Kim jest bodhisatwa?

WHO IS BODHISATTVA?The author asked himself the above question every time when in the course of reading Buddhist texts, he noticed that the meaning of the term “Bodhisattva” is different from the one he had known before. As it is difficult to overestimate the significance of the concept of Bodhisattva in the Buddhist doctrine, the author decided to analyse the causes of the above changeability. Having reconstructed the conception of Bodhisattva, as it functions in the Pali Buddhism, the author came to the conclusion that it remains in accord with the religious elitism which is characteristic of this tradition. It is only a very exceptional being who can become a Bodhisattva or future Buddha. For others there remains only the effort undertaken in accordance with the direction indicated by Buddha, or the lonely struggle, undertaken in ignorance of Buddha’s message, aimed at liberating oneself from suffering. It is quite a different situation in the case of the anti-elitist Mahayana which takes into account a wider spectrum of religious needs. Not only is the career of Bodhisattva open to anyone, but it is presented there as the only fully effective one with regard to its soteriological aspect. The elevation of Bodhisattva which occurs in Mahayana leads to putting him on a par with Buddha, and sometimes even to regarding him as someone more valuable than Buddha himself. The above redefinition is accompanied by a reorientation in soteriology. Bodhisattva’s turning away from Sansara and Nirvana, constitutes at the same time a liberation from the extreme values represented by the above two conditions