[blossomingtree]

Cross referencing a post from Jyotir on the topic of Bodhisattvas:

Hi blossomingtree,

My understanding of the bodhisattva, is that such a being has achieved a state of permanent enlightenment, that they fully embody truth-consciousness having attained mastery of self, and have transformed all ignorance within. They are therefore the quintessence of truth and divinity.

Having realized Satchidananda within themselves, and therefore having the capacity to enter into Nirvana at will, including the possibility of a permanent conscious withdrawal from the Earth and its ignorance, conflicts, and suffering, they may exercise the full freedom of the infinite that they are by declining further cycles of reincarnation. Because they are realized and know who they are, they have fulfilled their physical evolutionary purpose for incarnation and do not need to return to find out.

However, as the embodiment of truth, compassion, and wisdom themselves, and as such truly qualified to be teachers of humanity - out of compassion for those who are still in ignorance, and importantly, as realized fully surrendered instruments of God's Will, Who they in fact are - some of these great souls 'choose' to remain, to willingly re-incarnate, thus sacrificing themselves to the pride of ignorance, the ingratitude, the resistance and the outright hostility of human ego they will encounter by doing so, as a dispensation for the possibility of awakening, nurturing, and progressing the innate spiritual aspiration in others.

In that case, they themselves embody enlightenment as an example, but also as a presence with occult influence, since they are the revealed soul-force within ignorant humanity, whether individual or collective. This physical presence is of great significance - perhaps the greatest demonstration of God’s Compassion besides the creation and sustainment of the Universe itself, since they are the concentrated manifestation of its very purpose, and why these beings are so revered for the unprecedented opportunity they provide:

Not only do they represent the highest within all, but at the same time, they ARE actually the highest within all, as an externalization of that highest truth. As such they are both the symbol of divine possibility and the very means to attain it.

It is an unfortunate but nevertheless common reactive mistake made by still predominantly ego-enmeshed seekers in trivializing or even disparaging such manifestations, as that would serve only to limit and inhibit their own potential for spiritual progression by effectively denying the inherently expedient possibility for divinization that these beings represent generically, and offer directly to individuals.

The only true avenue toward the improvement of world conditions is the divinization of individual beings who then would have a similar effect on the collective. The naïve recycling of ignorance in the form of ego-based altruism that only superficially addresses results, not causes, is naively perpetuating the same problems by further obscuring their real origins.

~ J

http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...7&postcount=46