Toh 44-29Chapter 29: The Gathering of Bodhisattvas in Tuṣita

Sutra Commentary: Chapter 29 - The Gathering of Bodhisattvas in the Realm of Tushita

Background

This chapter belongs to the Sutra Collection (Kangyur) of the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, recorded in the Tibetan Kgyur, and its subject is bodhisattvas practicing on the path to unsurpassed awakening. The realm of Tushita (Tuṣita - “the realm of joy”) is the fourth heaven among the six heavens of the desire realm, where the Buddha Maitreya is presently teaching the Dharma while awaiting the day he will descend and be born in the world.

In the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, this gathering is not an impermanent event, but an expression of the Buddha’s dharmakaya and sambhogakaya — transcendent forms of the Buddha that are always manifest in order to teach the Dharma to sentient beings with the proper conditions. The gathering in Tushita symbolizes the connection between the worldly and the supramundane, between sentient beings and the path of buddhahood.

Main Content

This chapter describes the scene of assemblies of exalted bodhisattvas gathering in Tushita from throughout the dharmadhatu of the ten directions. These bodhisattvas include great bodhisattvas recorded in other Mahayana sutras, such as Manjushri (Mañjuśrī), Samantabhadra, and especially the bodhisattvas awaiting the appearance of the Buddha Maitreya.

There, the Buddha Maitreya, or the bodhisattva Maitreya in his present stage, teaches the Dharma on the bodhisattva path. This sutra emphasizes that practice does not stop at seeking one’s own awakening, but must be directed toward the liberation of immeasurable sentient beings. The teaching presented profoundly expresses the doctrine of bodhicitta — the aspiration for unsurpassed awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings.

This gathering also affirms that the teaching of the Dharma is never interrupted.