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 ...

While at Nālandā University, Śāntideva did not perform any of the required duties of a monk, such as the three wheels (of conduct) [’khor lo rnam gsum]. This refers to the three types of activities performed by saṃgha members: the wheel of reading and studying [klog pa thos bsam gyi ’khor lo]; the wheel of renunciation and meditation [spong ba bsam gtan gyi ’khor lo]; and the wheel of work and activities [bya ba las kyi ’khor lo].

A monk should either study, meditate, or work for the monastery. If a monk performs none of these three types of activities yet still lives on the offerings given by devotees to the monks, he accumulates considerable negative karma. He is undeservedly living off monastic property, ’undeserved consumption of monastic property’ [dkor nag po za ba], an action that has dire karmic consequences.

The ‘wheel of reading and studying’ means to read [klog pa] and study [thos pa] the direct teachings of the Buddha and the treatises collected in the tripiṭaka [sde snod gsum gyi bka’ dang bstan bcos] under the guidance of a spiritual friend [dge ba’i bshes gnyen]. Students might study in a large shedra [bshad grva] or in a small study group. In any case, they need the guidance of a qualified tutor.

In the tradition of the Śrī Siṃha Shedra, students studied the ‘thirteen philosophical textbooks of Indian origin’ [gzhung chen bcu gsum] for nine years. During this time, they would carefully read the Kangyur and Tangyur at least twice. When reading and studying a given text many times, students contemplate the text’s essential meaning in order to cut through all their questions and doubts. This process is called ‘contemplation’ [bsam pa].

The ‘wheel of renunciation and meditation’ [spong ba bsam gtan gyi ’khor lo] refers to a period of time, even up to an entire lifetime, spent in retreat, either in a retreat center [sgrub grva] or in a secluded place such as a cave [brag phug] or a hermitage [ri khrod].

‘Renunciation’ [spong ba] here means abandoning all worldly activities [’jig rten gyi bya spong], having recognized them to be meaningless.

‘Meditation’ [bsam gtan] connotes structuring one’s life around practice. For example, most of the scholars who graduated from the Śrī Siṃha Shedra spent many years in the caves of the surrounding mountain range known as Rudam Gang-Gyi-Rawa [ru dam gangs kyi ra ba].

The ‘wheel of work and activities’ [bya ba las kyi ’khor lo] designates all activities that benefit other beings [gzhan la phan pa’i bya ba], such as building monasteries, organizing great ritual ceremonies [sgrub chen], making medicines, printing books, and the like. More broadly, all the daily monastic activities of the monks living in a monastery belong to the wheel of work and activities. Every Buddhist monk must practice the wheel of reading, study, and contemplation, as well as the wheel of renunciation and meditation. Furthermore, study and meditation must be practiced together as a unity to be effective.

Whether or not a monk would also engage in the wheel of work and activities depended upon many factors, including his skills, inclinations, and wishes of his teacher.

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