Mahayana (meaning the “Greater Vehicle” in Sanskrit) brought a new way of looking human salvation, and therefore human destiny. The first indications of Mahayana can be seen in sutras (scriptures) produced in India around the first century BCE. Among the earliest Mahayana scriptures are a collection of scriptures known as the Prajnaparamita Sutras (sutra = means scripture). Prajnaparamita means “perfect wisdom”. In the earlier Buddhist doctrine, one had to gradually accumulate merit from good behavior in countless lifetimes before one could ever hope to become a Buddha. But Mahayana offered a shortcut to nirvana in one’s present lifetime. The means to that shortcut was to awaken one’s own inner Buddha Nature (bodhicitta) through a process of purification involving techniques such as meditation and faith in various Mahayana Buddhasand bodhisattvas. Whereas early Buddhism taught that just one Buddha came into the world in each era, Mahayana Buddhism taught that there were multiple Buddhasand bodhisattvas existing in the cosmos at the present time. They can help the Mahayana devotee reach nirvana or a heaven-like place (such as a Buddhist Pure Land) on the way to nirvana. Therefore, faith in these Buddhist divinities was an important aspect of Buddhist salvation. In Mahayana, one does not even need to become a monk in order to attain nirvana. In Mahayana, since we are supposed to be like bodhisattvas, the ideal for human nature is to put off our enlightenment for the sake of others. We must try to awaken the bodhicitta(Buddha Nature) that is dormant inside of others. Bodhisattva is chiefly popular because he is the bodhisattva of compassion, and so perfectly exemplifies that quality.
And of course Avalokiteshvaraalso has awakened his inner wisdom (prajna), inasmuch as he knows that all things are ultimately revealed to be empty of fundamental substance. He has learned this truth as a result of deep meditation For example, each Dalai Lama in Tibet is the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara. The Dalai Lama. In Tibetan tradition, he is believed to be the living incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.