bodhisattva
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bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
(religion, spiritualism, and occult)In Mahayana Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is one who has attained enlightenment, whose Buddha nature has found peace, but who has renounced Nirvana for the sake of helping others in their journey to liberation from suffering.
Bodhisattva
(Sanskrit, he whose being is illumination), according to the conceptions of the Buddhists, a mentor who guides men along the path of inner perfection, thereby bringing them liberation from earthly sufferings. At the same time, the state of Bodhisattva is a step on the path to the state of supreme illumination and attainment of Nirvana, that is, the state of Buddha.
The veneration of the Bodhisattva arose with the development of Mahayana, northern Buddhism. At the beginning of the Christian era, the title Bodhisattva began to be bestowed even on mortals, for example, on the Indian poet, philosopher, and playwright Asvaghosa (died, according to Chinese sources, in 194 A.D.). The most popular of the Bodhisattvas in Mahayana are Avalokiteshvara, Manjusri, Maitreya, and Vajrapani.