[Buddha-l] Re: Nirvana si, bodhi no!

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Tue, 2005-05-17 at 19:44 -0700, Bill Kish wrote:

> But in Indian Buddhism, I've only encountered "bodhi" as part 
> of a larger compound such as "annutarasamyaksambodhi" or 
> "bodhicitta".  At least in these particular cases, the criteria 
> for knowing whether you have attained either one is just as 
> clear as it is for nirvana.

If one is speaking of Pali texts, the criterion for anuttara-samyak-
sambodhi is clear enough, and by that criterion none of us can possibly
achieve it as long as there is memory of the Buddha Gotama. One one
buddha in a world system can achieve it. But in the Lotus Sutra it takes
on an entirely different meaning, and in that text the criteria are very
murky indeed---much less specific than the criteria of nirvana.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico