In the Mahāyāna vision, becoming a bodhisattva begins with a profound inner turning called the arising of bodhicitta, the “mind of awakening.” This is the heartfelt resolve to attain complete enlightenment not for one’s own sake alone, but for the benefit of all sentient beings. Such an aspiration is grounded in universal compassion and is distinguished from a quest for personal liberation that would leave others behind. When bodhicitta is genuinely generated, it marks the formal entry into the bodhisattva path and orients every subsequent practice toward the welfare of others.

On the basis of this aspiration, one then undertakes the bodhisattva vow, a deliberate and often ceremonially expressed commitment. Through this vow, the practitioner promises to work for the liberation of all beings and to postpone final nirvāṇa until that task is fulfilled. The vow may be taken in the presence of a teacher, a community, or inwardly before the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, but in every case it functions as a binding resolve. It is this commitment that transforms a noble intention into a lifelong, and indeed multi-lifetime, path of practice.

The bodhisattva path is then cultivated through the systematic practice of the six perfections (pāramitās), which serve as the primary disciplines shaping character and conduct. These are generosity (dāna), ethical conduct (śīla), patience or forbearance (kṣānti), energetic effort (vīrya), meditative concentration (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā). Generosity extends from material giving to offering protection and Dharma; ethics stabilizes behavior; patience allows endurance of hardship; effort sustains all wholesome activities; meditation deepens concentration and insight; and wisdom culminates in understanding emptiness and the nature of self and phenomena. Through these perfections, the bodhisattva gradually purifies the mind and unites compassion with insight.

Mahāyāna teachings further describe this journey as unfolding through a series of stages or “grounds” (bhūmis), each representing a deeper realization and an expanded capacity to benefit others. As these stages are traversed, compassion becomes more encompassing, wisdom more penetrating, and skillful means more refined. The bodhisattva learns to adapt methods and teachings to the diverse needs and dispositions of beings, always guided by the original bodhicitta resolve. In this way, anyone who sincerely generates bodhicitta, takes the bodhisattva vow, and diligently cultivates the perfections is said to enter the Great Vehicle path that ultimately culminates in Buddhahood.