The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (415 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
4.47Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Bodhi
(Skt., P
li, ‘awakened’). In Hinduism, perfect knowledge, personified as Bodha, a son of Buddhi (intellect).
In Buddhism, it is the experience of enlightenment, which, unlike
nirv
na
, can be given an approximate description: it is the attainment of perfect clarity of mind in which things are seen as they really are—as in the experience of Gaut
ma under the tree (hence called Bodhi or
Bo
tree) through which he became the Buddha. Cf.
BODAI
.
In later Buddhism, the bodhis are the four stages of the
rya-m
rga
.
In
Mah
y
na
, bodhi is wisdom based on insight into the undifferentiated sameness of all appearance.
Bodhicary
vat
ra
(Entering upon the Practice of Awakening). A practical work by
antideva on the Buddhist six perfections (
p
ramit
), which include, as the fifth, jh
na (meditation). Of
antideva, nothing certain is known, apart from the fact that he was the supposed author of an analytic work,
iksh
samuccaya. Bodhicary
vat
ra
is a much revered and used work.

Other books

Grounded by Constance Sharper
The Beast by Alianne Donnelly
Selected Stories by Henry Lawson
Cricket by Anna Martin
Return to Eden by Kaitlyn O'Connor
The Perfect Mother by Nina Darnton
Racehorse by Bonnie Bryant
July's People by Nadine Gordimer
For Lovers Only by Alex Hairston
Sin historial by Lissa D'Angelo