The transliteration of the Sanskrit word Bodhi. The Chinese translation is “Right Enlightenment,” meaning: true enlightenment. The Master said: “The Bodhi mind, like iron and stone, dares to challenge.” (Diệu Pháp Quang Minh: The Wonderful Dharma of Luminous Light).
In Buddhism, the word “Bodhi” can have the following meanings: The state of achieving enlightenment through practice. The name of a great Tibetan master: Bodhi Path Stages, and of the First Patriarch of Zen Buddhism: Bodhidharma. The name of an important work by the great master Atisha: Bodhi Path Lamp Treatise. Bodhi Gaya: the name of an ancient stupa in Patna, Bihar, India, a sacred site where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment. Bodhi School: the name of a private primary and secondary education institution of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church. The Bodhi seed is the seed of enlightenment and goodness.
The Sixth Patriarch’s verse on the Bodhi mind clearly explains what Bodhi is when he was still a rice miller in the temple, but no one knew that he had already surpassed the capabilities of an ordinary monk. Thanks to this poem, the Fifth Patriarch Hong Ren chose him as the Sixth Patriarch instead of Shen Xiu, the monk considered the most promising candidate at the time. However, the verse of this famous monk did not fully express the transcendent nature of the two words “Bodhi.”
“The Bodhi is the Bodhi tree,
The mind is like a bright mirror stand.
Every moment, one must wipe it clean,
Do not let it be stained with dust.”
(The body is the Bodhi tree, The mind is like a bright mirror stand. Every moment, one must wipe it clean, Do not let it be stained with dust.)
This verse was passed down by his disciples.
“Bồ đề bổn vô thọ,
Minh cảnh diệc phi đài.
Bổn lai vô nhứt vật,
Hà xứ nhá trần ai”.
(Bồ đề vốn không thọ, Minh cảnh cũng không đài. xưa nay không có vật, Nào chỗ vướng trần ai”.
“Bodhi has no tree,
The bright mirror is also no stand.
Originally there is nothing,
Where can dust cling?”
(Bodhi has no tree, The bright mirror is also no stand. From ancient times there has been no thing, Where can dust cling?)
