Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

A bodhisattva is a living being that seeks personal enlightenment (bodhi) as well as enlightenment and happiness for all other beings. Compassion for all is the bodhisattva's first and foremost practice. Thus, she empathetically takes on the pain of others and suffers along with them. The intent beneath all the bodhisattva's actions is to replace suffering with joy.

The bodhisattva seeks to be Buddha-like, practicing: compassion, generosity, patience, ethics, effort, concentration and wisdom. Anyone can strive to become a bodhisattva by practicing.

Generosity and Patience

• The bodhisattva practices generosity toward others, giving to others without expectation of anything in return. This giving can be in the form of help, teachings, material or anything else he can offer. By being generous, he turns away from greed and miserliness.

  It is said that patience is a virtue; it is also a bodhisattva practice. Being patient is one of the ways he prevents doing harm to others. Patience is seen as the antidote to anger and other negative feelings towards others.

Ethics and Effort

• By doing what she feels is right and not doing harm to others, and doing as she says she will, the bodhisattva practices ethics. She is delighted by action, by reaching and achieving. Ethical discipline is restraint from negative actions, and the discipline to help others (positive actions). She also provides any counsel possible to those who have failed by not acting ethically. She does not turn away from those in need.

  Seeking to work hard and strive toward goals, the bodhisattva practices effort. By persevering, she achieves great feats and avoids the human pitfall of laziness. Her effort is joyous. She avoids putting things off and discouragement. She does what is constructive, and she does not do so to generate praise or respect. She is humble in her enthusiasm to help others.

Concentration and Wisdom

• Concentration is a type of mindfulness and can be enhanced through regular meditation or yoga practice. Concentration allows the individual to be present in the moment, not worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.

  A bodhisattva seeks wisdom. Wisdom is seen as the culmination of all other practices. In wisdom, he sees reality as it exists, not just as it impacts the individual. He enhances his wisdom through daily analytical thought about his actions and practices.

  Involved in society, bodhisattvas actively struggle to change themselves through their practices and make the world a better, more humane place.