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In Buddhism, are bodhisattvas more similar to the Christian concept of gods or saints?

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Didge Doo answered

If you stick to the literal meaning of the word "a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so through compassion for suffering beings" they would be more like saints.

But, like many imported words it is often used inappropriately. When applied to Quan Yin (Japanese Kwanen) some fringe-travellers refer to her as a bodhisvatta while, in Eastern religion, she is the goddess of mercy.

Quan Yin would probably be comfortable with a lot of those confused teen questions about gender because she started life as a male before becoming a female. Perhaps she was history's first transsexual.

And her Japanese name, Kwanen, was the original name of Canon, the company that makes all those great cameras.

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