The Mahāyāna Path of the Bodhisattva in the Ornament for Clear Realization

Abstract

AbstractBuddhists have articulated the central notion of the ‘path’ in a variety of different ways and in a great number of texts throughout the history of their traditions. Among texts related to the path, the Ornament for Clear Realization, a commentary on the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, has had a significant impact on Mahāyāna Buddhist notions of the path and became the dominant Indian text for the study of the path in Tibetan traditions. This article focuses on two general descriptions of the bodhisattva path found in the Ornament for Clear Realization. The first description centers upon eight ‘clear realizations’ (abhisamaya) that constitute the knowledges and practices of Prajñāpāramitā textual systems. The second description elucidates a system of five paths, shaped by Indian Abhidharma and Yogācāra texts, that is commonly used by Tibetan commentators. The article demonstrates how the eight clear realizations and five paths are interrelated, yet distinct, modes of envisioning the bodhisattva path in the Ornament. While these path structures do not provide details of actual meditation experience, they do provide Tibetan Buddhists who follow the Ornament a structured worldview where a narrative of spiritual progress is possible and where the altruistic goal of Buddhahood can be attained.