Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva (Sanskrit: m., बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva "enlightened being", from Bodhi "enlightenment" or "awakening" and Sattva "being") is the name given in Eastern teachings to a personality who is animated by an Archangel right into his physical body, often only into his etheric body.
„One who has absorbed the whole of earthly experience, so that he knows of every thing how it can be utilised and has thus become a creator, is called a Bodhisattva, that is, a man who has sufficiently absorbed Bodhi, the Buddhi of the earth, into himself. Then he is ripe to work out of the innermost impulses. The sages of the earth are not yet Bodhisattvas. Even for a sage there are still things in which he is not yet able to find his way. Only when one has absorbed all the knowledge of the earth in order to be able to create, is one a bodhisattva. Buddha, Zarathustra, for example, were Bodhisattvas.“ (Lit.:GA 93a, p. 54)
In Mahayana, "Eight Great Bodhisattvas" are particularly revered. According to Rudolf Steiner, there are twelve Bodhisattvas in all, each of whom has a very specific mission to fulfil in the course of earthly development. Everything they need for this flows to them as substantial wisdom from a thirteenth: the Christ.
„If we take our clairvoyant eye to help us, we see that a Bodhisattva is a human being who is constantly connected with the spiritual world and does not live entirely in the physical world. His beingness is, as it were, too great to find room in a human body; only a part reaches down into the earthly shell, the greater part remains in the higher worlds. Consequently, the Bodhisattva is always in a state of inspiration.“ (Lit.:GA 118, p. 219)
Literature
- Rudolf Steiner: Grundelemente der Esoterik, GA 93a, Dornach (1987) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Der Orient im Lichte des Okzidents, GA 113 (1982), ISBN 3-7274-1130-9 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Der Christus-Impuls und die Entwicklung des Ich-Bewusstseins, GA 116 (1982), Erster Vortrag, Berlin, 25. Oktober 1909 (Die Sphäre der Bodhisattvas) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Die tieferen Geheimnisse des Menschheitswerdens im Lichte der Evangelien, GA 117 (1986) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Das Ereignis der Christus-Erscheinung in der ätherischen Welt, GA 118 (1984) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Das esoterische Christentum und die geistige Führung der Menschheit, GA 130 (1995), ISBN 3-7274-1300-X English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der ersten Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule 1904 bis 1914, GA 264, Dornach (1987) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF. |