The Characteristics of the Bodhisattvas in Abhirati

Abstract

The characteristics of the bodhisattvas who live in Abhirati, the eastern Buddha-field of the Buddha Akṣobhya, are examined based on the Akṣobhyavyūha, an early Mahāyāna sūtra. Unlike the bodhisattvas of this world of ours, the bodhisattvas in Abhirati attain enlightenment immediately, without going through a step-by-step cultivation and progress along the path.

The bodhisattvas in Abhirati are considered to be the same as the “bodhisattvas who have been assured of future enlightenment,” “bodhisattvas who have attained anutpattikadharmakṣānti,” and “bodhisattvas sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa” of this world, and therefore not equal to the sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, and arhat who are the top three of the practitioners of the Śrāvakayāna. However, the bodhisattvas in Abhirati are also described as being equal to the srotaāpanna, the lowest level of the practitioners of the Śrāvakayāna. Why is it that the bodhisattvas in Abhirati, who are supposed to be superior to the practitioners of the Śrāvakayāna, are described as being equal to the lowest level of the srotaāpanna?

The bodhisattvas who have been assured of future enlightenment, who have attained anutpattikadharmakṣānti, and who are sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa, all refer to practitioners who are in the final stage of enlightenment, and therefore, the bodhisattvas in Abhirati do not have to go through the other three stages after attaining the state of srotaāpanna. I believe that this is the reason why it is said that the bodhisattvas in Abhirati are not equal to the sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, and arhat, the top three of the practitioners of the Śrāvakayāna.