Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
126Extract 2: A.L.Basham, ‘The Bodhisattva’ (1969)
Taken from: The Buddhist Tradition in India, China and Japan, edit ed by William
De Bary, (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2011), Chapter 3 The Bodhisattva,
pp.81-109.
The Bodhisattva
The essential difference between Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhism is in the
doc trine of the bodhisattva, who, in Mahāyāna, becomes a divine savior and whose
example the believer is urged to follow. It must be remembered that all good
Buddhists, from the Mahāyāna point of view, are bodhisat t vas in the making, and
the many desc riptions of bodhisattvas in Mahāyāna texts provide ideals for the
guidanc e of monk and layman alike. One of t he c hief qualit ies of t he bodhisat t va is
his immense compassion for the world of mortals.
The bodhisattva is endowed wit h wisdom of a kind whereby he looks on all beings
as though vic tims going to the slaughter. And immense c ompassion grips him. His
divine eye sees...innumerable beings, and he is filled with great distress at what he
sees, for many bear the burden of past deeds whic h will be punished in purgatory,
others will have unfortunate rebirths whic h will divide them from the Buddha and
his teac hings, others must soon be slain, ot hers are c aught in the net of false
doc trine, others c annot find the path [of salvation], while others have gained a
favourable rebirt h only t o lose it again.
So he pours out his love and c ompassion upon all those beings, and attend to
them, thinking, “I shall bec ome the savior of all beings, and set them free from
t heir suffering” [From Ast asāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, 22.402-3].
The Mahāyāna Ideal Is Higher Than That of the Theravāda
Mahāyāna teachers claimed that the ideal of the Theravādins – c omplet e loss
of personalit y as perfec t ed beings in Nirvana – was fundamentally selfish and
t rivial. The truly perfec ted being should devote all his powers to saving suffering
mort als. T he following passage eluc idat es t his point. It purport s t o be a dialogue
between the Buddha and one of his c hief disc iples, Shāriput ra (Pali Sāriputta).
“What do you think Shāriput ra? Do any of t he disc iples^1 and private
buddhas^2 ever t hink, ‘Aft er we have gained full enlight enment we will bring
innumerab le beings... t o c omplet e Nirvāna’?”
“Cert ainly not , Lord!”(^1) Śrāvaka, literally “hearer”, a term often applied by Mahāyāna w riters especially to
adherents of Theravāda.
(^2) Prateyeka-buddha, one who was achieved full enlightenment through his own insight, but
does not communicate his saving knowledge to others.