The Stages and Sequence of Bodhisattvas

Buddhist practitioners today can be divided into two categories based on their self-perception. The first category consists of those who have studied widely and heard much, possessing abundant knowledge. They are full of confidence in their practice and cultivation, and harbor some arrogance and pride. Whenever they meet someone, they declare that they are not only bodhisattvas but extraordinary bodhisattvas. When fellow practitioners meet and exchange greetings, they begin by addressing each other as "So-and-so Bodhisattva," praising one another, and feeling deeply satisfied within. The second category consists of those whose broad learning and extensive hearing are insufficient, whose knowledge and insight are not rich enough, who do not understand the meaning of "bodhisattva," and whose minds harbor some inferiority, not daring to claim the name of bodhisattva. When they hear someone call themselves a bodhisattva, they think it is no small sin. Both types have gone too far; their mental dispositions are both forms of conceit—arrogant conceit and inferior conceit—and both belong to foolishness.

For the second category of people, let us explain what is meant by "bodhisattva." For example, take the title "student": a person who is attending school and studying is called a student, including those studying all kinds of content, with a very broad scope, not even restricted by age—an eighty-year-old can also be called a student, as long as they are studying. Moreover, someone who has a student ID is even more certainly a student, for an ID is a form of proof. By the same reasoning, a person who is walking the bodhisattva path and cultivating bodhisattva conduct is called a bodhisattva; a person who has generated the bodhisattva mind to liberate themselves and has vowed to liberate others is called a bodhisattva; a person who is studying the Buddhadharma and the bodhisattva-dharma is called a bodhisattva; a person who has faith in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha is called a bodhisattva; a person who has taken refuge in the Three Jewels is called a bodhisattva; a person who cultivates the six perfections of the bodhisattva is called a bodhisattva; and especially one who has received the bodhisattva precepts and possesses a bodhisattva certificate, who has made bodhisattva vows witnessed by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and who has obtained the essence of the bodhisattva precepts, is even more certainly a bodhisattva. Bodhisattvas include ghosts and spirits, animals, non-human beings, devas, and all other sentient beings. However, they do not include those of fixed nature as śrāvakas—the arhats and pratyekabuddhas who do not turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle—for they have no mind to become Buddhas or bodhisattvas, no mind to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings, and only wish for the purity of nirvāṇa.

Bodhisattvas include ordinary bodhisattvas and noble bodhisattvas, and their stages and sequence are as follows:

1. Bodhisattvas of the faith stages: from the first faith stage to the tenth faith stage, all ten stages are faith-stage bodhisattvas, all ordinary bodhisattvas who have not yet generated the resolve to cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections, who do not yet have the qualification or ability to cultivate the six perfections, and who are cultivating faith in the Buddhadharma.

2. Bodhisattvas of the abiding stages: from the first abiding stage to the sixth abiding stage, they begin to generate the great bodhi mind, resolve to advance toward the Buddha path, and cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections. At the first abiding stage, they generate the resolve to cultivate the perfection of generosity (dāna); when that cultivation is complete, the first abiding stage ends and they enter the second abiding stage. The abiding-stage bodhisattva then generates the resolve to cultivate the perfection of precepts, and when that cultivation is complete, they enter the third abiding stage. The third-abiding-stage bodhisattva generates the resolve to cultivate the perfection of forbearance, and when that cultivation is complete, they enter the fourth abiding stage. The fourth-abiding-stage bodhisattva generates the resolve to cultivate the perfection of diligence, and when that cultivation is complete, they enter the fifth abiding stage. The fifth-abiding-stage bodhisattva generates the resolve to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), and when that cultivation is complete, they enter the sixth abiding stage. The sixth-abiding-stage bodhisattva generates the resolve to cultivate the perfection of prajñā, and when that cultivation is complete, they awaken and see the mind, entering the seventh abiding stage. The seventh abiding stage is the stage where the bodhisattva never regresses; such a bodhisattva is called a bodhisattva of true meaning, a genuine bodhisattva worthy of the name—one who not only has the name of bodhisattva but also the real virtue of a bodhisattva.

3. Bodhisattvas of the conduct stages: when the ten stages of the abiding stages are cultivated to completion, one enters the conduct stages and becomes a conduct-stage bodhisattva. The cultivation has ten stages, and when cultivation is complete, one enters the dedication stage.

4. Bodhisattvas of the dedication stage: there are ten stages, and when cultivation is complete, one enters the first bhūmi.

5. Bodhisattvas of the bhūmi stages: a first-bhūmi bodhisattva realizes the path in terms of the characteristics of consciousness-only, transforms consciousness into wisdom, possesses the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only, enters the family of the Tathāgata, and becomes a true child of the Buddha. Cultivating all the way to the tenth bhūmi, when cultivation is complete, one becomes an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva; after the equal-enlightenment bodhisattva, like Maitreya Bodhisattva, one becomes a future Buddha-in-waiting, that is, a wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva.

The ranks of bodhisattvas, from the ordinary bodhisattvas of the faith stages, to the virtuous bodhisattvas of the abiding stages, conduct stages, and dedication stages, and on to the noble bodhisattvas of the ten bhūmis, the equal-enlightenment bodhisattvas, and the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattvas, total fifty-two stages in sequence.

Everyone should take their own seat accordingly: whether you are a bodhisattva, which stage of bodhisattva you are, what dharma you should cultivate, what dharma you are currently cultivating, whether you have the bodhisattva's resolve, whether you have the essence of the bodhisattva precepts, and how you should cultivate in the future. If you feel that you are not even an ordinary bodhisattva of the faith stages, that you are practically a complete novice, then you are purely wasting your time here. If you do not even have the resolve of a first-abiding-stage bodhisattva, do not wish to cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections, and do not wish to cultivate the conduct of generosity, then you have no qualification whatsoever to seek the bodhisattva's realization, and you are also wasting your time here.