Ten bhumis
Ten bhumis (Skt. daśabhūmi; Tib. ས་བཅུ་, sa chu, Wyl. sa bcu) — ten stages or ‘grounds’ used in the Mahayana to describe the progression of a practitioner on the path to enlightenment. They are:
- Perfect Joy (Skt. pramuditābhūmi; Tib. རབ་ཏུ་དགའ་བ་, rabtu gawa, Wyl. rab tu dga’ ba)
- Immaculate / Stainless (Skt. vimalābhūmi; Tib. དྲི་མ་མེད་པ་, drima mepa, Wyl. dri ma med pa)
- Luminous / Illuminating (Skt. prabhākarībhūmi; Tib. འོད་བྱེད་པ་, ö jepa, Wyl. ‘od byed pa)
- Radiant (Skt. arciṣmatībhūmi; Tib. འོད་འཕྲོ་ཅན་, ö tro chen, Wyl. ‘od ‘phro can)
- Hard to Keep / Hard to Conquer (Skt. sudurjayābhūmi; Tib. ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་དཀའ་བ་, shintu jankawa, Wyl. shin tu sbyang dka’ ba)
- Clearly Manifest (Skt. abhimukhībhūmi; Tib. མངོན་དུ་གྱུར་བ་, ngöntu gyurpa, Wyl. mngon du gyur ba)
- Far Progressed (Skt. duraṅgamabhūmi; Tib. རིང་དུ་སོང་བ་, ringtu songwa, Wyl. ring du song ba)
- Immovable (Skt. acālabhūmi; Tib. མི་གཡོ་བ་, miyowa, Wyl. mi g.yo ba)
- Perfect Intellect (Skt. sādhuṃatībhūmi; Tib. ལེགས་པའི་བློ་གྲོས་, lekpé lodrö, Wyl. legs pa’i blo gros)
- Cloud of Dharma (Skt. dharmameghaābhūmi; Tib. ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྤྲིན་, chökyi trin, Wyl. chos kyi sprin)
The eleventh bhumi, Universal Radiance (Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་འོད་, kuntu ö, Wyl. kun tu 'od), is buddhahood according to the sutra system.
Progression on the Ten Bhumis According to the Mahayana Tradition
The progression on the ten bhumis cover the path of arya bodhisattvas, from the path of seeing onwards. Complete enlightenment occurs following the end of the tenth bhumi, and is therefore known as the eleventh bhumi of Universal Radiance.
There is no difference in terms of the state of meditative equipoise for bodhisattvas on these bhumis. It is the qualities during the state of post-meditation that vary from one bhumi to the next. On the first bhumi, for example, there are twelve sets of one hundred qualities[1]. These qualities increase in magnitude as each bhumi is traversed.
The ten bhumis are also related to the ten paramitas. For example, the first paramita of generosity is emphasized on the first bhumi, the second paramita of discipline is emphasized on the second bhumi, and so on.
The chart below summarizes the details of this progression and its various correspondences.[2]
| bhumi | qualities/realisation | abandonment | paramita |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Perfect Joy | generosity | ||
| 2. Immaculate | discipline | ||
| 3. Luminous | patience | ||
| 4. Radiant | diligence | ||
| 5. Hard to Keep | meditative concentration | ||
| 6. Clearly Manifest | wisdom, prajña | ||
| 7. Far Progressed | skilful means | ||
| 8. Immovable | strength | ||
| 9. Perfect Intellect | aspiration prayers | ||
| 10. Cloud of Dharma | primordial wisdom, jñana |
Related to the Subtle Body
There are twenty-two knots between the central channel and the two lateral channels. As they become freed, pair by pair, the meditator attains the successive bhumis, from the first to the eleventh, up to buddhahood.[3]
Canonical Literature
Sutras
- Sutra of the Ten Bhumis
- Samdhinirmochana Sutra, chapter 9
Shastras
Further Reading
- Appendix 12, 'The Bodhisattva Bhumis' pp.201-205 in The Light of Wisdom Volume 1. Root text by Padmasambhava and commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül the Great (Boudhanath, Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1999)
Alternative Translations
- Ten levels
- Ten grounds
- Ten stages
References
- ↑ Within a single instant, one is able to enter into one hundred samadhi meditations, see one hundred buddhas face to face, and receive their blessings, cause one hundred world systems to shake, travel to one hundred buddha realms, illuminate one hundred world systems, bring one hundred beings to complete maturation, remain for one hundred aeons, know one hundred aeons in the past and one hundred aeons in the future, open one hundred doors to the Dharma, manifest one hundred emanations, and for each of these bodies manifest one hundred attendants.
- ↑ Sources: A Brief Guide to the Stages and Paths of the Bodhisattvas by Patrul Rinpoche (Lotsawa House); Philippe Cornu, Manuel de bouddhisme — Philosophie, pratique et histoire. Tome II, Bouddhisme Mahāyāna (Editions Rangdröl, 2019), pages 47-50.
- ↑ From the notes to Retreat at the Hermit's Cave in the Life of Shabkar.
