Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (T. kun tu bzang po ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་; C. Puxian; J. Fugen; K. Pohyŏn 普賢) (lit. "All Good", "Excellent in all regards", etc.) is one of the eight great bodhisattvas in the Mahayana tradition. "He is known for embodying the conduct of bodhisattvas through his vast aspirations, offerings, and deeds on behalf of the benefit of beings."[1] He is often portrayed standing opposite Manjushri, at the side of Buddha Shakyamuni.[2]
He figures prominently in the Gaṇḍavyūha (the final chapter of the Avataṃsaka Sutra) and in the Lotus Sūtra.[1]
In the Gaṇḍavyūha, Samantabhadra recites the popular aspiration prayer known as "Prayer for Completely Good Conduct” (Bhadracarīpraṇidhāna), which includes the ten great vows of Samantabhadra.
Samantabhadra is also described at length in an epilogue to the Lotus Sutra found in the Chinese canon, called the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra. This text presents a detailed visualization of the bodhisattva, and describes the virtues of devotion to him.[3]
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is associated with Mount Emei, a sacred mountain in China.
Ten great vows
The core of Samantabhadra's aspirations in the Bhadracaripraṇidhāna are the ten great vows of Samantabhadra. These are:[4]
- to pay homage to all the buddhas;
- to glorify the qualities of all the tathāgatas;
- to make ample offerings to all the buddhas;
- to confess and repent of all one's misdeeds;
- to rejoice in the merits of others;
- always to request the preaching of the dharma;
- to entreat enlightened beings to remain in the world;
- to always to study the teachings of the buddha;
- to always to respond to sentient beings according to their various needs;
- to dedicate all merits to sentient beings that they may achieve buddhahood.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
kun tu bzang po, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Samantabhadra
- ↑ Katō Bunno, Tamura Yoshirō, Miyasaka Kōjirō, tr. (1975), The Threefold Lotus Sutra : The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings; The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law; The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. New York & Tōkyō: Weatherhill & Kōsei Publishing.
- ↑ Gimello, Robert M. Ch'eng-kuan on the Hua-yen Trinity 中華佛學學報第 9 期 (pp.341-411)：(民國 85年)， 臺北：中華佛學研究所，http://www.chibs.edu.tw Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, No. 9, (1996) Taipei: Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies ISSN: 1017─7132.
Further reading
Media related to Samantabhadra at Wikimedia Commons- Yeshe De Project (1986). Ancient Tibet: Research materials from the Yeshe De Project. California: Dharma Publishing. ISBN 0-89800-146-3.
- Dudjom Rinpoche; Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (1991). Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein, ed. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: its Fundamentals and History. Two Volumes. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-087-8.
