bodhisattva

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Bodhisattva (Skt.; Pāli, bodhisatta, ‘Enlightenment-Being’; Chin., P'u-sa; Jap., Bosatsu; Korean, Posal; Tib., byang.chub sems.dpa, ‘Hero of the Thought of Enlightenment’). In Theravāda Buddhism a title exclusively identifying historical Buddhas (i.e. Śākyamuni) in their previous lives, before their Buddhahood was attained; and in Mahāyāna Buddhism to describe any being who, out of compassion, has taken the bodhisattva vow to become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. Strictly, an ordinary person who has ‘engendered bodhicitta’ (generated a desire for enlightenment in order to save all beings from suffering) and taken the bodhisattva vow is a bodhisattva, but there are also ‘celestial bodhisattvas’, such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, who are almost Buddhas in their attainments.

A bodhisattva's progress is determined by his practice of the six (sometimes given as ten) perfections (pāramitās) which are: generosity and morality; patience and energy; meditation and wisdom.

This contrast between the bodhisattva and the arhat or pratyekabuddha ideals is the principal distinction between the Mahāyāna and Theravāda schools, since the overwhelming message of the Mahāyāna is that the nirvāna with which the arhats and pratyekabuddhas content themselves is not the highest goal. Some bodhisattvas, such as Avalokiteśvara, who in some Tibetan schools is considered to have already attained Buddhahood, even enter the hell-realms in order to alleviate pain there. The Mahāyāna notion of the bodhisattva as a being who views his own comfort (and sometimes his vows) as concerns subordinate to the needs of others, thus increased the social dimension of Buddhism and emphasized the value of lay life alongside monkhood. In Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra (c.2nd-3rd cents. CE), for example, it is the lay bodhisattva Vimalakīrti who is the hero, and Mañjuśrī is the only other bodhisattva deemed wise enough to converse with him.

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.

bodhisattva [Sanskrit,=enlightenment-being], in early Buddhism the term used to refer to the Buddha before he attained supreme enlightenment; more generally, any being destined for enlightenment or intent on enlightenment. The spiritual path of the bodhisattva is the central teaching of Mahayana Buddhism. One becomes a bodhisattva by arousing the "mind of enlightenment," taking a vow to attain supreme enlightenment for the sake of all beings. The bodhisattva does not aspire to leave the round of birth-and-death (samsara) before all beings are saved; he is thus distinguished from the arahant of earlier Buddhism, who allegedly seeks nirvana only for himself and who, according to Mahayana teaching, has an inferior spiritual attainment. The practice of a bodhisattva consists of the six "perfections" or paramitas: charity ( dana ), morality ( sila ), forbearance ( ksanti ), diligence ( virya ), meditation ( dhyana ), and wisdom ( prajna ). Both laymen and monks may be regarded as bodhisattvas. In addition, many celestial bodhisattvas are worshiped along with the Gautama Buddha and the buddhas of other worlds. The most important celestial bodhisattvas are Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion; Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, and Maitreya, who in heaven awaits birth as the next buddha. See also sunyata .

bodhisattva (bodhista) In Theravada Buddhism, an individual who is about to reach nirvana. In Mahayana Buddhism, the term is used to denote an individual on the verge of enlightenment who delays his salvation in order to help mankind.

bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so through compassion for suffering beings.