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 ...

Text Section 211 / Stanza 5

This part of the text illustrates the difficulty of generating a virtuous thought [dge ba’i blo], the difficulty of generating the mindset of wishing to practice virtue [dge ba sgrub ’dod gyi blo]. Such a mindset is the mental basis [sems kyi rten] conducive to developing bodhicitta. Lacking such a mindset, developing bodhicitta is impossible.

Such a mindset is as brief and rare as a flash of lightning that illuminates the darkness of the night. Imagine a pitch black night with neither moon nor stars, the sky covered by cloudbanks from which rain pours down. You cannot see a thing. Only when lightning flashes can you for a split second see the shapes [gzugs] around you.

In this way, we spend our entire lives controlled by the darkness of the five mind poisons [dug lnga]:

  1. desire [’dod chags],
  2. aversion [zhe sdang],
  3. ignorance [gti mug],
  4. arrogance [nga rgyal],
  5. and jealousy [phrag dog].

On rare occasions, however, through the blessing power of the buddhas, a virtuous [dge ba’i rnam rtog] or meritorious thought [bsod nams kyi rnam rtog] arises in our minds. When such a thought arises, sustaining and nurturing it is crucial.

Night-time means that the sun is absent [nyi ma med pa’i skabs pa mtshan mo zer gi yod red]. Pitch black darkness indicates a night without even the moon’s light [zla ba med pa’i skabs la mun nag zer gi yod red]. When the stars are covered, it is due to cloudbanks [skar ma med pa’i skabs la sprin rum zer gi yod red]. On such a night nothing can be seen. This pitch black darkness of the night exemplifies our ignorance [gti mug gi dpe]. If a flash of lightning [glog ’gyu] brightly illuminates the darkness, one will be able to see the houses, trees, and flowers very clearly for just a brief moment [skad cig ma tsam la].

The example of the night, without any sun, actually means that the wisdom sun of the Buddha [sangs rgyas kyi ye shes] has not arisen. When the Buddha does not cause the wisdom sun to arise by teaching the dharma, people cannot distinguish between virtue and non-virtue. Sentient beings are, therefore, living in darkness. The cloud-banks indicate that beings’ minds are captivated by the five mind poisons.

When bodhicitta and the buddhas’ aspirations join forces with the merit that beings have accumulated in former lifetimes, a virtuous thought may occasionally arise in the minds of sentient beings. Such virtuous thoughts seem to arise for no apparent reason; in fact, they are triggered by the combined power of the blessings of the buddhas and the good actions beings accumulated in former lifetimes. However, these virtuous thoughts and intentions do not last very long for most people.

Both night and darkness are images of ignorance [ma rig pa] and delusion [gti mug]. The wisdom of the Buddha [sangs rgyas kyi ye shes kyi nyi ma] is compared to the sun, and the knowledge to distinguish between what to do and what to avoid [blang dor gyi gnas shes pa’i shes rab] is compared to the moon. The cloudbanks that obscure the sky are images of the mind poisons [dug].

The term briefly [thang ’ga’] means ’momentarily’ [yud tsam rer] and refers to time, as in one moment among a hundred or two among a thousand [brgya lan re stong lan gnyis tsam]. But the same term also means ‘rarely’, suggesting one thought out of a hundred or two out of a thousand.

A virtuous thought like, “I will practice the dharma” almost never arises. When it does arise, it does not arise repeatedly, nor does it last long, because sentient beings have not built up a habitual pattern of such virtuous thoughts.

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