The Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva Path - Third Bhumi (3/10)

 

Eleventh-Faced Avalokiteshvara

In Buddhism, Bhumi, or stage. Every stage represents a level of attainment in that case and serves as the basis for the next one. Each level marks a definite advancement in one's training that is accompanied by progressively greater power and wisdom.

Stages, or Bhumi, is a Sanskrit word for "land" or "ground," and the list of ten Bhumis are ten "lands" a Bodhisattva must pass through on the way to Buddhahood. The Bhumis were important to early Mahayana Buddhism. A list of ten Bhumis appears in several Mahayana texts, although they are not always identical. The Bhumis are also associated with the perfections, or Paramitas.

The ten Bhumis literally mean the "grounds" or levels of Bodhisattvas in which the qualities of their training unfold. With the attainment of the tenth Bhumi, one arrives at and eventually reaches perfection at complete enlightenment.

Many schools of Buddhism describe some kind of path of development. Often, these are extensions of the Eightfold Path. Since this is a description of the progress of a Bodhisattva, much of the list below promotes the turning from concern for oneself to concern for others.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva is the ideal of practise. This is an enlightened being who vows to remain in the world until all other beings realise enlightenment.

Here is a standard list taken from the Dashabhumika-sutra, which is taken from the larger Avatamsaka, or Flower Garland Sutra.

In the Ten Bhumis of the Dasabhumika Sutra. It refers to the following ten Bhumis:

1. The stage of joy, in which one rejoices at realising a partial aspect of the truth. 
2. The stage of freedom from defilement, in which one is free from all defilement.
3. The stage of the emission of light, in which one radiates the light of wisdom.
   

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva / 南無地藏王菩薩

The stage of the emission of light, in which one radiates the light of wisdom.

The Third Bodhisattva Bhumi, the ‘Luminous’:A copper-coloured glow is seen due to the fact that Primordial Wisdom shines through the phenomena. Perceived. Gradually, streams of rainbow light can appear. Here Kshanti Paramita, ‘Patience, is perfected.

Bhumi      : 3rd Stages
Qualities/realisation  : The Bodhisattva can take birth as a ruler over the Heaven of Thirty-three, like Indra.

Perfecting the paramita of : Patience 

The light maker/the luminous (Prabhakari): Bodhisattvas on this level cultivate the perfection of patience. Trainees on the third level overcome all tendencies towards anger, and never react with hatred (or even annoyance) to any harmful acts or words. Rather, their equanimity remains constant, and all sentient beings are viewed with love and compassion. 

All anger and resentment rebound on the person who generates them, and they do nothing to eliminate harm that one has already experienced. They are counterproductive in that they destroy one’s peace of mind and lead to unfavourable future situations. 

There is nothing to be gained through anger and resentment, revenge does nothing to change the past, and so the bodhisattva avoids them. Moreover, one’s present suffering is only a result of one’s own past misdeeds; so one’s enemy is only an agent of the inevitable fruition of karma.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

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