bodhisattvas

what are bodhisattvas?

• choose rebirth in samsara

• help all beings attain enlightenment

• won’t reach final nirvana until all humans have been saved

  • destined for enlightenment

• Mahayana

quote from BUDDHA about helping others attain enlightenment

“go forth for the welfare of the many”

how is the Buddha a bodhisattva?

• historical Buddha

  • bodhisattva before gaining enlightenment and in previous lives

what are earthly bodhisattvas?

• continue being reborn in human world

• live as humans

e.g. Dalai Lama

what are transcendent bodhisattvas?

• region between earth and nirvana

• appear in different forms to help

  • Mahayana Buddhists pray to them

e.g. Avalokiteshvara

what are some examples of the perfections of the bodhisattva?

• generosity

• energy

• wisdom

• meditation

• gnosis (higher knowledge)

how do you become a bodhisattva?

• bodhisattva vow

  • intense preparation must be taken before = supreme worship

  • aim to bring arising of the Bodhicitta (aspiration towards enlightenment)

• 10 stages (bhumis)

  • e.g. the joyous

what is the bodhisattva vow?

“beings are numberless, I vow to save them”

what is the Theravada view of bodhisattvas?

• recognise them

  • but think there is only one per age

  • Siddartha Gautama before reaching nirvana / in previous lives

• not an expectation for all beings