Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva (byang chub sems dpa'): One who through compassion strives to attain the full enlightenment buddhahood for the sake of all beings. [MR]

Bodhisattvas (byang chub sems dpa') are beings who have realized the empty nature of phenomena and the non-existence of individual self. They are free from the klesas, or ordinary emotions. There are ten bodhisattva levels or bhumis. The eleventh bhumi is that of consummate buddhahood, which is realized when both obscurations, that of the klesas and that which veils total wisdom, have been cleared in an irreversible way. In a broader sense a bodhisattva is a being engaged in practicing the mahayana teachings. [MR]