The Buddhism of the Nikayas and Agamas, the
source texts of basic Buddhism, recognizes only two bodhisattvas,
Siddhartha Gautama before he attained buddhahood and Maitreya
Bodhisattva who resides in the Tushita Heaven until it is his
time to appear as the next Buddha in this world. The Nikayas and
Agamas do accept the possibility that there might be
other bodhisattvas, but none are named.
The Mahayana sutras, however, make the bodhisattva the
primary ideal of Buddhist practice, and many bodhisattvas appear
as models of that ideal and as celestial saviors who can assist
others on their own journeys to buddhahood. Many of these
celestial bodhisattvas are near equals to the Buddha in wisdom
and in their power to help others. The celestial bodhisattvas are
often portrayed as the attendants of the buddhas who reside in
the various pure lands throughout the universe. A great many of
these bodhisattvas appear in the Lotus Sutra, most
notably: Manjushri (Beautiful-Lord) Bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara
(World-Voice-Perceiver) Bodhisattva, Bhaishajyaraja
(Medicine-King) Bodhisattva, Maitreya (Loving-One) Bodhisattva,
and Samantabhadra (Universal-Good) Bodhisattva. These
bodhisattvas are well known figures in Mahayana Buddhism and
appear in many other sutras.
In the Lotus Sutra, these bodhisattvas come from
ideal worlds to hear the Dharma and they volunteer to teach the Lotus
Sutra in this world after the Buddha's extinction. These
bodhisattvas represent those who cultivate the six perfections over many lifetimes in order to attain buddhahood. They also
assume that Shakyamuni Buddha only attained enlightenment within
his current lifetime, and that his current buddhahood was the
culmination of may eons of spiritual cultivation. The events of
the Lotus Sutra challenge their view that buddhahood is
attained through the gradual cultivation of the six perfections.
Chapter 12 provides the example of the Dragon King's Daughter who
attains enlightenment in an instant, while chapter 16 reveals
that the Buddha actually attained enlightenment in the remote
past and that his gradual cultivation of wisdom and merit in
his present and past lives was itself an expedient means. In
chapters 13 - 15, these bodhisattvas request that they be allowed
to spread the Lotus Sutra after the Buddha's extinction, but the
Buddha summons the Bodhisattvas of the Earth instead in chapter 15. In chapter 21, he gives the Bodhisattvas of the Earth the
specific transmission and primary responsibility to spread the Lotus
Sutra. Only in chapter 22 does Shakyamuni Buddha finally
give the provisional bodhisattva a general transmission of the Lotus
Sutra. According to Nichiren Shonin, the general
transmission meant that the provisional bodhisattvas would spread
the Lotus Sutra during the Former and Middle Ages of the
Dharma, while the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who received the
specific transmission would take over in the Latter Age of the
Dharma. The provisional bodhisattvas are not granted the most
difficult and crucial mission of spreading the Lotus Sutra
in the Latter Age because they represent the theoretical teaching
of the Lotus Sutra. The theoretical teaching of the
first half of the Lotus Sutra teaches that all sentient
beings have the potential to attain buddhahood through the
gradual practice of the six perfections. This is the teaching
that is to be spread during the Former and Middle Ages of the
Dharma when there are still people who can cultivate themselves
in this way. The Bodhisattvas of the Earth, however, represent
the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The essential
teaching shows that buddhahood is immediate, primordial, without
beginning or end, and ever present in the lives of those who have
faith in the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha. This is the teaching
which must be spread during the Latter Age when no other teaching
is radical enough to shake beings out of their complacency,
obstinance, and spiritual blindness. Only the Bodhisattvas of the
Earth, the original disciples of the Original Shakyamuni Buddha,
are able to teach the essential teaching at such a time. Even
then, however, the provisional bodhisattvas are still present and
able to protect and assist the Bodhisattvas of the Earth in
accomplishing their mission.
Namu Yakuo Bosatsu
Bhaishajyaraja Bodhisattva ~ Medicine King
This bodhisattva represents the healing power of the Buddha.
He and his brother Yakujo Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Bhaishajyasamudgata
- Medicine Superior) figure prominently in the Lotus Sutra.
A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts relates the
following story about them:
"According to the Yakuo Yakujo Sutra (Sutra
of Bodhisattvas Yakuo and Yakujo), in the remote past in
the Middle Day of the Law of a Buddha called Rurikosho (Lapis
Lazuli Brightness), Bodhisattva Yakuo was a rich man named
Seishukuko (Constellation Light). He heard the Mahayana
teachings from a monk called Nichizo (Sun Repository).
Rejoicing, he presented beneficial medicines as an offering
to Nichizo and other people, and vowed that all those who
heard his name would be cured of illness. Seishukuko had a
younger brother called Raikomyo (Lightning Glow), who also
offered beneficial medicines to Nichizo and other people.
These people praised the two brothers, calling the elder
brother Yakuo (Medicine King) and the younger brother Yakujo
(Superior Medicine). Seishukuko and Raikomyo, the sutra says,
were reborn respectively as the Bodhisattvas Yakuo and
Yakujo, and will in the future attain enlightenment as
Buddhas called Jogen (Pure Eye) and Jozo (Pure Treasury), respectively." (p.508)
In the Lotus Sutra, Medicine-King Bodhisattva is
mentioned by name among the bodhisattvas assembled in the first
chapter. Chapter 10, "The Teacher of the Dharma," is
addressed to Medicine-King Bodhisattva by Shakyamuni Buddha. In
chapter 13, "Encouragement for Keeping the Sutra," he
and Great Eloquence Bodhisattva along with their 20,000
attendants vow to the Buddha to expound the Lotus Sutra
after his passing. Chapter 23, "The Previous Life of
Medicine-King Bodhisattva," describes his past life as
Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva who sets his own body on
fire for 1,200 years as an offering to
Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha who had taught him the Lotus
Sutra. In his very next life, he again became a disciple of
Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha. After that Buddha passed away
he made 84,000 stupas to enshrine the relics and then set his
arms on fire for 72,000 years as an offering to the stupas. In
the end he miraculously restored his arms by the power of his
merits, virtues, and wisdom. In this story, the bodhisattva's
offering of his body and arms is a metaphorical way of showing
the bodhisattva's willingness to offer all of his deeds (his
arms) and even his very life (his body) for the sake of the
Buddha. In chapter 26, "Dharanis," Medicine-King
Bodhisattva offers dharani-spells for the protection of the
teachers of the Lotus Sutra. Another past life story of
Medicine-King Bodhisattva is given in chapter 27, "King
Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva."
In the time of Cloud Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha,
Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Superior-Medicine Bodhisattva were
the sons of King Wonderful-Adornment, named Pure-Store and
Pure-Eyes respectively. The Buddha was preaching the Lotus
Sutra, and the two sons asked their mother, Queen
Pure-Virtue, to come with them to make offerings to the Buddha.
Their mother, however, asked them to first receive permission
from King Wonderful-Adornment who was attached to the teachings
of the brahmanas (the Vedic priests). The two sons then performed
various miracles for their father who was so impressed that he
took faith in the Dharma. He not only gave them permission but
also accompanied them and together they all became disciples of
the Buddha. King Wonderful-Adornment then praised his two sons,
declaring that they were his teachers who had done the work of
the Buddha by causing him to convert.
Medicine King Bodhisattva and Superior-Medicine Bodhisattva
are sometimes depicted as the attendants of Amoghasiddhi
Tathagata. Medicine-King Bodhisattva in that case is considered
one of the forms of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.
The Great Master Chih-i, was considered to be an appearance
of Medicine-King Bodhisattva because he attained enlightenment
upon reading the Medicine-King chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
Icon: Bodhisattva standing or sitting on a lotus flower and
holding a willow branch in his right hand while left hand is closed.
Namu Monjushiri Bosatsu
Manjushri Bodhisattva ~ Beautiful-Lord
This bodhisattva represents the wisdom of the Buddha and is
especially associated with the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras which
he is often shown carrying along with a sword which cuts through
delusions. A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts
relates the following information about him:
"He is revered as the chief of the bodhisattvas.
With Fugen, he is depicted as one of the two bodhisattvas who
attend Shakyamuni Buddha. Monjushiri is generally shown at
the Buddha's left, riding a lion, and represents the virtues
of wisdom and enlightenment. In contrast, Shakyamuni's
right-hand attendant, Bodhisattva Fugen, represents the
virtues of truth and practice. According to the Monjushiri
Hatsunehan Sutra (Sutra of the Nirvana of Monjushiri),
Monjushiri was born to a Brahman family in Shravasti and
joined the Buddhist Order, converting a great number of people." (p.267)
Taigen Daniel Leighton says of him:
"Manjushri is the bodhisattva of wisdom and insight,
penetrating into the fundamental emptiness, universal
sameness, and true nature of all things. Manjushri, whose
name means "noble, gentle one," sees into the
essence of each phenomenal event. This essential nature is
that not a thing has any fixed existence separate in itself,
independent from the whole world around it. The work of
wisdom is to see through the illusory self-other dichotomy,
our imagined estrangement from our world. Studying the self
in this light, Manjushri's flashing awareness realizes the
deeper, vast quality of self, liberated from all our commonly
unquestioned, fabricated characteristics.
"With his relentless commitment to uncovering
ultimate reality, Manjushri embodies the paramita of prajna,
the perfection of wisdom, both as a practice and as the body
of sutras so named. Although Manjushri is especially
associated with emptiness teaching and the Madhyamika branch
of Mahayana teaching, he is not present in the earliest of
the Prajnaparamita sutras. However, Manjushri is one
of the most prominent bodhisattvas in all of the Mahayana
sutras, and is sometimes considered to be based on a
historical person associated with Shakyamuni Buddha. One of
the earliest bodhisattvas, Manjushri was popular in India by
the fourth century, if not earlier, and was included in the
first depictions of a bodhisattva pantheon in the fifth and
sixth centuries. Images of Manjushri appeared in Japan by the
early eighth century." (Bodhisattva Archetypes, p. 93)
Manjushri Bodhisattva appears in many Mahayana sutras such as
the Vimalakirti Sutra and the Flower Ornament Sutra,
and many others. He is considered to be a near-equal to the
Buddha. At times, he is even said to have already realized
buddhahood, but he is still voluntarily acting in the capacity of
a bodhisattva. Some sutras even call him the teacher of all the
Buddhas, which is the role he takes in the Lotus Sutra
where he answers the questions of the future buddha Maitreya. In Mahayana
Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, Paul Williams
summarizes the teachings about Manjushri Bodhisattva that appear in these sutras.
"Manjushri has now attained the tenth stage of a
Bodhisattva. He is asked why he does not proceed staightway
to full Buddhahood. The reply is that in fully understanding
emptiness and acting accordingly there is nothing more to do.
He has let go of the notion of full Buddhahood. He no longer
seeks enlightenment; indeed, in the light of emptiness he
cannot attain enlightenment. In saying this, of course,
Manjusri indicates that he is already fully enlightened."(p.239)
In the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra,
"Introductory," Manjushri Bodhisattva answers Maitreya
Bodhisattva's questions about the ray of light emitted by
Shakyamuni Buddha. Manjushri Bodhisattva revealed that in a past
life, when he was known as Wonderful Light Bodhisattva, he had
witnessed Sun-Moon-Light Buddha also produce a ray of light just
before teaching the Lotus Sutra, so he surmised that
Shakyamuni Buddha was also about to teach the Lotus Sutra.
Manjushri Bodhisattva reappears in the middle of chapter 12,
"Devadatta," from the palace of the Dragon-King Sagara
in the ocean where he had been teaching the Lotus Sutra.
He then introduces all the innumerable bodhisattvas that he had
taught, including the eight year old daughter of the dragon king.
The dragon king's daughter then proceeds to demonstrate the
instant attainment of buddhahood. In chapter 14, "Peaceful
Practices," it is Manjushri Bodhisattva who asks the Buddha
how ordinary bodhisattvas should expound the Lotus Sutra
in the evil world after his passing. Finally, in chapter 24,
"Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva," it is Manjushri
Bodhisattva who asks about the jeweled lotus flowers which float
down from the sky to herald the appearance of Wonderful-Voice
Bodhisattva, and it is he who asks the Buddha about that
bodhisattva and asks to see him. Based on a passage in the
Chinese translation of the Flower Garland Sutra,
Manjushri Bodhisattva is believed to have his earthly home on Mt. Wu-t'ai in China.
Icon: A 16 year old youth riding a lion. He holds a sword in
his right hand and a blue lotus flower in his left. He wears a five pointed crown.
Namu Fugen Bosatsu
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva ~ Universal-Good
This bodhisattva represents all of the vows and good causes
made by the Buddha. An excellent description of the role of
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is given by Taigen Daniel Leighton in
his book Bodhisattva Archetypes:
"Samantabhadra is the bodhisattva of enlightening
activity in the world, representing the shining function of
wisdom. Samantabhadra also embodies the luminous web of the
interconnectedness of all beings, and radiant visions that express it...
"Samantabhadra and Manjushri are often paired
together as attendants on either side of Shakyamuni Buddha,
with Manjushri on his lion representing the essence of
wisdom, and Samantabhadra, mounted on an elephant,
representing the application of wisdom actively benefiting the world.
"The primary scriptural source for Samantabhadra is
the Flower Ornament (Avatamsaka) Sutra, for which he
is the principle bodhisattva. Thus he represents the
elaborate teachings on the array of practical activities of
bodhisattvas, both of this sutra and of the profound Chinese
Huayan School which developed from it. (Avatamsaka
is Huayan in Chinese, Kegon in Japanese.)
The diversity of beneficial expressions of bodhisattvas in
the world, and spectacular visions of the interconnectedness
of the ecosystems of the entire universe, are Samantabhadra's
province. He is featured as well in the last chapter of the
Lotus Sutra as a protector of that sutra and its devotees." (p.121)
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is particularly well known in East
Asia for his ten great vows which appear in chapter 40 of the Flower
Ornament Sutra. The following explanation of Samantabhadra
Bodhisattva and enumeration of his ten vows is given by Francis H. Cook:
"Samantabhadra is the Bodhisattva who symbolizes the
practices of the Bodhisattva. His vows and practices
exemplify the ideal course of conduct in the aspiring
Buddhist in those phases of activity which are conceived as
causes for the ensuing enlightenment-result. This course of
conduct is exemplified by the activities of the youth Sudhana
in the final chapters of the Avatamsaka Sutra. The
result is the knowledge of, and the merging into, the
universe of identity and interdependence, which is the
experience of the perfectly enlightened Buddhas.
Samantabhadra occupies a very important place in the sutra,
since that work is primarily concerned with these causal
practices. The vows of Samantabhadra, which must be sincerely
duplicated by each aspirant, who really is Samantabhadra, are
as follows:
1. Honor all Buddhas.
2. Praise the Tathagatas.
3. Make offerings to all Buddhas.
4. Confess all past transgressions of the Law.
5. Rejoice in the virtues and happiness of others (mudita).
6. Request the Buddha to teach the Dharma.
7. Request the Buddha to dwell in the world.
8. Follow the Dharma.
9. Always to benefit other beings.
10. Turn over one's own accumulated merit to others (parinamana)."
(Hua-Yen Buddhism, p.78)
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva appears in chapter 28 of the Lotus
Sutra. He comes from a world far to the east in order to
hear and receive the Lotus Sutra. He promises to protect
and support those who keep the Lotus Sutra in the latter
days after the passing of the Buddha. He then provides dharani
spells for the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. He even
declares that the ability to keep the Lotus Sutra is
made possible through the aid of his supernatural powers. He goes
on to say that those who keep the sutra, read and recite it,
memorize it, understand it, and act according to it are doing the
same practice as he does. Nevertheless, the Buddha tells
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva that he should greet a keeper of the Lotus
Sutra in the same way that he would greet the Buddha
himself. The Sutra of Meditation on Samantabhadra Bodhisattva,
which is the last part of the Threefold Lotus Sutra,
elaborates on the promise of Samantabhadra in chapter 28 to
appear on his six-tusked white elephant to those who practice
repentance and recite the Lotus Sutra. In the Sutra
on Meditation it is explained how the practitioner can
visualize Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and eventually the entire
Ceremony in the Air.
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is believed by many Chinese
Buddhists to reside on Mt. Omei in western China.
Icon: A 16 year old youth riding an elephant. Hands in
gassho. He wears a five pointed crown.
Namu Miroku Bosatsu
Maitreya Bodhisattva ~ Loving-One
Maitreya Bodhisattva is the future buddha of this world who
currently resides in the Tushita Heaven. A Dictionary of
Buddhist Terms and Concepts relates the following information about him:
"A bodhisattva predicted to succeed Shakyamuni as a
future Buddha. Also called Ajita, meaning 'invincible.' Some
accounts view him as a historical personage who preceded the
Buddha in death. He is said to have been reborn in the
Tushita Heaven where he is now expounding the Law to the
heavenly beings there. It is said that he will reappear in
this world 5.670 million years after Shakyamuni's death,
attain Buddhahood, and save the people in Shakyamuni's stead.
For this reason he is also sometimes called Miroku Buddha.
Belief in Miroku prevailed in India around the beginning of
the first century A.D., and spread to China and Japan. In the
fourth century, a monk named Maitreya (c. 270-350) became
famous as a scholar of the Consciousness-Only school, and was
later identified with this bodhisattva." (pp. 266-7)
Maitreya Bodhisattva is the only bodhisattva who is revered
by both Theravadin and Mahayana Buddhists (aside from Siddhartha Gautama and his past lives as a bodhisattva). His coming is
predicted in the Pali Canon as well as in the Mahayana Sutras.
In addition to the legendary fourth century teacher of the
same name, Maitreya Bodhisattva has had many other appearances in
history. The most famous is of the jovial monk whose statue is
often mistaken as that of the Buddha. Taigen Daniel Leighton
relates the following about this well-known but misunderstood figure:
"In China Maitreya is nearly synonymous with his
supposed incarnation as the historical tenth-century Chinese
Zen monk Budai, whose Japanese name, Hotei, may be more
familiar in the West. Chinese images of Budai, or Hotei, are
frequently labeled simply 'Maitreya' (Milo in
Chinese) such that in popular Chinese awareness they are
virtually identical. Hotei is legendary as a wandering sage
with supernatural powers who spent his time in village
streets rather than in the security of temples. His image is
recognizable as the disheveled, fat, jolly 'laughing buddha'
whose statue is seen in many Chinese restaurants and in all
Chinese Buddhist temples.
"Hotei's name means 'cloth bag,' as he carried a
sack full of candies and toys to give to children, with whom
he is often depicted in play. This scruffy Buddhist Santa Claus expands our view of Maitreya's warmth and
loving-kindness. Hotei's fat belly and affinity with children
reflects yet another aspect of Maitreya in popular folk
religion, that of a fertility deity. Maitreya was sometimes
prayed to by those who wanted children, especially in
Korea."(Bodhisattva Archetypes, p. 260-1)
Bodhisattva Maitreya plays a large role in the Lotus
Sutra. In the first chapter, it is he who inquires of
Manjushri Bodhisattva the reason for the miraculous signs
displayed by the Buddha. Taigen Daniel Leighton summarizes and
comments on this chapter as follows:
"Maitreya appears in a highly ambivalent light in
some of the early Mahayana sutras. In the very first chapter
of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha emits a light
from between his eyebrows that puzzles Maitreya, who
questions Manjushri. Manjushri reminds Maitreya that in a
remotely past buddha land they had witnessed a similar light
emitting from a previous buddha, a light which had heralded
the teaching of the Lotus Sutra on behalf of that
buddha by a bodhisattva named Fine Luster, none other than
Manjushri himself.
"Among Fine Luster's eight hundred disciples, one
named Fame Seeker Bodhisattva was actually Maitreya in a
former life. This Bodhisattva Seeker of Fame was named thus
because he craved personal profit and advantage; although he
read and memorized numerous sutras, he derived no benefit and
quickly forgot most of them. Although Maitreya, or at least
his past life, is thus dishonored by his former teacher
Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom goes on to say that the
slothful Fame Seeker also did many kind deeds. These allowed
him to train with numerous buddhas over many lifetimes, until
now he was finally the Bodhisattva Maitreya, destined to be
the next buddha." (Ibid, p.246-7)
Maitreya Bodhisattva has a large role in the Ceremony of the
Air as well. It is he who inquires after the origin of the
Bodhisattvas of the Earth in chapter 15. He is also the one who asks how Shakyamuni Buddha could have taught them when he had
only attained enlightenment 40 years before their appearance. It
is this second question which prompts the revelation of the
Buddha's enlightenment in the uncountably distant past in chapter
16. In chapter 16, it is Maitreya Bodhisattva who heads the
assembly in declaring that they will faithfully receive the
Buddha's answer. In chapters 17 and 18 it is Maitreya Bodhisattva
whom the Buddha addresses when explaining the boundless merits of
those who accept the teaching of the Buddha's unborn and undying
nature with faith.
The closing chapter of the Lotus Sutra makes
reference to Maitreya Bodhisattva in a more favorable light than
in the first chapter. Taigen Daniel Leighton explains:
"Although the Lotus Sutra opens with
Manjushri's rather dim view of Maitreya's distant past, the
final chapter of the Lotus Sutra, delineating
Samantabhadra's protection of students of the sutra, offers a
more positive view of Maitreya and his future. Samantabhadra
certifies that those who read the Lotus Sutra and
understand its import will be reborn in Maitreya's Tushita
Heaven. Samantabhadra describes this realm as highly
meritorious and beneficial, as Maitreya abides there already
possessing the marks of a buddha, accompanied by a retinue of
bodhisattvas and goddesses." (Ibid, p.247)
Icon: Bodhisattva wearing a three peaked crown in pensive
posture with right ankle on on left knee, left leg hanging over
lotus seat, right hand touching cheek with only two fingers, left
hand resting on right ankle.
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Lotus World: an Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon
