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List of bodhisattvas

 
List of Bodhisattvas

 
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In Buddhist thought, a Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
 (Ch.: ?? pú sà, Jp.: bosatsu) is a being who is dedicated to achieving complete Buddhahood. That is their reason for "being" or raison d'être
Raison D'être

Raison d'?tre is a phrase borrowed from French where it means simply "reason for being"; in English use it also comes to suggest a degree of rationalization, as "The claimed reason for the existence of something or someone"....
. Conventionally, the term is applied to hypothetical beings with a high degree of enlightenment. Bodhisattva literally means an "enlightenment (bodhi
Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
) being (sattva)" in Sanskrit.

The following is a partial list of bodhisattvas, respected in Mongolian, Tibetan, Japanese and Chinese traditions.

.






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In Buddhist thought, a Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
 (Ch.: ?? pú sà, Jp.: bosatsu) is a being who is dedicated to achieving complete Buddhahood. That is their reason for "being" or raison d'être
Raison D'être

Raison d'?tre is a phrase borrowed from French where it means simply "reason for being"; in English use it also comes to suggest a degree of rationalization, as "The claimed reason for the existence of something or someone"....
. Conventionally, the term is applied to hypothetical beings with a high degree of enlightenment. Bodhisattva literally means an "enlightenment (bodhi
Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
) being (sattva)" in Sanskrit.

The following is a partial list of bodhisattvas, respected in Mongolian, Tibetan, Japanese and Chinese traditions.

List of bodhisattvas

  • Akasagarbha
    Akasagarbha

    Akasagarbha Bodhisattva is one of the eight great bodhisattvas. His name can be translated as "boundless space treasury" or "void store" as his wisdom is said to be boundless as space itself....
(Ch. ??? , Xu Kong Zang, Kr. Huh Gong Zang, Jp. Kokuzo) - The Bodhisattva of infinite happiness generated by helping countless numbers of sentient beings.
  • Avalokitesvara
    Avalokitesvara

    Avalokitesvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhahood. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
(Ch. ?? , Guan Yin, Kr. Guan Um, Jp. Kannon, Tib. Chenrezig) - The bodhisattva of compassion, the listener of the world's cries; the most universally acknowledged Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Known as Guan Yin in East Asia, Chenrezig in Tibet, and Migjid Janraisig in Mongolia
Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and People's Republic of China to the south, east and west....
.
  • Ksitigarbha
    Ksitigarbha

    is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism, usually depicted as a Bhikkhu in the Orient. The name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb." is known for his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied; therefore, he is regarded as the bodhisattva of hell beings....
(Ch. ?? , Di Zang, Kr. Ji Zang, Jp. Jizo, Tib. Sai Nyingpo) - The bodhisattva of the Hell beings, or the bodhisattva of great vows.
  • Mahasthamaprapta
    Mahasthamaprapta

    Mahasthamaprapta is a bodhisattva that represents the power of wisdom and is often depicted in a trinity with Amitabha and Avalokitesvara, especially in Pure Land Buddhism....
(Ch. ???, Da Shì Zhì, Kr. Dae Sae Zhi, Jp. Seishi) - Represents the power of wisdom, seen on the left of Amitabha in Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism

Pure Land Buddhism , also sometimes referred to as Amidism, is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism and currently one of the most popular schools of Buddhism in East Asia, along with Ch?n ....
.
  • Maitreya
    Maitreya

    Maitreya or Metteyya is a future Buddhahood of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva....
(Ch. ?? , Mi Le, Kr. Mi Ruk, Jp. Miroku) - The bodhisattva to be reborn and to become enlightened, thus succeeding Gautama Buddha in the future. Known for his benevolence.
  • Manjusri
    Manjusri

    Manjusri is a bodhisattva in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism. Manjusri is the bodhisattva associated with wisdom, doctrine and awareness and in Vajrayana Buddhism is the meditational deity , who embodies enlightend wisdom....
(Ch. ?? , Wen Shu, Kr. Moon Soo, Jp. Monju, Tib. Jampal Yang) - Bodhisattva of keen awareness and wisdom.
  • Nagarjuna
    Nagarjuna

    File:Nagarjuna at Samye Ling Monastery.JPGFile:Nagarjuna.JPGAcharya Nagarjuna was an Indian philosophy and the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism....
(Ch. ??, Long Shu) - The founder of the Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka is a Buddhist Mahayana tradition systematized by Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of Gautama Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the Nikayas....
 (Middle Path) school of Mahayana Buddhism.
  • Nio
    Nio

    Kongorikishi or Nio are two wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Gautama Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in China, Japan and Korea in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues....
Two wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 and Korea
Korea

Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries, a civilization, and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia....
 under the appearance of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are manifestations of the Bodhisattva Vajrapani.
  • Padmasambhava
    Padmasambhava

    Padmasambhava The Lotus Born, is said to have transmitted Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century. In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche or Lopon Rinpoche, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha ....
(Ch. ?????, Lianhuasheng Shang Shi, Tib. Padma Jungne or Guru Rinpoche) - Most associated with Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhism religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India ....
 and Bhutan
Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China....
ese Buddhism. The Nyingma
Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as the "school of the ancient translations" or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan language, in the eighth century....
 school regards Padmasambhava as a second Buddha.
  • Samantabhadra
    Samantabhadra

    Samantabhadra , meaning Universal Worthy, is a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with Buddhist practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and fellow bodhisattva Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Buddhism....
(Ch. ?? , Pu Xian, Kr. Bo Hyun, Jp. Fugen, Tib. Kuntu Zangpo) - Represents the practice and meditation of all Buddhas.
  • Sangharama
    Guan Yu

    Guan Yu was a general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Shu Han, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor....
(Ch. ??, Qie Lan) - Only revered in Chinese Buddhism-Taoism, Sangharama refer to a group of devas who guard Buddhist monasteries and the faith, but the title is usually referring to the legendary Chinese military general Guan Yu
Guan Yu

Guan Yu was a general under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Shu Han, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor....
, who became a Dharmapala
Dharmapala

In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapala is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapalas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English language....
 through becoming a Buddhist and making vows.
  • Shantideva
    Shantideva

    Shantideva was an 8th-century India Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University and an adherent of the Prasangika Madhyamaka philosophy.The Chan Ssu Lun of the Chinese Madhyamika school identifies two different individuals given the name "Shantideva", the founder of the Avaivartika Sangha in the 6th century and a later Shantideva who studied a...
8th century scholar, wrote about Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
s.
  • Sitatapatra
    Sitatapatra

    Sitatapatra is the 'Goddess of the White Parasol' - protector against supernatural danger....
The goddess of the White Parasol and protector against supernatural danger.
  • Skanda
    Skanda (Buddhism)

    Skanda , Wei Tuo, and sometimes called Veda, or Idaten in Japan, is regarded in Chinese Buddhism as a devoted guardian and an honored bodhisattva of Buddhist monasteries who guards the Dharma and the objects of the Dharma....
(Ch. ??, Wei Tuo) - A Dharmapala
Dharmapala

In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapala is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapalas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English language....
 who guards the Dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
, with links to Vajrapani and is somewhat the direct forbear to Murugan
Murugan

Murugan or called Subrahmanya is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil people Hindus, and is worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influence, especially South India, Sri Lanka , Malaysia and Mauritius ....
, a Hindu deity. Primarily worshipped in Chinese Buddhism.
  • Supushpachandra
    Supushpachandra

    Supushpachandra is the name of a Buddhist figure, a bodhisattva who was commanded by the king's law to abstain from teaching dharma. Supushpachandra ignored the statute, and was executed by King Shuradatta....
Mentioned in Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life
A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life

The Bodhisattvacharyavatara, sometimes translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, is a famous Mahayana Buddhism text written in Sanskrit by Shantideva , a Buddhist monk at Nalanda Monastic University in India around 700 CE....
  • Suryavairocana
    Nikko bosatsu

    Suryaprabha Bodhisattva, or Nikko Bosatsu in Japanese, is a bodhisattva whose specialty is sunlight and good health. Nikko is often seen with Gakko Bosatsu , as the two siblings serve Bhaisajyaguru or the Medicine Buddha....
(Ch: ??, Ri Guang, Kr. Il Guang, Jp: Nikko) - One of two attendants of Bhaisajyaguru
Bhaisajyaguru

Bhai?ajyaguru , more formally Bhai?ajyaguruvaiduryaprabha and also known as the Master of Healing or Medicine Buddha, is the Buddhahood of healing....
 Buddha.
  • Tara
    Tara (Buddhism)

    Tara or Arya Tara, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddhahood in Vajrayana Buddhism.....
(Ch. ??, Du Mu) - Female bodhisattva, or set of bodhisattvas, in Tibetan Buddhism. She represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. Also a manifestation of Avalokitesvara.
  • Vajrapani
    Vajrapani

    is one of the earliest bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of the Gautama Buddha, and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power....
(Ch. ???, Jin Gang Shou, Kr. Kum Kang Soo, Jp.Shukongojin, Tib. Channa Dorje) - An early bodhisattva in Mahayana
Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
.
  • Vasudhara
    Vasudhara

    Vasudhara whose name means 'stream of gems' in Sanskrit, is the Buddhist bodhisattva of wealth, prosperity, and abundance. She is popular in many Buddhist countries and is a subject in Buddhist legends and art....
Bodhisattva of abundance and fertility. Popular in Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
.