Jesus as Bodhisattva

The strongest parallel between Jesus and the bodhisattvas lies in their commitment that is expressed in loss of self. In both cases there is a mediating role – they are both preparers of the way. But in Jesus' case, at issue is not only a psychological process of dying but a real death on the cross that, for many, is connected with forgiveness and the opening up of life. The nature of the mediation is thus quite different. Jesus is not only a preparer of the way who can be imitated but also someone who breaks through an impasse – namely that of human guilt – in a unique way with his own life.

Are the differences such that it would be better not to compare Jesus with a bodhisattva? We said in Chapter 1 that a syncretic event always concerns a double transformation. We see that happening here as well. More explicitly than in many other well-known images of Jesus from the Western history of doctrine, in the comparison with a bodhisattva we see the image of Jesus moved with compassion (karuna) emerge. That is the transformation that occurs on the Christian side. Jesus is seen primarily as the one who is moved by compassion and discards all aspirations of power. Against the background of the reproach to Christianity of lack of solidarity with the enormous poverty of the Asian population, that is no minor transformation. Jesus as bodhisattva is the one who unambiguously takes pity on the lot of the Asian poor.