Bodhisattva 菩薩

   Bodhisattva, cf. 菩提薩埵. A transliteration of the Sanskrit bodhisattva, which means 'enlightening being.' (1) Generally speaking, a person intent on the attainment of enlightenment, who has fully altruistic motivations. (2) The bodhisattva is the model practitioner in the Maha^ya^na 大乘 tradition, who dedicates his/her life entirely to the salvation of other beings. This concept is used in Maha^ya^na texts to distinguish from the earlier Indian concept of arhat, a being who is also enlightened, but who, according to Maha^ya^nists, possesses an inferior, selfishly-attained enlightenment. In this regard, the bodhisattva is said to possess two main characteristics which distinguish her/him from the arhat 阿羅漢, and other inferior religious practitioners: a deep sense of compassion 慈悲 for the suffering of all other beings, and a special type of wisdom based on a realization of the nature of the emptiness (/su^nyata^ 空) of all existences. The bodhisattva attains his/her enlightenment by arousing the thought of selfless enlightenment (bodhicitta) and practicing the six perfections (pa^ramita^ 六度) based on compassion (karuna^). (3) The term bodhisattva is also often applied as an honorific title to the great Buddhist teachers of antiquity, such as Na^ga^rjuna 龍樹 and Asan^ga 無著.

　梵語菩提薩埵的簡稱，華譯為覺有情，謂自行成就，則能覺悟的有情眾生的意思，也就是佛教指上求佛道和下化眾生的聖者。利益眾生，修諸波羅蜜行，於未來成就佛果之修行者，亦即自利利他二行圓滿、勇猛求菩提者，是名菩薩，有時菩薩亦被尊稱為「大士」。在「三乘」中，菩薩高於羅漢而次於佛。菩薩標榜大慈大悲，普渡眾生，是大乘精神的象徵。