A Glimpse of the Bodhisattva

The bodhisattva ideal is a major concept in mahayana buddhism and therefore relevant to the type of training we pursue in our group. I believe it to be a greatly inspiring concept but it carries a danger far greater than misunderstanding the other defining concept of our tradition in that, because we all possess buddha nature we therefore do not need to train. Misunderstanding the bodhisattva ideal is far more common because we perceive the bodhisattva in the human form and therefore can easily grasp at this ideal and see ourselves to be becoming one of these truly enigmatic beings. In order to steer clear of the danger of turning this training into a self-image ego trip we need to understand what sets the bodhisattva training apart from any other pursuit that we may be familiar with. This talk touches on the unique perspective and qualities of this type of training.