The more familiar we listen, the less we may know. Let's take a look at what you think of as Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats.
First, buddha
The founder of Buddhism is called Buddha, which means "enlightened person", and "Buddha" is an honorific title for Shakyamuni. And the Buddha we are talking about here refers to a belief system, that is, the Buddha belief.
The worship of the Buddha has evolved from one Buddha to many Buddhas. The one-Buddha faith means that in the hundreds of years from the founding of Shakyamuni Buddhism to Mahayana Buddhism, Shakyamuni was always regarded as the only surviving Buddha. During the period of Buddhism, the belief in the "Seven Buddhas of the Past" was born, and the "Seven Buddhas" referred to the Buddha of the Corpse, the Corpse Buddha, the Vishnu Buddha, the Buddha of The Sun, the Buddha of The Han, the Buddha of Gaya, and the Buddha of Shakyamuni. The six Buddhas before Shakyamuni were all ancient Buddhas, separated by a long time. When every Buddha exists, the Dharma flourishes and there are many disciples of the Buddha. Since they did not exist at the same time, they are essentially a Buddha's faith.
In the Mahayana Buddhist period, a belief system of multi-Buddha coexistence was created. Mahayana Buddhism holds that in the ten worlds, there are as many Buddhas as the grains of sand from the Ganges. At the same time, it is also believed that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, so they all have the possibility of becoming Buddhas. However, the main Buddha preached by different scriptures and sects is not the same, and the more common is the belief in Amitabha Buddha and Maitreya Buddha. The Buddha believed that liberation was a personal matter, while Mahayana Buddhism believed that through faith, he could be liberated.
Amitabha Buddha, also known as the "Infinite Life Buddha", is the leader of the Western Elysium World. According to the Immeasurable Life Sutra, in the past, when the "Buddha of the Worldly Self" appeared in the world, there was a king named Fazang who heard the Buddha's sayings and was overjoyed. So he gave up the throne and became a monk. He made a great wish in front of the "King Buddha of the Worldly Self", vowing that if he became a Buddha, he would save all sentient beings to his own land of pure happiness. Dharmagupta made his vows, so he practiced diligently and finally attained enlightenment. The Buddha's kingdom he took was called "Bliss." Because it is located in the West, it is generally called "Western Elysium". Dharmagupta, later Amitabha, the Pure Land of the West is the opposite of the actual Filthy Land, where there is no suffering. The phrase "Nam no Amitabha" often heard in monasteries is a sanskrit transliteration of "Na mamitabha", which means to pay homage to Amitabha. The Pure Land Sect believes that reciting the Dharma name contains both the trust of sentient beings in Amitabha Buddha and the willingness of Amitabha Buddha to lead sentient beings. As long as you chant the name of Amitabha Buddha, you can be reborn in the Pure Land World after death and gain liberation.
Maitreya Buddha was a future Buddha, a former disciple of Shakya Buddha, who prophesied that he would become a Buddha under the Longhua Tree in hundreds of millions of years, saying that he would save sentient beings. The image of Maitreya Buddha in the monastery now has an open chest and a big smile, which is originally a monk from the Five Dynasties period, and his name is this. Legend has it that Qi often carries a cloth bag, and when he sees people, he begs for things and puts them into a bag, and is called "cloth bag monk". In his death, Qi Qi recited the words: "Maitreya is the true Maitreya, incarnated into a hundred billion." Always show the world, and the world does not know it." Later people regarded him as the embodiment of Maitreya Buddha.
Ii. Arhat
When Shakyamuni attained enlightenment, he was called a Buddha, and when a disciple of the Buddha became enlightened, he was called an arhat, and his full name was "arhat." At this time, the arhat is the highest fruit position, that is, transcending the cycle of birth and death. Although the Arhat faith is the highest level of practice in Hinayana Buddhism, it was not abolished after the rise of Mahayana Buddhism. In China, there are "sixteen arhats", "eighteen arhats", "five hundred arhats" and so on. There are Arhat halls in many monasteries in the north and south of our country. The "Sixteen Arhats" is found in Tang Xuanzang's translation of the Great Arhat Nanti Midora' Book of Residence, which describes the names and places of residence of the Sixteen Arhats. The "Eighteen Arhats" are in addition to the Sixteen Arhats, qingyou and BintouLu, and some are added with Kaye and Juntu Bowl Sigh. The "five hundred arhats" generally refer to the five hundred bhikkhus who participated in the first collection of Buddhist scriptures, headed by The Great Gaya and Ananda. Except for the ten disciples of the Buddha, the rest of the arhats have no names. However, the five hundred Arhats circulating in China have names, which were gradually supplemented by the People during the Song Dynasty and beyond.
3. Bodhisattvas
Bodhisattva, full name "Bodhidharma", means "sentient being", sentient refers to the living being, and sentient being is to make sentient beings enlightened. After the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, the main practice of bodhisattvas was introduced, that is, not only to pursue self-liberation, but also to help others to liberate and purify sentient beings. The four great bodhisattva beliefs are Guanyin, Manjushri, Puxian and Jizo.
Guanyin, also known as "Guanyin", was called Guanyin in the Tang Dynasty to avoid the "secret" of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. The Lotus Sutra says, "Troubled sentient beings, single-mindedly claiming fame." Bodhisattvas immediately contemplate their sounds, and all are liberated and take the name Avalokiteshvara. This means that Guanyin often listens to the people of the world chanting his name and goes to the rescue. For example, in the fourth year of The Eastern Wei Emperor Tianping (537), Xing Mona, Lu Zhongli, and Lu Jingyu raised troops against Gao Huan in response to Western Wei, and were suppressed by Gao Huan's army the following year. Lu Jingyu was arrested and sent to Jinyang Prison. It is said that he recited the sutra to the heart and freed himself from the shackles. At this time, when another person was guilty of sin and deserved to die, he dreamed of Shaman's teachings, and when he woke up, he silently recited the scriptures he had learned in the dream a thousand times, and when he was about to be tortured, the lord heard the scriptures he had recited and forgave him. As a result, this sutra became popular in the world and was called "Gao Wang Guan Shi Yin". There is no difference between a man and a woman in the Buddhist scriptures, because all one can see is the incarnation of the bodhisattva, and the image of the bodhisattva undergoes a change from male to female. In tantric buddhism, Avalokiteshvara and Dashizhi are the two bodhisattvas who serve as Amitabha Buddha's right and left attendants. This Kannon is also known as the "Kannon Master" and is a male phase, and the rise of the female kannon is probably related to the story of Princess Myozen.
Manjushri, full name "Manjushri", means Miaode, Miaoshou, Miaojixiang and so on. The Buddha once said that in past lives, Manjushri had taught the Dharma to the Buddha, so Manjushri Bodhisattva was also called the "Mother of the Three Lives." Many texts also revere Manjushri as the teacher of the Buddhas. In the temple statue, Manjushri bodhisattva is riding a lion and holding a sword, which means cutting off troubles. In fact, Manjushri also has other states, such as holding a lotus flower in his hand, symbolizing nobility and purity; The Lotus Terrace symbolizes purity and impurity. Manjushri said that once, when Manjushri appeared on the steam of the rice cooker, Zen master Manshee held up a rice shovel and beat it, saying, "Manjushri is from Manjushri, Manjushri is from Wenxi, and if we meet again today, we will not confuse me." Manjushri Bodhisattva also replied, "Bitter melons are bitter, sweet melons are sweet, and the three great robberies of cultivation are hated by the old monks."
Puxian, transliterated as Samandra, meaning Panji, is a symbol of the Great Line. Together with Manjushri, Puxian served as attendants of the Dharmakaya Vishnu Buddha, and the three were collectively called the "Three Noble Saints of Huayan", and Manjushri represented wisdom, wisdom, and witness; Puxian represents reason, determination and action. Reason, wisdom, and deeds are all perfected, and they are Buddhas. The image of Puxian in the monastery is a white elephant riding six-toothed, holding a lotus flower, a ruyi or a scripture. In the Huayan Sutra, the ten wishes made by Puxian Bodhisattva to uphold the Dharma, engage in practice, and save sentient beings are called "Puxian Wishes", that is, to honor the Buddhas, to praise Rulai, to make offerings, to repent of karmic obstacles, to rejoice in merit, to turn the Wheel of Dharma, to ask the Buddha to live in the world, to always follow Buddhism, to always follow the Buddha's teachings, to be consistent with sentient beings, and to return to the universal direction. The Ten Great Wishes are vast in merit, so they are also called the Ten Great Wishes Kings, which are widely spread among the monks.
Jizo Bodhisattva once made a great wish: "When all sentient beings are exhausted, they will attain bodhichitta (enlightenment and enlightenment); Hell is not empty, and vows not to become a Buddha. He was named "Master of the Youming Sect" by the Buddha, and his duty was to save all beings in hell, so that they could all attain liberation and be blissful in their lives.
Among the four bodhisattvas, Guanyin represents Great Compassion, Manjushri represents Great Wisdom, Puxian represents Daxing, and Jizo represents Great Wish. Later, it was connected with the four famous mountains to form the famous mountain belief. Mount Putuo in Zhejiang is the Guanyin dojo, Mount Wutai in Shanxi is the Wenshu dojo, Mount Emei in Sichuan is the Puxian dojo, and Mount Jiuhua in Anhui is the Jizo dojo.