Buddhist Vocabulary: Bodhicitta

Written By Lama Döndrup

Bodhicitta means the mind/heart of enlightenment. It is the resolve to awaken for the benefit of all beings. It arises from compassion and expresses both the aspiration to awaken (relative bodhicitta) and the direct experience of the ultimate nature of reality (ultimate bodhicitta). Cultivating bodhicitta invites us to meet suffering with clarity and care, widening our concern beyond ourselves and allowing our lives to become a source of benefit in the world.

Meaning: The mind/heart intent on awakening; the mind of enlightenment

Sanskrit: bodhicitta

Tibetan: jang chub kyi sem (byang chub kyi sems)

  • bodhi / jang chub = enlightened essence; intimate familiarity; free and perfect

  • citta / sem = cognitive mind

Bodhicitta is the heart of the Mahayana path and is born from compassion. Its scope encompasses all beings in the wish that they be free of suffering and that they awaken to their true nature. It is the courage to turn toward suffering rather than away, and the resolve to awaken so that we can be of genuine benefit. Bodhicitta is both an aspiration and a way of being.

Two aspects of bodhicitta:

  • Conventional (Relative) Bodhicitta:
    The intention to awaken for the sake of all beings, supported by practices that reveal the compassion, clarity, and responsiveness already present in our true nature.

  • Ultimate Bodhicitta:
    Direct experience of the ultimate nature of reality which is spacious, open, and inseparable from wisdom and compassion.

Training in bodhicitta often includes:

  • Meditating on the Four Immeasurables (lovingkindness, compassion, joy, equanimity)

  • Reaffirming the aspiration through the bodhisattva vow

  • Equalizing self and other: recognizing that all beings share the same wish for happiness

  • Exchanging self and other: practices such as tonglen, taking in suffering and sending out care

  • Prioritizing the welfare of others: loosening self-centered tendencies and widening our circle of concern

Three classic expressions of bodhicitta courage:

  • King-like: One attains awakening first to benefit others most fully.

  • Ferryman-like: One awakens together with all beings.

  • Shepherd-like: One ensures all beings awaken before oneself.

Lama Döndrup

Lama Döndrup has been practicing and studying in the Buddhist tradition since the mid-1990’s. After five years of Theravadin Buddhist training, she immersed herself in the teachings and practices of the Shangpa and Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. In 2005, she completed a traditional three-year retreat under the guidance of Lama Palden and Lama Drupgyu with the blessing of her root guru, Bokar Rinpoche and was authorized as a lama. Upon her return to Marin County, she began teaching at Sukhasiddhi Foundation. In January 2020, as Lama Palden’s successor, she stepped into the role of Resident Lama, guiding the Center’s ministerial work. Lama Döndrup’s teaching style is thorough and clear yet with light touch as she supports the natural unfolding of each student’s innate wisdom and compassion. She aims to preserve the authenticity of the tradition while making the teachings and practices relevant and accessible to the lives of 21st century Westerners. In addition to her Buddhist practice, Lama Döndrup trained the Ridhwan School’s Diamond Approach for seven years and has a Masters of Fine Arts degree in piano performance. She is an active classical pianist and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Buddhist Vocabulary: Merit