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Bodhi ( Pali and Sanskrit. Lit. awakening. Trans. enlightenment) is a title given in Buddhism to the specific awakening experience attained by the Indian spiritual teacher Gautama Buddha and his disciples. It is sometimes described as complete and perfect sanity, or awareness of the true nature of the universe. After attainment, it is believed one is freed from the cycle of Samsra; birth, suffering, death and rebirth.

Bodhi is attained only by the accomplishment of the Paramitas (perfections), when the Four Noble Truths are fully grasped, and when all karma has reached cessation. At this moment, all greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), delusion (moha), ignorance (avijjā), craving (tanha) and ego-centered consciousness (attā) are extinguished. Bodhi thus includes anatt, the absence of ego-centeredness.

1 Modes of Enlightenment

1.1 Pacceka-Bodhi (Pratyeka)

Those who obtain enlightenment through self-realisation, without the aid of spiritual guides and teachers, are known as pratyekabuddhas. According to the Tripitaka, such beings only arise in ages where the dhamma has been lost. Their skill in helping others to obtain enlightenment is inferior to that of the arhatLonghua temple in Shanghai, P. China An arhat (also arahat or arahant Chinese: , aluohan Tibetan: dgra-bcom-pa Jp. arakan is a highly realized Buddhist practitoner. It literally means "foe destroyer". The term arhat is, strictly speaking, a synonym for Bus. Many pratyekas may arise at a single time.

1.2 Sāvaka-Bodhi (Arhat)

Those who study under spiritual teachers and achieve enlightenment in this world are known as Arhats. Such beings are skilled at helping others to reach enlightenment as they may draw on personal experience.

1.3 Sammā-Sambodhi (supreme Buddha)

These are perfect, most developed, most compassionate, most loving, all knowing beings who fully comprehend the dhamma by their own efforts and wisdom and teach it skillfully to others, freeing them from Samsra.

See also: Buddhism and NirvanaThe following article is about the term Nirvana in the context of Buddhism. See Nirvana (disambiguation) for other meanings. In Buddhism, nirva (from the Sanskrit Pali: Nibbna Chinese: Nie4 Pan2 ), literally "extinction" or "extinguishing", is the culmina

A bodhiThe Bodhi or Bo or Peepul tree Ficus religiosa , is a species of fig (Family Moraceae) and a sacred tree for Buddhists. The most famous Bodhi tree is located about 100 km (60 miles) from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar, under which Gautama Buddha, spir tree is also a species of tree, Ficus religiosa. In the legends of Mahayana Buddhism, it was said that Queen Maya held a branch of one of these trees while resting in LumbiniLumbini ( Sanskrit; lit. the lovely is a Himalayan town situated in Nepal near the Indian border. It is commonly recognized as the birth site of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, who lived between approximately 563 BC and 483 BC. In 1896, Nepalese Garden and her son, Siddhartha Gautama, was born. Years later, it was while sitting in meditation under a boddhi tree in what is now the town of Bodhgaya that Siddhartha became enlightened.