We often hear the expression: Only help other people, never oneself. In Buddhism, the word “people” is replaced with “beings”; hence the expression is “Only help other beings, never oneself.” It would be too narrow a scope if we help only people. The word “beings” refers to all living beings. If we can help all living beings, we become bodhisattvas.
In describing a good person, people often say the person is a “bodhisattva.” Actually, there is a certain difference between the two in terms of their attributes. A good person is like the seed that produces a bodhisattva; when a good person elevates the mind to the next level, he or she becomes a bodhisattva.
~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : Buddhism and the Business World - Six Standards in a Corporate Culture