of an idea, the aspiration to the good, and a rare and
valuable event. This event, in both its internal, psy-
chological form and its ritual, public form is called
“giving rise to the thought of awakening,” or, “caus-
ing the (first) appearance of a thought directed at
awakening” ([prathama]-bodhicittotpada). In its most
literal and concrete sense, this is the moment when a
bodhisattva encounters, or creates the conditions for,
the appearance of the earnest wish to attain awaken-
ing for the benefit of all sentient beings. In S ́antideva’s
explanation, the vow as expression of bodhicittais
closely associated with the adoption of the precepts of
the bodhisattva (bodhisattvasamvara), which are seen
as the means for preserving and cultivating the initial
resolution. This close link is recognized in many other
ritual plans; for instance, the repentance rites (wuhui,
“five ways to repent”) of the TIANTAI SCHOOLfollow
an ascending hierarchy that is somehow parallel to the
sevenfold act of worship but begins with confession
(canhui) and culminates with the resolution (fayuan)
to seek awakening for the sake of all living beings.
Indian Mahayana scholastic accounts assume for
the most part that a concerted and conscious effort to
cultivate the bodhicittaby setting out on the path
(called prasthanacitta) is necessary for awakening.
Nonetheless, the ritual expression of the vow (called
“the thought of the vow,” pranidhicitta), and the adop-
tion of the bodhisattva precepts (samvara) in the pres-
ence of a spiritual mentor (kalyanamitra), or before all
the buddhas of the universe, is sometimes seen as a
guarantee of eventual awakening. Some authors (no-
tably S ́antideva in his Bodhicaryavatara) conceive of
bodhicittaas a force so potent that it appears to be ex-
ternal to the person’s own will, effort, or attention. In
this conception, once a person has given rise to the res-
olution, the bodhicittais, as it were, awakening itself,
present, in manifest or latent form, in that person’s
mental processes.
Thought of awakening as awakened thought
We may speak of a historical process whereby the ab-
stract notion or the psychological reality of a resolu-
tion became an autonomous spiritual force. The
process is already suggested in Mahayana sutras that
glorify the bodhicitta as both the sine qua non of
Mahayana practice and the essence or substance of
awakening: It is a hidden treasure, like a panacea or
powerful medicinal herb (see, for example, the
“Maitreyavimoksa” chapter of the Gandavyuha-sutra).
What may have been a hyperbolic celebration of the
bodhicitta,however, soon took the form of a reifica-
tion or deification of this mental state or sequence of
mental states. The thought of awakening is present
even if one lacks all virtue, like a jewel hidden in a dung
heap; one who gives rise to the thought will be vener-
ated by gods and humans (Bodhicaryavatara). And, in
a metaphor chosen as the title for one of the fourteenth
Dalai Lama’s commentaries, the thought of awakening
is like a flash of lightning in the dark night of human
delusion. What is more, sutras and s ́astras alike agree
that the thought of awakening protects from all dan-
gers the person who conceives of it.Insofar as the bodhicittais also the starting point for
Mahayana practice proper, it is a precondition and a
basis for the virtues of a buddha (the buddhadharmas),
and hence, impels, as it were, all the positive faculties
and states generated in the path. The thought of awak-
ening hence manifests itself throughout the path, in all
stages of the bodhisattva’s development (Mahayana-
sutralamkara,chap. 4, following the Aksayamatinir-
des ́a). The First Bhavanakramaof Kamalas ́la states
that the foundation (mula) for these virtues, and for
the omniscience of a full buddha, is KARUNA(COM-
PASSION), but, referring to the Vairocanabhisambodhi,
adds that bodhicittais the generating and impelling
cause (hetu) of buddhahood.Furthermore, insofar as bodhicittais the mind of
awakening, it is a beginning that is an end in itself. To
paraphrase Kamalas ́la’s Second Bhavanakrama,there
are two types of bodhicitta,the conventional one of rit-
ual and process, and the absolute one that is both the
innate potency to become awakened and the mind that
has attained the ultimate goal, awakening itself. The
distinction between these two aspects or levels of bo-
dhicittais perhaps an attempt to account for the dif-
ference between the ritual and conventional enactment
of a resolution, the spirit of commitment, the magnetic
force of an ideal representation, and a sacred presence
(awakening itself). Psychologically the idea may reflect
a desire to understand how conviction and good in-
tent can exist next to lack of conviction and a desire
for what is not virtuous—in short how an ideal can be
both a clear and heartfelt conviction and a distant goal.The distinction between a provisional or conven-
tional thought of awakening (samvrtibodhicitta) and
one that is or embodies the ultimate goal (para-
marthabodhicitta) plays a central role in tantric con-
ceptions of the “physiology” and “psychology” of ritual
and meditation, in India and beyond. For it serves as
a link between ritual convention and timeless truth,
and between disparate branches of the tradition—BODHICITTA(THOUGHT OFAWAKENING)