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The Aura of Wisdom
- Book 154: The Aura of Wisdom
- Chapter 26: Mahabodhicitta, the Mind of Perfect Enlightenment
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Victor Hazen, Dance Smith)
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We are aware that the path of cultivation can take the Hinayana or Mahayana path. The fruition of Hinayana can be classified as the Sravaka bodhi (hearer) and Pratyekabuddha bodhi (solitary realizer). The fruition of Mahayana is Supreme Bodhi, the highest Perfect Enlightenment attained upon the fruition of buddhahood.
Actually, the arousal of Mahabodhicitta is simply the arousal of Unexcelled Perfect Enlightenment.
Mahabodhicitta is the mind required to actualize the bodhisattva way: liberating all sentient beings dwelling in the four forms of birth, the six realms of transmigration and the nine states of reality so that they may enter into Nirvana. This mind is infinite and endless, hence it is termed Mahabodhicitta.
I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, vow to liberate sentient beings in the Saha world in all of my lifetimes, and in so doing I am willing to sacrifice myself completely. If the hells are not empty, I shall not attain buddhahood. This vow making is essentially Mahabodhicitta. Having made vows, one must put them into practice.
If someone vows to establish the world`s largest religious community, build the world`s largest monastery, and form the world`s largest charitable organization, such an arousing of bodhicitta is quite great. But it pales in comparison to the act of liberating beings from the four forms of birth (oviparous, as with birds; viviparous, as with mammals; moisture or water-born, as with worms and fish; and metamorphic, as with moths from chrysalises) and the six realms (deva, human, asura, hell, hungry ghost, and animal) through multiple lifetimes.
The True Buddha practitioner must arouse the mind of Great Perfect Enlightenment in his or her cultivation and actions. One must remember that we are not doing this for ourselves, but for the sake of sentient beings, for they always come first. As for us, we come last. Only then can we reduce the entanglement of karma and attain enlightenment within this lifetime.
On the other hand, the attachment to my temple, my territory, my fame, and my fortune is anything but Mahabodhicitta. Mahabodhicitta means putting sentient beings before oneself, and certainly not thinking about oneself! So if it isn`t Mahabodhicitta, what state of mind is it? The answer is simple: It is a selfish state of mind.
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