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature, Buddha-dhatu or Buddha Principle , is taught differently in various Mahayana Buddhism traditions. Broadly speaking Buddha-nature is concerned with ascertaining what allows sentient beings to become Buddhas...
, the essential basic-consciousness beyond the stream of experience.
Kensho
Kensho
Kenshō is a Japanese term for enlightenment experiences. It is most commonly referred to in Zen Buddhism.Literally it means "seeing one's nature" or "true self." It generally "refers to the realization of nonduality of subject and object." Frequently used in juxtaposition with satori , there is...
means 'seeing into one's true nature'. Ken means 'seeing', sho means 'nature', 'essence'. Satori is often used interchangeably with kensho, but refers to the experience of kensho.
Buddhahood
Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, is said to have achieved full enlightenment, known as perfect BuddhahoodBuddhahood
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
(Skt. samyaksambuddha). Buddhahood
Buddhahood
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
means the full abandonment
Four stages of enlightenment
The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat, which an average, instructed person can attain in this life...
of the ten fetters
Fetter (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond shackles a sentient being to sasāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna ....
. Attaining Buddhahood is the ultimate goal of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. In many Buddhist traditions, reaching full enlightenment is equivalent in meaning to reaching Nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
. It involves the process of cessation of dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
). An equivalent term for Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
is Tathāgata
Tathagata
Tathāgata in Pali and Sanskrit) is the name the Buddha of the scriptures uses when referring to himself. The term means, paradoxically, both one who has thus gone and one who has thus come . Hence, the Tathagata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena...
, 'the thus-gone'.
Path to Buddhahood
The way to BuddhahoodNoble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
is somewhat differently understood in the various buddhist tradition. Nevertheless, for all traditions the study of the sutras is essential, and gaining insight a prerequisite.
Theravada
Theravada-buddhismTheravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
follows the classical Noble Eightfold Path. Insight is to be gained in the three caracteristics of life, namely dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
, anatta
Anatta
In Buddhism, anattā or anātman refers to the notion of "not-self." In the early texts, the Buddha commonly uses the word in the context of teaching that all things perceived by the senses are not really "I" or "mine," and for this reason one should not cling to them.In the same vein, the Pali...
and anicca. From thise insight follows the practice of moral just behaviour and meditation, to gain full buddhahood. It distinguishes four stages of enlightenment
Four stages of enlightenment
The four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat, which an average, instructed person can attain in this life...
, in which the ten fetters
Fetter (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond shackles a sentient being to sasāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna ....
arge gradually abandoned.
In the Visuddhimagga
Visuddhimagga
The Visuddhimagga , is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka...
(Path to insight), written in approximately 430 CE, the Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
has summarized the various descriptions within the Pali canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
of the elements of the path to buddhahood.
Mahayana
MahayanaMahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
stresses prajna
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
and Karuṇā
Karuna
Karuā is generally translated as "compassion" or "pity". It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism.-Buddhism:...
, insight and compassion. It has developed a rich variety of teachings, including the use of mantras
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
(such as the Daimoku in Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...
) and devotion to Buddha ancestors.
Lamrim
In Tibetan buddhism the stages of the path are described in the Lamrin-textsLamrim
Lamrim is a Tibetan Buddhist textual form for presenting the stages in the complete path to enlightenment as taught by Buddha. In Tibetan Buddhist history there have been many different versions of lamrim, presented by different teachers of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Gelug schools...
. They are are elaborations of Atiśa
Atisha
Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana was a Buddhist teacher from the Pala Empire who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma lineages in Tibet after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma .- Birth :Atisha is most commonly said to have been...
's 11th Century root text A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment
Bodhipathapradipa
Bodhipathapradīpa is a Buddhist text composed in Sanskrit by the teacher Atisha and widely considered his magnum opus. The text reconciles the doctrines of many various Buddhist schools and philosophies, and is notable for the introduction of the three levels of spiritual aspiration: lesser,...
(Bodhipathapradīpa).
Sudden and gradual
In Zen-buddhismZen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
two main views on the way to enlightenment are discernable: sudden and gradual enlightenment. Early ch'an recognized the "transcendence of the body and mind", followed by "non-defilement [of] knowledge and perception"In the 8th-century the Ch'an-history was effectively re-fashioned by Shenhui, who placed Hui-neng into prominence and enphsized sudden enlightenment, as oppoesd to the concurrent northern School's gradual enlightenment. According to the sudden enlightenment propagated by Shenhui insight into true nature is sudden; there-after there can be no misunderstanding anymore about this true nature. This emphasis is also maintained by the contemporary Rinzai-school.
In opposition to this, the Soto-school enphasizes silent illumination and the practice of shikan-taza, just sitting. Chinul
Jinul
Chinul or Jinul was a Korean monk of the Goryeo period, who is considered to be the most influential figure in the formation of Korean Seon Buddhism....
, a 12th-century Koran Seon master, emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. This is also the standpoint of the contemporary Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...
, according to whom kensho is at the start of the path to full enlightenment..
This gradual cultivation is also recognized by Tozan, who described the Five ranks of enlightenment . Another example of depiction of stages on the path are the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures
Ten Bulls
Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures is, in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Mahāyāna Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment, as well as his or her subsequent perfection of wisdom...
which detail the steps on the Path.
Western understanding of awakening
In the western world the concept of enlightenment has begotten a romantic meaning. It has become synonymous with self-realizationSelf-realization
Self-realization is a self-awakening.Self-realization may also refer to:* Self-Realization Fellowship, worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda...
and the true self
True self and false self
True self and false self are terms introduced into psychoanalysis by D. W. Winnicott in 1960. Winnicott used the term "True Self" to describe a sense of self based on spontaneous, authentic experience, a sense of "all-out personal aliveness," or "feeling real."The "False Self" was, for Winnicott, a...
, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning.
Awakening as 'Aufklarung'
The use of the western word enlightenment is based on the supposed resemblance of bodhi with AufklärungAge of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, then independent use of reason to gain insight into the true nature of our world. As a matter of fact there are more resemblances with Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
than with the Enlightenment: the emphasis on feeling, on intuitive insight, on a rue essence beyond the world of appearences.
Romanticism and transcendentalisme
This romantic idea of enlightenment as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality has been popularized especially by D.T. Suzuki. Further popularization was due to the writings of Heinrich DumoulinHeinrich Dumoulin
Heinrich Dumoulin, S.J. was a Jesuit theologian, a widely published author on Zen Buddhism, and a professor of philosophy and history at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan...
. Dumoulin viewed metafysics as the expression of a transcendent truth, which according to hin was expressed by Mahayana buddhism, but not by the pragmatic analysis of the oldest buddhism, which emphasizes anatta
Anatta
In Buddhism, anattā or anātman refers to the notion of "not-self." In the early texts, the Buddha commonly uses the word in the context of teaching that all things perceived by the senses are not really "I" or "mine," and for this reason one should not cling to them.In the same vein, the Pali...
. This romantic vision is also recognizable in the works of Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber
Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about mysticism, philosophy, ecology, and developmental psychology. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory.-Biography:Ken Wilber was...
.
In the oldest buddhism this essentialisme is not recognizable. According to critics it doesn't really contribute to a real insight into buddhism:
"...most of them labour under the old cliché that the goal of Buddhist psychological analysis is to reveal the hidden mysteries in the human mind and thereby facilitate the development of a transcendental state of consciousness beyond the reach of linguistic expression.
Bodhi Day
Sakyamuni's Buddhahood is celebrated on Bodhi DayBodhi Day
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautauma experienced enlightenment, also known as Bodhi in Sanskrit or Pali...
. in Sri Lanka and Japan different days are being used for this celebration.
According to the Theravada-tradition in Sri Lanka Sakyamuni reached Buddhahood at the full moon in may. This is celebrated at Wesak Poya
Poya
Poya or Poya Day is the name given to a Buddhist public holiday in Sri Lanka which occurs every full moon day. The Full moon is important to Buddhists all around the world, who have adopted the Lunar Calendar for their religious observances...
, the full moon in may, as Sambuddhatva jayanthi
Sambuddhatva jayanthi
Sambuddhatva jayanthi is a religious festival in relation with the Wesak. In the Buddhist world it is celebrated in several Theravada countries including Sri Lanka, India and in Buddhist communities of other countries...
(also known as Sambuddha jayanthi).
According to the Zen-tradition the Buddha reached his decisive insight at 8 december. This is celebrated in Zen-monasteries with an very intensive eight-day sesshin, rohatsu.