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???
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Best Answer
You are a bodhisattva. From the Wikipedia article about the concept:
From the Wikipedia article on Buddhahood:
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."