Arhat and Bodhisattva are commonly understood terms in Buddhism. The Arhat is the pinnacle of spiritual achievement as mentioned in the Theravada scriptures, while the Bodhisattva is an ideal which spiritual seekers aim for in order to achieve Buddhahood.
There are several sects within Buddhism, the main ones being the Theravada (also called Hinayana) and the other being Mahayana. Arhat is a term used by the Theravada sect, while Bodhisattva is used by the Mahayana. And there is some amount of debate among the Buddhists on these terms and what they signify. In order to understand what this means, it is important to learn the context n which the terms are used.
The Meaning of Arhat
In many Theravada texts, the Buddha is described as an Arhat, one who has completely extinguished birth and death. An Arhat is not reborn in any realm. This is the highest spiritual achievement, the goal of all meditation and practice. The Arhat is the final stage of four stages of spiritual evolution – the stream-enterer, the once-returner, the non-returner and the Arhat.
The stream-enterer is one who has entered the path of Nirvana and within a maximum of 7 rebirths will attain to the level of Arhat. He cannot go back into the realm of suffering. The once-returner as the name suggests is reborn only once before he becomes an Arhat. The non-returnere has no more rebirths in the lower realms but has not yet become an Arhat. The Arhat is one who has extinguished all desire, all ignorance which leads to rebirth.
There is a distinction which is made between the Buddha and the Arhat. A Buddha is one who discovers the supreme path with his own efforts, without recourse to a teacher. The Arhat on the other hand achieves Buddhahood but with the guidance from a Buddha. There is another category called Solitary Buddhas or Pratyeka Buddhas, who also become Buddhas without any teacher, but they are unable to teach others. It is mentioned in several texts that after his disciples became Arhats, the Buddha sent them all across the land to preach the Dhamma.
The Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva, which is the Mahayana ideal, is someone who has taken the vow to save all sentient beings, wherever they are however innumerable they are, from ignorance and the rounds of rebirth and until then, he does not enter Nirvana. In order words, he does not free himself until he has helped each and every other being to free themselves. The Bodhisattva willingly gets reborn in order to fulfill his vow.
A Bodhisattva is also someone who is eventually going to become a Buddha in a time to come. So an individual with the intention of attaining Buddhahood needs to take the Bodhisattva vow and help people in innumerable lifetimes, leading to the perfections and eventually to Buddhahood.
The Debate of Arhat vs. Bodhisattva
The Mahayana Buddhists accuse the Arhat of being selfish, looking after his own salvation without helping others. Monks in the Theravada tradition go off into the jungles away from society, beg for their food and spend their time in meditation in order to become Arhats. The Mahayanists claim that a person cannot become a Buddha unless he cultivates the Bodhisattva attitude.
The source of the Bodhisattva ideal can be traced to the stories of the past life of Buddha as told in the Jataka tales. In each of these stories, Buddha recounts how he helped other people through millions of previous births as a human being or as an animal, on his path to becoming the Buddha.
Seeking Nirvana Beyond Arhat or Bodhisattva
People who make a dispute out of Arhat and Bodhisattva have not really grasped the essential teaching of the Buddha. The core of the realization which makes a Buddha is that there is no Self, separate from the rest. It is not that you strive and meditate to destroy the Self. The Self does not exist right from the beginning. What happens is the elimination of the illusion or notion of its existence.
So looking at things from this view, there are no people to begin with. And if one really understand in one's bones what impermanence is, what emptiness is, there is no more dispute. Then there is no difference whether you help people or not because you are not there at all and neither are they. When you eliminate the notion of self, there is no one and no others, so no sentient beings to save.
But so long as one see others suffering, one also has a subtle notion of self. When one does away with this, then whatever one does will be a help to people.
The Bodhisattva vow does helps seekers to direct their mind outwards away from the self-centeredness. But eventually, if one's goal is to become a Buddha then one no longer holds the view of Self. If one is coming back again and again into the world to help people, one is only increasing the delusion further. On the other hand, if one consciously strives to become an Arhat, one is caught in the deepest swamp.
The true seeker of Buddha only looks directly into the mind, discovers there is emptiness, and stays there with nothing further to be done. Therefore, choosing either the Bodhisattva ideal or the Arhat ideal does not help in attaining Nirvana.
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