Insight Bodhi While the Buddhist tradition regards
bodhi as referring to full and complete liberation (
samyaksambudh), it also has the more modest meaning of knowing that the path that is being followed leads to the desired goal. According to
Johannes Bronkhorst, Tillman Vetter, and K.R. Norman,
bodhi was at first not specified. K.R. Norman: According to Norman,
bodhi may basically have meant the knowledge that
nibbana was attained, due to the practice of
dhyana. Originally only "prajna" may have been mentioned, and Tillman Vetter even concludes that originally dhyana itself was deemed liberating, with the stilling of pleasure or pain in the fourth jhana, not the gaining of some perfect wisdom or insight. Gombrich also argues that the emphasis on insight is a later development. In
Theravada Buddhism,
bodhi refers to the realisation of the
four stages of enlightenment and becoming an
Arahant. In Theravada Buddhism,
bodhi is equal to supreme insight, and the realisation of the four noble truths, which leads to deliverance. According to Nyanatiloka, This equation of
bodhi with the four noble truths is a later development, in response to developments within Indian religious thought, where "liberating insight" was deemed essential for
Liberation. The four noble truths as the liberating insight of the Buddha eventually were superseded by
Pratītyasamutpāda, the twelvefold chain of causation, and still later by anatta, the emptiness of the self. In
Mahayana Buddhism,
bodhi is equal to
prajna, insight into the
Buddha-nature,
sunyata and
tathatā. This is equal to the realisation of the non-duality of
absolute and relative.
Prajna In Theravada Buddhism
pannā (Pali) means "understanding", "wisdom", "insight". "Insight" is equivalent to
vipassana, insight into the three marks of existence, namely
anicca,
dukkha and
anatta. Insight leads to the four stages of enlightenment and Nirvana. In Mahayana Buddhism Prajna (Sanskrit) means "insight" or "wisdom", and entails insight into
sunyata. The attainment of this insight is often seen as the attainment of "enlightenment".
Wu, kensho and satori Wu is the Chinese term for initial insight.
Kensho and
satori are Japanese terms used in
Zen traditions.
Kensho means "seeing into one's true nature".
Ken means "seeing",
sho means "nature", "essence", c.q Buddha-nature.
Satori (Japanese) is often used interchangeably with kensho, but refers to the
experience of kensho. The
Rinzai tradition sees
kensho as essential to the attainment of
Buddhahood, but considers
further practice essential to attain Buddhahood. East-Asian (Chinese) Buddhism emphasizes insight into Buddha-nature. This term is derived from Indian tathagata-garbha thought, "the womb of the thus-gone" (the Buddha), the inherent potential of every sentient being to become a
Buddha. This idea was integrated with the Yogacara-idea of the
ālaya vijñāna, and further developed in
Chinese Buddhism, which integrated
Indian Buddhism with native Chinese thought. Buddha-nature came to mean both the potential of awakening
and the whole of reality, a dynamic interpenetration of absolute and relative. In this awakening it is realized that observer and observed are not distinct entities, but mutually co-dependent.
Knowledge The term
vidhya is being used in contrast to
avidhya, ignorance or the lack of knowledge, which binds us to
samsara. The
Mahasaccaka Sutta describes the three knowledges which the Buddha attained: • Insight into his past lives • Insight into the workings of
karma and
reincarnation • Insight into the
Four Noble Truths According to Bronkhorst, the first two knowledges are later additions, while insight into the four truths represents a later development, in response to concurring religious traditions, in which "liberating insight" came to be stressed over the practice of
dhyana.
Freedom Vimukthi, also called
moksha, means "freedom", "release", "deliverance". Sometimes a distinction is being made between
ceto-vimukthi, "liberation of the mind", and
panna-vimukthi, "liberation by understanding". The Buddhist tradition recognises two kinds of
ceto-vimukthi, one temporarily and one permanent, the last being equivalent to
panna-vimukthi.
Yogacara uses the term
āśraya parāvŗtti, "revolution of the basis",
Nirvana Nirvana is the "blowing out" of disturbing emotions, which is the same as liberation. The usage of the term "enlightenment" to translate "nirvana" was popularized in the 19th century, in part, due to the efforts of Max Müller, who used the term consistently in his translations. == Buddha's awakening ==