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 ...

This section, called declaration of respect [mchod par brjod pa], deals with the first two lines of the first stanza. Traditionally, the author of a treatise would express his respectful praise to the deity of his choice right in the beginning, before starting his actual composition. Here, Śāntideva shows his devotion by praising the three jewels: the Buddha, the dharma, and the saṃgha.

The purpose of ’declaring respect’ [mchod par brjod pa] is to open your mind [sems sgo phye ba’i don dag]. Recollecting the qualities of the buddhas, bodhisattvas and the lineage masters, you declare respect. The phrase ’delaration of respect’ primarily connotes ’paying respect’ or ’paying homage’ or ’offering prostration’ [phyag ’tshal ba], as well as ’supplicating’ [gsol bar ’debs pa] and ’expressing respectful praises’ [gus bstod byed pa].

Declaring respect allows the blessings to enter into your mind-stream [byin rlabs rgyud la ’jug pa’i phyir du]. Unless the blessings of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and lineage masters enter into your mind-stream, your mind will not be transformed [’gyur ba].

The path of bliss [lam bde ba] is identical with the path or vehicle of the bodhisattvas [byang chub sems dpa’i theg pa]. It is the path of the precious bodhicitta motivation and the application of the six transcendental perfections. The bodhisattvas utterly rejoice in benefiting others. Their sole motivation is to free all beings from suffering and to establish them on the level of perfect enlightenment. To accomplish this benefit for others is the highest bliss [bde ba bla na med pa] for a bodhisattva.

Once a bodhisattva has reached the first bodhisattva level, which corresponds to the path of seeing [mthong lam], the realization of the natural state, he has overcome all obscurations of affliction and hence is free from gross manifestations of suffering. Through the supreme path, the bodhisattvas themselves reach the level of perfect enlightenment, the fruition of bliss [’bras bu bde ba]. The attainment of perfect enlightenment is the highest bliss possible.

The Sanskrit term sugata is a synonym for the Buddha and means ’bliss-gone’ or ’the one gone to bliss’ [bde bar gshegs pa]. Bliss [bde ba], in this context, connotes ’liberation’ [thar ba] or ’nirvāṇa’ [myang ngan las ’das pa] and gone [gshegs pa] connotes ’having arrived at’. A buddha is someone who has reached the highest level of bliss, nirvāṇa, liberation, enlightenment or buddhahood.

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