Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra


The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra, sometimes translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva, a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India.

Structure

It has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta through the practice of the six perfections. The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment. The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance, strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of recent commentaries by Robert Thurman and the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Tibetan scholars consider the ninth chapter, "Wisdom", to be one of the most succinct expositions of the Madhyamaka view. The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers.

Chapter summary

  1. The benefits of bodhicitta
  2. Purifying bad deeds
  3. Adopting the spirit of enlightenment
  4. Using conscientiousness
  5. Guarding awareness
  6. The practice of patience
  7. The practice of joyous effort
  8. The practice of meditative concentration
  9. The perfection of wisdom
  10. Dedication

    Exegetical discourse and commentary

Many Tibetan scholars, such as Ju Mipham, have written commentaries on this text.

Commentaries and studies in English

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