Get to know Bodhisattva better with 10+ real example sentences, the meaning and synonyms like deity or divinity.
Bodhisattva meaning
- A person who has taken specific lay or monastic vows and who is on the road to perfect knowledge; specifically, one who foregoes personal nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment.
- An enlightened being existing in a form of existence beyond the ordinary forms of physical reality understood and acknowledged by 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.
Using Bodhisattva
- The main meaning on this page is: A person who has taken specific lay or monastic vows and who is on the road to perfect knowledge; specifically, one who foregoes personal nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment. | An enlightened being existing in a form of existence beyond the ordinary forms of physical reality understood and acknowledged by 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.
- Useful related words include: boddhisatva, deity, divinity, god.
- In the example corpus, bodhisattva often appears in combinations such as: the bodhisattva, bodhisattva is, bodhisattva ideal.
Context around Bodhisattva
- Average sentence length in these examples: 24.3 words
- Position in the sentence: 5 start, 10 middle, 5 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Bodhisattva
- In this selection, "bodhisattva" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 24.3 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, pratyekabuddha, term, day, compassionate, jizo and kannon stand out and add context to how "bodhisattva" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include a few bodhisattva these are and a male bodhisattva and therefore. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "bodhisattva" sits close to words such as abominable, abstracts and aceh, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with bodhisattva
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
I believe Fred Rogers was a modern day bodhisattva. (9 words)
Another later name for this bodhisattva is Guānzìzài (Zh). (9 words)
According to some Mahāyāna sources a bodhisattva is someone on the path to full Buddhahood. (15 words)
Because this bodhisattva is considered the personification of compassion and kindness, a mother goddess and patron of mothers and seamen, the representation in China was further interpreted in an all-female form around the 12th century. (36 words)
The name for practitioners who do not yet reach Bodhisattvayana was not fixed, but the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva (聲聞菩薩) or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva (縁覚菩薩) already appear in Āgama which is sutras of early Indian Buddhism. (34 words)
As your eyes adjust to the shadowy interior, forms take shape: the face of a trance-like bodhisattva, the hands of a supplicant, flecks of red paint illuminating the shoulder blade of a saint. (34 words)
Example sentences (20)
Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not used generally, usage of the term bodhisattva had expanded over time.
The name for practitioners who do not yet reach Bodhisattvayana was not fixed, but the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva (聲聞菩薩) or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva (縁覚菩薩) already appear in Āgama which is sutras of early Indian Buddhism.
He sees her as a Bodhisattva — compassionate beings who put off their own enlightenment to help others.
In one early effort, Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, floats on colored flowers under a group of brisk Chinese characters wearing an elegant robe drawn with an already masterly line.
As your eyes adjust to the shadowy interior, forms take shape: the face of a trance-like bodhisattva, the hands of a supplicant, flecks of red paint illuminating the shoulder blade of a saint.
I believe Fred Rogers was a modern day bodhisattva.
The abyss is also home to about 70 stone statues of the Bodhisattva Jizo, known as Bake Jizo (Changing Jizo) because they are supposedly impossible to count.
Beyond this courtyard was the Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Avalokitesvara.
Leaving Wadatsumi and reaching the corner of the restaurant Sancho, I pause briefly in front of the stone bodhisattva figure known as Dogenzaka Jizo.
According to some Mahāyāna sources a bodhisattva is someone on the path to full Buddhahood.
According to the Kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung, a bodhisattva can choose any of three paths to help sentient beings in the process of achieving buddhahood.
Additionally, the concept of the bodhisattva as one who puts off enlightenment rather than reaching awakening as soon as possible, has no roots in Theravada textual or cultural contexts, current or historical.
Another later name for this bodhisattva is Guānzìzài (Zh).
As time went on, a backstory was provided for the multi-life development of the Buddha ; as a result, the ten perfections were identified as part of the path for the bodhisattva (Pāli: bodhisatta).
Avalokiteśvara was originally depicted as a male bodhisattva, and therefore wears chest-revealing clothing and may even sport a light moustache.
Because this bodhisattva is considered the personification of compassion and kindness, a mother goddess and patron of mothers and seamen, the representation in China was further interpreted in an all-female form around the 12th century.
Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005) states: The word pāramī derives from parama, 'supreme,' and thus suggests the eminence of the qualities which must be fulfilled by a bodhisattva in the long course of his spiritual development.
But the fact is that both the Theravada and the Mahayana unanimously accept the Bodhisattva ideal as the highest.
Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine.
Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure.
Common combinations with bodhisattva
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- the bodhisattva 15×
- bodhisattva is 5×
- bodhisattva ideal 3×
- and bodhisattva 3×
- bodhisattva of 2×
- bodhisattva the 2×
- this bodhisattva 2×
- bodhisattva in 2×
- bodhisattva vow 2×