E-Learning Programs

To my understanding, there are two reasons for ‘seemingly’ staying at the brim of enlightenment:

a.The great vows they made have yet to be fulfilled, eg. Saving of all/last sentient being;

b.It takes incalculable aeons to attain its goal. (if you like to find out more about the time it takes a Bodhisattva to become a Buddha, please refer to Har Dayal, “The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature”,Motilal Banarsidass, Dehli, 1999, pp76-79).

Assuming that Buddha is the CEO of a hospital, the Bodhisattvas are the doctors, we are the patients and the world is the hospital.
The Buddha, who is the CEO, possesses the expertise and skills to manage the complexities of the hospital facilities and staff, and at the same time tries to save the patients. The CEO can be a manager, a leader, an adviser, and even a doctor. There is no limit to what the CEO can do in that hospital. Similarly, the Buddha has many skills and powers to help those in need. However, if there is no co-operation from the doctors and the patients, the Buddha can only provide suggestions on how to get to the Buddha’s position.
The Bodhisattvas, which are the doctors, try to save as many patients as possible under the guidance and resources supplied by the CEO. However, based on the limited resources and expertise, the doctors can only do so much. They still have to depend on others to cure the patients. Some doctors spend all their lives saving patients. Some doctors realize their limitation and proceed to further their training to specialists. This might lead them to the post of CEO in the hospital. Here, the doctors are almost similar to the Bodhisattvas. They strive to help all beings to liberation. When the time is ripe, they themselves will achieve enlightenment and proceed to helping other Bodhisattvas.
The patients are separated into different departments and level of emergencies. That’s us who are trapped in this samsara world. There is no discrimination in gender, caste or social status. Everyone has the ‘equal opportunity to fall sick’ and need medical or support to get better.
The hospital is always opened due to the needs of the patients. No matter how many patients turn up, the hospital is still there. As long as there are patients, the hospital is never empty. This is one of the causes and conditions of having this hospital. This can be described as the beings in the 6 realms or the 31 plane of existence, our cage to our numerous rebirths and deaths.
The Buddha already showed us the ‘back-door’ to the ‘hospital’ (Four Noble Truth and etc) so that we can ‘escape’ from this ‘hospital’. Due to the dependence on the medicines or machines (clinging), we are still trapped. Worse of all, because we are still trapped in the hospital, the doctors could not leave us and still trying to help us. That’s why the Bodhisattvas are still at the edge – to leave or not to leave; only time will tell.

From what I have read in the Chinese version of the Tipitaka, and my intepretation of it, the Arhat, Bodhisattva, Buddha all have achieved enlightenment. Each without distinct from each other. It is what each of their vow and the path the achieve the enlightened state that differs, and ultimately the vow will define their function in the bigger sense of Buddhism cosmology.

Since Buddhism is better described as a path rather than a religion, we can find many soteriological doctrines in it. The problem will arises when we take a soteriological concept as an ontological one. Here, I agree with our friend: the Bodhisattva path serves as a method to cultivate selflessness and compassion among people. The proof of this idea can be found in Mahayana literature: for example in the Diamond Sutra we read that in fact nobody would be liberated.

In my oppinion, try to look at the Bodhisatva ideal as an approach to the practice of the Way, not as a spiritual Buddha's assistant. Otherwise we can end up in contradiction because for example if an infinite number of beings waiting for liberation, must be only one(!) Bodhisatva (understood as being really existing) which vow to liberate other beings. Or we can end up in a other funny situation where many Bodhisattvas pressing each other to liberation for example... and so on and so forth.
Bodhisatva ideal changing accents rather from ego to others in my oppinion and it is better to look at it as idea. On the other hand, I firmly believe that spiritual forces are real and helping sentient beings.
If everything arising in dependancy it is not possible to obtain the ''self''awakening in the style of a hermit Arhat. "Self" awakening is contrary to the foundation of Buddhism and in my oppinion this was the main reason why Mahayana was set up and why ideal of Bodhisatva appeared.
If we look at the awakening from our human point of view as the path that we have run or thing which have to be done, we can do mistake. Dharma does not have the edge of enlightenment, or the place with starts & end points, I presume.