Bodhi (original) (raw)

Bodhi (Pali, Sanskrit: lit. (supreme) knowledge, Enlightenment., from the Sanskrit word "Budh") is a title given to the specific Awakening experience attained by the Indian spiritual teacher Gautama Buddha. It is sometimes said to be the attainment of complete and perfect sanity.

Bodhi is attained only by the accomplishment of the Paramitas (perfections), when the Four Noble Truths are fully grasped, and when all karma has reached cessation. At this moment, all greed, aversion, delusion, ignorance, craving and ego-centered consciousness are extinguished.

See also: Buddhism and Nirvana

Bodhi is also a type of tree. In the legends of Mahayana Buddhism, it was said that Queen Maya held a branch of one of these trees while resting in Lumbini Garden and her son, Siddhartha, was born.