Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva (Skt.; Pāli, Bodhisatta). The embodiment of the spiritual ideal of Mahāyāna Buddhism, in contrast to the earlier Arhat ideal advocated by the Hīnayāna. Bodhisattva literally means ‘enlightenment being’ but the correct Sanskrit derivation may be ‘bodhi-sakta’ meaning ‘a being who is orientated towards enlightenment’. The ideal is inspired by the lengthy career of the Buddha before he became enlightened, as described in the Jātakas. A Bodhisattva begins his career by generating the aspiration (praṇidhāna) to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all beings, often in the form of a vow, which according to many Mahāyāna texts is often accompanied by a prediction of success (vyākaraṇa) by a Buddha. He then embarks on the path leading to enlightenment (bodhi) by cultivating the Six Perfections (ṣaḍ-pāramitā) and the four means of attracting beings (saṃgraha-vastu) over the course of three immeasurable kalpas. The spiritual progress of a Bodhisattva is usually subdivided into ten stages or levels (bhūmi). Many Mahāyāna sūtras state that a Bodhisattva forgoes his own final enlightenment until all other beings in saṃsāra have been liberated, or else describe a special form of nirvāṇa, the unlocalized nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭha-nirvāṇa) by virtue of which a Bodhisattva may be ‘in the world but not of it’. Earlier Mahāyāna sūtras are specific in their belief that a Bodhisattva can only be male but later texts allow the possibility of female Bodhisattvas.