Elusive Notions of Bodhisattvas: Personified, Idealized, Mystified, Naturalized, and Integral
Religions June 13, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/rel16060764 via OpenAlex
Summary
Bodhisattvas—awakened beings in Buddhist traditions—are examined through multiple lenses: as symbols, ideals, mystical figures, naturalized beings, and integral visions. The paper contrasts Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhist motivations with secular Western interpretations, such as neurophysicalism and participatory spirituality. The traditional paradox of liberating oneself and all beings while realizing emptiness (śūnyatā) is explored, along with issues of illusion, moral agency, mysticism, devotion, and naturalization. Ethical foundations of traditional Buddhist and Western bodhisattva concepts are critically compared, and their moral implications are discussed within the context of moral relativism in Post-Truth American culture.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Mathematical economics Mathematics |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Bodhisattva ideals differ across Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and secular Western frameworks, with ethical tensions arising when traditional Buddhist notions are adapted to post-truth Western moral relativism. |
Abstract
This paper aims to juxtapose bodhisattvas, awakened beings recognized in various Buddhist traditions and contemporary philosophies, as viewed through different lenses: as personified symbols, idealistic visions, mystical manifestations, naturalized sentient beings, and integral visions. Specific attention is given to the contrasting bodhisattva motivations and ideals articulated in Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism as well as secularized psychospiritual–philosophical Western conceptions in neurophysicalism (naturalized bodhisattva) and participatory spirituality and theory (integral bodhisattva). The paradox of the traditional bodhisattva is to liberate oneself and all sentient beings by ending suffering and to act compassionately while realizing emptiness (Skt., śūnyatā), though with different conceptions undergirding ultimate realization. The paradoxical nature of bodhisattvas is discussed in regard to illusional ideation, moral agency, mystical nature, idealized devotion, and naturalized form. The ethical underpinnings of the traditional Buddhist bodhisattva notions and non-Buddhist ethics of Western bodhisattva conceptions are critically examined. Finally, the Buddhist and secular morals of bodhisattvas are discussed in the context of the moral relativism of the Post-Truth culture in the United States.