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 term person [skyes bu; skr, puruṣa] literally means ’child born from the force of karma’ [las las skyes pa’i bu]. You can be a person born from bad karma [las ngan pa] or from good karma [las bzang po]. The past karma is like the mother, and the person is like the child.

The term person refers to a ‘person who has potential to practice the dharma’ [chos sgrub pa’i nus pa yod mkhan gyi gang zag], someone who can understand what to accept and what to reject [blang dor ha go mkhan], someone who is ready to practice the dharma [chos nyams len dus la bab yod mkhan]. An insect is a sentient being [sems can] but not a person since it lacks the capacity to practice the dharma.

The three kinds of persons [skyes bu gsum] are: the person of minor mental capacity [skyes bu chung nga’i blo], the person of average mental capacity [skyes bu ’bring gi blo], and the person of highest mental capacity [skyes bu chen po’i blo]. The person of minor mental capacity aspires only to practice ‘virtue that concords with worldly merit’ [’jig rten gyi bsod nams cha mthun gyi dge ba]. This refers to an ordinary worldly person who practices virtue in order to attain rebirth in the three higher realms of saṃsāra.

The person of average capacity aspires to practice ‘virtue that concords with liberation of the lesser vehicle’ [then dman thar pa cha mthun pa’i dge ba]. Such a person follows the path of Hīnayāna and aspires to reach the level of a śrāvaka arhat or of a pratyekabuddha.

The person of highest mental capacity aspires to accomplish ‘perfect enlighenment for the welfare of others’ [gzhan don du rdzogs byang sgrub pa]. Such a person accumulates ‘virtue that concords with the liberation of the greater vehicle’ [theg chen thar pa cha mthun gyi dge ba]. It is the virtue of directing the mind to supreme enlightenment [byang chub mchog tu thugs bskyed pa'i dge ba]. This refers to a person who follows the path of Mahāyāna, the path of the bodhisattvas, and who aspires to become a perfectly enlightened buddha. The true purpose of human life is to accomplish one of these three levels according to one’s mental capacities.

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