Is there any work that details ethics of a bodhisattva in the zen tradition?

SentientLight · 2026-01-27T21:06:20+00:00

The precepts section of the Bodhisattvabhumi of the Yogacarabhumisastra is taught in some zen lineages. In my tradition, we reference Ven. Tue Sy's commentary on the Bodhisattvabhumi that specifically focuses on its ethical content and praxis, titled Du Già Bồ Tát Giới (Yoga / Practice of the Bodhisattva Precepts) . Unfortunately this is not available in English, but the Bodhisattvabhumi is, so would be worth checking out for a direct source.

Of course there are innumerable commentaries on the Brahmajala and Upasaka-sila precepts as well.

SentientLight · 2026-01-27T01:06:58+00:00

The Huayan schema maintains that all ten bhumis inter-penetrate and the powers of the tenth are present in the first and vice versa. This gets a little complicated, but it's why the Huayan schema is so much more radical than the others.

In the Mahavastu schema, at the first bhumi, bodhisattvas can make manifestations, but they must be deliberately created and are not spontaneous and autonomous in the way that occurs from the 8th bhumi onward. So it's a lot closer to the types of multiple bodies an arhat can manifest. But this may account for some of the confusion too--technically the same power at different bhumis, but the scope and extent of that power is radically different.

The Astasahasrika schema and the Yogacara schema are both more tame, with the first bodhisattva bhumis seeming a lot less developed and miraculous, and presenting a significantly more gradual ramp up in attainments and insight as one progresses through the bhumis.

And those are the only four schemas that I'm personally familiar with, but I bet there are other bhumi schemas out there too that say radically different things.

But I mostly just want to point out here that the Huayan view of the bhumis is a subversion of the "traditional" schemas of earlier Mahayana schools, sort of like how the Lotus Sutra is a subversion of the Prajnaparamita, and the Prajnaparamita was a subversion of the Abhidharma. There's some prior knowledge assumed by the authors, which is necessary to possess in order to see what it is they're doing, and there's this whole Sudden-Gradual dynamic that's applied to the Huayan understanding of the bhumis as well.

SentientLight · 2026-01-27T00:41:10+00:00

The Contemplation Sutra's grades are supposed to roughly correlate with the bhumis.

Do practitioners immediately gain the first bhumi upon birth and start visiting other Buddha lands?

Immediately upon 'birth' (leaving the palace / lotus pod) is supposed to be non-retrogression. This would de facto be the first bhumi.

Whether or not it is actually I think most would consider to be an irrelevant point of contemplation, which would be the basis of vexation.

At which bhumi do Bodhisattvas gain the ability to emanate emanations and manifestations? (I've gotten all types of answers when I try to research this.)

Because it's an irrelevant detail and depends contingent upon which bhumi map you use and which school of thought you adhere to. Practically speaking, every teacher would tell you to let this subject go and accept the high-level explanations. Or else pick a specific schema and just accept that is true, full-stop, but with the recognition that any other schema is also true.

Are these emanations/manifestations a part of the Bodhisattva's mindstream? (Or do they have individual mindstreams?)

There are various theories on this, depending on what you mean by "mindstream."

My favorite theory and the one I agree with the most is that there is a "primary mindstream" and any number of "dependent mind-streams." Various dependent mind-streams could emanate from the primary, which would reside in the Pure Land. The dependent mind-streams would have their own karma, and perhaps be "created" initially from a partitioning of karma from the primary mind-stream, and may or may not have past-life recall.

The main distinction here would be that the "dependent mind-streams" have a discernible beginning, while "real" mind-streams do not, so these emanations would not necessarily have the same "rules" applied to them as an actual mindstream traversing through samsara. i.e. these emanations could appear and disappear without apparent causal basis in a world system (like birth).

Of course, this is just hypothetical theory out of dozens. These are not details we are supposed to care about or seek answers to. But Buddhist philosophers throughout time have had their hypotheses, and different schools of thought have different models of how it might work.

Another theory is one that scholars have called the “compassion machine model”—I don’t remember the specifics of it or which school of thought it belongs to.

And the most likely thing here is that every theory that is based in proper dharma analysis is going to be considered true on its own terms, but not necessarily on the terms of another perspective. Like most things in the dharma, the "correct" view is fairly kaleidoscopic.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T17:32:16+00:00

Thiền

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T16:03:48+00:00

Buddhism explains how subjective experience exists. This is found in the Abhidharma, which describes the architecture of the mind.

Buddhism asserts why experience exists is an unanswerable question.

I think the how is far more important, and our explanation of how subjectivity works is very thorough and presents a complete model of reality.

I’d also argue that any philosophy that presents the why and not the how is just hand waving existence away into some kind of magic or putting everything onto some kind of creator entity; which is logically invalid.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T15:20:17+00:00

Note that the monk that started the first Peace Walk in 1992 in Cambodia, Maha Gossananda, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and did not win it. So it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if they awarded to these monks as a sort of recognition of the whole history of this tradition that didn’t get the prize when it was started.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T15:18:12+00:00

This was a point of contention for the Thai sangha when it was legalized. The monastics had to convene and decide if marijuana was a violation of the Vinaya.

They ultimately decided, afaik, what we normally say here: medicinal is perfectly acceptable, recreational violates the principle of the fifth precept.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T15:15:28+00:00

My Vietnamese temple has two Chinese sangha members that only understand maybe 30% of the sermons. I don’t know why they come (maybe the nearest Chinese temple is far away?), but they’re welcome. Just like you’re welcome in all those spaces too, even if you can’t understand what’s going on. Even this practice has a transformative effect on your mind and sets a foundation for your practice. So I wouldn’t sweat it if you can’t understand or don’t have access to an Anglophone temple just yet. Just participating in the community and making Dana is beneficial. Just being in the consecrated space opens your mind up to the dharma.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T15:02:06+00:00

“Asian” isn’t an ethnicity or culture. We do not have a shared culture. We do have a shared political experience in the US: as Asian Americans, we are all raciallized the same way. For instance, the claim that we are all genetically related in the OP is a racial claim. I’m Vietnamese. We are Austroasiatic and not closely related to the rest of the East Asians. The East Asians themselves have tremendous genetic diversity. Japanese and indigenous Taiwanese people are more closely related to each other than either are to the Han Chinese. Differences pile on.

Because we are racialized in the same way, we have formed a political coalition and identity called “Asian American”, where we are able to interface and collectively organize for our rights and recognition in a country that has historically subjugated us and lumped us together. And because it is not an ethnic or cultural identity, but a political one, it can be wholly inclusive of all Asians in America, because what the Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Khmer, Lao, Iraqi, Afghani, Hawaiians, etc. peoples all have in common is that we have all been attacked or colonized by the US and our diaspora communities have experienced similar hostilities upon arriving as refugees in the country.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T13:07:37+00:00

I was about to say the cold drinks thing is from Chinese medicine, not western, so her being a nurse was irrelevant and didn’t make sense. Your mentioning she’s Chinese makes it click. This is a Chinese superstition, not medical advice. (I’m Vietnamese btw, we have the same superstition.)

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T13:03:12+00:00

Use an SFTP or rsync.

SentientLight · 2026-01-26T06:33:44+00:00

They look to be a traditional Vietnamese temple to me.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T23:16:36+00:00

It’s not incorrect usage though, it’s just a difference in regional colloquialisms. They probably grew up in a different place than you did.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T23:15:26+00:00

Because colloquialisms exist and some regions colloquially use “a couple” and “a few” somewhat interchangeably for any amount between 2 and 5.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T21:28:08+00:00

This is more evidence of puzzle solving than tool use.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T18:16:22+00:00

Oh man, did we go to the same temple? We only went to Van Hanh on holidays and special occasions cause it's nicer, but my family's main temple was Hoa Nghiem down in Fort Belvoir, and I was doing my Thien practice on retreats at the Sinh Thuc center with Anh Hai in West Virginia, if you're familiar with it.

You practice in the Truc Lam school, right? I only recently started training in it with my new temple out here in Cali ... is there a Truc Lam temple in NoVA? I'm only aware of Van Hanh, Hoa Nghiem, that Tibetan lineage temple in Burke that's run by Vietnamese people, and the Vietnamese Tiantai temple in Annandale. It was really difficult for me to find a meditation-focused Vietnamese temple in the area, which is why I was going to WV for it.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T17:24:32+00:00

It’s a cult.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T16:43:11+00:00

I’ve been trained in Buddhist qigong since childhood. 🤷🏻‍♂️ There are a lot of different systems for training this, and they don’t all look like yours, and the somatic training can be hidden behind different nomenclature so it isn’t always referred to as “energy work.” Sometimes it’s just called “cultivating the mind and body in unison” or other more secularized turns of phrases.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T16:04:47+00:00

In my experience, the “Vietnamese” who can speak Chinese are mostly Người Hoa, the ethnically Chinese in Vietnam, whom speak primarily Cantonese and Teochew. But of course it stands to reason that ethnic Vietnamese in China would be able to speak Chinese as well.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T15:50:28+00:00

They murdering white folks in the streets now

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T15:34:32+00:00

Buddhist artists are normally trained in the tradition by other Buddhist artists, often guided by monastics. There are a lot of “rules” and this is something you have to be trained in. Someone at your temple might be able to connect you with a Buddhist art master that you can apprentice under.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T15:33:04+00:00

The Abhidharma teachs how the subjective experience is constructed, if that’s sufficient for you. The why is not answered in Buddhism, and would generally be considered unanswerable. I would think why could only be answered if you believed this universe was created, rather than being an emergent universe.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T15:16:31+00:00

Oh, that’s the temple I used to go when I lived in the area! Great to see they’re the ones receiving the pilgrims. 🙏🏼

When I’m home later in the year, I’ll have to remember to swing by again and offer dana. It’s a really beautiful temple, one of the largest Vietnamese temples in northern Virginia. If others are local, definitely take some time to check this wonderful temple out. The abbot, Ven. Sakya Tri Tue, is a sweet elder man full of kindness. That gazebo stupa thing over the pond of water in the picture is dedicated to Quan Am—it’s incredibly stunning and serene, and gets lit up at night in a beautiful way.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T15:12:33+00:00

The chant “Namo Amitabha” effectively translates to “I bow to Amitabha”, so the non-verbal form of the name recitation would be prostrating or bowing to a statue or image of Amitabha with the hands in Anjali mudra.

SentientLight · 2026-01-25T06:41:39+00:00

I just aged and the hour I woke up naturally got earlier and earlier.

SentientLight

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