Bodhisattva 菩薩 bosatsu

In Mahâyâna Buddhism, those are called Bodhisattvas (“enlightened ones”) who, for their own sake or for the benefit of others, in their endeavour to attain Buddhahood, are – already fully enlightened – directly on the preliminary stage of existence as a Buddha, but delay this last step in order to assist people in overcoming bad karma. Among the most popular bosatsu in Japan are kannon (skt. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) and jizô (skt. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva).