The History of Buddhist Thought c24.29

c24.29

The general career of the bodhisattva is given in the *Caryāmārgabhūmisūtra*.¹ “A bodhisattva who practises the career progresses gradually and little by little till the moment when he arrives at supreme wisdom. By means of the six Perfections he discerns the practice of the Void. After having accumulated merits during innumerable cycles he acquires the career of a Buddha. Like a young soldier who advances, at first he is poor, but gradually he obtains great riches. By making efforts he is promoted to the grade of lieutenant; finally he becomes general. By degrees he is raised to the dignity of governor of a province, receiving 360,000 measures of rice as revenue. Successively he becomes minister of second rank, of first rank, universal monarch, king of the gods. Thus he who practises the stages of the career of the bodhisattvas produces the thought of enlightenment, fulfils (the Perfections of) almsgiving, morality, patience, heroism, meditation, and wisdom in succession. He vanquishes the six movements of the heart (contentment, anger, sadness, joy, love, hatred), rejects the three poisons (passions, hatred, stupidity) and the cover of the skandhas. He turns to the three modes of release, arrives at the condition of not turning back, and approaches the state of being bound to existence by only one birth. As in polishing a mirror the iron is washed, cleaned, and smoothed, so that it is thinned and at last reflects images, so the bodhisattva practises the six Perfections, and accumulates merits until the moment when he becomes a Buddha and saves the world. He cares for all beings as if they were his children. His gradual exercise of the career is like the waxing of the moon, the growth of plants, or the building of a house followed by the feast of inauguration.”