Arhat
Arhat is a term used for a practitioner who, according to Buddhist beliefs, has completely shed greed, hatred and delusion. He will no longer be reborn by attaining nirvana . The word comes from Sanskrit (arhati, Pali : arahati, arahant; Chinese : Luóhàn羅漢) and means "the worthy one". The term is largely used synonymously with the term saint .
Concept history
Originally, sixteen Companions of the Buddha were referred to as the Sixteen Arhats in Buddhism . The list was adopted from India in Japan and Tibet and later expanded to eighteen arhats in China . The original Arhats were Pindola Bharadvaja, Kanaka of Vatsa, Kanaka of Bharadvaja, Nandimitra, Nakula, Bhadra / Bodhidharma, Kalika, Vijraputra, Gobaka, Pantha the Elder, Rahula, Nagasena, Angida, Vanavasa, Asita, Kundha the Younger and, Nantadhanaolo . This interpretation brings the term closer to the Christian apostles and thus to preachers of the doctrine at the time of the herald.
Before Buddhism, arhats were endowed with magical powers, which has largely disappeared with Buddhism. In a positive sense, Arahaṃ is a form of address as it is made to a judge in the sense of "your honor". In a negative sense, the connection is associated with ari-hanta ( ari = enemy / hanta = destroy), which was adopted from Sanskrit into Tibetan. The enemy destroyer (arahant) destroys the hostile thoughts, attachments, etc.
Arhat in Theravada
The term arhat in Theravada describes a practitioner who has awakened through Buddhist teaching. Arhats are called Shravaka Buddhas (listeners). Thus the designation "Buddha" is initially the honorific for an arhat who has attained full enlightenment without guidance . Buddhism distinguishes between possible ways to achieve Buddhahood:
- of Buddha Shakyamuni, who had achieved awakening without any help and later preached the teaching,
- a pratyeka-buddha , a practitioner who has also come to awakening on his own but does not systematically pass on the teaching,
- an arhat who has awakened through teaching.
Already during the lifetime of Buddha Shakyamuni, many of his disciples are said to have become arhats through various methods (such as meditation, recitation or even just listening to a speech). There is no uniform way to achieve arhatships in the Pali Canon, which was one reason why comments were written later to clarify different statements and contradictions.
The main difference between an arhat and its Mahayana equivalent , the bodhisattva , is that an arhat does not voluntarily postpone the final step into nirvana in order to help other beings on their way out of suffering. Theravada is convinced that this is not possible in the first place. According to the law of karma, every being is responsible for its own actions; merits cannot be transferred to other beings. An arhat therefore tries to support other beings on their way to enlightenment by teaching the Dharma (Pali: Dhamma) and by giving them the opportunity to create good karma (e.g. by giving Dana , alms). The arhat has no ethical obligation to other believers to spread the doctrine or to give instructions. It is entirely his decision to help other living beings. According to the texts, this is by no means a condition for achieving arhatship, which in later Mahayana texts and commentaries led to polemical statements against the arhat concept.
In Theravada, when an arhat dies, the parinirvana occurs.
Arhat in Mahayana
Arhatschaft therefore plays a major role in Theravada, whose teaching is based on the Pali canon, while the ideal of Mahayana to be striven for shifts to the Bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva is a being who puts aside the desire to enter nirvana in order to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment. Arhatschaft in Mahayana therefore denotes someone who has only completely dissolved the idea of the ego. As a result, in Mahayana the attainment of arhatshank as an independent spiritual development stage stands immediately before entering the so-called ten bodhisattva stages , which lead directly to enlightenment. Each of these levels denotes a mental development level that is associated with the appearance of special forces ( Siddhi ). The mental ability to work for the benefit of sentient beings increases with each level and leads to the attainment of enlightenment (Buddhahood).
To attain Buddhahood, therefore, in Mahayana and especially in Vajrayana, beyond arhatship, the bodhisattva motivation to act for the benefit of all sentient beings and the dissolution of the subject-object duality that restricts the perception of ordinary sentient beings is necessary.
The altruistic, transcendent and supernatural figure of the Bodhisattva is often contrasted with the fallibility of arhats. In some Mahayana texts, arhatships and personal liberation are considered improper.
Web links
- Susan Elbaum Jootla: ARAHAT-BIKKHUNIS - The Anatta Teaching