What are the Eight Awakenings?

The eight awakenings are pithy descriptions of what bodhisattvas and other enlightened beings realize, which are chanted mainly in the Mahayana tradition.

Lion’s Roar Staff
1 August 2018

The world is impermanent: Contemplating that everything changes, you are released from the endless cycle of birth and death.

More desire brings more suffering: Realizing that getting what you desire won’t bring happiness, you relax your clinging.

The human mind is always searching outside itself and never feels fulfilled: Liberation comes from cultivating contentment, not from more things or experiences.

Diligent effort is needed to free yourself from the prison of samsara: Unravelling your deep-seated clinging to a permanent self takes hard work and persistence.

Ignorance is the cause of the endless round of birth and death: You seek the best teaching and training to counteract your habit of ignoring reality.

Poverty creates hatred and anger: You are generous and treat all beings with equanimity.

The five categories of sensual desire—money, sex, fame, overeating, and oversleeping—lead to problems: Sensory pleasures imprison you in unwholesome ways of being.

The fire of birth and death is raging, causing endless suffering everywhere: You vow to save all sentient beings from the suffering of cyclical existence.

Lion s Roar Staff

Lion’s Roar Staff

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