-B-
Bahula-kamma: 'habitual kamma': see: kamma.
Bala: 'powers'. Among various groups of powers the
following five are most frequently met with in the texts: 1 faith
saddhā, 2 energy
viriya, 3 awareness or mindfulness
sati, 4 concentration
samādhi, 5 understanding
paññā .
Their particular aspect, distinguishing them from the corresponding 5 spiritual
abilities indriya, is that they are
unshakable by their opposites: 1 the power of faith is unshakable by faithlessness
unbelief; 2 energy, by laziness; 3 awareness or mindfulness, by forgetfulness;
4 concentration, by distractedness; 5 understanding, by ignorance see
Pts.M., ñāna Kathā. They represent, therefore,
the aspect of firmness in the spiritual abilities.
According to A.V. 15, the power 1 becomes
manifest in the 4 qualities of the Stream-winner
sotāpannassa angāni, 2
in the 4 right efforts see: padhāna,
3 in the 4 foundations of awareness or mindfulness
satipatthāna, 4 in the 4 absorptions
jhāna, 5 in the full comprehension of
the 4 Noble Truths sacca.
Cf. see: XLVIII, 43;
see: L. Bala Samyutta.
In A. VII, 3, the powers of moral shame
hiri and Fear of Wrongdoing
ottappa are added to the aforementioned
five Several other groups of 2 see:
patisankhāna-bala, 4, 5 and more powers are mentioned in the texts.
- About the 10 powers of a Buddha, see: dasa-bala
Balance of mental abilities:
indriya samatta.
Bases: The 12 of the perceptual process:
āyatana
Beautiful: sobhana.
Beauty: deliverance through the perception of:
cf. vimokkha II. 3 To hold for beautiful
or pure subha what is impure
asubha, is one of the 4 perversions
see: vipallāsa.
Behaviour: morality consisting in good:
abhisamācārikasīla.
Being: living: satta,
further see: puggala. - Belief in eternal
personality: bhava-ditthi see:
ditthi,
sassata-ditthi.
Beings: The 9 worlds of:
sattāvāsa.
Belief: blind: see:
indriya-samatta.
Bhangānupassanā-ñāna: 'knowledge
consisting in contemplation of dissolution' of all forms of existence, is one
kind of insight: see: visuddhi VI,
2.
Bhava: 'becoming', 'process of existence', consists
of 3 planes: sense-existence kāma-bhava,
fine-material existence rūpa-bhava,
immaterial existence arūpa-bhava.
Cf. loka.
The whole process of existence may be divided into two aspects:
1: Kamma-making kamma-bhava,
i.e. the kammically active side of existence, being the cause of rebirth and
consisting in advantageous and disadvantageous intentional actions. See Kamma,
paticca-samuppāda IX.
2: Kamma-produced rebirth, or regenerating process
uppattibhava, i.e. the kammically
passive side of existence consisting in the arising and developing of the
kamma-produced and therefore morally neutral mental and bodily phenomena of
existence. Cf. Tab. -
App..
Bhāva: feminine and masculine 'nature', refers to
the sexual characteristics of the body, and belongs to the group of materiality
see: khandha. It is a commentarial
term for the abilities of femininity and masculinity see:
indriya 7, 8.
App..
Bhava-ditthi: 'belief in being' eternal personality;
see: sassataditthi, ditthi
Bhāvanā: 'mental development' lit. 'calling into
existence, producing' is what in English is generally but rather vaguely called
'meditation'. One has to distinguish 2 kinds: development of tranquillity
samatha-bhāvanā, i.e. concentration
samādhi, and development of insight
vipassanā-bhāvanā,
i.e. understanding paññā .
These two important terms, tranquillity and insight see:
samatha-vipassanā, are very
often met with and explained in the Sutta, as well as in the Abhidhamma.
Tranquillity samatha is the concentrated,
unshaken, peaceful, and therefore undefiled state of mind, whilst insight
vipassanā is the intuitive insight
into the impermanence,
misery and impersonality
anicca
dukkha anattā see:
tilakkhana of all bodily and mental
phenomena of existence, included in the 5 groups of existence, namely, materiality,
feeling, perception, mental constructions and consciousness; see:
khandha.
Tranquillity, or concentration of mind, according to Sankhepavannana Commentary
to Abhidhammattha-sangaha, bestows a threefold blessing: favourable rebirth,
present happy life, and purity of mind which is the condition of insight. Concentration
samādhi is the indispensable foundation
and precondition of insight by purifying the mind from the 5 mental defilements
or hindrances nīvarana, whilst insight
vipassanā produces the 4 supra mundane
stages of Nobility and deliverance of mind. The Buddha therefore says: May
you develop mental concentration, o Bhikkhus; for who is mentally concentrated,
sees things according to reality see: XXII,
5. And in Mil. it is said: Just as
when a lighted lamp is brought into a dark chamber, the lamp-light Will destroy
the darkness and produce and spread the light, just so will insight, once arisen,
destroy the darkness of ignorance and produce the light of knowledge.
Vis.M III-XI gives full directions
how to attain full concentration and the absorptions
jhāna by means of the following 40 meditation
subjects kammatthāna:
10 kasina-exercises see: kasina.
These produce the 4 absorptions
10 loathsome subjects asubha. These
produce the 1st absorption.
10 recollections anussati: of
the Buddha buddhānussati, the
Doctrine dhammānussati, the
Brotherhood of the Noble Ones sanghānussati,
morality, generosity, the divine beings, death
maranasati, the body
kāyagatāsati,, in-and-outbreathing
ānāpāna-sati and peace
upasamānussati, . Among these,
the recollection or awareness or mindfulness of in-and-out breathing may produce
all the 4 absorptions, that of the body the 1st absorption, the rest only
neighbourhood-concentration upacāra-samādhi,
see: samādhi.
4 sublime abodes brahma-vihāra:
loving-kindness, Pity, altruistic joy, equanimity
mettā, karunā,
muditā,
upekkhā. Of these, the first 3 exercises
may produce 3 absorptions, the last one the 4th absorption only.
4 immaterial spheres arūpāyatana see.
jhāna : of unbounded space, unbounded consciousness, nothingness,
neither-perception-nor-non-perception. These are based upon the 4th absorption.
1 perception of the loathsomeness of food
āhāre patikkūla-saññā,
which may produce neighbourhood-concentration
1 analysis of the 4 elements catudhātu-vavatthāna
see. dhātu-vavatthāna, which
may produce neighbourhood-concentration.
Mental development forms one of the 3 kinds of meritorious action
puñña-kiriya-vatthu. 'Delight
in meditation' bhāvanā-rāmatā
is one of the noble usages ariya-vamsa.
Bhāvanā-bala: see:
patisankhāna-bala
Bhāvanā-maya-paññā: understanding based on
mental development'; see: paññā
Bhavanga-santāna: 'continuity of subconsciousness';
see: santāna
Bhavanga-sota: and
Bhavanga-citta: The first term may tentatively
be rendered as the 'undercurrent forming the condition of being, or existence',
and the second as 'subconsciousness', though, as will be evident from the following,
it differs in several respects from the usage of that term in Western psychology.
Bhavanga
bhava-anga, which, in the canonical
works, is mentioned twice or thrice in the Patthāna, is explained in the Abhidhamma
commentaries as the foundation or condition
kārana of existence bhava, as
the sine, qua of life,
having the nature of a process, lit. a flux or stream
sota. Herein, since time immemorial, all
contacts and experiences are, as it were, stored up, or better said, are
functioning, but concealed as such to full consciousness, from where however
they occasionally emerge as subconscious phenomena and approach the threshold
of full consciousness, or crossing it become fully conscious. This so-called
'subconscious life-stream' or undercurrent of life is that by which might be
explained the ability of memory, paranormal psychic phenomena, mental and physical
growth, kamma and rebirth. etc. An alternative rendering is 'life-continuum'.
It should be noted that bhavanga-citta
is a kamma-resultant state of consciousness
vipāka, and that, in birth as a human or in higher forms of existence,
it is always the result of good, or advantageous kamma
kusala-kamma-vipāka, though
in varying degrees of strength see: patisandhi,
end of the article. The same holds true for rebirth consciousness
patisandhi and death consciousness
cuti, which are only particular manifestations
of subconsciousness. In Vis.M XIV it is
said:
As soon as rebirth-consciousness in the embryo at the time of conception
has ceased, there arises a similar subconsciousness with exactly the same object,
following immediately upon rebirth-consciousness and being the result of this
or that kamma intentional action done in a former birth and remembered there
at the moment before death. And again a further similar state of subconsciousness
arises. Now, as long as no other consciousness arises to interrupt the continuity
of the life-stream, so long the life-stream, like the flow of a river, rises
in the same way again and again, even during dreamless sleep and at other times.
In this way one has to understand the continuous arising of those states of
consciousness in the life-stream. Cf.
viññāna-kicca . For more details, see:
Fund. 11.
App..
Bhava-tanhā: 'craving for eternal existence';
see: tanhā
Bhavāsava: 'fermentation of existence'; see:
āsava
Bhayatupatthāna-ñāna: 'knowledge
consisting in the awareness of terror', is one of those kinds of insight-knowledge
that form the 'purification by knowledge and vision of the
path-progress' see:
visuddhi, VI..
Bhikkhu: A fully ordained disciple of the Buddha
is called a Bhikkhu. Mendicant Bhikkhu may be suggested as the closest equivalent
for Bhikkhu, literally it means he who begs but Bhikkhus do not beg. They silently
stand at the door for food. They live on what is spontaneously given by the
supporters. He is not a priest as he is no mediator between God and man. He
has no vows for life, but he is bound by his rules which he takes of his own
accord. He leads a life of voluntary poverty and celibacy. If he is unable
to live the Noble Life, he can discard the robe at any time.
Bhojane mattaññutā: 'knowing the measure
in eating'.
Now, o Bhikkhus, the Bhikkhu wisely reflecting partakes of his foodfood,
neither for pastime, nor for indulgence, nor to become beautiful or handsome,
but only to maintain and support this body, to avoid harm and to assist the
Noble life, knowing: 'In this way I shall dispel the former pain of hunger,
etc. and no new pain shall I let arise, and long life, blamelessness and ease
will be my share ' This, o Bhikkhus, is knowing the measure in eating.
A. III. 16. How o Bhikkhus, would it be possible
for Nanda to lead the absolutely pure life of Nobility, if he did not watch
over his senses and did not know the measure in eating?
A. VII, 9.
Biases: see: Āsava
Birth process:
upapatti-bhava : see:
bhava. Further see: patisandhi, jāti
Bodhi: from verbal root budhi to awaken,
to understand: awakening, enlightenment, supreme knowledge. Through Bodhi
one awakens from the slumber or stupor inflicted upon the mind by the defilements
kilesa and comprehends the Four Noble
Truths sacca
Com. to
M. 10.
The enlightenment of a Buddha is called
sammā-sambodhi 'perfect enlightenment'.
The faith saddhā of a lay follower of
the Buddha is described as he believes in the enlightenment of the Perfect
One saddahati Tathāgatassa bodhim: M.
53, A. III, 2.
As components of the state of enlightenment and contributory factors to
its achievement, are mentioned in the texts: the 7 factors of enlightenment
bojjhanga =
bodhi-anga and the 37 'things pertaining
to enlightenment' bodhipakkhiya-dhammā. In one of the later books
of the Sutta-Pitaka, the Buddhavamsa, 10
bodhipācana-dhammā are mentioned,
i.e. qualities that lead to the ripening of perfect enlightenment; these are
the 10 perfections pāramī.
There is a threefold classification of enlightenment: 1. that of a Noble Disciple sāvaka-bodhi. i.e. of
an Arahat, 2. of an Independently Enlightened One
pacceka-bodhi, and 3. of a Perfect
Enlightened One sammā-sambodhi
This 3-fold division, however, is of later origin, and in this form it neither
occurs in the canonical texts nor in the older Sutta commentaries. The closest
approximation to it is found in a verse sutta which is probably of a comparatively
later period, the Treasure Store Sutta Nidhikkanda Sutta of the Khuddakapātha,
where the following 3 terms are mentioned in stanza 15: sāvaka-pāramī, pacceka-bodhi,
buddha-bhūmi see Khp. Tr., pp. 247f..
The commentaries e.g. to M.,
Buddhavamsa, Cariyapitaka generally give a 4-fold explanation of the word
bodhi: 1. the tree of enlightenment, 2. the Noble path
ariya-magga, 3. Nibbāna, 4 omniscience
of the Buddha: sabbaññutā-ñāna.
As to 2, the commentaries quote Cula-Nidesa where
bodhi is defined as the knowledge relating
to the 4 paths of Stream-entry, etc.;
catūsu, maggesu.
Neither in the canonical texts nor in the old commentaries is it stated
that a follower of the Buddha may choose between the three kinds of enlightenment
and aspire either to become a Buddha, a Pacceka-Buddha, or an Arahat-disciple.
This conception of a choice between three aspirations is, however, frequently
found in present-day Theravāda countries, e.g. in Sri Lanka.
Bodhipakkhiya-dhammā: The 37 'things
pertaining to enlightenment', or 'requisites of enlightenment' comprise the
entire doctrines of the Buddha. They are:
the 4 foundations of awareness or mindfulness
satipatthāna,
the 4 right efforts see: padhāna,
the 4 roads to power iddhi-pāda,
the 5 spiritual abilities indriya,
see: bala,
the 5 spiritual powers bala,
the 7 factors of enlightenment bojjhanga,
the Noble 8-fold path see:
magga.
In M. 77 all the 37
bodhipakkhiya-dhammā are
enumerated and explained though not called by that name. A detailed explanation
of them is given in Vis.M XXII. In
S.XLVII, 51, 67, only the five spiritual
abilities indriya are called
bodhipakkhiya-dhammā and in the Jhāna Vibhanga, only the 7 factors
of enlightenment bojjhanga.
See The Requisites of Enlightenment, by Ledi Sayadaw
WHEEL
169/172.
Bodhisatta: 'Enlightenment Being', is a being
destined to Buddhahood, a future Buddha. According to the traditional belief
a Bodhisatta, before reaching his last birth as a Buddha on this earth, is
living in the Tusita-heaven see: deva,
the heaven of bliss. Cf. A. IV, 127; VIII,
70.
In the Pāli Canon and commentaries, the designation 'Bodhisatta' is given
only to Prince Siddhattha before his enlightenment and to his former existences.
The Buddha himself uses this term when speaking of his life prior to enlightenment
e.g. M. 4,
M. 26. Bodhisattahood is neither mentioned
nor recommended as an ideal higher than or alternative to Arahatship; nor is
there any record in the Pāli scriptures of a disciple declaring it as his aspiration.
- See bodhi.
Bodily action: advantageous or disadvantageous;
see: kamma, kamma constructions - Right b.a. =
sammā-kammanta,
see: magga.
Bodily postures: the 4:
iriyā-patha
Body: kāya Contemplation
on the b. is one of the 4 satipatthāna.
Body-witness:
kāya-sakkhi.
Bojjhanga: 'the 7 factors of enlightenment',
are: awareness or mindfulness sati-sambojjhanga,
sati, investigation of the law
dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga
energy viriya-sambojjhanga,
viriya
padhāna rapture pīti-sambojjhanga
tranquillity passaddhi-sambojjhanga,
concentration samādhi-sambojjhanga,
equanimity upekkhā. Because they lead
to enlightenment, therefore they are called factors of enlightenment
see: XLVI, 5.
Though in the 2nd factor, dhamma-vicaya
the word dhamma is taken by most translators
to stand for the Buddhist doctrine, it probably refers to the bodily and mental
phenomena nāma-rūpa-dhammā
as presented to the investigating mind by awareness or mindfulness, the 1st
factor. With that interpretation, the term may be rendered by 'investigation
of phenomena'.
In A.X. 102, the 7 factors are said to
be the means of attaining the threefold understanding see: tevijjā.
They may be attained by means of the 4 foundations of awareness or mindfulness
satipatthāna,, as it is said in
see: XLVI, 1 and explained in
M. 118:
1: Whenever, o Bhikkhus, the Bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body
kāya feeling
vedanā mind
citta and mental-objects dhammā
strenuous, clearly-conscious, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief,
at such a time his awareness or mindfulness is present and undisturbed; and
whenever his awareness or mindfulness is present and undisturbed, at such
a time he has gained and is developing the link to Awakening 'awareness or
mindfulness' sati-sambojjhanga
and thus this link to Awakening reaches fullest perfection.
2: Whenever, while dwelling with awareness or mindfulness, he wisely investigates,
examines and thinks over the law... at such a time he has gained and is developing
the link to Awakening 'investigation of the law'
dhamma-vicaya°...
3: Whenever, while wisely investigating his energy is firm and unshaken...
at such a time he has gained and is developing the link to Awakening 'energy'viriya...
4: Whenever in him, while firm in energy, arises supersense-rapture...
at such a time he has gained and is developing the link to Awakening 'rapture'
pīti °.
5: Whenever, while enraptured in mind, his body and his mind become composed...
at such a time he has gained and is developing the link to Awakening 'tranquillity'
passaddhi °
6: Whenever, while being composed in his body and happy, his mind becomes
concentrated... at such a time he has gained and is developing the link to
Awakening 'concentration' samādhi
°
7: Whenever he looks with complete indifference on his mind thus concentrated...
at such a time he has gained and is developing the link to Awakening 'equanimity'upekkhā
.
Literature: Bojjhanga Samyutta see:
XLVI; Bojjhanga Vibh. - For the
conditions leading to the arising of each of the factors, see the
Com. to Satipatthāna Sutta Way of Mindfulness,
by Soma Thera; 3rd ed., 1967, BPS.
Further, The 'Seven Factors of Enlightenment, by Piyadassi Thera
WHEEL
1.