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 ...

Text Sections 285-286 / Stanza 28

All beings strive for happiness. Not knowing the causes for happiness, however, they constantly run toward misery. In their ignorance they behave like butterflies diving into flames. Exclusively pursuing sense gratification, beings bring on their own suffering. Their wish for happiness and the conduct they engage in to achieve happiness are diametrically opposed to each other. By constantly carrying out the ten non-virtuous deeds, they destroy the causes for their own happiness. In that way, they annihilate their own happiness in this and future lives. Sentient beings through their conduct seem to regard their own happiness as their worst enemy. They constantly destroy the causes for their own happiness.

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