Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

"bodhi" is awakening, "sattva" is pure

"One whose essence is awakening" or "striving for enlightenment" in the Buddhism of Mahayana and Vajrayana is a person who has decided to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. In other words, a follower of the Buddha who vows not to go into nirvana until all sentient beings leave the cycle of samsara.

In the Indian, Tibetan, Nepalese, Chinese, and Mongolian traditions, the Bodhisattva pantheon includes numerous famous Buddhist teachers and siddhas: Nagarjuna, Padmasambhava, Shantideva, Asanga, as well as various personified deities, Buddhas and their incarnations: Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Vajrapani, Manjushri, Maytreya and others.