Learn English – What do you call someone who

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What would you call a person who gains a sense of godlikeness, but uses their knowledge and omnipotence for what they feel is the good of others? I ask because I'm wondering what to call myself. I have decided to pursue psychiatry to have power over others but only to make them and their lives better; it is that feeling of making someone infinitely better that I crave so what am I???

Best Answer

You are a bodhisattva. From the Wikipedia article about the concept:

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Sanskrit: बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva; Pali: बोधिसत्त bodhisatta) is an enlightened (bodhi) being (sattva). Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

From the Wikipedia article on Buddhahood:

The bodhisattva attains liberation and wishes to benefit as many beings as possible. A bodhisattva who has accomplished this goal is called a samyaksambuddha. A samyaksambuddha can establish the Dharma and lead disciples to enlightenment.

The term has very specific religious meanings, but it is fairly broadly known nowadays as someone who has decided to direct their enlightenment to benefit the world, rather than dissolving in nirvana, i.e. removing oneself from the world. I would say it is popularly understood as a concept rather than a religious doctrine.

However, I would not go around just calling myself a bodhisattva without irony or at least comparative qualification like "I think my personal drive is what is described in Buddhism by the concept of Bodhisattva."