Four Fearlessnesses

'Four fearlessnesses] (四無畏). Only a Buddha has

(1) fearlessness because Knowledge of all Knowledge has been acquired;

(2) fearlessness because all Afflictions have been eradicated;

(3) fearlessness in explaining hindrances that obstruct one’s realization of Bodhi; and

(4) fearlessness in explaining the right Path to end one’s Suffering.

Four Fearlessness

There are four kinds of fearlessness, of which there are two groups:

A Buddha's fearlessness arises from

1 his omniscience

2 perfection of character

3 overcoming opposition

4 ending of suffering

B Bodhisattva's fearlessness arises from

1 powers of memory

2 power of moral diagnosis and application of the remedy

3 power of ratiocination

4 power of solving doubts

Four kinds of fearlessness

mi ’jigs pa rnam pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་རྣམ་པ་བཞི།

caturvāri vaiśāradyāni

1. fearlessness in asserting one’s own perfect realization,

2. fearlessness in asserting one’s own perfect abandonment,

3. fearlessness in revealing the path to liberation, and

4. fearlessness in revealing hindrances on the path.