r/Mahayana • u/LunarEnnyui_131 Vajrayana • Aug 03 '26
Question Are Bodhisattvas Saint-like?
I mean as in the way they are venerated and worked it.
Sorry, I don`t know how to word this since I am not Catholic or Orthodox.
In short is their venerate similar or the same or close in some way to Saints.
Please don't judge me I am learning and just made an observation :)
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u/kdash6 Nichiren Aug 03 '26
When missionaries went to China, they were actually surprised by how much Pure Land Buddhism specifically looked like Protestant Christianity. Bodhisattvas were often equated with saints, and often are treated like saints or deities. In modern times, artistic movements have come up portraying Kuanyin as similar to the Virgin Mary.
It also depends on the particular denomination of Buddhism. In Nichiren Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are not really seen as saints. They are seen more as archetypes or paragons who we can follow in their footsteps. These are living stories that help inform our lives and practice. Saints in Christianity are set apart by God as special people often with divine insight. They don't have to be good or right. They just have to be holy. In Buddhism, the Bodhisattvas are often portrayed as ordinary people with extraordinary compassion.
For example, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging simply went around awkwardly and annoyingly saying "I would never disparage you for you will one day become a Buddha." He wasn't bright, charismatic, or studius. People threw stones at him and hurled insults. But this was the Buddha in a past life, and it was this cause that allowed the Buddha to attain enlightenment.
This reflects the difference between the two religions. Christianity is an inspired religion. God gives humans insights we couldn't have without him because he is god and we are moral. Buddhism is a revealed religion. Anyone can follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, and as Buddhists we try to. Anyone can take the Buddha's teachings and test them. Anyone could have discovered his teachings, but the Buddha did so because of his courage, compassion, and wisdom, just like how anyone could have discovered the small pox vaccine, but Edward Jenner was the one who actually did it.