Buddhism in Five Minutes - Elizabeth J. Harris
44. What is the Bodhisattva Vow?
Buddhism in Five Minutes - Elizabeth J. Harris
Nick Swann [+]
University of South Wales
Nick Swann is a Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at University of South Wales, UK. His research interests include Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Tantra, and Anthropology and Religion.
Description
The bodhisattva vow concerns (a) a commitment to cultivate the perfections of a buddha and (b) the aspiration to achieve buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings. This is in contrast to the kinds of awakened beings who enter final nirvana upon physical death, individually escaping saṃsāra’s round of birth and rebirth and leaving others behind. The bodhisattva vow is overwhelmingly associated with Mahayana and Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism, but bodhisattvas are identified in contemporary Southern (Theravada) traditions too.