"In Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, the goal of Buddhist practice is primarily to be reborn infinite numbers of times to liberate all those other beings still trapped in samsāra." (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhicitta#Ideal)
There is no source for this statement.
I find it intriguing, because it implies that there will¹ never be a point at which all beings will be liberated at the same time; if there were, the bodhisattva would not need to be reborn an infinite number of times, but only a finite number.
¹ If it's up to the bodhisattva, at least!
::
(Some more info, which may help understanding where I'm coming from: On April 20 of this year, I wrote elsewhere:
I was reminded of this again two days ago, when I watched this video:Sauwelios wrote:There is an important strain in Buddhism which holds that a Boddhisattva ranks even higher than a Buddha²--a Buddha being someone who just is in Nirvana, and a Boddhisattva being someone who leaves that height again in order to help others down below to gain Buddhahood themselves. However, the ideal remains the Enlightenment, the Buddhahood, of all sentient beings. This is then inconsistent, as the ideal should rather be the Boddhisattvahood of all sentient beings. But a Boddisattva is someone who strives to further the Buddhahood of all sentient beings. Ergo...
Hedonistic Transhumanism likewise wants the bliss of all sentient beings. This is the "potentially [...] glorious future" such Transhumanists want to follow life's "grim past" (David Pearce, 2011 interview in Manniska Plus magazine). But can the future, however "glorious", ever justify the past for such people? If it can, and the future is as glorious as can be, then if that future eventually comes to an end, as it most probably shall, such people should want the eternal recurrence. But the same compassion that makes them judge that the pleasure of a beast of prey successfully hunting down a prey can never justify the corresponding horrors undergone by its prey must prevent them from feeling that way. Even in their universally shared bliss they would have to dwell on the "grimness" of the past--which would nullify their bliss. Those who do feel that way, on the other hand, will want the future to be the mirror image of the past in all essential respects.
Phowa-Part 6: Amitabha and The Bardo of Becoming
It is said there that Amitabha attained the bliss of Buddhahood, but was then infinitely saddened by the contrast between that bliss and the dukkha in which most beings live. I then thought: if Amitabha's attainment led to that sadness, he didn't really attain bliss now, did he!
I'm just trying to understand what motivates the bodhisattva (and in fact, that Wikipedia quote has really motivated me!), as I've been since 2010, albeit in a Western context until last month: what motivates the genuine philosopher to "go down", to speak with the first word of Plato's Republic? I've had many ideas on this; I'm almost motivated to pursue enlightenment if only to truly understand it! I think one should be motivated by bliss, not sadness, though.
² I suppose I meant "an Arhat".)