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 ...

What is bodhicitta? At the very beginning one must be introduced to bodhicitta. Bodhicitta literally means ’mind of the Enlightened One’ or ’mind of the Buddha’ [sangs rgyas kyi sems]. Bodhi [byang chub] is identical with enlightenment or buddhahood.

Bodhicitta has two special features [khyad chos gnyis]: focusing with compassion on benefiting others [snying rjes gzhan don la dmigs pa], and focusing with wisdom on perfect enlightenment [shes rab kyis rdzgos byang la dmigs pa].

Both of these aspects of bodhicitta are combined in the thought:

“I will free all beings from suffering”

and the thought:

“I will establish all beings on the level of perfect enlightenment.”

A Mahāyāna practitioner must commit to these two aspects [de gnyis la dam bca’ ba]; bodhicitta requires that both features be complete. Merely having compassion for sentient beings is not bodhicitta, although it is meritorious and wholesome. Compassion is only one of the causes [rgyu] of bodhicitta or one aspect [cha] of bodhicitta but not bodhicitta itself.

The second special feature, the thought,

“I will establish all beings on the level of perfect enlightenment,”

requires the wisdom [shes rab] of identifying enlightenment or the level of buddhahood. Enlightenment [byang chub], buddhahood [sangs rgyas], liberation [thar ba], bliss [bde ba] and so on are all terms describing the same goal. One must have considerable wisdom to really aspire to such a goal.

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