Part 4: The Method
The Ten Bodhisattva Bhumis
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ས་བཅུ།
byang chub sems dpa'i sa bcu
Chapter Summary
While the five paths describe the journey of understanding, the ten bhumis describe the qualities manifesting at each level—from Great Joy to Cloud of Dharma. Each bhumi has nine distinctive aspects: name, significance, training, practice, purification, realization, abandonment, birth, and abilities. The first bhumi marks the transition from worldling to noble one; the tenth culminates in empowerment by the Buddhas of all directions.
If the five paths describe the journey — the road itself, the terrain underfoot — then the describe the traveler's transformation. At each level, new capacities emerge, old obscurations fall away, and the 's ability to benefit beings expands in ways that would have been unimaginable from the previous stage. The word means "ground" or "level" — each one is a new ground on which to stand, a new foundation from which to act.
Within these five paths, how many bhumis are there? Beginner and devoted action, Then the ten bhumis, and The state of Buddhahood— These ten and three comprise the bhumis.
The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment refers to these as "Great Joy and the others"—Great Joy being the first , "the others" referring to the two lower stages and ten higher bhumis.
The Framework of Bhumis
Beginner's — Corresponds to the path of accumulation, where one matures a previously immature mind.
of Devoted Activity — Corresponds to the path of application, where one is strongly devoted to the meaning of emptiness. At this stage, factors opposing the paramitas and afflicting emotions to be abandoned on the path of insight are suppressed and do not arise.
The Ten Bhumis — Range from Great Joy (first) to Cloud of Dharma (tenth). The first occurs at the path of insight; the second through tenth occur during the path of meditation.
General Explanation
I. Definition of the Bhumis
Wisdom awareness, supported by absorption, by which the continuous mental stream of the practitioner directly realizes the selflessness of all phenomena.
II. Significance of the Name "Bhumi"
"" (literally "ground" or "stage") has three significances:
- Like a corral for cattle — Because primordial wisdom is contained within them and its qualities are enjoyed there
- Like a race track — Because primordial wisdom advances there
- Like a field — Because primordial wisdom is the basis for the birth of all good qualities
III. Reason for Tenfold Classification
The bhumis are classified into ten due to the different trainings required for each.
The Ten Bhumis: Nine Distinctive Aspects
For each , Gampopa presents nine aspects:
- Distinctive name
- Distinctive significance
- Distinctive training
- Distinctive practice
- Distinctive purification
- Distinctive realization
- Distinctive abandonment
- Distinctive birth
- Distinctive abilities
A. First Bhumi: Great Joy (rab tu dga' ba)
Name and Significance: Called "Great Joy" because those who achieve it experience great joy by coming closer to enlightenment and benefiting sentient beings.
Being close to enlightenment And seeing the benefit for all sentient beings, One achieves great joy. Therefore, it is called "Great Joy."
Training: Ten subjects, including pure motivation toward all beings.
Practice: All ten paramitas, with particular emphasis on generosity. The wishes to satisfy all sentient beings.
Purification: For many kalpas, the venerates Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; matures sentient beings; and dedicates virtue to enlightenment. Like gold heated by a craftsman, root virtue becomes increasingly pure, clarified, and workable.
Realization: The meaning of entering into the all-pervading Dharmadhatu. Through this, one achieves the sameness of oneself and others.
Abandonment: All eighty-two afflicting emotions subject to purification on the path of insight are purified without remainder. Regarding imputed obscurations to knowledge, those "like the bark of a tree" are removed.
Freedom from Five Fears:
- Fear of not making a living
- Fear of not getting praise
- Fear of death
- Fear of rebirth in lower realms
- Stage fright in large gatherings
Birth: Usually becomes monarch over Jambudvipa, dispelling the obscuration of miserliness.
Abilities: In one moment can enter a hundred absorptions, see a hundred Buddhas, move a hundred world systems, manifest a hundred worlds, mature a hundred sentient beings, abide for a hundred kalpas, see a hundred past and future kalpas, open a hundred Dharma doors, and manifest a hundred bodies with entourages of a hundred bodhisattvas.
B. Second Bhumi: Stainless (dri ma med pa)
Significance: Free from the stains of immorality.
Training: Eight trainings in moral ethics, gratitude, patience, and so forth.
Practice: Emphasis on moral ethics.
Purification: Like gold cleaned in an acid bath, root virtue becomes even more pure.
Realization: The supreme meaning of Dharmadhatu—"I must make great effort to purify and accomplish everything."
Abandonment: Of the sixteen afflicting emotions to be abandoned on the path of meditation, obvious appearances are suppressed. Imputed obscurations to knowledge "like cream" are removed.
Birth: Becomes monarch over the four continents, establishing all beings in the ten virtues.
Abilities: In one moment attains a thousand absorptions, and so forth.
C. Third Bhumi: Radiant ('od byed pa)
Significance: The appearances of Dharma and absorption are clear; the light of Dharma radiates for others.
Training: Five topics, including insatiable hearing of Dharma and teaching without considering material gain.
Practice: Emphasis on patience.
Purification: Like gold polished in the hand without losing weight, root virtue becomes ever more pure.
Realization: The supreme meaning of Dharma as related to the cause of Dharmadhatu. For one verse of teaching, these bodhisattvas would jump into three thousand universal fires.
Birth: Becomes Indra, king of gods, with great skill in dispelling desires.
Abilities: In one moment attains one hundred thousand absorptions.
D. Fourth Bhumi: Luminous ('od 'phro ba)
Significance: The two veils are burned away by the luminous light of primordial wisdom of all the branches of enlightenment.
Training: Ten trainings including abiding in solitary places, few desires, contentment.
Practice: Emphasis on perseverance.
Purification: Like pure gold made into an ornament, root virtue cannot be matched by bodhisattvas at lower bhumis.
Realization: The meaning of completely non-grasping; freedom from attachment to Dharma.
Birth: Becomes king of Suyama gods, with skill in demolishing the view of transitory aggregates.
Abilities: In one moment attains one million absorptions.
E. Fifth Bhumi: Very Difficult to Train (sbyang dka' ba)
Significance: Bodhisattvas strive to mature sentient beings without becoming emotionally involved when they respond negatively—both difficult to do.
Training: Avoiding ten faults, including attachment to possessions and agitated places.
Practice: Emphasis on meditative concentration.
Purification: Like gold adorned with precious jewels, root virtue is purified by examination of methods and wisdom.
Realization: The meaning of the continuum of undifferentiated nature; understanding the ten equanimities.
Birth: Becomes king of Tushita gods, with skill in dispelling wrong views of non-Buddhists.
Abilities: In one moment attains ten million absorptions.
F. Sixth Bhumi: Obviously Transcendent (mngon du gyur pa)
Significance: Supported by wisdom, bodhisattvas do not abide in either samsara or nirvana—obviously transcendent.
Training: Twelve trainings: accomplishing the six paramitas and renouncing six obstacles, including attachment to accomplishments of Hearers and Solitary Realizers.
Practice: Emphasis on wisdom.
Purification: Like gold adorned with lapis lazuli, root virtue is more clearly purified by examination of wisdom and skillful means.
Realization: The meaning of afflicting emotions and impurity; understanding interdependence of afflictions and purification.
Birth: Becomes king of Nirmanrati gods, with skill in dispelling arrogance.
Abilities: In one moment attains one hundred million absorptions.
G. Seventh Bhumi: Gone Afar (ring du song ba)
Significance: Related to the one-way path and perfection of action.
Training: Renouncing twenty subjects (grasping self-existence, etc.) and practicing twenty opposing topics (three gates of liberation, etc.).
Practice: Emphasis on skillful means.
Purification: Like gold adorned with all types of jewels, root virtue is unmatched by Hearers, Solitary Realizers, and lower bodhisattvas.
Realization: Signs of Dharma appear without differentiation; meaning of non-differentiation.
Birth: Becomes king of Parinirmitavashvartin gods, with skill in establishing direct realizations of Hearers and Solitary Realizers.
Abilities: In one moment attains one billion absorptions.
H. Eighth Bhumi: Immovable (mi g.yo ba)
Significance: Cannot be moved by the perception of effort with signs or without signs.
Training: Eight trainings, including directly understanding all actions of sentient beings.
Practice: Emphasis on aspiration.
Purification: Like gold made into an ornament for a monarch's head or neck, root virtue is unmatched by those up to the seventh .
Realization: Patience regarding the dharma of the unborn; not frightened by emptiness. Realizes the meaning of no decrease or increase—no decrease of afflicting emotions, no increase of purification.
Four Types of Mastery: At this , bodhisattvas realize mastery over non-discursive thought and pure Buddhafields.
Ten Powers: Power over life span, mind, necessary provisions, karma, birth, wishes, aspiration prayers, miracles, wisdom, and Dharma.
Birth: Becomes Brahma, king of the thousand universes.
Abilities: In one moment attains as many absorptions as dust particles in one million universes.
I. Ninth Bhumi: Good Discriminating Wisdom (legs pa'i blo gros)
Significance: Perfect discriminating awareness.
Training: Twelve trainings, including infinite aspiration prayers and understanding languages of gods.
Practice: Emphasis on strength.
Purification: Like gold made into an ornament for a universal monarch, root virtue adorns great clarity.
Realization: Of the four types of mastery, realizes mastery over primordial wisdom through attaining the four perfect discriminating awarenesses:
- Perfect discriminating awareness of Dharma
- Perfect discriminating awareness of meaning
- Perfect discriminating awareness of significance
- Perfect discriminating awareness of confidence
Birth: Becomes Brahma, king of the second thousand universes, with skill in answering all questions.
Abilities: In one moment attains as many absorptions as dust particles in one million limitless Buddha-fields.
J. Tenth Bhumi: Cloud of Dharma (chos kyi sprin)
Significance: Showers the rain of Dharma like a cloud, pacifying the dust of afflicting emotions. The doors of dharani and absorption pervade everything like clouds cover the sky.
Training: Ten trainings leading to the of empowerment in the primordial wisdom of omniscience. At this , Buddhas of the ten directions empower bodhisattvas with radiating light.
Practice: Emphasis on primordial wisdom.
Purification: Like an ornament made by great artists of the god realms for Mahesvara, transcendent primordial wisdom cannot be defeated by any qualities of sentient beings, Hearers, Solitary Realizers, or lower bodhisattvas.
Realization: Of the four types of mastery, realizes mastery over karma, benefiting sentient beings through miracle powers at will.
Birth: Becomes Mahesvara, supreme lord of the Sudhavasin, master of infinite primordial wisdom.
Abilities: In one moment can attain as many absorptions as billions and trillions of atoms in all limitless Buddhafields. From each pore of the skin, one can manifest countless Buddhas surrounded by limitless bodhisattvas, as well as gods, humans, and demigods. One can give teachings by manifesting in the form of Indra, Brahma, guardians, kings, Hearers, Solitary Realizers, or Buddhas depending on the trainees.
K. Buddhahood
Buddhahood is the called the "path of perfection." All obscurations of afflicting emotions (subject to purification on the path of meditation) and imputed obscurations to knowledge ("like the sap of a tree") are fully purified at once when the is generated.
Duration of the Path
All bhumis are completed in three limitless kalpas:
- First limitless kalpa: Attain Great Joy, passing through aspirational actions
- Second limitless kalpa: From Great Joy through Gone Afar to Immovable (first to eighth )
- Third limitless kalpa: From Immovable through Good Discriminating Wisdom to Cloud of Dharma (eighth to tenth )
Those with extraordinary perseverance can compress this into one antahkalpa, and some even into one mahakalpa. But it cannot be compressed into one limitless kalpa.
Conclusion
The map the progressive manifestation of enlightened qualities as obscurations are removed. Each has its distinctive features, yet all share the same fundamental realization while in meditative absorption—differences occur primarily in the post-meditative state.
The progression from Great Joy to Cloud of Dharma shows the systematic deepening of realization and the increasing scope of benefit to beings. At the first , one can benefit a hundred beings in a moment; at the tenth, countless beings throughout limitless Buddhafields. Yet all of this unfolds from the same seed of bodhicitta planted at the beginning of the path.
Study Questions
The first bhumi is called "Great Joy" because the bodhisattva experiences profound happiness at being close to enlightenment and able to benefit beings. When have you experienced genuine joy arising from spiritual practice or from helping others -- and how did that joy differ from ordinary pleasure?
At the first bhumi, a bodhisattva is freed from five fears, including fear of death, fear of not making a living, and stage fright. Which of these five fears has the strongest hold on your life right now? How might the direct realization of selflessness dissolve that particular fear?
Each bhumi emphasizes a particular paramita -- generosity at the first, moral ethics at the second, patience at the third, and so on. Looking at the progression from generosity through to primordial wisdom at the tenth, why do you think this particular sequence matters? Is there something in your own experience that confirms this ordering?
The fifth bhumi is called "Very Difficult to Train" because bodhisattvas must mature sentient beings without becoming emotionally involved when beings respond negatively. When have you tried to help someone who rejected or resented your help? What happened inside you, and what would it mean to persist without emotional entanglement?
The text states that all bhumis share the same fundamental realization while in meditative absorption, and that differences occur primarily in the post-meditative state. What does this suggest about the relationship between your experience in formal meditation and how you act in daily life?
Gampopa says the entire progression from Great Joy to Cloud of Dharma "unfolds from the same seed of bodhicitta planted at the beginning of the path." Reflect on your own first arising of bodhicitta -- however tentative or partial it may have been. How has that initial impulse shaped the direction of your life since then? --- *This is the nineteenth chapter, dealing with the bodhisattva's bhumis, from The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, the Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings.*