Sugata

Sugata [Skt.] (Tib. བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ་, dewar shekpa; Wyl. bde bar gshegs pa). An epithet of the Buddha, literally meaning 'gone to bliss'. Khenpo Appey explains the term as follows:

"According to Dharmakirti, there are three ways of understanding su or 'bliss': excellent, irreversible and complete. Gata or 'gone' has two meanings: abandonment and realization, meaning the abandonment of all flaws, and the realization of all that is to be known.

So, in terms of realization, we can explain sugata as meaning excellent realization, irreversible realization and complete realization. In terms of abandonment, it means excellent abandonment, irreversible abandonment and complete abandonment.

Excellent abandonment means that all the disturbing emotions have been abandoned. Disturbing emotions are desire, avarice, anger and so on. Complete abandonment means that the cognitive obscurations have also been abandoned. Cognitive obscurations are ordinary conceptual thought processes. Irreversible abandonment means that once these have been abandoned they will never return; they have been given up once and for all.

Excellent realization means realization of the nature of reality. Complete realization means realization of all that can be known. Irreversible realization means realization that can never decline or diminish."

Internal Links

• Eight Sugatas

Further Reading

Khenpo Kunpal, The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, pp. 32-33, translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Published by Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6