The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (420 page)

da schools, since the overwhelming message of the Mah
y
na is that the
nirv
na
with which the arhats and pratyekabuddhas content themselves is not the highest goal. Some bodhisattvas, such as
Avalokite
vara
, who in some Tibetan schools is considered to have already attained Buddhahood, even enter the hell-realms in order to alleviate pain there. The Mah
y
na notion of the bodhisattva as a being who views his own comfort (and sometimes his vows) as concerns subordinate to the needs of others, thus increased the social dimension of Buddhism and emphasized the value of lay life alongside monkhood. In
Vimalak
rtinirde
a-s
tra
(c.2nd-3rd cents. CE), for example, it is the lay bodhisattva Vimalak
rti who is the hero, and
Mañju
r
is the only other bodhisattva deemed wise enough to converse with him.

 
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