The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (416 page)

 
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(Skt., ‘thought of enlightenment’). An important concept in
Mah
y
na
Buddhism, having both a personal and a cosmic aspect. In the personal sense it denotes the spontaneous generation of the resolve to strive for enlightenment. The cosmic aspect of the doctrine locates the seed or first stirrings of this impulse in a transpersonal matrix or resource along absolutistic lines. Here it is reality itself, under its various denominations such as the ‘Body of Truth’ (
dharmak
ya
), the ‘Womb of
Tath
gatas
’ (
tath
gatagarbha
), or ‘True Suchness’ (
bh
tatathat
), which engenders the possibility of enlightenment.
In
Tantric
Buddhist symbology bodhicitta is identified with the seed or semen which is produced through the union of male and female, representing the fusion of wisdom (
prajña
) with compassion (
karu
) in the bliss of perfect enlightenment.

 
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(Chin.,
P'u-t'i-ta-mo
or
Tamo
; Jap.,
Bodaidaruma
or
Daruma
,
c.
5th cent. CE). The 28th successor (
hassu
) in line from
kyamuni Buddha, and the first Chinese patriarch of Ch'an/Zen Buddhism. According to the traditional accounts, he engaged in motionless
zazen
for nine years (hence the name of this period,
menpeki
-kunen, nine years facing the wall). Hui-k'o joined him as a pupil, and became the second patriarch. The forms of meditation taught by Bodhidharma were based on the
Mah
y
na
s
tras, with especial emphasis on
La
k
vat
ra-s
tra
. It produced
Dhy
na
Buddhism, with dhy
na (meditation) understood in a broad sense: it was this which fused with Taoism to produce the distinctive form of Ch'an.
Tradition also attributes six treatises to Bodhidharma, of which one,
The Two Ways of Entrance
, is translated by D. T. Suzuki,
Essays in Zen Buddhism
, iii (1970). But this, and the whole tradition about Bodhidharma is extremely uncertain.
Bodhidharma is usually portrayed with an appearance of fierce concentration, and Daruma-dolls are given in Japan to those who have attained a goal through perseverance.