Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
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The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra (Sanskrit: बोधिसत्त्वाचर्यावतार; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa; Chinese: 入菩薩行論; Japanese: 入菩薩行論) translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India which is also where it was composed.[1]
Structure
[edit]Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment.[2] The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance (Skt. kṣānti), strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of recent commentaries by Robert Thurman[3] and the fourteenth Dalai Lama.[4] Tibetan scholars consider the ninth chapter, "Wisdom", to be one of the most succinct expositions of the Madhyamaka view.[5] The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers.[citation needed]
Chapter summary
[edit]- The benefits of bodhicitta (the wish to reach full enlightenment for others)
- Purifying bad deeds
- Adopting the spirit of enlightenment
- Using conscientiousness
- Guarding awareness
- The practice of patience
- The practice of joyous effort
- The practice of meditative concentration
- The perfection of wisdom
- Dedication
Exegetical discourse and commentary
[edit]Many Tibetan scholars, such as Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso, have written commentaries on this text.[citation needed]
Commentaries and studies in English
[edit]- Brassard, Francis (2000), The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara, History of religions, State University of New York (SUNY) Press, ISBN 0-7914-4575-5
- Dalai Lama, XIV; Padmakara Translation Group (1994), A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (1st ed.), Shambhala, ISBN 0-87773-971-4
- Dalai Lama, XIV; Geshe Thupten Jinpa (trans & ed) (2004), Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way, Wisdom Publications,U.S, ISBN 0-86171-182-3
- Pema Chödrön (2005), No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, commentary on Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Boston: Shambhala, ISBN 1-59030-135-8
- Geshe Yeshe Topden (2005), The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara, Wisdom Publications,U.S, ISBN 0-86171-494-6
- Gyatso, Kelsang (1980), Meaningful to Behold: View, meditation and action in Mahayana Buddhism : an oral commentary to Shantideva's A guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-003-7
- Khenchen Kunzang Pelden; Padmakara Translation Group (2008), The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, Shambhala, ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6
- Khenchen Kunzang Pelden; Minyak Kunzang Sonam; Padmakara Translation Group, Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyravatara
- Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche; Holmes, Ken (transl.); Doctor, Thomas (transl.) (2001), A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life of Shantideva, Kathmandu: Namo Buddha Seminar, ASIN: B000UO76C6
- Schmidt-Leukel, Perry (2019), Buddha Mind - Christ Mind. A Christian Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. With a new translation by Ernst Steinkellner and Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek, Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts, Peeters, ISBN 978-90-429-3848-9
- Shantideva; Khenpo David Karma Choephel (trans) (2021), Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva: A New Translation and Contemporary Guide, Shambhala, ISBN 978-1611808629
- Williams, Paul (1997), Altruism and Reality: Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryavatara, Routledge Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism, Routledge Curzon, ISBN 0-7007-1031-0
- Williams, Paul (1997), The Reflexive Nature of Awareness (Rang Rig): Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence, Routledge Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism (1st ed.), Routledge Curzon, ISBN 0-7007-1030-2
References
[edit]- ^ Śāntideva (1998). Translator's Note: The Bodhicaryāvatāra. Oxford University Press. p. xxviii. ISBN 978-0-19-283720-2.
- ^ Pema Chödrön (2005), No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, commentary on Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Boston: Shambhala, p. xiii, ISBN 1-59030-135-8
- ^ Thurman, Robert A.F. (2005). Anger : the seven deadly sins. New York, N.Y.: New York Public Library. ISBN 0195169751. OCLC 55518464.
- ^ Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV (1997). Healing anger : the power of patience from a Buddhist perspective. Thupten Jinpa., Śāntideva, active 7th century. (1st ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1559390735. OCLC 36138376.
- ^ Pema Chödrön (2005), No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, commentary on Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Boston: Shambhala, p. xv-xvi, ISBN 1-59030-135-8
External links
[edit]![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (May 2018) |
- A Reader's Guide to the Works in English related to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, on Shambhala Publications
- A Video Lecture Series by the Padmakara Translation Group's Wulstan Fletcher on the Bodhicaryāvatāra, on Shambhala.com
- Multilingual edition of Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, in the Bibliotheca Polyglotta
- Śāntideva's Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra (html) Archived 2016-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- The Bodhicaryavatara at BuddhaNet (Tibetan)
- Bodhicharyavatara Series - Lotsawa House
- Translation of five chapters of a famous Tibetan commentary by Khenpo Kunpal
- Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva: Sanskrit Buddhist text
- Bodhisattvacharyavatara - A Guide to the Bodhisattvaʹs Way of Life (Translated into English by Stephen Batchelor)