{"id":15825,"date":"2021-10-04T09:41:28","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T14:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/?p=15825"},"modified":"2021-10-04T09:41:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T14:41:28","slug":"awakening-or-enlightenment-on-the-significance-of-bodhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/awakening-or-enlightenment-on-the-significance-of-bodhi\/","title":{"rendered":"Awakening or Enlightenment? On the Significance of bodhi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Bhikkhu An\u0101layo<\/strong><\/p>\n<h5>Abstract<\/h5>\n<p>The central goal of traditional mindfulness practice is <em>bodhi,<\/em> often translated as \u201cawakening.\u201d A critical examination of arguments proposed by Bhikkhu Bodhi in support of the alternative rendering as \u201cenlightenment\u201d confirms the preferability of understanding bodhi to refer indeed to a form of \u201cawakening\u201d as a way of conveying that the chief purpose of Buddhist mindfulness practice is to lead to realizing a liberating form of insight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key words:<\/strong> Awakening; <em>bodhi<\/em>; Buddha; enlightenment; Nirvana<\/p>\n<h5>Introduction<\/h5>\n<p>The overarching concern informing the cultivation of mindfulness in its ancient Indian setting was progress toward <em>bodhi<\/em> (An\u0101layo 2020). The relevant textual sources describe four distinct levels of such progress, from the attainment of stream-entry to becoming an arahant\/arhat (An\u0101layo 2021). The same texts tend to employ the term <em>bodhi<\/em> in particular to gaining the highest of these four levels, considered to correspond to the complete eradication of all defilements from the mind of the practitioner.<\/p>\n<p>The Buddha\u2019s experience of Nirvana as the key element of his own realization of <em>bodhi<\/em> forms the starting point for the entire early Buddhist approach to truth and valid pathways to knowledge (Dhammadinn\u0101 2021, p. 102). It is, after all, due to his experience of \u201cbodhi\u201d that the \u201cBuddha\u201d came to be so-called, the two terms being derivatives of the same etymological root budh. Hence, it is a matter of considerable consequence how to translate and understand the significance of the term bodhi.<\/p>\n<p>Although there seems to be a general trend among scholars to favor the translation \u201cawakening\u201d (An\u0101layo 2021), in a detailed article dedicated to this topic, the eminent P\u0101li translator Bhikkhu Bodhi (2020) provided several arguments in support of the alternative translation \u201cenlightenment.\u201d His conclusion relies on three main arguments (p. 76). One is that, according to his assessment, the English term awakening conveys more the sense of a \u201cflash of insight or a sudden shift in level of consciousness,\u201d whereas enlightenment rather carries the sense of \u201ca profound act of understanding with a comprehensive range.\u201d The second argument is that verb forms derived from the same etymological root as bodhi convey the sense to know directly, to understand, and to realize. The third argument draws on metaphors and similes that involve light and radiance, making enlightenment in his view the preferable translation.<\/p>\n<h5>A Flash of Insight<\/h5>\n<p>Regarding the first argument, Bodhi (2020, p. 60) illustrated his position with a metaphor that describes turning on the light after one has woken up, in that \u201cby attaining arahantship, one turns on the light, flooding the mind with liberating knowledge, with \u2018enlightenment,\u2019 just as the electric light illuminates the room.\u201d The illustration provided in this way could be contrasted with an imagery of insight leading to the realization of Nirvana, which employs precisely the opposite imagery: the extinction of a lamp.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">One should thoroughly examine the Dharma and insightfully discern its meaning with wisdom; liberation of the mind is like the quenching (= Nirvana) of a lamp.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(AN 7.3: <em>yoniso vicine dhamma\u1e43, pa\u00f1\u00f1\u0101yattha\u1e43 vipassati, pajjotass\u2019 eva nibb\u0101na\u1e43, vimokkho hoti cetaso<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Although the metaphor employed here could in principle also refer to the passing away of an arahant (this is the reading adopted by the P\u0101li commentary Mp IV 1), the context makes such an interpretation rather improbable. In early Buddhist thought, \u201cliberation of the mind\u201d is attainable while still alive and not, contrary to some conceptions of liberation in the ancient Indian setting, something that happens only at death. Therefore, a considerably more straightforward interpretation is that the imagery of the Nirvana of the lamp intends the breakthrough to the experience of Nirvana. This in turn corresponds to the first meaning listed in the <em>Pali-English Dictionary<\/em> for the term <em>nibb\u0101na<\/em>: \u201cthe going out of a lamp or fire\u201d (Rhys Davids and Stede 1921\/1993, p. 362). The corresponding entry in the Dictionary of P\u0101li by Cone (2010, p. 580) similarly begins by listing the meaning \u201cthe ceasing to burn, going out,\u201d followed by providing precisely the description of the going out of a lamp (<em>pajjotass\u2019 eva nibb\u0101na\u1e43<\/em>) as an illustration. In a monograph study of Nirvana, Collins (1998, 191) took up the image of the quenching of a fire right at the outset of his exploration of \u201cthe imagery of Nirvana.\u201d The pride of place given in this way by different scholars aptly reflects the importance of the image in the passage translated above.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <em>Ariyapariyesan\u0101-sutta<\/em> and its parallel, when describing the successful achievement of his quest for liberation, the Buddha spoke of this in terms of his attainment of Nirvana, conveying thereby that this must indeed have been a key aspect of his <em>bodhi<\/em> (MN 26: <em>nibb\u0101na\u1e43 ajjhagama\u1e43<\/em> and M\u0100 204: \u5f97 \u2026 \u6d85\u69c3). An experience of Nirvana involves a cessation of all links of dependent arising and thereby the cessation of conceptual types of knowledge as well as of any kind of inner vision of light, be it externally or internally generated, understood metaphorically or intended in a literal sense. In contrast, as noted by Kapstein (2004, p. 268), religious experiences of light or luminosity in general are clearly a distinct<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">class of religious experience which do engage the senses and are thus amenable to phenomenological description in sensorial terms, at least in large part; experiences of light may be euphemistically described as \u2018ineffable\u2019 in order to accentuate their magnificence, but they are certainly not contentless. What is more, in the case of light, it is not merely a sensory phenomenology that concerns us; for in many cases the physical perception of light is literally intended.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, Nirvana is the cessation of the six sense spheres and therefore not something that engages the senses. In fact, the early discourses tend to associate inner experiences of light or radiance rather with the cultivation of higher levels of mental tranquility (An\u0101layo 2017). As illustrated by the narrative of the Buddha\u2019s own pre-awakening cultivation of profound levels of mental tranquility, from an early Buddhist perspective such light-related meditative experiences fall short of being the final goal.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Bodhi (2020, p. 59) did consider the term awakening to be at least appropriate for the first experience of Nirvana with stream-entry as a \u201csudden breakthrough to the truth of the Dhamma.\u201d The early discourses usually describe such breakthrough in terms of the arising of the Dharma-eye. Although not being an image \u201cof waking up from sleep but the opening of an eye, this gain of the Dhamma-eye might reasonably be described as an awakening\u201d (p. 60). Given that the Buddha did not attain stream-entry but right away full awakening, it could be argued that the same sense of a sudden breakthrough to the unconditioned, comparable to opening an eye, would also be appropriate for the Buddha\u2019s <em>bodhi<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h5>Knowledge or Light<\/h5>\n<p>The second argument in support of the translation \u201cenlightenment\u201d is that verbs derived from the root <em>budh<\/em> can often convey a sense of \u201cunderstanding\u201d or \u201cknowledge.\u201d This is meant to counter the position taken by Norman (1990, p. 26) that \u201cthe root <em>budh-<\/em> which underlies these words has no direct connection with \u2018light.\u2019 The root means literally \u2018to wake up,\u2019 or metaphorically \u2018to wake up (to a fact), to know it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The quote already shows that the meaning of <em>budh<\/em> as a form of understanding or knowledge is not being contested. This is evident not only from the fact that Norman (1990, p. 26) explicitly speaks of \u201cto know\u201d in the above quote, but also from the translations used by the same author elsewhere. An example in case is a verse noted by Bodhi (2020, p. 65) as one of several examples where \u201cto translate <em>bujjhati<\/em> as \u2018awakens,\u2019 though possible, would strain ordinary English usage. Here, the sense of \u2018directly knows, understands, realizes\u2019 is far more natural and appropriate.\u201d Norman (1997\/2004, p. 20) indeed translated the relevant part of the verse (Dhp 136: <em>b\u0101lo na bujjhati<\/em>) as \u201cthe fool does not know [this],\u201d corresponding verbatim to the translation proposed by Bodhi (2020, p. 64). This gives the impression that the argument presented by the latter appears to be based on a misunderstanding of the position of the former. The point at issue is not that the translation \u201cto awaken\u201d should invariably be imposed on all possible derivatives of the root <em>budh<\/em> without allowing the alternative of adopting renderings like \u201cto know,\u201d \u201cto understand,\u201d or \u201cto realize.\u201d The question much rather concerns identifying the nuances of meaning that derivatives from this root convey in addition to understanding and knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Relevant verb forms that combine <em>budh<\/em> with a prefix can, as noted by Bodhi (2020, p. 65), at times indeed convey a sense of awakening from sleep. One example that is supported by a parallel version is a description of having dreams that will no longer be seen when waking up (MN 54: <em>pa\u1e6dibuddho,<\/em> M\u0100 203: \u609f). Another example occurs in verse:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">They are asleep and do not wake up; it is time for them to wake up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(SN 1.7: <em>sutt\u0101 te na pabujjhanti, k\u0101lo tesa\u1e43 pabujjhitun ti<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">On their own they do not awaken from sleep, for long their mind is bereft of the ability to wake up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(S\u0100 579: \u7761\u7720\u4e0d\u81ea\u89ba, \u9577\u52ab\u5fc3\u80fd\u609f; the combination \u9577\u52ab usually renders <em>kalpa,<\/em> which in the present case seems less apt, as the context requires the pada to carry a negative sense).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">This is called being asleep and not waking up; at some time they must get to wake up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(S\u01002 164: \u662f\u540d\u7761\u4e0d\u5be4, \u6709\u6642\u5fc5\u5f97\u5be4).<\/p>\n<p>Another example involves the Buddha being challenged for sleeping at dawn, after a night spent in meditation. Bodhi (2020, p. 73) commented on the Buddha\u2019s reply to this challenge that \u201cit is possible the Buddha is saying that as an Awakened One, who has eliminated all attachments, he is entitled to sleep after sunrise,\u201d although such an interpretation \u201cmay be reading more into the verse than is intended.\u201d Here is the P\u0101li version and one of its <em>Sa\u1e43yukta-\u0101gama<\/em> parallels (the Buddha\u2019s reply in another parallel, S\u01002 26, proceeds differently and has neither a reference to sleeping nor to the \u201cBuddha\u201d):<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The Buddha sleeps, what is that to you?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(SN 4.7: budho soppati kin-tav-ettha?).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The Buddha just gets ease from sleep.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">(S\u0100 1087: \u552f\u4f5b\u5f97\u5b89\u7720).<\/p>\n<p>The idea of a word play does seem to be a viable interpretation, in that the status of being an awakened one has no bearing on whether one still goes to sleep. This contrasts with notions current in ancient India that a fully realized sage is beyond sleep.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever may be the last word on this particular instance, it seems clear that derivatives of the root <em>budh<\/em> can carry a sense related to awakening. Such a sense is already attested in the <em>\u1e5agveda (<\/em>1.137.2: <em>ut\u00e1 v\u0101m u\u1e63\u00e1so budh\u00ed s\u0101k\u00e1\u1e43 s\u016b\u0301ryasya ra\u015bm\u00edbhi\u1e25<\/em>), where <em>budh\u00ed<\/em> conveys the sense of the awakening of dawn. In a monograph study of the terminology employed in the <em>\u1e5agveda,<\/em> Grassman (1955, p. 907) explained that the foundational meaning of <em>budh<\/em> is to wake up and to be awake (\u201cGrundbegriff is \u2018erwachen, wachen\u2019\u201d), out of which other meanings developed. From the viewpoint of ancient Indian precedents to Buddhist usage, the meaning of awakening appears to have been fairly central and it is quite probably this centrality that underlies the argument presented by Norman (1990) and others.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, as duly noted by Bodhi (2020, p. 69) himself, \u201cthe root budh and the words derived from it in no way denote the ideas of \u2018light\u2019 or \u2018illumination\u2019.\u201d It would follow that, when choosing between the two alternative renderings of bodhi, preference should be given to the one that captures the nuance of awakening in addition to the main sense of a form of understanding or knowledge.<\/p>\n<h5>Light Imagery<\/h5>\n<p>Evaluating the third argument, which adduces imagery of light and radiance in support of the translation \u201cenlightenment,\u201d requires distinguishing between the actual experience of <em>bodhi<\/em> and the function of the Buddha or his awakened disciples as teachers in the world. An example relevant to this distinction is the observation by Bodhi (2020, p. 70) that, after the Buddha had given his first sermon,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\u2018a measureless great radiance appeared in the world, surpassing the divine majesty of the gods.\u2019 This again suggests light as the most fitting symbol for the perfect <em>sambodhi<\/em> of the Buddha. In fact, another sutta tells us that such a \u2018measureless great radiance\u2019 occurred along with his attainment of <em>sambodhi<\/em> itself (at AN II 131,15\u201316).<\/p>\n<p>The same discourse associates such a light phenomenon also with the Buddha\u2019s conception in his mother\u2019s womb and with the occasion of his birth (AN 4.127). It follows that the great radiance is not a specific illustration of his <em>bodhi<\/em>. Instead, it is rather something believed to have happened on several extraordinary occasions in the Buddha\u2019s life. The case of the <em>Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta<\/em> thereby exemplifies the need to discern between awakening and subsequent teaching activity.<\/p>\n<p>Early discourses from different transmission lineages agree in granting in principle that someone could become a Paccekabuddha\/Pratyekabuddha, a \u201cBuddha\u201d who does not teach (An\u0101layo 2010 and 2015). This shows that the notion of bodhi, at least in the type of texts that reflect the earliest strata of Buddhist thought, did not include teaching activity as a necessary component. It would follow that light imagery related to teaching activity is not directly relevant to assessing the best way of translating the term bodhi, which is not necessarily about becoming a teacher.<\/p>\n<p>Another example provided by Bodhi (2020, p. 69) relates to the three higher knowledges attained by the Buddha, where \u201cthe acquisition of each knowledge is depicted by the image of light dispelling darkness.\u201d Yet, the first two of these three knowledges have no bearing on <em>bodhi<\/em> and can according to the early discourses be attained by anyone who has gained sufficient tranquillity of mind, without a need for cultivating liberating insight. In early Buddhist thought, even a single past life need not be recollected in order to gain full awakening (An\u0101layo 2007, p. 100). This holds not only for disciples but also for Buddhas, as the reports of the awakening of the former Buddha Vipassin\/Vipa\u015byin do not refer to the first two higher knowledges (Waldschmidt 1956, p. 146), showing that these were not considered a requirement for becoming a Buddha. Again, imagery of light related to the three higher knowledges is not specific to the event of <em>bodhi.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Two additional examples provided by Bodhi (2020, p. 70) concern an illustration of the Buddha\u2019s insight into dependent arising as comparable to the \u201csun lighting up the sky\u201d and a qualification of the teaching given in the Buddha\u2019s first sermon, according to which \u201cthe eye arose in me, knowledge arose, wisdom arose, clear knowledge arose, light arose.\u201d Regarding the former, it needs to be noted that this occurrence (Ud 1.3) is only one of three alternative verses, the other two of which do not involve any light or sun imagery (Ud 1.1 and Ud 1.2). Similarly, among the counterpart verses in the <em>Ud\u0101navarga<\/em> extant in Sanskrit only two out of eight verses have light imagery (Uv 33.81\u201382, in contrast to Uv 33.76\u201380 and Uv 33.83). This conveys the impression that the light imagery could be less central to this episode than it may seem at first sight.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the Buddha\u2019s first sermon, a reference to the arising of light also occurs in a discourse parallel in the <em>Ekottarika-\u0101gama<\/em> (E\u0100 24.5: \u5149\u751f), a discourse extant in Tibetan (D 31 or P 747: <em>snang ba bskyed pa<\/em>; see also Skilling 1993, p. 194), and in the Mah\u0101vastu (Marciniak 2019, p. 424: <em>\u0101loka\u1e43 pr\u0101durabh\u016b\u1e63i)<\/em>. A range of other parallels to the <em>Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta,<\/em> found among the early discourses, discourse quotations, and Vinayas, have otherwise similar listings but without a reference to light:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(Waldschmidt 1952, p. 146: cak\u1e63ur udap\u0101di j\u00f1\u0101na\u1e43 vidy\u0101 buddhir udap\u0101di).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(Wogihara 1936\/1971, p. 579: <em>cak\u1e63ur udap\u0101di j\u00f1\u0101na\u1e43 vidy\u0101 buddhir udap\u0101di)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge, understanding, realization, and comprehension arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(Chung 2006, p. 86: <em>mig skyes so, shes pa dang, rig pa dang, blo dang, rtogs pa skeys so.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(Up 6056: <em>mig skyes so, shes pa dang, rig pa dang, blo skyes so<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision, knowledge, understanding, and realization arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(S\u0100 379: \u751f\u773c, \u667a, \u660e, \u89ba).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">I experienced vision, experienced meditative concentration, experienced wisdom, and experienced realization, which made my mind attain understanding.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T 109: \u53d7\u773c, \u53d7\u79aa, \u53d7\u6167, \u53d7\u89ba, \u4ee4\u610f\u5f97\u89e3; which is one of several slightly different listings, none of which has a reference to light).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">I was able to arouse vision, knowledge, understanding, and realization.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T 100: \u80fd\u751f\u773c, \u667a, \u660e, \u89ba).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge arose, understanding arose, realization arose, insight arose, and wisdom arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T XXII 104c: \u773c\u751f, \u667a\u751f, \u660e\u751f, \u89ba\u751f, \u901a\u751f, \u6167\u751f; a previous instance at 104b is shorter: \u751f\u773c, \u667a, \u660e, \u89ba).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Knowledge arose, vision arose, realization arose, understanding arose, insight arose, and wisdom arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T XXII 788a: \u667a\u751f, \u773c\u751f, \u89ba\u751f, \u660e\u751f, \u901a\u751f, \u6167\u751f).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Vision arose, knowledge arose, understanding arose, and realization arose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T XXIII 448b: \u751f\u773c, \u751f\u667a, \u751f\u660e, \u751f\u89ba).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">I attained the arising of pure wisdom, vision, knowledge, understanding, and realization.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T XXIV 127c: \u5f97\u6de8\u6167, \u773c, \u667a, \u660e, \u89ba\u751f).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">Being concentrated I was able to give rise to vision, knowledge, understanding, and realization.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">(T XXVI 479b: \u5b9a\u80fd\u767c\u751f\u773c, \u667a, \u660e, \u89ba).<\/p>\n<p>The absence of a mention of light holds for the <em>Catu\u1e63pari\u1e63at-s\u016btra,<\/em> a discourse quotation in the <em>Abhidharmako\u015bavy\u0101khy\u0101,<\/em> a discourse extant in Tibetan and a discourse quotation in the <em>Abhidharmako\u015bop\u0101yik\u0101<\/em>-\u1e6d\u012bk\u0101 in the same language, a <em>Sa\u1e43yukta-\u0101gama<\/em> discourse and two individual discourses extant in Chinese translations, versions of the Buddha\u2019s first sermon found in the Chinese translations of the Vinayas of the Mah\u012b\u015b\u0101saka (T 1421), <em>Dharmaguptaka<\/em> (T 1428), <em>Sarv\u0101stiv\u0101da<\/em> (T 1435), and <em>M\u016blasarv\u0101stiv\u0101da<\/em> traditions (T 1450), and a discourse quotation in the Chinese translation of the<em> Dharmaskandha<\/em> (T 1537). Clearly, light is not a common element among descriptions given in parallel versions of what according to tradition was the first teaching given by the Buddha.<\/p>\n<p>Even the versions that compare the Buddha\u2019s insight into dependent arising to the sun lighting up the sky or his insight into the four truths to the arising of light, are specific to his case and do not seem to be directly applicable to the notion of <em>bodhi<\/em> in general. Take the case of mindfulness as the first of seven factors of <em>bodhi<\/em> (<em>bojjha\u1e45ga\/bodhya\u1e45ga\/\u89ba\u652f\/byang chub kyi yan lag)<\/em>. This is indubitably a mental quality not confined to those who wish to become Buddhas. Instead, it relevant for all disciples who aspire to reach freedom from defilements. Achieving the goal of such aspirations does require insight into dependent arising and the four truths, but such insight follows in the footsteps of the Buddha\u2019s original discovery. In contrast, the instances of light-imagery just mentioned serve to express the element of discovery made by the Buddha, who reached <em>bodhi<\/em> on his own and then shared his discovery with others by engaging in teaching activity.<\/p>\n<p>It seems that items like the seven factors of<em> bodhi<\/em> need to be rendered in a way that does justice to what is common to the <em>bodhi<\/em> of Buddha(s) and of their disciples, which is of course the experience of Nirvana resulting in the destruction of defilements. The term Nirvana, as noted above, conveys the opposite of the idea of an arising of light. This fundamental metaphor needs to be kept in mind when considering the implications of the event of <em>bodhi<\/em> as understood in the thought world of the early discourses.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, another problem becomes evident in the following comment by Bodhi (2020, p. 54 n. 4), regarding connotations of the term enlightenment \u201cto describe the European intellectual movement of the eighteenth century. I don\u2019t see this as at all problematic, for our minds can easily separate the two spheres of reference.\u201d Yet, according to McMahan (2008, p. 18)<\/p>\n<p>the most common English translation, \u201cenlightenment,\u201d invokes, however, a complex of meanings tied to the ideas, values, and sensibilities of the European Enlightenment: reason, empirical observation, suspicion of authority, freedom of thought, and so on. Early translators, moreover, consciously forged this link.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the employment of the translation \u201cenlightenment\u201d is considered indeed problematic, as it risks continuing an interpretative strategy employed to present Buddhism in a way palatable to Western sensitivities but which does not necessarily do justice to the early Buddhist textual sources. This alone would already make it preferable to avoid such translation choice.<\/p>\n<p>In sum, then, the Buddha\u2019s <em>bodhi<\/em> can be understood to involve a sudden shift in level of consciousness due to the realization of Nirvana, equaling the cessation of the six sense spheres. Reference to this event with derivatives of <em>budh<\/em> convey the sense of an understanding or knowing that comes with a secondary nuance of waking up. Metaphors and similes that involve light and radiance tend to portray the Buddha\u2019s teaching activities and their repercussions rather than the actual breakthrough to what is, after all, best rendered as his \u201cawakening.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5>Compliance with Ethical Standards<\/h5>\n<p><strong>Ethical Approval:<\/strong> This article does not contain any studies performed by the author with human participants or animals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conflict of Interest:<\/strong> The author declares he has no conflict of interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Acknowledgment:<\/strong> The author is indebted to Bhikkhu Bodhi and Bhikkhun\u012b Dhammadinn\u0101 for commenting on a draft version of this article.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abbreviations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AN, A\u1e45guttara-nik\u0101ya; D, Derge edition; Dhp, Dhammapada; E\u0100, Ekottarika-\u0101gama (T 125); M\u0100, Madhyama-\u0101gama (T 26); MN, Majjhima-nik\u0101ya; Mp, Manorathap\u016bra\u1e47\u012b; P, Peking edition; S\u0100, Sa\u1e43yukta-\u0101gama (T 99); S\u01002, Sa\u1e43yukta-\u0101gama (T 100); SN, Sa\u1e43yutta-nik\u0101ya; T, Taish\u014d (Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association); Ud, Ud\u0101na; Up, Abhidharmako\u015bop\u0101yik\u0101-\u1e6d\u012bk\u0101; Uv, Ud\u0101navarga.<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2007). The Vekhanassa-sutta and its Madhyama-\u0101gama parallel: a case study in the transmission of the P\u0101li discourses. Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies 5, 89\u2013104.<\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2010). Paccekabuddhas in the Isigili-sutta and its Ekottarika-\u0101gama parallel. Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies 6, 5\u201336.<\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2015). Pratyekabuddhas in the Ekottarika-\u0101gama. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 8, 10\u201327.<\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2017). The luminous mind in Therav\u0101da and Dharmaguptaka discourses. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 13, 10\u201351.<\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2020) The qualities pertinent to awakening: bringing mindfulness home. Mindfulness, doi: 10.1007\/s12671-020-01398-3.<\/p>\n<p>An\u0101layo, Bh. (2021). The four levels of awakening. Mindfulness 12, 831\u2013840, doi: 10.1007\/s12671-020-01530-3.<\/p>\n<p>Bodhi, Bh. (2020). On translating \u2018Buddha.\u2019 Journal of the Oxford Center for Buddhist Studies, 19, 52\u201378.<\/p>\n<p>Chung, J. (2006). Dharmacakrapravartana-dharmapary\u0101ya of the Sarv\u0101stiv\u0101da and M\u016blasarv\u0101stiv\u0101da tradition. In U. H\u00fcsken, P. Kieffer-P\u00fclz, and A. Peters (ed.) Jaina-Itih\u0101sa-Ratna, Festschrift f\u00fcr Gustav Roth zum 90. Geburtstag (pp. 75\u2013102). Marburg: Indica et Tibetica.<\/p>\n<p>Collins, S. (1998). Nirvana and other Buddhist felicities, utopias of the Pali imaginaire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n<p>Cone, M. (2010). A dictionary of P\u0101li, part II, g-n. Oxford: Pali Text Society.<\/p>\n<p>Dhammadinn\u0101, Bh. (2021). Reflections on truth and experience in early Buddhist epistemology. In C. Roloff, W. Weisse and M. Zimmermann (ed.) Buddhism in Dialogue with Contemporary Societies (pp. 101\u2013133). M\u00fcnster and New York: Waxmann.<\/p>\n<p>Grassman, H. (1955). W\u00f6rterbuch zum Rig-Veda. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.<\/p>\n<p>Kapstein, T. M. (2004). The presence of light, divine radiance and religious experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n<p>Marciniak, K. (2019). The Mah\u0101vastu, a new edition, vol. III. Tokyo: International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University.<\/p>\n<p>McMahan, D. L. (2008). The making of Buddhist modernism. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n<p>Norman, K.R (1990). Aspects of early Buddhism. In D.S. Ruegg and L. Schmithausen (ed.) Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka (pp. 24\u201335). Leiden: Brill.<\/p>\n<p>Norman, K.R. (1997\/2004). The word of the doctrine (Dhammapada). Oxford: Pali Text Society.<\/p>\n<p>Rhys Davids, T.W. and Stede, W. (1921\/1993). Pali-English Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.<\/p>\n<p>Skilling, P. (1993). Therav\u0101din literature in Tibetan translation. Journal of the Pali Text Society 19, 69\u2013201.<\/p>\n<p>Waldschmidt, E. 1952. Das Catu\u1e63pari\u1e63ats\u016btra, eine kanonische Lehrschrift \u00fcber die Begr\u00fcndung der Buddhistischen Gemeinde, Text in Sanskrit und Tibetisch, verglichen mit dem P\u0101li nebst einer \u00dcbersetzung der chinesischen Entsprechung im Vinaya der M\u016blasarv\u0101stiv\u0101dins, auf Grund von Turfan-Handschriften herausgegeben und bearbeitet. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.<\/p>\n<p>Waldschmidt, E. (1956). Das Mah\u0101vad\u0101nas\u016btra, ein kanonischer Text \u00fcber die sieben letzten Buddhas, Sanskrit, verglichen mit dem P\u0101li nebst einer Analyse der in Chinesischer \u00dcbersetzung \u00fcberlieferten Parallelversion, auf Grund von Turfan-Handschriften herausgegeben. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.<\/p>\n<p>Wogihara, U. 1936\/1971: Sphu\u1e6d\u0101rth\u0101 Abhidharmako\u015bavy\u0101khy\u0101 by Ya\u015bomitra, Part II. Tokyo: Sankibo Buddhist Book Store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bhikkhu An\u0101layo Abstract The central goal of traditional mindfulness practice is bodhi, often translated as \u201cawakening.\u201d A critical examination of arguments proposed by Bhikkhu Bodhi in support of the alternative rendering as \u201cenlightenment\u201d confirms the preferability of understanding bodhi to refer indeed to a form of \u201cawakening\u201d as a way of conveying that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-15825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Awakening or Enlightenment? 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