Ten Bodhisattva Levels

Ten Bodhisattva Levels (sa bcu)

• The Sanskrit term bhūmi literally means earth, soil, land, ground, or level. Within the Buddhist context, it may denote either the ten causal levels traversed by bodhisattvas or the additional six resultant levels traversed by buddhas. For an enumeration of the latter, see under buddha levels. Mahāyāna literature speaks of ten progressive levels (daśabhūmi) of realisation through which individual bodhisattvas pass as they journey towards full enlightenment. These are, in their proper sequence: 1) Joyful (pramuditā), 2) Immaculate (vimalā), 3) Illuminating (prabhākarī), 4) Radiant (arciṣmatī), 5) Difficult to Overcome (sudurjayā), 6) Manifest (abhimukhī), 7) Far-reaching (duraṅgamā), 8) Unmoving (acalā), 9) Excellent Intelligence (sādhumatī), and 10) Clouds of Sacred Doctrine (dharmameghā). In the context of the five bodhisattva paths, these ten levels start from the third path, i.e. the path of insight, commencing with the initial experience of a direct realisation of emptiness. The Sūtra of the Ten Bodhisattva Levels (Daśabhūmikasūtra), which is a section of the Sūtra of the Great Bounteousness of the Buddhas (Avataṃsakasūtra), is the basis for subsequent commentarial discussions of the ten levels, such as Nāgārjuna's Jewel Garland (Ratnāvalī), Candrakīrti's Introduction to Madhyamaka (Madhyamakāvatāra), and Asaṅga's Bodhisattva Levels (Bodhisattvabhūmi). GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)