Bodhisattvacharyavatara

by Andreas Kretschmar | 246,740 words

The English translation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (“entering the conduct of the bodhisattvas”), a Sanskrit text with Tibetan commentary. This book explains the bodhisattva concept and gives guidance to the Buddhist practitioner following the Mahāyāna path towards the attainment of enlightenment. The text was written in Sanskrit by Shantideva ...

The fifth and final preliminary assessment asks,

“For whose benefit and for what purpose was it composed?”

This assessment is intended to reveal the true intention of the author and asks why he wrote the treatise. The Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra addresses in general all sentient beings and in particular the five hundred scholars of Nālandā University. Its purpose is to guarantee that the path of the precious bodhicitta is practiced in a complete and unmistaken way.

People may compose books and treatises for various reasons and with considerably different motivations. This book was written out of great love for everyone and intends to benefit all beings in the best of all possible ways. When the methods outlined in this book are integrated with one’s own experience and practice, all one’s actions become both meaningful and beneficial, whether drinking a cup of tea, speaking with someone, or anything else one may do.

Once a person is infused with the spirit of bodhicitta, life is meaningful and beneficial in every respect.

In a deeper sense, this text is actually preparing the student to recognize profound emptiness, the immutable meaning of the natural state [chos nyid mi g.yo ba’i don]. A genuine scholar must be learned and accomplished in the meaning of profound emptiness, not merely well-versed in the superfical use of the words.

As it is said:

Knowledge of words does not make one a scholar.
Knowing the immutable meaning makes one a true scholar.

tshig la mkhas pa mkhas pa ma yin te
mi g.yo don la mkhas pa mkhas pa yin

Once all the five preliminary assessments have been properly established, the student will have certainly gained confidence in the teaching to be given and will have thus been transformed into a proper vessel for receiving the teachings.

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