What This Concept Is Saying
The three characters 大威神 (mahānubhāva, "great majestic power") appear frequently in Buddhist scriptures, but they are usually not analyzed as an independent philosophical concept. Rather, they function as an adjective describing the virtues and capacities attained by buddhas and bodhisattvas. Classical entries condense the definition into a single phrase — "broad, great, and marvelously wondrous awe-inspiring power and capacity" (廣大神妙的威勢與能力). Brief as it is, each layer deserves to be unpacked.
"Great" (大): This is no mere adjective; it emphasizes transcendence and completeness. The virtues and capacities attained by buddhas and bodhisattvas are not limited or partial, but all-pervading, ultimate, and immeasurable. Thus "great" qualifies the very magnitude of the attainment itself — it points to a state of being that is "unconfined."
"Awe-inspiring" (威): This is one of the core elements. The "威" spoken of in Buddhism is not the worldly sense of "impressiveness," "majesty," or "sense of power," but rather "might" and "majestic virtue" — a power of merit that naturally causes sentient beings to submit and revere. It corresponds to the fruition-stage capacities realized by the Buddha, such as the ten powers (十力, daśabala), the four fearlessnesses (四無所畏, catur-vaiśāradya), and the eighteen unique qualities (十八不共法, aṣṭādaśāveṇika-buddha-dharmāḥ). The ten powers are the Buddha's powers of knowing and seeing dharmas as they truly are (such as the power of knowing what is and is not the case, the power of knowing karmic retribution, etc.); the four fearlessnesses are the Buddha's composure in four situations (fearlessness regarding omniscience, fearlessness regarding the extinction of the outflows, fearlessness regarding teaching the dharmas that obstruct the path, fearlessness regarding teaching the path that exhausts suffering); the eighteen unique qualities are eighteen merits exclusive to the Buddha (such as no loss of body, no loss of speech, no loss of mindfulness, etc.). None of these is outward performance; they are the natural outpouring of inner realization.
"Marvelous" (神): This is the "marvelous" of "wondrous" and "superknowledge" (神通, abhijñā), not the "spirit" of "ghosts and spirits" (鬼神). What Buddhism calls "神" generally refers to the six superknowledges (六通, ṣaḍ abhijñāḥ): the divine eye (天眼通, divyacakṣur-abhijñā), the divine ear (天耳通, divyaśrotra-abhijñā), knowledge of others' minds (他心通, paracittajñāna), recollection of past lives (宿命通, pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), psychic power (神足通, ṛddhi-vidhā), and the extinction of the outflows (漏盡通, āsravakṣaya). Ordinary beings and non-Buddhist practitioners may partially attain the first five through concentration, but the extinction of the outflows can only be accomplished by a sage who has utterly eradicated the defilements. The literal sense of "神" is "wondrously inscrutable" — this capacity exceeds the logic of everyday experience, yet it is genuinely real.
Taken together, "great majestic power" describes the unity of awe-inspiring virtue and marvelous capacity that buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest at the fruition stage — transcending the ordinary and entering the sacred. It is the endpoint manifestation of practice, not the starting point — just as the Mahāyāna scriptures such as the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* (《華嚴經》) and the *Lotus Sūtra* (《法華經》) describe buddhas and bodhisattvas, that immense power that gathers in sentient beings and settles them securely.
The place of "great majestic power" on the path to liberation: Buddhist practice has causes and fruits. Practitioners of the Lesser Vehicle (小乘, Hīnayāna) cultivate moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom (戒定慧, śīla-samādhi-prajñā), cut off defilements, and realize nirvāṇa (涅槃, nirvāṇa), manifesting the purity of liberation. Bodhisattvas of the Great Vehicle (大乘, Mahāyāna) go further, accumulating vast merit and wisdom in benefiting both self and others, ultimately accomplishing buddhahood — and what is then realized is precisely this power of "great majestic power." Therefore it is not something an ordinary being can possess here and now, but rather fruition merit (果德) that naturally manifests when practice reaches its consummation. Its position on the map of our entire cultivation is equivalent to "the coordinate of the goal" — it tells you where this path ultimately leads.
Walking It Through in Daily Life
To be honest, "great majestic power" is difficult to walk through directly in everyday psychology the way the five aggregates (五蘊, pañcaskandha, "the five aggregates"), impermanence (無常, anitya, "impermanence"), or attachment to self (我執, ātmagrāha, "attachment to self") can be — because it describes the fruition stage of buddhas and bodhisattvas, not a present psychological state. But it can be walked through from another angle: that longing deep within us for "great majestic power" is itself a phenomenon worth examining.
Scene One: You Long to Be Seen at Work
You complete a major project — late nights, overtime, all kinds of effort — but when you report it, your supervisor brushes past it; what your boss reposts on social media is someone else's work. You feel unjustly treated — why? At moments like this you might fantasize: if only I had some "great majestic power," a force that "makes people unable not to submit."
Walkthrough: This longing reflects a secularized understanding of "威." But the true "威" in Buddhism does not come from external recognition; it comes from inner realization. The reason the Buddha's ten powers cause sentient beings to submit is not that the Buddha "showed off" at some assembly, but that he truly knows the reality of all dharmas. That submission is natural and uncoerced.
Scene Two: You Scroll Your Phone and See a "Superpower Performance"
You come across a short video: a "master" claims to retrieve objects from afar, to know what you are thinking, to heal the sick... You feel both incredulous and half-inclined to believe — if it were real, wouldn't that be wonderful?
Walkthrough: This is the greatest misreading of "神." Buddhism's attitude toward superknowledge is clear-headed: superknowledge is not the goal of practice, and may even become an obstacle to it. A person who truly possesses "神" — such as an arhat (阿羅漢, arhat) endowed with the six superknowledges — would never use superknowledge for profit or performance, because superknowledge must not be used to gratify the self or entertain others. The extinction of the outflows (漏盡通) is the core of the six superknowledges — the first five are only by-products. If a person has "superpowers" without having cut off the defilements, that is extremely dangerous.
Scene Three: You Feel Powerless in an Intimate Relationship
In an argument with your partner, the more you try to explain, the less they listen; the more you try to control the situation, the more it spirals out of control. You think: if only there were some "great majestic power" — an ability such that "one sentence makes the other person truly listen."
Walkthrough: This maps both "大" and "神" onto control. The true "great majestic power" is precisely *not* control — when buddhas and bodhisattvas deliver sentient beings, they never force change upon the other, but use compassion and wisdom (慈悲與智慧, karuṇā-prajñā) to let beings see the truth for themselves. Mapped onto intimate relationships: the person with the most "威" is not the one who yells the loudest, but the one who can most help the other relax and can most truly hear what the other is saying. What you really want is not "to control the other person," but "to be understood, to be accepted, to feel safe."
Scene Four: Facing Death and Impermanence, You Feel Utterly Unsheltered
When a loved one passes away, an industry undergoes upheaval, health fails... in such moments you deeply feel your own smallness and powerlessness, and wish there were some force that could "cover" you, protect you. This is the situation in which "great majestic power" is most easily folk-religionized — many people burn incense and bow to buddhas precisely to seek this kind of "great majestic protection."
Walkthrough: Buddhism acknowledges that buddhas and bodhisattvas possess this capacity (such as the protective power described in the *Kṣitigarbha Sūtra* (《地藏經》) and the *Medicine Buddha Sūtra* (《藥師經》)), but emphasizes that this capacity is not given to you unconditionally. It is only awakened through the correspondence (相應) between your own practice (keeping precepts, repentance, making vows, etc.) and the vow-power (願力, praṇidhāna) of buddhas and bodhisattvas. So even at the level of faith, "great majestic power" is not a transaction — you worship, I protect; it is a sympathetic response (感應) — you cultivate, I respond.
The most common place to mis-map: equating "great majestic power" with "whatever I want, buddhas and bodhisattvas must give me." This treats it as an external resource rather than an inner fruition merit.
Why Contemporary People Need It
First, Adjusting Your Imagination of the "Endpoint of Practice"
Many people who encounter Buddhism stay at the level of "meditation, chanting the Buddha's name, cutting off defilements," but are not quite clear what it all leads to in the end. "Great majestic power" provides a concrete imagination of the "fruition stage" — not an abstract "becoming a buddha," but a describable set of capacities: vast, awe-inspiring, marvelous. This gives you a clearer cognition of the direction of practice.
Of course, a reminder is necessary: the scriptures emphasize that "the Buddha does not perform buddha-work through superpowers" — the Buddha delivers sentient beings primarily through the teaching, not by displaying superpowers. So although "great majestic power" is real and true, it is fruition merit, not a tool.
Second, Breaking the Superstition About "Superpowers"
Contemporary society has enormous interest in "superpowers," from esoteric short videos to all manner of occult topics; superpowers have been severely entertainment-ized and commodified. Understanding the true meaning of "great majestic power" (especially that the extinction of the outflows is the core) allows you to have a clearer awareness of superpowers — neither deceived by fake masters, nor misled by your own fantasies.
Third, Settling the Inner Longing for "Power"
Modern people actually live in great "powerlessness" — faced with life's uncertainty, impermanence, and death, we feel deeply small. Understanding "great majestic power" allows you to realize: Buddhist practice is essentially cultivating the "great majestic power" within you — not external power, but inner wisdom and compassion. When through practice you reduce defilements and increase wisdom, you draw closer to that state of "great majestic power."
Common Misreadings and Clarifications
Misreading one: "Great majestic power" is just "superpower performance"
This is the most common misunderstanding. Many people equate "great majestic power" with "being able to perform magic, predict the future, heal the sick." But the true "great majestic power" has the extinction of the outflows (漏盡通) as its core and the ten powers (十力) and four fearlessnesses (四無所畏) as its foundation — superpowers are only by-products, not the main body.
Misreading two: "Great majestic power" belongs only to buddhas and bodhisattvas; ordinary beings cannot have it
In the strict sense, as a complete fruition merit, "great majestic power" is indeed the realm of buddhas and bodhisattvas. But this does not mean ordinary beings have nothing whatsoever to do with it — Mahāyāna Buddhism holds that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature (佛性, buddhatā); "great majestic power" is not something that descends from out of nowhere, but a potential that you can manifest through practice. Every step of progress on the path brings you closer to it.
Misreading three: "Great majestic power" can be "prayed for"
Much folk religion treats "great majestic power" as a resource to be prayed for — I burn incense, recite sutras, release living beings, and the buddhas and bodhisattvas will grant me "great majestic blessing." This is a utilitarian understanding. Buddhism acknowledges sympathetic response (感應), but emphasizes that response arises from the correspondence between karma and vow-power, not from unconditional transaction. The true way to "obtain" great majestic power is to attain buddhahood through your own practice — not to purchase it from the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Misreading four: "Great majestic power" is some kind of "aura" or "intimidating pressure"
In secular usage, some people understand "威" as "having a strong aura," "commanding awe without anger," "dominating the room." But the "威" in Buddhism is not this kind of external aura; it is inner power of merit. It causes people to submit, not because it is "fierce" or "strong," but because it is "true" and "right" — the true seeing of dharmas as they are naturally breaks all wrong views. This kind of "威" needs no external adornment; on the contrary, the more plain and unadorned it is, the more clearly its power shows.
Note: The classical entry for this concept is quite brief (a one-sentence definition), without the clear branch structure of, say, the five aggregates (五蘊) or the eight consciousnesses (八識, aṣṭa vijñānāni). This essay therefore unfolds mainly from the literal senses of the three characters — "大" (vast, complete), "威" (majestic virtue, might), "神" (marvelous, superknowledge) — and draws on the common contexts in Mahāyāna scriptures describing the fruition virtues of buddhas and bodhisattvas. For more precise scriptural grounding, one may refer to the specific descriptions of buddhas' and bodhisattvas' majestic virtue and superknowledge in such classics as the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* (《華嚴經》), the *Lotus Sūtra* (《法華經》), and the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra* (《大智度論》) — but to avoid misquotation, this essay does not directly cite specific scriptural sentences; interested readers are advised to consult the originals themselves.