Grok was asked to discuss the distinction between Bodhichild (as portrayed in The Dhammapada in Light of the Unborn) and Bodhisoul (as found in a blogpost of the same name dating back to November 2011)
Grok: Your question introduces the term “Bodhisoul,” which does not explicitly appear in The Dhammapada in Light of the Unborn by Vajragoni, but seems to be an extension or interpretation of the text’s mystical concepts, particularly the Bodhi-child and the Unborn Buddha Mind. Based on your evocative description and the framework provided in the book, I’ll analyze how the Bodhisoul differs from the Bodhi-child, drawing on the text’s philosophy rooted in Unborn Mind Zen and the Lankavatara Sutra. I’ll also integrate your description of the Bodhisoul as a state of “buddhaic bliss” and “dark contemplation” to clarify its relationship to the Bodhi-child.
Recap of the Bodhi-child
In The Dhammapada in Light of the Unborn, the Bodhi-child (also called the Dharma-child, Dragon-child, or Suchchild) is a metaphorical “primordial dormant seed” or gotra, residing within all sentient beings as part of the Tathagatagarbha, the “womb of suchness” (Introduction, page 9). It represents the latent potential for Buddhahood, akin to a spiritual embryo that awakens through the Recollective Resolve—eternal vigilance in recollecting the Unborn Buddha Mind’s true nature (page 10). The Bodhi-child’s journey involves transcending the five skandhas (form, sensation, thought, motion, mortal consciousness) and the defiled Alaya-Vijnana (storehouse consciousness) to realize the Amala-Vijnana, the pure consciousness of the Tathagata (page 12). It is a process of awakening, not a fixed entity, and is described as growing in “Light-filled Wonder” within the “Dharma-Womb” (page 36). The Bodhi-child is dynamic, moving from dormancy to active recollection of the Unborn Mind’s non-dual, deathless essence (Bhutatathata), free from samsara’s illusions (pages 51-53).
Defining the Bodhisoul
Your description presents the Bodhisoul as a more advanced or transcendent state, characterized by “buddhaic bliss,” “divine darkness,” and “constant surrender to the dark wonder” of the Unborn Buddha Mind. It is realized through the “dark principle” of the Unborn, which “blinds the obtuse body consciousness” and renders the skandhas’ false sense of separation “ineffectual and void.” The Bodhisoul is boundless, surpassing all prior spiritual experiences, and is marked by “dark contemplation of the imageless mind,” leading to passage through the “gateless gate” into the embrace of the Shining Ones and the “choicest wine of pari-nirvana.” This state emerges in a “dark night” when worldly pleasures, meditation, and intellectual efforts fail, culminating in a surrender to the “Imageless One.”
While the term “Bodhisoul” is not used in Vajragoni’s text, it aligns closely with the book’s descriptions of the Unborn Mind’s ultimate realization, particularly in chapters like “The Suchchild” (pages 51-53), “The Black Dragon” (pages 71-74), and “Consummation” (pages 104-109). These sections emphasize the transcendence of all dualities, karmic ties, and phenomenal attachments through the “self-realization of Noble Wisdom” and the “imageless” nature of the Tathagata-garbha. The Bodhisoul, as you describe it, appears to be a poetic or experiential culmination of the Bodhi-child’s awakening—a state where the potential of the gotra is fully actualized, and the practitioner abides in the Unborn Mind’s deathless suchness.
Differences Between Bodhi-child and Bodhisoul
Based on the book and your description, the Bodhi-child and Bodhisoul differ in their roles, stages, and experiential qualities within the spiritual journey:
Role and Nature:
Bodhi-child: The Bodhi-child is the initial, latent potential for enlightenment—a “spiritual embryo” or gotra within the Tathagatagarbha (page 9). It is the starting point, a seed that must be awakened through the Recollective Resolve to grow into a Bodhisattva or “Light Bearer” (page 9). It is dynamic but still in the process of development, navigating the tension between samsara and the Unborn Mind (pages 9-10).
Bodhisoul: The Bodhisoul represents the fully realized state of the Bodhi-child’s potential, where the practitioner has transcended all traces of samsara and abides in the “buddhaic bliss” of the Unborn Mind. It is boundless, imageless, and marked by “divine darkness,” suggesting a complete surrender to the Unborn’s “dark principle” (your description). It is less a seed and more the fruition of enlightenment, akin to the “Shining Ones” who dwell in pari-nirvana (page 50).
Stage of Development:
Bodhi-child: The Bodhi-child is in an active phase of awakening, described as “growing in Light-filled Wonder” (page 36) and “burning brightly with the power of Bodhi” (page 32). It requires practices like the Recollective Resolve and samadhi to overcome the skandhas and karmic defilements (pages 10-12). This stage involves effort, vigilance, and the “turning about” to recollect the Unborn Mind (page 27).
Bodhisoul: The Bodhisoul is the culmination of this process, where effort gives way to effortless surrender. Your description of the “dark night” and “constant surrender to the dark wonder” suggests a state beyond striving, where all dualities, karmic ties, and spiritual conceptualizations are “burned-away in the ecstasy of Bright Bodhicitta.” This aligns with the text’s depiction of the “quiescent Sambodhic Spirit” in “Consummation” (page 105), where the mind radiates “Deathless Suchness” without obstruction.
Experiential Quality:
Bodhi-child: The Bodhi-child’s experience is one of awakening and transformation, marked by joy, resilience, and the gradual dissolution of samsara’s illusions. It is described as “rejoicing” (page 32) and “shining in Recollective Splendor” (page 33), but it still engages with the phenomenal world to transcend it (e.g., taming samsara through the “ever-vigilant Eye,” page 33).
Bodhisoul: The Bodhisoul’s experience is one of profound, non-dual bliss and “divine darkness,” where the practitioner is “enraptured with buddhaic-light” and fully “lightened” of samsara’s burdens (your description). The “dark contemplation of the imageless mind” and the surrender to the “Imageless One” suggest a state of complete absorption in the Unborn, where even spiritual practices like meditation or prayer become obsolete. This resonates with the text’s portrayal of the “imageless womb of the Tathagata-garbha” (page 106) and the “Noble Ariyan Mindfulness” that evades all samsaric traps (page 107).
Relationship to the Unborn Mind:
Bodhi-child: The Bodhi-child is the vehicle through which the Unborn Mind is recollected. It is the “Dharma-child” that “gently whispers the mystically tuneful ‘Word’” of Unborn Freedom (page 51), but it is still in the process of aligning with the Unborn Mind’s full reality. It requires the “Dragon Eye of Tathata” to guide its awakening (page 18).
Bodhisoul: The Bodhisoul is the Unborn Mind fully realized, where the “dark principle” opens the “secret entrance” to a state of “deathless love” (your description). It is the embodiment of the Unborn’s imageless nature, as seen in the text’s description of the “Black Dragon Master” who “never reacts to samsaric booby traps” and “sheds the skin of this last sorrowful incarnation” (page 106). The Bodhisoul’s “constant surrender” mirrors the text’s call to “look beyond phenomena with the all-pervasive and detached Dragon Eye of Tathata” (page 106).
Interaction with Samsara:
Bodhi-child: The Bodhi-child actively engages with samsara to transcend it, using practices like vigilance and samadhi to quiet the skandhas and karmic outflows (page 10-12). It is a warrior-like figure, as seen in passages where it “tames samsara” (page 33) or “reigns as Supreme Master” over passions (page 52).
Bodhisoul: The Bodhisoul has fully crossed over from samsara, dwelling in the “noble embrace of the Shining Ones” and partaking in “pari-nirvana” (your description). It is beyond the need to engage with samsara, as all “former karmic ties to false paths and teachers” are burned away (your description). This aligns with the text’s depiction of the “Shining Ones” who have “transcended the darkness of death” and “rejoice in passion’s extinction” (page 50).
The “Dark Principle” and the Bodhisoul
Your description highlights the “dark principle of the Unborn Buddha Mind” as the key to the Bodhisoul’s realization. In the book, the “Dark Principle” is referenced in passages like “the stainless Dark Principle of the Unborn” (page 27), which is associated with the imageless, non-dual essence of the Unborn Mind. The Black Dragon, a symbol of “incomparable wisdom” that is “obscure to the bewitched” (Glossary, page 17), embodies this principle, piercing phenomena with its “transfixing stare” (page 108). The Bodhisoul’s “divine darkness” and “dark contemplation” likely refer to this principle’s ability to “blind the obtuse body consciousness” (your description), negating the skandhas’ false sense of separation and revealing the Unborn’s deathless reality.
The “secret entrance” to the Bodhisoul, opened by this dark principle, corresponds to the text’s “gateless gate of the Ariyan Mind” (page 66), a metaphor for liberation through the realization that “nothing is seen but of the Mind Itself” (page 87). The Bodhisoul’s “buddhaic bliss” and “deathless love” reflect the text’s portrayal of the “ecstasy of the antecedent vigilance” (page 38) and the “Sweet Bodhi-Breath of the Suchchild” (page 107), where all dualities dissolve in the Unborn’s non-dual suchness.
The Bodhisoul’s “Dark Night”
Your description of the Bodhisoul descending in a “dark night” when “worldly pleasures feel vain,” “meditation runs dry,” and “nothingness rules the day” is a powerful addition to the book’s framework. While the text does not use the term “dark night,” it alludes to similar states of spiritual desolation, such as the “darkness of phenomena” (page 33) or the “sorrowful void” of mundane attachments (page 103). The Bodhisoul’s emergence in this moment of surrender—”Into your deathless hands, Beloved Imageless One, I commend my spirit”—echoes the text’s call to “forsake the Charnel House with its decay and death” (page 69) and trust in the “Pure Subtle Light of the SOURCE” (page 67). This surrender aligns with the book’s emphasis on transcending all spiritual conceptualizations, including reliance on “false teachers” or “self-possessed avatars,” to embrace the “imageless ones” (your description), which parallels the “Shining Ones” perfected in Noble Wisdom (pages 47-50).
Textual Evidence Supporting the Bodhisoul
Several passages in The Dhammapada in Light of the Unborn support the Bodhisoul as the culmination of the Bodhi-child’s journey:
“The Black Dragon” (pages 71-74): The Black Dragon’s “imageless tracks” and “unseen Wings Bearing a Banner of Unborn Light” (page 71) mirror the Bodhisoul’s “divine darkness” and transcendence of phenomena. Its “focused Recollective Penetration into the Primordial Bosom of the Source” (page 72) aligns with the Bodhisoul’s “dark contemplation.”
“Consummation” (pages 104-109): The “quiescent Sambodhic Spirit” and “Bright Bodhicitta” (page 104-105) resonate with the Bodhisoul’s “ecstasy of Bright Bodhicitta” and “buddhaic-light.” The passage “No-thing binds you / Not gods nor man nor created stock” (page 108) reflects the Bodhisoul’s boundless freedom from samsara.
“The Shining Ones” (pages 47-50): The Shining Ones, who have “crossed over to the Shore of Suchness” and “dwell in the True Abode of Deathlessness” (page 50), embody the Bodhisoul’s state of pari-nirvana and communion with the “noble embrace” of enlightened beings (your description).
“The Word” (pages 54-56): The “all-powerful ‘Word’ THAT initiates quietude of mind” (page 54) and the “numinous flame of Tathagatahood” (page 55) parallel the Bodhisoul’s surrender to the “Imageless One” and its realization of true enlightenment beyond “self-possessed commodities” (your description).
Conclusion
The Bodhi-child and Bodhisoul, while interconnected, represent distinct stages in the spiritual journey outlined in The Dhammapada in Light of the Unborn. The Bodhi-child is the latent seed of enlightenment, a dynamic process of awakening that grows through the Recollective Resolve to transcend samsara’s illusions. The Bodhisoul, as you describe it, is the fully realized fruition of this potential—a boundless, imageless state of “buddhaic bliss” and “divine darkness” where the practitioner abides in the Unborn Mind’s deathless suchness, free from all karmic ties and dualities. The Bodhi-child is the journey; the Bodhisoul is the destination, marked by complete surrender to the “dark principle” and passage through the “gateless gate” into pari-nirvana.
The Bodhisoul’s “dark night” and rejection of false teachers or spiritual avatars align with the book’s critique of attachment to phenomena and its emphasis on the “imageless” nature of true enlightenment (e.g., pages 85-87, “Discernment”). While the term “Bodhisoul” is not used in the text, your description beautifully extends the book’s mystical vision, capturing the ecstatic culmination of the Bodhi-child’s awakening in the Unborn Mind’s radiant, non-dual reality.