(Ficus religiosa; J. bodaiju) The fig tree in Bodhgaya under which Siddharta Gautama sat and meditated until he had attained enlightenment. Literally “the tree of enlightenment,” the tree is commonly called the bo-tree or pipal tree. Early in Buddhist history, the bodhi tree became a popular pilgrimage site and the object of devotion by lay believers. Believers offered flowers, then bowed and walked clockwise around the tree. Cuttings from the bodhi tree were distributed widely by early Buddhist missionaries. A descendant of the original tree, planted by the daugh-ter of King Ashoka, still stands in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. Shashanka, a seventh-century Indian king devoted to the god Shiva, destroyed the original tree in Bodhgaya during a violent persecution of Buddhism. The tree that stands in Bodhgaya today descends from a cutting brought back from the tree in Sri Lanka.
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Bodhisattva Vows
Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent Before the Coming of the Muslims.
New York: Taplinger Publishing Co., 1968.
Bôkatsu
Literally, a stick and a shout. An expres-sion used to describe a particular style of Zen characterized by the use of sticks and shouts. This style of Zen practice dates back to the classical period of
Zen, during the T’ang dynasty in China (618–907). At that time, Zen masters introduced such devices as hitting dis-ciples with a stick (kyoshaku) or staff (shippei), or answering them with a loud shout (katsu). The purpose of these actions was to shock disciples out of the ordinary, analytical style of think-ing and push them toward an enlight-enment experience (satori). In particu-lar, Te-shan Hsuan-chien (782–685) and Huang-po Hsi-Yün (d. 850) were famous for their use of the stick, and Lin-chi I-hsüan (d. 867) perfected the use of the shout.
31 Bôkatsu
The Bodhi tree is the type of tree under which Siddharta Gautama, who became known as the Buddha, is believed to have gained enlightenment.
Bokuseki
“Ink trace,” a piece of calligraphy or an ink drawing executed by a Zen master.
Bokuseki are said to be expressions of the artist’s understanding of the Dharma. They are often mounted on brocade and hung as art.
Bonbai
To chant verses or hymns. The term usually refers to the highly melodic chanting of sacred texts accompanied by music, which monks perform in front of an image of the Buddha as a part of a ritual service. Bonbai is gener-ally performed in a stylized fashion, with the voice rising and falling. The chanting is alternatively known as shômyô. In the Zen school, there are a number of bonbai chanting styles, including Obaku bonbai. Obaku bon-bai, or Obaku shômyô, is unique in Japanese Zen because the monks chant the verses in an approximation of the
Fukien dialect of Chinese, the language used by the Obaku founders in the 17th century. See also Obaku sect.
Bongyô
Morally pure actions. Literally, the word means the acts of the god Brahma, one of the Hindu deities. Bongyô is the Japanese term that comes from the Sanskrit brahma-caryâ, which was first used in India in reference to the reli-gious practices of the Brahmin, or priestly class. It later came to mean reli-giously motivated action in keeping with religious precepts, especially chastity or sexual purity. In Buddhism, bongyô refers specifically to those actions which are conducive to attain-ing enlightenment. Most especially, in Mahayana Buddhism, it is used to con-vey the actions taken by a bodhisattva out of compassion to save other sentient beings.
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Bokuseki
Bokuseki is the calligraphy art of Zen masters.
Bonmôkyô
The Brahma Net Sutra, the Japanese title for the Brahmajala Sutra. The sutra presents ten major and forty-eight minor precepts, commonly known as the bodhisattva precepts, that govern the life and practice of a bodhisattva.
See Brahma Net Sutra.
Bonnô
Afflictions or delusions. A Japanese translation of the Sanskrit term klesha.
The term is commonly translated as passions, although the English word is not broad enough in its general usage to encompass the various types of delu-sions denoted by the original. Bonnô refers to any passion, attachment, working of the mind, or subsequent action that hinders the attainment of enlightenment. The afflictions cause suffering and traditionally are thought of as impurities. These impurities are eliminated by the practice of Buddhism. Nirvana can be understood as the extinction of all klesha.
The Buddhist tradition identifies six states of mind as the fundamental afflictions (konpon bonnô). These include greed, anger, ignorance, arro-gance, doubt, and false views. The first three are known collectively as the three poisons. A large number of minor afflictions, such as laziness, shameless-ness, and deceit, arise in conjunction with the basic forms.
Bonpu
An ordinary or foolish person. The expression is used to contrast an unen-lightened individual with an enlight-ened one. The Japanese characters may also be pronounced “bonbu.”
According to Zen teaching, the differ-ence between an ordinary or foolish person and an enlightened buddha is a shift in perception, since all sentient beings possess the Buddha Nature and are originally enlightened. In the Platform Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng (638–713) said, “If you cling
to your previous thoughts and are deluded, then you are ordinary. But if the next thought is enlightened, then you are a buddha.”
Bosatsu
Japanese for bodhisattva. See bod-hisattva.
Bosatsukai
Japanese for the bodhisattva precepts.
See bodhisattva precepts.