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Someone once asked me, “What is Bodhi mind?”
And I explained that it is the aspiration towards enlightened awakening, which is the purest and most thorough understanding of the Truth.
Doctrine of the Mean, one of the Four Books of Confucian philosophy, mentioned that “to follow our innate nature is the Way”. Everyone has an innate nature that is pure and clean, and this nature is the Buddha nature, which is also the “Way”. Hence, Bodhi mind is the aspiration towards the Way, which is the pure, innate nature that we are all born with.
The ultimate goal of learning Buddhism is to awaken to and see our true, innate nature. Our “mind” and our “innate nature” are, in fact, the same thing. The Buddha has also taught us that the Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are in essence the same. There is no distinction between our minds, the Buddha’s mind and the minds of all sentient beings. However, sentient beings are still unenlightened and have mundane minds whereas the nature of the Buddha’s mind is pure and enlightened. As the Buddha’s mind is not tainted by external conditions, it remains pure and clear. Such a mind has an enlightened nature.
All sentient beings intrinsically possess a pure and bright enlightened nature as well. It is just that their minds have been covered with delusions and defilement due to external influences of the environment, and hence, their enlightened nature has turned mundane. A worldly and mundane mind will discriminate and compete against others, and seek material gain.
When the Buddha was still a prince, he already possessed transcendent wisdom. Thus, he was able to renounce material wealth and glory, and set foot on the difficult path of spiritual cultivation to explore the truth behind worldly sufferings and the journey of a spiritual cultivator. Eventually, he attained enlightenment and understood the truth meaning of life.
After becoming enlightened, the Buddha taught his disciples to practise the Bodhisattva Path. “Bodhisattva” is a Sanskrit word and Bodhisattvas refer to beings with “enlightened love”. In other words, the enlightened ones do not leave the human realm. They dedicate themselves with love to serving others and guiding the masses (towards enlightenment). Hence, this shows how important it is for us to return to our pure, innate nature (and uncover our enlightened love within).
Extracted from “Sheng Huo De Zhi Hui”《生活的智慧》
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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