BODHISATTVA

In Pāli bodhisatta, a term meaning "Wisdom Being," first applied to an incarnation of a candidate to Buddhahood, similar to the previous incarnations of Buddha narrated in the Jātakas (Birth Stories). In early bud dhism only a few zealous and persevering beings could be saved. But from the 1st century a.d., partly under Zoroastrian, Hellenic, and Christian influences, mahĀyĀna made Buddhahood accessible to all conscious beings with a mind for the truth (bodhicitta). "Bodhisattva" took on a dual meaning. On a lower level, the term applied to the ordinary believer who took the vow to gain supreme enlightenment for the sake of all suffering beings (in fact, an early term for the nascent Mahāyā movement was "bodhisattvayāa," the "vehicle of the bodhisattva"). Above the ordinary bodhisattvas are a divine compassionate savior who, upon developing Buddhahood through the practice of the perfections (pāramitā ) of charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, along with accommodation, vows, determination, and understanding, postponed nirvāna and underwent endless rebirths until all conscious beings who invoked him with faith could be saved. Inspired by this merciful soteriological teaching, all good Mahāyāanists strove after the bodhisattva ideal. Above the ordinary bodhisattvas are the great bodhisattvas (mahābodhisattvas), who, on becoming Heavenly Buddhas, save the faithful by the transference (parināma ) of their merit. The most popular Heavenly Buddha is Amitabha, assisted by Avalokitesśvara (Chinese, Kuan-yin; Japanese, Kannon), the God or Goddess of Mercy, Mañjuśri, the Begetter of Wisdom, and Maitreya, the Forthcoming Savior.

See Also: zoroaster (zarathushtra).

Bibliography: h. dayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature (London 1932). narada thera, The Bodhisattva Ideal (Colombo, Ceylon 1944). yÜ chÜn–fang, Kuan Yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara (New York 2001). p. williams, Mahāyā Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (London 1989).

[a. s. rosso/

c. b. jones]