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 ...

In answer to the first question, regarding who composed the treatise, the author’s qualification must be established. Three criteria for composing a treatise [bstan bcos rtsom pa’i rgyu gsum] are required. At best, the author needs to have realized the view of the natural state [rab chos nyid gyi lta ba rtogs pa]. Next best, he should have had a vision of his personal meditation deity [’bring lhag pa’i lha zhal gzigs thob pa]. At the very least, the author must be learned in the five or ten sciences [rig pa’i gnas bcu la mkhas pa].

The most eminently qualified, the superior type, are masters who have realized the view of the natural state, masters such as Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga. The intermediate degree of authority belongs to masters who received permission to write treatises directly from their meditation deities, masters like Dignāga and Candragomin. The lesser category includes masters learned in the five sciences and possessing the instructions of the lineage masters, masters such as Śrīgupta[1] and Śākyamati [śākya blo gros].[2]

What are commonly known as the ten sciences [rig gnas bcu] are the five greater sciences and the five lesser sciences.

The five greater sciences [rig gnas che ba lnga] are:

  1. the science of arts [bzo rig gnas],
  2. medical science [gso ba’i rig gnas],
  3. the science of linguistics [sgra’i rig gnas],
  4. the science of logic [gtan tshigs kyi rig gnas], and
  5. the science of inner meaning [nang don rig pa], which is Buddhist philosophy as taught in the tripiṭaka [sde snod gsum].

The first four of these sciences are also called the ’four common sciences’ [thun mong gi rig gnas bzhi].[3]

The five lesser sciences [rig gnas chung ba lnga] are: 1) poetics [snyan ngag], 2) synonymics [mngon brjod], 3) prosody [sdeb sbyor], 4) drama [zlos gar], and 5) astrology [skar rtsis]. To be learned in the inner sciences means that an author of a Buddhist treatise should be learned in both sūtra and tantra. The purpose of knowing all the sciences is to be able to help all sentient beings through all fields of knowledge. Every educated person in India, right up to princes and princesses, aspired to learn the five greater sciences.[4] Knowledge of the sciences enables one to benefit one’s own body, speech, and mind as well as those of others.

Śāntideva fulfills all of the above three criteria and is thus supremely qualified to expound the dharma. Śāntideva was a noble being dwelling on the exalted levels of the bodhisattvas. He had realized the view of the natural state. He had repeatedly met face to face his meditation deity, Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, also called Mañjughoṣa [’jam pa’i dbyangs] or Mañjuśrīghoṣa [’jam dpal dbyangs], and had received teachings on the tripiṭaka and the five sciences directly from Mañjuśrī himself.

If any author of a Buddhist text fails to fulfill at least one of these three criteria, whatever he writes about the dharma is considered to be poisonous and will harm other beings instead of benefiting them.

Therefore, when you meet someone who writes about Buddhism, ask them,

“Have you studied the five sciences, the sūtras and tantras?”

If the answer is yes, continue asking,

“Have you had the vision of your yidam?”

If the answer is again yes, you know he has practiced meditation intensely. If, in addition to that, he has realized the view of the natural state [chos nyid gyi lta ba], he is both a true master and a great scholar. To have realized the view of the natural state means that one has at the very least reached the first bodhisattva level.

Everyone who has reached the exalted state of a noble being, who has reached the first bodhisattva level or even higher states, is authorized to write treatises and commentaries on the words of the Buddha. If the author of a treatise fulfills all three criteria for composing texts, his writing will truly benefit beings. If an author fulfills only one or two of the criteria, his writing will still be beneficial, but its impact and effect on sentient beings’ behavior will be less.

What is it, then, that allows one to benefit beings through Buddhist writings? The main force behind a truly beneficial treatise or commentary is the blessing power of the natural state [chos nyid gyi byin rlabs]; this is the source of the blessings of the Buddha which benefit sentient beings. Intellectually constructed treatises are merely the fabrications of dry scholasticism and so cannot benefit beings significantly.

In these times, it seems that a flood of Buddhist writings is coming out of the West, unfortunately stemming from authors who do not fulfill even a single one of the three criteria. Books of this nature do not serve the dharma but chiefly contribute only to the fame or notoriety of the author.

Even at a great institution of authentic Buddhist learning such as Nālandā University, which housed so many scholars, not every scholar would write treatises on Buddhism, or even on one of the sciences. But if a treatise were to be written, the author was required to present and defend his treatise before all the scholars of the university. If he passed the critical examination, his treatise would be placed on the back of a decorated elephant and conducted about in a solemn procession.

If the author failed the examination, the treatise would be labeled as

“worthy to be tied to the tail of a dog and set on fire.”

That means:

“This treatise is as valuable as dog poop. Better burn it quickly!”

Moving to the scriptural sources of the teaching, the second preliminary assessment, it must be established that the treatise accords with the teachings of the Buddha. Concerning the category of the treatise, the third preliminary assessment, the treatise must be classified as belonging to either the Hīnayāna or Mahāyāna teachings.

The fourth point of preliminary assessment requires a summary of the overall meaning; the author must state the meaning and import of the treatise in brief. In response to the fifth preliminary assessment, the author must indicate both whom the text is to benefit and must state the purpose of the treatise. If the treatise is found to have no benefit and no real purpose, it is established that there was no reason to have written it in the first place.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For biographical notes on Śrīgupta [dpal sbas] see Crystal Mirror Vol. VI, page 314.

[2]:

See Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, page 108.

[3]:

For a detailed explanation of the five greater sciences see Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, pages 97-109.

[4]:

The Bodhicaryāvatāra, a new translation, page XXVIII: “There were around 3,000 students, both monk and lay, all of whom came to Nālandā to further their education, and had to pass an exacting entrance examination as conducted orally. Many were said to come for this education as a stepping-stone to a prestigious political career…. Not all students at Nālandā were Buddhists. While Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy was reputedly a compulsory subject, the curriculum also included other Buddhist literature, both Mahāyāna and Hīnayān, as well as the Vedas (the scriptural authority of Brahmanical Hinduism), logic, grammar, medicine, magic, Sāṃkhya philosophy, and a number of other subsidary subjects, such as art.”

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