In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva (Sanskrit: , bodhisattva; Tibetan: Wylie: byang chub sems dpa; Pali: , bodhisatta; Thai: , phothisat; Japanese:, bosatsu; simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ) means either "enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva)" or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi)". Another translation is "Wisdom-Being". The various divisions of Buddhism understand the word bodhisattva in different ways, but especially in Mahayana Buddhism, it mainly refers to a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others.

The First Monk...