Tenzin Gyatso – the XIV Dalai Lama – was born to a peasant
family in a small village called Takster in northeastern Tibet in 1935.
Recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor, His
Holiness is the living manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who
chose to reincarnate to serve the people.
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightened being, one who
is on the path to becoming a Buddha. According to tradition, a bodhisattva must
journey through at least 10 “grounds” or “bhumis.” At the first ground, the
bodhisattva must travel five paths toward accumulation, preparation, insight,
meditation and practice.
After navigating the ten grounds, a bodhisattva
is said to achieve great joy in seeing the benefit for all sentient beings. The
bodhisattva is stainless, in the sense of being free from the stains of
immorality, and luminous -- the light of Dharma is said to radiate for others
from within. The emphasized perfection in this ground is patience.
A key ground: attainment of the ability to help
sentient beings achieve maturity while not becoming
emotionally involved when such beings respond negatively -- a difficult task.
The emphasized perfection in this ground is meditative concentration.
After the 10 bhumis, according to Buddhist tradition, one
attains complete enlightenment and becomes a Buddha. Yet it’s not enough for a
bodhisattva to upholed the precepts of Buddhism; there are times when they must
be broken. When that happens, it must be with the acknowledgement of whatever
consequences will follow.
So what is a bodhisattva? You could define one as a true
adult. That is, many people in the world act like children. Today, most people
who are called adults are only pseudo-adults. Physically, they grow up and
become adult but spiritually, too many people never mature to adulthood. They
don’t behave like adults in their daily lives.
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