Bodhisattva
When I first discovered Buddhism, I was still carrying a whole lot of baggage from my days as a Christian. Part of me believed that to be a good person, I had to save the world. (Follow in Jesus's footsteps...) This impulse validated me. I felt that taking on the responsability for the entire world's sufferings gave me a good excuse to be on this planet. It bolstered my rather eroded self-esteem.
I came across the 'Bodhisattva' concept. In my mind this was the Buddhist equivelant of Christ. A bohdisattva is someone who has attained enlightenment but chooses not to leave the cycle of life and death, rather to stay in this world for the sake of liberating others. I wrote a song expressing this ideal.
After my first (and so far only) satori experience, I began to revise these expectations of myself. In truth I cannot save a single soul, not even my own. This need to save myself and others is just another form of grasping, and a therefore a cause of suffering. I'm not saying that the dharma doesn't liberate, or that people in service to the dharma aren't doing the right thing. What I'm saying is that my attachment to the concept of being a Bohdisattva was just one more thing that I had to let go of in my continued growth into enlightenment.
I still enjoy the song though, it was recorded with a whole lot of feeling...
Bodhisattva
I would bleed for you
I’d live and breathe for you
And I would live a million lives on earth because you are here
And I would hold on to death and rebirth here beside you
I would bleed for you
I’d beg and plead for you
And I would look upon closed eyes and know that we all can see
And I would speak to deafened ears ‘cos somewhere you’re listening
I would bleed for you
I’m on my knees for you
And I would defy the known ways of humanity for you
And I would deny nothing, even when I’m found guilty
And I would…
I came across the 'Bodhisattva' concept. In my mind this was the Buddhist equivelant of Christ. A bohdisattva is someone who has attained enlightenment but chooses not to leave the cycle of life and death, rather to stay in this world for the sake of liberating others. I wrote a song expressing this ideal.
After my first (and so far only) satori experience, I began to revise these expectations of myself. In truth I cannot save a single soul, not even my own. This need to save myself and others is just another form of grasping, and a therefore a cause of suffering. I'm not saying that the dharma doesn't liberate, or that people in service to the dharma aren't doing the right thing. What I'm saying is that my attachment to the concept of being a Bohdisattva was just one more thing that I had to let go of in my continued growth into enlightenment.
I still enjoy the song though, it was recorded with a whole lot of feeling...
Bodhisattva
I would bleed for you
I’d live and breathe for you
And I would live a million lives on earth because you are here
And I would hold on to death and rebirth here beside you
I would bleed for you
I’d beg and plead for you
And I would look upon closed eyes and know that we all can see
And I would speak to deafened ears ‘cos somewhere you’re listening
I would bleed for you
I’m on my knees for you
And I would defy the known ways of humanity for you
And I would deny nothing, even when I’m found guilty
And I would…
posted by Gaelin at 6:33 PM
5 Comments:
I can really identify with what you said here in these three paragraphs.
"It bolstered my rather eroded self-esteem."
How could it? Suffering and 'taking on the responsibilities of the whole world' is too burdensome for anyone to do.
I think many of us suffer from this particular delusion... What a relief it was to finally put it down.
My friend Tom is going on a retreat dedicated to understanding "bodhichitta"...as he says in his reply to my post, "Shaking." Do you know, gaelin, if "bodhichitta" is different from "bohdisattva"? I am so ignorant of these things.
A bodhisattva desires the enlightenment of all beings, and this quality is called bodhichitta. It's often translated as compassion.
Here's a quote that explains it in some detail:
"Bodhichitta is the spirit, source and root of the spiritual path. In the words of Buddha Maitreya, bodhichitta is, “for the sake of others, longing to attain complete enlightenment.We take all sentient beings as the object of our practice, and make our attitude one of immeasurable love, compassion and joy for all beings, thereby making the result of our practice limitless too."
Very good! Thank you for explaining that!
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