Mahāyāna — The Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva Ideal, and the Question of Buddha-Nature
The major expansion of Buddhist philosophy — extending the goal from individual liberation to liberation for all sentient beings. The bodhisattva ideal transforms the entire ethical and metaphysical architecture of Buddhist thought: what does compassion look like at the level of cosmology? Mahāyāna's answer — including the controversial doctrine of tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature in all beings) — shaped the entirety of East Asian civilisation.
The bodhisattva ideal
Early Buddhism's goal is the arhat — the individual who attains nirvāṇa and is released from the cycle. Mahāyāna reframes this as a lesser goal. The bodhisattva takes a vow to remain in saṃsāra until all beings are liberated — even at the cost of postponing one's own nirvāṇa by cosmic aeons.
This is not merely ethical altruism — it has metaphysical weight. If all beings lack a self, then 'I am suffering' and 'they are suffering' are equally constructed designations. The compassion that motivates the bodhisattva is rooted in seeing through this construction: there is no privileged 'self' whose suffering takes priority.
Foundational concepts
Key thinkers
Bodhicaryāvatāra
All suffering arises from seeking happiness for oneself alone.
In dialogue with
Primary sources
Bodhicaryāvatāra
The most philosophically rich guide to the bodhisattva path — combines Madhyamaka with ethics.
Sources are drawn from indexed primary texts and traditional commentarial literature.
Related traditions