Saṃvṛtibodhicitta

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Key Term	saṃvṛtibodhicitta
Hover Popup Choices	relative bodhicitta; conventional bodhicitta
In Tibetan Script	ཀུན་རྫོབ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	संवृतिबोधित्त
Romanized Sanskrit	saṃvṛtibodhicitta
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	kündzop changchup kyi sem
Chinese Script	世俗菩提心
Chinese Pinyin	shìsú pútíxīn
Japanese Transliteration	sezoku bodaishin
Korean Script	sesok borisim
English Standard	relative bodhicitta
Alternate Spellings	saṃvṛttibodhicitta; relative bodhicitta; kun rdzob sems bskyed
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Relative bodhicitta is the aspirational wish to attain the fully-enlightened state of a buddha. It aspires both to alleviate the suffering of all beings, and therefore to attain buddhahood in order to spontaneously and effortlessly act for the welfare of all beings
Has the Sense of	the conventional mind of enlightenment that wishes to attain the enlightened state to be of spontaneous benefit for all beings
NEW: Context Descriptions (Glossary-DefinitionTsadra)	Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): Saṃvṛtibodhicitta (T. kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems), often translated as "conventional bodhicitta" or "relative bodhicitta," is a foundational concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism, representing the compassionate and altruistic mind aspiring towards Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. It stands in contrast to, yet is indispensable for cultivating, ultimate bodhicitta (paramārthabodhicitta; T. don dam byang chub kyi sems), the direct wisdom realizing emptiness. Saṃvṛtibodhicitta is comprised of two distinct yet sequential stages: Aspirational Bodhicitta (Skt. praṇidhicitta or bodhipraṇidhicitta; T. smon pa byang chub kyi sems or byang chub tu smon pa'i sems): This is the heartfelt yearning and unwavering intention to attain complete enlightenment (Buddhahood) with the primary motivation of liberating all beings from suffering and leading them to the same state of awakening. It is likened to the desire to embark on a journey. This stage involves cultivating boundless love (maitrī), compassion (karuṇā), joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekṣā), and developing a strong sense of responsibility for others. Key practices include the "sevenfold cause and effect instruction" and "exchanging self and others" (ātmaparivartana). Engaging Bodhicitta (Skt. prasthānacitta or bodhiprasthānacitta; T. 'jug pa byang chub kyi sems or byang chub la 'jug pa'i sems): This is the practical application and active engagement that follows the cultivation of aspirational bodhicitta. It involves formally taking the bodhisattva vows (bodhisattvasaṃvara) and diligently practicing the path of the six perfections (ṣaṭpāramitā): generosity (dāna), ethical discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), effort (vīrya), meditative concentration (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā). This stage is likened to actually undertaking the journey. The cultivation of saṃvṛtibodhicitta is considered the gateway to the Mahāyāna path. It is the very essence of the bodhisattva's way of life and the driving force behind all their virtuous actions. Texts like Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra provide extensive teachings on how to cultivate and maintain both aspects of conventional bodhicitta. While conceptual in nature, it is the necessary precursor to the non-conceptual realization of ultimate bodhicitta.
NEW: Glossary-PopUpBeginnerDefinition	Relative bodhicitta (Skt. saṃvṛtibodhicitta; T. kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems) is the altruistic wish to become a fully enlightened Buddha in order to help all other beings who are suffering. It has two aspects: the strong wish and aspiration to become enlightened, and then actually engaging in the practices of the bodhisattva that lead to Buddhahood, like generosity and patience.
NEW: Glossary-PopUpScholarDefinition	Saṃvṛtibodhicitta (T. kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems), relative or conventiional bodhicitta, is one of the two primary aspects of the 'mind of awakening,' the other being ultimate bodhicitta (paramārthabodhicitta). Saṃvṛtibodhicitta is characterized by the altruistic intention to attain perfect enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is further divided into: 1. Aspirational Bodhicitta (praṇidhicitta; T. smon pa byang chub kyi sems): The sincere wish and resolve to achieve Buddhahood to liberate all beings from saṃsāra. 2. Engaging/Applicational Bodhicitta (prasthānacitta; T. 'jug pa byang chub kyi sems): The actual engagement in the bodhisattva's path, which involves taking the bodhisattva vows and diligently practicing the six perfections (pāramitā). This is the practical application of the initial aspiration.
NEW: Glossary-DefinitionBodhicittaWiki	Saṃvṛtibodhicitta (T. kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems), or conventional/relative bodhicitta, is the practical and compassionate aspect of the 'mind of awakening' (bodhicitta) central to the Mahāyāna path. It is the altruistic resolve to achieve full enlightenment (Buddhahood) not for oneself alone, but for the ultimate benefit and liberation of all sentient beings from the cycle of suffering (saṃsāra). This profound aspiration is the hallmark of a bodhisattva. It is comprised of two essential stages: 1. Aspirational Bodhicitta (praṇidhicitta; T. smon sems): This is the fundamental wish and firm intention to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all beings. It involves cultivating deep empathy and compassion, recognizing that all beings desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering. This aspiration is often cultivated through specific meditative techniques like the "sevenfold cause and effect instruction" or "exchanging self for others" (ātmaparivartana). It is the decision to embark on the path. 2. Engaging Bodhicitta (prasthānacitta; T. 'jug sems): Following the generation of the aspiration, engaging bodhicitta involves actively undertaking the practices that lead to enlightenment. This primarily means taking the bodhisattva vows and diligently training in the six perfections (pāramitā): generosity (dāna), ethical discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), joyful effort (vīrya), meditative concentration (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā). This is the actual journey along the path. Conventional bodhicitta, though operating on the relative level of reality, is the indispensable foundation for developing ultimate bodhicitta (paramārthabodhicitta), the direct realization of emptiness. It is the compassionate heart of the Mahāyāna, motivating all actions and guiding the practitioner towards becoming a fully awakened Buddha capable of benefiting all beings.
NEW: Glossary-DefinitionLotsawas	relative bodhicitta; conventional bodhicitta; conventional mind of awakening
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	saṃvṛtibodhicitta. (T. kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems). "In Sanskrit, 'conventional (or relative) aspiration to enlightenment.' In Indian MAHĀYĀNA scholastic literature, this term is contrasted with the 'ultimate aspiration to enlightenment' (PARAMĀRTHABODHICITTA). The term saṃvṛtibodhicitta is used to refer to BODHICITTA in its more common usage, as the aspiration to achieve buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. It is the generation of this aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA) that marks the beginning of the bodhisattva path and the Mahāyāna path of accumulation (SAṂBHĀRAMĀRGA). The ultimate aspiration or mind of enlightenment refers to the bodhisattva’s direct realization of the ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA). In the case of the MADHYAMAKA school’s interpretation, this would be the direct realization of emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ)".
Tshig mdzod Chen mo	རགས་པ་བརྡ་ལས་བྱུང་བའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཀུན།
Dung dkar Tshig mdzod Chen mo	བདག་གཞན་མཉམ་བརྗེའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ལ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ལྟ་བས་མ་ཟིན་པ་ལ་ཟེར། ཞིབ་པར་ཕར་ཕྱིན་སྐབས་དང་པོའི་སེམས་བསྐྱེད་ཀྱི་སྐབས་སུ་གསལ།