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@Tavs said:
Are Bodhisattvas important to you or do you think the opposite and consider them irrelevant to your practice? Or somewhere in the middle?

Thank you for the question. Just some musings...
I am not well-acquainted with the 'requirements' for being considered an 'official' Bodhisattva, either in Theravada or Mahayana.

Maybe my personal definition would be someone that a) provokes in me and others a deeply wholesome sense of 'gimme some of that!' and b) provides tools that actually move me and others in that direction.

Since in offline life, with only a couple of exceptions, I am rather isolated in my spiritual meanderings (something to remedy), since I am mostly surrounded by decent but 'ordinary' people, and since the Buddha rightly said that good spiritual friends and mentors are the whole of the path, I consider such influences (whether from books or modern forms or people I meet and associate with) tremendously important in my development.
Finally, personally, I'd say that 'Bodhisattvahood' lies not in a binary distinction but on a continuum. Each one of us sometimes manifests 'Bodhisattva-action'. Some rarely, some often, and some (maybe) always. Each one of these 'Bodhisattva-actions' helps to lower aggregate suffering in the world and, maybe to some paradoxicaly, in self too. Great success!
I don't think that musing too much about the details of Bodhisattvahood is very helpful. One zen monk came to an elementary school and, in silence, wrote on the blackboard: 'Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mom with the dishes'. Let us 'help mom with the dishes' with cheer, this is Bodhisattva-action. It's a training, like in the gym. We practice over and over and over again, keeping failing but slowly hitting the mark closer and more often, and slowly 'move up'.

Just a note:
The difference between a Bodhisattva and a Buddha.
In striving toward Enlightenment a Bodhisattva is rising others and with him or her.
A Buddha is one who has achieved the enlightened (awakened) state and reaches down to bring others up to join him or her.
In taking the actions of a Bodhisattva, it is OK to question, that is part of seeking. Also, the actions of a Bodhisattva are effectively the same those of a Buddha.

Peace to all