linking, for instance, the sutra or paramitaaspects of
the path with the tantric stages, on the ground that all
stages manifest some aspect of bodhicitta.This is ar-
guably the most important function of bodhicittaas an
explanatory or apologetic category in path theory and
is highlighted in classic lam rimliterature (for a con-
temporary presentation, see Gyatso).
The thought as icon
The thought of awakening is also a pivotal concept in
Mahayana ethical speculation: In some ways bodhicitta
is shorthand for the instinct of empathy and the cul-
tivation of compassion as foundations for Buddhist
involvement with SAMSARA.It epitomizes important
dimensions of intentionality, as attitude toward others
and attitudes toward self, as well as intention as the di-
rection in which transformative behavior moves.
A term so laden with meanings almost fits naturally
as the core around which one could build further rit-
ual tropes, as one can see in relatively early tantras like
the Mahavairocana-sutra. The Guhyasamaja-tantra
devotes its second chapter to bodhicitta,describing it
as the solid core (sara, vajra) of the body, speech, and
mind of all the buddhas. Since this ultimate reality is,
not surprisingly, the emptiness of all things, the text
implicitly builds a bridge between the ethical and rit-
ual life of the practitioner’s body, speech, and mind,
and both the reality and its sacred embodiment in all
buddhas.
Bodhicittais also a force that empowers the practi-
tioner, and therefore plays an important role in some
tantric rites of initiation or CONSECRATION(abhiseka).
A common homology imagines bodhicittaas mascu-
line potency—UPAYAand the seed of awakening—and
prajñaas the feminine “lotus-vessel” that receives the
bodhicitta.Thus, bodhicittabecomes bindu(the “drop-
lets” of awakening) and hence the semen that stands
for the generative power of awakening. Because bo-
dhicittaas binduor semen represents the male potency
of awakened saints, it is not uncommon for a female
participant (a yoginlpresent symbolically or in person)
to be seen as vidyaor prajña, whereas bodhicittastands
for upaya.Classical Indian physiology assumed that fe-
males also have semen, hence the disciple receiving ini-
tiation ingested, symbolically or literally, the sexual
fluids of both the guru (male) and the yoginl(female)
as a way to give rise to the thought of awakening—
thus generated, as it were, from the union of mother
and father.
Summary interpretations
The above tapestry shows how the concept of bodhicitta
ties together liturgy, systematic theories of awakening
and the path, and the foundations of Buddhist ethics.
It is a concept as important for the history of Mahayana
ritual as those of the vow (pranidhana) and the dedi-
cation of merit (punyaparinamana). A social history of
the concept would include its function as a secure solid
ground outside social and sectarian differences: It is, as
it were, a thin, but steely thread that links the specifics
of ritual and theology with the idea of a timeless and
ineffable liberating reality. As a source of authority,
bodhicittais both an inner drive and an untainted re-
ality beyond individual differences.Theologically, bodhicittais, in part, a functional
equivalent to the family of concepts encompassed by
Hindu notions of prasadaand Western concepts of
grace: Bodhicittastands for the mystery of the presence
of the holy in an imperfect human being who is in need
of liberation and imagines it, despite the unlikelihood
of the presence of even the mere idea of perfection in
such an imperfect being.See also:Original Enlightenment (Hongaku)Bibliography
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