Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c8.s10.1

c8.s10.1

A Bodhisattva after completing the seven bhūmis and purifying the mārga by means of knowledge and expedients, collecting merits, forming the great resolutions (mahāpraṇidhānas), establishing himself in the four adhiṣṭhānas (viz., satya, tyāga, upaśama and prajñā), and so forth, he comprehends that all things are without origin, growth, sign, decay, change and are by nature non-existent, and that their beginning, middle and end are all the same; in short, he comprehends the tathatā (thatness) of all things.² He goes beyond the thought-constructions due to citta and manovijñāna and knows that all dharmas are same like ākāśa and thus he establishes himself in the anutpattikadharmakṣānti (the faith that things have no origination)³. As soon as he acquires kṣānti he is established in the eighth bhūmi (Acalā⁴) and is above all enjoyments. He is possessed of dharmas which are spontaneous (anābhoga), and hence, has no anxiety for matters relating to kāya, vāk and citta, is free from all thought-constructions produced by the movements of thought and is established in the vipāka-dharmas (completion). He does not, in fact, practise the rules of conduct (samudācāras) of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas.