Editing Prajnaparamita (section)

====The Bodhisattva and Prajñāpāramitā====
A key theme of the Prajñāpāramitā sutras is the figure of the [[Bodhisattva]] (literally: awakening-being) which is defined in the 8,000-line Prajñāpāramitā sutra as:

:"One who trains in all dharmas [phenomena] without obstruction [''asakti, asaktatā''], and also knows all dharmas as they really are."{{sfn|Orsborn|2012|p=159}}

A Bodhisattva is then a being that experiences everything "without attachment" (''asakti'') and sees reality or suchness (''Tathātā'') as it is. The Bodhisattva is the main ideal in [[Mahayana]] (Great Vehicle), which sees the goal of the Buddhist path as becoming a [[Buddha]] for the sake of all sentient beings, not just yourself:

:They make up their minds that 'one single self we shall tame ... one single self we shall lead to final Nirvana.'
:A Bodhisattva should certainly not in such a way train himself.
:On the contrary, he should train himself thus: "My own self I will place in Suchness [the true way of things], and, so that all the world might be helped, 
:I will place all beings into Suchness, and I will lead to Nirvana the whole immeasurable world of beings."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Conze |first1=Edward |title=The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary |date=1973 |publisher=Four Seasons Foundation |isbn=978-0-87704-048-4 |page=163 }}</ref>

A central quality of the Bodhisattva is their practice of Prajñāpāramitā, a most deep (''gambhīra'') state of knowledge which is an understanding of reality arising from analysis as well as [[meditative]] insight. It is non-conceptual and [[non-dual]] (''advaya'') as well as [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendental]].<ref>Williams, Paul; Mahayana Buddhism, the doctrinal foundations, pages 49-50.</ref> Literally, the term could be translated as "knowledge gone to the other (shore)",{{sfn|Orsborn|2012|p=176}} or transcendental knowledge. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says:

:This is known as the Prajñāpāramitā of the bodhisattvas; not grasping at form, not grasping at sensation, perception, volitions and cognition.{{sfn|Orsborn|2012|p=201}}

A further passage in the 8,000-line Prajñāpāramitā sutra states that Prajñāpāramitā means that a Bodhisattva stands in emptiness ([[shunyata]]) by not standing (''√sthā'') or supporting themselves on any dharma (phenomena), whether conditioned or unconditioned. The dharmas that a Bodhisattva does "not stand" on include standard listings such as: the [[five aggregates]], the sense fields ([[ayatana]]), [[nirvana]], [[Buddhahood]], etc.{{sfn|Orsborn|2012|p=149}} This is explained by stating that Bodhisattvas "wander without a home" (''aniketacārī''); "home" or "abode" meaning signs (''nimitta'', meaning a subjective mental impression) of sensory objects and the afflictions that arise dependent on them. This includes the absence, the "not taking up" (''aparigṛhīta'') of even "correct" mental signs and perceptions such as "form is not self", "I practice Prajñāpāramitā", etc. To be freed of all constructions and signs, to be signless (''animitta'') is to be empty of them and this is to stand in Prajñāpāramitā.{{sfn|Orsborn|2012|pp=180–181}} The Prajñāpāramitā sutras state that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the past have practiced Prajñāpāramitā. Prajñāpāramitā is also associated with ''Sarvajñata'' (all-knowledge) in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras, a quality of the mind of a Buddha which knows the nature of all dharmas.

[[Image:Gandhara, rilievo col buddha shakyamuni che medita nella grotta indrashala e il buddha dipankara, II-III secolo.jpg|thumb|280x280px|Gandharan depiction of the Bodhisattva (the future Buddha [[Shakyamuni]]) prostrating at the feet of the past Buddha [[Dipankara]]]]

According to Karl Brunnholzl, Prajñāpāramitā means that "all phenomena from form up through omniscience being utterly devoid of any intrinsic characteristics or nature of their own."<ref>Brunnholzl, Karl; Gone Beyond: The Prajnaparamita Sutras The Ornament Of Clear Realization And Its Commentaries In The Tibetan Kagyu Tradition (Tsadra) 2011, page 28.</ref> Furthermore, "such omniscient wisdom is always nonconceptual and free from reference points since it is the constant and panoramic awareness of the nature of all phenomena and does not involve any shift between meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment."<ref>Brunnholzl, Karl; Gone Beyond: The Prajnaparamita Sutras The Ornament Of Clear Realization And Its Commentaries In The Tibetan Kagyu Tradition (Tsadra) 2011, page 30.</ref>

[[Edward Conze]] outlined several psychological qualities of a Bodhisattva's practice of Prajñāpāramitā:<ref name="Conze, Edward 1953 PP.117-129">Conze, Edward; The Ontology of the Prajnaparamita, Philosophy East and West Vol.3 (1953) PP.117-129, University of Hawaii Press</ref>

*Non-apprehension (''anupalabdhi'')
*No settling down or "non-attachment" (''anabhinivesa'')
*No attainment (''aprapti''). No person can "have," or "possess," or "acquire," or "gain" any dharma.
*Non-reliance on any dharma, being unsupported, not leaning on any dharma.
*"Finally, one may say that the attitude of the perfected sage is one of non-assertion."