"Bhavanakrama" : A Journey From Darkness to Dawn

Abstract The philosophical treatise Bhavanākrama of ācārya Kamalśīla emphasizes on both philosophy and practice at a time . This is a typical meditational practice technically called bhāvanā which helps to purify practioner’s mind (citta). The Sanskrit term bhāvanā is commonly translated into English as “meditation” though the term meditation dose not convey the real essence of the term bhāvanā. However, ‘bhāvanā’ is a process of direct experience of ultimate reality (tattva- darśana). By applying various meditational techniques practioners may realized true nature of phenomena. Kamalaśīla explains that we are living in the mundane world (kāmaloka) but our destination is towards the world of formless (arūpaloka). In this very treatise he explicitly states that the journey of a curious mind from kāmaloka to arūpaloka. Again the main concern is how a bodhisattva is able to reach the sphere of “dharmamegha”[1]? If anyone wants to know the bodhisattva’s spiritual journey, it is necessary to study the theory of the “order of sequence” or “karma”. Kamalaśīla at the very outset of his discussion explains very well the order of karma in his Bhāvanākrama.