Bodhicitta and the Bodhisattva Vow

The bodhisattva vow is the gate to the Mahayana path. Bodhi means awake. Awake means aware to the point of being free of confusion and seeing oneself as being unique, separate and having inherent existence. A bodhisattva is an awake being. There are two versions of the vow given and both are explained briefly here. There is aspiration bodhicitta and application or engagement bodhicitta. The first is like looking at a map and the second is like walking on the path.