Harry Potter: "budding Bodhisattva?" The boy wizard as positive role model

by Jay Allen (Subscribe to Jay Allen's posts) Dec 29th 2005 7:02AM

I've been reading No Time to Lose, Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön's commentary on the Buddhist classic The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva. Partway through, when discussing the seductive power of emotions, she makes a casual reference to Harry Potter as "the budding Bodhisattva". (In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is someone who works for the enlightenment of all sentient beings, and not just themselves.) I thought it was an apt analogy, although probably one J.K. Rowling never directly intended.

There's so much talk on some Christian sites about how the Harry Potter series can't be a good influence on children, because some of the characters engage in "immoral" behavior, such as lying and sneaking about. I've always seen it differently. Harry is on a journey of self-mastery. His fate is entwined with Voldemort's; as the Sorting Hat indicated in his first year, he has both the capacity for great good and for great evil - just like every one of us has. His primary guide on this journey is Albus Dumbledore, a wise man who's a paragon of calm and strength, even at the darkest times. (And, as an aside, this is why I wasn't crazy about the depiction of Dumbledore in Mike Newell's direction of Goblet of Fire, where the Hogwarts headmaster seems to lose his cool more than I remember from the book.)

It's probably a strain to try and cram the Harry Potter mythology into any religious system, Buddhist or otherwise. But Chödrön's point is well made: Harry is a role model in progress.

Do you agree?

Comments (12)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Duane 12-29-2005 @ 9:47AM

There's that word again :). For more on the concept, here is a Shanti Deva quote taken from the Dalai Lama's homepage: "For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world."

Can one be a Bodhisattva and not be aware of it, though? I thought it was a conscious choice to voluntarily give up one's own journey to Nirvana.

P.S. I liked Dumbledore in Goblet of Fire because it begins to show that Harry's life is going in a direction that Dumbledore can not easily handle. Harry is becoming more of an equal to him, and not a child.

Dumbledore fears for him, and his anger is with himself that he cannot do anything about it.

Melanie 12-29-2005 @ 11:23AM

I absolutely agree!

Part of the reason the Harry Potter stories are so popular is that Harry (and our other beloved characters) are fallible and human. We all make mistakes and from them we (hopefully) learn and grow.

The books demonstrate a real life dilemma of "shades of gray" that I personally think more fundamentalist religions have ignored by trying to make good and evil as easy to distinguish as black and white.

It's about time we all had an intelligent and rational conversation about the difference between religion and morality; that one is not necessarily required for the other and that both are not mutually exclusive.

Ann Adams 12-29-2005 @ 12:49PM

Melanie just saved me a lot of typing - thanks.

Amber 12-29-2005 @ 1:26PM

Well, I'm Christian and I am probably one of THE biggest Harry Potter fans alive..and I'm not the only one. I'd say there's a handful of Christians that believe HP is evil. Christians shouldnt be judged as a whole on the topic of Harry Potter. I think it's quite ridiculous however to compare the boy wizard with anything buddhist.

(In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is someone who works for the enlightenment of all sentient beings, and not just themselves.)

Well that statement doesnt make sense, Considering... if Voldemort wasnt after Harry personally would Harry even be fighting him?

Anyways, to each their own.

Jay Allen 12-29-2005 @ 3:48PM

But that's the point, Amber. His personal investment makes it that much harder to defeat Voldemort, because it fills him with intense anger. If Harry acts blindly out of that anger, he won't win - he'll succumb to his rage. He has to find a way to transcend that, and still do what's right. That's a very Buddhist sentiment.

David 3-09-2007 @ 6:16PM

Like Amber I am a Christian and a student/teacher in Christian Apologetics, also a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies. I have been studying the comments from many in the Christian community in regard to the controversy that Harry Potter creates involving the moral questions (lieing and sneaking around the rules) as well as the Imagery of witchcraft.

First, the elements within the books where lieing and

rule breaking take place is mostly in Harry's pursute

of Voldemort and/ or when seeking clues as to how to

defeat the plans of He-who-should-not-be-named in his relentless battle to stop him from dominating the entire Wizarding world and his desire to destroy Harry himself. Look through history for yourselves where there were wars and battles and see that a great deal

of lieing and deception goes on to defeat the enemy.

Second, the backround of the books deals with an imaginary world of Wizards, Witches and magic which many of the great fantasy writers of our time used to

teach hidden moral lessons as well as to entertain.

J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis were criticized in the past by some in the Christian community for the use of Pagan mythology and magic in their works as well, so

the fact that this is happening to J K Rowling is not a surprise. What I fail to understand is why some in these circles accept the concepts of using mythology and fantasy in the Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, but will not allow the same rules to apply to Harry Potter. The same magic/mythology fantasy is seen each of their works with the main theme being "good vs. evil", with all three that I have mentioned having "Christian" virtues

symbolized within the stories themselves. The truth to the matter that I have found is that the biggest detractors of the Harry Potter books are usually from those that have not even read the books. They mearly pass on a quip they have read from some website without having done the research. Care needs to be given regarding the age of the children reading the Harry Potter series as the books due get more dark and intense as you read through up to book 6. That is where parents need to be there to read with their children and discuss the elements of the things that Harry is facing as we approach the final chapter.

Communication leads to understanding, leads to relationship and that will solve a great deal of the controvesy with Harry Potter.

B Smith Johnson 12-29-2005 @ 6:26PM

I agree with the last comment. Fundamentalist anything is dangerous because it puts a limit on rational thought and exploration of shades of gray. As a Harry Potter fan I see so many references to the life of Christ. To name a very few, in the Order of the Phoenix, twelve scrolls of parchment are cleared away following a meeting of the Order (could that be twelve disciples?). Harry always wears the number 7 on his Quiddich robes and don't forget the youthful but powerful trinity of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Even Christ lost his temper when he went to scourge the temple. Stop labeling any aspect of being human and not perfect as evil and sinful. Fundamentalist Christians (and all other fundamentalists) have committed the greatest spiritual injustice of all. You don't allow your followers to use the greatest gift that God gave us all, your brains. I am a Christian but I also see the same spiritual themes cross all of the great faiths. Thanks for this insightful article.

Adam Long 12-30-2005 @ 1:50AM

Thinking thinking thinking. The way of the Bodhisattva is 'beyond thinking.'

Fawn 12-30-2005 @ 8:59AM

Well, I don't actually agree - but the intention of the statement is good. I'm a Buddhist, and I don't see Harry as a budding Bodhisattva (Dumbledore is, though). Harry hasn't learned and isn't trying to learn to master his own inner demons, but is using them to face a great evil, which is very human, but hardly the mark of a Bodhisattva. He hasn't and isn't trying to learn detachment or the importance of impermanance. He is not moving towards an emotional place where he can destroy Voldemort with complete compassion. From all 6 books so far, it looks like Harry just gets angrier and angrier will need some final insult or loss to do what needs to be done. Dumbledore is the Bodhisattva, he has mastered his emotions, he remains emotionally detatched, he understands the changing nature of consciousness and reality, and he would have been able to destroy Voldemort with complete love and compassion.

And as for fundamentalist Christians and the bad nature of children, some of them have been known to be quite silly about other things. Kids enjoy reading about other children rebelling against authority. In fact, it is that imperative that causes them to grow up and become effective adults in the end.

Travis Prinzi 12-30-2005 @ 9:26AM

Actually, neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor anyone in the series is a bodhisattva (or a Christian, or anything else). But the series is chock full of Christian symbolism (phoenix, white stag, philosopher's stone, unicorns, etc.).

I agree that Harry is a good role model, and part of that is his frequent "rulebreaking" and failures. We could hardly relate to him if he were always perfect all the time, and he is definitely going through a transformative process (JKR is utilizing alchemical imagery for this process).

Areya 12-31-2005 @ 5:53PM

I agree with most of the above comments. Very good points! I particularly agree with everything that David said. Being a fan of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis as well as JK Rowling myself, I am also puzzled as to why certain people hail Tolkien and Lewis but condemn Rowling when all three set their stories in an imaginary world to an extent. When discussing the magic aspect of the Harry Potter books, I get frustrated when fundamentalist Christians (not all, but some) and others condemn the books because of the wizardry and witchcraft. JK Rowling has said herself that all of the 'magic' in her books is simply an analogy for the imagination, and not to be taken literally. When I look at the books like that, it makes me love them even more. If the books' challengers did their research and actually read the books, they would probably understand that.

Padmaelleena 1-04-2006 @ 12:00PM

Your comments: I am a christian/wiccan and my grandmother thinks that

harry potter is

extremely evil. That is the exact oppiste of how I feel. There is a

lot of truth in the way the wiches and wizards do things but they use

the words witch, sorcer, wizard, and sorceress wrong. Witch is not so

bad but it is considered to be more eveil than good and the word used

should be wiccan. Sorcer and sorceress should be for evil only. The

word means black magic to most wiccans. Wizard is a good word for

warlock and is the best one for the male wiccans. Maybe if

christians heard the views of some one like me, they would understand

better the ways of a true wiccan.

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like your children (any age will do!) featured on ParentDish, upload photos into the ParentDish Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.