Way of Bodhi is the practice of Buddhism as a way of living with deepening wisdom awareness. In fact, awakening in Buddhism is always through such an open way.
This open approach to life, the way of wakeful awareness and compassion, cuts through all religiosity. Every step is a path as long as we sail with the light of prajna (insightful understanding) and maintain sensitivity to the concerns of others. Barriers of religion, culture, race, etc. fall apart as we approach life with open awareness. As the hallucinations of boundaries that separate us from the rest of the sentient world dissolve in the light of wisdom, loving-kindness and compassion arise as natural qualities of our being. Every one of us has the ability to discover it in this life.
The paths that the Buddha showed are indeed the “ways of bodhi” than the “ways to bodhi” because awakening is not just a distant goal. Awakening is what we can discover every moment. Speculative theories and metaphysics have no role there. It is about relaxing in the spacious openness of mind and at the same time vividly seeing and understanding everything in its immediacy as and when it arises. Everything that the Buddha taught – self-discipline (śīla), meditation (samādhi) and wisdom (prajña) – is principally about cultivating that open and clear awareness.
There are numerous Ways. The Way of wholesome living in mundane life, the Way of renunciation of the monastics, the Way of compassion of the bodhisattvas, the Way of pure presence of the mantra-practitioners, the Way of spontaneous perfection of the ati-yogis (Dzogchenpas), etc. are some of those. Often, one may choose to tread a Way that spans across many of these ways. No matter which amongst these Ways one traverse, it involves cultivating openness, non-clinging and a wakeful presence – at one level or other. All of these are the pathways of living in the increasing light of wisdom awareness.