Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Buddhism An enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes nirvana in order to save others.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Buddhism of the northern school, or the later development called the Mahayana, one of a numerous class of beings who, having arrived at supreme wisdom (bodhi), have to pass through human existence only once more before attaining to Buddhahood, or complete enlightenment, and entrance into Nirvana. Among Singhalese Buddhists called
bodhisat and bodisat, among the Chinese poosah, and among the Japanese bosatsŭ. - n. Also, any religious teacher.
Wiktionary
- n. Buddhism An person,generally who has taken specific lay or monastic vows; is on the road to perfect knowledge; specifically, one who foregoes personal nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment.
- n. Buddhism An enlightened being existing in a form of existence beyond the ordinary forms of physical reality understood and acknowledged by Western scientific thought, resembling the Western notion of angels, but with a wealth of its own nuances and expectations. These include the compassionate working for enlightenment of all sentient beings.
WordNet 3.0
- n. Buddhist worthy of nirvana who postpones it to help others
Etymologies
- Borrowed from Sanskrit बोधिसत्त्व (bodhi-sattva, "enlightened existence"). (Wiktionary)
- Sanskrit bodhisattvaḥ, one whose essence is enlightenment : bodhiḥ, perfect knowledge; see bheudh- in Indo-European roots + sattvam, essence, being (from sat-, existing; see es- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The term bodhisattva is Sanskrit whose essence is basically "enlightenment" (bodhi) and”
“My personal bodhisattva is unhappy with the size of her breasts”
“The example used in the texts is somebody called a bodhisattva a monkey and was reborn as a monkey five hundred times.”
“These are known as the bodhisattva and tantric vows.”
“In the Mahayana one takes a vow called the bodhisattva vow, in which one promises to help all other sentient beings to enlightenment before attaining enlightenment oneself, or to attain enlightenment for their sake.”
“That is, the bodhisattva is the referent, and she has different names in different languages: guan yin in Mandarin, Gun Yam in Cantonese, Kannon in Japanese.”
“Then, we will take the vowed restraints, namely the bodhisattva and the tantric vows.”
Explanatory Talks at the Rikon Kalachakra Initiation 1985 ��� Day One
“Grace informs us in her introduction "that Buddhists believe that a bodhisattva is a particular kind of enlightened being - one whose compassion runs so deep that he or she resists a final dissolution of the soul into Eternity until all sentinent beings have themselves attained liberation from suffering.”
“(A bodhisattva is a person who has attained Enlightenment, but who postpones Nirvana in order to help others on earth to attain Enlightenment.)”
“(In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a "bodhisattva" is an enlightened being who refuses Nirvana and stays in this world to help others.)”
RJ Eskow: Redemption Song: Ted Kennedy Through Allen Ginsberg's Eyes
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bodhisattva’.
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Sanskritist
Ancient Vedic language of India, Yoga, Buddhism and Hinduism
turmeric, soma, shruti, shanti, hrdaya, samsara, mukta, jnana, namaste, atman, tara, citta and 92 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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spicolli's Words
terrapin, ravenous, fuck, sepulchral, garlic, suss, queer, curmudgeon, foodie, intricate, omphalos, subversion and 534 more...
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Mollusque's miscellany
A mixture of words that I like or have commented on, along with ones parked here so they'd be listed somewhere or remind me of lists I want to make.
oranger, monographer, preoccupied, bu, bobization, coinventor, tetrapyloctomy, borgmannian, suspercollate, manhug, mancrush, obituarist and 604 more...
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Dain's Words
rabble, terminus, archaic, atavism, demiurge, waylay, syzygy, jocoserious, quark, entropy, cinnabar, shamble and 912 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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Field Mass
for the same
fanon, armet, wether, filibuster, shadoof, shabrack, mai, sainfoin, sand-crack, panoply, guerdon, flunky and 233 more...
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lindaness's list
Ausgezeignet
precision, quite, irregardless, drownded, diaspora, compersion, de rigueur, bodhisattva, dénouement
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werds
letters put together
meshugah, cosmococcic, aspidistra, bespoke, bodhisattva, dénouement, mountweazel, copasetic, copacetic, liturgy, ménager la chèvre..., sacrosanct and 2 more...
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scottcancan's Words
meconium, tole, onomatopoeia, litotes, wassailing, edifying, beatific, diaspora, lacadaisical, pontificate, verily, cloaca and 81 more...
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Esoteric Language
Want to express the abstract, the emotional, the mystical and ineffable? Try indicating that which cannot be said with these esoteric words!
bhakti, intangible, love, void, compassion, ineffable, esoteric, jnana, tantric, awareness, samsara, nirvana and 26 more...
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Old Soul
old soul, reincarnation, god, human, hungry ghost, gaki, jikininki, rebirth, revenant, ghost, metempsychosis, transmigration and 18 more...
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Spirituality
bodhisattva, panpsychism, mediumship, nirvana, satyagraha, cosmic consciousness, disincarnation, transfiguration, pantheistic, eternality, parasensory, metaphysical and 63 more...
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LeEMS's Words
panjandrum, ragamuffin, milliner, cinnabar, timorous, compote, penultimate, transcendentalism, ovate, somnambulist, recompence, adroit and 43 more...
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missartemis's list
kerfuffle, douchebaggery, halcyon, malachite, ethereal, bodhisattva
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bodhisattva.
artoparts See: bodhicitta. Oct 2, 2008