Bodhisattvas

"Bodhisattvas--humans and celestial spirits who sacrifice their imminent liberation (Buddhahood) to help all others to become liberated--are revered or worshipped as gods or saints by some"


http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8045_1.html


This slightly confuses me, and I was hoping somebody could elaborate on it or better explain it. It seems to me that it is saying Bodhisattvas are unable to achieve enlightment, and that their goal is to help others along their path of enlightenment.

 

As I understand it, upon achieving Buddhahood when you die you will enter Nirvana and not be reincarnated anymore. A bodhisattva delays buddhahood because they want to be reincarnated so that they can continue spreading dharma and working towards ending suffering in the world.

If I'm wrong about that I hope someone will correct me .

 

that is how i have understood it as well. good steely dan song as well

 

My understanding of it was that a bodhisattvas achieves nirvana but then chooses not to live in that mental state, so that they may help/teach others. Kinda like mountain climbing, achieving nirvana is like summiting, once a person does that, instead of just staying on the peak, they climb back down to help others climb up.

 

But what is there to reincarnate in the first place? eh?

 

The causal factors for rebirth have been removed but the Bodhisattva remains through power of positive aspiration. My lama has explained that many individuals have acheived moksha or liberation but they are not at the level of the omniscience of the Buddha, but through following the Bodhisattvayana, one clears away all obscurations to omniscience based upon practice of the paramitas. Thus one can be freed from bondage to samsara but yet not be at the level of fulfillment of wisdom. So even though a Bodhisattva puts off total cessation of nirvana they have still to develop even more to be more fully alive. One can return to the source or become more expressive of it's luster.

 

Defined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva

http://kyky.essortment.com/whatisbodhisat_rfld.htm



x

 

Isn't the idea of Bodhisattvas a later introduction? Originally buddha used the term just to mean a seeker on the path.

SNB

 

ditto, following the love and not the personal agenda