By defnition, “enlightenment thought” means to promise some-thing with the mind. For instance, if one were thinking of going somewhere today, then one would go according to the idea that one has created in one’s mind. If one thinks of going to eat, then one would create that idea or mental thought of eating. This is actually a promise in one’s mind.

The idea of promising something with the mind occurs not only in the Mahayana tradition, but in the Hinayana tradition as well. Within the latter tradition, there are three different types of enlight-enment thought:

• The thought of gaining the state of an Arhat, or the Arhat enlightenment thought
• The thought of gaining the state of the Pratyekabuddha, or the Pratyekabuddha enlightenment thought
• The thought of gaining the state of full and perfect enlighten-ment, or the fully enlightened Buddha enlightenment thought