What is a Bodhisattva? 

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For me, a Bodhisattva is a being who sacrifices all of its energy for the benefit of all beings. Like our Sun. If you think about it, the Sun expends it's energy so that we might have life. What a beautiful gift!

As a two time undefeated Bodhisattva myself, i can recommend this video. 😀

I had a patient call me Bodhisattva and I had to look it up. Thank you.

"The bodhizattva knows that one can never truely be free until all souls are free"

Sending gratitude from a Daoist monastery near Seattle (USA)! ☯️🙏💙

I believe in the suttas, Bodhisattva is used to describe Prince Siddhartha before his birth & the 6 years after he left the home life, seeking Enlightenment/Awakening

Wonderful video (as always). Already looking forward to the sequel... 😊🙏🏻 As a Zen practitioner I've met a lot of people who considered themselves Bodhisattvas (helping all sentient beings). I came to the conclusion that almost all of them are but personified versions of the "helper syndrome" in disguise: strong and insincere identification with the idea(l) of being an unselfish/altruistic helper. The Bodhisattva ideal is certainly not a bad thing per se, but it can embody the danger of spiritual bypassing to a great extent. Ezra Bayda (Tricycle, Summer 2003) wrote a wonderful article about that subject. Here's an excerpt: _The question is: Where in our life do we do good, at least in part, to subtly solidify the self? Where do we get in our own way? Where do we use even our identity as a spiritual seeker, or the comfort of being part of something bigger, to cover the anxious quiver of being?_ 😊🙏🏻

I will become sammuk sambuddha in future...i am Bodhisattva now .. preparing my permi 🎉

Thank you 🙏 Doug! I’m within the Korean Zen tradition (Seon) and I had thought the notion of the Bodhisattva was a Zen manifestation. I was so wrong - thank you once again for the ongoing education. Right now I am in my Order’s ‘Dharma Guardian’ training and I plan on sharing this with the fellow Dharma ‘students’. You’re the best, Doug; sending all my best from Chicagoland.

This is extremely in-depth for a 15 minute video, thank you!

You’re insight was so spot Doug. thank you so much!

You’ve clearly come SUCH a long way. I particularly appreciate that in you I have yet again been signposted to Buddhism.

Thank you for the video! Very interesting and great explanation as always

Although Bodhicitta implies turning away from personal liberation, it is not defined as postponing one's enlightenment. Rather, it is the main mind associated with the two aspirations of achieving full enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings. The aspiration to benefit all sentient beings is the primary aspiration. However, there are 3 types of bodhicitta: like a king (wishing to achieve enlightenment before sentient beings), like a ferry (wishing to attain it at the same time) and like a shepherd (wishing for others to attain enlightenment before oneself). This being said, since the main object of abandonment of a bodhisattva are not afflictive obscurations but knowledge obscurations, I can imagine where you are coming from when you define bodhicitta. Generally speaking, we say it takes 3 countless eons to achieve buddhahood from the time we enter the Mahayana small path of accumulation. But there are other approaches in Tantra as well as in Chan. It's not clear cut.

One of my favorite stories (not sure how accurate, I learned it long ago) is of when Gautama was a Bodhisattva during a time of famine. He sees a mother tiger unable to generate milk to feed her cubs because she herself is starving. Out of compassion he removes his clothes, neatly folds them away, and allows the tiger to eat him so she can generate milk and feed her cubs. Sometimes I wonder if I'm starting to glimpse what and how that level of compassion can actually be...

In various Mahayana and Vajrayana schools there is a classification of three types of bodhisattva: - king-like bodhisattva - aspires to become buddha and then help sentient beings in full fledge; - boatman-like bodhisattva - to achieve buddhahood along with other sentient beings; - shepherd-like bodhisattva - to delay buddhahood until all other sentient beings achieve liberation. Some schools say the king-like is the best, some that the shepherd-like is the best, but also some say shepherd-like doesnt even exists as an option. It should also be noted that the teaching of non-abiding Nirvana isnt actually a later one, being implied in the Mahasamghika teachings about how Gautama Buddha was already such a being.

Namo buddhaya 💐🏵️

Good explanation. Namo Budddhay

Another excellent teaching, Doug! We appreciate, as always, your time and talent!

I think you learnt a lot in this Dhamma! and congratulations !

Thank you. Very interesting stuff. Cheers

thank you for the video. A few years past I heard the definition given as warrior of enlightenment. Which is to say a person who dedicates their life to battling the ignorance found in the world. perhaps even as seeing a kind word, a politeness given, and encouragement as a sword stroke cleaving negativity away in a persons life if only temporarily. devotion to seeing that with one's life they will for the sake of another's progression along the path to greater awareness. not for praise but for the simple joy of the act itself.

A bodhisattva is an enlightened being who temporarily delays Nirvana to help others . Look at it more as remaining in the worldly affairs after seeing through the illusion , rather than rejecting the world of illusion outright.

Thank you.

Good wishes from India. Namo Buddhay 🙏

Thank you!

Inspiring,very valuable set of factors

Thank you 😊

- great channel- appreciated ^^

Great explanation

नमो बोधिसत्व 🙏🙏

Hey Doug, I love your work! I would like to thank you all the way from Turkey that you have taught me a lot of things about Buddhism. I was wondering if you have a video about Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug and how these sects of Tibetan Buddhism differ.

Namo buddhay 💜

i neither pine for, nor detest your upload notification 🙏

Not being a religious Buddhist, I view the bodhisattva as a reaction to the depraved indifference that some Buddhists fall into when they think they shouldn’t get attached to the suffering of others by helping or because they believe that the suffering of others is deserved because of what they did in a past life. Both of these are explicitly denied by the Buddha, but that does not stop people from thinking them.

Namaskar,from Colombia

If anyone wants to understand bodhisattva in detail then I suggest reading Chandrakirti's madhyamakavatara Sutra. It has been explained in very detail about bodhisattva.

Let me think: being a Bodhisattva means that my Self, or my ego, will persist through all eternity here on Earth? I will be forever a Buddhist and myself? Wow! Just one more thing: great channel! I do like your videos, Professor.

I read that Amitabha Buddha was a Bodhisattva who succeeded in attaining full Buddhahood. Also, I hope you cover the levels of a Bodhisattva in either your next or future video

Thank you for another great video, Doug! One thing is puzzling me. Boddhisatvas are said to postpone their own enlightenment. And as I understand there are stages of enlightenment in Mahayaba (bhumis) which are different from the 4 classical stages. I remember reading that in one school there were 10 bhumis, and arahant would correspond to the 4th or 6tg bhumi (I don't remember exactly). So my question is: do bodhisattvas become at least partially awakened along the path? How does it work? Maybe you know something about this. Thank you.

Hi Doug, There is a paradoxical nature to Zen teachings because they often juxtapose the non-enlightened point of view (small mind) with the enlightened point of view (big mind). Generally we can only see things one way, there is only one right answer, our minds aren’t open. But when we are truly ourselves, big mind, we are open to everything, we see things as it is, but we still know of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Certainly, this only applies to paradoxes in some zen koans or teachings. "Zen is not something to talk about, and also it is something to talk about”

Ah timely, we're just learning about the early evolution of Bodhisattvas as per Buddhism at Gandhāra!

Very interesting video. Since in Mahayana many Bodhisattva's have mantras associated with them have you ever considered doing a video about mantras or mantra meditation?

Not exactly infinite... but definitely a very veeeerrrrryyyy long time...

Thank you very much for the lesson, Doug. I would like to know: Do you think the Mahayana/Bodhisatva path has any solid base according to the Pali Suttas?

You are so smart

The river of Life and Death, Samsara, is what the Buddha overcomed in Paranirvana. All Arhats achieve this... But the Bodhisatva decides to pospone his overcoming of this river, in order to help the Buddha bring foth the promise of Buddhism, help others achieve Buddhahood! Who is a Boddhisatva? Everyone Who consider the Four Great Vows as a serious path to everyones' Enlightment is a Boddhisatva...

Never will I seek nor receive private individual salvation, never will I enter into final peace alone, but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the redemption of every living thing throughout the world.

Hey Doug! Where might I find a listing or literature of former bodhisaatvas? Just curious as to how many there have been throughout history since The Buddha's enlightenment. I'm a filmmaker and would love to do more research on the subject. Thanks and keep up the great work!

My understanding of bodhizattva is that it's enlightened ones who have perhaps reached buddhahood or at least enlightenment and chose love over fear (by releasing attachment and following the path to the best of their ability) and use their lives to bring the rest of humanity up to the realm of the gods. I have a very unique view on samsara that it is actually different times in history and possible outcome with the demi God rhelm being humanity after we have moved beyond capitalism and imperialism and selfish systems of oppression to empower the lives of those who will next go to hell realms but that ultimately we are all (even including the most evil person you can think of) but we still must stand up for those born in "lower" circumstances, which means realizing we are the natural result of physics and the living universe. What I said earlier about samsara being different times in history is that the hell realms are times like the Holocaust and places of intense suffering caused by those who create them and (at least) the demi God stage is one of post industrial society where we have moved past capitalism and hierarchy and give every human the basic rights of decent housing, healthcare, food, and education, so that all people can persue their dharma unhindered by karmic cause and effect of us doing harm to ourselves by trying to exploit others disharmoniously. This time we would have many breakthroughs in science and the ability to live as long as we want and bring humanity to levels of prosperity unimaginable to us today, essentially living in star trek in real life, no money just people exploring the universe that we are and giving people the opportunities to democratically decide their lives and live their dharma as easily as possible, then the God rhelms to be the result of a far far future where consciousness is no longer locked into the human body but creating new and more universes itself and eventually starting over again, when desired as at the demigod stage death has become optional due to freely accessible healthcare and nutrition that can end aging and turn death into something one decides when and how. However these realities must be created so bodhizattvas are those who have created these realities and choose to go back and help others archive this state as fast as possible. You cannot have Buddhism without buddhas sharing the truth that we are all and much choose love and overcome fear, rather than use the fear of others to control them (as the catholics and all others who were born in the human realm of high status but could not become bodhizattvas and instead create hell realms that they will eventually experience first hand. The reason I am not a Buddhist is because my enlightenment and heart tells me I am here to help others by conquring my fear of creating hell for myself and others through inaction, but by learning about love and using the scientific method to find the most effective way of teaching and raising the consciousness of others. We all are in this time of the human realm for a reason and just because one may have been in the God/demigod realm before doesn't mean incarnation now is a bad thing, it just means I chose to so I can help create the God realms and eventually end samsara for all (this is completely my own imterpration from my practice and study, I hope it inspires others but remember we all have our own dharmas and the best we can do is the best we can do don't let unachable "perfection" keep you from trying just love, be greatful and try your best And so in service of boddizzatva I have a 5 minute video on what it actually means to be enlightened ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aAAVKuSEfj4.html if you read this far and our interested I highly recommend it love and enlightenment to all 💚

9:50 - yeah it does feel like a very VERY long path....

My personal opinion is that bodhisattva is someone who is aware of only small portion of the greater truth. The Truth being the Nirvana. Bodhi means enlightenment/wisdom and sattva means seed or essence. So someone who has a essence of wisdom(but not completely realised it) or someone who is a seed(not yet tree) is a bodhisattva.

Thank you for your informative video. I am Thai and have been practicing Theravada Dharma since a young age. It would be great if you could explain Buddhist cosmology/Samsara to the Western public. This can be related to Bodhisattvas, expressing themselves as human beings to help other beings reach Nirvana, To not reborn again.

My understanding of the bodhisattva vow isn't that one forgoes enlightenment until all sentient beings are enlightened, but that one forgoes being tathagata (thus gone - not to be reborn).

Have you ever seen the 1990s series "Quantum Leap"? The series finale was apparently not well liked but the main character choose a Bodhisattva style path (and ethically how could he not? I thought it was perfect for an ending.) A review of the episode from your perspective may attract some channel views. The premise of the series was he was a lost time traveler trying to get home while the universe kept putting him in situations where he could improve people's lives.

I don't believe people need help but they need to help themselves

Since Buddha nature is inherently in all of the Universe we only need to make the determination to ourselves

Thank you Doug

reaching for enlightenment is automatically benefit to all living beings. do not delay.

Hi Doug 👋🏻 Thanks for the video 🙏🏻 Is your new book available in hard copy? Or is it only in ebook format?

Are there descriptions of how exactly the dharma is lost? How does the last awakened being before a "dark age" mess up passing it on?

Great video, my question is doesn’t the usinisa Vijaya Dharani do that same thing!! It has the merit too help all sentient beings and causes one too not be reborn in a suffering situation and removes dense karma.

Hello, there is any teaching or practice on self enquire on Buddhism

Thank you so much sir for sharing your knowledge. I just want to clarify myself that, since I am belong from a Vajrayana Buddhist sect. Are all Rinpochhes in this world are Bodhisatva or they are living Buddha. Some followers says they are all living Buddha who have achived Buddhahood. 🙏🙏🙏

Sir, Can't you make a video about the political philosophy mentioned in Buddhism? 😁

Bodhisattva Vajrapani is mentioned in early texts.. during debates..

Bodhisattva is Br Ambedkar in india.you must visit India on dhikshabhoomi Nagpur Maharashtra.💙

Bodhisattva is prior to becoming Buddha . It is related to jatak tales

I thought that we all will become Buddhas at some point.

I want to know if Lord Avlokiteshwar is mentioned by Buddha in early texts? I think Lord Avlokiteshwar may have been mentioned somewhere by Buddha.

Genuinly forgot what one of these was and got here from like a dragon ishin

Is there a way of availing your book physically ?

I did the vajra guru mantra over 6000x in 2015. I saw a figure in white, then he disappeared when I noticed he was out of place. Which bodhisattva or buddha did I see?

Is vegetarianism necessary for the meditative path of Buddhism?

As per the large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom: 1. One should become a Bodhisattva (a Buddha-to-be) i.e. someone content with nothing less than all-knowledge attained through the perfection of wisdom for the sake or all beings. 2. There is no such thing as a Bodhisattva, or all-knowledge, or a “being”, or the perfection of wisdom, or an attainment. The solution to this dilemma lies in nothing else than the fearless acceptance of both contradictory facts.

I have read numerous texts stating the bodhisattva goal is to become enlightened in order to liberate all sentient beings from samsara not postpone enlightenment in order to help sentient beings. Postponing enlightenment seems to me a contradiction to the idea that only an enlightened person has the perfect knowledge to help sentient beings.

Thanks Doug, this was very informative. I'm curious what has been said about the period of "dormancy" before the Dharma is lost and the time for the Bodhisattva's transition to Buddhahood is realized. Is the role of the Bodhisattva simply to be a future Buddha, or is there some importance to the lifetimes lived before Buddhahood? Maybe those billions of lifetimes inform the being of all the things they will need to know in order to become the Buddha. Or maybe each Bodhisattva is like a candle, and one day, instead of rekindling a lost flame, there will be so many candles that the entire universe is illuminated. Does tradition have anything to say about this?

I think in real life, one "soul" can incarnate both in the past and future and that bodhizattvas, are already enlightened and live in the far future when humanity has finally achieved global enlightenment and sustainability and unconsitional love (basically star trek irl but with multiple dimensions of consciousness aswell, understanding the universe as both scientific and "spiritual" I.e. Consciousness is intrinsic to the existince of the universe itself) Also I define enlightenment in terms of either intillectual/complete (intillectual enlightenment meaning something most of us have already had which is learn that "to be enlightened" means "understanding that yourself and the universe is one and the same, I'll link some of my own 5 minute videos on it for anyone interested, "What is enlightenment, really?" (Warning it's kind of quiet, it's an older video and my audio mixing skills weren't as good lol) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aAAVKuSEfj4.html "true self is without form" (basically natural and artifical are two sides of the same coin, a lot of people like this one better and it uses Zenyatta from the video game overwatch as an example if you know who that is (if not he is a robotic AI tht practices Buddhism which is a super interesting imo) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b-awlvceP3Q.html don't forget to like and subscribe if you do 😉😁👍👍) and "complete enlightenment" meaning accepting this truth into your heart and living as if you are actually the result of the big bang and stardust condensing into planets orbiting the sun and physics and organic chemistry evolving to the point of life capable of self awareness finally resulting in the birth, life, and eventual death of your egoic self (your body, your name, the "you" that you think of as you) which will then rejoin the all upon death until "you" are reborn again in another time, place and manifestation. But that's just the definition of "enlightenment" that I use, where it's very easy to be intillectually enlightened (and it requires work and reminding ones self of this as there are so many distractions caused by the ego that evolved to protect your body and seek pleasure while avoiding pain and has evolved into what we call one's "personality" and complete enlightenment while possible for any soul, very unlikely, and as we know from karma and quantum mechanics the universe runs on probability, the key comes from free will and doing our best to practice unconditional love and help ourselves and others do the same, because after all our best is the best we can do, no more, no one is perfect, but we all can be together ☺️)

Bodhisattva Maitreya will be reborn and become the Buddha in the future.

Sattva doesn’t mean being. Sattva means sampa in tibetan which means dhu-jhaa in tibetan which explains pure or original stand of identity without any external informations influences,as it is without any bias or trace of additional and subtraction descriptions of any material or business. Bodhisatva or bubbhisattva is called to Jangchup sampas cuz their sattva is in shunyita’s state of mind. It is all written in sungdhu text.

Good presentation. It sounds like there is an awful lot of attaining to be done. The Heart Sutra states that there is nothing to attain. And this confuses me.

Does it really matter in this one speck of a lifetime what we think we'll be, or to think that our intentions will remain true throughout the many lives we'll have? How do we know that it's not just silly to just think that our egoic minds can influence our multiple lives?

Can you talk Buddhist marriage ie can Buddhist marry blood relatives? In Tibetan Buddhist it is a taboo to marry and should at least be not related for 7 generation blood relative. What does text say about it.

Everything is a Perspective of the Singularity, and as such nothing is more or less enlightened than anyone or anything else, the very concept of a "bodhisattva" is therefore simply another term to create a division within the human psyche itself. As aware perspectives of the Singularity we should come to terms with our greatest understanding, which is simply to be, act and feel as humans are meant to. Instead, we seek ways to escape exactly what we came here to experience.....Humanity!! Every other creature on this planet does not seek "enlightenment" because absolutely nothing can be more or less enlightened than anything else. We as humans must realize this, rather than searching for ways to escape the human experience!

I don’t get why they say you would refrain from ascending. If you’re one with all you’re not really helping anyone or yourself by refraining from it lol. Life and people are a mirror of the internal state

After seeing the "light" and being in the nothingness, life asked me if i wanted to be, or not to be ^^ I chose to be. For whatever reason. Does that make me a Bodhisattva?

The idea of a Bodhisatva seems tied together with assumptions of post life rebirth, and pretty far from secular. It's always seemed to me that trying to put off the enlightenment experience to work on other folks is part and parcel of that bronze age world view. One assumes that working on oneself and getting their Buddha on would be the absolute pre-requisite to being engaged enough to help other people in the sense of a Bodhisatva. Since there isn't any "Self", the idea of being reborn outside of ones life seems spurious. If one wishes to become or act as a Bodhisatva then the place to do it is this life, so the need to wait for ones own enlightenment to save all the other sentient beings seems like a cart before the horse sort of things. Better to work on oneself before attempting to embody some sort of hyper altruism. If one life is enough to get to get to Buddhahood then this is the time to do it. Once you're there then you can talk about Bodhisatva stuff. Until then best to work with what one can grasp...here. My 2c.

There are two problems with explaining the Path of the Bodhisattva intellectually exclusively through a Buddhist lens: first, one's understanding is subject to the entropic forces that have degenerated Buddhism over countless generations (as they do all religious forms), which results in the many different ideas, concepts, beliefs, and interpretations around what it means to be a Bodhisattva. Second, one invariably misses the most poignant and visceral example given to us of the Path of the Bodhisattva (which is a deliberately chosen path of suffering and sacrifice for humanity for the sake of the end of suffering for all beings, in which one must face and eliminate all of one's karma in one lifetime...even karma which one deliberately took upon oneself as a burden to carry for the sake of suffering humanity): the reincarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Master Aberamentho (better known to the world as Jesus of Nazareth). One truly cannot comprehend the Path of the Bodhisattva unless one has walked it (or is walking it), just as one cannot truly know anything unless one SEEKs Self-Evident Experiential Knowledge of it directly and consciously. Beliefs in the mind are hypnosis and ignorance, which taken together are the antithesis of gnosis--what we SEEK from existence...to be. Merely understanding something intellectually is decidedly thinking; conceptualizing; dreaming one knows... it is literally not being. To be or not to be, that is the question, and what the Buddha himself taught when he said "You must test my words." The teachings must be applied and experienced for their Truth to be known. The knowledge of that is conscious, not intellectual, belonging to The Being, not the mortal self. This is the fundamental teaching that Bodhisattva (the ones who are here to teach, that is) convey in different times and in different eras in ways appropriate to the time and place in which they teach. Spoiler alert: not all Bodhisattvas are "Buddhist." strictly speaking (*gasp!* But it's True...how could they be? Meditate on it). For our part, we write about our journey on the Path of the Bodhisattva in Part One of our book, "What in Hell is with Us?" And summarize in contemporary terms the fundamental nature of the Bodhisattva Path as all Bodhisattva do: via allegory (i.e. parable) that most should be familiar with... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h5pniyAAeh0.html (

i am a living Bodhisattva, yes verified by master lu jun hong. i be starting my channel once approve by Guan yin Bodhisattva yes jesus is real too

Very interesting concept. But the strangest idea of Bodisathwa I ve heard about. It is as if an excuse to NOT practice or strive to practice Dharma and just want to kill time by postponing enlightenment and trivializing the enlightenment without admitting how hard or next to impossible it is. If Buddha never attained Enlightenment, could any of us be helped? Could there be Dharma? But it is a sweet twist of a very difficult task.....Viriya, or striving itself is a Parami, and Buddha said without striving one cannot attain enlightening!

Does the boddhisattva ideal go along with the belief of reincarnation? Otherwise, why they can't help others if they do would not put off their own enlightment? Also, isn't it saying "enlightement for its own sake" contradicting the "no-self" in buddhism? I thought enlightement is not awakening into the self, which is empty, on the contrary, awakening to the the reality, discovering that there is no self. So, aiming one's own enlightement does not even make sense in the first place, because there is no one's own self. Aiming enlightement, by its nature, cannot be selfish, since it is aiming to be free from the illusion of the self eg; when Doug is enlightened, he is free of Doug's self, kind of meaning that he is not Doug anymore. It sounds to me the distinction between buddha and boddhisattva, and also the two level of nirvana are the interpretation of the dualistic human reasoning. Appreciate if you can answer :)

3:33 - ah so a Bodhisattva puts off their enlightenment for the sake of other sentient beings in order to help them. Interesting...

A bodhisattva has exactly 69 karma

Your ignorance is overwhelming, I couldn’t finish this

Use to slap an ant

I don’t have the patience to listen to this long of a definition.

Hi Doug. Great content. Are you enlightened?