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 ...

Just as the paṇḍitas from Nālandā were famous for their unique style of exposition, the paṇḍitas from Vikramaśīla were also famous for their method of explaining the Buddha’s words [sangs rgyas kyi bka’]. The first step in their teaching method was transforming the listeners into proper vessels [nyan pa po snod rung bya ba]. At the beginning, they would give teachings and instructions that served to prepare the minds of their listeners to receive the teachings in the proper manner.

The paṇḍitas of Vikramaśīla would next present the classification of the doctrine [bstan pa’i rnam bzhag] by means of the twofold certainty [nges pa gnyis]: establishing the certainty that what was being taught had actually been spoken by the Buddha [sangs rgyas kyi gsung yin par nges pa]; and establishing the certainty that what was being taught was the genuine and sublime dharma [dam pa’i chos yang dag par nges pa].

In this way, they established the authenticity of both the teacher [ston pa tshad ldan] and the teaching [chos tshad ldan]. While the tradition of the teaching style of Nālandā has been maintained down to the present day, the teaching style of Vikramaśīla no longer exists within Tibetan Buddhism.

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