Bodhicitta - User contributions [en]

Explore/Compassion

2026-07-08T14:04:24Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|theme=The Path of the Bodhisattva
|sub-theme=Compassion; Bodhicitta
|TermTopics=Compassion; Topics/Buddhist Ethics
|featured-books=Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra, Vol. 1 (Braarvig, J.); Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Illuminating the Intent; The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; A Fearless Heart; Courageous Compassion; How to Be Compassionate; How to Expand Love
|featured-articles=Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism
|featured-dissertations=The Circle of Compassion: An Interpretive Study of Karuṇā in Indian Buddhist Literature
|featured-texts=Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra; Bhāvanākrama; Madhyamakāvatāra; Lam rim chen mo
|jumbo-image=Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara HAR.jpg
|jumbo-text=Within the Buddhist tradition, compassion represents an active intention for all beings to be free from suffering, extending far beyond natural sympathy for loved ones. Unlike ordinary pity, compassion must be deliberately cultivated to encompass every living being without bias. Buddhist teachings emphasize transforming our limited, selective empathy into universal concern through systematic spiritual practice.
|main-text==== Compassion in Relation to Bodhicitta ===
Compassion forms a central pillar for nearly all religions, and this is particularly true of the Buddhist tradition. Compassion (''karuṇā'', ཐུགས་རྗེ་) is often misunderstood as mere pity, yet in the Buddhist context, it is a dynamic state of mind that actively seeks to alleviate the suffering of oneself and others. It can range from the mere wish that someone be relieved of a headache to the universal compassion that wishes for every being without exception to be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering.

In all the Buddhist traditions, compassion plays a fundamental role in all aspects of practice, from those just beginning their journey on the path to the highest levels of practice. The Buddhist teachings encourage us to engage in practices and to develop ways of thinking that extend our compassion out to a much wider circle than just our loved ones and those close to us. Eventually, through training and awareness, we will be able to extend our compassion out even to our enemies and those who harm us. In the sūtras, the feeling of love and compassion is likened to a mother who would risk her own life to protect her only child.

We may all feel this sense of concern in the face of the suffering of those close to us. This immediate form of compassion is very powerful, but at this basic biological level it is still very biased. It focuses only on those we like, not on those toward whom we have neutral or negative feelings.

In contrast, Buddhism stresses that our compassion should not be biased. It should focus not on a small number of people who we hold dear to us. The Buddhist teachings inspire us to cultivate this strong feeling of concern equally in relation to all beings, whether they are our friends or our enemies. However, this kind of compassion does not arise naturally within us. It has to be cultivated through training and awareness.

Starting with our innate feeling of compassion for those close to us, we extend that same feeling out so that it eventually encompasses every single living being. We try to overcome our limited ways of thinking and feeling until the wish for others to be free of suffering becomes limitless. Eventually, with diligence, our compassion for all beings can become effortless and spontaneous.

This way of thinking finds one of its fullest expressions in the form of compassion that is included in the four immeasurable thoughts (in Pāli, ''cattāribrahmavihārā'')—immeasurable equanimity, love, compassion, and joy. Here, immeasurable compassion is the wish for all beings to be free of all suffering and all the causes of that suffering.

To help us achieve the transformation from an attitude focused mainly on our own suffering to one focused on all others' suffering, the Buddhist teachings provide us with techniques to break down our self-centered outlook and to help open us up to the pain and suffering of others around us.

=== His Holiness on Compassion for Peace of Mind ===
In the following extract, the Dalai Lama offers profound insights into the nature of human well-being and the path to inner peace through his teachings on mental cultivation and compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life. If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace.

From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life. ([https://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion-and-human-values/compassion Source Accessed June 12, 2025])
}}

=== Roots of Compassion in the Buddhist Tradition ===
The basic meaning of compassion is the wish for someone to be free of their suffering, and this essential factor is found at the very heart of the Buddhist tradition. Its primary importance is stressed by the Buddha in the Pāli suttas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate the heart limitlessly
with regard to all beings.
With goodwill for the entire cosmos,
cultivate the heart limitlessly:
above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without hostility or hate.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, trans., ''Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta — Goodwill'', in Khuddakapāṭha (Khp 9) of Khuddaka Nikāya (Collection of Short Discourses), Dhammatalks.org: Talks, Writings and Translations of Thānissaro Bhikkhu, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Khp/khp9.html.</ref>
}}
Here we can clearly see, in the early roots of the tradition, the Buddha exhorting us to cultivate goodwill for every single living being. That goodwill should have the same strength of feeling that a mother would have toward their very own child, wishing to protect them from any form of danger or suffering.

=== Widening Our Compassion ===
The mental state of compassion can take many forms. At its most basic level it may be focused on just a single living being who is very dear to us, and we may wish only for their relief from a very temporary form of suffering. While this in itself is considered to be a positive state of mind, the Buddha stressed the importance of widening the circle of our compassion. Eventually, our compassion should be able to encompass even those toward whom we feel animosity or hatred.

This sense of how our compassion must reach out in every direction is captured in the ''Kālāmasutta'', where the Buddha describes to his listeners how vast this mind must become:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, trans., ''Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas'', in Anguttara Nikaya, 3.65, accesstoinsight.org, 1994, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html.</ref>
}}
Free from bias and even the subtlest thoughts of ill will, our compassion must reach out in all directions to every living being.

=== Deepening Our Compassion ===
We may be able to cultivate the wish that every living being we encounter be free of their suffering. But having widened the scope of the object of our compassion, it is also very important to examine how deep that feeling of compassion really goes.

Since compassion is the wish that beings be free of suffering, a close examination of what compassion means will eventually lead us to examine the nature of suffering itself. The depth of our compassion is ultimately linked to the depths of our understanding about what it means to suffer. Our compassion can only be as deep as our understanding of suffering.

The Buddhist tradition stresses the importance of sharpening the lens through which we see the suffering of beings. This lens should not just be focused on the level of obvious and manifest pain. There is no one who does not recognize this as suffering. Instead, we must understand the very subtlest forms of suffering that beings experience.

=== The Meaning of ''Duḥkha'' ===
What is really meant when we say "suffering"? Is it the desire that someone be free of the pain of a headache or even a serious illness? Does it refer to just physical pain and situations such as the loss of a loved one? Is this the deepest level of suffering that beings experience, or is there some further subtle meaning? From the perspective of the Buddhist tradition, the extent of what it means to suffer goes much deeper than just these experiences. The Sanskrit word ''duḥkha'' has been translated in many ways into English and other non-Indian languages. The most common translation of the term in English is "suffering," but this word does not capture the full range of the Sanskrit term ''duḥkha''. In the Buddhist context, the word has much subtler tones and meanings beyond the manifest pain of life that we all experience. It also applies to deeper levels of experience, many of which we actually feel are happy or pleasant experiences.

Beyond pain and loss, the word ''duḥkha'' points to a fundamental instability and unsatisfactoriness characterizing conditioned existence. We can see from our own personal experience that even though manifest suffering is temporarily absent, it will eventually return to haunt us. It seems to be embedded in the very fabric of our lives, and we can never seem to shake it off. The Buddhist teachings explain that this is because more subtle forms of suffering underlie this grosser form of suffering and provide a ground out of which more manifest forms of suffering arise.

Beyond the manifest level of suffering that the Buddha called the suffering of suffering (''duḥkhaduḥkhatā''), he described two further levels of suffering—the suffering of change (''vipariṇāmaduḥkhatā'') and all-pervasive conditioned suffering (''saṃskāraduḥkhatā'').

In his very first teaching, ''Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma'' (in Pāli: ''Dhammacakkappavattanasutta''), the Buddha exhorts us to identify these deeper levels of ''duḥkha'' when he says the following:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering . . .<ref>Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans., ''Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma (Dhammacakkappavattanasutta)'', in Saṁyutta Nikāya, 56.11, Suttacentral.net, 2000, https://suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false.</ref>
}}
Deeper forms of compassion must look beyond the manifest layer of suffering that is the basic pain of the world of sickness, old age, and death, a pain that even animals are aware of. We must also look beyond the suffering of not getting what we want and encountering what we do not want.

While acknowledging that all beings wish to be free from these manifest forms of suffering, the Buddha explained that there were much subtler levels of ''duḥkha''. These subtler forms of suffering come from our mistaken views about ourselves and phenomena. Specifically, we cling to things as permanent and as if they have some kind of intrinsic nature, and then, under the sway of these wrong views, we engage in unconstructive actions that create negative karma.

Here, in his very first teaching, the Buddha is pointing out that birth itself is suffering. He is showing us that the whole cycle of birth and death, because it is under the influence of contaminated karma (''sāsravakarma'', ཟག་བཅས་ཀྱི་ལས་) and mental afflictions (''kleśa'', ཉོན་མོངས་), is in the very nature of suffering. Under the sway of these two factors, we must continue to be reborn in samsara, taking up again and again the contaminated aggregates (ཟག་བཅས་ཉེར་ལེན་གྱི་ཕུང་པོ་) of body and mind. Because the causes of these aggregates of body and mind are contaminated, the nature of the body and mind of beings born from these factors is in the very nature of suffering. Therefore, understanding that these subtle levels of conditioned existence are in fact ''duḥkha'' requires us to develop wisdom of the subtle momentary nature of all things and the subtlest nature of the existence of phenomena.

=== Compassion in the Mahāyāna Tradition ===
For the Mahāyāna tradition, compassion forms an extremely important framework for practice that aids in moving the practitioner's focus away from personal self-interest toward a much wider and more altruistic point of reference.

In ''The Teachings of Akṣayamati Sūtra'' (''Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra''), it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Furthermore, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, the bodhisatvas' great compassion is also imperishable. Why? Because it is a prerequisite. Venerable Śāradvatīputra, just as breathing in and out is a prerequisite for the power of life of a great being, great compassion is also a prerequisite for the bodhisatvas' accomplishment of the Great Vehicle.<ref>Jens Braarvig and David Welsh, trans., ''The Teaching of Akṣayamati'' (''Akṣayamatinirdeśa'', ''Blo gros mi zad pas bstan pa'', Toh 175), Online publication (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023), https://84000.co/translation/toh175.</ref>
}}
As is explained here, for a bodhisattva, compassion should be as important to their practice as breathing is to life itself.

Besides influencing their daily practice, for a Mahāyāna practitioner, compassion must also influence the goal that they aim for in their spiritual practice. They forsake the more modest goal of personal liberation from samsara and absorption in the solitary peace of nirvana. Instead, their goal of attaining the fully enlightened state is purely for the purpose of attaining a state where they can most effectively help remove others' suffering and bring them also to the highest state of happiness.

In Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama''), the primary importance of compassion for the bodhisattva on the Mahāyāna path is further stressed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''The Compendium of Perfect Dharma'' reads, "O Buddha, a Bodhisattva should not train in many practices. If a Bodhisattva properly holds to one Dharma and learns it perfectly, he has all the Buddha's qualities in the palm of his hand. And, if you ask what that one Dharma is, it is great compassion."<ref>Fourteenth Dalai Lama, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans., Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 30.</ref>
}}
By keeping close to the one central practice of compassion, and by training deeply in it, the bodhisattva is able to hold in their hands all the qualities and practices of the buddhas.

=== In Praise of Compassion in the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of the Path ===
Very often, at the beginning of the great Indian Buddhist works, the authors praise the great beings, such as one of the buddhas or bodhisattvas. However, in his seminal work, ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Candrakīrti (pronounced Chandrakirti) takes a very different approach. Right at the beginning of the text, rather than praising the buddhas, he chooses instead to praise the quality of compassion itself:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As compassion alone is accepted to be
the seed of the perfect harvest of buddhahood,
the water that nourishes it, and the fruit that is long a source of enjoyment,
I will praise compassion at the start of all. (MAv 1 .2)<ref>[[Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way'', by [[Tsongkhapa]] (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 45.</ref>
}}
Besides being a praise for the quality of compassion in a general sense, here Candrakīrti praises compassion for three important ways in which it nourishes the practice of a bodhisattva. Firstly, compassion acts as the seed from which the fully ripened result of the enlightened state of a buddha comes. Second, compassion continues to act as a primary condition to nourish that seed so that it does not dry up or lie dormant. And third, it is said to resemble the ripened fruit that can forevermore be a source of enjoyment for the beings who train in the path.

In his master work, ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo'', ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།), Tsongkhapa explains in greater detail the importance of compassion throughout all stages of the path.

Firstly, he comments on why compassion acts as a seed for the harvest of complete enlightenment:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Once your mind is moved by great compassion, you will definitely make the commitment to free all living beings from cyclic existence. If your compassion is weak, you will not. Therefore, compassion is important in the beginning because feeling responsible to free all beings requires great compassion and because, if you do not take on this responsibility, you are not ranked as a Mahāyāna practitioner.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, vol. 2, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 28.</ref>
}}
Tsongkhapa then stresses that even after we have cultivated the mind of enlightenment (''bodhicitta''), compassion is still very important in the middle of our journey to buddhahood.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You may develop the spirit of enlightenment at one time and then engage in the bodhisattva deeds. But when you see that living beings are innumerable and act improperly, that the training is very difficult and limitless, and that you need an immeasurable length of time, you may lose heart and fall into the Hīnayāna. However, by accustoming yourself to increasingly greater compassion that is not just a one-time development, you become less concerned with your own happiness or suffering and are not discouraged at providing others' welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''Great Treatise'', 29.</ref>
}}
Finally, compassion is important at the end of the path, even when we have attained the fully enlightened state. In his second volume of ''Stages of Meditation'', Kamalaśīla reminds us that even though the buddhas have attained the ultimate state of enlightenment, they still need compassion. Compassion, even at this most advanced stage of spiritual development, helps the buddhas to abide until the end of cyclic existence to guide all other beings along the path:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Buddhas have already achieved all their own goals, but remain in the cycle of existence for as long as there are sentient beings. This is because they possess great compassion. They also do not enter the immensely blissful abode of nirvana like the Hearers. Considering the interests of sentient beings first, they abandon the peaceful abode of nirvana as if it were a burning iron house. Therefore, great compassion alone is the unavoidable cause of the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha.<ref>Fourteenth Dalai Lama, ''Stages of Meditation'', 30.</ref>
}}
Great compassion, even at the point when we have become fully enlightened, becomes a cause for the nonabiding nirvana of a buddha. Instead of entering into their own state of perfect peace, they remain to appear in the world forever, to be of benefit for all beings.

=== The Three Compassions ===
With respect to deepening our compassion, in his work ''Entering the Middle Way'', Candrakīrti pays homage to the increasingly deepening levels of compassion that we need to develop in relation to the different forms of suffering that beings experience. These three levels of compassion are: (1) compassion that takes sentient beings as its object, (2) compassion that takes phenomenal reality as its object, and (3) compassion that takes no reference as its object.

==== Compassion That Takes Sentient Beings as Its Object ====
In relation to compassion that takes sentient beings as its object, ''Entering the Middle Way'' reads:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, with the thought "I am," they cling to a self;
then, with the thought "mine," they become attached to things;
like buckets on a waterwheel, they turn without control;
I bow to the compassion that cares for such suffering beings. (MAv 1.3)<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 47.</ref>
}}
Here, Candrakīrti explains the basic process through which beings find themselves trapped in the continuing cycle of samsaric existence. The whole process begins because we cling to the notion of the self as having some kind of inherent reality, unrelated and independent of any other factors. Focusing on the self that is the referent of the thought "I am," we take that self to have some kind of intrinsic nature.
From this mistaken view of "I," we then cling to things in close relation to the "I"—the closest of these being our own aggregates of body and mind. We take these aggregates to be intrinsically "mine," and thus we cling to "mine" as existing inherently and independently of anything else.

The above verse highlights a very important fact—before any thought of "mine" can arise, it must be preceded by the thought of "I." That mistaken identity that clings to an inherently existent "mine" leads us to become strongly attached to things. Dividing the world up into categories of "mine" and "others'," we become overly attached to anything that is mine. We grasp so tightly that we develop attachment to what appears pleasant to us and are averse to that which appears unpleasant, and from here arises the whole range of afflictive mental states. Thus, we set in motion the whole process of life on the wheel of samsara.

On this verse, Lama Tsongkhapa, in his commentary ''Illuminating the Intent'' (དབུ་མ་དགོངས་པ་རབ་གསལ།), states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus, like buckets on a waterwheel in motion or spinning in a circle, sentient beings turn in a cycle without control, and it is to the compassion that cares for such suffering beings that I bow here.<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 47.</ref>
}}
The analogy used here for this process of samsara is that of an irrigation wheel, as was often found in ancient India. The perpetual process of the wheel turning without break is used to show how we are trapped on the wheel and carried away uncontrollably through the different realms of cyclic existence. Even if we temporarily attain a higher state, inevitably we must again plunge down to much lower states of existence.

This is the way that Candrakīrti pays homage to compassion that takes sentient beings as its object.

==== 2. Compassion That Takes Phenomenal Reality as Its Object, and 3. Compassion That Takes No Reference as Its Object ====

The next verse of Candrakīrti’s text covers the last two levels of compassion. The verse is read in different ways according to which form of compassion is being highlighted:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Beings are like reflections of the moon in rippling water;
seeing them as fleeting and as devoid of intrinsic nature,
the bodhisattva's mind falls under compassion's sway,
yearning to set free every transmigrating being. (MAv 1.4)<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 50.</ref>
}}

==== How These Different Forms of Compassion Deepen Our Practice ====
It is important to remember that these three states of mind are all forms of compassion. The aspect of the mind for each of them is the same—it is still the wish that the object, which is all beings, be free of suffering. The deepening levels of wisdom associated with each of these levels of compassion infuse and support that compassion. As the wisdom that holds that compassion in its embrace deepens, the related compassion begins to deepen. As we are able to see more and more clearly the subtler levels of suffering that a being can experience, so our compassion deepens.

As we meditate on the nature of subtle impermanence, we understand that all beings, and indeed all compounded phenomena, do not abide even in the next moment. And yet because we do not see this subtle level of momentariness, we cling to things in the hope that they will remain with us continuously. This clinging attachment gives rise to negative emotions, afflictive mental states that cause us immediate suffering, but also lays down the karmic imprints for future unwanted results. Seeing that phenomena are in a process of constant flux and that they cannot abide even in the next moment, we start to understand how things are neither permanent nor have an abiding self. Compassion infused with this wisdom is the compassion that takes phenomenal reality as its object.

Under the sway of the ignorance that clings to things as existing independently and from their own side, we divide the world into positive and negative and then act with aversion or attachment. This eventually leads to complications, difficulties, and suffering in our lives. At its deepest level, this ignorance drives the whole process of rebirth in samsara, acting as the very first link in the twelve links of dependent origination (''Dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda'').

Although phenomena appear to exist solidly and intrinsically from their own side, when we analyze them in search of this kind of existence, we cannot find a single trace of them existing in this way. As we develop the wisdom that understands this true reality of all things—the lack of inherent existence of all phenomena—we slowly release our clinging to "I" and "mine." As our understanding deepens, we are then able to loosen the grip of this false identity view and eventually break free from the cycle of birth and rebirth forever.

Seeing the tremendous value of this deepest form of wisdom for ourselves, we then understand that beings who are unaware of this subtlest level of reality will be trapped in the wheel of life and death and must endure the unbearable suffering that entails. With this wisdom of the nature of phenomena supporting our compassion, we are able to see through to the all-pervasive conditioned suffering that is the basic underlying suffering of beings trapped in cyclic existence. This is what is called compassion that takes no reference as its object.
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Explore/Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect

2026-06-25T16:10:28Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|sub-theme=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|featured-books=How to Generate Bodhicitta (Ribur Rinpoche 2010); Bodhicitta: Practice for a Meaningful Life; Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage (Tegchok 2005); The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand; Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment; Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes); Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī
|featured-articles=Seven-Part Cause and Effect Meditation for Bodhichitta (Berzin 2000); Developing the Mind of Great Capacity
|featured-dissertations=
|TermTopics=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|jumbo-image=File:Europeana-jfu2CKjSjtU-unsplash reduced.jpg
|jumbo-text=The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are a systematic meditation practice for cultivating bodhicitta through a logical progression of contemplations. The practice begins with recognizing all beings as having been one's mother in past lives, and then moves sequentially through five other contemplations until the seventh instruction is reached—that is, the arousing of bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This stepwise method builds bodhicitta by transforming one's relationship with others from indifference to a strong sense of connection, unconditional love, and responsibility.
|main-text=
<h3>The Lineage</h3>
The sevenfold cause-and-effect instructions for developing bodhicitta belong to the Vast Conduct lineage, also known as the lineage of Extensive Deeds. The practice derives from an unbroken transmission originating with Śākyamuni Buddha, who passed the lineage to Maitreya, who then transmitted it to Asaṅga. This lineage was then passed on to Asaṅga's brother Vasubandhu, and subsequently through to Candragomin and Atiśa. Atiśa brought this lineage to Tibet, where it was subsequently adopted by the Kadampa masters.<ref>Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod (Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group), trans. and ed., ''The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Five: Buddhist Ethics'', by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2003), 172.</ref>

<h3>The Instructions</h3>
The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are so named because six of the points are causes leading to bodhicitta, while the seventh is bodhicitta itself, as the resultant state of mind. It is named "cause and effect" because the mind cultivated through each instruction acts as a cause for the next, with each subsequent state of mind arising as the effect of the one preceding it.

The six causes are:
:1. recognizing all beings as having been our mothers (མར་ཤེས་)
:2. remembering the kindness of all those mothers (དྲིན་དྲན་)
:3. wishing to repay these mother beings' kindness (དྲིན་གསོ་)
:4. affectionate love for all these mother beings (ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་བྱམས་པ་)
:5. great compassion wishing that all beings be free from all forms of suffering (སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་)
:6. superior altruistic intent that takes responsibility for doing something about the plight of beings trapped in samsara (ལྷག་བསམ་རྣམ་དག་)
The seventh instruction is the result itself that we are aiming for:
:7. the mind of enlightenment—that is, bodhicitta (བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་)

By contemplating each of these instructions and developing the realizations associated with them, step by step we put each cause in place so that, eventually, we can give rise to our goal, the resultant mind of enlightenment.

<h3>Extensive Explanation</h3>

<h4>Equanimity and Compassion as a Foundation</h4>
Prior to these six causes, most traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating equanimity toward all beings, whether we perceive them to be a friend, a stranger, or even an enemy. Without this unbiased foundation, the subsequent instructions will always be colored by partiality toward some beings over others. Once equanimity is established, we can correctly engage with all the succeeding stages, such as love and compassion. For further details on the topic of equanimity, see this article:

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In his masterwork ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo'', ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།), the Gelukpa master Lama Tsongkhapa reminds us that before we begin to engage in this practice of the seven instructions, it is important to gain certainty about their sequence. He first explains the importance of compassion as the root of the Mahāyāna. He then explains how, within the seven points, all the other instructions apart from great compassion are either causes of compassion or effects of compassion.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 2:36.</ref>

Tsongkhapa points out how the first four instructions—from recognizing all beings as having been our mothers up until the fourth instruction on affectionate love—all act as causes of compassion. The last two instructions, superior altruistic intent and the mind of enlightenment, he explains to be the effects of compassion.

The important point here is to recognize how all seven instructions are related to compassion, and how compassion therefore forms the basis not only for the practice of generating bodhicitta but for the entire path of the Mahāyāna practitioner. For further information on compassion and the Mahāyāna tradition, explore the following pages:

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<h4>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h4>
This first instruction encourages us to recognize all beings as having been our mother. This recognition is underpinned by the understanding that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and that although the body of this present life will cease to exist, our consciousness will continue on to a new life. If consciousness is unceasing, then we must have lived countless births in the past, and if that is so, we must have been born as the offspring of innumerable beings.

On this, Venerable Lobsang Gyatso, in his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', makes a crucial point about the continuity of consciousness and how there must be an infinite number of lives:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something which is of a material nature cannot be transformed into or produced in the nature of consciousness. Rather, each individual moment of consciousness is generated from the substance of its own former moment in an uninterrupted continuum. In this sense also there can be no beginning point to the sentient being.<ref>Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', trans. Sherab Gyatso (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997), 22.</ref>
}}

Material phenomena cannot act as the substantial cause for immaterial phenomena such as consciousness. This must mean that each moment of consciousness must have a preceding moment of consciousness. It then follows that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and therefore that previous lives are beginningless and our future lives are endless.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa explains how there is no living being who has not, at some point in our beginningless series of lives, been our mother.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because cyclic existence is beginningless, your births are also without beginning. Therefore you have died and been reborn time and time again. There is absolutely no kind of body which you have not assumed in cyclic existence. There is absolutely no place where you have not been born, and there is no person who has not been a relative such as your mother.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

Not only is it explained that all beings have been our mothers but also that all beings will be our mothers a limitless number of times in the future. Asaṅga mentions this point in his ''Treatise on the Grounds of Yogic Practice'' (''Yogācārabhūmi''), where he cites from a sūtra as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I have difficulty seeing a place wherein you have not been born,
gone to, or died in the distant past. I have difficulty seeing any
person in the distant past who has not been your father, mother,
uncle, aunt, sister, master, abbot, guru, or someone like a guru.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We must reflect upon this and become convinced that all beings have been our mothers in the past, and that they will continue to be our mothers again in the future. Developing this conviction will then naturally lead us to remember their kindness and so forth. If we do not develop this understanding, we will have no basis for remembering their kindness.

<h4>2. Remembering the Kindness of All Those Mothers</h4>
Having recognized that there has never been a being who has not been bound to us in the most intimate of relationships, the next crucial stage toward developing bodhicitta is to understand how kind they have been to us—and the majority of mothers, in the way they care for their children, give us a vivid example of that kindness.

It is important to make sure that we take our mother in this life as an example and remember her kindness. Of course, there are some people who have had very problematic and painful relationships with close members of their family such as their mothers. In these cases, it is advised not to take them as a model for cultivating the remembrance of kindness, as it could create complex feelings that would not be in accord with the development of this stage of instruction. Instead, those people should choose a person other than their mother who has been close to them and shown them great kindness in their lives.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa shows us how to meditate on this sense of kindness by beginning with our mother of this life:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Imagine your mother clearly in front of you. Think the following a few times: "Not only has she been my mother at present but she has been so an incalculable number of times throughout beginningless cyclic existence." As your mother, she protected you from all harm and provided you all benefit and happiness. Particularly in this lifetime she carried you for a long time in her womb. Then, when you were a helpless, newborn infant, she held you to the warmth of her flesh and bounced you on the tips of her ten fingers. She suckled you at her breast, used her mouth to give you soft food and to remove mucus from your nose, and used her hand to wipe away your excrement. So in various ways she nurtured you tirelessly.

Moreover, when you were hungry and thirsty, she gave you food and drink; when you were cold, clothes; when you were poor, she gave from her wealth those things which were very dear to her. Even more, what she gave to you were not things that she had obtained easily but that she had secured through great hardship while engaging in wrongdoing and receiving ill repute and suffering. If you suffered from illness, pain, or the threat of death, your mother made the choice from the depths of her heart that she would rather be sick than you be sick, she would rather be in pain than you be in pain, she would rather die than you die. By putting this feeling into action, she did what was needed to alleviate these troubles.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We bring to mind in front of us someone from this life who has shown us great kindness and reflect carefully on the ways in which they have cared for us. They have sacrificed themselves in so many ways for the sake of our welfare, and in some cases they would even be willing to die for us. Visualizing the person of this life directly in front of us helps us not just remember them in words but manifestly feel that sense of gratitude toward them.

Once we have contemplated the close person of this life, we then extend that feeling of kindness to all beings, starting with other close relatives and friends and eventually radiating it out to all beings who we have already recognized as being our mothers. Eventually, this mind of gratitude will extend even to those we consider our enemies.

The twelfth-century Kagyu master Gampopa takes up this same theme in his ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' (དམ་ཆོས་ཡིད་བཞིན་གྱི་ནོར་བུ་ཐར་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རྒྱན།), one of the very first texts in the stages of the path genre, drawing on the Mahāyāna sūtra called ''The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines'' (''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā'', ཤེར་ཕྱིན་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པ།) to help us cultivate a genuine sense of gratitude for our mothers' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Mothers gave birth to us, underwent hardships, kept us alive, and taught us all about the world.<ref>Ken Holmes, trans., ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', by Gampopa, ed. Thupten Jinpa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017), 90.</ref>
}}

In his commentary to this verse, Gampopa provides us with some wonderfully evocative images of why we should feel gratitude for the kindness of our mothers. He also goes on to break down the positive things we receive from our mothers into four categories—the kindness of nourishing our body, the kindness of undergoing hardships, the kindness of keeping us alive, and the kindness of teaching us the ways of the world.

Advising us on how to contemplate the kindness of our mothers nourishing our body, he writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This body of yours did not start out fully grown, with its flesh fully developed and with a healthy complexion. It developed gradually inside your mother, through the different embryonic and fetal stages, being gradually created and nourished by vital fluids from her very own flesh and blood. It grew thanks to nourishment from the food she ate. It came into being by her having to put up with all sorts of embarrassment, sickness, and suffering.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 90.</ref>
}}

The person you are now and the body you have grew from the fetus that your mother bore in her womb. Our mothers underwent tremendous hardships, including the pain of childbirth itself, to bring us into this world.

Next, Gampopa instructs that we should consider the kindness of how our mothers underwent hardships:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You did not come into this world clothed, finely adorned, with money in your pocket and provisions for the journey. When you came into this unfamiliar place, where you knew no one and had nothing, the only wealth you had was your howling mouth and empty stomach. Your mother gave you food so that you would not go hungry, drink to keep you from thirst, clothes to fend off the cold, and wealth to keep you from poverty. It was not as though she just gave you things she no longer needed herself: she herself went without food, without drink, and without new clothes.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

We knew nothing when we came into this world, and it would be impossible for us to survive without help from our parents. Most mothers will deprive themselves of food so that their children can be fed and will use every last penny they have to keep their children alive. We must remember this kindness.

When we were born, we did not know how to even feed ourselves, let alone do other complex tasks necessary for survival. Next, Gampopa explains how to consider the kindness of our mothers keeping us alive:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is not as though you were born as you are now, knowing how to feed yourself and endowed with the necessary ability to accomplish difficult tasks. When you were helpless, useless—a little worm unable to think—your mother did not discard you but did an inconceivable number of things to nurture your existence. She took you on her lap, protected you from fire and water, held you away from dangerous precipices, got rid of all sources of harm, and prayed for you.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

Finally, Gampopa gives a wonderfully vivid expression of how helpless we were when we were born and how much our parents showed us how to survive and grow:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Apart from being able to bawl out to other members of your family and flap your limbs about, you were ignorant. When you did not know how to feed
yourself, it was she who taught you how to eat. When you knew not how to dress yourself, it was she who taught you. When you did not know how to walk, it was she who taught you. When you could not even speak, it was she who taught you, repeating "Mama," "Dada," and so on. Having taught you various crafts and skills, she helped you become a balanced being, strengthening your weaker points and introducing you to the unfamiliar.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 92.</ref>
}}

We knew only how to scream and cry when we were born. We had no idea how to feed or clothe ourselves, and everything was done for us by our mothers. We had to be taught to speak by our parents, and it was they who taught us skills for life and encouraged us to develop.

Gampopa's resonant images invite us to sit with these reflections and truly feel the weight of what our mother of this life has done for us. By contemplating her kindness in this vivid and detailed way, we build the emotional foundation from which we can then extend that same sense of gratitude outward to all beings. For those who find it difficult to use their mother as the focus of this contemplation, it is entirely appropriate to bring to mind another person who has shown them deep kindness and closeness.

<h4>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h4>
Having brought to mind the kindness of mothers (or an equivalent kind person), the next step is to wish to repay that kindness. In ordinary life, those who appreciate the generosity of others and are careful to repay them in some way are respected in society. Here, being aware of the greatest generosity of all in this world—that of someone being a kind and caring mother—we must feel the urge to repay them for that kindness. With gratitude for all they have done, we must not only wish to repay that kindness but do something concrete to acknowledge all their care.

Lama Tsongkhapa quotes from Candragomin's ''Letter to a Student'' (''Śiṣyalekha'', སློབ་མ་ལ་སྤྲིངས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག།) to remind us of how shameful it would be if we were to watch all these beings who have been our mothers in the past suffer while we stood by and did nothing to help them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=While you see that your relatives are engulfed in the ocean of<br>
    cyclic existence,<br>
And are as if fallen into a pit of fire,<br>
There is nothing more shameful than to work for your own<br>
    liberation,<br>
Neglecting those whom you do not recognize due to the<br>
    process of death and rebirth.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:39.</ref>
}}

Just because we do not recognize our mothers from past lives directly, due to the process of death and then rebirth, there is no reason to ignore the terrible plight of beings. Understanding the connection we have with them and how kind they have been to us in previous lives, we must develop the wish to repay their kindness.

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso suggests a number of ways we can repay others' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A variety of means can be employed in showing kindness to others: helping the poor and needy by providing materially, befriending the weary and forlorn, offering strength and support to those who are oppressed by fear, coming to the aid of those who face sentences and punishments such as death, helping the wretched, such as those who are ill, with medicines and rituals, providing knowledge and learning for beings who are afflicted with ignorance, and offering perfect Dharma to those who desire ultimate happiness.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

When thinking of repaying the kindness of our mothers, particularly our mothers of this life, our minds usually turn to the thought of providing material and physical support for them. This can be very beneficial, but we also have to be careful that it is not taken to an excess. Repayment of kindness in this form can only ever satisfy the short-term needs of others and should only be done in moderation. Material help alone can in fact be counterproductive. There will always be a financial or material limit to what we can offer, and in some cases it can actually become a hindrance to the other, as it can feed their afflictions of pride and greed.

Buddhism does not view things only from a short-term perspective, but always tries to consider the longer-term. It encourages us to think about providing others with more lasting forms of assistance. Even in worldly life, it is often said that rather than giving only financial support to the poor, it is best if we can also provide them with education and knowledge so they can build a better life for themselves.

Likewise, in the bodhisattva path, the driving goal is to be able to attain enlightenment in order to help others reach that exalted state—that is the ultimate happiness that we could give another being. With this overarching aim in mind, the help we provide others to repay their kindness should be focused on lasting results. Therefore, it is said that imparting knowledge of the Dharma to others is the most excellent way to repay their kindness. With this in mind, it is crucial that we also study and practice the Dharma so that we will be able to offer them this enduring support in a way that is most appropriate to them.

Most ordinary beings work for worldly goals, and due to ignorance of the causes that bring happiness and those that bring suffering, their efforts to achieve happiness prove fruitless. They continuously bring misfortune upon themselves because, being confused about which actions bring about which results, they inevitably act in ways that reflect that confusion. The practical application of this training in resolving to repay the kindness of all sentient beings is therefore to work to the best of our ability for the sake of others, teaching them correctly what should be cultivated and what should be avoided. This point is captured in a verse widely attributed to the Buddha:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I cannot wash away your misdeeds with water.
I cannot remove the suffering of living beings with my hands.
I cannot transfer my realizations to you.
The only way I can help you is by teaching the true nature of reality,
Therefore, you must strive to liberate yourself.
}}

This verse captures the essence of why studying and practicing the Dharma is the most profound form of kindness we can offer to others—for it is only through understanding the true nature of reality that beings can find lasting freedom from suffering.

<h4>4. Affectionate Love</h4>
In his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains exactly what this mind of affectionate love is. He writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Affectionate love differs from the love of the four immeasurables in that the latter is the love which wishes to ensure the happiness of an immeasurable number of sentient beings, whereas affectionate love is a state of mind which sees whomever we encounter in an attractive light, just as a mother sees her beloved only child.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

While the love of the four immeasurables wishes that immeasurable beings have happiness and its causes, affectionate love is more personal in quality—it is a heartfelt warmth and cherishing directed toward every single living being without exception. For more information on the four immeasurables, see this article:

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Affectionate love is being attracted to all sentient beings as if they were your own children. It has that sense of tremendous closeness embedded in it, and we need to feel that sense of closeness for all beings in order to develop this stage of the practice.

In his ''Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī'', རིན་ཆེན་ཕྲེང་བ།), Nāgārjuna mentions the following benefits from meditation on this type of love:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Giving the food of three hundred clay pots
every day, three times a day,
cannot compare to even a fraction of the merit
of just a short moment of love. (3.83)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even if not liberated, you will attain
these eight excellent qualities from practicing love:
gods and humans will love you,
and they will also protect you;
you will have peace of mind and much happiness
and not be harmed by either poison or weapons;
you will effortlessly attain your aims
and be reborn in the realm of Brahmā. (3.84-85)<ref>Sarah McClintock and John Dunne, trans., ''Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī'' (New York: Wisdom Publications, 2024), 122.</ref>
}}

The power of this affectionate love is said to be so strong that it outshines even the merit accumulated from tremendous acts of generosity, such as offering many people sustenance every day for years and years.

Having understood what affectionate love is and appreciated its extraordinary power, we may now ask how we go about actually cultivating it. In his ''Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', Tsongkhapa explains that this cultivation takes place through a series of stages, beginning with those closest to us and gradually extending outward:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, cultivate love toward friends. Then, cultivate love for persons toward whom you have neutral feelings. Next, cultivate love toward your enemies. Then, cultivate it gradually toward all beings.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 43.</ref>
}}

It is important to start developing this sense of affectionate love for those we feel naturally close to. Later, we can develop it in relation to those who are like strangers to us whom we hardly notice, and then eventually even to beings we consider to be our enemies. Once we can feel love for beings in any of these categories and wish that they have happiness, we can bring to mind this love in all its forms and think of offering it to all living beings without exception.

Affectionate love comes before great compassion in the sequence of instructions. It acts as a cause for great compassion, and great compassion cannot be developed if affectionate love does not precede it. The importance of this sequence is illustrated beautifully in Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'', བསྒོམ་པའི་རིམ་པ།), where it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans. Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 42.</ref>
}}

This sequence—from equanimity through affectionate love to compassion—is not arbitrary but reflects the natural progression of an awakening heart.

<h4>5. Great Compassion</h4>

Having generated the affectionate love described above, we now cultivate the mind of great compassion. It is important to note that the approach to developing each of these two states of mind differs significantly. Affectionate love comes primarily from contemplating the kindness others have shown us. But to develop great compassion fully, we must deeply contemplate how sentient beings are tormented by a whole range of suffering, even the subtlest sufferings such as the mental suffering of the god realms.

However, in order to develop the understanding of the sufferings of others, we must first contemplate these very sufferings in our own life. If we can't generate the wish to be free from all forms of suffering for ourselves, how could we possibly do that for others?

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains the importance of developing this wish that we ourselves be free from all suffering, a mind wishing for what is known as ''definite emergence'' (''niryāṇa'', ངེས་འབྱུང་), before we can develop that in relation to others:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Careful reflection on how these sufferings endlessly follow one upon another and relentlessly plague us will induce the thought of definite emergence—the desire for one's own freedom from cyclic existence. Contemplation of the same phenomena as they relate to others and their experiences will induce great compassion<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 42.</ref>
}}

It is essential that before turning our attention to others, we come to recognize the depths of our own suffering. The kind of suffering we should wish to be free of is not just the manifest pain and discomfort that we all feel and try to avoid in life. Most creatures have an innate wish to be rid of this kind of gross suffering. Simply acknowledging this level of suffering is not considered a factor responsible for the development of either the wish for oneself to be free of suffering or great compassion. Instead, we must appreciate how the whole process of birth in samsara is characterized by suffering, even to the extent of our very own body and mind. With that level of insight, we develop the wish that both ourselves and all other mother beings be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering within samsara, the cycle of contaminated existence. Until we are free from this cycle, we will have to experience uncontrolled rebirth at the mercy of our karma.

Having developed some wish to free ourselves of these deeper levels of suffering, we turn our minds to the suffering of others. At the beginning, it is crucial that our reflection is connected with specific, real people before we widen the scope to all beings. If we have a very generalized thought of "others" but do not connect it to specific people in our lives, we may feel that we have given rise to great compassion, but in reality we have not. Lama Tsongkhapa makes this point very strongly in his ''Great Treatise'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If you train in these attitudes of impartiality, love, and compassion without distinguishing and taking up specific objects of meditation, but only using a general object from the outset, you will just seem to generate these attitudes. Then, when you try to apply them to specific individuals, you will not be able to actually generate these attitudes toward anyone. But once you have a transformative experience toward an individual in your meditation practice as explained previously, you may then gradually increase the number of individuals you visualize within your meditation. Finally, take all beings in general as your object of meditation<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:44.</ref>
}}

Thus, according to Tsongkhapa, it would be very difficult to connect this very generalized view of the suffering "others" to very specific beings in our lives. Rather, we start out by taking specific people from the three categories—friend, enemy, or stranger. It is only when we have transformed our minds into this deepest feeling of compassion for those we love, are apathetic toward, or actively hate that we start to increase the scope of our compassion until it encompasses all living beings.

It is important to be clear that great compassion has a different aspect from that of affectionate love. The aspect of the mind of affectionate love is one of feeling closeness to all beings, and through that the wish that they have every happiness and the causes of happiness. The mind of great compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free of even the tiniest suffering, feeling the unbearable weight of that suffering as if it were our own. Not only that, but great compassion carries with it the aspiration to actually help eliminate the suffering of all beings.

Kamalaśīla's First ''Stages of Meditation'' gives the measure—the precise criterion—for knowing when this fifth stage of great compassion has been fully developed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just as a mother responds to her small, beloved, and suffering child, when you develop a spontaneous and equal sense of compassion toward all sentient beings, you have perfected the practice of compassion. And this is known as great compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation'', 48.</ref>
}}

Venerable Lobsang Gyatso also specifies the exact features this mind must have to qualify as great compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As for the nature of that great compassion, it is derived from seeing how ordinary sentient beings are tormented by the various levels of suffering; it is a non-contrived thought which, desiring them to be separated from those sufferings, has the aspect of not being able to bear the fact of their plight.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 44.</ref>
}}

In sum, actual great compassion sees the whole range of suffering that others experience, feels a sense of being unable to bear that suffering, and wishes to remove it all, just as a mother would of her child. Great compassion must also be uncontrived, which means that it arises spontaneously, without the need for elaborate reasons or reflection, and can be brought to mind almost instantly. When we have fulfilled these criteria, we can say we have generated great compassion in our mindstreams.

<h4>6. Special Intention</h4>
Special intent, also translated as wholehearted resolve or altruistic intent, involves a determination to take responsibility for freeing all beings from their suffering. It is not just the wish that they be free but the commitment to directly help them to be free of suffering.

Special intention is not just a passive and hopeful wish that all beings have happiness and be free of all suffering. It is an ''active resolve'' that wishes to take responsibility for all.

But why is it so hard for us to feel the urgency and energy to take responsibility for helping other beings? Venerable Lobsang Gyatso encourages us to examine this question:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Similarly, when we see that each sentient being has acted as our mother on many occasions, showing us a boundless kindness like the mother of this life, and when we realize that we should repay this kindness, we should ask ourselves the question, "Why do I not yet feel that such a responsibility falls upon myself?" We should then endeavor to instill such an attitude.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 45.</ref>
}}

There is the danger that even if we understand all beings to be our mothers, feel their kindness, and have the wish to repay that kindness by wishing they have happiness and have no suffering, we may still not actually take it to the next level—that of taking personal responsibility to make this happen. Here, Ven. Lobsang Gyatso offers the following lines of reasoning to encourage us to instill this attitude of responsibility in us:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=(1) [. . .] [E]ach sentient being has acted as our mother countless times; in the past they all have shown us the same degree of kindness as the mother of this life, and they will continue to do so in the future. Thus it becomes our responsibility to repay their kindness.

(2) In a nation, a community, or a single family, the person who is most qualified in learning, ability, and experience should assume authority; the most capable child should guide the brothers and sisters. In a similar way, when it comes to the elimination of suffering, those who are more proficient in the task should guide those with little or no skill. If through the kindness of competent spiritual guides we have been able to encounter the Mahayana Dharma and receive training in the methods of eradicating suffering, it is reasonable that this effort to benefit others should be expected of us.

(3) If we fail to exercise whatever ability we have to be of some use to others it not only contravenes worldly standards but also spiritual ones.

(4) The Tathagatas' fulfillment of the two excellences [the perfection of their own realization and their capacity to benefit all beings] derives from their working solely to achieve the welfare of others.

(5) Bodhisattvas of the present time are training in such a manner, and we as fellow trainees wish to emulate their behavior.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 46.</ref>
}}

If we have already understood the close connection we have with all living beings, understood their kindness, and seen how they suffer, why would we only wish that they be free but not engage in helping them to free themselves? It is only logical, asserts Venerable Gyatso, that we take that next step.

<h4>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h4>
The seventh and final instruction is the effect of all the six prior causes, the result of bodhicitta. The previous stage of special intent is a state of mind that takes responsibility for freeing all beings from every single form of suffering. But that wish alone does not qualify as the mind of bodhicitta. Helping to free all beings from suffering and placing them in a state of stable peace and happiness is a lofty goal indeed, but how will we be able to practically do that? It is important to be realistic about what we are capable of. We must ask ourselves, "What can I actually do to fully help beings?"

Venerable Gyatso emphasizes that complete buddhahood is the ideal state from which we can most effectively benefit all sentient beings.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By engaging in the deeds of the Bodhisattvas, we will be in a position to benefit a great many sentient beings. Then on the basis of that, by progressing further to the state of complete Buddhahood, we will fully comprehend the predispositions, mentality, and potentials of every sentient being. We will have reached the highest state of awakening and, apart from those who lack the development and maturation of their lineage, we will be able to unceasingly perform the task of benefitting all sentient beings spontaneously and effortlessly.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 53.</ref>
}}

In addition to an omniscient mind (''dharmakāya'', ཆོས་སྐུ་) that knows the mentality and predispositions of all beings, our achievement of this state also comes with possessing the form body of a buddha (''nirmāṇakāya'', སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་) that is able to effortlessly and spontaneously reach out to all beings to help guide and teach them. With those two aspects, along with all the other magnificent qualities the buddhas possess, we will be in the best position to effectively help all beings forever.

Having seen the need to attain the enlightened state, we enhance this wish for buddhahood by contemplating the incredible qualities of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas. With faith in those qualities, we wish ourselves to attain them, motivated not from selfish concerns but for the welfare of all. As Tsongkhapa writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, increase your faith as much as possible by contemplating the good qualities of the Buddha's body, speech, mind, and enlightened activities as previously explained in the section on going for refuge. Then, as it is taught that faith is the basis of aspiration, develop the desire to attain those good qualities from the depths of your heart and induce a certainty that it is absolutely necessary to attain omniscience even for your own welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:48.</ref>
}}

In other words, by deeply contemplating the extraordinary qualities of the buddhas and developing a heartfelt faith in them, we naturally give rise to the wish to attain that same state ourselves—not out of self-interest, but as the most complete and effective way of fulfilling our responsibility to all sentient beings.

It is important to understand exactly what bodhicitta is. Bodhicitta has two main aspirational components—the primary aspiration to help all beings attain the highest possible form of happiness, and the secondary aspiration to attain the state of a fully enlightened buddha. The aspiration for the highest welfare of all is an expression of the deep compassion for every single living being. The aspiration to become a buddha is the practical application of the wish for the highest happiness for all.

Thus, the state of mind of bodhicitta is one that thinks, "Wishing to repay the kindness of all beings, my dear mothers, I must help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and its causes, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering. To do that I myself must attain the fully enlightened state, replete with the wisdom body and form body, and then with spontaneous and effortless skillful means place them all in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha."

Initially we have to repeatedly make effort again and again to bring the thought of enlightenment to mind. But eventually, through training, it will arise naturally and spontaneously in an uncontrived fashion. When we have reached that state of mind, we can say that bodhicitta has truly arisen within us.

For more information about the seven-point instructions of cause and effect, visit the Practice section.

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Explore/Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect

2026-06-25T16:06:44Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|sub-theme=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|featured-books=How to Generate Bodhicitta (Ribur Rinpoche 2010); Bodhicitta: Practice for a Meaningful Life; Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage (Tegchok 2005); The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand; Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment; Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes); Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī
|featured-articles=Seven-Part Cause and Effect Meditation for Bodhichitta (Berzin 2000); Developing the Mind of Great Capacity
|featured-dissertations=
|TermTopics=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|jumbo-image=File:Europeana-jfu2CKjSjtU-unsplash reduced.jpg
|jumbo-text=The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are a systematic meditation practice for cultivating bodhicitta through a logical progression of contemplations. The practice begins with recognizing all beings as having been one's mother in past lives, and then moves sequentially through five other contemplations until the seventh instruction is reached—that is, the arousing of bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This stepwise method builds bodhicitta by transforming one's relationship with others from indifference to a strong sense of connection, unconditional love, and responsibility.
|main-text=
<h3>The Lineage</h3>
The sevenfold cause-and-effect instructions for developing bodhicitta belong to the Vast Conduct lineage, also known as the lineage of Extensive Deeds. The practice derives from an unbroken transmission originating with Śākyamuni Buddha, who passed the lineage to Maitreya, who then transmitted it to Asaṅga. This lineage was then passed on to Asaṅga's brother Vasubandhu, and subsequently through to Candragomin and Atiśa. Atiśa brought this lineage to Tibet, where it was subsequently adopted by the Kadampa masters.<ref>Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod (Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group), trans. and ed., ''The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Five: Buddhist Ethics'', by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2003), 172.</ref>

<h3>The Instructions</h3>
The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are so named because six of the points are causes leading to bodhicitta, while the seventh is bodhicitta itself, as the resultant state of mind. It is named "cause and effect" because the mind cultivated through each instruction acts as a cause for the next, with each subsequent state of mind arising as the effect of the one preceding it.

The six causes are:
:1. recognizing all beings as having been our mothers (མར་ཤེས་)
:2. remembering the kindness of all those mothers (དྲིན་དྲན་)
:3. wishing to repay these mother beings' kindness (དྲིན་གསོ་)
:4. affectionate love for all these mother beings (ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་བྱམས་པ་)
:5. great compassion wishing that all beings be free from all forms of suffering (སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་)
:6. superior altruistic intent that takes responsibility for doing something about the plight of beings trapped in samsara (ལྷག་བསམ་རྣམ་དག་)
The seventh instruction is the result itself that we are aiming for:
:7. the mind of enlightenment—that is, bodhicitta (བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་)

By contemplating each of these instructions and developing the realizations associated with them, step by step we put each cause in place so that, eventually, we can give rise to our goal, the resultant mind of enlightenment.

<h3>Extensive Explanation</h3>

<h4>Equanimity and Compassion as a Foundation</h4>
Prior to these six causes, most traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating equanimity toward all beings, whether we perceive them to be a friend, a stranger, or even an enemy. Without this unbiased foundation, the subsequent instructions will always be colored by partiality toward some beings over others. Once equanimity is established, we can correctly engage with all the succeeding stages, such as love and compassion. For further details on the topic of equanimity, see this article:

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In his masterwork ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo'', ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།), the Gelukpa master Lama Tsongkhapa reminds us that before we begin to engage in this practice of the seven instructions, it is important to gain certainty about their sequence. He first explains the importance of compassion as the root of the Mahāyāna. He then explains how, within the seven points, all the other instructions apart from great compassion are either causes of compassion or effects of compassion.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 2:36.</ref>

Tsongkhapa points out how the first four instructions—from recognizing all beings as having been our mothers up until the fourth instruction on affectionate love—all act as causes of compassion. The last two instructions, superior altruistic intent and the mind of enlightenment, he explains to be the effects of compassion.

The important point here is to recognize how all seven instructions are related to compassion, and how compassion therefore forms the basis not only for the practice of generating bodhicitta but for the entire path of the Mahāyāna practitioner. For further information on compassion and the Mahāyāna tradition, explore the following pages:

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<h4>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h4>
This first instruction encourages us to recognize all beings as having been our mother. This recognition is underpinned by the understanding that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and that although the body of this present life will cease to exist, our consciousness will continue on to a new life. If consciousness is unceasing, then we must have lived countless births in the past, and if that is so, we must have been born as the offspring of innumerable beings.

On this, Venerable Lobsang Gyatso, in his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', makes a crucial point about the continuity of consciousness and how there must be an infinite number of lives:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something which is of a material nature cannot be transformed into or produced in the nature of consciousness. Rather, each individual moment of consciousness is generated from the substance of its own former moment in an uninterrupted continuum. In this sense also there can be no beginning point to the sentient being.<ref>Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', trans. Sherab Gyatso (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997), 22.</ref>
}}

Material phenomena cannot act as the substantial cause for immaterial phenomena such as consciousness. This must mean that each moment of consciousness must have a preceding moment of consciousness. It then follows that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and therefore that previous lives are beginningless and our future lives are endless.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa explains how there is no living being who has not, at some point in our beginningless series of lives, been our mother.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because cyclic existence is beginningless, your births are also without beginning. Therefore you have died and been reborn time and time again. There is absolutely no kind of body which you have not assumed in cyclic existence. There is absolutely no place where you have not been born, and there is no person who has not been a relative such as your mother.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

Not only is it explained that all beings have been our mothers but also that all beings will be our mothers a limitless number of times in the future. Asaṅga mentions this point in his ''Treatise on the Grounds of Yogic Practice'' (''Yogācārabhūmi''), where he cites from a sūtra as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I have difficulty seeing a place wherein you have not been born,
gone to, or died in the distant past. I have difficulty seeing any
person in the distant past who has not been your father, mother,
uncle, aunt, sister, master, abbot, guru, or someone like a guru.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We must reflect upon this and become convinced that all beings have been our mothers in the past, and that they will continue to be our mothers again in the future. Developing this conviction will then naturally lead us to remember their kindness and so forth. If we do not develop this understanding, we will have no basis for remembering their kindness.

<h4>2. Remembering the Kindness of All Those Mothers</h4>
Having recognized that there has never been a being who has not been bound to us in the most intimate of relationships, the next crucial stage toward developing bodhicitta is to understand how kind they have been to us—and the majority of mothers, in the way they care for their children, give us a vivid example of that kindness.

It is important to make sure that we take our mother in this life as an example and remember her kindness. Of course, there are some people who have had very problematic and painful relationships with close members of their family such as their mothers. In these cases, it is advised not to take them as a model for cultivating the remembrance of kindness, as it could create complex feelings that would not be in accord with the development of this stage of instruction. Instead, those people should choose a person other than their mother who has been close to them and shown them great kindness in their lives.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa shows us how to meditate on this sense of kindness by beginning with our mother of this life:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Imagine your mother clearly in front of you. Think the following a few times: "Not only has she been my mother at present but she has been so an incalculable number of times throughout beginningless cyclic existence." As your mother, she protected you from all harm and provided you all benefit and happiness. Particularly in this lifetime she carried you for a long time in her womb. Then, when you were a helpless, newborn infant, she held you to the warmth of her flesh and bounced you on the tips of her ten fingers. She suckled you at her breast, used her mouth to give you soft food and to remove mucus from your nose, and used her hand to wipe away your excrement. So in various ways she nurtured you tirelessly.

Moreover, when you were hungry and thirsty, she gave you food and drink; when you were cold, clothes; when you were poor, she gave from her wealth those things which were very dear to her. Even more, what she gave to you were not things that she had obtained easily but that she had secured through great hardship while engaging in wrongdoing and receiving ill repute and suffering. If you suffered from illness, pain, or the threat of death, your mother made the choice from the depths of her heart that she would rather be sick than you be sick, she would rather be in pain than you be in pain, she would rather die than you die. By putting this feeling into action, she did what was needed to alleviate these troubles.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We bring to mind in front of us someone from this life who has shown us great kindness and reflect carefully on the ways in which they have cared for us. They have sacrificed themselves in so many ways for the sake of our welfare, and in some cases they would even be willing to die for us. Visualizing the person of this life directly in front of us helps us not just remember them in words but manifestly feel that sense of gratitude toward them.

Once we have contemplated the close person of this life, we then extend that feeling of kindness to all beings, starting with other close relatives and friends and eventually radiating it out to all beings who we have already recognized as being our mothers. Eventually, this mind of gratitude will extend even to those we consider our enemies.

The twelfth-century Kagyu master Gampopa takes up this same theme in his ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' (དམ་ཆོས་ཡིད་བཞིན་གྱི་ནོར་བུ་ཐར་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རྒྱན།), one of the very first texts in the stages of the path genre, drawing on the Mahāyāna sūtra called ''The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines'' (''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā'', ཤེར་ཕྱིན་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པ།) to help us cultivate a genuine sense of gratitude for our mothers' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Mothers gave birth to us, underwent hardships, kept us alive, and taught us all about the world.<ref>Ken Holmes, trans., ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', by Gampopa, ed. Thupten Jinpa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017), 90.</ref>
}}

In his commentary to this verse, Gampopa provides us with some wonderfully evocative images of why we should feel gratitude for the kindness of our mothers. He also goes on to break down the positive things we receive from our mothers into four categories—the kindness of nourishing our body, the kindness of undergoing hardships, the kindness of keeping us alive, and the kindness of teaching us the ways of the world.

Advising us on how to contemplate the kindness of our mothers nourishing our body, he writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This body of yours did not start out fully grown, with its flesh fully developed and with a healthy complexion. It developed gradually inside your mother, through the different embryonic and fetal stages, being gradually created and nourished by vital fluids from her very own flesh and blood. It grew thanks to nourishment from the food she ate. It came into being by her having to put up with all sorts of embarrassment, sickness, and suffering.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 90.</ref>
}}

The person you are now and the body you have grew from the fetus that your mother bore in her womb. Our mothers underwent tremendous hardships, including the pain of childbirth itself, to bring us into this world.

Next, Gampopa instructs that we should consider the kindness of how our mothers underwent hardships:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You did not come into this world clothed, finely adorned, with money in your pocket and provisions for the journey. When you came into this unfamiliar place, where you knew no one and had nothing, the only wealth you had was your howling mouth and empty stomach. Your mother gave you food so that you would not go hungry, drink to keep you from thirst, clothes to fend off the cold, and wealth to keep you from poverty. It was not as though she just gave you things she no longer needed herself: she herself went without food, without drink, and without new clothes.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

We knew nothing when we came into this world, and it would be impossible for us to survive without help from our parents. Most mothers will deprive themselves of food so that their children can be fed and will use every last penny they have to keep their children alive. We must remember this kindness.

When we were born, we did not know how to even feed ourselves, let alone do other complex tasks necessary for survival. Next, Gampopa explains how to consider the kindness of our mothers keeping us alive:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is not as though you were born as you are now, knowing how to feed yourself and endowed with the necessary ability to accomplish difficult tasks. When you were helpless, useless—a little worm unable to think—your mother did not discard you but did an inconceivable number of things to nurture your existence. She took you on her lap, protected you from fire and water, held you away from dangerous precipices, got rid of all sources of harm, and prayed for you.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

Finally, Gampopa gives a wonderfully vivid expression of how helpless we were when we were born and how much our parents showed us how to survive and grow:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Apart from being able to bawl out to other members of your family and flap your limbs about, you were ignorant. When you did not know how to feed
yourself, it was she who taught you how to eat. When you knew not how to dress yourself, it was she who taught you. When you did not know how to walk, it was she who taught you. When you could not even speak, it was she who taught you, repeating "Mama," "Dada," and so on. Having taught you various crafts and skills, she helped you become a balanced being, strengthening your weaker points and introducing you to the unfamiliar.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 92.</ref>
}}

We knew only how to scream and cry when we were born. We had no idea how to feed or clothe ourselves, and everything was done for us by our mothers. We had to be taught to speak by our parents, and it was they who taught us skills for life and encouraged us to develop.

Gampopa's resonant images invite us to sit with these reflections and truly feel the weight of what our mother of this life has done for us. By contemplating her kindness in this vivid and detailed way, we build the emotional foundation from which we can then extend that same sense of gratitude outward to all beings. For those who find it difficult to use their mother as the focus of this contemplation, it is entirely appropriate to bring to mind another person who has shown them deep kindness and closeness.

<h4>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h4>
Having brought to mind the kindness of mothers (or an equivalent kind person), the next step is to wish to repay that kindness. In ordinary life, those who appreciate the generosity of others and are careful to repay them in some way are respected in society. Here, being aware of the greatest generosity of all in this world—that of someone being a kind and caring mother—we must feel the urge to repay them for that kindness. With gratitude for all they have done, we must not only wish to repay that kindness but do something concrete to acknowledge all their care.

Lama Tsongkhapa quotes from Candragomin's ''Letter to a Student'' (''Śiṣyalekha'', སློབ་མ་ལ་སྤྲིངས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག།) to remind us of how shameful it would be if we were to watch all these beings who have been our mothers in the past suffer while we stood by and did nothing to help them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=While you see that your relatives are engulfed in the ocean of<br>
    cyclic existence,<br>
And are as if fallen into a pit of fire,<br>
There is nothing more shameful than to work for your own<br>
    liberation,<br>
Neglecting those whom you do not recognize due to the<br>
    process of death and rebirth.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:39.</ref>
}}

Just because we do not recognize our mothers from past lives directly, due to the process of death and then rebirth, there is no reason to ignore the terrible plight of beings. Understanding the connection we have with them and how kind they have been to us in previous lives, we must develop the wish to repay their kindness.

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso suggests a number of ways we can repay others' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A variety of means can be employed in showing kindness to others: helping the poor and needy by providing materially, befriending the weary and forlorn, offering strength and support to those who are oppressed by fear, coming to the aid of those who face sentences and punishments such as death, helping the wretched, such as those who are ill, with medicines and rituals, providing knowledge and learning for beings who are afflicted with ignorance, and offering perfect Dharma to those who desire ultimate happiness.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

When thinking of repaying the kindness of our mothers, particularly our mothers of this life, our minds usually turn to the thought of providing material and physical support for them. This can be very beneficial, but we also have to be careful that it is not taken to an excess. Repayment of kindness in this form can only ever satisfy the short-term needs of others and should only be done in moderation. Material help alone can in fact be counterproductive. There will always be a financial or material limit to what we can offer, and in some cases it can actually become a hindrance to the other, as it can feed their afflictions of pride and greed.

Buddhism does not view things only from a short-term perspective, but always tries to consider the longer-term. It encourages us to think about providing others with more lasting forms of assistance. Even in worldly life, it is often said that rather than giving only financial support to the poor, it is best if we can also provide them with education and knowledge so they can build a better life for themselves.

Likewise, in the bodhisattva path, the driving goal is to be able to attain enlightenment in order to help others reach that exalted state—that is the ultimate happiness that we could give another being. With this overarching aim in mind, the help we provide others to repay their kindness should be focused on lasting results. Therefore, it is said that imparting knowledge of the Dharma to others is the most excellent way to repay their kindness. With this in mind, it is crucial that we also study and practice the Dharma so that we will be able to offer them this enduring support in a way that is most appropriate to them.

Most ordinary beings work for worldly goals, and due to ignorance of the causes that bring happiness and those that bring suffering, their efforts to achieve happiness prove fruitless. They continuously bring misfortune upon themselves because, being confused about which actions bring about which results, they inevitably act in ways that reflect that confusion. The practical application of this training in resolving to repay the kindness of all sentient beings is therefore to work to the best of our ability for the sake of others, teaching them correctly what should be cultivated and what should be avoided. This point is captured in a verse widely attributed to the Buddha:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I cannot wash away your misdeeds with water.
I cannot remove the suffering of living beings with my hands.
I cannot transfer my realizations to you.
The only way I can help you is by teaching the true nature of reality,
Therefore, you must strive to liberate yourself.
}}

This verse captures the essence of why studying and practicing the Dharma is the most profound form of kindness we can offer to others—for it is only through understanding the true nature of reality that beings can find lasting freedom from suffering.

<h4>4. Affectionate Love</h4>
In his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains exactly what this mind of affectionate love is. He writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Affectionate love differs from the love of the four immeasurables in that the latter is the love which wishes to ensure the happiness of an immeasurable number of sentient beings, whereas affectionate love is a state of mind which sees whomever we encounter in an attractive light, just as a mother sees her beloved only child.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

While the love of the four immeasurables wishes that immeasurable beings have happiness and its causes, affectionate love is more personal in quality—it is a heartfelt warmth and cherishing directed toward every single living being without exception. For more information on the four immeasurables, see this article:

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Affectionate love is being attracted to all sentient beings as if they were your own children. It has that sense of tremendous closeness embedded in it, and we need to feel that sense of closeness for all beings in order to develop this stage of the practice.

In his ''Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī'', རིན་ཆེན་ཕྲེང་བ།), Nāgārjuna mentions the following benefits from meditation on this type of love:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Giving the food of three hundred clay pots
every day, three times a day,
cannot compare to even a fraction of the merit
of just a short moment of love. (3.83)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even if not liberated, you will attain
these eight excellent qualities from practicing love:
gods and humans will love you,
and they will also protect you;
you will have peace of mind and much happiness
and not be harmed by either poison or weapons;
you will effortlessly attain your aims
and be reborn in the realm of Brahmā. (3.84-85)<ref>Sarah McClintock and John Dunne, trans., ''Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī'' (New York: Wisdom Publications, 2024), 122.</ref>
}}

The power of this affectionate love is said to be so strong that it outshines even the merit accumulated from tremendous acts of generosity, such as offering many people sustenance every day for years and years.

Having understood what affectionate love is and appreciated its extraordinary power, we may now ask how we go about actually cultivating it. In his ''Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', Tsongkhapa explains that this cultivation takes place through a series of stages, beginning with those closest to us and gradually extending outward:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, cultivate love toward friends. Then, cultivate love for persons toward whom you have neutral feelings. Next, cultivate love toward your enemies. Then, cultivate it gradually toward all beings.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 43.</ref>
}}

It is important to start developing this sense of affectionate love for those we feel naturally close to. Later, we can develop it in relation to those who are like strangers to us whom we hardly notice, and then eventually even to beings we consider to be our enemies. Once we can feel love for beings in any of these categories and wish that they have happiness, we can bring to mind this love in all its forms and think of offering it to all living beings without exception.

Affectionate love comes before great compassion in the sequence of instructions. It acts as a cause for great compassion, and great compassion cannot be developed if affectionate love does not precede it. The importance of this sequence is illustrated beautifully in Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'', བསྒོམ་པའི་རིམ་པ།), where it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans. Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 42.</ref>
}}

This sequence—from equanimity through affectionate love to compassion—is not arbitrary but reflects the natural progression of an awakening heart.

<h4>5. Great Compassion</h4>

Having generated the affectionate love described above, we now cultivate the mind of great compassion. It is important to note that the approach to developing each of these two states of mind differs significantly. Affectionate love comes primarily from contemplating the kindness others have shown us. But to develop great compassion fully, we must deeply contemplate how sentient beings are tormented by a whole range of suffering, even the subtlest sufferings such as the mental suffering of the god realms.

However, in order to develop the understanding of the sufferings of others, we must first contemplate these very sufferings in our own life. If we can't generate the wish to be free from all forms of suffering for ourselves, how could we possibly do that for others?

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains the importance of developing this wish that we ourselves be free from all suffering, a mind wishing for what is known as ''definite emergence'' (''niryāṇa'', ངེས་འབྱུང་), before we can develop that in relation to others:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Careful reflection on how these sufferings endlessly follow one upon another and relentlessly plague us will induce the thought of definite emergence—the desire for one's own freedom from cyclic existence. Contemplation of the same phenomena as they relate to others and their experiences will induce great compassion<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 42.</ref>
}}

It is essential that before turning our attention to others, we come to recognize the depths of our own suffering. The kind of suffering we should wish to be free of is not just the manifest pain and discomfort that we all feel and try to avoid in life. Most creatures have an innate wish to be rid of this kind of gross suffering. Simply acknowledging this level of suffering is not considered a factor responsible for the development of either the wish for oneself to be free of suffering or great compassion. Instead, we must appreciate how the whole process of birth in samsara is characterized by suffering, even to the extent of our very own body and mind. With that level of insight, we develop the wish that both ourselves and all other mother beings be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering within samsara, the cycle of contaminated existence. Until we are free from this cycle, we will have to experience uncontrolled rebirth at the mercy of our karma.

Having developed some wish to free ourselves of these deeper levels of suffering, we turn our minds to the suffering of others. At the beginning, it is crucial that our reflection is connected with specific, real people before we widen the scope to all beings. If we have a very generalized thought of "others" but do not connect it to specific people in our lives, we may feel that we have given rise to great compassion, but in reality we have not. Lama Tsongkhapa makes this point very strongly in his ''Great Treatise'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If you train in these attitudes of impartiality, love, and compassion without distinguishing and taking up specific objects of meditation, but only using a general object from the outset, you will just seem to generate these attitudes. Then, when you try to apply them to specific individuals, you will not be able to actually generate these attitudes toward anyone. But once you have a transformative experience toward an individual in your meditation practice as explained previously, you may then gradually increase the number of individuals you visualize within your meditation. Finally, take all beings in general as your object of meditation<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:44.</ref>
}}

Thus, according to Tsongkhapa, it would be very difficult to connect this very generalized view of the suffering "others" to very specific beings in our lives. Rather, we start out by taking specific people from the three categories—friend, enemy, or stranger. It is only when we have transformed our minds into this deepest feeling of compassion for those we love, are apathetic toward, or actively hate that we start to increase the scope of our compassion until it encompasses all living beings.

It is important to be clear that great compassion has a different aspect from that of affectionate love. The aspect of the mind of affectionate love is one of feeling closeness to all beings, and through that the wish that they have every happiness and the causes of happiness. The mind of great compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free of even the tiniest suffering, feeling the unbearable weight of that suffering as if it were our own. Not only that, but great compassion carries with it the aspiration to actually help eliminate the suffering of all beings.

Kamalaśīla's First ''Stages of Meditation'' gives the measure—the precise criterion—for knowing when this fifth stage of great compassion has been fully developed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just as a mother responds to her small, beloved, and suffering child, when you develop a spontaneous and equal sense of compassion toward all sentient beings, you have perfected the practice of compassion. And this is known as great compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation'', 48.</ref>
}}

Venerable Lobsang Gyatso also specifies the exact features this mind must have to qualify as great compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As for the nature of that great compassion, it is derived from seeing how ordinary sentient beings are tormented by the various levels of suffering; it is a non-contrived thought which, desiring them to be separated from those sufferings, has the aspect of not being able to bear the fact of their plight.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 44.</ref>
}}

In sum, actual great compassion sees the whole range of suffering that others experience, feels a sense of being unable to bear that suffering, and wishes to remove it all, just as a mother would of her child. Great compassion must also be uncontrived, which means that it arises spontaneously, without the need for elaborate reasons or reflection, and can be brought to mind almost instantly. When we have fulfilled these criteria, we can say we have generated great compassion in our mindstreams.

<h4>6. Special Intention</h4>
Special intent, also translated as wholehearted resolve or altruistic intent, involves a determination to take responsibility for freeing all beings from their suffering. It is not just the wish that they be free but the commitment to directly help them to be free of suffering.

Special intention is not just a passive and hopeful wish that all beings have happiness and be free of all suffering. It is an ''active resolve'' that wishes to take responsibility for all.

But why is it so hard for us to feel the urgency and energy to take responsibility for helping other beings? Venerable Lobsang Gyatso encourages us to examine this question:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Similarly, when we see that each sentient being has acted as our mother on many occasions, showing us a boundless kindness like the mother of this life, and when we realize that we should repay this kindness, we should ask ourselves the question, "Why do I not yet feel that such a responsibility falls upon myself?" We should then endeavor to instill such an attitude.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 45.</ref>
}}

There is the danger that even if we understand all beings to be our mothers, feel their kindness, and have the wish to repay that kindness by wishing they have happiness and have no suffering, we may still not actually take it to the next level—that of taking personal responsibility to make this happen. Here, Ven. Lobsang Gyatso offers the following lines of reasoning to encourage us to instill this attitude of responsibility in us:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=(1) [. . .] [E]ach sentient being has acted as our mother countless times; in the past they all have shown us the same degree of kindness as the mother of this life, and they will continue to do so in the future. Thus it becomes our responsibility to repay their kindness.

(2) In a nation, a community, or a single family, the person who is most qualified in learning, ability, and experience should assume authority; the most capable child should guide the brothers and sisters. In a similar way, when it comes to the elimination of suffering, those who are more proficient in the task should guide those with little or no skill. If through the kindness of competent spiritual guides we have been able to encounter the Mahayana Dharma and receive training in the methods of eradicating suffering, it is reasonable that this effort to benefit others should be expected of us.

(3) If we fail to exercise whatever ability we have to be of some use to others it not only contravenes worldly standards but also spiritual ones.

(4) The Tathagatas' fulfillment of the two excellences [the perfection of their own realization and their capacity to benefit all beings] derives from their working solely to achieve the welfare of others.

(5) Bodhisattvas of the present time are training in such a manner, and we as fellow trainees wish to emulate their behavior.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 46.</ref>
}}

If we have already understood the close connection we have with all living beings, understood their kindness, and seen how they suffer, why would we only wish that they be free but not engage in helping them to free themselves? It is only logical, asserts Venerable Gyatso, that we take that next step.

<h4>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h4>
The seventh and final instruction is the effect of all the six prior causes, the result of bodhicitta. The previous stage of special intent is a state of mind that takes responsibility for freeing all beings from every single form of suffering. But that wish alone does not qualify as the mind of bodhicitta. Helping to free all beings from suffering and placing them in a state of stable peace and happiness is a lofty goal indeed, but how will we be able to practically do that? It is important to be realistic about what we are capable of. We must ask ourselves, "What can I actually do to fully help beings?" On this, Pabongka Rinpoche points out that when we look at what we are really able to achieve, we may be able to provide some temporary support for others, but we cannot help even one sentient being to attain a state free of all suffering. We have not attained it ourselves, so how would we expect to help place others in that state?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After taking on this responsibility, see if you are able to carry it
out yet. You are unable to help even a single being! You are
forced to look for someone who can do this effectively and then
see if you too can achieve such a state.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 584.</ref>
}}

Pabongka goes on to tell us that in our search for a state that could possibly achieve that goal, we will find that only attaining complete buddhahood, replete with the omniscient mind that knows the nature of all phenomena as well as the thoughts and inclinations of all beings, could possibly help.

Venerable Gyatso, similarly, emphasizes that complete buddhahood is the ideal state from which we can most effectively benefit all sentient beings.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By engaging in the deeds of the Bodhisattvas, we will be in a position to benefit a great many sentient beings. Then on the basis of that, by progressing further to the state of complete Buddhahood, we will fully comprehend the predispositions, mentality, and potentials of every sentient being. We will have reached the highest state of awakening and, apart from those who lack the development and maturation of their lineage, we will be able to unceasingly perform the task of benefitting all sentient beings spontaneously and effortlessly.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 53.</ref>
}}

In addition to an omniscient mind (''dharmakāya'', ཆོས་སྐུ་) that knows the mentality and predispositions of all beings, our achievement of this state also comes with possessing the form body of a buddha (''nirmāṇakāya'', སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་) that is able to effortlessly and spontaneously reach out to all beings to help guide and teach them. With those two aspects, along with all the other magnificent qualities the buddhas possess, we will be in the best position to effectively help all beings forever.

Having seen the need to attain the enlightened state, we enhance this wish for buddhahood by contemplating the incredible qualities of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas. With faith in those qualities, we wish ourselves to attain them, motivated not from selfish concerns but for the welfare of all. As Tsongkhapa writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, increase your faith as much as possible by contemplating the good qualities of the Buddha's body, speech, mind, and enlightened activities as previously explained in the section on going for refuge. Then, as it is taught that faith is the basis of aspiration, develop the desire to attain those good qualities from the depths of your heart and induce a certainty that it is absolutely necessary to attain omniscience even for your own welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:48.</ref>
}}

In other words, by deeply contemplating the extraordinary qualities of the buddhas and developing a heartfelt faith in them, we naturally give rise to the wish to attain that same state ourselves—not out of self-interest, but as the most complete and effective way of fulfilling our responsibility to all sentient beings.

It is important to understand exactly what bodhicitta is. Bodhicitta has two main aspirational components—the primary aspiration to help all beings attain the highest possible form of happiness, and the secondary aspiration to attain the state of a fully enlightened buddha. The aspiration for the highest welfare of all is an expression of the deep compassion for every single living being. The aspiration to become a buddha is the practical application of the wish for the highest happiness for all.

Thus, the state of mind of bodhicitta is one that thinks, "Wishing to repay the kindness of all beings, my dear mothers, I must help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and its causes, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering. To do that I myself must attain the fully enlightened state, replete with the wisdom body and form body, and then with spontaneous and effortless skillful means place them all in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha."

Pabongka Rinpoche defines what the measure of having achieved true bodhicitta is, writing,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When you experience the conscious desire to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings, you have developed a bodhichitta that resembles the outer layer of a piece of sugar cane. But if, in addition, you experience an involuntary desire to achieve full enlightenment for the sake of any sentient being you see, you have developed true bodhichitta in your mind-stream.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 586.</ref>
}}

Initially we have to repeatedly make effort again and again to bring the thought of enlightenment to mind. But eventually, through training, it will arise naturally and spontaneously in an uncontrived fashion. When we have reached that state of mind, we can say that bodhicitta has truly arisen within us.

For more information about the seven-point instructions of cause and effect, visit the Practice section.

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|caption=Thubten Chodron: <em> Seven Point Cause and Effect Method - Part 1 </em>
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|caption=Robert Thurman: <em> The Sevenfold Causal Instruction in Universal Compassion </em>
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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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|caption=Venerable Sangye Khadro: <em> Practicing the Path: The Seven-Point Cause and Effect Method for Developing Bodhicitta </em>
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Explore/Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect

2026-06-25T16:05:00Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|sub-theme=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|featured-books=How to Generate Bodhicitta (Ribur Rinpoche 2010); Bodhicitta: Practice for a Meaningful Life; Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage (Tegchok 2005); The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand; Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment; Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes); Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī
|featured-articles=Seven-Part Cause and Effect Meditation for Bodhichitta (Berzin 2000); Developing the Mind of Great Capacity
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|TermTopics=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|jumbo-image=File:Europeana-jfu2CKjSjtU-unsplash reduced.jpg
|jumbo-text=The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are a systematic meditation practice for cultivating bodhicitta through a logical progression of contemplations. The practice begins with recognizing all beings as having been one's mother in past lives, and then moves sequentially through five other contemplations until the seventh instruction is reached—that is, the arousing of bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This stepwise method builds bodhicitta by transforming one's relationship with others from indifference to a strong sense of connection, unconditional love, and responsibility.
|main-text=
<h3>The Lineage</h3>
The sevenfold cause-and-effect instructions for developing bodhicitta belong to the Vast Conduct lineage, also known as the lineage of Extensive Deeds. The practice derives from an unbroken transmission originating with Śākyamuni Buddha, who passed the lineage to Maitreya, who then transmitted it to Asaṅga. This lineage was then passed on to Asaṅga's brother Vasubandhu, and subsequently through to Candragomin and Atiśa. Atiśa brought this lineage to Tibet, where it was subsequently adopted by the Kadampa masters.<ref>Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod (Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group), trans. and ed., ''The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Five: Buddhist Ethics'', by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2003), 172.</ref>

<h3>The Instructions</h3>
The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are so named because six of the points are causes leading to bodhicitta, while the seventh is bodhicitta itself, as the resultant state of mind. It is named "cause and effect" because the mind cultivated through each instruction acts as a cause for the next, with each subsequent state of mind arising as the effect of the one preceding it.

The six causes are:
:1. recognizing all beings as having been our mothers (མར་ཤེས་)
:2. remembering the kindness of all those mothers (དྲིན་དྲན་)
:3. wishing to repay these mother beings' kindness (དྲིན་གསོ་)
:4. affectionate love for all these mother beings (ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་བྱམས་པ་)
:5. great compassion wishing that all beings be free from all forms of suffering (སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་)
:6. superior altruistic intent that takes responsibility for doing something about the plight of beings trapped in samsara (ལྷག་བསམ་རྣམ་དག་)
The seventh instruction is the result itself that we are aiming for:
:7. the mind of enlightenment—that is, bodhicitta (བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་)

By contemplating each of these instructions and developing the realizations associated with them, step by step we put each cause in place so that, eventually, we can give rise to our goal, the resultant mind of enlightenment.

<h3>Extensive Explanation</h3>

<h4>Equanimity and Compassion as a Foundation</h4>
Prior to these six causes, most traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating equanimity toward all beings, whether we perceive them to be a friend, a stranger, or even an enemy. Without this unbiased foundation, the subsequent instructions will always be colored by partiality toward some beings over others. Once equanimity is established, we can correctly engage with all the succeeding stages, such as love and compassion. For further details on the topic of equanimity, see this article:

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In his masterwork ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo'', ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།), the Gelukpa master Lama Tsongkhapa reminds us that before we begin to engage in this practice of the seven instructions, it is important to gain certainty about their sequence. He first explains the importance of compassion as the root of the Mahāyāna. He then explains how, within the seven points, all the other instructions apart from great compassion are either causes of compassion or effects of compassion.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 2:36.</ref>

Tsongkhapa points out how the first four instructions—from recognizing all beings as having been our mothers up until the fourth instruction on affectionate love—all act as causes of compassion. The last two instructions, superior altruistic intent and the mind of enlightenment, he explains to be the effects of compassion.

The important point here is to recognize how all seven instructions are related to compassion, and how compassion therefore forms the basis not only for the practice of generating bodhicitta but for the entire path of the Mahāyāna practitioner. For further information on compassion and the Mahāyāna tradition, explore the following pages:

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<h4>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h4>
This first instruction encourages us to recognize all beings as having been our mother. This recognition is underpinned by the understanding that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and that although the body of this present life will cease to exist, our consciousness will continue on to a new life. If consciousness is unceasing, then we must have lived countless births in the past, and if that is so, we must have been born as the offspring of innumerable beings.

On this, Venerable Lobsang Gyatso, in his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', makes a crucial point about the continuity of consciousness and how there must be an infinite number of lives:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something which is of a material nature cannot be transformed into or produced in the nature of consciousness. Rather, each individual moment of consciousness is generated from the substance of its own former moment in an uninterrupted continuum. In this sense also there can be no beginning point to the sentient being.<ref>Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', trans. Sherab Gyatso (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997), 22.</ref>
}}

Material phenomena cannot act as the substantial cause for immaterial phenomena such as consciousness. This must mean that each moment of consciousness must have a preceding moment of consciousness. It then follows that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and therefore that previous lives are beginningless and our future lives are endless.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa explains how there is no living being who has not, at some point in our beginningless series of lives, been our mother.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because cyclic existence is beginningless, your births are also without beginning. Therefore you have died and been reborn time and time again. There is absolutely no kind of body which you have not assumed in cyclic existence. There is absolutely no place where you have not been born, and there is no person who has not been a relative such as your mother.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

Not only is it explained that all beings have been our mothers but also that all beings will be our mothers a limitless number of times in the future. Asaṅga mentions this point in his ''Treatise on the Grounds of Yogic Practice'' (''Yogācārabhūmi''), where he cites from a sūtra as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I have difficulty seeing a place wherein you have not been born,
gone to, or died in the distant past. I have difficulty seeing any
person in the distant past who has not been your father, mother,
uncle, aunt, sister, master, abbot, guru, or someone like a guru.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We must reflect upon this and become convinced that all beings have been our mothers in the past, and that they will continue to be our mothers again in the future. Developing this conviction will then naturally lead us to remember their kindness and so forth. If we do not develop this understanding, we will have no basis for remembering their kindness.

<h4>2. Remembering the Kindness of All Those Mothers</h4>
Having recognized that there has never been a being who has not been bound to us in the most intimate of relationships, the next crucial stage toward developing bodhicitta is to understand how kind they have been to us—and the majority of mothers, in the way they care for their children, give us a vivid example of that kindness.

It is important to make sure that we take our mother in this life as an example and remember her kindness. Of course, there are some people who have had very problematic and painful relationships with close members of their family such as their mothers. In these cases, it is advised not to take them as a model for cultivating the remembrance of kindness, as it could create complex feelings that would not be in accord with the development of this stage of instruction. Instead, those people should choose a person other than their mother who has been close to them and shown them great kindness in their lives.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa shows us how to meditate on this sense of kindness by beginning with our mother of this life:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Imagine your mother clearly in front of you. Think the following a few times: "Not only has she been my mother at present but she has been so an incalculable number of times throughout beginningless cyclic existence." As your mother, she protected you from all harm and provided you all benefit and happiness. Particularly in this lifetime she carried you for a long time in her womb. Then, when you were a helpless, newborn infant, she held you to the warmth of her flesh and bounced you on the tips of her ten fingers. She suckled you at her breast, used her mouth to give you soft food and to remove mucus from your nose, and used her hand to wipe away your excrement. So in various ways she nurtured you tirelessly.

Moreover, when you were hungry and thirsty, she gave you food and drink; when you were cold, clothes; when you were poor, she gave from her wealth those things which were very dear to her. Even more, what she gave to you were not things that she had obtained easily but that she had secured through great hardship while engaging in wrongdoing and receiving ill repute and suffering. If you suffered from illness, pain, or the threat of death, your mother made the choice from the depths of her heart that she would rather be sick than you be sick, she would rather be in pain than you be in pain, she would rather die than you die. By putting this feeling into action, she did what was needed to alleviate these troubles.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We bring to mind in front of us someone from this life who has shown us great kindness and reflect carefully on the ways in which they have cared for us. They have sacrificed themselves in so many ways for the sake of our welfare, and in some cases they would even be willing to die for us. Visualizing the person of this life directly in front of us helps us not just remember them in words but manifestly feel that sense of gratitude toward them.

Once we have contemplated the close person of this life, we then extend that feeling of kindness to all beings, starting with other close relatives and friends and eventually radiating it out to all beings who we have already recognized as being our mothers. Eventually, this mind of gratitude will extend even to those we consider our enemies.

The twelfth-century Kagyu master Gampopa takes up this same theme in his ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' (དམ་ཆོས་ཡིད་བཞིན་གྱི་ནོར་བུ་ཐར་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རྒྱན།), one of the very first texts in the stages of the path genre, drawing on the Mahāyāna sūtra called ''The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines'' (''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā'', ཤེར་ཕྱིན་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པ།) to help us cultivate a genuine sense of gratitude for our mothers' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Mothers gave birth to us, underwent hardships, kept us alive, and taught us all about the world.<ref>Ken Holmes, trans., ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', by Gampopa, ed. Thupten Jinpa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017), 90.</ref>
}}

In his commentary to this verse, Gampopa provides us with some wonderfully evocative images of why we should feel gratitude for the kindness of our mothers. He also goes on to break down the positive things we receive from our mothers into four categories—the kindness of nourishing our body, the kindness of undergoing hardships, the kindness of keeping us alive, and the kindness of teaching us the ways of the world.

Advising us on how to contemplate the kindness of our mothers nourishing our body, he writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This body of yours did not start out fully grown, with its flesh fully developed and with a healthy complexion. It developed gradually inside your mother, through the different embryonic and fetal stages, being gradually created and nourished by vital fluids from her very own flesh and blood. It grew thanks to nourishment from the food she ate. It came into being by her having to put up with all sorts of embarrassment, sickness, and suffering.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 90.</ref>
}}

The person you are now and the body you have grew from the fetus that your mother bore in her womb. Our mothers underwent tremendous hardships, including the pain of childbirth itself, to bring us into this world.

Next, Gampopa instructs that we should consider the kindness of how our mothers underwent hardships:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You did not come into this world clothed, finely adorned, with money in your pocket and provisions for the journey. When you came into this unfamiliar place, where you knew no one and had nothing, the only wealth you had was your howling mouth and empty stomach. Your mother gave you food so that you would not go hungry, drink to keep you from thirst, clothes to fend off the cold, and wealth to keep you from poverty. It was not as though she just gave you things she no longer needed herself: she herself went without food, without drink, and without new clothes.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

We knew nothing when we came into this world, and it would be impossible for us to survive without help from our parents. Most mothers will deprive themselves of food so that their children can be fed and will use every last penny they have to keep their children alive. We must remember this kindness.

When we were born, we did not know how to even feed ourselves, let alone do other complex tasks necessary for survival. Next, Gampopa explains how to consider the kindness of our mothers keeping us alive:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is not as though you were born as you are now, knowing how to feed yourself and endowed with the necessary ability to accomplish difficult tasks. When you were helpless, useless—a little worm unable to think—your mother did not discard you but did an inconceivable number of things to nurture your existence. She took you on her lap, protected you from fire and water, held you away from dangerous precipices, got rid of all sources of harm, and prayed for you.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

Finally, Gampopa gives a wonderfully vivid expression of how helpless we were when we were born and how much our parents showed us how to survive and grow:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Apart from being able to bawl out to other members of your family and flap your limbs about, you were ignorant. When you did not know how to feed
yourself, it was she who taught you how to eat. When you knew not how to dress yourself, it was she who taught you. When you did not know how to walk, it was she who taught you. When you could not even speak, it was she who taught you, repeating "Mama," "Dada," and so on. Having taught you various crafts and skills, she helped you become a balanced being, strengthening your weaker points and introducing you to the unfamiliar.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 92.</ref>
}}

We knew only how to scream and cry when we were born. We had no idea how to feed or clothe ourselves, and everything was done for us by our mothers. We had to be taught to speak by our parents, and it was they who taught us skills for life and encouraged us to develop.

Gampopa's resonant images invite us to sit with these reflections and truly feel the weight of what our mother of this life has done for us. By contemplating her kindness in this vivid and detailed way, we build the emotional foundation from which we can then extend that same sense of gratitude outward to all beings. For those who find it difficult to use their mother as the focus of this contemplation, it is entirely appropriate to bring to mind another person who has shown them deep kindness and closeness.

<h4>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h4>
Having brought to mind the kindness of mothers (or an equivalent kind person), the next step is to wish to repay that kindness. In ordinary life, those who appreciate the generosity of others and are careful to repay them in some way are respected in society. Here, being aware of the greatest generosity of all in this world—that of someone being a kind and caring mother—we must feel the urge to repay them for that kindness. With gratitude for all they have done, we must not only wish to repay that kindness but do something concrete to acknowledge all their care.

Lama Tsongkhapa quotes from Candragomin's ''Letter to a Student'' (''Śiṣyalekha'', སློབ་མ་ལ་སྤྲིངས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག།) to remind us of how shameful it would be if we were to watch all these beings who have been our mothers in the past suffer while we stood by and did nothing to help them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=While you see that your relatives are engulfed in the ocean of<br>
    cyclic existence,<br>
And are as if fallen into a pit of fire,<br>
There is nothing more shameful than to work for your own<br>
    liberation,<br>
Neglecting those whom you do not recognize due to the<br>
    process of death and rebirth.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:39.</ref>
}}

Just because we do not recognize our mothers from past lives directly, due to the process of death and then rebirth, there is no reason to ignore the terrible plight of beings. Understanding the connection we have with them and how kind they have been to us in previous lives, we must develop the wish to repay their kindness.

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso suggests a number of ways we can repay others' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A variety of means can be employed in showing kindness to others: helping the poor and needy by providing materially, befriending the weary and forlorn, offering strength and support to those who are oppressed by fear, coming to the aid of those who face sentences and punishments such as death, helping the wretched, such as those who are ill, with medicines and rituals, providing knowledge and learning for beings who are afflicted with ignorance, and offering perfect Dharma to those who desire ultimate happiness.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

When thinking of repaying the kindness of our mothers, particularly our mothers of this life, our minds usually turn to the thought of providing material and physical support for them. This can be very beneficial, but we also have to be careful that it is not taken to an excess. Repayment of kindness in this form can only ever satisfy the short-term needs of others and should only be done in moderation. Material help alone can in fact be counterproductive. There will always be a financial or material limit to what we can offer, and in some cases it can actually become a hindrance to the other, as it can feed their afflictions of pride and greed.

Buddhism does not view things only from a short-term perspective, but always tries to consider the longer-term. It encourages us to think about providing others with more lasting forms of assistance. Even in worldly life, it is often said that rather than giving only financial support to the poor, it is best if we can also provide them with education and knowledge so they can build a better life for themselves.

Likewise, in the bodhisattva path, the driving goal is to be able to attain enlightenment in order to help others reach that exalted state—that is the ultimate happiness that we could give another being. With this overarching aim in mind, the help we provide others to repay their kindness should be focused on lasting results. Therefore, it is said that imparting knowledge of the Dharma to others is the most excellent way to repay their kindness. With this in mind, it is crucial that we also study and practice the Dharma so that we will be able to offer them this enduring support in a way that is most appropriate to them.

Most ordinary beings work for worldly goals, and due to ignorance of the causes that bring happiness and those that bring suffering, their efforts to achieve happiness prove fruitless. They continuously bring misfortune upon themselves because, being confused about which actions bring about which results, they inevitably act in ways that reflect that confusion. The practical application of this training in resolving to repay the kindness of all sentient beings is therefore to work to the best of our ability for the sake of others, teaching them correctly what should be cultivated and what should be avoided. This point is captured in a verse widely attributed to the Buddha:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I cannot wash away your misdeeds with water.
I cannot remove the suffering of living beings with my hands.
I cannot transfer my realizations to you.
The only way I can help you is by teaching the true nature of reality,
Therefore, you must strive to liberate yourself.
}}

This verse captures the essence of why studying and practicing the Dharma is the most profound form of kindness we can offer to others—for it is only through understanding the true nature of reality that beings can find lasting freedom from suffering.

<h4>4. Affectionate Love</h4>
In his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains exactly what this mind of affectionate love is. He writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Affectionate love differs from the love of the four immeasurables in that the latter is the love which wishes to ensure the happiness of an immeasurable number of sentient beings, whereas affectionate love is a state of mind which sees whomever we encounter in an attractive light, just as a mother sees her beloved only child.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

While the love of the four immeasurables wishes that immeasurable beings have happiness and its causes, affectionate love is more personal in quality—it is a heartfelt warmth and cherishing directed toward every single living being without exception. For more information on the four immeasurables, see this article:

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Affectionate love is being attracted to all sentient beings as if they were your own children. It has that sense of tremendous closeness embedded in it, and we need to feel that sense of closeness for all beings in order to develop this stage of the practice.

In his ''Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī'', རིན་ཆེན་ཕྲེང་བ།), Nāgārjuna mentions the following benefits from meditation on this type of love:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Giving the food of three hundred clay pots
every day, three times a day,
cannot compare to even a fraction of the merit
of just a short moment of love. (3.83)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even if not liberated, you will attain
these eight excellent qualities from practicing love:
gods and humans will love you,
and they will also protect you;
you will have peace of mind and much happiness
and not be harmed by either poison or weapons;
you will effortlessly attain your aims
and be reborn in the realm of Brahmā. (3.84-85)<ref>Sarah McClintock and John Dunne, trans., ''Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī'' (New York: Wisdom Publications, 2024), 122.</ref>
}}

The power of this affectionate love is said to be so strong that it outshines even the merit accumulated from tremendous acts of generosity, such as offering many people sustenance every day for years and years.

Having understood what affectionate love is and appreciated its extraordinary power, we may now ask how we go about actually cultivating it. In his ''Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', Tsongkhapa explains that this cultivation takes place through a series of stages, beginning with those closest to us and gradually extending outward:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, cultivate love toward friends. Then, cultivate love for persons toward whom you have neutral feelings. Next, cultivate love toward your enemies. Then, cultivate it gradually toward all beings.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 43.</ref>
}}

It is important to start developing this sense of affectionate love for those we feel naturally close to. Later, we can develop it in relation to those who are like strangers to us whom we hardly notice, and then eventually even to beings we consider to be our enemies. Once we can feel love for beings in any of these categories and wish that they have happiness, we can bring to mind this love in all its forms and think of offering it to all living beings without exception.

Affectionate love comes before great compassion in the sequence of instructions. It acts as a cause for great compassion, and great compassion cannot be developed if affectionate love does not precede it. The importance of this sequence is illustrated beautifully in Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'', བསྒོམ་པའི་རིམ་པ།), where it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans. Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 42.</ref>
}}

This sequence—from equanimity through affectionate love to compassion—is not arbitrary but reflects the natural progression of an awakening heart.

<h4>5. Great Compassion</h4>

Having generated the affectionate love described above, we now cultivate the mind of great compassion. It is important to note that the approach to developing each of these two states of mind differs significantly. Affectionate love comes primarily from contemplating the kindness others have shown us. But to develop great compassion fully, we must deeply contemplate how sentient beings are tormented by a whole range of suffering, even the subtlest sufferings such as the mental suffering of the god realms.

However, in order to develop the understanding of the sufferings of others, we must first contemplate these very sufferings in our own life. If we can't generate the wish to be free from all forms of suffering for ourselves, how could we possibly do that for others?

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains the importance of developing this wish that we ourselves be free from all suffering, a mind wishing for what is known as ''definite emergence'' (''niryāṇa'', ངེས་འབྱུང་), before we can develop that in relation to others:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Careful reflection on how these sufferings endlessly follow one upon another and relentlessly plague us will induce the thought of definite emergence—the desire for one's own freedom from cyclic existence. Contemplation of the same phenomena as they relate to others and their experiences will induce great compassion<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 42.</ref>
}}

It is essential that before turning our attention to others, we come to recognize the depths of our own suffering. The kind of suffering we should wish to be free of is not just the manifest pain and discomfort that we all feel and try to avoid in life. Most creatures have an innate wish to be rid of this kind of gross suffering. Simply acknowledging this level of suffering is not considered a factor responsible for the development of either the wish for oneself to be free of suffering or great compassion. Instead, we must appreciate how the whole process of birth in samsara is characterized by suffering, even to the extent of our very own body and mind. With that level of insight, we develop the wish that both ourselves and all other mother beings be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering within samsara, the cycle of contaminated existence. Until we are free from this cycle, we will have to experience uncontrolled rebirth at the mercy of our karma.

Having developed some wish to free ourselves of these deeper levels of suffering, we turn our minds to the suffering of others. At the beginning, it is crucial that our reflection is connected with specific, real people before we widen the scope to all beings. If we have a very generalized thought of "others" but do not connect it to specific people in our lives, we may feel that we have given rise to great compassion, but in reality we have not. Lama Tsongkhapa makes this point very strongly in his ''Great Treatise'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If you train in these attitudes of impartiality, love, and compassion without distinguishing and taking up specific objects of meditation, but only using a general object from the outset, you will just seem to generate these attitudes. Then, when you try to apply them to specific individuals, you will not be able to actually generate these attitudes toward anyone. But once you have a transformative experience toward an individual in your meditation practice as explained previously, you may then gradually increase the number of individuals you visualize within your meditation. Finally, take all beings in general as your object of meditation<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:44.</ref>
}}

Thus, according to Tsongkhapa, it would be very difficult to connect this very generalized view of the suffering "others" to very specific beings in our lives. Rather, we start out by taking specific people from the three categories—friend, enemy, or stranger. It is only when we have transformed our minds into this deepest feeling of compassion for those we love, are apathetic toward, or actively hate that we start to increase the scope of our compassion until it encompasses all living beings.

It is important to be clear that great compassion has a different aspect from that of affectionate love. The aspect of the mind of affectionate love is one of feeling closeness to all beings, and through that the wish that they have every happiness and the causes of happiness. The mind of great compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free of even the tiniest suffering, feeling the unbearable weight of that suffering as if it were our own. Not only that, but great compassion carries with it the aspiration to actually help eliminate the suffering of all beings.

Kamalaśīla's First ''Stages of Meditation'' gives the measure—the precise criterion—for knowing when this fifth stage of great compassion has been fully developed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just as a mother responds to her small, beloved, and suffering child, when you develop a spontaneous and equal sense of compassion toward all sentient beings, you have perfected the practice of compassion. And this is known as great compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation'', 48.</ref>
}}

Venerable Lobsang Gyatso also specifies the exact features this mind must have to qualify as great compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As for the nature of that great compassion, it is derived from seeing how ordinary sentient beings are tormented by the various levels of suffering; it is a non-contrived thought which, desiring them to be separated from those sufferings, has the aspect of not being able to bear the fact of their plight.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 44.</ref>
}}

In sum, actual great compassion sees the whole range of suffering that others experience, feels a sense of being unable to bear that suffering, and wishes to remove it all, just as a mother would of her child. Great compassion must also be uncontrived, which means that it arises spontaneously, without the need for elaborate reasons or reflection, and can be brought to mind almost instantly. When we have fulfilled these criteria, we can say we have generated great compassion in our mindstreams.

<h4>6. Special Intention</h4>
Special intent, also translated as wholehearted resolve or altruistic intent, involves a determination to take responsibility for freeing all beings from their suffering. It is not just the wish that they be free but the commitment to directly help them to be free of suffering.

Pabongka Rinpoche gives us a useful analogy distinguishing these two states of mind—one that wishes to help and one that takes responsibility for helping:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Suppose you saw a man about to throw himself off a cliff. The sight
might move you to feel, 'Is there no one to save him?' Such a
reaction is one of love and compassion but, instead of leaving
things at this, you could decide to rescue him yourself. That
would be analogous to this altruism.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 579.</ref>
}}

Special intention is not just a passive and hopeful wish that all beings have happiness and be free of all suffering. It is an ''active resolve'' that wishes to take responsibility for all.

But why is it so hard for us to feel the urgency and energy to take responsibility for helping other beings? Venerable Lobsang Gyatso encourages us to examine this question:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Similarly, when we see that each sentient being has acted as our mother on many occasions, showing us a boundless kindness like the mother of this life, and when we realize that we should repay this kindness, we should ask ourselves the question, "Why do I not yet feel that such a responsibility falls upon myself?" We should then endeavor to instill such an attitude.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 45.</ref>
}}

There is the danger that even if we understand all beings to be our mothers, feel their kindness, and have the wish to repay that kindness by wishing they have happiness and have no suffering, we may still not actually take it to the next level—that of taking personal responsibility to make this happen. Here, Ven. Lobsang Gyatso offers the following lines of reasoning to encourage us to instill this attitude of responsibility in us:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=(1) [. . .] [E]ach sentient being has acted as our mother countless times; in the past they all have shown us the same degree of kindness as the mother of this life, and they will continue to do so in the future. Thus it becomes our responsibility to repay their kindness.

(2) In a nation, a community, or a single family, the person who is most qualified in learning, ability, and experience should assume authority; the most capable child should guide the brothers and sisters. In a similar way, when it comes to the elimination of suffering, those who are more proficient in the task should guide those with little or no skill. If through the kindness of competent spiritual guides we have been able to encounter the Mahayana Dharma and receive training in the methods of eradicating suffering, it is reasonable that this effort to benefit others should be expected of us.

(3) If we fail to exercise whatever ability we have to be of some use to others it not only contravenes worldly standards but also spiritual ones.

(4) The Tathagatas' fulfillment of the two excellences [the perfection of their own realization and their capacity to benefit all beings] derives from their working solely to achieve the welfare of others.

(5) Bodhisattvas of the present time are training in such a manner, and we as fellow trainees wish to emulate their behavior.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 46.</ref>
}}

If we have already understood the close connection we have with all living beings, understood their kindness, and seen how they suffer, why would we only wish that they be free but not engage in helping them to free themselves? It is only logical, asserts Venerable Gyatso, that we take that next step.

<h4>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h4>
The seventh and final instruction is the effect of all the six prior causes, the result of bodhicitta. The previous stage of special intent is a state of mind that takes responsibility for freeing all beings from every single form of suffering. But that wish alone does not qualify as the mind of bodhicitta. Helping to free all beings from suffering and placing them in a state of stable peace and happiness is a lofty goal indeed, but how will we be able to practically do that? It is important to be realistic about what we are capable of. We must ask ourselves, "What can I actually do to fully help beings?" On this, Pabongka Rinpoche points out that when we look at what we are really able to achieve, we may be able to provide some temporary support for others, but we cannot help even one sentient being to attain a state free of all suffering. We have not attained it ourselves, so how would we expect to help place others in that state?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After taking on this responsibility, see if you are able to carry it
out yet. You are unable to help even a single being! You are
forced to look for someone who can do this effectively and then
see if you too can achieve such a state.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 584.</ref>
}}

Pabongka goes on to tell us that in our search for a state that could possibly achieve that goal, we will find that only attaining complete buddhahood, replete with the omniscient mind that knows the nature of all phenomena as well as the thoughts and inclinations of all beings, could possibly help.

Venerable Gyatso, similarly, emphasizes that complete buddhahood is the ideal state from which we can most effectively benefit all sentient beings.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By engaging in the deeds of the Bodhisattvas, we will be in a position to benefit a great many sentient beings. Then on the basis of that, by progressing further to the state of complete Buddhahood, we will fully comprehend the predispositions, mentality, and potentials of every sentient being. We will have reached the highest state of awakening and, apart from those who lack the development and maturation of their lineage, we will be able to unceasingly perform the task of benefitting all sentient beings spontaneously and effortlessly.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 53.</ref>
}}

In addition to an omniscient mind (''dharmakāya'', ཆོས་སྐུ་) that knows the mentality and predispositions of all beings, our achievement of this state also comes with possessing the form body of a buddha (''nirmāṇakāya'', སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་) that is able to effortlessly and spontaneously reach out to all beings to help guide and teach them. With those two aspects, along with all the other magnificent qualities the buddhas possess, we will be in the best position to effectively help all beings forever.

Having seen the need to attain the enlightened state, we enhance this wish for buddhahood by contemplating the incredible qualities of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas. With faith in those qualities, we wish ourselves to attain them, motivated not from selfish concerns but for the welfare of all. As Tsongkhapa writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, increase your faith as much as possible by contemplating the good qualities of the Buddha's body, speech, mind, and enlightened activities as previously explained in the section on going for refuge. Then, as it is taught that faith is the basis of aspiration, develop the desire to attain those good qualities from the depths of your heart and induce a certainty that it is absolutely necessary to attain omniscience even for your own welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:48.</ref>
}}

In other words, by deeply contemplating the extraordinary qualities of the buddhas and developing a heartfelt faith in them, we naturally give rise to the wish to attain that same state ourselves—not out of self-interest, but as the most complete and effective way of fulfilling our responsibility to all sentient beings.

It is important to understand exactly what bodhicitta is. Bodhicitta has two main aspirational components—the primary aspiration to help all beings attain the highest possible form of happiness, and the secondary aspiration to attain the state of a fully enlightened buddha. The aspiration for the highest welfare of all is an expression of the deep compassion for every single living being. The aspiration to become a buddha is the practical application of the wish for the highest happiness for all.

Thus, the state of mind of bodhicitta is one that thinks, "Wishing to repay the kindness of all beings, my dear mothers, I must help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and its causes, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering. To do that I myself must attain the fully enlightened state, replete with the wisdom body and form body, and then with spontaneous and effortless skillful means place them all in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha."

Pabongka Rinpoche defines what the measure of having achieved true bodhicitta is, writing,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When you experience the conscious desire to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings, you have developed a bodhichitta that resembles the outer layer of a piece of sugar cane. But if, in addition, you experience an involuntary desire to achieve full enlightenment for the sake of any sentient being you see, you have developed true bodhichitta in your mind-stream.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 586.</ref>
}}

Initially we have to repeatedly make effort again and again to bring the thought of enlightenment to mind. But eventually, through training, it will arise naturally and spontaneously in an uncontrived fashion. When we have reached that state of mind, we can say that bodhicitta has truly arisen within us.

For more information about the seven-point instructions of cause and effect, visit the Practice section.

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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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|caption=Robert Thurman: <em> The Sevenfold Causal Instruction in Universal Compassion </em>
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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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|caption=Venerable Sangye Khadro: <em> Practicing the Path: The Seven-Point Cause and Effect Method for Developing Bodhicitta </em>
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Explore/Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect

2026-06-25T16:00:59Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|sub-theme=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|featured-books=How to Generate Bodhicitta (Ribur Rinpoche 2010); Bodhicitta: Practice for a Meaningful Life; Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage (Tegchok 2005); The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand; Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment; Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes); Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī
|featured-articles=Seven-Part Cause and Effect Meditation for Bodhichitta (Berzin 2000); Developing the Mind of Great Capacity
|featured-dissertations=
|TermTopics=Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect
|jumbo-image=File:Europeana-jfu2CKjSjtU-unsplash reduced.jpg
|jumbo-text=The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are a systematic meditation practice for cultivating bodhicitta through a logical progression of contemplations. The practice begins with recognizing all beings as having been one's mother in past lives, and then moves sequentially through five other contemplations until the seventh instruction is reached—that is, the arousing of bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This stepwise method builds bodhicitta by transforming one's relationship with others from indifference to a strong sense of connection, unconditional love, and responsibility.
|main-text=
<h3>The Lineage</h3>
The sevenfold cause-and-effect instructions for developing bodhicitta belong to the Vast Conduct lineage, also known as the lineage of Extensive Deeds. The practice derives from an unbroken transmission originating with Śākyamuni Buddha, who passed the lineage to Maitreya, who then transmitted it to Asaṅga. This lineage was then passed on to Asaṅga's brother Vasubandhu, and subsequently through to Candragomin and Atiśa. Atiśa brought this lineage to Tibet, where it was subsequently adopted by the Kadampa masters.<ref>Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod (Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group), trans. and ed., ''The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Five: Buddhist Ethics'', by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2003), 172.</ref>

<h3>The Instructions</h3>
The seven-point instructions of cause and effect are so named because six of the points are causes leading to bodhicitta, while the seventh is bodhicitta itself, as the resultant state of mind. It is named "cause and effect" because the mind cultivated through each instruction acts as a cause for the next, with each subsequent state of mind arising as the effect of the one preceding it.

The six causes are:
:1. recognizing all beings as having been our mothers (མར་ཤེས་)
:2. remembering the kindness of all those mothers (དྲིན་དྲན་)
:3. wishing to repay these mother beings' kindness (དྲིན་གསོ་)
:4. affectionate love for all these mother beings (ཡིད་དུ་འོང་བའི་བྱམས་པ་)
:5. great compassion wishing that all beings be free from all forms of suffering (སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་)
:6. superior altruistic intent that takes responsibility for doing something about the plight of beings trapped in samsara (ལྷག་བསམ་རྣམ་དག་)
The seventh instruction is the result itself that we are aiming for:
:7. the mind of enlightenment—that is, bodhicitta (བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་)

By contemplating each of these instructions and developing the realizations associated with them, step by step we put each cause in place so that, eventually, we can give rise to our goal, the resultant mind of enlightenment.

<h3>Extensive Explanation</h3>

<h4>Equanimity and Compassion as a Foundation</h4>
Prior to these six causes, most traditions emphasize the importance of cultivating equanimity toward all beings, whether we perceive them to be a friend, a stranger, or even an enemy. Without this unbiased foundation, the subsequent instructions will always be colored by partiality toward some beings over others. Once equanimity is established, we can correctly engage with all the succeeding stages, such as love and compassion. For further details on the topic of equanimity, see this article:

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In his masterwork ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo'', ལམ་རིམ་ཆེན་མོ།), the Gelukpa master Lama Tsongkhapa reminds us that before we begin to engage in this practice of the seven instructions, it is important to gain certainty about their sequence. He first explains the importance of compassion as the root of the Mahāyāna. He then explains how, within the seven points, all the other instructions apart from great compassion are either causes of compassion or effects of compassion.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 2:36.</ref>

Tsongkhapa points out how the first four instructions—from recognizing all beings as having been our mothers up until the fourth instruction on affectionate love—all act as causes of compassion. The last two instructions, superior altruistic intent and the mind of enlightenment, he explains to be the effects of compassion.

The important point here is to recognize how all seven instructions are related to compassion, and how compassion therefore forms the basis not only for the practice of generating bodhicitta but for the entire path of the Mahāyāna practitioner. For further information on compassion and the Mahāyāna tradition, explore the following pages:

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<h4>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h4>
This first instruction encourages us to recognize all beings as having been our mother. This recognition is underpinned by the understanding that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and that although the body of this present life will cease to exist, our consciousness will continue on to a new life. If consciousness is unceasing, then we must have lived countless births in the past, and if that is so, we must have been born as the offspring of innumerable beings.

On this, Venerable Lobsang Gyatso, in his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', makes a crucial point about the continuity of consciousness and how there must be an infinite number of lives:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something which is of a material nature cannot be transformed into or produced in the nature of consciousness. Rather, each individual moment of consciousness is generated from the substance of its own former moment in an uninterrupted continuum. In this sense also there can be no beginning point to the sentient being.<ref>Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', trans. Sherab Gyatso (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997), 22.</ref>
}}

Material phenomena cannot act as the substantial cause for immaterial phenomena such as consciousness. This must mean that each moment of consciousness must have a preceding moment of consciousness. It then follows that consciousness has no beginning and no end, and therefore that previous lives are beginningless and our future lives are endless.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa explains how there is no living being who has not, at some point in our beginningless series of lives, been our mother.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because cyclic existence is beginningless, your births are also without beginning. Therefore you have died and been reborn time and time again. There is absolutely no kind of body which you have not assumed in cyclic existence. There is absolutely no place where you have not been born, and there is no person who has not been a relative such as your mother.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

Not only is it explained that all beings have been our mothers but also that all beings will be our mothers a limitless number of times in the future. Asaṅga mentions this point in his ''Treatise on the Grounds of Yogic Practice'' (''Yogācārabhūmi''), where he cites from a sūtra as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I have difficulty seeing a place wherein you have not been born,
gone to, or died in the distant past. I have difficulty seeing any
person in the distant past who has not been your father, mother,
uncle, aunt, sister, master, abbot, guru, or someone like a guru.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We must reflect upon this and become convinced that all beings have been our mothers in the past, and that they will continue to be our mothers again in the future. Developing this conviction will then naturally lead us to remember their kindness and so forth. If we do not develop this understanding, we will have no basis for remembering their kindness.

<h4>2. Remembering the Kindness of All Those Mothers</h4>
Having recognized that there has never been a being who has not been bound to us in the most intimate of relationships, the next crucial stage toward developing bodhicitta is to understand how kind they have been to us—and the majority of mothers, in the way they care for their children, give us a vivid example of that kindness.

It is important to make sure that we take our mother in this life as an example and remember her kindness. Of course, there are some people who have had very problematic and painful relationships with close members of their family such as their mothers. In these cases, it is advised not to take them as a model for cultivating the remembrance of kindness, as it could create complex feelings that would not be in accord with the development of this stage of instruction. Instead, those people should choose a person other than their mother who has been close to them and shown them great kindness in their lives.

In his ''Great Treatise'', Tsongkhapa shows us how to meditate on this sense of kindness by beginning with our mother of this life:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Imagine your mother clearly in front of you. Think the following a few times: "Not only has she been my mother at present but she has been so an incalculable number of times throughout beginningless cyclic existence." As your mother, she protected you from all harm and provided you all benefit and happiness. Particularly in this lifetime she carried you for a long time in her womb. Then, when you were a helpless, newborn infant, she held you to the warmth of her flesh and bounced you on the tips of her ten fingers. She suckled you at her breast, used her mouth to give you soft food and to remove mucus from your nose, and used her hand to wipe away your excrement. So in various ways she nurtured you tirelessly.

Moreover, when you were hungry and thirsty, she gave you food and drink; when you were cold, clothes; when you were poor, she gave from her wealth those things which were very dear to her. Even more, what she gave to you were not things that she had obtained easily but that she had secured through great hardship while engaging in wrongdoing and receiving ill repute and suffering. If you suffered from illness, pain, or the threat of death, your mother made the choice from the depths of her heart that she would rather be sick than you be sick, she would rather be in pain than you be in pain, she would rather die than you die. By putting this feeling into action, she did what was needed to alleviate these troubles.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:38.</ref>
}}

We bring to mind in front of us someone from this life who has shown us great kindness and reflect carefully on the ways in which they have cared for us. They have sacrificed themselves in so many ways for the sake of our welfare, and in some cases they would even be willing to die for us. Visualizing the person of this life directly in front of us helps us not just remember them in words but manifestly feel that sense of gratitude toward them.

Once we have contemplated the close person of this life, we then extend that feeling of kindness to all beings, starting with other close relatives and friends and eventually radiating it out to all beings who we have already recognized as being our mothers. Eventually, this mind of gratitude will extend even to those we consider our enemies.

The twelfth-century Kagyu master Gampopa takes up this same theme in his ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' (དམ་ཆོས་ཡིད་བཞིན་གྱི་ནོར་བུ་ཐར་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རྒྱན།), one of the very first texts in the stages of the path genre, drawing on the Mahāyāna sūtra called ''The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines'' (''Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā'', ཤེར་ཕྱིན་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པ།) to help us cultivate a genuine sense of gratitude for our mothers' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Mothers gave birth to us, underwent hardships, kept us alive, and taught us all about the world.<ref>Ken Holmes, trans., ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', by Gampopa, ed. Thupten Jinpa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017), 90.</ref>
}}

In his commentary to this verse, Gampopa provides us with some wonderfully evocative images of why we should feel gratitude for the kindness of our mothers. He also goes on to break down the positive things we receive from our mothers into four categories—the kindness of nourishing our body, the kindness of undergoing hardships, the kindness of keeping us alive, and the kindness of teaching us the ways of the world.

Advising us on how to contemplate the kindness of our mothers nourishing our body, he writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This body of yours did not start out fully grown, with its flesh fully developed and with a healthy complexion. It developed gradually inside your mother, through the different embryonic and fetal stages, being gradually created and nourished by vital fluids from her very own flesh and blood. It grew thanks to nourishment from the food she ate. It came into being by her having to put up with all sorts of embarrassment, sickness, and suffering.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 90.</ref>
}}

The person you are now and the body you have grew from the fetus that your mother bore in her womb. Our mothers underwent tremendous hardships, including the pain of childbirth itself, to bring us into this world.

Next, Gampopa instructs that we should consider the kindness of how our mothers underwent hardships:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You did not come into this world clothed, finely adorned, with money in your pocket and provisions for the journey. When you came into this unfamiliar place, where you knew no one and had nothing, the only wealth you had was your howling mouth and empty stomach. Your mother gave you food so that you would not go hungry, drink to keep you from thirst, clothes to fend off the cold, and wealth to keep you from poverty. It was not as though she just gave you things she no longer needed herself: she herself went without food, without drink, and without new clothes.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

We knew nothing when we came into this world, and it would be impossible for us to survive without help from our parents. Most mothers will deprive themselves of food so that their children can be fed and will use every last penny they have to keep their children alive. We must remember this kindness.

When we were born, we did not know how to even feed ourselves, let alone do other complex tasks necessary for survival. Next, Gampopa explains how to consider the kindness of our mothers keeping us alive:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is not as though you were born as you are now, knowing how to feed yourself and endowed with the necessary ability to accomplish difficult tasks. When you were helpless, useless—a little worm unable to think—your mother did not discard you but did an inconceivable number of things to nurture your existence. She took you on her lap, protected you from fire and water, held you away from dangerous precipices, got rid of all sources of harm, and prayed for you.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 91.</ref>
}}

Finally, Gampopa gives a wonderfully vivid expression of how helpless we were when we were born and how much our parents showed us how to survive and grow:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Apart from being able to bawl out to other members of your family and flap your limbs about, you were ignorant. When you did not know how to feed
yourself, it was she who taught you how to eat. When you knew not how to dress yourself, it was she who taught you. When you did not know how to walk, it was she who taught you. When you could not even speak, it was she who taught you, repeating "Mama," "Dada," and so on. Having taught you various crafts and skills, she helped you become a balanced being, strengthening your weaker points and introducing you to the unfamiliar.<ref>Holmes, ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', 92.</ref>
}}

We knew only how to scream and cry when we were born. We had no idea how to feed or clothe ourselves, and everything was done for us by our mothers. We had to be taught to speak by our parents, and it was they who taught us skills for life and encouraged us to develop.

Gampopa's resonant images invite us to sit with these reflections and truly feel the weight of what our mother of this life has done for us. By contemplating her kindness in this vivid and detailed way, we build the emotional foundation from which we can then extend that same sense of gratitude outward to all beings. For those who find it difficult to use their mother as the focus of this contemplation, it is entirely appropriate to bring to mind another person who has shown them deep kindness and closeness.

<h4>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h4>
Having brought to mind the kindness of mothers (or an equivalent kind person), the next step is to wish to repay that kindness. In ordinary life, those who appreciate the generosity of others and are careful to repay them in some way are respected in society. Here, being aware of the greatest generosity of all in this world—that of someone being a kind and caring mother—we must feel the urge to repay them for that kindness. With gratitude for all they have done, we must not only wish to repay that kindness but do something concrete to acknowledge all their care.

Lama Tsongkhapa quotes from Candragomin's ''Letter to a Student'' (''Śiṣyalekha'', སློབ་མ་ལ་སྤྲིངས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག།) to remind us of how shameful it would be if we were to watch all these beings who have been our mothers in the past suffer while we stood by and did nothing to help them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=While you see that your relatives are engulfed in the ocean of<br>
    cyclic existence,<br>
And are as if fallen into a pit of fire,<br>
There is nothing more shameful than to work for your own<br>
    liberation,<br>
Neglecting those whom you do not recognize due to the<br>
    process of death and rebirth.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:39.</ref>
}}

Just because we do not recognize our mothers from past lives directly, due to the process of death and then rebirth, there is no reason to ignore the terrible plight of beings. Understanding the connection we have with them and how kind they have been to us in previous lives, we must develop the wish to repay their kindness.

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso suggests a number of ways we can repay others' kindness:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A variety of means can be employed in showing kindness to others: helping the poor and needy by providing materially, befriending the weary and forlorn, offering strength and support to those who are oppressed by fear, coming to the aid of those who face sentences and punishments such as death, helping the wretched, such as those who are ill, with medicines and rituals, providing knowledge and learning for beings who are afflicted with ignorance, and offering perfect Dharma to those who desire ultimate happiness.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

When thinking of repaying the kindness of our mothers, particularly our mothers of this life, our minds usually turn to the thought of providing material and physical support for them. This can be very beneficial, but we also have to be careful that it is not taken to an excess. Repayment of kindness in this form can only ever satisfy the short-term needs of others and should only be done in moderation. Material help alone can in fact be counterproductive. There will always be a financial or material limit to what we can offer, and in some cases it can actually become a hindrance to the other, as it can feed their afflictions of pride and greed.

Buddhism does not view things only from a short-term perspective, but always tries to consider the longer-term. It encourages us to think about providing others with more lasting forms of assistance. Even in worldly life, it is often said that rather than giving only financial support to the poor, it is best if we can also provide them with education and knowledge so they can build a better life for themselves.

Likewise, in the bodhisattva path, the driving goal is to be able to attain enlightenment in order to help others reach that exalted state—that is the ultimate happiness that we could give another being. With this overarching aim in mind, the help we provide others to repay their kindness should be focused on lasting results. Therefore, it is said that imparting knowledge of the Dharma to others is the most excellent way to repay their kindness. With this in mind, it is crucial that we also study and practice the Dharma so that we will be able to offer them this enduring support in a way that is most appropriate to them.

Most ordinary beings work for worldly goals, and due to ignorance of the causes that bring happiness and those that bring suffering, their efforts to achieve happiness prove fruitless. They continuously bring misfortune upon themselves because, being confused about which actions bring about which results, they inevitably act in ways that reflect that confusion. The practical application of this training in resolving to repay the kindness of all sentient beings is therefore to work to the best of our ability for the sake of others, teaching them correctly what should be cultivated and what should be avoided. This point is captured in a verse widely attributed to the Buddha:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I cannot wash away your misdeeds with water.
I cannot remove the suffering of living beings with my hands.
I cannot transfer my realizations to you.
The only way I can help you is by teaching the true nature of reality,
Therefore, you must strive to liberate yourself.
}}

This verse captures the essence of why studying and practicing the Dharma is the most profound form of kindness we can offer to others—for it is only through understanding the true nature of reality that beings can find lasting freedom from suffering.

<h4>4. Affectionate Love</h4>
In his book ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains exactly what this mind of affectionate love is. He writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Affectionate love differs from the love of the four immeasurables in that the latter is the love which wishes to ensure the happiness of an immeasurable number of sentient beings, whereas affectionate love is a state of mind which sees whomever we encounter in an attractive light, just as a mother sees her beloved only child.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 32.</ref>
}}

While the love of the four immeasurables wishes that immeasurable beings have happiness and its causes, affectionate love is more personal in quality—it is a heartfelt warmth and cherishing directed toward every single living being without exception. For more information on the four immeasurables, see this article:

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In his ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', Pabongka Rinpoche quotes a story of Geshe Potowa to illustrate the mind of affectionate love:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text='Love through the force of attraction,' said Geshe Potowa to an old woman, 'is just like the love you have for your son Toelekor.'<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 579.</ref>
}}

In other words, affectionate love is being attracted to all sentient beings as if they were your own children. It has that sense of tremendous closeness embedded in it, and we need to feel that sense of closeness for all beings in order to develop this stage of the practice.

In his ''Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī'', རིན་ཆེན་ཕྲེང་བ།), Nāgārjuna mentions the following benefits from meditation on this type of love:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Giving the food of three hundred clay pots
every day, three times a day,
cannot compare to even a fraction of the merit
of just a short moment of love. (3.83)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even if not liberated, you will attain
these eight excellent qualities from practicing love:
gods and humans will love you,
and they will also protect you;
you will have peace of mind and much happiness
and not be harmed by either poison or weapons;
you will effortlessly attain your aims
and be reborn in the realm of Brahmā. (3.84-85)<ref>Sarah McClintock and John Dunne, trans., ''Nāgārjuna's Precious Garland: Ratnāvalī'' (New York: Wisdom Publications, 2024), 122.</ref>
}}

The power of this affectionate love is said to be so strong that it outshines even the merit accumulated from tremendous acts of generosity, such as offering many people sustenance every day for years and years.

Having understood what affectionate love is and appreciated its extraordinary power, we may now ask how we go about actually cultivating it. In his ''Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', Tsongkhapa explains that this cultivation takes place through a series of stages, beginning with those closest to us and gradually extending outward:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, cultivate love toward friends. Then, cultivate love for persons toward whom you have neutral feelings. Next, cultivate love toward your enemies. Then, cultivate it gradually toward all beings.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 43.</ref>
}}

It is important to start developing this sense of affectionate love for those we feel naturally close to. Later, we can develop it in relation to those who are like strangers to us whom we hardly notice, and then eventually even to beings we consider to be our enemies. Once we can feel love for beings in any of these categories and wish that they have happiness, we can bring to mind this love in all its forms and think of offering it to all living beings without exception.

Affectionate love comes before great compassion in the sequence of instructions. It acts as a cause for great compassion, and great compassion cannot be developed if affectionate love does not precede it. The importance of this sequence is illustrated beautifully in Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'', བསྒོམ་པའི་རིམ་པ།), where it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans. Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 42.</ref>
}}

This sequence—from equanimity through affectionate love to compassion—is not arbitrary but reflects the natural progression of an awakening heart.

<h4>5. Great Compassion</h4>

Having generated the affectionate love described above, we now cultivate the mind of great compassion. It is important to note that the approach to developing each of these two states of mind differs significantly. Affectionate love comes primarily from contemplating the kindness others have shown us. But to develop great compassion fully, we must deeply contemplate how sentient beings are tormented by a whole range of suffering, even the subtlest sufferings such as the mental suffering of the god realms.

However, in order to develop the understanding of the sufferings of others, we must first contemplate these very sufferings in our own life. If we can't generate the wish to be free from all forms of suffering for ourselves, how could we possibly do that for others?

In ''Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment'', Venerable Lobsang Gyatso explains the importance of developing this wish that we ourselves be free from all suffering, a mind wishing for what is known as ''definite emergence'' (''niryāṇa'', ངེས་འབྱུང་), before we can develop that in relation to others:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Careful reflection on how these sufferings endlessly follow one upon another and relentlessly plague us will induce the thought of definite emergence—the desire for one's own freedom from cyclic existence. Contemplation of the same phenomena as they relate to others and their experiences will induce great compassion<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 42.</ref>
}}

It is essential that before turning our attention to others, we come to recognize the depths of our own suffering. The kind of suffering we should wish to be free of is not just the manifest pain and discomfort that we all feel and try to avoid in life. Most creatures have an innate wish to be rid of this kind of gross suffering. Simply acknowledging this level of suffering is not considered a factor responsible for the development of either the wish for oneself to be free of suffering or great compassion. Instead, we must appreciate how the whole process of birth in samsara is characterized by suffering, even to the extent of our very own body and mind. With that level of insight, we develop the wish that both ourselves and all other mother beings be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering within samsara, the cycle of contaminated existence. Until we are free from this cycle, we will have to experience uncontrolled rebirth at the mercy of our karma.

Having developed some wish to free ourselves of these deeper levels of suffering, we turn our minds to the suffering of others. At the beginning, it is crucial that our reflection is connected with specific, real people before we widen the scope to all beings. If we have a very generalized thought of "others" but do not connect it to specific people in our lives, we may feel that we have given rise to great compassion, but in reality we have not. Lama Tsongkhapa makes this point very strongly in his ''Great Treatise'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If you train in these attitudes of impartiality, love, and compassion without distinguishing and taking up specific objects of meditation, but only using a general object from the outset, you will just seem to generate these attitudes. Then, when you try to apply them to specific individuals, you will not be able to actually generate these attitudes toward anyone. But once you have a transformative experience toward an individual in your meditation practice as explained previously, you may then gradually increase the number of individuals you visualize within your meditation. Finally, take all beings in general as your object of meditation<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:44.</ref>
}}

Thus, according to Tsongkhapa, it would be very difficult to connect this very generalized view of the suffering "others" to very specific beings in our lives. Rather, we start out by taking specific people from the three categories—friend, enemy, or stranger. It is only when we have transformed our minds into this deepest feeling of compassion for those we love, are apathetic toward, or actively hate that we start to increase the scope of our compassion until it encompasses all living beings.

It is important to be clear that great compassion has a different aspect from that of affectionate love. The aspect of the mind of affectionate love is one of feeling closeness to all beings, and through that the wish that they have every happiness and the causes of happiness. The mind of great compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free of even the tiniest suffering, feeling the unbearable weight of that suffering as if it were our own. Not only that, but great compassion carries with it the aspiration to actually help eliminate the suffering of all beings.

Kamalaśīla's First ''Stages of Meditation'' gives the measure—the precise criterion—for knowing when this fifth stage of great compassion has been fully developed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just as a mother responds to her small, beloved, and suffering child, when you develop a spontaneous and equal sense of compassion toward all sentient beings, you have perfected the practice of compassion. And this is known as great compassion.<ref>Dalai Lama, 14th, ''Stages of Meditation'', 48.</ref>
}}

Venerable Lobsang Gyatso also specifies the exact features this mind must have to qualify as great compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As for the nature of that great compassion, it is derived from seeing how ordinary sentient beings are tormented by the various levels of suffering; it is a non-contrived thought which, desiring them to be separated from those sufferings, has the aspect of not being able to bear the fact of their plight.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 44.</ref>
}}

In sum, actual great compassion sees the whole range of suffering that others experience, feels a sense of being unable to bear that suffering, and wishes to remove it all, just as a mother would of her child. Great compassion must also be uncontrived, which means that it arises spontaneously, without the need for elaborate reasons or reflection, and can be brought to mind almost instantly. When we have fulfilled these criteria, we can say we have generated great compassion in our mindstreams.

<h4>6. Special Intention</h4>
Special intent, also translated as wholehearted resolve or altruistic intent, involves a determination to take responsibility for freeing all beings from their suffering. It is not just the wish that they be free but the commitment to directly help them to be free of suffering.

Pabongka Rinpoche gives us a useful analogy distinguishing these two states of mind—one that wishes to help and one that takes responsibility for helping:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Suppose you saw a man about to throw himself off a cliff. The sight
might move you to feel, 'Is there no one to save him?' Such a
reaction is one of love and compassion but, instead of leaving
things at this, you could decide to rescue him yourself. That
would be analogous to this altruism.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 579.</ref>
}}

Special intention is not just a passive and hopeful wish that all beings have happiness and be free of all suffering. It is an ''active resolve'' that wishes to take responsibility for all.

But why is it so hard for us to feel the urgency and energy to take responsibility for helping other beings? Venerable Lobsang Gyatso encourages us to examine this question:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Similarly, when we see that each sentient being has acted as our mother on many occasions, showing us a boundless kindness like the mother of this life, and when we realize that we should repay this kindness, we should ask ourselves the question, "Why do I not yet feel that such a responsibility falls upon myself?" We should then endeavor to instill such an attitude.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 45.</ref>
}}

There is the danger that even if we understand all beings to be our mothers, feel their kindness, and have the wish to repay that kindness by wishing they have happiness and have no suffering, we may still not actually take it to the next level—that of taking personal responsibility to make this happen. Here, Ven. Lobsang Gyatso offers the following lines of reasoning to encourage us to instill this attitude of responsibility in us:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=(1) [. . .] [E]ach sentient being has acted as our mother countless times; in the past they all have shown us the same degree of kindness as the mother of this life, and they will continue to do so in the future. Thus it becomes our responsibility to repay their kindness.

(2) In a nation, a community, or a single family, the person who is most qualified in learning, ability, and experience should assume authority; the most capable child should guide the brothers and sisters. In a similar way, when it comes to the elimination of suffering, those who are more proficient in the task should guide those with little or no skill. If through the kindness of competent spiritual guides we have been able to encounter the Mahayana Dharma and receive training in the methods of eradicating suffering, it is reasonable that this effort to benefit others should be expected of us.

(3) If we fail to exercise whatever ability we have to be of some use to others it not only contravenes worldly standards but also spiritual ones.

(4) The Tathagatas' fulfillment of the two excellences [the perfection of their own realization and their capacity to benefit all beings] derives from their working solely to achieve the welfare of others.

(5) Bodhisattvas of the present time are training in such a manner, and we as fellow trainees wish to emulate their behavior.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 46.</ref>
}}

If we have already understood the close connection we have with all living beings, understood their kindness, and seen how they suffer, why would we only wish that they be free but not engage in helping them to free themselves? It is only logical, asserts Venerable Gyatso, that we take that next step.

<h4>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h4>
The seventh and final instruction is the effect of all the six prior causes, the result of bodhicitta. The previous stage of special intent is a state of mind that takes responsibility for freeing all beings from every single form of suffering. But that wish alone does not qualify as the mind of bodhicitta. Helping to free all beings from suffering and placing them in a state of stable peace and happiness is a lofty goal indeed, but how will we be able to practically do that? It is important to be realistic about what we are capable of. We must ask ourselves, "What can I actually do to fully help beings?" On this, Pabongka Rinpoche points out that when we look at what we are really able to achieve, we may be able to provide some temporary support for others, but we cannot help even one sentient being to attain a state free of all suffering. We have not attained it ourselves, so how would we expect to help place others in that state?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=After taking on this responsibility, see if you are able to carry it
out yet. You are unable to help even a single being! You are
forced to look for someone who can do this effectively and then
see if you too can achieve such a state.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 584.</ref>
}}

Pabongka goes on to tell us that in our search for a state that could possibly achieve that goal, we will find that only attaining complete buddhahood, replete with the omniscient mind that knows the nature of all phenomena as well as the thoughts and inclinations of all beings, could possibly help.

Venerable Gyatso, similarly, emphasizes that complete buddhahood is the ideal state from which we can most effectively benefit all sentient beings.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By engaging in the deeds of the Bodhisattvas, we will be in a position to benefit a great many sentient beings. Then on the basis of that, by progressing further to the state of complete Buddhahood, we will fully comprehend the predispositions, mentality, and potentials of every sentient being. We will have reached the highest state of awakening and, apart from those who lack the development and maturation of their lineage, we will be able to unceasingly perform the task of benefitting all sentient beings spontaneously and effortlessly.<ref>Gyatso, ''Bodhicitta'', 53.</ref>
}}

In addition to an omniscient mind (''dharmakāya'', ཆོས་སྐུ་) that knows the mentality and predispositions of all beings, our achievement of this state also comes with possessing the form body of a buddha (''nirmāṇakāya'', སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་) that is able to effortlessly and spontaneously reach out to all beings to help guide and teach them. With those two aspects, along with all the other magnificent qualities the buddhas possess, we will be in the best position to effectively help all beings forever.

Having seen the need to attain the enlightened state, we enhance this wish for buddhahood by contemplating the incredible qualities of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas. With faith in those qualities, we wish ourselves to attain them, motivated not from selfish concerns but for the welfare of all. As Tsongkhapa writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, increase your faith as much as possible by contemplating the good qualities of the Buddha's body, speech, mind, and enlightened activities as previously explained in the section on going for refuge. Then, as it is taught that faith is the basis of aspiration, develop the desire to attain those good qualities from the depths of your heart and induce a certainty that it is absolutely necessary to attain omniscience even for your own welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''The Great Treatise'', 2:48.</ref>
}}

In other words, by deeply contemplating the extraordinary qualities of the buddhas and developing a heartfelt faith in them, we naturally give rise to the wish to attain that same state ourselves—not out of self-interest, but as the most complete and effective way of fulfilling our responsibility to all sentient beings.

It is important to understand exactly what bodhicitta is. Bodhicitta has two main aspirational components—the primary aspiration to help all beings attain the highest possible form of happiness, and the secondary aspiration to attain the state of a fully enlightened buddha. The aspiration for the highest welfare of all is an expression of the deep compassion for every single living being. The aspiration to become a buddha is the practical application of the wish for the highest happiness for all.

Thus, the state of mind of bodhicitta is one that thinks, "Wishing to repay the kindness of all beings, my dear mothers, I must help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and its causes, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering. To do that I myself must attain the fully enlightened state, replete with the wisdom body and form body, and then with spontaneous and effortless skillful means place them all in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha."

Pabongka Rinpoche defines what the measure of having achieved true bodhicitta is, writing,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When you experience the conscious desire to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings, you have developed a bodhichitta that resembles the outer layer of a piece of sugar cane. But if, in addition, you experience an involuntary desire to achieve full enlightenment for the sake of any sentient being you see, you have developed true bodhichitta in your mind-stream.<ref>Pabongka Rinpoche, ''Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand'', 586.</ref>
}}

Initially we have to repeatedly make effort again and again to bring the thought of enlightenment to mind. But eventually, through training, it will arise naturally and spontaneously in an uncontrived fashion. When we have reached that state of mind, we can say that bodhicitta has truly arisen within us.

For more information about the seven-point instructions of cause and effect, visit the Practice section.

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Explore/The Two Accumulations

2026-04-18T22:47:58Z

SimonH:

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|sub-theme=Two Accumulations
|TermTopics=Two Accumulations
|featured-books=Illuminating the Intent; The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King; The Words of My Perfect Teacher (1998); A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher; The Excellent Path of the Two Accumulations; Gone Beyond (Volume One); Gone Beyond (Volume Two); Cultivating the Two Accumulations; Two Accumulations: Merit and Wisdom
|featured-articles=The Accumulations of Merit and Wisdom; Understanding the Accumulation of Merit and Wisdom
|featured-texts=Madhyamakāvatāra; Rājaparikathāratnāvali; Abhisamayālaṃkāranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrakārikā
|jumbo-image=File:Two Accumuations Sambhota cropped.jpg
|jumbo-text=The two accumulations consist of merit and wisdom, which respectively cause the form body and truth body of a buddha. The three higher trainings provide a sequential foundation: ethical discipline creates stability, concentration develops focused awareness, and wisdom penetrates ultimate reality. Bodhisattvas engage in these practices because their compassionate motivation extends beyond personal liberation—they must first attain complete buddhahood themselves, gaining both the omniscient mind and ability to appear to beings, before they can effectively guide all sentient beings toward enlightenment.
|main-text==== Practicing the Bodhisattva Path ===

Having taken the bodhisattva vows, the Mahāyāna practitioner sets out on the journey along the path of the bodhisattva. The practices of the bodhisattva path can be explained by looking at them through many different lenses. For instance, they can be presented from the perspective of the two accumulations (''sambhāradvaya'', ཚོགས་གཉིས་)—that is, the accumulation of merit (''puṇyasambhāra'', བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་) and the accumulation of wisdom (''jñānasambhāra'', ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་). They can also be presented in the context of the three higher trainings (''adhiśikṣātraya'', ལྷག་པའི་བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་), in the context of the practices of the six perfections (''ṣaṭpāramitā'', ཕར་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་), or through the more extensive presentation of the ten perfections (''daśapāramitā'', ཕར་ཕྱིན་བཅུ་). Here, the practices of the bodhisattva path are primarily discussed in relation to the two accumulations, while a fuller discussion of the six perfections, ten perfections, and the three higher trainings is provided in separate articles.

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}}
</div>
=== The Two Accumulations ===

Engaging in practices connected to the two accumulations is a very important factor for the bodhisattva following the Mahāyāna path. Since their driving motivation is not merely to liberate themselves from samsara but also to be able to help place all sentient beings in the state of perfect enlightenment, they must first follow a path that will lead to themselves attaining the fully enlightened state. Only when they have become a buddha themselves can they then help others to follow in their footsteps. It is the qualities of complete buddhahood that hold the key to how buddhas can help other beings and what distinguishes this state from attaining liberation for oneself alone.

The buddhas are endowed with two bodies (''kāya'') or aspects—the truth body (''dharmakāya''), and the form body (''rūpakāya''). The truth body has several elements, but the principal one is that of the omniscient mind, a mind that knows all phenomena, both relative and ultimate, directly and nonconceptually. This omniscient mind also knows all of the predispositions of every individual being and is therefore able to aid them in following the path in the most effective way. But just knowing the minds of beings alone is not enough. If the buddhas do not have a way to directly appear to other beings and communicate with them, then no matter how much wisdom they have they will never be able to share that wisdom. For this, the second body of the buddha, the form body, is extremely important. The form body represents the aspect of the buddhas that manifests to living beings, connecting and communicating with them in an infinite array of ways that show them how to follow the path to enlightenment.

These two bodies are vital components of the buddhas, without which they cannot guide beings. Each of the bodies of a buddha is created through the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. There is a direct causal relationship between them. It is primarily the accumulation of wisdom that is the cause for the truth body, and it is the accumulation of merit that primarily brings about the form body. This is why the practice of the two accumulations is considered to be so important.

===Definitions of the Two Accumulations===
In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', the contemporary master Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley explains the accumulations as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nature of the accumulations in general is anything that is either a virtue, a method, or wisdom that acts as means by which to accomplish the two bodies—the Dharma body (''dharmakāya'') and the form body (''rūpakāya'').<ref>Dunkar Lobzang Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo - White Conch Encyclopedia'' (Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, 2002), 1718.</ref>
}}
The accumulations are divided into two accumulations: the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. The accumulation of merit can be thought of as the progressive increase of virtuous karma, and the accumulation of wisdom can be thought of as the progressive deepening of spiritual understanding.

The ''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' defines the accumulation of merit as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Positive virtuous karma, such as offerings and generosity, which have a referent.<ref>''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' (''Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo'') (Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House, 1985), 3051.</ref>
}}
Here, having a referent means that the mind connected with these virtuous practices still has some clinging to the inherent nature of reality and therefore objectifies the different elements of that virtuous act. For instance, if a person engaged in an act of generosity had not eliminated the mental states that cling to the true existence of phenomena, they would perceive the giver (themselves), the recipient, and the gift as all having some solid and independent nature, making this generosity a virtuous act that has a referent.

In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', Dungkar Rinpoche expands the definition of the accumulation of merit by emphasizing its relationship to the attainment of a buddha's form body:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The accumulation of merit refers to virtuous practices such as making offerings and guarding our ethical discipline that primarily lead to the result of accomplishing the form body of a buddha.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The accumulation of merit does act as a cooperative condition for the accomplishment of the wisdom body of the buddhas, but it primarily acts as the substantial cause for the accomplishment of the form body of the buddhas.

In the same dictionary, Dungkar Rinpoche defines the accumulation of wisdom as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One of the two accumulations; and that which is the collection of exalted wisdom with no referent. It is an accumulation of uncontaminated virtue that brings about the attainment of the wisdom ''dharmakāya'' (''jñānadharmakāya''), that which is the result of the influence of (the wisdom realizing) emptiness and bodhicitta.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
Once a practitioner has developed the wisdom that is the direct realization that all phenomena lack an inherently established or independent nature, they will then reduce and eventually abandon all clinging to the self and phenomena. Without this strong clinging when they engage in virtuous acts, there will be no inherent referent for them. This wisdom is the substantial cause that leads to accomplishing the omniscient mind of the buddhas, the wisdom ''dharmakāya''.

===The Relationship between the Two Accumulations and the Six Perfections===
Relating the two accumulations to the practices of the six perfections, the first three perfections—generosity, ethical discipline, and patience—constitute the accumulation of merit. They are causes for achieving the buddha's form bodies: the emanation body (''nirmāṇakāya'') and the complete enjoyment body (''sambhogakāya''). This point is mentioned in Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The three practices of generosity and so on
the Sugata lauded mostly for the householder.
They also constitute what is known as the collection of merit,
and they are the cause of the buddha's form body. (3.12)<ref>See Thupten Jinpa, trans., ''Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way'', by Tsongkhapa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 145.</ref>
}}
The last two perfections, which include the practices of cultivating concentration and realizing the view of emptiness, are included within the accumulation of wisdom.

This is defined in the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'' as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The uncontaminated virtuous accumulation that primarily leads to attaining the wisdom truth body (''jñānadharmakāya'') and indirectly to the essential body of a buddha (''svabhāvakāya'').<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The perfection of diligence is different from the other perfections. The other perfections are the cause of either the accumulation of merit or the accumulation of wisdom. In contrast, the practice of diligence acts as the cause for both the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. This point is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'', a chapter that describes the fourth bodhisattva ground, The Radiant.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=All higher qualities follow after diligence;
it is the cause of merit and wisdom, the two collections. (4.1ab)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 148.</ref>
}}
===The Accumulations and the Bodies of the Buddha===
Dungkar Rinpoche's dictionary also describes the fundamental importance of the two accumulations in eventually attaining the resultant bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By gathering these two causal accumulations, one definitely achieves the two resultant bodies. Without completing these two accumulations, there is no means to attain Buddhahood with its two purities.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
In the third chapter of his text ''The Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī''), Nāgārjuna highlights the specific causal relationship between the two accumulations and their corresponding results, the attainment of the different bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In brief, King, the buddhas' form-bodies
arise from the collection of merit,
and their dharma-body is born
from the collection of wisdom. (3.12)<ref>John Dunne and Sarah McClintock, trans., ''The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King'', by Nāgārjuna (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1997), 43.</ref>
}}
Here, Nāgārjuna draws a direct causal relationship between two accumulations and their respective results: the accumulation of merit contributes to the eventual development of the buddha's form body, while the accumulation of wisdom results in the wisdom body (''dharmakāya'')—the omniscient mind that simultaneously knows all conventional and ultimate phenomena.

It must be noted here that while practitioners of the non-Mahāyāna Buddhist systems have presentations of merit and wisdom in their traditions of philosophy and practice, they do not accept that there is a resultant state of complete buddhahood, a state that is replete with these four bodies of a buddha. Instead, they focus only on the merit and wisdom that helps them to be liberated from the suffering of the samsaric condition.

In his text ''The Precious Garland'', Nāgārjuna conveys a whole range of advice to his friend King Gautamīputra. In particular, he encourages the king, and therefore indirectly encourages us, to devote ourselves to gathering together these two accumulations of merit and wisdom so that we may bring about the state of complete enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus, these two collections
cause the obtainment of buddhahood;
hence, in short, devote yourself
always to merit and wisdom. (3.13)<ref>Dunne and McClintock, ''Precious Garland'', 43.</ref>
}}
And to inspire us in this process, Candrakīrti writes poetically in his ''Entering the Middle Way'' of how important it is to gather these two accumulations in order to correctly follow the bodhisattva path that leads to the fully enlightened state. Without these two wings, we will never be able to fly far across the realm of birth and death, to the other shore, the citadel of perfect enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And like a king of swans soaring ahead of other accomplished swans,
with white wings of conventional and ultimate truths spread wide,
propelled by the powerful winds of virtue, the bodhisattva would
     cruise
to the excellent far shore, the oceanic qualities of the conquerors. (6.226)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 510.</ref>
}}
|imageSource=Calligraphy by Sambhota Works
|image=Two Accumuations Sambhota cropped.jpg
|media=<div class="row tsdwiki-border-redfade justify-content-center" style="margin-top: -1rem;">
<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
|id=oLC6xNb5_pM
|caption=The Ninth Gyalwa Dokhampa : <em>Accumulation of Merit & Wisdom (Six Pāramitās)</em>
}}</div>
<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
|id=m_Q7KbB8DuQ
|delay=74
|caption=Melanie Polatinsky : <em>The Vital Necessity of Accumulating Merit and Wisdom — Part 1 of 4</em>
}}</div>
<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
|id=c1zR4LCmRqk
|delay=221
|caption=Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal : <em>Use Relative Accumulation of Merit to Sizzle Your Goodness Qualities</em>
}}</div>
</div>
}}

Explore/The Two Accumulations

2026-04-18T22:45:27Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|theme=The Path of the Bodhisattva
|sub-theme=Two Accumulations
|TermTopics=Two Accumulations
|featured-books=Illuminating the Intent; The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King; The Words of My Perfect Teacher (1998); A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher; The Excellent Path of the Two Accumulations; Gone Beyond (Volume One); Gone Beyond (Volume Two); Cultivating the Two Accumulations; Two Accumulations: Merit and Wisdom
|featured-articles=The Accumulations of Merit and Wisdom; Understanding the Accumulation of Merit and Wisdom
|featured-texts=Madhyamakāvatāra; Rājaparikathāratnāvali; Abhisamayālaṃkāranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrakārikā
|jumbo-image=File:Two Accumuations Sambhota cropped.jpg
|jumbo-text=The two accumulations consist of merit and wisdom, which respectively cause the form body and truth body of a buddha. The three higher trainings provide a sequential foundation: ethical discipline creates stability, concentration develops focused awareness, and wisdom penetrates ultimate reality. Bodhisattvas engage in these practices because their compassionate motivation extends beyond personal liberation—they must first attain complete buddhahood themselves, gaining both the omniscient mind and ability to appear to beings, before they can effectively guide all sentient beings toward enlightenment.
|main-text==== Practicing the Bodhisattva Path ===

Having taken the bodhisattva vows, the Mahāyāna practitioner sets out on the journey along the path of the bodhisattva. The practices of the bodhisattva path can be explained by looking at them through many different lenses. For instance, they can be presented from the perspective of the two accumulations (''sambhāradvaya'', ཚོགས་གཉིས་)—that is, the accumulation of merit (''puṇyasambhāra'', བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་) and the accumulation of wisdom (''jñānasambhāra'', ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་). They can also be presented in the context of the three higher trainings (''adhiśikṣātraya'', ལྷག་པའི་བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་), in the context of the practices of the six perfections (''ṣaṭpāramitā'', ཕར་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་), or through the more extensive presentation of the ten perfections (''daśapāramitā'', ཕར་ཕྱིན་བཅུ་). Here, the practices of the bodhisattva path are primarily discussed in relation to the two accumulations, while a fuller discussion of the six perfections, ten perfections, and the three higher trainings is provided in separate articles.

<div class="row mb-5 justify-content-center">
{{MiniTile
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}}
</div>
=== The Two Accumulations ===

Engaging in practices connected to the two accumulations is a very important factor for the bodhisattva following the Mahāyāna path. Since their driving motivation is not merely to liberate themselves from samsara but also to be able to help place all sentient beings in the state of perfect enlightenment, they must first follow a path that will lead to themselves attaining the fully enlightened state. Only when they have become a buddha themselves can they then help others to follow in their footsteps. It is the qualities of complete buddhahood that hold the key to how buddhas can help other beings and what distinguishes this state from attaining liberation for oneself alone.

The buddhas are endowed with two bodies (''kāya'') or aspects—the truth body (''dharmakāya''), and the form body (''rūpakāya''). The truth body has several elements, but the principal one is that of the omniscient mind, a mind that knows all phenomena, both relative and ultimate, directly and nonconceptually. This omniscient mind also knows all of the predispositions of every individual being and is therefore able to aid them in following the path in the most effective way. But just knowing the minds of beings alone is not enough. If the buddhas do not have a way to directly appear to other beings and communicate with them, then no matter how much wisdom they have they will never be able to share that wisdom. For this, the second body of the buddha, the form body, is extremely important. The form body represents the aspect of the buddhas that manifests to living beings, connecting and communicating with them in an infinite array of ways that show them how to follow the path to enlightenment.

These two bodies are vital components of the buddhas, without which they cannot guide beings. Each of the bodies of a buddha is created through the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. There is a direct causal relationship between them. It is primarily the accumulation of wisdom that is the cause for the truth body, and it is the accumulation of merit that primarily brings about the form body. This is why the practice of the two accumulations is considered to be so important.

===Definitions of the Two Accumulations===
In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', the contemporary master Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley explains the accumulations as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nature of the accumulations in general is anything that is either a virtue, a method, or wisdom that acts as means by which to accomplish the two bodies—the Dharma body (''dharmakāya'') and the form body (''rūpakāya'').<ref>Dunkar Lobzang Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo - White Conch Encyclopedia'' (Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, 2002), 1718.</ref>
}}
The accumulations are divided into two accumulations: the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. The accumulation of merit can be thought of as the progressive increase of virtuous karma, and the accumulation of wisdom can be thought of as the progressive deepening of spiritual understanding.

The ''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' defines the accumulation of merit as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Positive virtuous karma, such as offerings and generosity, which have a referent.<ref>''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' (''Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo'') (Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House, 1985), 3051.</ref>
}}
Here, having a referent means that the mind connected with these virtuous practices still has some clinging to the inherent nature of reality and therefore objectifies the different elements of that virtuous act. For instance, if a person engaged in an act of generosity had not eliminated the mental states that cling to the true existence of phenomena, they would perceive the giver (themselves), the recipient, and the gift as all having some solid and independent nature, making this generosity a virtuous act that has a referent.

In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', Dungkar Rinpoche expands the definition of the accumulation of merit by emphasizing its relationship to the attainment of a buddha's form body:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The accumulation of merit refers to virtuous practices such as making offerings and guarding our ethical discipline that primarily lead to the result of accomplishing the form body of a buddha.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The accumulation of merit does act as a cooperative condition for the accomplishment of the wisdom body of the buddhas, but it primarily acts as the substantial cause for the accomplishment of the form body of the buddhas.

In the same dictionary, Dungkar Rinpoche defines the accumulation of wisdom as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One of the two accumulations; and that which is the collection of exalted wisdom with no referent. It is an accumulation of uncontaminated virtue that brings about the attainment of the wisdom ''dharmakāya'' (''jñānadharmakāya''), that which is the result of the influence of (the wisdom realizing) emptiness and bodhicitta.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
Once a practitioner has developed the wisdom that is the direct realization that all phenomena lack an inherently established or independent nature, they will then reduce and eventually abandon all clinging to the self and phenomena. Without this strong clinging when they engage in virtuous acts, there will be no inherent referent for them. This wisdom is the substantial cause that leads to accomplishing the omniscient mind of the buddhas, the wisdom ''dharmakāya''.

===The Relationship between the Two Accumulations and the Six Perfections===
Relating the two accumulations to the practices of the six perfections, the first three perfections—generosity, ethical discipline, and patience—constitute the accumulation of merit. They are causes for achieving the Buddha's form bodies: the emanation body (''nirmāṇakāya'') and the complete enjoyment body (''sambhogakāya''). This point is mentioned in Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The three practices of generosity and so on
the Sugata lauded mostly for the householder.
They also constitute what is known as the collection of merit,
and they are the cause of the buddha's form body. (3.12)<ref>See Thupten Jinpa, trans., ''Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way'', by Tsongkhapa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 145.</ref>
}}
The last two perfections, which include the practices of cultivating concentration and realizing the view of emptiness, are included within the accumulation of wisdom.

This is defined in the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'' as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The uncontaminated virtuous accumulation that primarily leads to attaining the wisdom truth body (''jñānadharmakāya'') and indirectly to the essential body of a buddha (''svabhāvakāya'').<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The perfection of diligence is different from the other perfections. The other perfections are the cause of either the accumulation of merit or the accumulation of wisdom. In contrast, the practice of diligence acts as the cause for both the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. This point is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'', a chapter that describes the fourth bodhisattva ground, The Radiant.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=All higher qualities follow after diligence;
it is the cause of merit and wisdom, the two collections. (4.1ab)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 148.</ref>
}}
===The Accumulations and the Bodies of the Buddha===
Dungkar Rinpoche's dictionary also describes the fundamental importance of the two accumulations in eventually attaining the resultant bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By gathering these two causal accumulations, one definitely achieves the two resultant bodies. Without completing these two accumulations, there is no means to attain Buddhahood with its two purities.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
In the third chapter of his text ''The Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī''), Nāgārjuna highlights the specific causal relationship between the two accumulations and their corresponding results, the attainment of the different bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In brief, King, the buddhas' form-bodies
arise from the collection of merit,
and their dharma-body is born
from the collection of wisdom. (3.12)<ref>John Dunne and Sarah McClintock, trans., ''The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King'', by Nāgārjuna (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1997), 43.</ref>
}}
Here, Nāgārjuna draws a direct causal relationship between two accumulations and their respective results: the accumulation of merit contributes to the eventual development of the buddha's form body, while the accumulation of wisdom results in the wisdom body (''dharmakāya'')—the omniscient mind that simultaneously knows all conventional and ultimate phenomena.

It must be noted here that while practitioners of the non-Mahāyāna Buddhist systems have presentations of merit and wisdom in their traditions of philosophy and practice, they do not accept that there is a resultant state of complete buddhahood, a state that is replete with these four bodies of the Buddha. Instead, they focus only on the merit and wisdom that helps them to be liberated from the suffering of the samsaric condition.

In his text ''The Precious Garland'', Nāgārjuna conveys a whole range of advice to his friend King Gautamīputra. In particular, he encourages the king, and therefore indirectly encourages us, to devote ourselves to gathering together these two accumulations of merit and wisdom so that we may bring about the state of complete enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus, these two collections
cause the obtainment of buddhahood;
hence, in short, devote yourself
always to merit and wisdom. (3.13)<ref>Dunne and McClintock, ''Precious Garland'', 43.</ref>
}}
And to inspire us in this process, Candrakīrti writes poetically in his ''Entering the Middle Way'' of how important it is to gather these two accumulations in order to correctly follow the bodhisattva path that leads to the fully enlightened state. Without these two wings, we will never be able to fly far across the realm of birth and death, to the other shore, the citadel of perfect enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And like a king of swans soaring ahead of other accomplished swans,
with white wings of conventional and ultimate truths spread wide,
propelled by the powerful winds of virtue, the bodhisattva would
     cruise
to the excellent far shore, the oceanic qualities of the conquerors. (6.226)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 510.</ref>
}}
|imageSource=Calligraphy by Sambhota Works
|image=Two Accumuations Sambhota cropped.jpg
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Key Terms/Dharmacakrapravartanādhyeṣaṇā

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Practice/Bodhicitta in Practice

2026-03-12T15:41:18Z

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{{#widget:ScrollFix|offset=100}}
{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Phuntsho, Karma
|sub-theme=Bodhicitta in Practice
|watermark=Practice
|TermTopics=Debate; Compassion
|main-text={{Jumbo
|full-width=yes
|image=File:TKP-Pawo-Print-6TKP10751.web .jpg
|imageposition=70% 50%
|text=Bodhicitta—the altruistic intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings—is essential in Mahāyāna Buddhist practice. It is regarded as the defining motivation that transforms any spiritual activity into a genuine Mahāyāna path. Without bodhicitta, progress toward buddhahood is considered impossible. Cultivating bodhicitta involves reflection, meditation, ethical conduct, and guidance from qualified teachers, and is formalized through the bodhisattva vow. Its continual practice is seen as the foundation and driving force for all Mahāyāna spiritual development.
}}
<h2>[[The Bodhicitta Prayer]]</h2>
<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་མཆོག་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">May the sublime and precious bodhicitta</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">མ་སྐྱེས་པ་རྣམས་སྐྱེས་གྱུར་ཅིག །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">Arise in those in whom it has not arisen.</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">སྐྱེས་པ་ཉམས་པ་མེད་པར་ཡང་། །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">Where it has arisen, may it never decline</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">གོང་ནས་གོང་དུ་འཕེལ་བར་ཤོག །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">But grow and flourish more and more.</div>

<h2>Introduction</h2>

The application of bodhicitta in practice is central to the Mahāyāna pursuit of full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. According to Mahāyāna masters, bodhicitta is a prerequisite for a practice or path to qualify as a Mahāyāna path leading to the state of a fully awakened buddha. Only when the practice is motivated or informed by bodhicitta (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་རྩིས་ཟིན་པ་'') can it be considered as a bona fide part of the Mahāyāna path. Thus, the masters strongly recommend the cultivation of the altruistic thought of bodhicitta before beginning any project or activity. This is because, in the Buddhist system, the moral value of an action is determined by the quality of intention or the state of the mind.

Buddhist masters teach that mind can be in any of the three states:
#A virtuous state with positive thoughts and emotions, such as thirst for knowledge, devotion, compassion, love, etc.
#A nonvirtuous state with negative thoughts and emotions, such as arrogance, hatred, jealousy, etc.
#A neutral state with neither positive nor negative states of mind.

Furthermore, the virtuous mind can be of three types:
#An inferior mind wishing happiness and well-being in this mundane world.
#A middling mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness, fulfillment, and freedom beyond the ordinary world.
#A superior mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness for all sentient beings.

This last superior mind is bodhicitta and the one recommended by the Mahāyāna masters before beginning any project or activity.

Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, a twentieth-century teacher of bodhicitta, thus writes in ''The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta'' (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་རིན་ཆེན་སྒྲོན་མ''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Should one launch something, launch with bodhicitta.
Should one think of something, think of bodhicitta.
Should one analyze something, analyze with bodhicitta.
Should one examine something, examine with bodhicitta. (v. 98)<ref>''brtsam na byang chub sems las brtsam''// ''bsam na byang chub sems nyid bsam''// ''dpyad na byang chub sems su dpyad''// ''brtag na byang chub sems la brtag''//. Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, ''Byang chub sems kyi bstod pa rin chen sgron ma'' (Dharamsala: Dga' ldan pho brang, 2018), 29, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW8LS66303.</ref>
}}
Patrul Rinpoche, a paragon of bodhicitta practice in nineteenth-century Tibet, also proclaimed in his ''Aspiration to Generate Bodhicitta'' (''བསྐལ་མང་གོང་ནས་སོགས་''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If present, this alone is sufficient for reaching buddhahood.
If this is absent, one is handicapped in reaching buddhahood.
May I generate this pure thought of awakening,
The unmistaken seed of buddhahood. (v. 6)<ref>''yod na sangs rgyas sgrub la des chog cing''/ /''med na sangs rgyas sgrub la thabs chags pa''/ /''sangs rgyas 'grub pa'i sa bon ma nor ba''/ /''rnam dag byang chub sems mchog bskyed par shog''. See Patrul Rinpoche, ''Bskal mang gong nas sogs'', in Gsung 'bum o rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003), 8: 356, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW24829_B101CB.</ref>
}}
In the beginning, a practitioner must cultivate the mind (''cittotpāda'') of awakening through a concerted effort by taking the bodhisattva vow repeatedly, engaging in the various contemplative techniques, receiving teachings on bodhicitta and bodhisattva practices, and utilizing other methods. Gradually, one would become accustomed to thinking of bodhicitta, which would also become stronger and constant. When bodhicitta naturally arises without effort, a person is said to have formally become a bodhisattva. Thus, Jigme Lingpa said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is more important to have the supreme mind naturally arise than to consciously cultivate it.<ref>Jigme Lingpa, ''Yon tan rin po che'i mdzod kyi rgya cher 'grel pa bden gnyis shing rta rgyu mtshan nyid kyi theg pa'i skor'', in Gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa (Gangtok, Sikkim: Sonam T. Kazi, 1970–75), 1: 246b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1KG10193_E90C9C.</ref>
}}
However, a beginner must make a contrived effort to generate bodhicitta, firstly by cultivating the aspiring bodhicitta and then by engaging in the practice of engaged bodhicitta. Śāntideva presents the distinction between the two in the following verses from his text ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''):
{{PullBcaVerses|1.15}}
{{PullBcaVerses|1.16}}
One must first have the thought to take all sentient beings to the state of the Buddha just as one must first have the thought to go to Bodh Gaya before one starts the journey. Having generated the strong motivation to take all sentient beings to buddhahood, one must then engage in the actual paths and practices which lead them to the goal. The bodhisattva road consists of a long and arduous practice of the six perfections: giving, discipline, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom. These six topics cover the entire range of practices a person must take up as a bodhisattva to reach buddhahood. They also include the practice of both relative bodhicitta, or the moral mental resolve to take all sentient beings to the state of full awakening, and ultimate bodhicitta, which is the deep understanding and experience of the ultimate nature of all things.

<h2>Generating Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Vow</h2>
A beginner on the Mahāyāna path cultivates the thought of awakening by repeatedly wishing to take all sentient beings as vast as space to the unsurpassed, complete, and perfect state of the Buddha. To formally confirm such desire and express it as a commitment, a beginner undertakes the confirmation of the thought of awakening through a ritual of oath-taking. The first step in the procedure of such a ritual, and in fact in the general Buddhist process of self-transformation, is the reflection on the wonderful physical and psychological conditions one possesses as an able human being.

<h3>Physical Support</h3>
The meditation or reflection on the rarity and preciousness of humanhood is the first topic of meditation in almost all Tibetan Buddhist traditions when one starts a practice or meditation program. One must reflect, from different perspectives, on how humanhood, with its unique freedoms and advantages, is hard to find, and how it is a precious opportunity to seek enlightenment. Human existence offers a powerful combination of rational thinking and emotional capacity, creating ideal conditions to pursue the end of suffering and attain ultimate happiness.

Buddhist texts present the following hypothetical analogy to illustrate this rarity. Suppose a blind turtle lives at the bottom of an ocean and comes to the surface only once every hundred years. Meanwhile, floating on the ocean's surface is a wooden yoke being constantly swayed by the waves. Human birth, it is argued, is rarer than the chance of this turtle, during its brief surface visit, happening to put its neck directly through this floating yoke. Using such examples and many other methods, one is made to see the preciousness of human birth.

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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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|caption=Khandro Rinpoche: <em>What Is a Precious Human Life?</em>
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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
|id=iQ_NiKurD1c
|caption=Thubten Chonyi: <em>The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind to the Dharma</em>
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Such a human state is not only rare and precious but very fragile. As such, one should meditate on the certainty of death and the uncertainty of when and how it will come. A student carries out meditation on the impermanence of life in order to cherish momentary existence and urgently make the best use of it. Meditation on the rarity of human existence and its impermanent nature is often followed by meditation on the law of cause and effect and the flaws of the cycle of existence, also known as samsara. If one does not take advantage of this fleeting human state to break the cycle of rebirth, one is bound to follow the law of cause and effect, and given the negative actions accumulated in innumerable lifetimes in the past, one is bound to remain trapped in this cycle of existence, which is filled with misery and pain. These four points of meditation, which often constitute the first set of topics for meditation in Tibetan Buddhism, are known as the four points of mind turning (''བློ་ལྡོག་རྣམ་པ་བཞི་''), as they turn one's mind away from the cycle of ordinary existence and are considered to be foundational practices on the spiritual path.

<h3>Mental Support</h3>
Along with holding dear the precious state of humanhood, one must also cherish and take advantage of the brief mental moments of positive thought and moral growth. Śāntideva writes in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
{{PullBcaVerses|1.5}}
In the chaos of samsara, with its endless mundane preoccupations and unrelenting ignorance, it is rare to have clear virtuous thoughts. If they happen to occur briefly through the blessings of the Buddha, they fade away as quickly as they appear. Thus, it is important to grasp the opportunities when they appear.

Among the various kinds of virtuous thoughts, righteous ''faith'' is fundamental for generating the thought of awakening. It is important to have faith and trust in the Buddha, his teachings, and those following his teachings with proper understanding. Above all, it is important to develop faith and trust in the state of enlightenment, or buddhahood, in the noble qualities and characteristics buddhahood comes with, and in the compassionate engagements of the bodhisattvas. It is mainly through such faith and the knowledge gained through study, reflection, and teachings that one would seriously take up the project of generating the thought of awakening. Thus, the Buddha advises in ''The Dhāraṇī Spell of the Jewel Torch'' (''Ratnolkādhāraṇī''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Having faith in the Buddha and the qualities of the Buddha,
In the conducts of the heirs of the Buddha,
And in the unsurpassed state of enlightenment,
The superior beings generate the thought of enlightenment.

Faith is a prerequisite, like a mother who nurtures.
It protects and enhances good qualities.<ref>''Ratnolkādhāraṇī'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa dkon mchog ta la la'i gzungs zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D145, mdo sde, vol. 57, pa, fol. 63b, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0145.</ref>
}}
Citing such verses, a teacher often elaborates on the benefits of having faith and its crucial role in spiritual transformation with the aim of helping a student generate faith in the teacher, teachings, paths, and results. There is a popular Tibetan saying that goes: "For the hook of the Buddha's compassion to catch hold, sentient beings need the ring of faith." Another popular Buddhist statement found in ''The Sūtra of Ten Dharmas'' (''Daśadharmakasūtra'') says, "A person without faith cannot give rise to positive things just as a burnt seed won't produce a green sprout."<ref>''dad pa med pa'i mi la ni''/ /''dkar po'i chos rnams mi skye ste''/ /''me yis sa bon tshig rnams la''/ /''myu gu sngon po ji bzhin no''//. See ''Daśadharmakasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos bcu pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D53, dkon brtsegs, vol. 40, kha, fol. 166a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0053. See also ''Mañjuśrī Root Tantra'' (''Āryamañjuśrīmūlatantra'', ''<i>'</i>Phags pa 'jam dpal gyi rtsa ba'i rgyud'', in Derge Kangyur D543, rgyud, vol. 88, na, fol. 159b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ5369_0543.</ref>

A more specific faith required in this case is the faith and trust in the value and merits of the thought of awakening so that one would seek it earnestly. For this reason, many sūtras and masters like Śāntideva extol the power of bodhicitta as a source of incredible merit and benefit. It is recommended that a student repeatedly reflect on the merits of bodhicitta and generate great interest in and high regard for the thought of awakening, resulting in a strong enthusiasm to cultivate it.

<div class="row tsdwiki-border-tb-redfade py-4 my-4 justify-content-center">
<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
|id=VHThg29QpSs
|caption=Venerable Thubten Chodron: <em>On Faith</em>
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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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|caption=Geshe Kelsang Wangmo: <em>Buddhism Says Don't Have Faith? The Radical Teaching That Changes Everything</em>
}}</div>
</div>

Another fundamental emotion one must cherish and cultivate as a condition for the thought of awakening is ''compassion'', an intense wish to free all sentient beings from suffering and the causes of suffering. Compassion is considered to be the root of the thought of awakening, which is defined as having the two components of compassion and wisdom. Compassion feels the suffering of sentient beings, and wisdom understands the perfect state of the Buddha as the ultimate freedom from suffering. Students are instructed to cultivate compassion, and teachers use different methods, including storytelling, as a way to engender compassion and convince students of its spiritual efficacy and power.<ref>(Read about the power of compassion through Asaṅga's story).</ref> Motivated by the intense compassion to deliver sentient beings from suffering and the deep faith in buddhahood as the ultimate state of deliverance, one must have an earnest wish to seek the state of the Buddha.

<h3>Preceptorial Support</h3>
Just as a person on a long and arduous journey to an unknown place needs a good guide, it is vital to have a knowledgeable and experienced teacher to guide the student on the spiritual path to enlightenment. Such a spiritual master is often called a ''kalyāṇamitra'', or virtuous friend. In ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' (''Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra''), the Buddha compares such a master to a mother who gives birth, a father who attends to the child's welfare, a nanny who constantly looks after the child, a guide who shows the path, a doctor who heals, a guard who protects, etc.<ref>''rigs kyi bu khyod kyis bdag la ni nad par 'du shes bskyed do''/ /''dge ba'i bshes gnyen la ni sman pa'i 'du shes dang''/ ''gdams ngag la ni sman gyi 'du shes dang''/ ''nan tan nyams su blang ba la ni nad 'tsho ba'i 'du shes bskyed par bya'o''/. ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' makes up the lengthy final chapter of ''The Sūtra of the Ornament of the Buddhas'' (''Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipūlyasūtra''). For this passage, see ''Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtrāt gaṇḍavyūhasūtraḥ paṭalaḥ'' (''Shin tu rgyas pa chen po'i mdo sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las sdong pos brgyan pa'i le'u ste bzhi bcu rtsa''), in Derge Kangyur D44, phal chen, vol. 38, nga, fol. 286b–287a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/WA0RK0044-45.</ref>

Many Buddhist writings discuss the qualities and character of a spiritual teacher, how to find and follow such a teacher, and the numerous benefits of following the teacher. In ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', Śāntideva describes the teacher for someone on the Mahāyāna path as having two qualities.
{{PullBcaVerses|5.102}}
A teacher must be very learned in the Mahāyāna system and also practice the path with integrity. Maitreya describes the Mahāyāna teacher as having nine qualities in ''The Ornament of Mahāyāna Sūtra'' (''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Follow a teacher who is disciplined, gentle and fully at peace,
Who has superior qualities, diligence, and knowledge of scriptures,
Who has realized the truth, and is skilled in speech,
And one who is an epitome of love, and indefatigable.<ref>Maitreya, ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā'' (''Theg pa chen po mdo sde'i rgyan zhes bya ba'i tshig le'ur byas pa''), in Derge Tengyur D4020, sems tsam, vol. 123, phi, fol. 25b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_4020.</ref>
}}

As one begins the process of a bodhicitta practice, it is important to have a teacher for the ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow. In ''The Compendium of Training'' (''Śikṣāsamuccaya''), Śāntideva highly recommends having a teacher bestow the bodhisattva vow in person, as such a presence would strengthen the process of taking the vow and also subsequently help one to observe the precepts carefully. If one cannot find or access a teacher who can administer the vows, one can either take the vow in the presence of holy shrines and objects or by visualizing the buddhas and bodhisattvas before oneself. However, this is more difficult for a beginner, particularly when carrying out the ritual according to the Vast Conduct tradition, in which the process of granting the vow for the engaged bodhicitta is mainly composed of reading out the lines for oath-taking by a preceptor or officiant. Thus, having a teacher is important for the process of taking the bodhisattva vow, but the role of the teacher extends beyond the initial ritual of taking the vow and spans the entire journey to perfect enlightenment.

As one greatly benefits from the presence and guidance of a teacher, one can have many teachers, as did Sudhana, the son of a merchant whose story is told in ''The Stem Array Sūtra''. Instructed by Mañjuśrī, Sudhana travels from place to place seeking 110 teachers before he arrives in the presence of Maitreya. Like the case of Sudhana, the teachers guide the student on the spiritual path throughout the entire journey, and the student must follow the teacher with great devotion and trust. In ''The Stem Array Sūtra'', the young man Śrīsambhava and the girl Śrīmati give Sudhana a long discourse on the benefits of following a teacher and the manner in which one must follow a teacher. They advise Sudhana to see himself as a sick person, the teacher as a doctor, the teachings as medicine, and the adoption of the teachings into practice as the treatment leading to the cure.<ref>''Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtrāt gaṇḍavyūhasūtraḥ paṭalaḥ'' (''Shin tu rgyas pa chen po'i mdo sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las sdong pos brgyan pa'i le'u ste bzhi bcu rtsa''), in Derge Kangyur, D44, phal chen, vol. 38, a, fol. 287a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/WA0RK0044-45.</ref> This is one of the most powerful similes to illustrate one's relationship with a teacher.

<h3>The Procedure for Taking the Vow</h3>
There are two different Mahāyāna traditions for the ritual of administering and taking the bodhisattva vow. One is the ritual adopted in the Profound View tradition (ཟབ་མོ་ལྟ་བརྒྱུད་, pronounced "Zabmo Tagyu") coming down from Nāgārjuna and his followers, and the other is the ritual passed down in the Vast Conduct (རྒྱ་ཆེན་སྤྱོད་བརྒྱུད་, pronounced "Gyachen Chogyu" or "Gyachen Chopegyu") tradition from Maitreya, Asaṅga, and their followers. While the two traditions share the overall framework of the oath-taking ritual, the liturgies and fine points of procedures vary between them. Today, verses from the second and third chapter of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' are used commonly as the standard liturgy for the bodhisattva vow ritual in the Profound View tradition. This procedure is based on what was practiced in the old Kadam tradition and later promoted by Patrul Rinpoche.

The Vast Conduct tradition uses a different set of recitations in prose to take the vow of aspiring bodhicitta and a set of questions and answers for the engaged bodhicitta vow as passed down from Atiśa. Kongtrul Lodoe Taye presents detailed liturgies and explanations for both traditions in the third volume of his ''Treasury of Precious Instructions'' (''གདམས་ངག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད་'').<ref>(Provide links to Kongtruls's texts here and Engle and Jinpa's translation).</ref>

{{Standout|'''An example of a text for taking the vow can be found here:'''
:[[Articles/The_Ritual_for_the_Bodhisattva_Vow_Arranged_according_to_the_Tradition_of_Patrul_Rinpoche_(Chatral_Rinpoche_2008)|༄༅། །བྱང་སྡོམ་བླང་ཆོག་དཔལ་སྤྲུལ་གསུང་རྒྱུན་ལྟར་བཀོད་པ་བཞུགས་སོ། །]]
:[[Articles/The_Ritual_for_the_Bodhisattva_Vow_Arranged_according_to_the_Tradition_of_Patrul_Rinpoche_(Chatral_Rinpoche_2008)|The Ritual for the Bodhisattva Vow]]
:Arranged According to the Tradition of Patrul Rinpoche
:by Chatral Rinpoche}}

<h4>The Seven-Limb Prayer</h4>
The actual act of taking the bodhisattva vow is normally preceded by the seven-limb practice, which includes prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting to teach, requesting to live long, and dedication of merits. This standard ritual of worship is said to help the candidate gain the required karmic merit and overcome obstacles so as to become a ready recipient of the bodhisattva vow. The verses from ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions"'' (''Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarāja'') are widely used as a chant for carrying out the seven-limb prayer.

In order to conduct the bodhisattva vow ritual, one should first set up a physical shrine with a clean and beautiful array of offering materials, such as water, flowers, incense, food, etc., and bless them with mantras for offerings. One may also visualize such a shrine and the range of offerings. The buddhas, bodhisattvas, and all enlightened and righteous spiritual beings are then invited to the sacred space to bestow the bodhisattva vow.

<h5>1. Prostration</h5>
The practice of prostration is carried out mentally with or without physical prostration and is often accompanied by chanting verses. A practitioner normally does a simple prostration of devotion to the buddhas and bodhisattvas by bowing down and touching the ground with one's forehead, palms, and knees. One imagines that one's negativities of the body, speech, and mind, and the five poisons of ignorance, attachment, aversion, jealousy, and pride are cleansed as one bows down, and the blessings of the enlightened body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities of the Buddha are received when one stands up.

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In a more advanced practice of prostration, one can mentally multiply one's body into countless numbers and make prostrations to buddhas in all directions. The highest form of prostration is said to be the practice of making prostration with no fixed concept or notion of the subject making the prostration, the object to whom the prostration is made, and the actual action of prostration. Everything is seen as an illusory flux with no self-existence, like a dream.

<h5>2. Offering</h5>
Prostration is followed by the practice of offerings. One can set up an array of offerings of actual things one possesses, including food, drinks, flowers, incense, etc. One can also make offerings of beautiful lands, waterfalls, streams, birds, flowers, jewels, riches, and other pleasant things which exist in the world but are not personally owned. In addition, one can make offerings of wonderful things through visualization, such as offerings of celestial showers or feasts to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The magnificent offerings, real or imaginary, can be further multiplied to fill the universe in all directions.

A common all-inclusive offering is the offering of the ''maṇḍala'', or the universe with all the riches and pleasant objects in it. A practitioner visualizes the entire universe by making a hand gesture of it or by holding a replica of the world as presented in the ancient Indian cosmology. There are short and long versions of liturgies for making the maṇḍala offering.

Śāntideva also provides verses to make the offering of one's body, possessions, and virtues. He mentions these three sets of one's possessions or belongings in both his works, ''The Compendium of Training'' and ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''. Śāntideva emphatically encourages the aspiring bodhisattva to give away these possessions—which are the main objects of attachment and the main cause of self-centricity and its corollary problems—for the sake of all sentient beings. The offering of one's body, enjoyments, and virtues comprise the giving away of the most cherished physical and psychological properties.

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<h5>3. Confession</h5>
Offering, which helps one accrue karmic merit, is followed by the practice of confession, which removes the karmic impurities that can obstruct the cultivation of the thought of awakening. Using various texts such as ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps'' (''Triskandhakasūtra''), ''General Confessions'' (''སྤྱི་བཤགས་''), and verses from chapter 2 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', one must confess and make amends for one's bodily, verbal, and mental wrongdoings, which include committing sinful actions or violating a precept one has promised to observe.

The confession must possess the four characteristics known as the ''four powers'' to become effective: intense remorse, sincere restoration, remedial action, and reliable support.

<h5>4. Rejoicing</h5>
The fourth limb of the practice is to rejoice in the good works of both oneself and others. From the enlightened activities of the buddhas of the three times and the virtuous activities of all saints to the wholesome deeds of all beings, one must feel proud of them and truly rejoice in them. Rejoicing in good works is considered to be an easy way to gain merit.

<h5>5. Requesting to Teach</h5>
It is the light of Dharma that is required to clear ignorance, the root cause of suffering. Yet, the teachers are reluctant to teach without earnest interest from the students, as the truth is profound and sentient beings are generally preoccupied with vanity. Thus, in the manner of Brahmā and Indra requesting the Buddha to stop his silence after his enlightenment and teach, a student must request the buddhas and teachers to teach or turn the wheel of Dharma.

<h5>6. Requesting to Live Long</h5>
The Buddha is said to have extended his life after receiving the request to live longer. As the existence in samsara is marred with pain and suffering, the enlightened beings who have attained the power to transcend the ordinary cycle of rebirth are said to often choose to exit from worldly existence and enter nirvana. Thus, the buddhas and masters are requested to not enter the state of nirvana but to remain in the world for the benefit of sentient beings.

<h5>7. Dedication</h5>
Finally, one takes the merit accumulated from the six above-mentioned practices and all the other merit one has accumulated and dedicates that to the welfare of sentient beings. This is done with the following prayer: "May these virtuous actions help sentient beings reach the complete and perfect state of the Buddha."
The seven-limb prayer is often carried out by chanting the verses from ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions,"''<ref>See Rigpa Translations, trans., ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions"'' (''Zangchö Mönlam'') (Lotsawa House 1996), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/words-of-the-buddha/samantabhadra-aspiration-good-actions.</ref> which are taken from ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' from the Buddhāvataṃsaka collection. The verses from chapter 2 and 3 of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' are also used as a liturgy for conducting the seven-limb prayer.

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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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<h4>Mind Training</h4>
Having accumulated the required resources of merit and having removed the obstacles through the seven-limb prayer, one then prepares the state of one's mind. Just as a field is tilled to prepare it for planting, one makes one's mind conducive and pliable for the cultivation of bodhicitta.

There is a wide range of practices for mind training before and after taking the bodhisattva vow. Here, Patrul Rinpoche adopts the earnest arousal of the ''four immeasurable thoughts'' to prepare the mindset. They are loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, which are cultivated through the following wishes respectively.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May all sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all sentient beings be never separated from sacred joy.
May all sentient beings be free from attachment, aversion, partiality and abide in great equanimity.
}}
Following the cultivation of these four immeasurable thoughts, one must also cultivate the strong resolve to forsake everything for the sake of all sentient beings. One can chant the following verse and verses 12–22 of chapter 3 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
{{PullBcaVerses|3.11}}

<h4>The Actual Taking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h4>
There are two sets of liturgies for the actual taking of the bodhisattva vow passed down from the two main Mahāyāna traditions. Today, the Profound View tradition mainly uses the verses from chapter 2 and 3 of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', while the Vast Conduct tradition uses lines from Atiśa's ''Ritual Procedures for the Generation of the Mind and Vows'' (''Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama'').<ref>See Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, ''Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama'' (''Sems bskyed pa dang sdom pa'i cho ga'i rim pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3969, dbu ma, vol.112, gi, fols. 245a2–248b2, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3969. For an English translation of the text (with Wylie), see Richard Sherburne, trans., ''The Complete Works of Atīśa, Śrī Dīpaṁkara Jñāna, jo-bo-rje: The Lamp for the Path and Commentary, Together with the Newly Translated Twenty-five Key Texts'' (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2003), 536–51.</ref>

Although in some practices the ritual of taking refuge is added to the seven-limb prayer, making it an eight-limb prayer, as we find in the case of Śāntideva's and Atiśa's texts, most traditions have the verse for taking refuge chanted just before taking the bodhisattva vow. In this way, one takes the vow of refuge as well as the bodhisattva vow in one session.

In the Profound View tradition, the vows for both aspiring and engaged bodhicitta are taken in one session, while in the Vast Conduct tradition the two types of bodhisattva vows are taken separately. In the former tradition, the presence of a physical teacher is not essential, although that is preferred and highly recommended. In the latter tradition, as the second vow of engaged bodhicitta is taken mainly through a Q&A, there is a need for an officiant in person. The former also does not require a human birth as a precondition, and nonhuman beings such as gods and nāgas can get the bodhisattva vow. However, the Vast Conduct tradition argues that the bodhisattva vow must be based on general Buddhist ''prātimokṣa'' vows, which only a human can take.

<h5>Liturgy in the Profound View Tradition</h5>
In order to take the vows, one must first ask the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the great teachers to pay attention to the request, stating,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=All buddhas, transcendent and accomplished conquerors, residing in the ten directions, bodhisattva great beings abiding on the ten levels (''bhūmi''s), and great guru vajra-holders, please consider me.<ref>''phyogs bcu na bzhugs pa'i sangs rgyas bcom ldan 'das thams cad dang''/ ''sa bcu la gnas pa'i byang chub sems dpa' sems dpa' chen po rnams dang''/ ''bla ma rdo rje 'dzin pa chen po rnams bdag la dgongs su gsol''/. For the Tibetan text, see Chatral Rinpoche, ''Byang sdoms blang chog dpal sprul gsung rgyun ltar bkod'', in Gsung 'bum, Bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje (Taiwan: Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 2017), 2: 215, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ354420. See also, Rigpa Translations, trans., "The Ritual for the Bodhisattva Vow: Arranged According to the Tradition of Patrul Rinpoche," by Chatral Rinpoche (Lotsawa House, 2008), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/chatral-rinpoche/bodhisattva-vow-patrul-tradition.</ref>
}}
With an exceptional motivation to save all sentient beings from suffering, one takes refuge in the exceptional objects, including the buddhas, their teachings, and the sangha community of enlightened bodhisattvas, for an exceptional duration—that is, until one reaches enlightenment. With such an attitude, one chants the following verse from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three times:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.26}}
This is followed by the verses to take the two types of bodhisattva vows: the vow of aspiring bodhicitta and that of engaged bodhicitta. The vow of aspiring bodhicitta is the pledge to attain the resultant buddhahood, while the vow of engaged bodhicitta is said to be the pledge to engage in the path leading to buddhahood. In the tradition coming down from Asaṅga, the vows for aspiring bodhicitta and engaged bodhicitta are taken separately and have different prerequisites. However, in Śāntideva's tradition presented here, vows for both are taken simultaneously. The following verses from chapter 3 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' are chanted three times, and one obtains vows for both aspiring and engaged bodhicitta at the end of the third recitation. At the end of the third recitation, one must mentally think one has received the vow.
{{PullBcaVerses|3.23}}
{{PullBcaVerses|3.24}}

<h5>Liturgy in the Vast Conduct Tradition</h5>
The Vast Conduct tradition has a different procedure and different liturgies for administering the aspiring and engaged bodhicitta vows separately. Below are the core parts of the liturgies which the officiant must read out three times and have the recipient of the vow repeat or respond to.

<h5>Core Liturgy for the Aspiring Bodhicitta</h5>
The officiant chants the following lines three times and has the recipient of the vow repeat after him or her.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By means of whatever roots of virtue having the nature of generosity, morality, or meditation that I, who am named so-and-so, have performed in any of my various past lives, that I induced others to perform, or that I have rejoiced at when they were performed by others, just as the former tathāgatas, arhats, and true and complete buddhas, as well as the bodhisattvas who are great beings that reside on the great ārya bodhisattva stages, generated the mind that aspires to attain unsurpassed true and complete enlightenment, I, too, who am named so-and-so, from this moment on until I reach the seat of enlightenment, generate the mind that aspires to attain unsurpassed true and complete great enlightenment.

I shall deliver those who have not been delivered;
I shall liberate those who have not been liberated;
I shall provide relief to those who are without relief;
and I shall establish all beings who have not attained complete
nirvana in that state of complete nirvana.<ref>Artemus Engle, trans., ''Kadam: Stages of the Path, Mind Training, and Esoteric Practice, Part 1'', vol. 3 of The Treasury of Precious Instructions: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet, comp. Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2024), 462.</ref>
}}

<h5>Core Liturgy for the Engaged Bodhicitta</h5>
The liturgy for taking the engaged bodhicitta vow in the Vast Conduct tradition contains many questions and answers in order to prepare and confirm the conviction of the practitioner before taking the actual vow. The following lines are only the core and final part of the recitation which the officiant must say three times and the recipient of the vow must respond to affirmatively.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Then, the spiritual teacher should ask:

O son or daughter of good family who is named so-and-so, do you accept from me, a spiritual teacher and bodhisattva who is named so-and-so, all of the bodhisattva precepts and all of the bodhisattva morality—namely, the morality of restraint, the morality of acquiring virtuous qualities, and the morality of acting on behalf of sentient beings—those precepts and that morality that have been observed by all the bodhisattvas of the past, those precepts and that morality that shall be observed by all the bodhisattvas of the future, and those precepts and that morality that currently are being observed by all the bodhisattvas of the present throughout the ten directions, those precepts and that morality with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the past have trained themselves, with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the future shall train themselves, and with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the present are training themselves?

The disciples should receive the vow by answering:

I do accept all of them.<ref>Engle, ''Kadam'', 483.</ref>
}}

<h4>Concluding Procedures</h4>

<h5>Rejoicing Oneself</h5>
Having received the bodhisattva vows, one rejoices in the achievement, reflecting on how one has made human birth meaningful and how one has been reborn in the family of buddhas. One thinks, it is astounding if a blind man scavenging in a heap of rubbish finds the most precious jewel; It is equally astounding for an ordinary person blind with ignorance to find the thought of awakening, which is the jewel of the mind, in the midst of one's afflictive emotions and thoughts.

<h5>Asking Others to Rejoice</h5>
One then chants the verse, asking all other beings to also rejoice in this achievement. With the buddhas as witnesses, one invites all beings as guests to the great offering of the ultimate state of the Buddha and all other kinds of happiness in the interim. The ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow is concluded with prayers for bodhicitta to grow and flourish and for the fulfillment of one's bodhisattva aspiration and project. (link to the verse).

<h5>Making Offerings in Gratitude</h5>
The ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow, especially if it is done for the first time in the presence of a master, would also include the offering of gifts as a token of gratitude. Such an act of offering is undertaken at the end of almost all important sessions of receiving teachings or vows and may involve cash or other gift items. The ceremony of taking the vow will normally end with verses for the dedication of merit like any other Mahāyāna session.

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<h2>Protecting Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Precepts</h2>

<h3>The Discipline of Abstaining from Misdeeds</h3>
The practice of bodhisattva moral discipline after taking the bodhisattva vow is often presented in three categories.
# The discipline of abstaining from misdeeds
# The discipline of gathering virtue
# The discipline of working for the welfare of sentient beings

The discipline of abstaining from misdeeds includes the moral precepts a bodhisattva must follow and the major and minor transgressions, known as downfalls in the Buddhist vocabulary. These are listed below. The second and third discipline concern things a bodhisattva should do and will be covered in subsequent sections.

<h4>Precepts for Aspiring Bodhicitta</h4>
One must avoid the four dark dharmas and follow the four white dharmas taught in ''The Jewel Heap Sūtra'' (''Ratnakūṭasūtra'').

Don'ts
#Cheat the venerable ones, including teachers
#Make someone with no regret regret a good deed
#Defame a noble being such as a bodhisattva
#Deceive sentient beings

Dos
#Tell no lies knowingly
#Treat sentient beings with benevolence
#Respect and praise a bodhisattva
#Place beings on the path to perfect buddhahood

<h4>Precepts for Engaged Bodhicitta in the Profound View Tradition: Eighteen Root Downfalls</h4>
One must avoid the eighteen root downfalls (transgressions or misdeeds) according to ''The Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha'' (''Ākāśagarbhasūtra''), which Śāntideva cites in ''The Compendium of Training'' and refers to in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''.

<h5>Five Downfalls a King Is Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Take away property from the Three Jewels and stūpas
# Discard the holy Dharma of any vehicle
# Persecute someone in monastic robes, whether a monk or a transgressor
# Commit one of the five actions of immeasurable consequences
# Take up wrong views and nonvirtuous practices and make others do so

<h5>Five Downfalls a Minister Is Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Destroy a village
# Destroy a region
# Destroy a town
# Destroy a city
# Destroy a country

<h5>Eight Downfalls Common People Are Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Teach emptiness to someone who is not ready and make the person turn away from Mahāyāna
# Dissuade someone from the Mahāyāna path so that the person seeks individual liberation
# Dissuade someone from monastic and vinaya discipline saying it is better to train on the Mahāyāna path
# Deny that the path of disciples leads to the end of desire, etc. and convince someone
# Praise oneself and disparage others out of jealousy
# Sell oneself with lies of seeing the truth for the sake of wealth and veneration
# Get a monk punished and accept bribes regarding such an act
# Obstruct meditation by diverting provisions for practitioners to those doing recitation

<h4>Precepts for Engaged Bodhicitta in the Vast Conduct Tradition: Four Root Downfalls</h4>

Asaṅga summarizes the root downfalls taught in different sūtras into four in his ''Stages of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhisattvabhūmi'').
#Praise oneself and criticize others out of attachment for wealth and veneration
#Not give wealth or Dharma to others out of stinginess
#Not accept an apology and hurt others out of anger
#Abandon Mahāyāna and teach fake dharma as true Dharma

<h4>Precepts for Both Aspiring and Engaged Bodhicitta</h4>
#Not forsake any sentient being or give up on helping someone and seek individual liberation
#Not engage in altruistic work or help, even if one is in a position to help

<h4>Minor Downfalls</h4>
Minor downfalls include various physical, verbal, and mental actions one must avoid as taught in chapter 5 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', ''The Compendium of Training'', and many sūtras. They include bodily comportments, such as unbecoming behavior, nonvirtuous forms of speech, such as idle gossip and harsh words, and negative thoughts and emotions. Commentators on ''The Compendium of Training'' enumerate eighty minor downfalls, while Candragomin's ''Vows in Twenty Verses'' (''Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka'') mentions forty-six minor downfalls. The following passage from ''The Compendium of Training'' summarizes the complex moral system and downfalls of bodhisattva practice.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In order to pacify the suffering and mental pain of all sentient beings in the present and in the future, and to generate happiness and mental pleasure of all sentient beings in the present and in the future, if a bodhisattva does not diligently engage body, speech, and mind without wavering, does not seek the conditions for them, does not work on remedying what obstructs them, does not take up the small suffering and mental pain which can overcome great suffering and mental pain, does not forsake small things for achieving greater things, and neglects doing so even for a moment, he/she commits a downfall. There is no downfall for not taking up what is beyond one's capacity, as there is no rule made for that in reality. In other cases [i.e., where one is capable], it is either a misdeed by nature or by restriction.<ref>Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3940, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fols. 11a6-11b2, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3940.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva points out that some actions may appear like a downfall, called images of downfalls, but they are not downfalls. Such actions might include telling a white lie to save a life. These actions are permitted. But some actions may appear to be without a downfall, called images of non-downfalls, while being a downfall in reality. Such actions would include those which externally appear virtuous but are done with selfish intentions or actions that involve trying to do things which are beyond one's capacity.

<h4>Making Amends</h4>
Transgressing a bodhisattva vow is considered a serious offense, as such a person loses his or her moral integrity, fails to keep one's status, displeases the buddhas, lets down sentient beings whom one has promised to save, and could be reborn in unhappy realms. Thus, one must make amends through confession within six hours, or one-sixth of a day. Applying the four powers for confession mentioned earlier, a bodhisattva who has committed a downfall must make confessions and amendments. Śāntideva recommends that a bodhisattva who has committed a downfall must confess by chanting ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps'' three times during day and three times during the night.<ref>See ''Triskhandhakasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa phung po gsum pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo'') D284, mdo sde, vol. 68, ya, 57a3–77a3, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ5369_0284. For an English translation, see Stefan Mang and Peter Woods (Samye Translations), trans., "The Bodhisattva's Confession of Downfalls" (Lotsawa House, 2020), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/words-of-the-buddha/confession-of-downfalls-nyingma.</ref>

Śāntideva also cites ''The Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha'' and advises that a bodhisattva who has committed downfalls can confess to Ākāśagarbha, who will appear in a dream in some form to help one make amends by giving instructions. The bodhisattva must make the following supplication to Ākāśagarbha before twilight and sleep again:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Dawn! Dawn! O Compassionate and Fortunate One! As soon as you shine on the world, cover me with compassion. I also entreat Ākāśagarbha, the compassionate one, to show me the means by which I can confess the downfalls and the means by which I can attain the wisdom and skillful means of the sublime Mahāyāna.<ref>Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3940, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fol. 42a6-42b1, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3940. For the passage in the ''Ākāśagarbhasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa nam mkha'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), see Derge Kangyur D260, mdo sde, vol. 66, za, fol. 275.b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0260.</ref>
}}

<h3>The Discipline of Gathering Virtue</h3>
The discipline of gathering virtue refers to the bodhisattva practice of the six perfections, including giving, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. How a practitioner takes up the practice of these six perfections will be explained below under the practice of engaged bodhicitta. It may be noted here, however, that through the six perfections, a bodhisattva gathers what is known as the ''two accumulations'': the accumulation of merit (''puṇyasambhāra'', ''བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་'') and the accumulation of pristine wisdom (''jñānasambhāra'', ''ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་''). The practice of the first five perfections falls under the first accumulation, and the sixth perfection comprises the second accumulation. A bodhisattva must complete these two accumulations or the six perfections (''ཕར་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་རྫོགས་'') in order to reach full buddhahood. In addition, a bodhisattva must also help mature or prepare the minds of his or her future disciples (''གདུལ་བྱའི་རྒྱུད་སྨིན་'') and cultivate the kind of realm or world he or she will attain (''ཞིང་སྦྱོང་བ་''). The latter two are undertaken through the various prayers a bodhisattva should make.

<h3>The Discipline of Benefitting Sentient Beings</h3>
The discipline of benefiting sentient beings is normally presented through the four means of attraction. While the discipline of abstaining from misdeeds and the discipline of gathering virtue helps a practitioner in self-development, the discipline of benefiting sentient beings helps the practitioner engage in altruistic activities for others. The four means of attraction are a skillful strategy with which a bodhisattva can benefit the world.

<h4>Gift Giving</h4>
A practitioner of the bodhisattva path should first give material gifts or Dharma teachings to attract potential beneficiaries. Most sentient beings appreciate gifts, and this helps attract their attention.

<h4>Sweet Words</h4>
Having attracted sentient beings through giving, the bodhisattva speaks to the audience with soft and persuasive speech to make them enter the right path. Thus, material gifts are followed by sweet talk.

<h4>Purposeful Practice</h4>
With knowledge of the wide spectrum of paths to enlightenment, the bodhisattva then teaches a path which is suitable and most effective to the audience. It is important to impart teachings which are appropriate to the capacity, disposition, and interest of the audience.

<h4>Consistent Engagement</h4>
While teaching the appropriate path to the audience, it is important for the bodhisattva to also lead by example. Thus, a practitioner of bodhisattva discipline must walk the talk and engage in the appropriate practice himself or herself.

<h3>The Four Bodhisattva Actions</h3>
Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training'', which is an anthology of passages from the Mahāyāna sūtras on the training and practice of bodhisattvas, summarizes the training of bodhisattvas under the four actions of giving, protection, purification, and expansion of the three objects, including body, possessions, and virtues of the past, present, and future times. This is presented in a verse in ''The Compendium of Training'' as the crux of the matter to avoid any transgressions on the bodhisattva path:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The vows of a bodhisattva
Are taught in detail in the Mahāyāna sūtras.
Know these to be the essential points,
By which one can avoid transgressions. (3)
}}

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One's body and possessions
And the virtues accrued in the three times,
Giving them to all sentient beings
Protecting, purifying, and expanding them. (4)<ref>For the verses in Tibetan, see Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccayakārikā'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3939, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fol. 1b , http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3939.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva presents the four actions as a way for the practitioner engaged in the bodhisattva training to avoid moral transgressions and to make progress on the path. It is important for the practitioner to practice giving in the form of charity, teaching, and company. One must particularly dedicate and give one's body, possessions, and virtues to all sentient beings. Only by giving up attachment to these three objects of ordinary attachment and using these three objects for the benefit of the world can a person truly make progress on the bodhisattva path.

In order to have them available for sentient beings, a practitioner must protect these objects. One must not waste, squander, or neglect these objects, which can be of great benefit to the world. A practitioner's sense of giving and protecting these objects should not be stained by selfish interests and other negative emotions but be pure and wholesome. Thus, a bodhisattva must purify one's thoughts, speech, and actions and make available the three objects of body, possessions, and virtues to sentient beings in a pure form, in both thought and deed. If the benefit of the three objects of body, possessions, and virtues are not multiplied or expanded, there cannot be a great impact which is appropriate for the vast world of sentient beings. Thus, a practitioner must expand and scale up the impact of giving one's body, possessions, and virtues so that sentient beings gain optimal benefit. Such expansion and amplification is carried out through practices such as visualization and dedication.

<h2>Enhancing Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Practices</h2>

<h3>Enhancing Aspiring Bodhicitta</h3>

The ritual for taking the bodhisattva vow only starts the process of training in the Mahāyāna path for a new practitioner. Such an initial cultivation of bodhicitta must be followed by persistent practice to sustain and strengthen it, and there are many ways of nurturing the altruistic mind and cultivating bodhicitta. In the Profound View tradition, the practice of the equality between self and others and the exchange between self and others, as presented by Śāntideva in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', feature as the main practice. In the Vast Conduct tradition, the contemplation on the seven points of cause and effect, passed down from Asaṅga via Atiśa, is the most well-known practice. The meditation on the four immeasurable thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity is another method to cultivate the aspiring bodhicitta.

In carrying out these practices, an important point is to treat all sentient beings with equanimity, without any discrimination and partiality. To do so, in most Tibetan Buddhist traditions, a practitioner is instructed to visualize one's mother alongside a person whom one hates or whom one may consider as an enemy. In some traditions, one is encouraged to visualize one's mother as the center figure surrounded by other loved ones and all other sentient beings, including one's enemies. The figure of the mother is used because the mother is generally considered to be the person who loves one the most and toward whom one normally has a strong affection.

In order to cultivate a strong sense of equanimity, some masters use the concept of rebirth. As one has taken innumerable rebirths in the past in this cycle of existence, all beings have become one's mother, not just once or twice but countless times. While they were mothers, they have been as kind and loving as one's present mother. Thus, all sentient beings are treated equally as recipients of one's love and compassion. It is with such a sense of impartiality that one must practice the different methods of strengthening the aspiring bodhicitta.
<span id="The_Equality_between_Self_and_Others" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>The Equality between Self and Others</h4>
The practice of equality between self and others is carried out through the following series of contemplative thoughts and arguments.

<h5>Equal in Desiring Happiness</h5>
All sentient beings equally desire happiness. There is no difference between myself and others in wanting happiness, although we may differ in how we seek such happiness. Therefore, there is no reason why I should only seek my own happiness and not that of others. Śāntideva states:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.95}}
It is irrational and irresponsible that I seek only my happiness when both I and all other sentient beings equally desire happiness. Thus, I must seek happiness for others because they are sentient beings, just like my own body. As Śāntideva has said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And others I will aid and benefit,
For they are living beings, like my body. (8.94)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 122.</ref>
}}

<h5>Equal in Disliking Suffering</h5>
All sentient beings equally dislike suffering. There is no difference between myself and others in not wanting pain and suffering. Therefore, there is no reason why I should only eliminate my own suffering and not that of others. Śāntideva states:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.96}}
It is irrational and irresponsible that I seek to eliminate only my own suffering when both I and all other sentient beings equally dislike suffering. Thus, I must eliminate the suffering of others because they are suffering, just like my own pain. As Śāntideva has said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And therefore I'll dispel the pain of others,
For it is simply pain, just like my own. 8.94<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 122.</ref>
}}

<h5>Equal in Being Part of One Whole</h5>
If it is argued that I and others are different and therefore I need not seek the happiness of others and eliminate the suffering of others, such distinction is imaginary and subjective. The hands and feet are different parts of the body, but they can be seen as being parts of the same body. The hand helps to scratch when the foot is itching. In the same way, all sentient beings are parts of the living world as a whole, and I ought to look after other sentient beings. Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.114}}

<h5>Equal in Not Having "Self" or an Owner of Experience</h5>
Moreover, if there were a true self or owner of the experience of happiness or suffering, one could make such a distinction and discriminate. However, there is no such self who owns the experience to be found if I critically examine the mind-body composition. All beings are merely an assembly of many psychosomatic constituents, and our experiences are the same. There is no difference in the experiences and no real person or being to distinguish us as different individuals. Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.102}}

<h5>Equal in Being Able to Cherish Others</h5>
If it is thought that I cannot love strangers and unrelated sentient beings just as I love myself or those related to me, such a thought is mistaken. Sentient beings can easily love others with a change of mindset and habituation. If I buy a dog from a shelter and adopt it as a pet, from the moment I take it under my care, I would cherish and love it, although it was unknown to me before such a time. It is a matter of opening one's heart to cherish sentient beings. Even the love for one's body has come about as a result of one's mental attitude and habituation, just as Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.115}}

<h5>Equalize Thinking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h5>
A practitioner must regularly remember the bodhisattva vow one has taken and remind oneself of one's commitment to rescue all sentient beings from suffering. One should think: "I am a responsible person and a person of integrity. I must not break my promise or falter from the pledge which I have taken in the presence of all buddhas and sentient beings." All beings were given assurance that I will help them and save them from suffering. If I were to give up the promise, let down the buddhas, and deceive sentient beings, what will be my future?" With such thoughts, a practitioner endeavors to equally benefit other sentient beings as oneself and strives to equally dispel the suffering of others as one's own suffering. To this effect, Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|4.4}}
<span id="The_Exchange_between_Self_and_Others" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>The Exchange between Self and Others</h4>
The next step after the practice of equalizing oneself and others is the practice of exchange between self and others. In ordinary life and the world, one is used to cherishing oneself (''བདག་གཅེས་འཛིན་''), but on the bodhisattva path, one must cherish others (''གཞན་གཅེས་འཛིན་''). In actualizing bodhicitta, love and compassion for others takes priority over love for oneself. Altruism overrides self-centricity. One must, therefore, switch from cherishing and loving oneself to cherishing and loving others. In order to exchange between self and others as the object of love and affection, one must contemplate the virtues, advantages, and appropriateness of cherishing others and the vices, disadvantages, and inappropriateness of cherishing oneself.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Value of Actions</h5>
Self-love is at worst evil and at best ordinary, whereas altruistic love is noble and sublime. Taking the case of giving, Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.125}}
Ethically speaking, an altruistic action has high positive value, whereas a selfish action is negative and deplorable, even by worldly standards. Thus, considering the ethical value of altruistic actions, one must cherish others instead of cherishing oneself.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Result of Actions</h5>
Following the law of cause and effect, a selfish action is negative and therefore leads to undesirable results, whereas an altruistic action is a highly positive action which results in desirable outcomes. Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.126}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.129}}
In order to avoid pain and suffering and to instead experience pleasure and happiness, it is important to stop cherishing oneself and to cherish others and engage in altruistic actions.

<h5>Exchange to Follow Great Beings</h5>
When one looks at the history of the world, all great beings, including the Buddha and other sublime Mahāyāna masters, have become great by cherishing others. Ordinary beings remain stuck in lowly life because they only cherish themselves. Śāntideva remarks:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.130}}
In order to emulate the great beings and, in particular, follow the Buddha on the path to enlightenment, it is essential to cherish others and to engage in altruistic actions. Cherishing oneself is giving in to the ordinary habit of the childish.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Number and Significance</h5>
Moreover, it is important to cherish others over oneself because the world of sentient beings is far greater in number and significance than oneself or a small group of one's loved ones. A wise person works for the vast majority and the greater good of society at large instead of a single person or family. The impact of working for others will be manifold compared to the result of working for just oneself. Thus, Śāntideva exhorts:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.139}}

<h5>Exchange Thinking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h5>
A practitioner recollects the bodhisattva vow he or she has taken to serve all sentient beings. In order to live up to one's pledge and act according to the oath taken in the presence of the buddhas and sentient beings, the practitioner reinforces the commitment to work for all sentient beings and to cherish others over and above oneself. As Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|4.4}}
Using different arguments and justifications, one must exchange oneself and others and swap cherishing oneself with cherishing others. One must know that if one does not do so, there is no benefit in the long term in cherishing oneself. Śāntideva has this reminder:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.131}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.136}}
<span id="Tonglen_-_The_Practice_of_Exchange" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>Tonglen - The Practice of Exchange</h4>
In Tibet, the practice of exchange between self and others is taken up commonly as ''tonglen'', or giving and taking. In this practice, one takes the suffering and problems of other sentient beings onto oneself and gives to them one's own happiness and resources.

One would mentally place one's mother and all sentient beings in front of oneself and, out of an intense feeling of gratitude and affection, imagine giving one's body, possessions, and virtues to them. As one does this, one can visualize a white, soothing, blissful substance, like warm milk or soft wool, which is in essence joy and happiness, flowing out of oneself to others. As the soothing substance envelopes others and fills these beings, the area, the world, and, gradually, the entire universe, one imagines that the beings are filled with joy and bliss. Then, one visualizes a dark, foul substance, like dirty smoke, which is in essence suffering and the problems of the world, flowing from others into one's own being. As it enters one's body, one imagines that all the problems and miseries of others are taken in by oneself. Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim wrote the following to this effect:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May my body, possessions, and stock of virtues
All bear fruit for every sentient being.
May all diverse emotions and wrongdoing of the world
Fall upon me and may they be well.<ref>Karma Phuntsho, ''The Life and Works of Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim'' (Thimphu: Loden Foundation, 2023), 59.</ref>
}}
This practice of ''tonglen'', which is highlighted in the ''lojong'', or mind training, tradition of the Kadam school, is also combined with breathing exercises. In such practice, as one exhales, one visualizes soft, milky, blissful clouds of happiness and joy issuing forth from one's body and filling the target beneficiaries, the world, and the universe with the white soothing substance, which is bliss and happiness. As one inhales, one visualizes a dark, foul substance, which is suffering and the problems of other beings, pouring into oneself and thereby freeing all other sentient beings from sufferings and problems.

As it can be challenging to imagine taking in all the problems and suffering of the world for an ordinary practitioner, some traditions add an extra step of visualization. As the negative energy and suffering of the entire world is absorbed in the form of a dark, putrid substance during inhalation, one visualizes in the center of one's heart a powerful and radiant vajra or ball of light which transmutes the negative energy and suffering into positive energy and sublime bliss. One then imagines, as one exhales, that this positive energy and bliss in the form of soothing white light is sent out to cover all sentient beings and fill the entire universe.

<h4>Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect</h4>
One of the most popular contemplative practices to enhance the aspiring bodhicitta and strengthen the bodhisattva's willpower is the seven-point instructions of cause and effect coming down from Atiśa through the Kadam tradition. Unlike Śāntideva's instructions, which use rational arguments, the seven-point instructions use the concept of reincarnation and the belief in innumerable rebirths one has taken in the past. Starting with the belief that all sentient beings have become one's mother, the instructions proceed from one point to another in the form of the preceding point being a cause leading to the subsequent one as the result. Thus, it is known as the seven-point instructions of cause and effect.

<h5>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h5>
The first point of meditation is to recognize all sentient beings as having been one's mother. One meditates on the point that in the course of the countless rebirths one has taken in this cycle of existence, all sentient beings have become one's mother, not just once or twice but innumerable times. Nāgārjuna states hypothetically that if one made balls of earth as big as Indian cypress seeds, the number of times a sentient being has become one's mother would exceed the number of balls one can make using the entire earth. Using the belief in the cycle of rebirth, one must generate the strong belief that all sentient beings have become one's mother.

<h5>2. Remembering the Kindness of the Mother</h5>
When they were our mothers, sentient beings showed us great love and affection. From carrying us in their wombs for nine months with much love and care, giving the best food, keeping us warm, and protecting us from harm, to helping us to grow up and succeed in life, they have shown unrelenting and unconditional love and kindness. They would have preferred to die rather than see us get even mildly sick. One should think of the absolute kindness with which the mother sentient beings have taken care of us in past lifetimes and how much one owes to them for their kindness.

<h5>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h5>
Being acutely aware of their kindness, one must not only remember their kindness but act to repay the kindness. One must think: "Today, I am a capable and responsible human being. I should not merely feel the kindness of the mother sentient beings and be grateful but do something meaningful to show them gratitude and return their kindness." As a conscientious person, it is important to reciprocate the kindness others have shown to us. In this manner, one cultivates a strong compulsion to do something to reciprocate the love and kindness of the mother sentient beings.

<h5>4. Love</h5>
One wonders what would be the best way to reciprocate the kindness of the mother sentient beings. All sentient beings like happiness. Thus, it would be appropriate to show gratitude and return their kindness by helping them attain happiness. In order to attain happiness, one must have the causes and conditions for happiness. Therefore, one should seek happiness and the causes of happiness for all kind mother sentient beings in order to repay their kindness. As such, one makes the aspiration: "May all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness."

<h5>5. Compassion</h5>
In order to genuinely enjoy happiness, one must get rid of pain and suffering, and to do so, one must eliminate the causes of suffering. Therefore, one should seek to eliminate suffering and the causes of suffering so that the mother sentient beings can enjoy happiness. One makes the aspiration: "May all kind mother sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering."

<h5>6. Special Intention</h5>
Merely wishing that mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and be free from suffering and the causes of suffering is not enough. In order for them to realize this, one must take up the responsibility to help them do so and act with a strong resolve and determination. Thus, one should think: "Come what may, I shall personally strive to make all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and free them from suffering and the causes of suffering."

<h5>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h5>
Having developed such an unwavering resolve to make all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and free them from suffering and the causes of suffering, one seeks the most effective way to do so. What would be a viable and sustainable state to place all kind mother sentient beings in so that they can enjoy genuine happiness and be free from suffering? There is no genuine and lasting happiness and permanent freedom from suffering in this cycle of existence. All levels of existence in samsara are marred by dissatisfaction and eventually end up in suffering. Thus, there is no place or state of existence in samsara that is a viable permanent solution. Even if one attains the personal nirvana of individual liberation as an enlightened saint, there is no genuine happiness in an individualistic state of nirvana when the rest of the world around oneself is plunged in the sea of suffering. How can one enjoy full happiness by turning a blind eye to the suffering around oneself? Besides, even the enlightened saints, who are yet to become fully enlightened buddhas, are not free from the pain of subtle ignorance and the process of becoming. Thus, the only state with genuine and lasting happiness is the state of the fully enlightened buddha, who is not only free from all suffering and enjoying supreme bliss but also brimming with joy in helping sentient beings.

Thus, one should have the resolve: "In order to repay the immense kindness of my kind mother sentient beings, to help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and the causes of happiness, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering, I shall by myself and by any means place all kind mother sentient beings in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha." This seventh and final point is bodhicitta.

<span id="Four_Immeasurable_Thoughts" style="display: block; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"></span>
<h4>Four Immeasurable Thoughts</h4>
The four immeasurable thoughts are loving kindness (''maitrī'', ''བྱམས་པ་''), compassion (''karuṇa'', ''སྙིང་རྗེ་''), sympathetic joy (''muditā'', ''དགའ་བ་''), and equanimity (''upekṣā'', ''བཏང་སྙོམས་''). Concepts which perhaps predate Buddhism, they form one of the most common sets of practices of love and goodwill in all schools of Buddhism. However, they play a very important role as techniques to express compassion and enhance altruism.

Loving-kindness refers to the wish to bring happiness and the causes of happiness to all sentient beings. Compassion refers to the wish to free all sentient beings from suffering and the causes of suffering. Sympathetic joy is the thought of rejoicing in the happiness of sentient beings and wishing they be never separated from it. And equanimity, as it is understood in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, is the attitude to treat all sentient beings with total impartiality, with no sense of discrimination, attachment, or aversion.

Like the practices above, it is considered important in the Mahāyāna system to develop equanimity as the first of the four immeasurable thoughts. Thus, one may start the practice of the four immeasurable thoughts by visualizing one's mother and one's enemy on equal terms in front of oneself, surrounded by other sentient beings. Only meditation with such a sense of equanimity becomes a truly Mahāyāna practice. Having one's parents, enemies, relatives, friends, colleagues, and the entire world of sentient beings as one's object of meditation, one can then cultivate the four immeasurable thoughts. There are many different ways of practicing the four immeasurable thoughts in the different Buddhist traditions. The cultivation of the four immeasurable thoughts through four modes according to the tradition passed down from Patrul Rinpoche is given below.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as an Aspiration</h5>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the cause of happiness.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, never be separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in boundless equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Wish</h5>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attained happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, became free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, were never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abided in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Pledge</h5>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, become free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Supplication</h5>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, become free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Three Levels of Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts</h5>
In the Mahāyāna system, there are three different levels of contemplating the four immeasurable thoughts.
#The first level is to contemplate as mentioned above, with the conventional knowledge that sentient beings exist and need to be freed from suffering and placed in the state of happiness. Because one assumes sentient beings to exist and practices loving-kindness, etc. for sentient beings, this type of practice is known as loving-kindness focused on sentient beings (''སེམས་ཅན་དམིགས་པ་'').
#On the next, higher level of the practice of the four immeasurable thoughts, one can practice loving-kindness, etc. with the awareness of the impermanent and transient nature of sentient beings. Impermanence and change are the true nature of conditioned life. Thus, the practice of loving-kindness, etc. with an awareness of impermanence is known as loving-kindness, etc. focused on the truth (''ཆོས་ལ་དམིགས་པ་'').
#On the highest level of ontological scrutiny and the nature of existence, there is no sentient being, no person practicing the four immeasurable thoughts, and no act of loving-kindness, etc. Everything is empty of true existence and is merely an illusory appearance. Thus, there is no object to apprehend; there is no focus or fixation on anything. The practice of loving-kindness without the sense of grasping and apprehension of anything is known as loving-kindness without apprehension (''དམིགས་པ་མེད་པ་''). A bodhisattva must eventually cultivate the four immeasurable thoughts in this manner—without grasping, attachment, and fixation.

<h4>Compassion</h4>
A simple but powerful way to cultivate bodhicitta is to develop the feeling of compassion. As compassion is seen as the immediate cause of bodhicitta, many sūtras and commentarial treatises underscore the practice of compassion in order to cultivate genuine bodhicitta. Masters such as Candrakīrti and Kamalaśīla highlight the vital role of great compassion in generating bodhicitta and practicing the Mahāyāna path. Right at the beginning of his famous treatise ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Candrakīrti praises compassion by describing it as a process of cultivation, comparing it to a seed in the beginning, to water in the middle, and to a ripened harvest at the end.<ref>See Candrakīrti, ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' (''Dbu ma la 'jug pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3861, dbu ma, vol. 102, 'a, fol. 201b , http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3861.</ref> Thus, according to Candrakīrti, compassion plays a fundamental role throughout the Mahāyāna process of enlightenment. Similarly, in the first chapter of his ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama''), Kamalaśīla cites many sūtras to show how great compassion plays a central role in Mahāyāna practice. He then goes on to show how one can generate compassion by meditating on the suffering of sentient beings.

One must think of the myriad kinds of suffering sentient beings go through, from the unbearable cold and heat in the hell realms, the torment of hunger and thirst among hungry ghosts, and the exploitation, fear, torture, and killing that animals, insects, fish, and birds go through. Even as humans, beings suffer from poverty, subjugation, persecution, illness, death, separation from loved ones, and meeting with those who are unpleasant. One must meditate on the countless forms of pain and suffering sentient beings undergo and then wish all sentient beings to be free from such suffering. Repeatedly thinking of the suffering of sentient beings and intensely wishing all sentient beings to be totally free from such suffering leads to the quick and easy generation of bodhicitta.

Initially, one can generate such a wish for one's loved ones and then extend it to strangers and eventually to those one dislikes. Reflection on how one has taken countless rebirths in this cycle of existence and how all sentient beings have become one's mother and relatives may be carried out to help develop equanimity and generate intense compassion toward all sentient beings without bias and partiality.

Being an integral part of bodhicitta, compassion is seen as the quintessence of all spiritual practice. To this effect, Avalokiteśvara states in ''The Dharma Council Sūtra'' (''Dharmasaṃgītisūtra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Blessed One! A bodhisattva need not train in numerous dharmas. If a bodhisattva understands and upholds one dharma, all dharmas of the Buddha will be on the palm of his hand. What is that one dharma? It is great compassion.<ref>''Dharmasaṃgītisūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos yang dag par sdud pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), Derge Kangyur D238, mdo sde, vol. 65, zha, fol. 84b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW30532_0238.</ref>
}}

<h3>Enhancing Engaged Bodhicitta</h3>
The practice of engaged or active bodhicitta covers the entire range of the Mahāyāna paths and practices that a bodhisattva must follow and adopt. The Mahāyāna paths and innumerable practices are commonly captured in the set of six perfections that a bodhisattva must master in order to reach the state of a fully enlightened buddha.

<h4>The Practice of the Six Perfections</h4>
The six perfections in Mahāyāna Buddhism are giving, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. They are said to cover all aspects of bodhisattva practice and are arranged in a sequence of their importance and depth, with the latter being more important and deeper than the former.

<h5>Giving (''dāna'', ''སྦྱིན་པ་'')</h5>
The practice of giving or generosity is defined by the inner sense of giving rather than by the quantity or value of the material given. Śāntideva writes in the fifth chapter of ''The Way of Bodhisattva'':
{{PullBcaVerses|5.9}}
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Giving helps a practitioner overcome the negative trait of stinginess and attachment to things. If one has a strong attachment to things and is not able to give anything to others, a beginner could start by giving something from one hand to the other in order to get used to the act of giving. A student can train in giving by giving things of little value or by giving to people who are close. Gradually, a practitioner can give things of higher value, giving even to strangers and enemies. A bodhisattva develops the sense of giving gradually and tests his or her willpower and mental ability to give without expecting anything in return or any reward. A bodhisattva is not allowed to give anything he or she is not capable of giving wholeheartedly. When a bodhisattva has developed a strong sense of giving, he or she can give away even parts of the body with no attachment or regret. A bodhisattva with a highly advanced sense of giving will experience joy and bliss in giving away even parts of his or her own body. Thus, it is important to cultivate the inner sense of giving.

The will to give is often cultivated in the beginning by explaining the karmic benefit of giving. Giving leads to wealth and prosperity in the future. Thus, people are often encouraged to give with the belief of getting rich in the future. However, a bodhisattva's giving must transcend such worldly practice. Eventually, a bodhisattva must give without any expectation of return in this life or reward in the form of karmic results in future lifetimes. Stories of the Buddha and other masters are also frequently told to inspire giving. The Buddha is said to have given his body to a hungry tigress as Prince Mahāsattva and to flesh eating demons as King Maitrībala.
He is said to have given all the riches of his kingdom, his wife, children, and eyes to beggars as Prince Viśvantara. These and many other inspirational stories are used to help practitioners develop the sense of giving.

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The Mahāyāna tradition presents three types of giving:
#Giving material goods
#Giving protection
#Giving Dharma

One can give material gifts to one's teachers, parents, beggars, mendicants, and other recipients. Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training'' mentions how a monk must practice giving by sharing a portion of one's alms with other beings. ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' presents giving mostly in the context of making offerings to the enlightened beings as part of the seven-limb prayer and the dedication of one's body, possessions, and virtues to the welfare of all sentient beings. Making offerings, either through the actual giving of things or through visualization, is a very common practice of giving material gifts and services. Even if one does not have anything to give or cannot afford to do so, one can practice giving by imagining giving one's body, possessions, virtues, and other pleasant things in existence.

Giving protection includes saving life, giving company, and defending the weak. Rescuing animals from the butcher, saving fish from being killed, and freeing caged birds are some common examples of giving protection which Tibetan Buddhists practice regularly. The giving of Dharma or sharing knowledge and showing the truth is considered to be the highest form of giving, as it can bring lasting results leading to enlightenment.

A beginner may give with the mistaken notion that there is a real giver, recipient, and the object given. However, the practice of giving only qualifies as the practice of the perfection of giving when there is no fixed notion of the giver, recipient, and the object given. A bodhisattva must be able to give without the thought or notion of the three factors—giver, recipient, and the thing given.

<h5>Discipline (''śīla'', ''ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་'')</h5>

The discipline of the bodhisattva is often classified into three actions: abstaining from misdeeds, gathering virtues, and working for the welfare of sentient beings, as shown above. It is, in essence, the renunciation or giving up of negative thoughts, words, and deeds and the engagement in positive actions. A bodhisattva attains the perfection of discipline by perfecting the mind of such renunciation or relinquishment. As such, it serves as an antidote to immorality and unethical life.

Discipline is considered a fundamental basis for the growth of other virtuous qualities, just as the earth itself is important for cultivation. With discipline, one can engage in meditation and develop insight or wisdom. The practice of discipline includes both following the precepts and having the mental integrity to stick to the righteous course of actions.

In order to do so, Mahāyāna masters such as Śāntideva underscore the importance of vigilance or carefulness (''apramāda'', ''bag yod''), which is described in the Buddhist texts as a state of being attentive to what is to be adopted and what is to be abandoned. Śāntideva devotes the fourth chapter of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' to developing such carefulness or conscientiousness. Another crucial state of the mind is mindfulness (''smṛti'', ''dran pa''). Mindfulness in this context refers to remembering and not forgetting "the dos and don'ts" with respect to one's moral conduct. It is important to always be mindful of the object and field of one's engagements. Introspection or alertness (''saṃprajanya'', ''shes bzhin'') is another state of the mind which is crucial for bodhisattva discipline. Introspection watches the body, speech, and mind with alertness to check on what they are up to and how they are engaged.

These three aspects of the mind are crucial for a practitioner on the bodhisattva path. One must have mindfulness to be always aware of what is right or wrong, have vigilance and be very careful and heedful of the different areas of engagement, and maintain introspection to constantly watch one's mind, speech, and body.

Equipped with these tools, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must follow the precepts listed above after taking the bodhisattva vow. In addition, there are ten nonvirtuous actions to be eschewed and ten virtuous actions to be adopted as part of the general practice of Buddhist ethics. The ten nonvirtuous actions are:
#Taking life
#Taking what is not given
#Sexual misconduct for bodily actions
#Telling lies
#Creating discord
#Speaking harsh words
#Idle gossip for verbal actions
#Covetousness
#Malicious thoughts
#Wrong view for mental actions

As an antidote to these actions, a practitioner must adopt the ten virtuous actions:
#Protecting life
#Giving charity
#Practicing chastity for bodily actions
#Speaking the truth
#Making peace/conciliation
#Speaking kind words
#Engaging in useful speech for verbal actions
#Contentment
#Loving-kindness
#Right view for mental actions

There are many books in which a practitioner can find the moral precepts and code of ethics regarding a bodhisattva's behavior. These include ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', ''The Compendium of Training'', as well as ''The Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattva'' (''རྒྱལ་སྲས་ལག་ལེན་སོ་བདུན་མ་''). These texts summarize the very detailed and scattered presentations of the bodhisattva discipline in the Mahāyāna sūtras. Besides the moral codes, it is also important to have an effective routine for the practice of bodhisattva discipline. A twenty-four-hour day is normally divided into six periods, or "watches," and specific bodhisattva activities are allocated during those watches. Such disciplinary rules, depending on individual circumstances and needs, should make the life of a bodhisattva highly conducive and productive for the practice of the bodhisattva path.

Finally, a very important part of the practice of discipline is the ritual of making amends when one violates the precepts either consciously or unconsciously. For the transgression of root downfalls, or major violations, a practitioner must promptly make confessions and reparations before the end of the watch which follows the watch in which the lapse took place. If the major violation is not amended before the end of the following watch, then the bodhisattva is required to take the vow again. In order to make amends for all violations, a bodhisattva is advised, as explained earlier, to recite ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps''.

<h5>Patience (''kṣānti'', ''བཟོད་པ་'')</h5>
Patience is the third of the six perfections and is described as the hardest practice, one that requires unparalleled fortitude. In the philosophical descriptions one finds in the texts, patience is characterized by an undisturbed state of the mind. Not being agitated by conditions, particularly unpleasant ones, is the essence of patience. It serves as a counterforce to anger, which is a strong agitation of the mind and is considered to be the most heinous of evils.

First and foremost, the practitioner must reflect on the destructive nature of anger and the futility of getting angry. A moment of anger can consume the virtues accumulated throughout a thousand eons and cause great mental pain and discomfort. It deprives a person of peace and calm and the ability to work effectively. Like a bottle of muddy water shaken violently, an angry mind is disturbed and lacks composure and clarity to do anything effectively. On the contrary, patience brings mental calm and clarity. Śāntideva highlights the futility of getting upset in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' as follows:
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Having developed the conviction that getting upset and angry is only harmful and that patience is beneficial for inner peace and productivity, one must cultivate a patient and forbearing mind. From a traditional Buddhist point of view, anger, as the most heinous evil, also leads to rebirth in the lowest hells, where one will be tormented by pain and agony for eons, while patience leads to happy rebirths and particularly to future lifetimes with outstanding physical beauty. Even in this life, a peevish and angry person, even if a generous patron, is loathed and feared by others for his or her short temper, but a tolerant and serene person enjoys admiration and respect from others. Thus, the need for patience.

The practice of patience is divided into three based on the object of patience.
#Patience in tolerating harm doers
#Patience in bearing hardship
#Patience in understanding the teachings

The beings who cause harm and annoyance are the most obvious and common objects toward whom one must practice patience. "Without enemies, to whom can one practice patience," goes a Tibetan Buddhist saying.<ref>Similar sayings appear in a number of works: Atiśa's ''Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Bodhipathapradīpa'') contains teachings about viewing enemies as valuable teachers for developing patience. The ''Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva'' (''Rgyal sras lag len so bdun ma'') by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo contains similar teachings about viewing enemies as precious teachers. Likewise, such statements appear in chapter 6 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra'') by Śāntideva.</ref> Such enemies and harm doers can be endless and diverse if one remains easily annoyed and irritable in one's own character. Śāntideva writes in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
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Knowing that the main solution to the many harms in the world lies in patience and forbearance, a bodhisattva must tolerate harm doers and not be upset by their harmful actions. One can do so with the broad view that the harm may be a result of one's own karma in past lifetimes and not a fault of the harm doer. By tolerating a small harm or annoyance in this life, one can expiate the negative karma and escape the terrifying consequences in the future.

Another way to cultivate patience is to know that the persons causing harm often do so under the influence of other factors, including their inner emotions and circumstances, over which they have no control. Thus, it is absurd to get upset at a person instead of having pity and compassion for them. In fact, due to one's negative karma, a harm doer causes harm, but in doing so the harm doer commits negative karma and begets more suffering in the lower realms. So, in reality, one does even greater harm to the harm doer by responding with anger instead of compassion. Thus, it is not right to be angry or upset at the harm doer.

Moreover, an incidence of harm such as one's body being struck by an enemy using a weapon is a result of a combination of many factors, including the body, weapon, enemy, anger, etc. So, why put the blame only on the person and not on the weapon? Furthermore, why only blame others who brandish the weapon and not oneself who brandishes the body? One must own a share of responsibility for having a body so prone to agony like a running sore. Using such moral and logical arguments, as presented in Śāntideva's writings, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must practice tolerance and forbearance of harm caused by other beings.

Another cause of frustration and anger is suffering and dissatisfaction in life. Although there may not be any personal agency, sentient beings get upset and angry at undesirable situations, such as illness, hunger, thirst, pain, and not getting the things one desires. A person on the bodhisattva path must practice patience in bearing hardship and suffering without giving in to frustration and anger. For this, one must reflect on the nature of existence and how it is filled with suffering and problems. Life in samsara is riddled with problems by nature. Thus, it will be nonsensical to expect it to be otherwise and get upset about it. How silly would it be to get angry at fire for being hot by nature?

Moreover, pain and problems are also subjective. Depending on the state of their mind, some brave men become more valiant upon seeing their own blood dripping, while timid people even faint upon seeing the blood of others. Thus, a practitioner must learn to be stoic and to disregard irritation because the one who is peevish sees more harm. A practitioner must also realize that existing problems may be hard to bear, but they are only a minor pain compared to the pain which anger begets. Such pain, like a small surgery to treat a serious ailment, is beneficial in the long run. It is likened to a prisoner on death row being freed with an arm chopped off.

Thus, a practitioner must not only face problems in life with a calm mind but also view pain and suffering as an important catalyst for spiritual transformation. As Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|6.21}}
Moreover, people go through various hardships and suffering even for petty worldly reasons such as material profit, political power, fame, marriage, or religious worship. What need is there to mention then the value of having fortitude and practicing patience to benefit sentient beings and to take them to the state of full enlightenment? A true hero is therefore someone who defeats the inner foe of anger and maintains calm and compassion even in the face of tragedy and great harm. The rest who defeat their enemies Śāntideva likens to stabbing a corpse.

Just as one must endure problems and suffering in life, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must also foster the courage and conviction to accept and fathom the true nature of reality and to align one's thoughts and deeds with truth. A bodhisattva must train to understand the true nature of phenomena, such as the impermanence of conditioned things, the interdependence of all phenomena, the absence of an inherent self or person, the selflessness of phenomena, the illusory nature of the world, and the ineffable, unobstructed, empty, open nature of the ultimate reality free from all conceptual fabrication. Actual practice and meditation on the ultimate nature will be discussed below under the perfection of wisdom.

As the practice of the third type of patience, a bodhisattva endures to know the truth through a rational and analytical approach instead of taking things for granted. Critical inquiry and analyses, such as in the aforementioned example about a person hitting another with a weapon, helps one overcome mistaken assumptions and inherent bias and see the true nature of things. It is through knowing the true nature of reality that one can appreciate the nexus of causes and conditions and thus tolerate the harms and problems in life as well as transcend to a higher level of insight. Thus, a practitioner takes up the third type of patience by having the unrelenting commitment to and confidence in the bodhisattva path of wisdom and compassion. A bodhisattva remains steadfast in upholding compassion to help all sentient beings and firm in his or her understanding and realization of the way things are. With this, a bodhisattva is then never tired of engaging in selfless service and never affected by the challenges, misfortunes, and vagaries of life.

Śāntideva also advises practitioners, toward the end of the sixth chapter of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', to practice patience and tolerance toward sentient beings, including harm doers, because they serve as agents for spiritual transformation. Without beings, one cannot possibly pursue the Mahāyāna path of compassion and altruism. Just as the Buddha helps one accumulate merit as an object of veneration, sentient beings also help one accrue merit through patience, giving, etc. Moreover, it is in pleasing sentient beings that we find the best way to please buddhas, who wholeheartedly cherish them. Getting angry at beings or harming them would displease the buddhas. Thus, it is very important for a follower of the Buddha to love and respect sentient beings in order to truly remain faithful to the Buddha. Moreover, even sentient beings possess buddha-nature and are worthy of veneration, not disdain and disrespect. Adopting such outlooks, values, and reasoning, the follower of the bodhisattva path practices tolerance and patience.

<h5>Diligence (''vīrya'', ''བརྩོན་འགྲུས་'')</h5>
The fourth perfection is the perfection of enthusiasm, zeal, effort, or diligence. In Buddhist philosophy, it is defined as zeal or joy in virtuous actions, and it serves as an antidote to indolence. Śāntideva remarks that just as there cannot be motion without wind, there cannot be merit without diligence. The cultivation of diligence entails giving up the three kinds of indolence:
#Laziness, which is to be in the state of lethargy, sloth, and boredom
#Despondency, which is to be inactive through diffidence and lack of energy
#Negative addiction, which is to be preoccupied by unwholesome things

Wholesome diligence functions as an antidote to these three kinds of indolence. In order to overcome the first type of indolence, which involves being lazy, lethargic, and uninterested, one must cultivate interest, enthusiasm, and motivation in wholesome activities. A person on the bodhisattva path must be physically and mentally agile, enterprising, and diligent. To do so, one must develop some degree of remorse for the current situation in samsara and aim to reach a higher state of being. The Tibetan Buddhist practice of the four points of mind turning, including reflecting on the rarity and preciousness of humanhood, the impermanence of life, the efficacy of the law of cause and effect, and the flaws of the cycle of existence can help generate enthusiasm and motivation to seek full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

A practitioner must reflect on the fortunate state of having obtained the precious and rare human birth and of having good health and all other necessary circumstances for seeking the higher goal of enlightenment. Reflecting on the precious and rare nature of such an opportunity to seek enlightenment, a practitioner must immediately plunge into the practice of the bodhisattva path. If one does not do so, one must realize that such fortunate human existence is fragile and bound to change any time. One must meditate on the impermanence and fragility of life and on how death can happen anytime. Thus, one must not waste one's precious life in laziness, slumber, or distraction. Śāntideva warns against such waste in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''.
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In addition to fostering enthusiasm and effort through reflection on the precious nature of humanhood and impermanence, a practitioner can also reflect on the law of cause and effect. One must realize that happy, desirable results come about only by investing in the necessary causes of happiness and that suffering arises from engaging in the causes of suffering. Fully aware of the infallible nature of cause and effect, a practitioner must enthusiastically engage in wholesome actions and work hard in order to reap a good result. A practitioner must work hard to abandon negative actions in order to escape from suffering and reach nirvana. Similarly, a practitioner must contemplate the flaws of rebirth in samsara, such as not getting what is desirable, getting what is not desirable, encountering those one dislikes, and separation from those one likes. Beings in the lower realms of existence are afflicted by multiple forms of suffering, beings in happy realms suffer from inevitable change in situations, and all beings suffer from the stress of the constant pursuit of happiness.

In the traditional reflection on the faults of the cycle of existence, a practitioner meditates on the suffering of heat and cold in the hell realms, hunger and thirst among hungry ghosts, exploitation and predation in the animal kingdom, illness and old age among humans, strife and warfare among demigods, and death and downfall in the celestial realms. These reflections and harsh life experiences help in engendering motivation and zeal to engage in virtuous actions and seek the higher goal of enlightenment. A practitioner must also reflect on the bodhisattva oath taken earlier to place all sentient beings in buddhahood and now put forth effort to walk the talk.

Having overcome the first problem of laziness and sloth through such reflections, a practitioner must work on the second problem of diffidence and despondency. A practitioner must think of the endless cycle of hard work ordinary beings undertake even for petty worldly benefit and compare that with the noble work a bodhisattva has to undertake for the greater benefit of the world. Thinking of this noble cause and the limited effort and time required for it, one must feel emboldened and encouraged to engage in bodhisattva practice. In the traditional Buddhist worldview, one has gone through immeasurable suffering in countless lifetimes, resulting in no real benefit. The hard work and sweat on the bodhisattva path, however, is a limited and small pain which can bring forth a greater long-term benefit, like the pain of an incision to cure a serious illness.

Moreover, in order to overcome a lack of confidence, a practitioner must realize that even an insect, having buddha-nature as its nature, can reach buddhahood through effort. What need, then, to mention a human being who has the rational and emotional capacity to attain enlightenment. If one is afraid of the difficult bodhisattva practices such as giving one's body and limbs, such practices become easy and enjoyable with practice and habituation. The Buddha prohibits a bodhisattva from undertaking any endeavor beyond his or her mental capacity.

Thus, the bodhisattva path, if one is well-equipped with wisdom and compassion, is not a difficult task but a very pleasant and enjoyable enterprise. Śāntideva writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Sin has been abandoned, thus there is no pain;
Through having wisdom there is no more sorrow. (7.27ab)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref>
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What can sadden those who have compassion,
Who remain within saṃsāra for the sake of beings? (7.28cd)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref>
}}
Furthermore, Śāntideva asks: "Which thoughtful person riding the horse of bodhicitta and having no fatigue would become despondent in going from joy to joy?"<ref>''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' 7.30. See also Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref> He recommends the four forces of interest, steadfastness, joy, and relinquishment. One must cultivate the strong interest and wish to engage in virtuous actions, abandon negative actions, eliminate the suffering of sentient beings, and create happiness for all sentient beings. Such an interest is generated by thinking of the benefits of virtuous actions and the demerits of nonvirtuous actions. Once one has found such a strong interest and wish, one must remain firm and steadfast in the pursuit of happiness for all beings. One must maintain unwavering confidence and pride in the endeavor and not allow dejection and fatigue to set in. Taking up the challenge to defeat the negative emotions, a practitioner should not only remain steadfast but delve into the bodhisattva practice with joy and enthusiasm, like an elephant rushing to a lake in the midday heat or a gamer indulging in the game. Should a practitioner encounter insurmountable challenges or hardship or suffer from fatigue, then he or she should relinquish the specific task for the time being to be resumed at a later time when conditions are better.

Thus, a bodhisattva must adopt skill-in-means and be very strategic in terms of the appropriate investment of time and effort. Śāntideva also recommends the two strengths of earnestness and control to enhance the bodhisattva zeal. A bodhisattva must seek his or her objective with earnestness and immediate application. Just as a warrior who drops his sword in battle would pick it up promptly, and just as a young man would react quickly if a snake lands on his lap, a bodhisattva must act swiftly to achieve the goal. Similarly, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must have a sense of control and power over things. Feeling confident and empowered and remaining very agile and aware, a bodhisattva must engage in the practice with confidence and flair, like a lion in the midst of foxes, and with nimbleness and full control over one's body and mind, just like a wind controlling the movement of a piece of cotton on a branch.

A major hindrance to enthusiasm and diligence in bodhisattva practice is attachment to and engagement in worldly and negative distractions. Śāntideva warns the practitioner:
{{PullBcaVerses|7.15}}
Knowing that if one is careless, negative tendencies and distractions spread fast like poison in the blood stream, one must exercise great caution and mindfulness in fighting negative temptations and distractions. Being mindful of one's practice and reprimanding oneself for even minor lapses, one must guard one's mind and awareness from defiling emotions, just like one protects one's eyes from dust. A practitioner must diligently practice the bodhisattva path by eschewing attachment to all negative activities.

<h5>Meditation (''dhyāna'', ''བསམ་གཏན་'')</h5>
Meditative concentration is the fifth perfection. It is defined in the classical texts as the state of the mind remaining focused without any distraction. It is the mental ability to remain focused, calm, and unperturbed, and it serves as an antidote to distraction. As a distracted mind is very prone to afflictive emotions and ineffective in accomplishing any tasks, it is very important to develop the meditative concentration of the mind. Only when the mind is focused and has attained calm abiding can it effectively develop insight into the nature of reality and thereby eliminate the afflictive emotions and negative thoughts. Śāntideva puts this clearly in the following verse, which is very frequently quoted:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.4}}
The process of pursuing meditative concentration normally begins with practice in solitude, where one's body is free from the frenzy of the world and one's mind is free from mental preoccupation. Śāntideva advises:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.2}}
For a beginner working on cultivating meditative concentration, the Buddhist masters advise practitioners to find solitude without disturbance and distraction and to take up solitary retreat. Whether one finds a brief period in one's daily schedule or finds free time to undertake a long retreat lasting weeks, months, or years, the main objective should be to settle the distracted mind and attain mental concentration or calm abiding. As the main reason for not finding time for such solitary practice and cultivating calm abiding is one's preoccupation with worldly affairs, a practitioner is first instructed to give up desire for worldly life, including attachment to people and pursuit of wealth, fame, and power. Masters such as Śāntideva present a compelling account of the futility of worldly endeavors, including relationships and business, and the stress, disappointment, and pain they lead to in this life and the many sufferings in future lifetimes. Talking about people, relationships, and property, Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.10}}
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{{PullBcaVerses|8.79}}
Śāntideva sums up the flaws of worldly desire in this way:
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With such instructions and admonitions, a practitioner is made to reflect on the worthlessness of the worldly pursuit of wealth, fame, power, and relationships and how they often fuel more greed and stress, creating a vicious cycle of pain and suffering. Thus, a person on the bodhisattva path is encouraged to seek something more meaningful and fulfilling. A practitioner who wishes to attain calm abiding through meditation must curb greed, have contentment, and devote time to meditation.

The actual practice of meditative concentration to develop calm abiding forms a fundamental Buddhist practice, and there are many different meditation traditions and techniques for carrying out the practice. The most common classical procedure is the nine-step meditation technique for establishing calm abiding. Below is a table showing the nine steps in three stages, with the five defects to be removed, the eight antidotes and six powers to be adopted, the four phases of contemplation, and the five signs of progress, as explained by the nineteenth-century Tibetan polymath Mipham Namgyal Gyatso (མི་ཕམ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་རྒྱ་མཚོ།, 1846–1912) based on his ''Gateway to the Way of the Learned'' (''མཁས་པའི་ཚུལ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་སྒོ་'') and ''Heart of Luminosity: The General Meaning of the Essence of the Secret'' (''གསང་བ་སྙིང་པོའི་སྤྱི་དོན་འོད་གསལ་སྙིང་པོ་'').

[[File:Chart for Karma practice piece.png|900px|class=w-100 m-0 rounded-xl shadow|]]

The detailed instructions for the development of calm abiding can be found in many different texts and meditation traditions. All of them start with physical posture, the most common being the Vairocana posture with seven features, including (1) crossed leg, (2) straight back, (3) slightly tilted neck, (4) open shoulders, (5) eyes on the nose tip, (6) tongue touching upper palate with lips just touching each other, and (7) hands on the lap. Being comfortably and firmly seated to give stability to the body, one may carry out the breathing exercise to clear one's breath. With the body, breath, and the mind calm and clear, one then starts focusing on an object, whether it is an external object like an image or a twig, an internal object like bodily sensations or the breath, or an imaginary object like a deity or mantra one has visualized.

To kick off such a practice, one must overcome the obstacles of indolence and forgetfulness. A person indulging in laziness or forgetful of the instructions for meditation cannot even start the process. Thus, at this initial phase of preparing meditation, one must have strong faith, interest, enthusiasm, and willingness to undertake meditative concentration. One can develop these qualities by studying and learning about the benefits of meditation. Having overcome the obstacles, one starts the practice of meditation with the initial focus, the first of the nine steps.

The practitioner continues to focus on the object with care and exertion. As the beginner's mind will forget the object and get distracted, one uses mindfulness and reflection to continue the focus. When the mind is distracted from the object, one must bring it back and repeat the focus with introspection and concerted effort. Like a wild horse being controlled with bridle and reins, the mind should be trained using mindfulness and introspection. One must overcome not only the obstacle of distraction but also torpor and sleepiness. As one maintains and repeats the focus, one will notice the mind moving very fast and flying off in a flash. This is the first sign of progress called "the experience of motion." At this point, the mind is like a waterfall, restless and nonstop.

As one persists in focusing on the object using the tools of mindfulness and introspection, the mind begins to become calm and tamed. This is the second sign of progress called "the experience of attainment." Here, the mind is like a stream on a steep slope, moving constantly but at a slower pace. As one persists in taming the mind, the obstacles of distraction and torpor also subside, but one would still need to put forth effort to maintain the focus. Using reflection, mindfulness, and introspection, one must continue to focus and tame the mind. This will lead to the mind becoming very pacified and to the third sign of progress called "the experience of becoming accustomed." At this stage, the mind is like a river on the plains, seemingly still while looking from afar but still moving with strong currents. It is like a bee trapped in a vase, generally in one place but still with a lot of movement. The focus is sometimes interrupted, but one must put forth effort to get back to meditative concentration.

With sustained effort, one nears the final phase of meditative concentration when the mind is thoroughly pacified and one can focus without any interruption and exertion. At this stage, showing exertion and making a contrived effort are obstacles. Thus, one remains in single-pointed concentration without any contrived effort. One would have the fourth sign of progress called "the experience of stability." Now, the mind is like an ocean, calm and unshaken in the core but with some motion on the surface. As one remains in such a state with mental equanimity and becomes very familiar with it, one attains meditative equipoise, and one sees the fifth and final sign of progress called "the experience of the perfection of meditation." The mind remains undisturbed in all situations, like a mountain which is not shaken by the winds. There is no effort required to maintain the meditative equipoise, and the practitioner enjoys extreme bliss and agility of the body and mind.

Different schools teach different methods of developing single-pointed concentration, or calm abiding. A very well-known practice for calm abiding today is the mindfulness of the body, which is popularly known as a body scan. Here, one focuses on the sensations in the body, either gradually from the crown of the head to the heels or on a specific part of the body, to develop concentration. Another common practice is the concentration on one's breath, including inhalation and exhalation. There are many techniques of focusing on the breath as one exhales and inhales. Many traditions also use external objects such as images, twigs, pebbles, leaves, etc. as an object of concentration. In some Tibetan Buddhist traditions, a meditator trains first by using ordinary objects such as leaves and twigs and then meditates on the image of the Buddha as a whole or on parts of the image in sequence. One can also visualize a letter or a deity figure as an object of meditation for calm abiding. In the Vajrayāna tradition, it is very common to use a representation of a deity, either in the form of physical artwork or as a mental picture of a deity or mantra, in order to develop concentration and calm abiding. The process of the nine-step meditation to attain calm abiding is also represented in art, with a monkey symbolizing the distracting mode of the mind and an elephant symbolizing the sinking mode of the mind.

{{InlineImage
|float=right
|img=Nine Stages of Shamatha Practice.png
|width=500px
|caption=This thangka depicts the nine progressive stages of mental development. Source: [https://enlightenmentthangka.com/blogs/thangka/nine-stages-of-samatha-meditation?_pos=1&_sid=fbf1cb8ea&_ss=r Enlightenmentthangka.com]
}}

When one attains single-pointed concentration, the mind becomes pliable for spiritual transformation. This state of mind, considered to be equivalent to the mental state of beings in the highest desire realm, is the lowest form of concentration a practitioner needs to cultivate high spiritual realization and qualities. When such a state of mind is further sharpened, one acquires the mental states of the first, second, third, and fourth meditative absorptions with increasing levels of bliss, lucidity, pliability, and efficacy for spiritual transformation. These four states of meditative concentration are considered equivalent to the mental state of the four levels of the form realm in the psychophysical Buddhist cosmology. The power of concentration increases further with deeper levels of absorption. However, in the extreme form of quietest mental state in a sentient being associated with the highest formless realm of worldly existence, the mind is too deeply absorbed in meditation, rendering it too inactive and unviable for spiritual transformation.

Meditative concentration is thus divided according to the different levels of mental concentration. It is also classified into mundane meditative concentration and supramundane meditative concentration. If the meditative concentration is merely a calm state of the mind of a worldly person without the element of wisdom which discerns the nature of reality or truth, it is considered to be worldly meditative concentration. Such a state of the mind may be blissful and lucid, but it is bound to eventually return to an ordinary state of distraction and torpor. When the meditative concentration has the nature of reality as its object, it becomes an insight into truth and thus acquires the power of liberation. Such meditative concentration with truth as its object is a transcendent realization of truth and thus is considered to be the supramundane meditative concentration.

Meditative concentration is also divided into three categories:
#Meditative concentration abiding in peace in this life
#Meditative concentration which attains spiritual qualities
#Meditative concentration which works for sentient beings

The first type of meditative concentration is the mundane state of calm abiding. This comes with a blissful and peaceful experience for the meditator but is not instrumental in bringing about liberation, as it lacks insight. The second type is a meditative concentration informed by values and methods which have soteriological efficacy or some additional power to generate supernatural qualities. This type of meditative concentration can lead to supernatural powers such as clairvoyance or astral travel as well as higher qualities of enlightenment. The third type of meditative concentration is used to help sentient beings. The power of concentration helps one to perform miracles and create things which would benefit sentient beings.

The types of meditative concentration promoted in the Mahāyāna tradition are the second and third types, and the perfection of meditative concentration involves the application of a meditative concentration to the realization of the ultimate nature of things. Thus, it is a nonconceptual, open, and blissful cognitive equipoise which is free from all conceptual constructions and mental fabrications.

<h5>Wisdom (''prajñā'', ''ཤེས་རབ་'')</h5>
The last and the most important of the six perfections is the perfection of wisdom. The sūtras on the perfection of wisdom claim that without wisdom none of the five other practices can really become a genuine practice of perfection. Thus, Śāntideva claims that the other perfections are means to the end, which is wisdom, for only wisdom can ultimately eliminate the root of suffering.
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Wisdom, in general, is the capacity for critical thinking and discernment of the way things are. Wisdom refers to the acute sense of judgement and sagacity when juxtaposed with compassion. However, in the specific context of Buddhist study and practice, wisdom refers to the understanding and realization of truth and the nature of reality, such as the knowledge and experience of nonself, impermanence, interdependence, and the emptiness of self-existence. In the Mahāyāna, the perfection of wisdom pertains to the knowledge and realization of the highest truth, the ultimate nature of things, whatever that is conceived to be in the particular tradition.

The Madhyamaka, or the Middle Way school of Nāgārjuna and his followers, such as Candrakīrti, Śāntideva, Śāntarakṣita and Atiśa—the philosophical system with which the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of bodhicitta practice is associated—expounds the perfection of wisdom as the knowledge of the emptiness of all phenomena. Wisdom, in this system, refers to the penetrating insight into the ultimate truth, which is defined as emptiness free from all extremes or fabrications. In their ultimate nature, things are neither existent, nor nonexistent, both, or neither. Ultimate nature is beyond production and cessation, birth and death, time and space, thoughts and words. Śāntideva elucidates this point in the following verse:
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The world exists only on a relative level as mere designations and conventions. On their ultimate level, everything is empty of their own being, and the perfection of wisdom is the knowledge of such emptiness. Such wisdom, then, is cultivated initially through study, then through contemplation, and eventually through meditation. Thus, wisdom is often classified into three categories:
#Wisdom through study
#Wisdom through reflection
#Wisdom through meditation

A practitioner starts the practice of the perfection of wisdom by studying and understanding the ultimate truth of emptiness. The classic texts of the Middle Way school, such as Nāgārjuna's ''Root Verses on the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā''), Candrakīrti's ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Śāntarakṣita's ''Ornament of the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakālaṃkāra''), and Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''), present numerous reductive and analytical arguments to establish the empty nature of all phenomena. Among the many arguments, the following five are known as the great reasoning of the Middle Way. They establish the emptiness of the causes, effects, both causes and effects, the nature of things, and of all aspects of phenomena.
#A vase is empty of true arising because it does not arise from itself, another, both, or nothing.
#A vase is empty of true production because neither an existent effect nor a nonexistent effect, both, or neither is produced.
#A vase is empty of true arising because it neither arises instantly nor arises gradually.
#A vase is empty of true nature because it is without the nature of one or many.
#A vase is empty of true nature because they are dependently originated.

A student of the Middle Way uses these and numerous other logical arguments and analyses to fully understand the emptiness of all things, including emptiness itself. Through persistent study and reflection, a practitioner gains a deep understanding and confidence in the nature of emptiness. With further reflection and familiarization, the practitioner develops a strong conviction that gradually turns into a direct experience and realization of emptiness—the true form of the perfection of wisdom.

Śāntideva's chapter on wisdom in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' presents the cultivation of wisdom through the common Buddhist practice of nonself and the four points of mindfulness.

<h5>Meditation on the Nonself of a Person</h5>
A person on the bodhisattva path must investigate the existence of the self, or "I," to which one is very attached. It is from the mistaken notion of the "I" that the notions of you, he, she, and they arise in contrast to this notion of "I." Such dualistic clinging leads to a like for oneself and what belongs to oneself and a dislike for others. This launches the cycle of attachment, aversion, and other afflictive emotions and actions. It is essential for a practitioner on the path to enlightenment to investigate the existence of the self in order to uproot the cause of samsara. Śāntideva provides the following instructions for such a reductive examination:
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Carrying out such analysis, a practitioner must thoroughly understand the absence of a self, or "I," in all beings. In his ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', Candrakīrti presents the sevenfold reasoning of the chariot to establish the emptiness of self. A chariot does not truly exist because it is not (1) identical, (2) heterogeneous, (3) possessive, (4) the located, (5) the locus, (6) the shape, or (7) the collection of the parts. The chariot is a mere label given to the assembly of the parts with a specific shape and a specific function. There is no real chariot other than the parts, and the parts do not exist other than their own parts. Similarly, a person is a mere designation given to the assembly of psychosomatic constituents in a specific structure performing a specific function. There is no real person, and all things are empty of a self or what belongs to a self. Śāntideva compares the person to a banana plant.
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{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Wandering beings, thus, resemble dreams,
And also the banana tree, if you examine well. (9.150ab)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 158.</ref>
}}
Using such a rigorous analytical approach, a seeker of the perfection of wisdom must study and thoroughly understand the absence or emptiness of the self. The knowledge of nonself is an indispensable and central component of the Buddhist path to enlightenment. In Śāntideva's work and in the Middle Way school in general, such analyses and knowledge is further extended to understand the emptiness of all phenomena through the practice of the four points of mindfulness.

<h4>Mindfulness of the Body</h4>
A practitioner establishes the emptiness of the body by mentally dismembering the body in search of the body that we assume to really exist and that we deeply cherish. Śāntideva instructs a practitioner to look into the parts of the body in order to realize the emptiness of the body. The body does not exist either identical to or different from the parts. The same applies to the parts. He writes:
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The contemplation on the body helps one overcome one of the strongest fetters in existence: the attachment to the body. A bodhisattva must strive to give up attachment to the body and make use of it for the benefit of all sentient beings.

<h4>Mindfulness of Sensation</h4>
Another serious fetter in life is the attachment to pleasure and enjoyable sensations. Sentient beings crave pleasure and indulge in vices for pleasure. They hate pain and engage in negative actions to avoid pain and suffering. Thus, a practitioner of the bodhisattva path must see the empty nature of pleasure and pain. Śāntideva helps the practitioner investigate the experience of pain and pleasure by looking at the cause, effect, and nature of sensation.
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When one examines the nature of sensation, one can see that pain and pleasure are subjective, relative, and impermanent. If pain truly exists, there cannot be pleasure and vice versa. Because they rise and disappear like an illusion, there is no real pain or pleasure. Sensation arises from the encounter of senses and sense objects, but in reality we cannot see such an encounter or contact. One which has already touched cannot come into touch, and one which has not touched cannot contact either. With contact, there cannot be sensation. Similarly, there is no agent or person who can create and feel sensation. Śāntideva states:
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In this manner, the practitioner on the bodhisattva path must contemplate the empty nature of sensation and see all pain and pleasure to be like a magical illusion.

<h4>Mindfulness of the Mind</h4>
Just as there is no real painful or pleasant sensation and feeling, there is no real consciousness or mind. Śāntideva states:
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The mind plays the central role in the Buddhist spiritual system as the root cause and foundation of all things, so much so that Buddhism is often called a science of the mind or an art of mind training. The Buddha has claimed that the mind is the chief and everything is mind-made. In this respect, the knowledge of the emptiness of the mind is the most important form of wisdom. Through realizing the empty nature of the mind, one can realize the emptiness of all phenomena, as all phenomena have their base in the mind.

The meditation on the empty nature of the mind is one of the most important practices in Mahāyāna Buddhism, particularly in the Middle Way school, and there are many different methods and techniques for this meditation. One method is to examine the spatial location of the mind. Buddhist thinkers and mystics argue that this thing called the mind cannot be found within the body, without, or in between. Śāntideva remarks:
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In the Mahāyāna pith instructions on the emptiness of the mind, or what is known as mind-pointing instructions in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the master instructs the disciple to search for the mind inside the body, outside the body, and in between. A practitioner is asked to investigate the spatial location of the mind, only to realize that the mind has no spatial existence or dimension. Similarly, the disciple is made to examine the shape, color, structure, or nature of the mind through an instruction called "the destruction of the mind's structure." Through this the practitioner realizes that the mind does not have concrete existence and is utterly empty of an independent existence.

Not only is the mind or consciousness not found anywhere or in any shape or form, it also does not arise, as it cannot arise before, after, or at the same time as its object. A consciousness has to be conscious of an object, but in reality it cannot be conscious of an object which exists before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness itself. Moreover, if the object that is cognized, such as the body, does not exist, how can the consciousness which cognizes exist, for they are dependent on each other.

In another very popular meditation on the empty nature of the mind, a practitioner examines the temporal existence of mind. The past mind does not exist because it has already ceased to exist, and the future mind cannot exist, as it is yet to be. There is no present mind to be found in any shape or color in between the past and the present. Thus, no mind can be found to truly exist if one carefully examines the case.

The meditation on the empty nature of the mind using different techniques forms the most sacred and powerful practice of the perfection of wisdom in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. More detailed and personalized instructions, often in the form of oral transmissions, are normally sought from individual teachers. Thus, a sketch is presented here, but a practitioner must rely on a specific teacher for proper guidance in following traditional procedures.

<h4>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h4>
The fourth point of mindfulness is the emptiness of all phenomena. Using the same reductive analyses applied to the body, sensation, and mind, a practitioner meditates on the absence of the true existence of all phenomena. One can use the great reasonings of the Middle Way to cultivate the understanding of the empty nature of all phenomena or use some other arguments and methods. There are also many other techniques, particularly those belonging to the Vajrayāna tradition, such as completion stage practices, dream yoga, luminosity practice, and meditation on empty form in the Kālacakra, Mahāmudrā, and Dzogchen traditions, which are powerful methods to realize the emptiness of all phenomena.

The most common and persuasive method found in the literature of the Middle Way school to establish the emptiness of all phenomena is the reasoning of dependent origination. All phenomena lack self-existence because they are either dependently produced (e.g., a plant from a seed, soil, moisture, and heat) or dependently conceived (e.g., the concept "here" and "there"). Śāntideva aptly demonstrates this through the example of a parent and a child.
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He goes on to state that the mind which analyzes and the phenomena which it investigates are also mutually dependent and therefore in reality without true independent existence. Thus, just as the mind did not exist, all phenomena which it takes as its object also do not exist. They are assumed to exist based on convention.
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<h4>Freedom from All Fabrications</h4>
Using numerous logical arguments containing a rigorous reductive analysis, a practitioner contemplates how the body, sensation, mind, and, for that matter, all phenomena do not exist in real terms. The external world of matter is made up of atoms, and the internal world of consciousness is made up of moments of cognitive flashes and impulses. Yet, if one investigates the atoms and moments of consciousness using the reductive process of examination, they cannot be found to truly exist. In the same way, neither can any process of production, cessation, coming, going, etc. be found to exist. We assume everything to exist on a conventional level for transactional purposes, but nothing exists on the ultimate level when thoroughly examined. Not even "nothing" exists.

The initial focus of the meditation on emptiness should be to negate existence because sentient beings are fraught with the notion that things really exist and are either attached or averse to them. After clinging to things as real, they give rise to defiling emotions such as attachment and fear, which in turn leads to negative actions and suffering. Thus, the practitioners must put their initial emphasis on establishing that things are empty of inherent self-existence or real nature. Much of the logical procedures and meditation instructions focus on eliminating the notion of existence, establishing that all phenomena are empty of real existence, and revealing/concluding that all empirical experiences are like magical illusions and reflections in a mirror. They appear but are empty of real existence.

After one has negated the notion of existence and grasped the emptiness of things, it is also important to go beyond emptiness, for emptiness is also unreal and only a relative concept. How can there be nonexistence without existence? Just as there is no father without a child or here without there, emptiness is dependent on the nonempty. If the nonexistent does not exist, emptiness can't exist either. In this way, a practitioner drops both the notion of existence and nonexistence, being and nonbeing, is and is not, the nonempty and empty, production and nonproduction, etc.

In the final ontology of the Middle Way, one must reject any instances of a real existence, nonexistence, both, or neither. A practitioner must transcend all four mental fabrications of being, nonbeing, both and neither. Everything, including emptiness itself, is utterly empty and nonapprehensible, akin to the bare, clear openness of space. Only when the mind is free from fixation on a thing, non-thing, or neither does it naturally rest in its true state of peace, free from the slightest tension, stress, and apprehension. Only then can one effectively cut through the habitual propensities for self-love, attachment, hatred, stupidity, jealousy, etc.

It is said in ''The King of Meditation Absorption Sūtra'' (''Samādhirājasūtra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is "existence" and "nonexistence" are both extremes; so are "purity" and "impurity" extremes. Therefore, abandoning the extremes of both, the wise surely should not abide even in the middle.<ref>''yod dang med ces bya ba gnyi ga mtha<i>'</i>''/ /''gtsang dang mi gtsang 'di yang mtha' yin te''/ /''de phyir gnyis ka'i mtha' ni rnam spangs nas''/ /''mkhas pa dbus la'ang gnas par yong mi byed''/ /. See ''Samādhirājasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos thams cad kyi rang bzhin mnyam pa nyid rnam par spros pa ting nge 'dzin gyi rgyal po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D127, mdo sde, vol. 55, da, fol. 27a. http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0127.</ref>
}}
In the ultimate meditation on wisdom, the practitioner immerses him or herself into a deep experience of emptiness with no sense of engagement or withdrawal, acceptance or rejection, likes or dislikes, pleasure or pain. During the postmeditation state, the practitioner is constantly aware of the illusory nature of things. Sustained practice of such meditation on emptiness and postmeditation awareness, Śāntideva points out, would not only help the person face the ups and downs of life with the same level of ease and equanimity but also induces an intense surge of compassion for the beings who are drowning in the sea of suffering. It inspires one to work evermore to free other beings who are caught in the prison of ignorance, mistakenly holding illusory and empty things to be real. Just as compassion for other beings leads to developing the wisdom to see things as they really are, wisdom and insight into the true nature of things helps enhance the vigor of compassion for all beings, thereby having wisdom and compassion mutually strengthen each other.
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Practice/Bodhicitta in Practice

2026-03-12T15:30:06Z

SimonH:

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{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Phuntsho, Karma
|sub-theme=Bodhicitta in Practice
|watermark=Practice
|TermTopics=Debate; Compassion
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|text=Bodhicitta—the altruistic intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings—is essential in Mahāyāna Buddhist practice. It is regarded as the defining motivation that transforms any spiritual activity into a genuine Mahāyāna path. Without bodhicitta, progress toward buddhahood is considered impossible. Cultivating bodhicitta involves reflection, meditation, ethical conduct, and guidance from qualified teachers, and is formalized through the bodhisattva vow. Its continual practice is seen as the foundation and driving force for all Mahāyāna spiritual development.
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<h2>[[The Bodhicitta Prayer]]</h2>
<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་མཆོག་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">May the sublime and precious bodhicitta</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">མ་སྐྱེས་པ་རྣམས་སྐྱེས་གྱུར་ཅིག །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">Arise in those in whom it has not arisen.</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">སྐྱེས་པ་ཉམས་པ་མེད་པར་ཡང་། །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">Where it has arisen, may it never decline</div>

<div class="tibetan-classic-unicode carnelian pb-4" style="font-size: 35pt;">གོང་ནས་གོང་དུ་འཕེལ་བར་ཤོག །</div>
<div class="font-size-20pt" style="color: #1e3a5f;">But grow and flourish more and more.</div>

<h2>Introduction</h2>

The application of bodhicitta in practice is central to the Mahāyāna pursuit of full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. According to Mahāyāna masters, bodhicitta is a prerequisite for a practice or path to qualify as a Mahāyāna path leading to the state of a fully awakened buddha. Only when the practice is motivated or informed by bodhicitta (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་རྩིས་ཟིན་པ་'') can it be considered as a bona fide part of the Mahāyāna path. Thus, the masters strongly recommend the cultivation of the altruistic thought of bodhicitta before beginning any project or activity. This is because, in the Buddhist system, the moral value of an action is determined by the quality of intention or the state of the mind.

Buddhist masters teach that mind can be in any of the three states:
#A virtuous state with positive thoughts and emotions, such as thirst for knowledge, devotion, compassion, love, etc.
#A nonvirtuous state with negative thoughts and emotions, such as arrogance, hatred, jealousy, etc.
#A neutral state with neither positive nor negative states of mind.

Furthermore, the virtuous mind can be of three types:
#An inferior mind wishing happiness and well-being in this mundane world.
#A middling mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness, fulfillment, and freedom beyond the ordinary world.
#A superior mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness for all sentient beings.

This last superior mind is bodhicitta and the one recommended by the Mahāyāna masters before beginning any project or activity.

Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, a twentieth-century teacher of bodhicitta, thus writes in ''The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta'' (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་རིན་ཆེན་སྒྲོན་མ''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Should one launch something, launch with bodhicitta.
Should one think of something, think of bodhicitta.
Should one analyze something, analyze with bodhicitta.
Should one examine something, examine with bodhicitta. (v. 98)<ref>''brtsam na byang chub sems las brtsam''// ''bsam na byang chub sems nyid bsam''// ''dpyad na byang chub sems su dpyad''// ''brtag na byang chub sems la brtag''//. Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, ''Byang chub sems kyi bstod pa rin chen sgron ma'' (Dharamsala: Dga' ldan pho brang, 2018), 29, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW8LS66303.</ref>
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Patrul Rinpoche, a paragon of bodhicitta practice in nineteenth-century Tibet, also proclaimed in his ''Aspiration to Generate Bodhicitta'' (''བསྐལ་མང་གོང་ནས་སོགས་''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If present, this alone is sufficient for reaching buddhahood.
If this is absent, one is handicapped in reaching buddhahood.
May I generate this pure thought of awakening,
The unmistaken seed of buddhahood. (v. 6)<ref>''yod na sangs rgyas sgrub la des chog cing''/ /''med na sangs rgyas sgrub la thabs chags pa''/ /''sangs rgyas 'grub pa'i sa bon ma nor ba''/ /''rnam dag byang chub sems mchog bskyed par shog''. See Patrul Rinpoche, ''Bskal mang gong nas sogs'', in Gsung 'bum o rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003), 8: 356, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW24829_B101CB.</ref>
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In the beginning, a practitioner must cultivate the mind (''cittotpāda'') of awakening through a concerted effort by taking the bodhisattva vow repeatedly, engaging in the various contemplative techniques, receiving teachings on bodhicitta and bodhisattva practices, and utilizing other methods. Gradually, one would become accustomed to thinking of bodhicitta, which would also become stronger and constant. When bodhicitta naturally arises without effort, a person is said to have formally become a bodhisattva. Thus, Jigme Lingpa said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is more important to have the supreme mind naturally arise than to consciously cultivate it.<ref>Jigme Lingpa, ''Yon tan rin po che'i mdzod kyi rgya cher 'grel pa bden gnyis shing rta rgyu mtshan nyid kyi theg pa'i skor'', in Gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa (Gangtok, Sikkim: Sonam T. Kazi, 1970–75), 1: 246b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1KG10193_E90C9C.</ref>
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However, a beginner must make a contrived effort to generate bodhicitta, firstly by cultivating the aspiring bodhicitta and then by engaging in the practice of engaged bodhicitta. Śāntideva presents the distinction between the two in the following verses from his text ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''):
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{{PullBcaVerses|1.16}}
One must first have the thought to take all sentient beings to the state of the Buddha just as one must first have the thought to go to Bodh Gaya before one starts the journey. Having generated the strong motivation to take all sentient beings to buddhahood, one must then engage in the actual paths and practices which lead them to the goal. The bodhisattva road consists of a long and arduous practice of the six perfections: giving, discipline, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom. These six topics cover the entire range of practices a person must take up as a bodhisattva to reach buddhahood. They also include the practice of both relative bodhicitta, or the moral mental resolve to take all sentient beings to the state of full awakening, and ultimate bodhicitta, which is the deep understanding and experience of the ultimate nature of all things.

<h2>Generating Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Vow</h2>
A beginner on the Mahāyāna path cultivates the thought of awakening by repeatedly wishing to take all sentient beings as vast as space to the unsurpassed, complete, and perfect state of the Buddha. To formally confirm such desire and express it as a commitment, a beginner undertakes the confirmation of the thought of awakening through a ritual of oath-taking. The first step in the procedure of such a ritual, and in fact in the general Buddhist process of self-transformation, is the reflection on the wonderful physical and psychological conditions one possesses as an able human being.

<h3>Physical Support</h3>
The meditation or reflection on the rarity and preciousness of humanhood is the first topic of meditation in almost all Tibetan Buddhist traditions when one starts a practice or meditation program. One must reflect, from different perspectives, on how humanhood, with its unique freedoms and advantages, is hard to find, and how it is a precious opportunity to seek enlightenment. Human existence offers a powerful combination of rational thinking and emotional capacity, creating ideal conditions to pursue the end of suffering and attain ultimate happiness.

Buddhist texts present the following hypothetical analogy to illustrate this rarity. Suppose a blind turtle lives at the bottom of an ocean and comes to the surface only once every hundred years. Meanwhile, floating on the ocean's surface is a wooden yoke being constantly swayed by the waves. Human birth, it is argued, is rarer than the chance of this turtle, during its brief surface visit, happening to put its neck directly through this floating yoke. Using such examples and many other methods, one is made to see the preciousness of human birth.

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Such a human state is not only rare and precious but very fragile. As such, one should meditate on the certainty of death and the uncertainty of when and how it will come. A student carries out meditation on the impermanence of life in order to cherish momentary existence and urgently make the best use of it. Meditation on the rarity of human existence and its impermanent nature is often followed by meditation on the law of cause and effect and the flaws of the cycle of existence, also known as samsara. If one does not take advantage of this fleeting human state to break the cycle of rebirth, one is bound to follow the law of cause and effect, and given the negative actions accumulated in innumerable lifetimes in the past, one is bound to remain trapped in this cycle of existence, which is filled with misery and pain. These four points of meditation, which often constitute the first set of topics for meditation in Tibetan Buddhism, are known as the four points of mind turning (''བློ་ལྡོག་རྣམ་པ་བཞི་''), as they turn one's mind away from the cycle of ordinary existence and are considered to be foundational practices on the spiritual path.

<h3>Mental Support</h3>
Along with holding dear the precious state of humanhood, one must also cherish and take advantage of the brief mental moments of positive thought and moral growth. Śāntideva writes in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
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In the chaos of samsara, with its endless mundane preoccupations and unrelenting ignorance, it is rare to have clear virtuous thoughts. If they happen to occur briefly through the blessings of the Buddha, they fade away as quickly as they appear. Thus, it is important to grasp the opportunities when they appear.

Among the various kinds of virtuous thoughts, righteous ''faith'' is fundamental for generating the thought of awakening. It is important to have faith and trust in the Buddha, his teachings, and those following his teachings with proper understanding. Above all, it is important to develop faith and trust in the state of enlightenment, or buddhahood, in the noble qualities and characteristics buddhahood comes with, and in the compassionate engagements of the bodhisattvas. It is mainly through such faith and the knowledge gained through study, reflection, and teachings that one would seriously take up the project of generating the thought of awakening. Thus, the Buddha advises in ''The Dhāraṇī Spell of the Jewel Torch'' (''Ratnolkādhāraṇī''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Having faith in the Buddha and the qualities of the Buddha,
In the conducts of the heirs of the Buddha,
And in the unsurpassed state of enlightenment,
The superior beings generate the thought of enlightenment.

Faith is a prerequisite, like a mother who nurtures.
It protects and enhances good qualities.<ref>''Ratnolkādhāraṇī'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa dkon mchog ta la la'i gzungs zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D145, mdo sde, vol. 57, pa, fol. 63b, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0145.</ref>
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Citing such verses, a teacher often elaborates on the benefits of having faith and its crucial role in spiritual transformation with the aim of helping a student generate faith in the teacher, teachings, paths, and results. There is a popular Tibetan saying that goes: "For the hook of the Buddha's compassion to catch hold, sentient beings need the ring of faith." Another popular Buddhist statement found in ''The Sūtra of Ten Dharmas'' (''Daśadharmakasūtra'') says, "A person without faith cannot give rise to positive things just as a burnt seed won't produce a green sprout."<ref>''dad pa med pa'i mi la ni''/ /''dkar po'i chos rnams mi skye ste''/ /''me yis sa bon tshig rnams la''/ /''myu gu sngon po ji bzhin no''//. See ''Daśadharmakasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos bcu pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D53, dkon brtsegs, vol. 40, kha, fol. 166a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0053. See also ''Mañjuśrī Root Tantra'' (''Āryamañjuśrīmūlatantra'', ''<i>'</i>Phags pa 'jam dpal gyi rtsa ba'i rgyud'', in Derge Kangyur D543, rgyud, vol. 88, na, fol. 159b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ5369_0543.</ref>

A more specific faith required in this case is the faith and trust in the value and merits of the thought of awakening so that one would seek it earnestly. For this reason, many sūtras and masters like Śāntideva extol the power of bodhicitta as a source of incredible merit and benefit. It is recommended that a student repeatedly reflect on the merits of bodhicitta and generate great interest in and high regard for the thought of awakening, resulting in a strong enthusiasm to cultivate it.

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|caption=Geshe Kelsang Wangmo: <em>Buddhism Says Don't Have Faith? The Radical Teaching That Changes Everything</em>
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Another fundamental emotion one must cherish and cultivate as a condition for the thought of awakening is ''compassion'', an intense wish to free all sentient beings from suffering and the causes of suffering. Compassion is considered to be the root of the thought of awakening, which is defined as having the two components of compassion and wisdom. Compassion feels the suffering of sentient beings, and wisdom understands the perfect state of the Buddha as the ultimate freedom from suffering. Students are instructed to cultivate compassion, and teachers use different methods, including storytelling, as a way to engender compassion and convince students of its spiritual efficacy and power.<ref>(Read about the power of compassion through Asaṅga's story).</ref> Motivated by the intense compassion to deliver sentient beings from suffering and the deep faith in buddhahood as the ultimate state of deliverance, one must have an earnest wish to seek the state of the Buddha.

<h3>Preceptorial Support</h3>
Just as a person on a long and arduous journey to an unknown place needs a good guide, it is vital to have a knowledgeable and experienced teacher to guide the student on the spiritual path to enlightenment. Such a spiritual master is often called a ''kalyāṇamitra'', or virtuous friend. In ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' (''Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra''), the Buddha compares such a master to a mother who gives birth, a father who attends to the child's welfare, a nanny who constantly looks after the child, a guide who shows the path, a doctor who heals, a guard who protects, etc.<ref>''rigs kyi bu khyod kyis bdag la ni nad par 'du shes bskyed do''/ /''dge ba'i bshes gnyen la ni sman pa'i 'du shes dang''/ ''gdams ngag la ni sman gyi 'du shes dang''/ ''nan tan nyams su blang ba la ni nad 'tsho ba'i 'du shes bskyed par bya'o''/. ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' makes up the lengthy final chapter of ''The Sūtra of the Ornament of the Buddhas'' (''Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipūlyasūtra''). For this passage, see ''Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtrāt gaṇḍavyūhasūtraḥ paṭalaḥ'' (''Shin tu rgyas pa chen po'i mdo sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las sdong pos brgyan pa'i le'u ste bzhi bcu rtsa''), in Derge Kangyur D44, phal chen, vol. 38, nga, fol. 286b–287a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/WA0RK0044-45.</ref>

Many Buddhist writings discuss the qualities and character of a spiritual teacher, how to find and follow such a teacher, and the numerous benefits of following the teacher. In ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', Śāntideva describes the teacher for someone on the Mahāyāna path as having two qualities.
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A teacher must be very learned in the Mahāyāna system and also practice the path with integrity. Maitreya describes the Mahāyāna teacher as having nine qualities in ''The Ornament of Mahāyāna Sūtra'' (''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Follow a teacher who is disciplined, gentle and fully at peace,
Who has superior qualities, diligence, and knowledge of scriptures,
Who has realized the truth, and is skilled in speech,
And one who is an epitome of love, and indefatigable.<ref>Maitreya, ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā'' (''Theg pa chen po mdo sde'i rgyan zhes bya ba'i tshig le'ur byas pa''), in Derge Tengyur D4020, sems tsam, vol. 123, phi, fol. 25b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_4020.</ref>
}}

As one begins the process of a bodhicitta practice, it is important to have a teacher for the ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow. In ''The Compendium of Training'' (''Śikṣāsamuccaya''), Śāntideva highly recommends having a teacher bestow the bodhisattva vow in person, as such a presence would strengthen the process of taking the vow and also subsequently help one to observe the precepts carefully. If one cannot find or access a teacher who can administer the vows, one can either take the vow in the presence of holy shrines and objects or by visualizing the buddhas and bodhisattvas before oneself. However, this is more difficult for a beginner, particularly when carrying out the ritual according to the Vast Conduct tradition, in which the process of granting the vow for the engaged bodhicitta is mainly composed of reading out the lines for oath-taking by a preceptor or officiant. Thus, having a teacher is important for the process of taking the bodhisattva vow, but the role of the teacher extends beyond the initial ritual of taking the vow and spans the entire journey to perfect enlightenment.

As one greatly benefits from the presence and guidance of a teacher, one can have many teachers, as did Sudhana, the son of a merchant whose story is told in ''The Stem Array Sūtra''. Instructed by Mañjuśrī, Sudhana travels from place to place seeking 110 teachers before he arrives in the presence of Maitreya. Like the case of Sudhana, the teachers guide the student on the spiritual path throughout the entire journey, and the student must follow the teacher with great devotion and trust. In ''The Stem Array Sūtra'', the young man Śrīsambhava and the girl Śrīmati give Sudhana a long discourse on the benefits of following a teacher and the manner in which one must follow a teacher. They advise Sudhana to see himself as a sick person, the teacher as a doctor, the teachings as medicine, and the adoption of the teachings into practice as the treatment leading to the cure.<ref>''Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtrāt gaṇḍavyūhasūtraḥ paṭalaḥ'' (''Shin tu rgyas pa chen po'i mdo sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las sdong pos brgyan pa'i le'u ste bzhi bcu rtsa''), in Derge Kangyur, D44, phal chen, vol. 38, a, fol. 287a, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/WA0RK0044-45.</ref> This is one of the most powerful similes to illustrate one's relationship with a teacher.

<h3>The Procedure for Taking the Vow</h3>
There are two different Mahāyāna traditions for the ritual of administering and taking the bodhisattva vow. One is the ritual adopted in the Profound View tradition (ཟབ་མོ་ལྟ་བརྒྱུད་, pronounced "Zabmo Tagyu") coming down from Nāgārjuna and his followers, and the other is the ritual passed down in the Vast Conduct (རྒྱ་ཆེན་སྤྱོད་བརྒྱུད་, pronounced "Gyachen Chogyu" or "Gyachen Chopegyu") tradition from Maitreya, Asaṅga, and their followers. While the two traditions share the overall framework of the oath-taking ritual, the liturgies and fine points of procedures vary between them. Today, verses from the second and third chapter of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' are used commonly as the standard liturgy for the bodhisattva vow ritual in the Profound View tradition. This procedure is based on what was practiced in the old Kadam tradition and later promoted by Patrul Rinpoche.

The Vast Conduct tradition uses a different set of recitations in prose to take the vow of aspiring bodhicitta and a set of questions and answers for the engaged bodhicitta vow as passed down from Atiśa. Kongtrul Lodoe Taye presents detailed liturgies and explanations for both traditions in the third volume of his ''Treasury of Precious Instructions'' (''གདམས་ངག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད་'').<ref>(Provide links to Kongtruls's texts here and Engle and Jinpa's translation).</ref>

{{Standout|'''An example of a text for taking the vow can be found here:'''
:[[Articles/The_Ritual_for_the_Bodhisattva_Vow_Arranged_according_to_the_Tradition_of_Patrul_Rinpoche_(Chatral_Rinpoche_2008)|༄༅། །བྱང་སྡོམ་བླང་ཆོག་དཔལ་སྤྲུལ་གསུང་རྒྱུན་ལྟར་བཀོད་པ་བཞུགས་སོ། །]]
:[[Articles/The_Ritual_for_the_Bodhisattva_Vow_Arranged_according_to_the_Tradition_of_Patrul_Rinpoche_(Chatral_Rinpoche_2008)|The Ritual for the Bodhisattva Vow]]
:Arranged According to the Tradition of Patrul Rinpoche
:by Chatral Rinpoche}}

<h4>The Seven-Limb Prayer</h4>
The actual act of taking the bodhisattva vow is normally preceded by the seven-limb practice, which includes prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting to teach, requesting to live long, and dedication of merits. This standard ritual of worship is said to help the candidate gain the required karmic merit and overcome obstacles so as to become a ready recipient of the bodhisattva vow. The verses from ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions"'' (''Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarāja'') are widely used as a chant for carrying out the seven-limb prayer.

In order to conduct the bodhisattva vow ritual, one should first set up a physical shrine with a clean and beautiful array of offering materials, such as water, flowers, incense, food, etc., and bless them with mantras for offerings. One may also visualize such a shrine and the range of offerings. The buddhas, bodhisattvas, and all enlightened and righteous spiritual beings are then invited to the sacred space to bestow the bodhisattva vow.

<h5>1. Prostration</h5>
The practice of prostration is carried out mentally with or without physical prostration and is often accompanied by chanting verses. A practitioner normally does a simple prostration of devotion to the buddhas and bodhisattvas by bowing down and touching the ground with one's forehead, palms, and knees. One imagines that one's negativities of the body, speech, and mind, and the five poisons of ignorance, attachment, aversion, jealousy, and pride are cleansed as one bows down, and the blessings of the enlightened body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities of the Buddha are received when one stands up.

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In a more advanced practice of prostration, one can mentally multiply one's body into countless numbers and make prostrations to buddhas in all directions. The highest form of prostration is said to be the practice of making prostration with no fixed concept or notion of the subject making the prostration, the object to whom the prostration is made, and the actual action of prostration. Everything is seen as an illusory flux with no self-existence, like a dream.

<h5>2. Offering</h5>
Prostration is followed by the practice of offerings. One can set up an array of offerings of actual things one possesses, including food, drinks, flowers, incense, etc. One can also make offerings of beautiful lands, waterfalls, streams, birds, flowers, jewels, riches, and other pleasant things which exist in the world but are not personally owned. In addition, one can make offerings of wonderful things through visualization, such as offerings of celestial showers or feasts to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The magnificent offerings, real or imaginary, can be further multiplied to fill the universe in all directions.

A common all-inclusive offering is the offering of the ''maṇḍala'', or the universe with all the riches and pleasant objects in it. A practitioner visualizes the entire universe by making a hand gesture of it or by holding a replica of the world as presented in the ancient Indian cosmology. There are short and long versions of liturgies for making the maṇḍala offering.

Śāntideva also provides verses to make the offering of one's body, possessions, and virtues. He mentions these three sets of one's possessions or belongings in both his works, ''The Compendium of Training'' and ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''. Śāntideva emphatically encourages the aspiring bodhisattva to give away these possessions—which are the main objects of attachment and the main cause of self-centricity and its corollary problems—for the sake of all sentient beings. The offering of one's body, enjoyments, and virtues comprise the giving away of the most cherished physical and psychological properties.

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<h5>3. Confession</h5>
Offering, which helps one accrue karmic merit, is followed by the practice of confession, which removes the karmic impurities that can obstruct the cultivation of the thought of awakening. Using various texts such as ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps'' (''Triskandhakasūtra''), ''General Confessions'' (''སྤྱི་བཤགས་''), and verses from chapter 2 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', one must confess and make amends for one's bodily, verbal, and mental wrongdoings, which include committing sinful actions or violating a precept one has promised to observe.

The confession must possess the four characteristics known as the ''four powers'' to become effective: intense remorse, sincere restoration, remedial action, and reliable support.

<h5>4. Rejoicing</h5>
The fourth limb of the practice is to rejoice in the good works of both oneself and others. From the enlightened activities of the buddhas of the three times and the virtuous activities of all saints to the wholesome deeds of all beings, one must feel proud of them and truly rejoice in them. Rejoicing in good works is considered to be an easy way to gain merit.

<h5>5. Requesting to Teach</h5>
It is the light of Dharma that is required to clear ignorance, the root cause of suffering. Yet, the teachers are reluctant to teach without earnest interest from the students, as the truth is profound and sentient beings are generally preoccupied with vanity. Thus, in the manner of Brahmā and Indra requesting the Buddha to stop his silence after his enlightenment and teach, a student must request the buddhas and teachers to teach or turn the wheel of Dharma.

<h5>6. Requesting to Live Long</h5>
The Buddha is said to have extended his life after receiving the request to live longer. As the existence in samsara is marred with pain and suffering, the enlightened beings who have attained the power to transcend the ordinary cycle of rebirth are said to often choose to exit from worldly existence and enter nirvana. Thus, the buddhas and masters are requested to not enter the state of nirvana but to remain in the world for the benefit of sentient beings.

<h5>7. Dedication</h5>
Finally, one takes the merit accumulated from the six above-mentioned practices and all the other merit one has accumulated and dedicates that to the welfare of sentient beings. This is done with the following prayer: "May these virtuous actions help sentient beings reach the complete and perfect state of the Buddha."
The seven-limb prayer is often carried out by chanting the verses from ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions,"''<ref>See Rigpa Translations, trans., ''The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra's "Aspiration to Good Actions"'' (''Zangchö Mönlam'') (Lotsawa House 1996), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/words-of-the-buddha/samantabhadra-aspiration-good-actions.</ref> which are taken from ''The Stem Array Sūtra'' from the Buddhāvataṃsaka collection. The verses from chapter 2 and 3 of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' are also used as a liturgy for conducting the seven-limb prayer.

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<div class="col-md-6">{{YouTube
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<h4>Mind Training</h4>
Having accumulated the required resources of merit and having removed the obstacles through the seven-limb prayer, one then prepares the state of one's mind. Just as a field is tilled to prepare it for planting, one makes one's mind conducive and pliable for the cultivation of bodhicitta.

There is a wide range of practices for mind training before and after taking the bodhisattva vow. Here, Patrul Rinpoche adopts the earnest arousal of the ''four immeasurable thoughts'' to prepare the mindset. They are loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, which are cultivated through the following wishes respectively.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May all sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all sentient beings be never separated from sacred joy.
May all sentient beings be free from attachment, aversion, partiality and abide in great equanimity.
}}
Following the cultivation of these four immeasurable thoughts, one must also cultivate the strong resolve to forsake everything for the sake of all sentient beings. One can chant the following verse and verses 12–22 of chapter 3 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
{{PullBcaVerses|3.11}}

<h4>The Actual Taking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h4>
There are two sets of liturgies for the actual taking of the bodhisattva vow passed down from the two main Mahāyāna traditions. Today, the Profound View tradition mainly uses the verses from chapter 2 and 3 of Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', while the Vast Conduct tradition uses lines from Atiśa's ''Ritual Procedures for the Generation of the Mind and Vows'' (''Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama'').<ref>See Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, ''Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama'' (''Sems bskyed pa dang sdom pa'i cho ga'i rim pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3969, dbu ma, vol.112, gi, fols. 245a2–248b2, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3969. For an English translation of the text (with Wylie), see Richard Sherburne, trans., ''The Complete Works of Atīśa, Śrī Dīpaṁkara Jñāna, jo-bo-rje: The Lamp for the Path and Commentary, Together with the Newly Translated Twenty-five Key Texts'' (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2003), 536–51.</ref>

Although in some practices the ritual of taking refuge is added to the seven-limb prayer, making it an eight-limb prayer, as we find in the case of Śāntideva's and Atiśa's texts, most traditions have the verse for taking refuge chanted just before taking the bodhisattva vow. In this way, one takes the vow of refuge as well as the bodhisattva vow in one session.

In the Profound View tradition, the vows for both aspiring and engaged bodhicitta are taken in one session, while in the Vast Conduct tradition the two types of bodhisattva vows are taken separately. In the former tradition, the presence of a physical teacher is not essential, although that is preferred and highly recommended. In the latter tradition, as the second vow of engaged bodhicitta is taken mainly through a Q&A, there is a need for an officiant in person. The former also does not require a human birth as a precondition, and nonhuman beings such as gods and nāgas can get the bodhisattva vow. However, the Vast Conduct tradition argues that the bodhisattva vow must be based on general Buddhist ''prātimokṣa'' vows, which only a human can take.

<h5>Liturgy in the Profound View Tradition</h5>
In order to take the vows, one must first ask the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the great teachers to pay attention to the request, stating,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=All buddhas, transcendent and accomplished conquerors, residing in the ten directions, bodhisattva great beings abiding on the ten levels (''bhūmi''s), and great guru vajra-holders, please consider me.<ref>''phyogs bcu na bzhugs pa'i sangs rgyas bcom ldan 'das thams cad dang''/ ''sa bcu la gnas pa'i byang chub sems dpa' sems dpa' chen po rnams dang''/ ''bla ma rdo rje 'dzin pa chen po rnams bdag la dgongs su gsol''/. For the Tibetan text, see Chatral Rinpoche, ''Byang sdoms blang chog dpal sprul gsung rgyun ltar bkod'', in Gsung 'bum, Bya bral sangs rgyas rdo rje (Taiwan: Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 2017), 2: 215, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ354420. See also, Rigpa Translations, trans., "The Ritual for the Bodhisattva Vow: Arranged According to the Tradition of Patrul Rinpoche," by Chatral Rinpoche (Lotsawa House, 2008), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/chatral-rinpoche/bodhisattva-vow-patrul-tradition.</ref>
}}
With an exceptional motivation to save all sentient beings from suffering, one takes refuge in the exceptional objects, including the buddhas, their teachings, and the sangha community of enlightened bodhisattvas, for an exceptional duration—that is, until one reaches enlightenment. With such an attitude, one chants the following verse from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three times:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.26}}
This is followed by the verses to take the two types of bodhisattva vows: the vow of aspiring bodhicitta and that of engaged bodhicitta. The vow of aspiring bodhicitta is the pledge to attain the resultant buddhahood, while the vow of engaged bodhicitta is said to be the pledge to engage in the path leading to buddhahood. In the tradition coming down from Asaṅga, the vows for aspiring bodhicitta and engaged bodhicitta are taken separately and have different prerequisites. However, in Śāntideva's tradition presented here, vows for both are taken simultaneously. The following verses from chapter 3 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' are chanted three times, and one obtains vows for both aspiring and engaged bodhicitta at the end of the third recitation. At the end of the third recitation, one must mentally think one has received the vow.
{{PullBcaVerses|3.23}}
{{PullBcaVerses|3.24}}

<h5>Liturgy in the Vast Conduct Tradition</h5>
The Vast Conduct tradition has a different procedure and different liturgies for administering the aspiring and engaged bodhicitta vows separately. Below are the core parts of the liturgies which the officiant must read out three times and have the recipient of the vow repeat or respond to.

<h5>Core Liturgy for the Aspiring Bodhicitta</h5>
The officiant chants the following lines three times and has the recipient of the vow repeat after him or her.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By means of whatever roots of virtue having the nature of generosity, morality, or meditation that I, who am named so-and-so, have performed in any of my various past lives, that I induced others to perform, or that I have rejoiced at when they were performed by others, just as the former tathāgatas, arhats, and true and complete buddhas, as well as the bodhisattvas who are great beings that reside on the great ārya bodhisattva stages, generated the mind that aspires to attain unsurpassed true and complete enlightenment, I, too, who am named so-and-so, from this moment on until I reach the seat of enlightenment, generate the mind that aspires to attain unsurpassed true and complete great enlightenment.

I shall deliver those who have not been delivered;
I shall liberate those who have not been liberated;
I shall provide relief to those who are without relief;
and I shall establish all beings who have not attained complete
nirvana in that state of complete nirvana.<ref>Artemus Engle, trans., ''Kadam: Stages of the Path, Mind Training, and Esoteric Practice, Part 1'', vol. 3 of The Treasury of Precious Instructions: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet, comp. Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2024), 462.</ref>
}}

<h5>Core Liturgy for the Engaged Bodhicitta</h5>
The liturgy for taking the engaged bodhicitta vow in the Vast Conduct tradition contains many questions and answers in order to prepare and confirm the conviction of the practitioner before taking the actual vow. The following lines are only the core and final part of the recitation which the officiant must say three times and the recipient of the vow must respond to affirmatively.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Then, the spiritual teacher should ask:

O son or daughter of good family who is named so-and-so, do you accept from me, a spiritual teacher and bodhisattva who is named so-and-so, all of the bodhisattva precepts and all of the bodhisattva morality—namely, the morality of restraint, the morality of acquiring virtuous qualities, and the morality of acting on behalf of sentient beings—those precepts and that morality that have been observed by all the bodhisattvas of the past, those precepts and that morality that shall be observed by all the bodhisattvas of the future, and those precepts and that morality that currently are being observed by all the bodhisattvas of the present throughout the ten directions, those precepts and that morality with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the past have trained themselves, with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the future shall train themselves, and with regard to which all the bodhisattvas of the present are training themselves?

The disciples should receive the vow by answering:

I do accept all of them.<ref>Engle, ''Kadam'', 483.</ref>
}}

<h4>Concluding Procedures</h4>

<h5>Rejoicing Oneself</h5>
Having received the bodhisattva vows, one rejoices in the achievement, reflecting on how one has made human birth meaningful and how one has been reborn in the family of buddhas. One thinks, it is astounding if a blind man scavenging in a heap of rubbish finds the most precious jewel; It is equally astounding for an ordinary person blind with ignorance to find the thought of awakening, which is the jewel of the mind, in the midst of one's afflictive emotions and thoughts.

<h5>Asking Others to Rejoice</h5>
One then chants the verse, asking all other beings to also rejoice in this achievement. With the buddhas as witnesses, one invites all beings as guests to the great offering of the ultimate state of the Buddha and all other kinds of happiness in the interim. The ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow is concluded with prayers for bodhicitta to grow and flourish and for the fulfillment of one's bodhisattva aspiration and project. (link to the verse).

<h5>Making Offerings in Gratitude</h5>
The ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow, especially if it is done for the first time in the presence of a master, would also include the offering of gifts as a token of gratitude. Such an act of offering is undertaken at the end of almost all important sessions of receiving teachings or vows and may involve cash or other gift items. The ceremony of taking the vow will normally end with verses for the dedication of merit like any other Mahāyāna session.

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<h2>Protecting Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Precepts</h2>

<h3>The Discipline of Abstaining from Misdeeds</h3>
The practice of bodhisattva moral discipline after taking the bodhisattva vow is often presented in three categories.
# The discipline of abstaining from misdeeds
# The discipline of gathering virtue
# The discipline of working for the welfare of sentient beings

The discipline of abstaining from misdeeds includes the moral precepts a bodhisattva must follow and the major and minor transgressions, known as downfalls in the Buddhist vocabulary. These are listed below. The second and third discipline concern things a bodhisattva should do and will be covered in subsequent sections.

<h4>Precepts for Aspiring Bodhicitta</h4>
One must avoid the four dark dharmas and follow the four white dharmas taught in ''The Jewel Heap Sūtra'' (''Ratnakūṭasūtra'').

Don'ts
#Cheat the venerable ones, including teachers
#Make someone with no regret regret a good deed
#Defame a noble being such as a bodhisattva
#Deceive sentient beings

Dos
#Tell no lies knowingly
#Treat sentient beings with benevolence
#Respect and praise a bodhisattva
#Place beings on the path to perfect buddhahood

<h4>Precepts for Engaged Bodhicitta in the Profound View Tradition: Eighteen Root Downfalls</h4>
One must avoid the eighteen root downfalls (transgressions or misdeeds) according to ''The Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha'' (''Ākāśagarbhasūtra''), which Śāntideva cites in ''The Compendium of Training'' and refers to in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''.

<h5>Five Downfalls a King Is Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Take away property from the Three Jewels and stūpas
# Discard the holy Dharma of any vehicle
# Persecute someone in monastic robes, whether a monk or a transgressor
# Commit one of the five actions of immeasurable consequences
# Take up wrong views and nonvirtuous practices and make others do so

<h5>Five Downfalls a Minister Is Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Destroy a village
# Destroy a region
# Destroy a town
# Destroy a city
# Destroy a country

<h5>Eight Downfalls Common People Are Prone to Commit:</h5>
# Teach emptiness to someone who is not ready and make the person turn away from Mahāyāna
# Dissuade someone from the Mahāyāna path so that the person seeks individual liberation
# Dissuade someone from monastic and vinaya discipline saying it is better to train on the Mahāyāna path
# Deny that the path of disciples leads to the end of desire, etc. and convince someone
# Praise oneself and disparage others out of jealousy
# Sell oneself with lies of seeing the truth for the sake of wealth and veneration
# Get a monk punished and accept bribes regarding such an act
# Obstruct meditation by diverting provisions for practitioners to those doing recitation

<h4>Precepts for Engaged Bodhicitta in the Vast Conduct Tradition: Four Root Downfalls</h4>

Asaṅga summarizes the root downfalls taught in different sūtras into four in his ''Stages of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhisattvabhūmi'').
#Praise oneself and criticize others out of attachment for wealth and veneration
#Not give wealth or Dharma to others out of stinginess
#Not accept an apology and hurt others out of anger
#Abandon Mahāyāna and teach fake dharma as true Dharma

<h4>Precepts for Both Aspiring and Engaged Bodhicitta</h4>
#Not forsake any sentient being or give up on helping someone and seek individual liberation
#Not engage in altruistic work or help, even if one is in a position to help

<h4>Minor Downfalls</h4>
Minor downfalls include various physical, verbal, and mental actions one must avoid as taught in chapter 5 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', ''The Compendium of Training'', and many sūtras. They include bodily comportments, such as unbecoming behavior, nonvirtuous forms of speech, such as idle gossip and harsh words, and negative thoughts and emotions. Commentators on ''The Compendium of Training'' enumerate eighty minor downfalls, while Candragomin's ''Vows in Twenty Verses'' (''Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka'') mentions forty-six minor downfalls. The following passage from ''The Compendium of Training'' summarizes the complex moral system and downfalls of bodhisattva practice.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In order to pacify the suffering and mental pain of all sentient beings in the present and in the future, and to generate happiness and mental pleasure of all sentient beings in the present and in the future, if a bodhisattva does not diligently engage body, speech, and mind without wavering, does not seek the conditions for them, does not work on remedying what obstructs them, does not take up the small suffering and mental pain which can overcome great suffering and mental pain, does not forsake small things for achieving greater things, and neglects doing so even for a moment, he/she commits a downfall. There is no downfall for not taking up what is beyond one's capacity, as there is no rule made for that in reality. In other cases [i.e., where one is capable], it is either a misdeed by nature or by restriction.<ref>Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3940, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fols. 11a6-11b2, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3940.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva points out that some actions may appear like a downfall, called images of downfalls, but they are not downfalls. Such actions might include telling a white lie to save a life. These actions are permitted. But some actions may appear to be without a downfall, called images of non-downfalls, while being a downfall in reality. Such actions would include those which externally appear virtuous but are done with selfish intentions or actions that involve trying to do things which are beyond one's capacity.

<h4>Making Amends</h4>
Transgressing a bodhisattva vow is considered a serious offense, as such a person loses his or her moral integrity, fails to keep one's status, displeases the buddhas, lets down sentient beings whom one has promised to save, and could be reborn in unhappy realms. Thus, one must make amends through confession within six hours, or one-sixth of a day. Applying the four powers for confession mentioned earlier, a bodhisattva who has committed a downfall must make confessions and amendments. Śāntideva recommends that a bodhisattva who has committed a downfall must confess by chanting ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps'' three times during day and three times during the night.<ref>See ''Triskhandhakasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa phung po gsum pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo'') D284, mdo sde, vol. 68, ya, 57a3–77a3, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW4CZ5369_0284. For an English translation, see Stefan Mang and Peter Woods (Samye Translations), trans., "The Bodhisattva's Confession of Downfalls" (Lotsawa House, 2020), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/words-of-the-buddha/confession-of-downfalls-nyingma.</ref>

Śāntideva also cites ''The Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha'' and advises that a bodhisattva who has committed downfalls can confess to Ākāśagarbha, who will appear in a dream in some form to help one make amends by giving instructions. The bodhisattva must make the following supplication to Ākāśagarbha before twilight and sleep again:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Dawn! Dawn! O Compassionate and Fortunate One! As soon as you shine on the world, cover me with compassion. I also entreat Ākāśagarbha, the compassionate one, to show me the means by which I can confess the downfalls and the means by which I can attain the wisdom and skillful means of the sublime Mahāyāna.<ref>Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3940, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fol. 42a6-42b1, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3940. For the passage in the ''Ākāśagarbhasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa nam mkha'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), see Derge Kangyur D260, mdo sde, vol. 66, za, fol. 275.b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0260.</ref>
}}

<h3>The Discipline of Gathering Virtue</h3>
The discipline of gathering virtue refers to the bodhisattva practice of the six perfections, including giving, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. How a practitioner takes up the practice of these six perfections will be explained below under the practice of engaged bodhicitta. It may be noted here, however, that through the six perfections, a bodhisattva gathers what is known as the ''two accumulations'': the accumulation of merit (''puṇyasambhāra'', ''བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་'') and the accumulation of pristine wisdom (''jñānasambhāra'', ''ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་''). The practice of the first five perfections falls under the first accumulation, and the sixth perfection comprises the second accumulation. A bodhisattva must complete these two accumulations or the six perfections (''ཕར་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་རྫོགས་'') in order to reach full buddhahood. In addition, a bodhisattva must also help mature or prepare the minds of his or her future disciples (''གདུལ་བྱའི་རྒྱུད་སྨིན་'') and cultivate the kind of realm or world he or she will attain (''ཞིང་སྦྱོང་བ་''). The latter two are undertaken through the various prayers a bodhisattva should make.

<h3>The Discipline of Benefitting Sentient Beings</h3>
The discipline of benefiting sentient beings is normally presented through the four means of attraction. While the discipline of abstaining from misdeeds and the discipline of gathering virtue helps a practitioner in self-development, the discipline of benefiting sentient beings helps the practitioner engage in altruistic activities for others. The four means of attraction are a skillful strategy with which a bodhisattva can benefit the world.

<h4>Gift Giving</h4>
A practitioner of the bodhisattva path should first give material gifts or Dharma teachings to attract potential beneficiaries. Most sentient beings appreciate gifts, and this helps attract their attention.

<h4>Sweet Words</h4>
Having attracted sentient beings through giving, the bodhisattva speaks to the audience with soft and persuasive speech to make them enter the right path. Thus, material gifts are followed by sweet talk.

<h4>Purposeful Practice</h4>
With knowledge of the wide spectrum of paths to enlightenment, the bodhisattva then teaches a path which is suitable and most effective to the audience. It is important to impart teachings which are appropriate to the capacity, disposition, and interest of the audience.

<h4>Consistent Engagement</h4>
While teaching the appropriate path to the audience, it is important for the bodhisattva to also lead by example. Thus, a practitioner of bodhisattva discipline must walk the talk and engage in the appropriate practice himself or herself.

<h3>The Four Bodhisattva Actions</h3>
Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training'', which is an anthology of passages from the Mahāyāna sūtras on the training and practice of bodhisattvas, summarizes the training of bodhisattvas under the four actions of giving, protection, purification, and expansion of the three objects, including body, possessions, and virtues of the past, present, and future times. This is presented in a verse in ''The Compendium of Training'' as the crux of the matter to avoid any transgressions on the bodhisattva path:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The vows of a bodhisattva
Are taught in detail in the Mahāyāna sūtras.
Know these to be the essential points,
By which one can avoid transgressions. (3)
}}

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One's body and possessions
And the virtues accrued in the three times,
Giving them to all sentient beings
Protecting, purifying, and expanding them. (4)<ref>For the verses in Tibetan, see Śāntideva, ''Śikṣāsamuccayakārikā'' (''Bslab pa kun las btus pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa''), in Derge Tengyur D3939, dbu ma, vol. 111, khi, fol. 1b , http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3939.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva presents the four actions as a way for the practitioner engaged in the bodhisattva training to avoid moral transgressions and to make progress on the path. It is important for the practitioner to practice giving in the form of charity, teaching, and company. One must particularly dedicate and give one's body, possessions, and virtues to all sentient beings. Only by giving up attachment to these three objects of ordinary attachment and using these three objects for the benefit of the world can a person truly make progress on the bodhisattva path.

In order to have them available for sentient beings, a practitioner must protect these objects. One must not waste, squander, or neglect these objects, which can be of great benefit to the world. A practitioner's sense of giving and protecting these objects should not be stained by selfish interests and other negative emotions but be pure and wholesome. Thus, a bodhisattva must purify one's thoughts, speech, and actions and make available the three objects of body, possessions, and virtues to sentient beings in a pure form, in both thought and deed. If the benefit of the three objects of body, possessions, and virtues are not multiplied or expanded, there cannot be a great impact which is appropriate for the vast world of sentient beings. Thus, a practitioner must expand and scale up the impact of giving one's body, possessions, and virtues so that sentient beings gain optimal benefit. Such expansion and amplification is carried out through practices such as visualization and dedication.

<h2>Enhancing Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Practices</h2>

<h3>Enhancing Aspiring Bodhicitta</h3>

The ritual for taking the bodhisattva vow only starts the process of training in the Mahāyāna path for a new practitioner. Such an initial cultivation of bodhicitta must be followed by persistent practice to sustain and strengthen it, and there are many ways of nurturing the altruistic mind and cultivating bodhicitta. In the Profound View tradition, the practice of the equality between self and others and the exchange between self and others, as presented by Śāntideva in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', feature as the main practice. In the Vast Conduct tradition, the contemplation on the seven points of cause and effect, passed down from Asaṅga via Atiśa, is the most well-known practice. The meditation on the four immeasurable thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity is another method to cultivate the aspiring bodhicitta.

In carrying out these practices, an important point is to treat all sentient beings with equanimity, without any discrimination and partiality. To do so, in most Tibetan Buddhist traditions, a practitioner is instructed to visualize one's mother alongside a person whom one hates or whom one may consider as an enemy. In some traditions, one is encouraged to visualize one's mother as the center figure surrounded by other loved ones and all other sentient beings, including one's enemies. The figure of the mother is used because the mother is generally considered to be the person who loves one the most and toward whom one normally has a strong affection.

In order to cultivate a strong sense of equanimity, some masters use the concept of rebirth. As one has taken innumerable rebirths in the past in this cycle of existence, all beings have become one's mother, not just once or twice but countless times. While they were mothers, they have been as kind and loving as one's present mother. Thus, all sentient beings are treated equally as recipients of one's love and compassion. It is with such a sense of impartiality that one must practice the different methods of strengthening the aspiring bodhicitta.
<span id="The_Equality_between_Self_and_Others" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>The Equality between Self and Others</h4>
The practice of equality between self and others is carried out through the following series of contemplative thoughts and arguments.

<h5>Equal in Desiring Happiness</h5>
All sentient beings equally desire happiness. There is no difference between myself and others in wanting happiness, although we may differ in how we seek such happiness. Therefore, there is no reason why I should only seek my own happiness and not that of others. Śāntideva states:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.95}}
It is irrational and irresponsible that I seek only my happiness when both I and all other sentient beings equally desire happiness. Thus, I must seek happiness for others because they are sentient beings, just like my own body. As Śāntideva has said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And others I will aid and benefit,
For they are living beings, like my body. (8.94)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 122.</ref>
}}

<h5>Equal in Disliking Suffering</h5>
All sentient beings equally dislike suffering. There is no difference between myself and others in not wanting pain and suffering. Therefore, there is no reason why I should only eliminate my own suffering and not that of others. Śāntideva states:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.96}}
It is irrational and irresponsible that I seek to eliminate only my own suffering when both I and all other sentient beings equally dislike suffering. Thus, I must eliminate the suffering of others because they are suffering, just like my own pain. As Śāntideva has said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And therefore I'll dispel the pain of others,
For it is simply pain, just like my own. 8.94<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 122.</ref>
}}

<h5>Equal in Being Part of One Whole</h5>
If it is argued that I and others are different and therefore I need not seek the happiness of others and eliminate the suffering of others, such distinction is imaginary and subjective. The hands and feet are different parts of the body, but they can be seen as being parts of the same body. The hand helps to scratch when the foot is itching. In the same way, all sentient beings are parts of the living world as a whole, and I ought to look after other sentient beings. Śāntideva writes:
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<h5>Equal in Not Having "Self" or an Owner of Experience</h5>
Moreover, if there were a true self or owner of the experience of happiness or suffering, one could make such a distinction and discriminate. However, there is no such self who owns the experience to be found if I critically examine the mind-body composition. All beings are merely an assembly of many psychosomatic constituents, and our experiences are the same. There is no difference in the experiences and no real person or being to distinguish us as different individuals. Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.102}}

<h5>Equal in Being Able to Cherish Others</h5>
If it is thought that I cannot love strangers and unrelated sentient beings just as I love myself or those related to me, such a thought is mistaken. Sentient beings can easily love others with a change of mindset and habituation. If I buy a dog from a shelter and adopt it as a pet, from the moment I take it under my care, I would cherish and love it, although it was unknown to me before such a time. It is a matter of opening one's heart to cherish sentient beings. Even the love for one's body has come about as a result of one's mental attitude and habituation, just as Śāntideva has said:
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<h5>Equalize Thinking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h5>
A practitioner must regularly remember the bodhisattva vow one has taken and remind oneself of one's commitment to rescue all sentient beings from suffering. One should think: "I am a responsible person and a person of integrity. I must not break my promise or falter from the pledge which I have taken in the presence of all buddhas and sentient beings." All beings were given assurance that I will help them and save them from suffering. If I were to give up the promise, let down the buddhas, and deceive sentient beings, what will be my future?" With such thoughts, a practitioner endeavors to equally benefit other sentient beings as oneself and strives to equally dispel the suffering of others as one's own suffering. To this effect, Śāntideva has said:
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<span id="The_Exchange_between_Self_and_Others" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>The Exchange between Self and Others</h4>
The next step after the practice of equalizing oneself and others is the practice of exchange between self and others. In ordinary life and the world, one is used to cherishing oneself (''བདག་གཅེས་འཛིན་''), but on the bodhisattva path, one must cherish others (''གཞན་གཅེས་འཛིན་''). In actualizing bodhicitta, love and compassion for others takes priority over love for oneself. Altruism overrides self-centricity. One must, therefore, switch from cherishing and loving oneself to cherishing and loving others. In order to exchange between self and others as the object of love and affection, one must contemplate the virtues, advantages, and appropriateness of cherishing others and the vices, disadvantages, and inappropriateness of cherishing oneself.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Value of Actions</h5>
Self-love is at worst evil and at best ordinary, whereas altruistic love is noble and sublime. Taking the case of giving, Śāntideva writes:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.125}}
Ethically speaking, an altruistic action has high positive value, whereas a selfish action is negative and deplorable, even by worldly standards. Thus, considering the ethical value of altruistic actions, one must cherish others instead of cherishing oneself.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Result of Actions</h5>
Following the law of cause and effect, a selfish action is negative and therefore leads to undesirable results, whereas an altruistic action is a highly positive action which results in desirable outcomes. Śāntideva writes:
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{{PullBcaVerses|8.129}}
In order to avoid pain and suffering and to instead experience pleasure and happiness, it is important to stop cherishing oneself and to cherish others and engage in altruistic actions.

<h5>Exchange to Follow Great Beings</h5>
When one looks at the history of the world, all great beings, including the Buddha and other sublime Mahāyāna masters, have become great by cherishing others. Ordinary beings remain stuck in lowly life because they only cherish themselves. Śāntideva remarks:
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In order to emulate the great beings and, in particular, follow the Buddha on the path to enlightenment, it is essential to cherish others and to engage in altruistic actions. Cherishing oneself is giving in to the ordinary habit of the childish.

<h5>Exchange Considering the Number and Significance</h5>
Moreover, it is important to cherish others over oneself because the world of sentient beings is far greater in number and significance than oneself or a small group of one's loved ones. A wise person works for the vast majority and the greater good of society at large instead of a single person or family. The impact of working for others will be manifold compared to the result of working for just oneself. Thus, Śāntideva exhorts:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.139}}

<h5>Exchange Thinking of the Bodhisattva Vow</h5>
A practitioner recollects the bodhisattva vow he or she has taken to serve all sentient beings. In order to live up to one's pledge and act according to the oath taken in the presence of the buddhas and sentient beings, the practitioner reinforces the commitment to work for all sentient beings and to cherish others over and above oneself. As Śāntideva has said:
{{PullBcaVerses|4.4}}
Using different arguments and justifications, one must exchange oneself and others and swap cherishing oneself with cherishing others. One must know that if one does not do so, there is no benefit in the long term in cherishing oneself. Śāntideva has this reminder:
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<span id="Tonglen_-_The_Practice_of_Exchange" style="scroll-margin-top: 100px; display: block;"></span>
<h4>Tonglen - The Practice of Exchange</h4>
In Tibet, the practice of exchange between self and others is taken up commonly as ''tonglen'', or giving and taking. In this practice, one takes the suffering and problems of other sentient beings onto oneself and gives to them one's own happiness and resources.

One would mentally place one's mother and all sentient beings in front of oneself and, out of an intense feeling of gratitude and affection, imagine giving one's body, possessions, and virtues to them. As one does this, one can visualize a white, soothing, blissful substance, like warm milk or soft wool, which is in essence joy and happiness, flowing out of oneself to others. As the soothing substance envelopes others and fills these beings, the area, the world, and, gradually, the entire universe, one imagines that the beings are filled with joy and bliss. Then, one visualizes a dark, foul substance, like dirty smoke, which is in essence suffering and the problems of the world, flowing from others into one's own being. As it enters one's body, one imagines that all the problems and miseries of others are taken in by oneself. Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim wrote the following to this effect:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May my body, possessions, and stock of virtues
All bear fruit for every sentient being.
May all diverse emotions and wrongdoing of the world
Fall upon me and may they be well.<ref>Karma Phuntsho, ''The Life and Works of Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim'' (Thimphu: Loden Foundation, 2023), 59.</ref>
}}
This practice of ''tonglen'', which is highlighted in the ''lojong'', or mind training, tradition of the Kadam school, is also combined with breathing exercises. In such practice, as one exhales, one visualizes soft, milky, blissful clouds of happiness and joy issuing forth from one's body and filling the target beneficiaries, the world, and the universe with the white soothing substance, which is bliss and happiness. As one inhales, one visualizes a dark, foul substance, which is suffering and the problems of other beings, pouring into oneself and thereby freeing all other sentient beings from sufferings and problems.

As it can be challenging to imagine taking in all the problems and suffering of the world for an ordinary practitioner, some traditions add an extra step of visualization. As the negative energy and suffering of the entire world is absorbed in the form of a dark, putrid substance during inhalation, one visualizes in the center of one's heart a powerful and radiant vajra or ball of light which transmutes the negative energy and suffering into positive energy and sublime bliss. One then imagines, as one exhales, that this positive energy and bliss in the form of soothing white light is sent out to cover all sentient beings and fill the entire universe.

<h4>Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect</h4>
One of the most popular contemplative practices to enhance the aspiring bodhicitta and strengthen the bodhisattva's willpower is the seven-point instructions of cause and effect coming down from Atiśa through the Kadam tradition. Unlike Śāntideva's instructions, which use rational arguments, the seven-point instructions use the concept of reincarnation and the belief in innumerable rebirths one has taken in the past. Starting with the belief that all sentient beings have become one's mother, the instructions proceed from one point to another in the form of the preceding point being a cause leading to the subsequent one as the result. Thus, it is known as the seven-point instructions of cause and effect.

<h5>1. Seeing All Beings as Your Mother</h5>
The first point of meditation is to recognize all sentient beings as having been one's mother. One meditates on the point that in the course of the countless rebirths one has taken in this cycle of existence, all sentient beings have become one's mother, not just once or twice but innumerable times. Nāgārjuna states hypothetically that if one made balls of earth as big as Indian cypress seeds, the number of times a sentient being has become one's mother would exceed the number of balls one can make using the entire earth. Using the belief in the cycle of rebirth, one must generate the strong belief that all sentient beings have become one's mother.

<h5>2. Remembering the Kindness of the Mother</h5>
When they were our mothers, sentient beings showed us great love and affection. From carrying us in their wombs for nine months with much love and care, giving the best food, keeping us warm, and protecting us from harm, to helping us to grow up and succeed in life, they have shown unrelenting and unconditional love and kindness. They would have preferred to die rather than see us get even mildly sick. One should think of the absolute kindness with which the mother sentient beings have taken care of us in past lifetimes and how much one owes to them for their kindness.

<h5>3. Wishing to Repay the Kindness</h5>
Being acutely aware of their kindness, one must not only remember their kindness but act to repay the kindness. One must think: "Today, I am a capable and responsible human being. I should not merely feel the kindness of the mother sentient beings and be grateful but do something meaningful to show them gratitude and return their kindness." As a conscientious person, it is important to reciprocate the kindness others have shown to us. In this manner, one cultivates a strong compulsion to do something to reciprocate the love and kindness of the mother sentient beings.

<h5>4. Love</h5>
One wonders what would be the best way to reciprocate the kindness of the mother sentient beings. All sentient beings like happiness. Thus, it would be appropriate to show gratitude and return their kindness by helping them attain happiness. In order to attain happiness, one must have the causes and conditions for happiness. Therefore, one should seek happiness and the causes of happiness for all kind mother sentient beings in order to repay their kindness. As such, one makes the aspiration: "May all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness."

<h5>5. Compassion</h5>
In order to genuinely enjoy happiness, one must get rid of pain and suffering, and to do so, one must eliminate the causes of suffering. Therefore, one should seek to eliminate suffering and the causes of suffering so that the mother sentient beings can enjoy happiness. One makes the aspiration: "May all kind mother sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering."

<h5>6. Special Intention</h5>
Merely wishing that mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and be free from suffering and the causes of suffering is not enough. In order for them to realize this, one must take up the responsibility to help them do so and act with a strong resolve and determination. Thus, one should think: "Come what may, I shall personally strive to make all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and free them from suffering and the causes of suffering."

<h5>7. Generating the Mind of Enlightenment</h5>
Having developed such an unwavering resolve to make all kind mother sentient beings attain happiness and the causes of happiness and free them from suffering and the causes of suffering, one seeks the most effective way to do so. What would be a viable and sustainable state to place all kind mother sentient beings in so that they can enjoy genuine happiness and be free from suffering? There is no genuine and lasting happiness and permanent freedom from suffering in this cycle of existence. All levels of existence in samsara are marred by dissatisfaction and eventually end up in suffering. Thus, there is no place or state of existence in samsara that is a viable permanent solution. Even if one attains the personal nirvana of individual liberation as an enlightened saint, there is no genuine happiness in an individualistic state of nirvana when the rest of the world around oneself is plunged in the sea of suffering. How can one enjoy full happiness by turning a blind eye to the suffering around oneself? Besides, even the enlightened saints, who are yet to become fully enlightened buddhas, are not free from the pain of subtle ignorance and the process of becoming. Thus, the only state with genuine and lasting happiness is the state of the fully enlightened buddha, who is not only free from all suffering and enjoying supreme bliss but also brimming with joy in helping sentient beings.

Thus, one should have the resolve: "In order to repay the immense kindness of my kind mother sentient beings, to help them attain genuine and lasting happiness and the causes of happiness, and to free them from suffering and the causes of suffering, I shall by myself and by any means place all kind mother sentient beings in the state of the unsurpassed, perfect, and fully enlightened Buddha." This seventh and final point is bodhicitta.

<span id="Four_Immeasurable_Thoughts" style="display: block; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"></span>
<h4>Four Immeasurable Thoughts</h4>
The four immeasurable thoughts are loving kindness (''maitrī'', ''byams pa''), compassion (''karuṇa'', ''nying rje''), sympathetic joy (''muditā'', ''dga' ba''), and equanimity (''upekṣā'', ''btang snyoms''). Concepts which perhaps predate Buddhism, they form one of the most common sets of practices of love and goodwill in all schools of Buddhism. However, they play a very important role as techniques to express compassion and enhance altruism.

Loving-kindness refers to the wish to bring happiness and the causes of happiness to all sentient beings. Compassion refers to the wish to free all sentient beings from suffering and the causes of suffering. Sympathetic joy is the thought of rejoicing in the happiness of sentient beings and wishing they be never separated from it. And equanimity, as it is understood in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, is the attitude to treat all sentient beings with total impartiality, with no sense of discrimination, attachment, or aversion.

Like the practices above, it is considered important in the Mahāyāna system to develop equanimity as the first of the four immeasurable thoughts. Thus, one may start the practice of the four immeasurable thoughts by visualizing one's mother and one's enemy on equal terms in front of oneself, surrounded by other sentient beings. Only meditation with such a sense of equanimity becomes a truly Mahāyāna practice. Having one's parents, enemies, relatives, friends, colleagues, and the entire world of sentient beings as one's object of meditation, one can then cultivate the four immeasurable thoughts. There are many different ways of practicing the four immeasurable thoughts in the different Buddhist traditions. The cultivation of the four immeasurable thoughts through four modes according to the tradition passed down from Patrul Rinpoche is given below.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as an Aspiration</h5>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the cause of happiness.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, never be separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*May all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in boundless equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Wish</h5>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attained happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, became free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, were never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*How wonderful it would be if all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abided in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Pledge</h5>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, become free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*I shall make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts as a Supplication</h5>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, attain happiness and the causes of happiness.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, become free from suffering and the causes of suffering.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, be never separated from sublime joy devoid of suffering.<br>
*I pray to the enlightened beings to help me make all mother sentient beings, as vast as space, abide in great equanimity without partiality, attachment, and aversion.

<h5>Three Levels of Cultivating the Four Immeasurable Thoughts</h5>
In the Mahāyāna system, there are three different levels of contemplating the four immeasurable thoughts.
#The first level is to contemplate as mentioned above, with the conventional knowledge that sentient beings exist and need to be freed from suffering and placed in the state of happiness. Because one assumes sentient beings to exist and practices loving-kindness, etc. for sentient beings, this type of practice is known as loving-kindness focused on sentient beings (''sems can dmigs pa'').
#On the next, higher level of the practice of the four immeasurable thoughts, one can practice loving-kindness, etc. with the awareness of the impermanent and transient nature of sentient beings. Impermanence and change are the true nature of conditioned life. Thus, the practice of loving-kindness, etc. with an awareness of impermanence is known as loving-kindness, etc. focused on the truth (''chos la dmigs pa'').
#On the highest level of ontological scrutiny and the nature of existence, there is no sentient being, no person practicing the four immeasurable thoughts, and no act of loving-kindness, etc. Everything is empty of true existence and is merely an illusory appearance. Thus, there is no object to apprehend; there is no focus or fixation on anything. The practice of loving-kindness without the sense of grasping and apprehension of anything is known as loving-kindness without apprehension (''dmigs pa med pa''). A bodhisattva must eventually cultivate the four immeasurable thoughts in this manner—without grasping, attachment, and fixation.

<h4>Compassion</h4>
A simple but powerful way to cultivate bodhicitta is to develop the feeling of compassion. As compassion is seen as the immediate cause of bodhicitta, many sūtras and commentarial treatises underscore the practice of compassion in order to cultivate genuine bodhicitta. Masters such as Candrakīrti and Kamalaśīla highlight the vital role of great compassion in generating bodhicitta and practicing the Mahāyāna path. Right at the beginning of his famous treatise ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Candrakīrti praises compassion by describing it as a process of cultivation, comparing it to a seed in the beginning, to water in the middle, and to a ripened harvest at the end.<ref>See Candrakīrti, ''Madhyamakāvatāra'' (''Dbu ma la 'jug pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3861, dbu ma, vol. 102, 'a, fol. 201b , http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3861.</ref> Thus, according to Candrakīrti, compassion plays a fundamental role throughout the Mahāyāna process of enlightenment. Similarly, in the first chapter of his ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama''), Kamalaśīla cites many sūtras to show how great compassion plays a central role in Mahāyāna practice. He then goes on to show how one can generate compassion by meditating on the suffering of sentient beings.

One must think of the myriad kinds of suffering sentient beings go through, from the unbearable cold and heat in the hell realms, the torment of hunger and thirst among hungry ghosts, and the exploitation, fear, torture, and killing that animals, insects, fish, and birds go through. Even as humans, beings suffer from poverty, subjugation, persecution, illness, death, separation from loved ones, and meeting with those who are unpleasant. One must meditate on the countless forms of pain and suffering sentient beings undergo and then wish all sentient beings to be free from such suffering. Repeatedly thinking of the suffering of sentient beings and intensely wishing all sentient beings to be totally free from such suffering leads to the quick and easy generation of bodhicitta.

Initially, one can generate such a wish for one's loved ones and then extend it to strangers and eventually to those one dislikes. Reflection on how one has taken countless rebirths in this cycle of existence and how all sentient beings have become one's mother and relatives may be carried out to help develop equanimity and generate intense compassion toward all sentient beings without bias and partiality.

Being an integral part of bodhicitta, compassion is seen as the quintessence of all spiritual practice. To this effect, Avalokiteśvara states in ''The Dharma Council Sūtra'' (''Dharmasaṃgītisūtra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Blessed One! A bodhisattva need not train in numerous dharmas. If a bodhisattva understands and upholds one dharma, all dharmas of the Buddha will be on the palm of his hand. What is that one dharma? It is great compassion.<ref>''Dharmasaṃgītisūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos yang dag par sdud pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), Derge Kangyur D238, mdo sde, vol. 65, zha, fol. 84b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW30532_0238.</ref>
}}

<h3>Enhancing Engaged Bodhicitta</h3>
The practice of engaged or active bodhicitta covers the entire range of the Mahāyāna paths and practices that a bodhisattva must follow and adopt. The Mahāyāna paths and innumerable practices are commonly captured in the set of six perfections that a bodhisattva must master in order to reach the state of a fully enlightened buddha.

<h4>The Practice of the Six Perfections</h4>
The six perfections in Mahāyāna Buddhism are giving, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. They are said to cover all aspects of bodhisattva practice and are arranged in a sequence of their importance and depth, with the latter being more important and deeper than the former.

<h5>Giving (''dāna'', ''sbyin pa'')</h5>
The practice of giving or generosity is defined by the inner sense of giving rather than by the quantity or value of the material given. Śāntideva writes in the fifth chapter of ''The Way of Bodhisattva'':
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Giving helps a practitioner overcome the negative trait of stinginess and attachment to things. If one has a strong attachment to things and is not able to give anything to others, a beginner could start by giving something from one hand to the other in order to get used to the act of giving. A student can train in giving by giving things of little value or by giving to people who are close. Gradually, a practitioner can give things of higher value, giving even to strangers and enemies. A bodhisattva develops the sense of giving gradually and tests his or her willpower and mental ability to give without expecting anything in return or any reward. A bodhisattva is not allowed to give anything he or she is not capable of giving wholeheartedly. When a bodhisattva has developed a strong sense of giving, he or she can give away even parts of the body with no attachment or regret. A bodhisattva with a highly advanced sense of giving will experience joy and bliss in giving away even parts of his or her own body. Thus, it is important to cultivate the inner sense of giving.

The will to give is often cultivated in the beginning by explaining the karmic benefit of giving. Giving leads to wealth and prosperity in the future. Thus, people are often encouraged to give with the belief of getting rich in the future. However, a bodhisattva's giving must transcend such worldly practice. Eventually, a bodhisattva must give without any expectation of return in this life or reward in the form of karmic results in future lifetimes. Stories of the Buddha and other masters are also frequently told to inspire giving. The Buddha is said to have given his body to a hungry tigress as Prince Mahāsattva and to flesh eating demons as King Maitrībala.
He is said to have given all the riches of his kingdom, his wife, children, and eyes to beggars as Prince Viśvantara. These and many other inspirational stories are used to help practitioners develop the sense of giving.

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|image=Hungry Tigress HAR.png
|header=Prince Mahāsattva and the Tigress
|text=The tale "Prince Mahāsattva and the Tigress" illustrates the Buddhist virtue of supreme self-sacrifice.
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The Mahāyāna tradition presents three types of giving:
#Giving material goods
#Giving protection
#Giving Dharma

One can give material gifts to one's teachers, parents, beggars, mendicants, and other recipients. Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training'' mentions how a monk must practice giving by sharing a portion of one's alms with other beings. ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' presents giving mostly in the context of making offerings to the enlightened beings as part of the seven-limb prayer and the dedication of one's body, possessions, and virtues to the welfare of all sentient beings. Making offerings, either through the actual giving of things or through visualization, is a very common practice of giving material gifts and services. Even if one does not have anything to give or cannot afford to do so, one can practice giving by imagining giving one's body, possessions, virtues, and other pleasant things in existence.

Giving protection includes saving life, giving company, and defending the weak. Rescuing animals from the butcher, saving fish from being killed, and freeing caged birds are some common examples of giving protection which Tibetan Buddhists practice regularly. The giving of Dharma or sharing knowledge and showing the truth is considered to be the highest form of giving, as it can bring lasting results leading to enlightenment.

A beginner may give with the mistaken notion that there is a real giver, recipient, and the object given. However, the practice of giving only qualifies as the practice of the perfection of giving when there is no fixed notion of the giver, recipient, and the object given. A bodhisattva must be able to give without the thought or notion of the three factors—giver, recipient, and the thing given.

<h5>Discipline (''śīla'', ''tshul khrims'')</h5>

The discipline of the bodhisattva is often classified into three actions: abstaining from misdeeds, gathering virtues, and working for the welfare of sentient beings, as shown above. It is, in essence, the renunciation or giving up of negative thoughts, words, and deeds and the engagement in positive actions. A bodhisattva attains the perfection of discipline by perfecting the mind of such renunciation or relinquishment. As such, it serves as an antidote to immorality and unethical life.

Discipline is considered a fundamental basis for the growth of other virtuous qualities, just as the earth itself is important for cultivation. With discipline, one can engage in meditation and develop insight or wisdom. The practice of discipline includes both following the precepts and having the mental integrity to stick to the righteous course of actions.

In order to do so, Mahāyāna masters such as Śāntideva underscore the importance of vigilance or carefulness (''apramāda'', ''bag yod''), which is described in the Buddhist texts as a state of being attentive to what is to be adopted and what is to be abandoned. Śāntideva devotes the fourth chapter of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' to developing such carefulness or conscientiousness. Another crucial state of the mind is mindfulness (''smṛti'', ''dran pa''). Mindfulness in this context refers to remembering and not forgetting "the dos and don'ts" with respect to one's moral conduct. It is important to always be mindful of the object and field of one's engagements. Introspection or alertness (''saṃprajanya'', ''shes bzhin'') is another state of the mind which is crucial for bodhisattva discipline. Introspection watches the body, speech, and mind with alertness to check on what they are up to and how they are engaged.

These three aspects of the mind are crucial for a practitioner on the bodhisattva path. One must have mindfulness to be always aware of what is right or wrong, have vigilance and be very careful and heedful of the different areas of engagement, and maintain introspection to constantly watch one's mind, speech, and body.

Equipped with these tools, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must follow the precepts listed above after taking the bodhisattva vow. In addition, there are ten nonvirtuous actions to be eschewed and ten virtuous actions to be adopted as part of the general practice of Buddhist ethics. The ten nonvirtuous actions are:
#Taking life
#Taking what is not given
#Sexual misconduct for bodily actions
#Telling lies
#Creating discord
#Speaking harsh words
#Idle gossip for verbal actions
#Covetousness
#Malicious thoughts
#Wrong view for mental actions

As an antidote to these actions, a practitioner must adopt the ten virtuous actions:
#Protecting life
#Giving charity
#Practicing chastity for bodily actions
#Speaking the truth
#Making peace/conciliation
#Speaking kind words
#Engaging in useful speech for verbal actions
#Contentment
#Loving-kindness
#Right view for mental actions

There are many books in which a practitioner can find the moral precepts and code of ethics regarding a bodhisattva's behavior. These include ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', ''The Compendium of Training'', as well as ''The Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattva'' (''Rgyal sras lag len so bdun ma''). These texts summarize the very detailed and scattered presentations of the bodhisattva discipline in the Mahāyāna sūtras. Besides the moral codes, it is also important to have an effective routine for the practice of bodhisattva discipline. A twenty-four-hour day is normally divided into six periods, or "watches," and specific bodhisattva activities are allocated during those watches. Such disciplinary rules, depending on individual circumstances and needs, should make the life of a bodhisattva highly conducive and productive for the practice of the bodhisattva path.

Finally, a very important part of the practice of discipline is the ritual of making amends when one violates the precepts either consciously or unconsciously. For the transgression of root downfalls, or major violations, a practitioner must promptly make confessions and reparations before the end of the watch which follows the watch in which the lapse took place. If the major violation is not amended before the end of the following watch, then the bodhisattva is required to take the vow again. In order to make amends for all violations, a bodhisattva is advised, as explained earlier, to recite ''The Sūtra of the Three Heaps''.

<h5>Patience (''kṣānti'', ''bzod pa'')</h5>
Patience is the third of the six perfections and is described as the hardest practice, one that requires unparalleled fortitude. In the philosophical descriptions one finds in the texts, patience is characterized by an undisturbed state of the mind. Not being agitated by conditions, particularly unpleasant ones, is the essence of patience. It serves as a counterforce to anger, which is a strong agitation of the mind and is considered to be the most heinous of evils.

First and foremost, the practitioner must reflect on the destructive nature of anger and the futility of getting angry. A moment of anger can consume the virtues accumulated throughout a thousand eons and cause great mental pain and discomfort. It deprives a person of peace and calm and the ability to work effectively. Like a bottle of muddy water shaken violently, an angry mind is disturbed and lacks composure and clarity to do anything effectively. On the contrary, patience brings mental calm and clarity. Śāntideva highlights the futility of getting upset in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' as follows:
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Having developed the conviction that getting upset and angry is only harmful and that patience is beneficial for inner peace and productivity, one must cultivate a patient and forbearing mind. From a traditional Buddhist point of view, anger, as the most heinous evil, also leads to rebirth in the lowest hells, where one will be tormented by pain and agony for eons, while patience leads to happy rebirths and particularly to future lifetimes with outstanding physical beauty. Even in this life, a peevish and angry person, even if a generous patron, is loathed and feared by others for his or her short temper, but a tolerant and serene person enjoys admiration and respect from others. Thus, the need for patience.

The practice of patience is divided into three based on the object of patience.
#Patience in tolerating harm doers
#Patience in bearing hardship
#Patience in understanding the teachings

The beings who cause harm and annoyance are the most obvious and common objects toward whom one must practice patience. "Without enemies, to whom can one practice patience," goes a Tibetan Buddhist saying.<ref>Similar sayings appear in a number of works: Atiśa's ''Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Bodhipathapradīpa'') contains teachings about viewing enemies as valuable teachers for developing patience. The ''Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva'' (''Rgyal sras lag len so bdun ma'') by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo contains similar teachings about viewing enemies as precious teachers. Likewise, such statements appear in chapter 6 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra'') by Śāntideva.</ref> Such enemies and harm doers can be endless and diverse if one remains easily annoyed and irritable in one's own character. Śāntideva writes in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'':
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Knowing that the main solution to the many harms in the world lies in patience and forbearance, a bodhisattva must tolerate harm doers and not be upset by their harmful actions. One can do so with the broad view that the harm may be a result of one's own karma in past lifetimes and not a fault of the harm doer. By tolerating a small harm or annoyance in this life, one can expiate the negative karma and escape the terrifying consequences in the future.

Another way to cultivate patience is to know that the persons causing harm often do so under the influence of other factors, including their inner emotions and circumstances, over which they have no control. Thus, it is absurd to get upset at a person instead of having pity and compassion for them. In fact, due to one's negative karma, a harm doer causes harm, but in doing so the harm doer commits negative karma and begets more suffering in the lower realms. So, in reality, one does even greater harm to the harm doer by responding with anger instead of compassion. Thus, it is not right to be angry or upset at the harm doer.

Moreover, an incidence of harm such as one's body being struck by an enemy using a weapon is a result of a combination of many factors, including the body, weapon, enemy, anger, etc. So, why put the blame only on the person and not on the weapon? Furthermore, why only blame others who brandish the weapon and not oneself who brandishes the body? One must own a share of responsibility for having a body so prone to agony like a running sore. Using such moral and logical arguments, as presented in Śāntideva's writings, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must practice tolerance and forbearance of harm caused by other beings.

Another cause of frustration and anger is suffering and dissatisfaction in life. Although there may not be any personal agency, sentient beings get upset and angry at undesirable situations, such as illness, hunger, thirst, pain, and not getting the things one desires. A person on the bodhisattva path must practice patience in bearing hardship and suffering without giving in to frustration and anger. For this, one must reflect on the nature of existence and how it is filled with suffering and problems. Life in samsara is riddled with problems by nature. Thus, it will be nonsensical to expect it to be otherwise and get upset about it. How silly would it be to get angry at fire for being hot by nature?

Moreover, pain and problems are also subjective. Depending on the state of their mind, some brave men become more valiant upon seeing their own blood dripping, while timid people even faint upon seeing the blood of others. Thus, a practitioner must learn to be stoic and to disregard irritation because the one who is peevish sees more harm. A practitioner must also realize that existing problems may be hard to bear, but they are only a minor pain compared to the pain which anger begets. Such pain, like a small surgery to treat a serious ailment, is beneficial in the long run. It is likened to a prisoner on death row being freed with an arm chopped off.

Thus, a practitioner must not only face problems in life with a calm mind but also view pain and suffering as an important catalyst for spiritual transformation. As Śāntideva writes:
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Moreover, people go through various hardships and suffering even for petty worldly reasons such as material profit, political power, fame, marriage, or religious worship. What need is there to mention then the value of having fortitude and practicing patience to benefit sentient beings and to take them to the state of full enlightenment? A true hero is therefore someone who defeats the inner foe of anger and maintains calm and compassion even in the face of tragedy and great harm. The rest who defeat their enemies Śāntideva likens to stabbing a corpse.

Just as one must endure problems and suffering in life, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must also foster the courage and conviction to accept and fathom the true nature of reality and to align one's thoughts and deeds with truth. A bodhisattva must train to understand the true nature of phenomena, such as the impermanence of conditioned things, the interdependence of all phenomena, the absence of an inherent self or person, the selflessness of phenomena, the illusory nature of the world, and the ineffable, unobstructed, empty, open nature of the ultimate reality free from all conceptual fabrication. Actual practice and meditation on the ultimate nature will be discussed below under the perfection of wisdom.

As the practice of the third type of patience, a bodhisattva endures to know the truth through a rational and analytical approach instead of taking things for granted. Critical inquiry and analyses, such as in the aforementioned example about a person hitting another with a weapon, helps one overcome mistaken assumptions and inherent bias and see the true nature of things. It is through knowing the true nature of reality that one can appreciate the nexus of causes and conditions and thus tolerate the harms and problems in life as well as transcend to a higher level of insight. Thus, a practitioner takes up the third type of patience by having the unrelenting commitment to and confidence in the bodhisattva path of wisdom and compassion. A bodhisattva remains steadfast in upholding compassion to help all sentient beings and firm in his or her understanding and realization of the way things are. With this, a bodhisattva is then never tired of engaging in selfless service and never affected by the challenges, misfortunes, and vagaries of life.

Śāntideva also advises practitioners, toward the end of the sixth chapter of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', to practice patience and tolerance toward sentient beings, including harm doers, because they serve as agents for spiritual transformation. Without beings, one cannot possibly pursue the Mahāyāna path of compassion and altruism. Just as the Buddha helps one accumulate merit as an object of veneration, sentient beings also help one accrue merit through patience, giving, etc. Moreover, it is in pleasing sentient beings that we find the best way to please buddhas, who wholeheartedly cherish them. Getting angry at beings or harming them would displease the buddhas. Thus, it is very important for a follower of the Buddha to love and respect sentient beings in order to truly remain faithful to the Buddha. Moreover, even sentient beings possess buddha-nature and are worthy of veneration, not disdain and disrespect. Adopting such outlooks, values, and reasoning, the follower of the bodhisattva path practices tolerance and patience.

<h5>Diligence (''vīrya'', ''brtson 'grus'')</h5>
The fourth perfection is the perfection of enthusiasm, zeal, effort, or diligence. In Buddhist philosophy, it is defined as zeal or joy in virtuous actions, and it serves as an antidote to indolence. Śāntideva remarks that just as there cannot be motion without wind, there cannot be merit without diligence. The cultivation of diligence entails giving up the three kinds of indolence:
#Laziness, which is to be in the state of lethargy, sloth, and boredom
#Despondency, which is to be inactive through diffidence and lack of energy
#Negative addiction, which is to be preoccupied by unwholesome things

Wholesome diligence functions as an antidote to these three kinds of indolence. In order to overcome the first type of indolence, which involves being lazy, lethargic, and uninterested, one must cultivate interest, enthusiasm, and motivation in wholesome activities. A person on the bodhisattva path must be physically and mentally agile, enterprising, and diligent. To do so, one must develop some degree of remorse for the current situation in samsara and aim to reach a higher state of being. The Tibetan Buddhist practice of the four points of mind turning, including reflecting on the rarity and preciousness of humanhood, the impermanence of life, the efficacy of the law of cause and effect, and the flaws of the cycle of existence can help generate enthusiasm and motivation to seek full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

A practitioner must reflect on the fortunate state of having obtained the precious and rare human birth and of having good health and all other necessary circumstances for seeking the higher goal of enlightenment. Reflecting on the precious and rare nature of such an opportunity to seek enlightenment, a practitioner must immediately plunge into the practice of the bodhisattva path. If one does not do so, one must realize that such fortunate human existence is fragile and bound to change any time. One must meditate on the impermanence and fragility of life and on how death can happen anytime. Thus, one must not waste one's precious life in laziness, slumber, or distraction. Śāntideva warns against such waste in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''.
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In addition to fostering enthusiasm and effort through reflection on the precious nature of humanhood and impermanence, a practitioner can also reflect on the law of cause and effect. One must realize that happy, desirable results come about only by investing in the necessary causes of happiness and that suffering arises from engaging in the causes of suffering. Fully aware of the infallible nature of cause and effect, a practitioner must enthusiastically engage in wholesome actions and work hard in order to reap a good result. A practitioner must work hard to abandon negative actions in order to escape from suffering and reach nirvana. Similarly, a practitioner must contemplate the flaws of rebirth in samsara, such as not getting what is desirable, getting what is not desirable, encountering those one dislikes, and separation from those one likes. Beings in the lower realms of existence are afflicted by multiple forms of suffering, beings in happy realms suffer from inevitable change in situations, and all beings suffer from the stress of the constant pursuit of happiness.

In the traditional reflection on the faults of the cycle of existence, a practitioner meditates on the suffering of heat and cold in the hell realms, hunger and thirst among hungry ghosts, exploitation and predation in the animal kingdom, illness and old age among humans, strife and warfare among demigods, and death and downfall in the celestial realms. These reflections and harsh life experiences help in engendering motivation and zeal to engage in virtuous actions and seek the higher goal of enlightenment. A practitioner must also reflect on the bodhisattva oath taken earlier to place all sentient beings in buddhahood and now put forth effort to walk the talk.

Having overcome the first problem of laziness and sloth through such reflections, a practitioner must work on the second problem of diffidence and despondency. A practitioner must think of the endless cycle of hard work ordinary beings undertake even for petty worldly benefit and compare that with the noble work a bodhisattva has to undertake for the greater benefit of the world. Thinking of this noble cause and the limited effort and time required for it, one must feel emboldened and encouraged to engage in bodhisattva practice. In the traditional Buddhist worldview, one has gone through immeasurable suffering in countless lifetimes, resulting in no real benefit. The hard work and sweat on the bodhisattva path, however, is a limited and small pain which can bring forth a greater long-term benefit, like the pain of an incision to cure a serious illness.

Moreover, in order to overcome a lack of confidence, a practitioner must realize that even an insect, having buddha-nature as its nature, can reach buddhahood through effort. What need, then, to mention a human being who has the rational and emotional capacity to attain enlightenment. If one is afraid of the difficult bodhisattva practices such as giving one's body and limbs, such practices become easy and enjoyable with practice and habituation. The Buddha prohibits a bodhisattva from undertaking any endeavor beyond his or her mental capacity.

Thus, the bodhisattva path, if one is well-equipped with wisdom and compassion, is not a difficult task but a very pleasant and enjoyable enterprise. Śāntideva writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Sin has been abandoned, thus there is no pain;
Through having wisdom there is no more sorrow. (7.27ab)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref>
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What can sadden those who have compassion,
Who remain within saṃsāra for the sake of beings? (7.28cd)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref>
}}
Furthermore, Śāntideva asks: "Which thoughtful person riding the horse of bodhicitta and having no fatigue would become despondent in going from joy to joy?"<ref>''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' 7.30. See also Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 101.</ref> He recommends the four forces of interest, steadfastness, joy, and relinquishment. One must cultivate the strong interest and wish to engage in virtuous actions, abandon negative actions, eliminate the suffering of sentient beings, and create happiness for all sentient beings. Such an interest is generated by thinking of the benefits of virtuous actions and the demerits of nonvirtuous actions. Once one has found such a strong interest and wish, one must remain firm and steadfast in the pursuit of happiness for all beings. One must maintain unwavering confidence and pride in the endeavor and not allow dejection and fatigue to set in. Taking up the challenge to defeat the negative emotions, a practitioner should not only remain steadfast but delve into the bodhisattva practice with joy and enthusiasm, like an elephant rushing to a lake in the midday heat or a gamer indulging in the game. Should a practitioner encounter insurmountable challenges or hardship or suffer from fatigue, then he or she should relinquish the specific task for the time being to be resumed at a later time when conditions are better.

Thus, a bodhisattva must adopt skill-in-means and be very strategic in terms of the appropriate investment of time and effort. Śāntideva also recommends the two strengths of earnestness and control to enhance the bodhisattva zeal. A bodhisattva must seek his or her objective with earnestness and immediate application. Just as a warrior who drops his sword in battle would pick it up promptly, and just as a young man would react quickly if a snake lands on his lap, a bodhisattva must act swiftly to achieve the goal. Similarly, a practitioner on the bodhisattva path must have a sense of control and power over things. Feeling confident and empowered and remaining very agile and aware, a bodhisattva must engage in the practice with confidence and flair, like a lion in the midst of foxes, and with nimbleness and full control over one's body and mind, just like a wind controlling the movement of a piece of cotton on a branch.

A major hindrance to enthusiasm and diligence in bodhisattva practice is attachment to and engagement in worldly and negative distractions. Śāntideva warns the practitioner:
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Knowing that if one is careless, negative tendencies and distractions spread fast like poison in the blood stream, one must exercise great caution and mindfulness in fighting negative temptations and distractions. Being mindful of one's practice and reprimanding oneself for even minor lapses, one must guard one's mind and awareness from defiling emotions, just like one protects one's eyes from dust. A practitioner must diligently practice the bodhisattva path by eschewing attachment to all negative activities.

<h5>Meditation (''dhyāna'', ''bsam gtan'')</h5>
Meditative concentration is the fifth perfection. It is defined in the classical texts as the state of the mind remaining focused without any distraction. It is the mental ability to remain focused, calm, and unperturbed, and it serves as an antidote to distraction. As a distracted mind is very prone to afflictive emotions and ineffective in accomplishing any tasks, it is very important to develop the meditative concentration of the mind. Only when the mind is focused and has attained calm abiding can it effectively develop insight into the nature of reality and thereby eliminate the afflictive emotions and negative thoughts. Śāntideva puts this clearly in the following verse, which is very frequently quoted:
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The process of pursuing meditative concentration normally begins with practice in solitude, where one's body is free from the frenzy of the world and one's mind is free from mental preoccupation. Śāntideva advises:
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For a beginner working on cultivating meditative concentration, the Buddhist masters advise practitioners to find solitude without disturbance and distraction and to take up solitary retreat. Whether one finds a brief period in one's daily schedule or finds free time to undertake a long retreat lasting weeks, months, or years, the main objective should be to settle the distracted mind and attain mental concentration or calm abiding. As the main reason for not finding time for such solitary practice and cultivating calm abiding is one's preoccupation with worldly affairs, a practitioner is first instructed to give up desire for worldly life, including attachment to people and pursuit of wealth, fame, and power. Masters such as Śāntideva present a compelling account of the futility of worldly endeavors, including relationships and business, and the stress, disappointment, and pain they lead to in this life and the many sufferings in future lifetimes. Talking about people, relationships, and property, Śāntideva writes:
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Śāntideva sums up the flaws of worldly desire in this way:
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With such instructions and admonitions, a practitioner is made to reflect on the worthlessness of the worldly pursuit of wealth, fame, power, and relationships and how they often fuel more greed and stress, creating a vicious cycle of pain and suffering. Thus, a person on the bodhisattva path is encouraged to seek something more meaningful and fulfilling. A practitioner who wishes to attain calm abiding through meditation must curb greed, have contentment, and devote time to meditation.

The actual practice of meditative concentration to develop calm abiding forms a fundamental Buddhist practice, and there are many different meditation traditions and techniques for carrying out the practice. The most common classical procedure is the nine-step meditation technique for establishing calm abiding. Below is a table showing the nine steps in three stages, with the five defects to be removed, the eight antidotes and six powers to be adopted, the four phases of contemplation, and the five signs of progress, as explained by the nineteenth-century Tibetan polymath Mipham Namgyal Gyatso (Mi pham rnam rgyal rgya mtsho, 1846–1912) based on his ''Gateway to the Way of the Learned'' (''Mkhas pa'i tshul la 'jug pa'i sgo'') and ''Heart of Luminosity: The General Meaning of the Essence of the Secret'' (''Gsang ba snying po'i spyi don 'od gsal snying po'').

[[File:Chart for Karma practice piece.png|900px|class=w-100 m-0 rounded-xl shadow|]]

The detailed instructions for the development of calm abiding can be found in many different texts and meditation traditions. All of them start with physical posture, the most common being the Vairocana posture with seven features, including (1) crossed leg, (2) straight back, (3) slightly tilted neck, (4) open shoulders, (5) eyes on the nose tip, (6) tongue touching upper palate with lips just touching each other, and (7) hands on the lap. Being comfortably and firmly seated to give stability to the body, one may carry out the breathing exercise to clear one's breath. With the body, breath, and the mind calm and clear, one then starts focusing on an object, whether it is an external object like an image or a twig, an internal object like bodily sensations or the breath, or an imaginary object like a deity or mantra one has visualized.

To kick off such a practice, one must overcome the obstacles of indolence and forgetfulness. A person indulging in laziness or forgetful of the instructions for meditation cannot even start the process. Thus, at this initial phase of preparing meditation, one must have strong faith, interest, enthusiasm, and willingness to undertake meditative concentration. One can develop these qualities by studying and learning about the benefits of meditation. Having overcome the obstacles, one starts the practice of meditation with the initial focus, the first of the nine steps.

The practitioner continues to focus on the object with care and exertion. As the beginner's mind will forget the object and get distracted, one uses mindfulness and reflection to continue the focus. When the mind is distracted from the object, one must bring it back and repeat the focus with introspection and concerted effort. Like a wild horse being controlled with bridle and reins, the mind should be trained using mindfulness and introspection. One must overcome not only the obstacle of distraction but also torpor and sleepiness. As one maintains and repeats the focus, one will notice the mind moving very fast and flying off in a flash. This is the first sign of progress called "the experience of motion." At this point, the mind is like a waterfall, restless and nonstop.

As one persists in focusing on the object using the tools of mindfulness and introspection, the mind begins to become calm and tamed. This is the second sign of progress called "the experience of attainment." Here, the mind is like a stream on a steep slope, moving constantly but at a slower pace. As one persists in taming the mind, the obstacles of distraction and torpor also subside, but one would still need to put forth effort to maintain the focus. Using reflection, mindfulness, and introspection, one must continue to focus and tame the mind. This will lead to the mind becoming very pacified and to the third sign of progress called "the experience of becoming accustomed." At this stage, the mind is like a river on the plains, seemingly still while looking from afar but still moving with strong currents. It is like a bee trapped in a vase, generally in one place but still with a lot of movement. The focus is sometimes interrupted, but one must put forth effort to get back to meditative concentration.

With sustained effort, one nears the final phase of meditative concentration when the mind is thoroughly pacified and one can focus without any interruption and exertion. At this stage, showing exertion and making a contrived effort are obstacles. Thus, one remains in single-pointed concentration without any contrived effort. One would have the fourth sign of progress called "the experience of stability." Now, the mind is like an ocean, calm and unshaken in the core but with some motion on the surface. As one remains in such a state with mental equanimity and becomes very familiar with it, one attains meditative equipoise, and one sees the fifth and final sign of progress called "the experience of the perfection of meditation." The mind remains undisturbed in all situations, like a mountain which is not shaken by the winds. There is no effort required to maintain the meditative equipoise, and the practitioner enjoys extreme bliss and agility of the body and mind.

Different schools teach different methods of developing single-pointed concentration, or calm abiding. A very well-known practice for calm abiding today is the mindfulness of the body, which is popularly known as a body scan. Here, one focuses on the sensations in the body, either gradually from the crown of the head to the heels or on a specific part of the body, to develop concentration. Another common practice is the concentration on one's breath, including inhalation and exhalation. There are many techniques of focusing on the breath as one exhales and inhales. Many traditions also use external objects such as images, twigs, pebbles, leaves, etc. as an object of concentration. In some Tibetan Buddhist traditions, a meditator trains first by using ordinary objects such as leaves and twigs and then meditates on the image of the Buddha as a whole or on parts of the image in sequence. One can also visualize a letter or a deity figure as an object of meditation for calm abiding. In the Vajrayāna tradition, it is very common to use a representation of a deity, either in the form of physical artwork or as a mental picture of a deity or mantra, in order to develop concentration and calm abiding. The process of the nine-step meditation to attain calm abiding is also represented in art, with a monkey symbolizing the distracting mode of the mind and an elephant symbolizing the sinking mode of the mind.

{{InlineImage
|float=right
|img=Nine Stages of Shamatha Practice.png
|width=500px
|caption=This thangka depicts the nine progressive stages of mental development. Source: [https://enlightenmentthangka.com/blogs/thangka/nine-stages-of-samatha-meditation?_pos=1&_sid=fbf1cb8ea&_ss=r Enlightenmentthangka.com]
}}

When one attains single-pointed concentration, the mind becomes pliable for spiritual transformation. This state of mind, considered to be equivalent to the mental state of beings in the highest desire realm, is the lowest form of concentration a practitioner needs to cultivate high spiritual realization and qualities. When such a state of mind is further sharpened, one acquires the mental states of the first, second, third, and fourth meditative absorptions with increasing levels of bliss, lucidity, pliability, and efficacy for spiritual transformation. These four states of meditative concentration are considered equivalent to the mental state of the four levels of the form realm in the psychophysical Buddhist cosmology. The power of concentration increases further with deeper levels of absorption. However, in the extreme form of quietest mental state in a sentient being associated with the highest formless realm of worldly existence, the mind is too deeply absorbed in meditation, rendering it too inactive and unviable for spiritual transformation.

Meditative concentration is thus divided according to the different levels of mental concentration. It is also classified into mundane meditative concentration and supramundane meditative concentration. If the meditative concentration is merely a calm state of the mind of a worldly person without the element of wisdom which discerns the nature of reality or truth, it is considered to be worldly meditative concentration. Such a state of the mind may be blissful and lucid, but it is bound to eventually return to an ordinary state of distraction and torpor. When the meditative concentration has the nature of reality as its object, it becomes an insight into truth and thus acquires the power of liberation. Such meditative concentration with truth as its object is a transcendent realization of truth and thus is considered to be the supramundane meditative concentration.

Meditative concentration is also divided into three categories:
#Meditative concentration abiding in peace in this life
#Meditative concentration which attains spiritual qualities
#Meditative concentration which works for sentient beings

The first type of meditative concentration is the mundane state of calm abiding. This comes with a blissful and peaceful experience for the meditator but is not instrumental in bringing about liberation, as it lacks insight. The second type is a meditative concentration informed by values and methods which have soteriological efficacy or some additional power to generate supernatural qualities. This type of meditative concentration can lead to supernatural powers such as clairvoyance or astral travel as well as higher qualities of enlightenment. The third type of meditative concentration is used to help sentient beings. The power of concentration helps one to perform miracles and create things which would benefit sentient beings.

The types of meditative concentration promoted in the Mahāyāna tradition are the second and third types, and the perfection of meditative concentration involves the application of a meditative concentration to the realization of the ultimate nature of things. Thus, it is a nonconceptual, open, and blissful cognitive equipoise which is free from all conceptual constructions and mental fabrications.

<h5>Wisdom (''prajñā'', ''shes rab'')</h5>
The last and the most important of the six perfections is the perfection of wisdom. The sūtras on the perfection of wisdom claim that without wisdom none of the five other practices can really become a genuine practice of perfection. Thus, Śāntideva claims that the other perfections are means to the end, which is wisdom, for only wisdom can ultimately eliminate the root of suffering.
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Wisdom, in general, is the capacity for critical thinking and discernment of the way things are. Wisdom refers to the acute sense of judgement and sagacity when juxtaposed with compassion. However, in the specific context of Buddhist study and practice, wisdom refers to the understanding and realization of truth and the nature of reality, such as the knowledge and experience of nonself, impermanence, interdependence, and the emptiness of self-existence. In the Mahāyāna, the perfection of wisdom pertains to the knowledge and realization of the highest truth, the ultimate nature of things, whatever that is conceived to be in the particular tradition.

The Madhyamaka, or the Middle Way school of Nāgārjuna and his followers, such as Candrakīrti, Śāntideva, Śāntarakṣita and Atiśa—the philosophical system with which the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of bodhicitta practice is associated—expounds the perfection of wisdom as the knowledge of the emptiness of all phenomena. Wisdom, in this system, refers to the penetrating insight into the ultimate truth, which is defined as emptiness free from all extremes or fabrications. In their ultimate nature, things are neither existent, nor nonexistent, both, or neither. Ultimate nature is beyond production and cessation, birth and death, time and space, thoughts and words. Śāntideva elucidates this point in the following verse:
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The world exists only on a relative level as mere designations and conventions. On their ultimate level, everything is empty of their own being, and the perfection of wisdom is the knowledge of such emptiness. Such wisdom, then, is cultivated initially through study, then through contemplation, and eventually through meditation. Thus, wisdom is often classified into three categories:
#Wisdom through study
#Wisdom through reflection
#Wisdom through meditation

A practitioner starts the practice of the perfection of wisdom by studying and understanding the ultimate truth of emptiness. The classic texts of the Middle Way school, such as Nāgārjuna's ''Root Verses on the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā''), Candrakīrti's ''Introduction to the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Śāntarakṣita's ''Ornament of the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakālaṃkāra''), and Śāntideva's ''Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''), present numerous reductive and analytical arguments to establish the empty nature of all phenomena. Among the many arguments, the following five are known as the great reasoning of the Middle Way. They establish the emptiness of the causes, effects, both causes and effects, the nature of things, and of all aspects of phenomena.
#A vase is empty of true arising because it does not arise from itself, another, both, or nothing.
#A vase is empty of true production because neither an existent effect nor a nonexistent effect, both, or neither is produced.
#A vase is empty of true arising because it neither arises instantly nor arises gradually.
#A vase is empty of true nature because it is without the nature of one or many.
#A vase is empty of true nature because they are dependently originated.

A student of the Middle Way uses these and numerous other logical arguments and analyses to fully understand the emptiness of all things, including emptiness itself. Through persistent study and reflection, a practitioner gains a deep understanding and confidence in the nature of emptiness. With further reflection and familiarization, the practitioner develops a strong conviction that gradually turns into a direct experience and realization of emptiness—the true form of the perfection of wisdom.

Śāntideva's chapter on wisdom in ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' presents the cultivation of wisdom through the common Buddhist practice of nonself and the four points of mindfulness.

<h5>Meditation on the Nonself of a Person</h5>
A person on the bodhisattva path must investigate the existence of the self, or "I," to which one is very attached. It is from the mistaken notion of the "I" that the notions of you, he, she, and they arise in contrast to this notion of "I." Such dualistic clinging leads to a like for oneself and what belongs to oneself and a dislike for others. This launches the cycle of attachment, aversion, and other afflictive emotions and actions. It is essential for a practitioner on the path to enlightenment to investigate the existence of the self in order to uproot the cause of samsara. Śāntideva provides the following instructions for such a reductive examination:
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Carrying out such analysis, a practitioner must thoroughly understand the absence of a self, or "I," in all beings. In his ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', Candrakīrti presents the sevenfold reasoning of the chariot to establish the emptiness of self. A chariot does not truly exist because it is not (1) identical, (2) heterogeneous, (3) possessive, (4) the located, (5) the locus, (6) the shape, or (7) the collection of the parts. The chariot is a mere label given to the assembly of the parts with a specific shape and a specific function. There is no real chariot other than the parts, and the parts do not exist other than their own parts. Similarly, a person is a mere designation given to the assembly of psychosomatic constituents in a specific structure performing a specific function. There is no real person, and all things are empty of a self or what belongs to a self. Śāntideva compares the person to a banana plant.
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{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Wandering beings, thus, resemble dreams,
And also the banana tree, if you examine well. (9.150ab)<ref>Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 158.</ref>
}}
Using such a rigorous analytical approach, a seeker of the perfection of wisdom must study and thoroughly understand the absence or emptiness of the self. The knowledge of nonself is an indispensable and central component of the Buddhist path to enlightenment. In Śāntideva's work and in the Middle Way school in general, such analyses and knowledge is further extended to understand the emptiness of all phenomena through the practice of the four points of mindfulness.

<h4>Mindfulness of the Body</h4>
A practitioner establishes the emptiness of the body by mentally dismembering the body in search of the body that we assume to really exist and that we deeply cherish. Śāntideva instructs a practitioner to look into the parts of the body in order to realize the emptiness of the body. The body does not exist either identical to or different from the parts. The same applies to the parts. He writes:
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The contemplation on the body helps one overcome one of the strongest fetters in existence: the attachment to the body. A bodhisattva must strive to give up attachment to the body and make use of it for the benefit of all sentient beings.

<h4>Mindfulness of Sensation</h4>
Another serious fetter in life is the attachment to pleasure and enjoyable sensations. Sentient beings crave pleasure and indulge in vices for pleasure. They hate pain and engage in negative actions to avoid pain and suffering. Thus, a practitioner of the bodhisattva path must see the empty nature of pleasure and pain. Śāntideva helps the practitioner investigate the experience of pain and pleasure by looking at the cause, effect, and nature of sensation.
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When one examines the nature of sensation, one can see that pain and pleasure are subjective, relative, and impermanent. If pain truly exists, there cannot be pleasure and vice versa. Because they rise and disappear like an illusion, there is no real pain or pleasure. Sensation arises from the encounter of senses and sense objects, but in reality we cannot see such an encounter or contact. One which has already touched cannot come into touch, and one which has not touched cannot contact either. With contact, there cannot be sensation. Similarly, there is no agent or person who can create and feel sensation. Śāntideva states:
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In this manner, the practitioner on the bodhisattva path must contemplate the empty nature of sensation and see all pain and pleasure to be like a magical illusion.

<h4>Mindfulness of the Mind</h4>
Just as there is no real painful or pleasant sensation and feeling, there is no real consciousness or mind. Śāntideva states:
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The mind plays the central role in the Buddhist spiritual system as the root cause and foundation of all things, so much so that Buddhism is often called a science of the mind or an art of mind training. The Buddha has claimed that the mind is the chief and everything is mind-made. In this respect, the knowledge of the emptiness of the mind is the most important form of wisdom. Through realizing the empty nature of the mind, one can realize the emptiness of all phenomena, as all phenomena have their base in the mind.

The meditation on the empty nature of the mind is one of the most important practices in Mahāyāna Buddhism, particularly in the Middle Way school, and there are many different methods and techniques for this meditation. One method is to examine the spatial location of the mind. Buddhist thinkers and mystics argue that this thing called the mind cannot be found within the body, without, or in between. Śāntideva remarks:
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In the Mahāyāna pith instructions on the emptiness of the mind, or what is known as mind-pointing instructions in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the master instructs the disciple to search for the mind inside the body, outside the body, and in between. A practitioner is asked to investigate the spatial location of the mind, only to realize that the mind has no spatial existence or dimension. Similarly, the disciple is made to examine the shape, color, structure, or nature of the mind through an instruction called "the destruction of the mind's structure." Through this the practitioner realizes that the mind does not have concrete existence and is utterly empty of an independent existence.

Not only is the mind or consciousness not found anywhere or in any shape or form, it also does not arise, as it cannot arise before, after, or at the same time as its object. A consciousness has to be conscious of an object, but in reality it cannot be conscious of an object which exists before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness itself. Moreover, if the object that is cognized, such as the body, does not exist, how can the consciousness which cognizes exist, for they are dependent on each other.

In another very popular meditation on the empty nature of the mind, a practitioner examines the temporal existence of mind. The past mind does not exist because it has already ceased to exist, and the future mind cannot exist, as it is yet to be. There is no present mind to be found in any shape or color in between the past and the present. Thus, no mind can be found to truly exist if one carefully examines the case.

The meditation on the empty nature of the mind using different techniques forms the most sacred and powerful practice of the perfection of wisdom in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. More detailed and personalized instructions, often in the form of oral transmissions, are normally sought from individual teachers. Thus, a sketch is presented here, but a practitioner must rely on a specific teacher for proper guidance in following traditional procedures.

<h4>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h4>
The fourth point of mindfulness is the emptiness of all phenomena. Using the same reductive analyses applied to the body, sensation, and mind, a practitioner meditates on the absence of the true existence of all phenomena. One can use the great reasonings of the Middle Way to cultivate the understanding of the empty nature of all phenomena or use some other arguments and methods. There are also many other techniques, particularly those belonging to the Vajrayāna tradition, such as completion stage practices, dream yoga, luminosity practice, and meditation on empty form in the Kālacakra, Mahāmudrā, and Dzogchen traditions, which are powerful methods to realize the emptiness of all phenomena.

The most common and persuasive method found in the literature of the Middle Way school to establish the emptiness of all phenomena is the reasoning of dependent origination. All phenomena lack self-existence because they are either dependently produced (e.g., a plant from a seed, soil, moisture, and heat) or dependently conceived (e.g., the concept "here" and "there"). Śāntideva aptly demonstrates this through the example of a parent and a child.
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He goes on to state that the mind which analyzes and the phenomena which it investigates are also mutually dependent and therefore in reality without true independent existence. Thus, just as the mind did not exist, all phenomena which it takes as its object also do not exist. They are assumed to exist based on convention.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.108}}

<h4>Freedom from All Fabrications</h4>
Using numerous logical arguments containing a rigorous reductive analysis, a practitioner contemplates how the body, sensation, mind, and, for that matter, all phenomena do not exist in real terms. The external world of matter is made up of atoms, and the internal world of consciousness is made up of moments of cognitive flashes and impulses. Yet, if one investigates the atoms and moments of consciousness using the reductive process of examination, they cannot be found to truly exist. In the same way, neither can any process of production, cessation, coming, going, etc. be found to exist. We assume everything to exist on a conventional level for transactional purposes, but nothing exists on the ultimate level when thoroughly examined. Not even "nothing" exists.

The initial focus of the meditation on emptiness should be to negate existence because sentient beings are fraught with the notion that things really exist and are either attached or averse to them. After clinging to things as real, they give rise to defiling emotions such as attachment and fear, which in turn leads to negative actions and suffering. Thus, the practitioners must put their initial emphasis on establishing that things are empty of inherent self-existence or real nature. Much of the logical procedures and meditation instructions focus on eliminating the notion of existence, establishing that all phenomena are empty of real existence, and revealing/concluding that all empirical experiences are like magical illusions and reflections in a mirror. They appear but are empty of real existence.

After one has negated the notion of existence and grasped the emptiness of things, it is also important to go beyond emptiness, for emptiness is also unreal and only a relative concept. How can there be nonexistence without existence? Just as there is no father without a child or here without there, emptiness is dependent on the nonempty. If the nonexistent does not exist, emptiness can't exist either. In this way, a practitioner drops both the notion of existence and nonexistence, being and nonbeing, is and is not, the nonempty and empty, production and nonproduction, etc.

In the final ontology of the Middle Way, one must reject any instances of a real existence, nonexistence, both, or neither. A practitioner must transcend all four mental fabrications of being, nonbeing, both and neither. Everything, including emptiness itself, is utterly empty and nonapprehensible, akin to the bare, clear openness of space. Only when the mind is free from fixation on a thing, non-thing, or neither does it naturally rest in its true state of peace, free from the slightest tension, stress, and apprehension. Only then can one effectively cut through the habitual propensities for self-love, attachment, hatred, stupidity, jealousy, etc.

It is said in ''The King of Meditation Absorption Sūtra'' (''Samādhirājasūtra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is "existence" and "nonexistence" are both extremes; so are "purity" and "impurity" extremes. Therefore, abandoning the extremes of both, the wise surely should not abide even in the middle.<ref>''yod dang med ces bya ba gnyi ga mtha<i>'</i>''/ /''gtsang dang mi gtsang 'di yang mtha' yin te''/ /''de phyir gnyis ka'i mtha' ni rnam spangs nas''/ /''mkhas pa dbus la'ang gnas par yong mi byed''/ /. See ''Samādhirājasūtra'' (''<i>'</i>Phags pa chos thams cad kyi rang bzhin mnyam pa nyid rnam par spros pa ting nge 'dzin gyi rgyal po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo''), in Derge Kangyur D127, mdo sde, vol. 55, da, fol. 27a. http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW22084_0127.</ref>
}}
In the ultimate meditation on wisdom, the practitioner immerses him or herself into a deep experience of emptiness with no sense of engagement or withdrawal, acceptance or rejection, likes or dislikes, pleasure or pain. During the postmeditation state, the practitioner is constantly aware of the illusory nature of things. Sustained practice of such meditation on emptiness and postmeditation awareness, Śāntideva points out, would not only help the person face the ups and downs of life with the same level of ease and equanimity but also induces an intense surge of compassion for the beings who are drowning in the sea of suffering. It inspires one to work evermore to free other beings who are caught in the prison of ignorance, mistakenly holding illusory and empty things to be real. Just as compassion for other beings leads to developing the wisdom to see things as they really are, wisdom and insight into the true nature of things helps enhance the vigor of compassion for all beings, thereby having wisdom and compassion mutually strengthen each other.
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Practice

2026-03-11T16:40:38Z

SimonH:

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{{KeyPageHeader
|title=Practice
|subtitle=Practice wisdom and compassion as a way of life
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|text=The application of bodhicitta in practice is central to the Mahāyāna pursuit of full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. According to Mahāyāna masters, bodhicitta is a prerequisite for a practice or path to qualify as a Mahāyāna path leading to the state of a fully awakened buddha. Only when the practice is motivated or informed by bodhicitta (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་རྩིས་ཟིན་པ་'') can it be considered as a bona fide part of the Mahāyāna path. Thus, the masters strongly recommend the cultivation of the altruistic thought of bodhicitta before beginning any project or activity. This is because, in the Buddhist system, the moral value of an action is determined by the quality of intention or the state of the mind.

Buddhist masters teach that mind can be in any of the three states:
#A virtuous state with positive thoughts and emotions, such as thirst for knowledge, devotion, compassion, love, etc.
#A nonvirtuous state with negative thoughts and emotions, such as arrogance, hatred, jealousy, etc.
#A neutral state with neither positive nor negative states of mind.

Furthermore, the virtuous mind can be of three types:
#An inferior mind wishing happiness and well-being in this mundane world.
#A middling mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness, fulfillment, and freedom beyond the ordinary world.
#A superior mind wishing a higher state of lasting happiness for all sentient beings.

This last superior mind is bodhicitta and the one recommended by the Mahāyāna masters before beginning any project or activity.

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Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, a twentieth-century teacher of bodhicitta, thus writes in ''The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta'' (''བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་རིན་ཆེན་སྒྲོན་མ་''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Should one launch something, launch with bodhicitta.
Should one think of something, think of bodhicitta.
Should one analyze something, analyze with bodhicitta.
Should one examine something, examine with bodhicitta. (v. 98)<ref>''brtsam na byang chub sems las brtsam''// ''bsam na byang chub sems nyid bsam''// ''dpyad na byang chub sems su dpyad''// ''brtag na byang chub sems la brtag''//. Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen, ''Byang chub sems kyi bstod pa rin chen sgron ma'' (Dharamsala: Dga' ldan pho brang, 2018), 29, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW8LS66303.</ref>
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Patrul Rinpoche, a paragon of bodhicitta practice in nineteenth-century Tibet, also proclaimed in his ''Aspiration to Generate Bodhicitta'' (''བསྐལ་མང་གོང་ནས་སོགས་''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If present, this alone is sufficient for reaching buddhahood.
If this is absent, one is handicapped in reaching buddhahood.
May I generate this pure thought of awakening,
The unmistaken seed of buddhahood. (v. 6)<ref>''yod na sangs rgyas sgrub la des chog cing''/ /''med na sangs rgyas sgrub la thabs chags pa''/ /''sangs rgyas 'grub pa'i sa bon ma nor ba''/ /''rnam dag byang chub sems mchog bskyed par shog''. See Patrul Rinpoche, ''Bskal mang gong nas sogs'', in Gsung 'bum o rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003), 8: 356, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW24829_B101CB.</ref>
}}
In the beginning, a practitioner must cultivate the mind (''cittotpāda'') of awakening through a concerted effort by taking the bodhisattva vow repeatedly, engaging in the various contemplative techniques, receiving teachings on bodhicitta and bodhisattva practices, and utilizing other methods. Gradually, one would become accustomed to thinking of bodhicitta, which would also become stronger and constant. When bodhicitta naturally arises without effort, a person is said to have formally become a bodhisattva. Thus, Jigme Lingpa said:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is more important to have the supreme mind naturally arise than to consciously cultivate it.<ref>Jigme Lingpa, ''Yon tan rin po che'i mdzod kyi rgya cher 'grel pa bden gnyis shing rta rgyu mtshan nyid kyi theg pa'i skor'', in Gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa (Gangtok, Sikkim: Sonam T. Kazi, 1970–75), 1: 246b, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW1KG10193_E90C9C.</ref>
}}
However, a beginner must make a contrived effort to generate bodhicitta, firstly by cultivating the aspiring bodhicitta and then by engaging in the practice of engaged bodhicitta. Śāntideva presents the distinction between the two in the following verses from his text ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''):
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One must first have the thought to take all sentient beings to the state of the Buddha just as one must first have the thought to go to Bodh Gaya before one starts the journey. Having generated the strong motivation to take all sentient beings to buddhahood, one must then engage in the actual paths and practices which lead them to the goal. The bodhisattva road consists of a long and arduous practice of the six perfections: giving, discipline, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom. These six topics cover the entire range of practices a person must take up as a bodhisattva to reach buddhahood. They also include the practice of both relative bodhicitta, or the moral mental resolve to take all sentient beings to the state of full awakening, and ultimate bodhicitta, which is the deep understanding and experience of the ultimate nature of all things.

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|text=Generating bodhicitta—the awakening mind—forms the foundation of the bodhisattva path. This transformative practice begins with recognizing the precious rarity of human existence and cultivating unwavering faith in enlightenment's possibility. Through developing immeasurable compassion for all suffering beings and finding guidance from an authentic spiritual teacher, practitioners prepare to undertake the profound bodhisattva vow. The formal ceremony involves purification through the seven-limb prayer, mind training through the four immeasurables, and the actual taking of vows to dedicate one's life to liberating all sentient beings from suffering.

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* [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Generating_Bodhicitta:_The_Bodhisattva_Vow|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Generating Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Vow]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Physical_Support|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Physical Support]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Mental_Support|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Mental Support]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Preceptorial_Support|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Preceptorial Support]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Procedure_for_Taking_the_Vow|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Procedure for Taking the Vow]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Seven-Limb_Prayer|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Seven-Limb Prayer]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Mind_Training|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Mind Training]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Actual_Taking_of_the_Bodhisattva_Vow|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Actual Taking of the Bodhisattva Vow]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Concluding_Procedures|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Concluding Procedures]]
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|text=Once bodhicitta is generated and the practitioner takes the bodhisattva vow, this mind of awakening must be vigilantly protected through precise moral discipline. This commitment entails three interconnected practices: avoiding harmful actions that corrupt the awakened mind, actively cultivating virtue through the six perfections, and dedicating oneself completely to benefiting all beings. The bodhisattva navigates specific precepts—from fundamental prohibitions against deception and abandoning beings to detailed guidelines governing speech, conduct, and intention. When transgressions occur, immediate confession and remediation through powerful purification practices restore the practitioner's spiritual integrity, ensuring the precious bodhicitta remains luminous and effective in its compassionate mission.

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* [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Protecting_Bodhicitta:_The_Bodhisattva_Precepts|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Protecting Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Precepts]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Discipline_of_Abstaining_from_Misdeeds|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Discipline of Abstaining from Misdeeds]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Precepts_for_Aspiring_Bodhicitta|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Precepts for Aspiring Bodhicitta]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Precepts_for_Engaged_Bodhicitta|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Precepts for Engaged Bodhicitta]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Precepts_for_Both_Aspiring_and_Engaged_Bodhicitta|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Precepts for Both Aspiring and Engaged Bodhicitta]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Minor_Downfalls|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Minor Downfalls]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Making_Amends|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Making Amends]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Discipline_of_Gathering_Virtue|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Discipline of Gathering Virtue]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Discipline_of_Benefitting_Sentient_Beings|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Discipline of Benefitting Sentient Beings]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Gift_Giving|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Gift Giving]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Sweet_Words|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Sweet Words]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Purposeful_Practice|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Purposeful Practice]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Consistent_Engagement|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Consistent Engagement]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Four_Bodhisattva_Actions|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Four Bodhisattva Actions]]
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|text=Enhancing bodhicitta represents the crucial next phase in bodhisattva practice—transforming initial compassionate intention into unwavering spiritual power. This enhancement involves intensive practices that dissolve the artificial boundary between self and others. Through profound meditation techniques like ''tonglen'' (giving and taking), contemplating all beings as one's mother across countless lifetimes, and cultivating the four immeasurable thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, practitioners systematically dismantle self-centered thinking. The goal is radical: completely exchanging self-cherishing for other-cherishing, recognizing that genuine happiness emerges only through dedicating oneself entirely to alleviating universal suffering and nurturing the enlightenment of all sentient beings.

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* [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Enhancing_Bodhicitta:_The_Bodhisattva_Practices|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Enhancing Bodhicitta: The Bodhisattva Practices]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Enhancing_Aspiring_Bodhicitta|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Enhancing Aspiring Bodhicitta]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Equality_between_Self_and_Others|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Equality between Self and Others]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Exchange_between_Self_and_Others|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Exchange between Self and Others]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Tonglen:_The_Practice_of_Exchange|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Tonglen: The Practice of Exchange]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Seven-Point_Instructions_of_Cause_and_Effect|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Seven-Point Instructions of Cause and Effect]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Four_Immeasurable_Thoughts|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Four Immeasurable Thoughts]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Compassion|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Compassion]]
** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#Enhancing_Engaged_Bodhicitta|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>Enhancing Engaged Bodhicitta]]
*** [[Practice/Bodhicitta_in_Practice#The_Practice_of_the_Six_Perfections|<i class="fa-sharp-duotone fa-solid fa-angle-right fa-xs align-baseline"></i>The Practice of the Six Perfections]]
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<h2 class="d-none">Living Traditions of Practice</h2>
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|header=Patrul Rinpoche <br> <small><em></em></small>
|text=In nineteenth-century Tibet, the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' was largely confined to major monastic centers, known primarily to scholarly elites. Patrul Rinpoche Orgyen Jigme Chökyi Wangpo (དཔལ་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཨོ་རྒྱན་འཇིགས་མེད་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་པོ། 1808–1887) transformed this reality, teaching Śāntideva's classic text over one hundred times throughout eastern Tibet and making it accessible to monastics and laypeople alike. So profound was his influence that contemporaries regarded him as an emanation of Śāntideva himself. Rather than composing a full commentary, Patrul created practical guides—including his ''Step-by-Step Practice Manual'' and distinctive "three opportunities" method—that emphasized direct application over scholarly analysis, with bodhicitta as the foundation of all practice. His revolutionary approach democratized access to these teachings, establishing networks of study centers and inspiring a remarkable lineage of disciples including Ju Mipham and Khenpo Kunpal, whose commentaries sparked important philosophical debates and preserved his oral tradition. Living with radical simplicity, carrying only the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' and one other text as his daily prayers, Patrul Rinpoche ensured that Śāntideva's words became not merely an object of study but a living practice tradition that continues to flourish today.

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|text=In modern times, few people have been more influential in the spread of Buddhism and the teaching of bodhicitta than His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Yet the Dalai Lama points to Khunu Lama as the teacher who most profoundly shaped his understanding of bodhicitta and ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''. Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (ཁུ་ནུ་བླ་མ་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ 1894/1895—1977) stands as one of the most influential yet humble Buddhist masters of the modern era, whose profound teachings on bodhicitta—the compassionate aspiration for enlightenment—shaped an entire generation of practitioners. The Dalai Lama called him the "Shantideva of our time," recognizing his extraordinary embodiment of compassion and wisdom. A teacher of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, especially for the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', for which he held Patrul Rinpoche's lineage, Khunu Lama's teachings were particularly sought after by the young Dalai Lama for clarifying complex philosophical concepts. Revered by many as the very embodiment of altruism, his masterwork ''The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta'' continues to inspire practitioners worldwide, cementing his legacy as a bridge between traditional wisdom and contemporary understanding.

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|header=The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso <br> <small><em></em></small>
|text=His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ། born 1935), has done more than perhaps anyone else to spread the teachings of bodhicitta worldwide, carrying forward a precious lineage that flows from Patrul Rinpoche through Khunu Lama directly to him. As perhaps the most recognized Buddhist teacher in the modern world, he received the transmission of Śāntideva's ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' from Khunu Lama—who himself held Patrul Rinpoche's lineage—and has stated that "if I have any understanding of compassion and the bodhisattva path, it all comes from studying this text." Following the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 and his escape to India, His Holiness has taught the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' extensively to audiences numbering in the tens of thousands across continents, making these profound teachings accessible to millions worldwide. He has also championed Khunu Lama's masterwork ''The Jewel Lamp'', teaching it repeatedly. His Holiness continues to demonstrate through his life and global teachings how bodhicitta offers humanity's most profound response to suffering and the surest path to genuine flourishing in our interconnected world.

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<h2 class="pt-0 mt-0">More Resources</h2>
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Delve deeper here with more resources for your practice.
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|text=A Method for Reciting the Text ''Engaging in Bodhisattva Conducts: A Stream of Blessings'', by Dam tshig rdo rje (Mkhan po chos rje)
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|text=Stories for young and old from the tradition Buddhist texts.
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|text=Explore the practices of the bodhisattva expounded by Śāntideva.
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<div class="col-12"><div class="h5">Generating Bodhicitta</div></div>
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<div class="col-12"><div class="h5">Protecting Bodhicitta</div></div>
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<div class="col-12"><div class="h5">Dedication of Merit</div></div>
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|text=Explore the training of the Bodhisattva path as laid out by Śāntideva in the ''Śikṣāsamuccaya''.
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<div class="h3">The Other Doorways</div>

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Articles/Diligence Overview

2026-03-11T16:00:40Z

SimonH:

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With the guardians of conscientiousness and vigilance at our side, and emboldened with the practice of patience, we are now able to prevent the bodhicitta in our mindstreams from declining.

In his commentary, Khenpo Shenga explains the third major outline of the text as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The third [outline] is [having prevented] bodhicitta from declining to increase it more and more. It contains three chapters: (1) the chapter on diligence, which is the method or support which increases more and more both aspects of bodhicitta—the conventional and the ultimate, (2) the chapter on concentration, which increases the conventional bodhicitta more and more, [and] (3) the chapter on wisdom, which increases the ultimate bodhicitta more and more.<ref>[[Gzhan phan chos kyi snang ba|Khenpo Shenga]], ''An Annotated Commentary to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i mchan 'grel'' (Varanasi: Nyingma Students Welfare Committee 2009), 192.</ref>
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In Śāntideva's text, this seventh chapter on diligence explains the methods that help our bodhicitta go from strength to strength. The importance of this practice of diligence, which is also the fourth of the perfections within the bodhisattva's path to enlightenment, is expressed in the first verse.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.1}}
Here, Śāntideva reminds us that without diligence there is no hope of us really proceeding forward in our Dharma practice, let alone freeing ourselves from the prison of samsara or reaching further to the lofty state of complete enlightenment. Even in our daily lives, we can see that if we don't apply ourselves diligently, then it is hard to achieve our aims and goals. How much more so on the Buddhist path to enlightenment, which requires us to sustain positive practice over vast periods of time. But what is this diligence? In the second verse, Śāntideva explains its meaning.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Diligence means joy in virtuous ways (7.2a)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 97.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva defines diligence as taking delight in virtue. This is a crucial point in the path of the bodhisattva. Although there may be some wish to benefit others, the strength to engage in virtue is an essential factor in implementing that wish. And in turn that must be sustained by a sense of joy and delight that resonates from our innermost being. Śāntideva does not simply insist that we do better in our lives, that we just be better people and improve ourselves. He also stresses that in order to sustain our practice of the Buddhist path in general, and especially the bodhisattva path, where the final aim is to give all of ourselves for all others all of the time, there must be real delight in our pursuit of positive actions. Without this delight, we may feel a surge of inspiration when we meet the Buddhist path or encounter a heart-touching situation, but there will be no sustenance for the longer road ahead. It has been said that if we look at how we engage with others around us, even those dearest to us, how often is it that we have the thought to be completely involved and of help in all of the complicated difficulties and the minutiae of the problems of just one other person's life. If this is true for those dear to us, then how much more so the great diligence required to take on the vast web of complications of each and every being as extent as the sky itself. But this is what the bodhisattva path requires of us. As the late Buddhist scholar Luiz Gomez has said about Śāntideva's texts, the bodhisattva vow to help all sentient beings attain complete enlightenment is an almost insane wish. Yet, if that wish is to become a reality, it must be supported by great effort, and that great effort must be grounded in taking joy in virtue. Without these supporting factors, Śāntideva tells us, we cannot sustain our practice in the long run.

This joyous effort takes uncontrived delight in seeing others enjoy happiness. It is the joy of having the opportunity to work for others to achieve both their short- and long-term happiness. These powerful states of mind encourage us to create a life that is centered around active engagement in virtue. But why is this so hard? What is it that holds us back and prevents us from living a life filled with virtue? Śāntideva points his finger directly at laziness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Its contraries have been defined as laziness (7.2a)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 97.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva identifies laziness (''kausīdyam'', ''ལེ་ལོ་'') as the direct antagonist of this diligence. As it says in ''The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma'' (''Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna''),
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The single basis for affliction is laziness.
Wherever laziness is present, the Dharma is absent.<ref>[[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]], [[Collet-Cassart, B.|Benjamin Collet-Cassart]], and [[Hinkle, T.|Timothy Hinkle]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma: Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna (Doctor, T.)|The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna]]'', Toh 287 ([[People/84000:_Translating_the_Words_of_the_Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/toh287.html?#UT22084-068-021-355.</ref>
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<h4>Different Categories of Laziness</h4>
Within the general category of laziness, there are a variety of different types, which Śāntideva goes on to explain in the next verses.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=An inclination for unwholesomeness,
Defeatism and self-contempt. (7.2cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 97.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.3}}
Each tradition of commentary divides these forms of laziness in a slightly different way, but the ''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' (''Tshig mdzod chen mo'') gives a common division as follows:

#the laziness of attachment to unwholesome activities (''བྱ་བ་ངན་ཞེན་གྱི་ལེ་ལོ་'')
#the laziness of shrinking from the task (''སྒྱིད་ལུག་པའི་ལེ་ལོ་'')
#the laziness of deprecating oneself (''རང་ལ་བརྙས་པའི་ལེ་ལོ་'')

Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley adds on to these a fourth, the general indolence of being attached to base pleasures (''སྙོམ་ལས་ཀྱི་བདེ་བ་ལ་ཞེན་པའི་ལེ་ལོ་'').<ref>[[Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las|Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley]], ''[[Gsung 'bum blo bzang 'phrin las (pod ta pa) (sa rA bod kyi dpe skrun khang gis par skrun zhus 2017)|An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod]]'' (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House), 56.</ref> The first three are mentioned directly in the second verse of the root text, and the last one, general indolence, is mentioned by implication in verse 3.

Khenpo Kunpal provides us with a basic sense of how these different kinds of laziness arise in us.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In itself, laziness, whereby the mind takes no joy in virtue, is caused by three things. These are first, the failure to strive in goodness, accompanied by an interest in idle entertainment; second, an indulgence in sleepiness and an increasing desire to lie in bed upon one's pillow; and third, the failure to be saddened by the sufferings of samsara. As we find in the detailed commentary, "Because they have no sorrow at the sufferings of samsara, people indulge in indolent pleasures and yearn for sleep." But although we enjoy the pleasures of distraction, and so on, and take delight in sleep, when all grosser cogitation is suspended, all such bliss transforms at length into suffering. So it is that, hankering after such sensations and feeling no sorrow at the ills of samsara, we engage in the activities of this life, getting the better of adversaries and protecting friends. However much we work at such activities, there is no end to them—and yet we do not grow weary of them but boast of all we do!<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 236.</ref>
}}
In his commentary, the great Kadampa master Gyalse Thokme Zangpo also divides laziness into three main categories.

#the laziness of lack of application
#the laziness of attachment to unwholesome activities
#the laziness of shrinking from the task<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union 2003), 244.</ref>

The purpose of clearly identifying these unproductive states of mind is so that we may identify them in our own mindstreams. Once identified, we can then use the mental conditions which are conducive and supportive of diligence to strengthen our practice.

Gyalse Thokme then goes on to identify the specific causes of laziness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Laziness is directly caused by not being disenchanted with the sufferings of samsara. [This lack of disenchantment] is caused by idleness, which is attached to the pleasure of just lazing around without engaging in virtue, and the craving of over attachment to sleep. As the great commentary says, "From not being disenchanted with the suffering of samsara comes craving for the taste of idle pleasure and for sleep."<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 244.</ref>
}}
We become lazy because we do not take seriously the fearful sufferings that can befall us in our samsaric condition. Instead, we are overcome with the fog of idleness, which causes us to just laze around, engaging only in seeming pleasures, and that is attached to general sloth and sleep. Overcome by all these forms of laziness, we can never have any true contentment or grounded sense of well-being.

<h4>How to Rid Oneself of Laziness</h4>
To counter this state of sloth and laziness, verses 5 to 14 contain strong exhortations from Śāntideva on death and impermanence to try and shake us out of our complacency. The first verse contains a terrifying analogy in which he shows us how asleep we are.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.5}}
Śāntideva likens us to buffalo, tied up in a line and marching slowly to the hands of the butcher, yet unaware that our death is close at hand. He encourages us to awaken from the deep slumber of our apathy and strive forward. In this section of the text, his tone is very insistent, as he tries to hurriedly stir us from our stupor and wake us up to the reality of our situation.

In verse 6 Śāntideva continues to impress upon us the importance of not wasting a moment of our precious time.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.6}}
Khenpo Kunpal gives us a further analogy to stir us into action.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=We should meditate too on impermanence, using the example of an ambushed wayfarer. Like highway robbers who kill travelers, blocking all paths of escape and watching and lying in wait ahead along the road, the pitiless Lord of Death seals off all the ways that we might flee from him. He leaves open only the high road that leads to death itself. And there he waits for us. He has us already in his sights. How can we continue to delight in food and drink by day and in sleep at night? How can we be happy when our days and nights are racing by? Instead we must diligently persevere in virtuous action.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 131.</ref>
}}
The Lord of Death does not wait for anyone. Our time can come at any moment, and whether we have just started something or are in the middle of a project, death will not stand by and patiently let us complete things.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.8}}
Śāntideva then moves on to contemplation of the suffering at the time of death.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.9}}
The contemporary master Thrangu Rinpoche remarks on the central importance of these meditations on death and impermanence on the path to enlightenment in the following way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When we come under the influence of laziness, we do not develop any desire to renounce samsara. The Buddha suggested that contemplation of impermanence is the remedy for this type of laziness. By not knowing the nature of impermanence and the role it plays in our life, we will never be able to enter into the Dharma. But if we contemplate the impermanent nature of phenomena, we will develop the inclination to do Dharma practice. Thus it is said that contemplating impermanence acts as an entrance into the Dharma. This contemplation also helps us along the path by encouraging us to practice. In fact, the Buddha said that thoroughly understanding impermanence is essential for achieving enlightenment<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Thrangu Rinpoche 2016)|Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 129.</ref>
}}
With the time of death uncertain and with no opportunity to do something about our situation when death actually comes, Śāntideva fiercely exhorts us to act now while we have this precious human life of opportunity to practice the path.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.14}}
<h4>The Antidote to the Laziness of Attachment to Negative Actions</h4>
The antidote to the laziness of attachment to negative activities is covered in verses 15 and 16.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.15}}
To counter our attachment to distractions, Śāntideva asks us, "Why would you turn your backs on the true and unfailing source of bliss and instead pay so much attention to base distractions and things that at best provide only momentary excitement?"
We may respond, "But if not these things which seem of pleasure, what is it that we should take pleasure in?" To this, Śāntideva has a reply for us.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.16}}
Not falling into a defeatist attitude, instead we should don the armor of diligence, and we should summon all our power, the four counteractive forces, and with mindfulness and vigilant introspection, we should earnestly adopt positive behavior and reject all that is negative. By implementing the antidotal strengths, we must bring our body, speech, and mind under control. We should strive with joy and diligence in the trainings associated with bodhicitta. We should meditate on the methods for cultivating bodhicitta and particularly the equalizing and exchanging of self and other.

<h4>The Antidote to the Laziness That Consists in Self-Deprecation and Defeatism</h4>
Depression and self-discouragement are prevalent in modern life, with many of us holding unrealistic evaluations of our abilities. A self-deprecating outlook and despondency often abound. But Śāntideva encourages us to not fall prey to pessimistic attitudes. In verses 17 to 30, he counsels us to avoid putting ourselves down by telling ourselves that we are such great sinners. Nor, he says, should we think that we have so many self-destructive emotions and therefore doubt how we could ever get rid of them and attain the state of unsurpassable buddhahood.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Buddha, who declares the truth,
Has truly spoken and proclaimed (7.17cd)
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.18}}
Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk explains that Śāntideva is here referring to ''The Sūtra of the Question of Subāhu'' (''Subāhuparipṛcchāsutra''), where it says,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=furthermore, Subāhu, bodhisattvas train properly by thinking as follows: "If even lions, tigers, dogs, jackals, vultures, curlews, crows, owls, worms, bees, horseflies, and gadflies can perfectly and completely awaken to buddhahood, then as a human being, why should I slacken my diligence, even at the cost of my own life, when it allows me to attain perfect awakening?"<ref>[[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]], trans., ''[[The Sūtra of the Question of Subāhu: Subāhuparipṛcchāsūtra (Dharmachakra Translation Committee)|The Sūtra of the Question of Subāhu, Subāhuparipṛcchāsūtra]]'', Toh 70 ([[People/84000:_Translating_the_Words_of_the_Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-043-007.html?#UT22084-043-007-88.</ref>
}}
Almost all traditional commentaries make a point of discussing this quote. Khenpo Kunpal comments on the underlying Buddhist principle that informs this belief.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The idea that underlies this argument is that all beings are in primordial possession of the Buddha-nature. And when they encounter the buddhas and bodhisattvas, their Buddha-nature awakens, the seed of liberation is nourished, and, gradually, as they progress in the succession of their lives, they attain buddhahood.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 241.</ref>
}}
Thus, Śāntideva is implicitly mentioning here how all sentient beings possess the nature or seed of awakening within them, and that given the correct conducive conditions their true buddha-nature can awaken. Therefore, he asks, how could we, who have found this precious human life of fortune and have contact with these spiritual teachings, have any cause to feel despondent at our ability to practice the path?

Moving on, Śāntideva reminds us that in certain situations, though there is a short-term pain or discomfort, it is possible to bear that suffering in the knowledge of it preventing a much more dramatic result in the future.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.22}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.23}}
We may need to take a course of unpleasant medicine to cure a long-standing illness, or a skilled surgeon may have to make incisions into our bodies that could cause great pain, but these procedures are done with the purpose of clearing away much greater future suffering. When hardships meet us as we follow the Buddhist path, we should find ways to bear them and gradually increase our ability to bear a heavier and heavier load for the welfare of all others.

Therefore, Śāntideva tells us, we should never feel discouraged nor shrink from practicing the blissful path to enlightenment but gallop on ahead, riding the steed of bodhicitta, proceeding from joy to joy.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.30}}
<h4>Implementing the Favorable Conditions for Diligence</h4>
Having pointed out the condition of laziness that most of us ordinary beings find ourselves in, Śāntideva then wants to show us how to create a supportive, nurturing environment of conducive conditions, out of which our practice of diligence can grow.

The second half of the chapter, from verse 31 onward, provides us with remedies to these forms of laziness by introducing what are technically called the six powers or forces, which help implement the favorable conditions for diligence. These forces aid us in working for the welfare and aims of all sentient beings by destroying the factors that stand in opposition to our diligence.

<h4>The Six Forces</h4>

In many of the commentaries, the six forces are divided into four forces, or literally four massed armies (''དཔུང་བཞི་''), and two antidotal strengths (''སྟོབས་གཉིས་''). With the forces and strengths at our side, we can charge headlong into battle against the negative factors that cause us to avoid engaging wholeheartedly in virtue.

Firstly, Śāntideva identifies the four powers.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.31}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.32}}
The four supportive forces are aspiration (''མོས་པའི་དཔུང་''), steadfastness or self-confidence (''བརྟན་པའི་དཔུང་''), joyfulness (''དགའ་བའི་དཔུང་''), and relinquishment (''དོར་བའི་དཔུང་''). These four forces relate to a traditional analogy supposedly used in ancient times, when the kings were said to subdue their enemies using four forces or methods. Thrangu Rinpoche explains the relationship of these four powers to each other.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The four powers are aids for developing bodhisattva's activity, with the first support of aspiration being the root of the other three. Without aspiration there will be no steadfastness and without steadfastness there will be no joy, and finally without steadfastness and joy there will be no traversing from one level to the next.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Thrangu Rinpoche 2016)|Shantideva's A Guide]]'', 135.</ref>
}}
<h4>The Force of Aspiration</h4>
From verse 33 to verse 46, Śāntideva introduces the force of aspiration, which is the foundation on which all other virtues are built.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.40}}
And this aspiration comes from contemplating the relationship between harmful actions and suffering, on the one hand, and between positive actions and happiness, on the other hand. In turn, this leads us to the understanding of what we need to take up on the path and what we need to leave behind.

Patrul Rinpoche describes the meaning of this force as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The preparation, which is the force of aspiration, is an aspiration to practise the Dharma that comes from reflecting on the benefits of virtue and the faults of harmful actions.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
The process of understanding this force of aspiration firstly involves identifying three aspects: the object of the force; the cause of the force; and the result of the force. Pema Karpo explains the object of the force through three outlines.

#Abandoning the faults of oneself and others
#Accomplishing all good qualities
#Kinds of acts<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 229.</ref>

In verses 33 and 34, Śāntideva presents the importance of abandoning the faults of oneself and others.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.33}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.34}}
The "boundless evils" here refers primarily to the afflictions. Śāntideva sets up an unshakeable resolve that however long each of these delusions takes to destroy, he will eventually bring them all to nothing. However, when he looks inside himself, Śāntideva sees no sign of progress in this regard and wonders why he does not have a metaphoric heart attack. Khenpo Kunpal captures this reaction very succinctly.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And yet, he reflects that in the interests of such a great enterprise, he does not find within himself even the slightest degree of diligent enterprise. Seeing that he himself must be destined to boundless sufferings in the future, he asks himself why his heart does not burst asunder. [Using this rhetorical device,] he shows how necessary it is for people to free themselves from faults.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 131.</ref>
}}
The next two verses, 35 and 36, instruct us on the necessity of accomplishing all good qualities.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.35}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.36}}
These verses follow the same structure as the previous two verses on destroying the afflictions, except here Śāntideva turns his attention to practicing virtue. He remarks on the tremendous importance of acquiring all the innumerable qualities which will lead us on the path and to the enlightened state. He says to himself that even if a single quality, such as acquiring clairvoyant powers like the ability to read other's minds, were to take countless eons, he will still endeavor to acquire them.
But again, as in the previous verses, when he looks inside of himself, Śāntideva finds that he has not even a fragment of the kind of diligence required to achieve such qualities. "It is amazing" he reflects to himself, "how I have managed to squander this opportunity of a meaningful life."

In verses 37 and 38, Śāntideva reflects on the kind acts he has done and those he has failed to do.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.37}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.38}}
The great Geluk master Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen reflects further on these verses and explains why we should feel regret at the kind things we have been unable to do.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Previously I did not make offerings to the Three Jewels, who are represented by the tatagata, nor did I offer the happiness of great celebrations that praise sentient beings and the tatagata. I did nothing for the teachings since I did not practice accordingly the presentation of the objects of abandonment that have to be abandoned and antidotes that have to be adopted. I also did not accomplish the wishes of the sentient beings who are destitute. I did not offer protection to those in danger from enemies or sicknesses. I also did not offer satisfaction to those that are wretched due to suffering, and hence I have not practiced the holy dharma at all and have only caused pain and suffering while being in the mother's womb.

This is the regret of not having done anything for others.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas, Chapter Seven: The Way of Training in Enthusiasm'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Rinpoche]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016), 18, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>
}}

<h4>The Force of Steadfastness</h4>
Śāntideva then goes on to present the force of steadfastness or self-confidence in verses 47 to 62.

In Tibetan, the term ''brtan pa'' (Skt. ''dhīra'') has the connotation of being stable, firm, steadfast, or fixed—something which does not move or fluctuate. However, in the context of this second force, it takes on a sense of confidence in relation to various aspects of practice.

As Patrul Rinpoche explains, this force can be looked at through the perspective of self-confidence in the face of negative emotions. This means regarding negative emotions as insignificant, having confidence that we can overcome them, and being able to cope and overcome adversity on the path.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>

The first thing Śāntideva encourages us to do is to realistically assess what our own strengths and abilities are.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.47}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.48}}
He makes it very clear that in many ways it is better not to start a project or activity if we do not feel we have the necessary resources to sustain the work and bring it to a complete and successful conclusion.

The Sakya master Sonam Tsemo explains these verses in terms of three kinds of result—the fully ripening effect (''རྣམ་སྨིན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ་''), the effect resembling the cause (''རྒྱུ་མཐུན་པའི་འབྲས་བུ་''), and the proliferating effect (''ལས་ཆེ་བའི་འབྲས་བུ་'').
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The fault of undertaking and then stopping is that one becomes habituated to stopping in future lives. This is called the 'effect similar to the cause'. An increase of negative deeds in this life is called the 'proliferating effect'. An increase in suffering throughout future lives is called the 'fully ripened effect'. It diminishes other actions—i.e. Since conduct ceases, it is an action diminishing the unattained. It also diminishes results—i.e. since it is impossible to attain the results themselves, it is an action diminishing the attained. Since one does not fulfil what should have been accomplished, it is an action diminishing their attainment.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 235–36.</ref>
}}
In relation to this force of steadfastness, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from the sixth chapter of ''The Sūtra of the Ornament of the Buddhas'' (''Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipūlyasūtra'', commonly referred to simply as the ''Avataṃsakasūtra''), describing the dedication of Vajradhvaja (one of the ten beings called Vajra who, coming from the ten directions, all appeared in the presence of Buddha Vairocana).
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Devaputra, when the sun rises, it is not dismayed by the fact that some men are blind nor by the mountain shadows that it is unable to dispel. No, it sheds light on all that can be illuminated. In the same way, when bodhisattvas appear for the sake of beings, they are not dismayed by the fact that some are wild and hostile. They bring to maturity and liberate all those who are capable of liberation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 249.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunpal goes on to explain how this relates to making sure we complete actions once we have started them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is therefore with this kind of courage, as described in the ''Vajradhvajasutra'', that we must cultivate an assured confidence and determination, telling ourselves that we will bring to completion whatever positive action we have begun for the sake of others.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 249.</ref>
}}
Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton further remark on this quotation from this sūtra in relation to assessing our capabilities and the unwanted consequences of not following through on our good intentions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The awesome picture of the Bodhisattva's task painted in the ''Vajradhvaja Sūtra'' (a section of the ''Avataṃsaka Sūtra'', and quoted by Śāntideva in his ''Śikṣā Samuccaya'', Bendall and Rouse, pp. 24 ff. and 255 ff.) is clearly something that requires many lifetimes of effort. To undertake it and then back out sets up a pattern of behaviour that is itself productive of further suffering. Only when one has ascertained the 'means' at one's disposal can one be sure of making a skilful and productive commitment. Here, no doubt, pride, as explained in the following verses, will play its own crucial part in one's conviction that such a task is possible to achieve.<ref>[[Crosby, K.|Kate Crosby]] and [[Skilton, A.|Andrew Skilton]], trans., ''[[The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Oxford: [[People/Oxford_University_Press|Oxford University Press]], 1996), 66.</ref>
}}
It is with this kind of courage or steadfastness that we must cultivate an assured confidence and determination to shine light out into the world, whether or not it is currently possible to illuminate every single dark place. We understand that temporarily our light may not be of benefit, but we are not dismayed by that. We continue to work to inspire and encourage those who can feel that light to practice the path. This courage helps us to bring to completion whatever positive action we have begun for the sake of others.

This is one important aspect of this confidence—the quality of stability to continue on with what one has begun, which allows us to bring tasks to a successful conclusion.

In the commentaries this self-confidence is usually divided into three kinds:

#self-confidence with regard to the task
#self-confidence with regard to one's abilities
#self-confidence with regard to the afflictive emotions

<h4>Cultivating a Feeling of Self-Confidence with Regard to the Task</h4>
Khenpo Kunpal shows how the ''Avataṃsakasūtra'', again, provides us with the inspiration.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The outer palace of the sun, Devaputra, which is material, has no choice but to do its work of illuminating the four continents all by itself. It is unobstructed by cloud, dust, or wind, and it sheds its light impartially over everything. And although all beings place their hope in it, the sun for its part has no need to rely on anything. In the same way, I, a Bodhisattva skilled in emptiness and the means of great compassion, will bring to maturity and liberation all beings, whose number is as limitless as space itself. And I will do this by myself alone! I shall be impeded by none of the faults or defects of beings, wild and barbarous as they are. I will become the great and unknown friend of every being. Though they may place their hopes in me, I do not place my hopes in them.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 250–51.</ref>
}}
This is the kind of determination and confidence required in relation to the bodhisattva following the Mahāyāna.

Śāntideva looks around at the ways of worldly people and finds a little confidence that, compared to them, he, as a bodhisattva, could secure the happiness of both himself and others.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.50}}
Ordinary worldly beings are overpowered by their defilements and are therefore powerless. Unable to accomplish virtue, they cannot accomplish their own happiness, let alone that of others. And so, Śāntideva concludes, he must take on the responsibility to do this on his own. Gyaltsap Je elaborates on this theme, stating that
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=one needs to achieve the works of sentient beings by oneself, independently from others, because these worldly beings, which have no control due to their afflictions, cannot achieve even their own purpose.

Hence migrators cannot strive in virtue for the purpose of others like one can, and even if one were to rely on them it would be useless. Therefore think, 'I have to do the actions for the benefit of others all by myself'.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Seven]]'', 25, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
However, Śāntideva points out that it is also extremely important never to develop arrogance, even when others allow themselves to engage in lower forms of conduct.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.51}}
Khenpo Kunpal provides two alternative readings of these two verses.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When others give themselves to low activities (confounding their enemies, protecting their friends, and indulging in farming and trade), how, Shantideva asks, can he connive as their companion? Such a course of action would be quite inappropriate. Instead, he should practice the six paramitas of the way of the Bodhisattvas.

Alternatively, Shantideva's words could be interpreted as meaning that, when others are engaged in the mundane activities of making hay, chopping wood, carrying loads, and so on, how can he idly stand by? It is not at all correct. On the contrary, he should give help to people in everything that does not involve negative action—just as Dromtönpa carried the luggage of an old tantrika and the Indian master Padampa Sangye did the same for the yellow-bearded acharya.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 251.</ref>
}}
Whichever interpretations of the verses we follow, we must be very careful not to have any sense of pride in thinking that our actions make us superior to others. Getting rid of this kind of ordinary conceit is a very important part of the bodhisattva practices.

<h4>Cultivating Self-Confidence with Regard to One's Abilities</h4>
Verse 52 and the first two lines of verse 53 explain the faults of not having pride and confidence in our own abilities.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.52}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But if, depressed, I give up trying,
How can I gain freedom from my abject state? (7.53ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 105.</ref>
}}
When crows find a dead snake, they will behave like eagles soaring up into the sky and contemptuously playing with the dead snake before devouring it. Likewise, if we have a very low estimation of ourselves and our own abilities, we will be in the position of the dead snake—vulnerable to harm from even the smallest of faults, which can then easily cause us to fall into the lower realms. Here, the low estimation of ourselves also has the connotation of our antidote to the afflictions being weak.

Discouraged about our ability to practice virtue and to avoid negative actions, it is easy to get depressed and give up even trying to follow the path, and we get stuck in this miserable condition. Crosby and Skilton's translation from the Sanskrit of verse 52 adds a further layer to this understanding.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even a crow acts like Garuḍa when attacking a dead lizard.
If my mind is weak, even a minor difficulty is oppressive.<ref>[[Crosby, K.|Crosby]] and [[Skilton, A.|Skilton]], ''[[The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening|Bodhicaryāvatāra]]'', 72.</ref>
}}
In relation to these verses, Pema Karpo quotes from the ''Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sūtras'' (''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra''). Since we have decided to shoulder the burdens of all beings, we are encouraged to drop any sense of discouragement and to intensify our diligence in order to cut the fetters that bind both ourselves and others to the world of suffering.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For supreme beings who shoulder the burdens of beings,
It is not becoming to walk leisurely.
Numerous are the ties that bind oneself and others—
This calls for a hundredfold diligence. [V.28]<ref>[[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]], trans., ''[[Books/Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sūtras|Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sūtras: Maitreya's Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham]]'' (Boston: [[People/Snow_Lion_Publications|Snow Lion Publications]], 2014), 107.</ref>
}}
The answer to this situation is to proudly stand our ground in the fight against the afflictions. The last two lines of verse 53 as well as verse 54 explain the great benefits of being proud of our own abilities.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But if I stand my ground with proud resolve,
It will be hard for even great faults to attack me. (7.53cd)
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.54}}
If we hold our ground firmly with great diligence and a strong resolve to confess any of our faults as they arise, then we can never be defeated by serious downfalls of our vows and conduct, and we will be saved from falling into the lower realms. As ''The Skill-in-Means Sūtra'' (''Upāyakauśalyasūtra'') says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Son of the family: the Bodhisattva who is skilled in means attenuates even a grave transgression with skill in means.<ref>[[Tatz, M.|Mark Tatz]], trans. ''[[The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra]]'' (Delhi: [[People/Motilal_Banarsidass|Motilal Banarsidass]], 2001), 29.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk expands on these verses in his commentary to explain how it is important to have pride in one's abilities to be able to tackle the afflictions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For that reason, with one's own own mind set firmly with pride in one's abilities, we give rise to the mental force that thinks, "I will accomplish all forms of virtuous karma. I will abandon all afflictions. I have the ability to do those things," with which I must defeat and abandon all downfalls. If the downfalls were to overcome me, so that when downfalls arose I had no ability to confess them, then after death if those faults overcame me with such things as rebirth in the unhappy realms, then that wish to conquer the three realms and attain the complete state of buddhahood would become a point of utter laughter.<ref>[[Ngag dbang kun dga' dbang phyug|Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk]], ''A Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''Theg pa chen poi do'i dgongs don gyi bstan bcos byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa zhes bya ba'i 'grel pa'' (Taiwan: Chos kyi blo gros rtsom sgrig khang, 2016), 483.</ref>
}}
In verses 56 to 59, Śāntideva brings up an interesting doubt that may arise in relation cultivating pride and feelings of self-worth. Throughout this section on steadfastness, we have been encouraged to develop self-confidence, and yet in earlier chapters this is something that we have been told to abandon. So how can we understand Śāntideva's insistence here on the need for pride as an antidote to laziness?
{{PullBcaVerses|7.56}}
Śāntideva answers this doubt by explaining that the pride that is meant here is not defiled pride. Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk expands on this by pointing out that there are two kinds of pride.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One kind of pride is an antidote to pride, and the other type of pride is something to be abandoned. Moreover, any kind of migrator who is conquered by afflictive pride, will put others down, downplay others, and undervalue them, thinking of themselves as wise. One like that, who is overcome by the enemy of the afflictions, is one afflicted by what is to be abandoned, which is not the kind of self-confidence in their abilities which is an antidote of the bodhisattvas. If one possesses the pride in one's capability to [apply] the antidotes, they will not be controlled by the enemy of afflicted pride, whereas those who have ordinary pride will be under the control of the enemy of the pride that is to be abandoned.<ref>[[Ngag dbang kun dga' dbang phyug|Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk]], ''Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', 484–85.</ref>
}}
What then are the consequences when one falls under the power of this afflicted type of pride? Śāntideva explains in verses 57 and 58 that such self-satisfaction can result in various negative outcomes.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.57}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.58}}
In their translation of verse 57 from the Sanskrit, Crosby and Skilton bring out some further nuances of the negative results of pride.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Led by pride to a bad rebirth, even as a human being their jubilation is destroyed—slaves, eating food scrounged from others, stupid, ugly, and thin.<ref>[[Crosby, K.|Crosby]] and [[Skilton, A.|Skilton]], ''[[The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening|Bodhicaryāvatāra]]'', 72.</ref>
}}
With our minds puffed up with conceit and arrogance, we will eventually be pulled down into the lower realms. Even if we are fortunate to be born as a human, we will end up as someone else's slave, desperately reliant on others for even basic sustenance, or we may be born with an unpleasant appearance or emaciated and weak. And even if there is no direct harm, we will become despised by others, the butt of their jokes and the laughingstock of all. Those "ascetics" whose minds are puffed up with conceit are the real objects of contempt. They never taste the real Dharma and are unable to cultivate the true and confident pride of a bodhisattva.

In conclusion to this section on self-confidence with regard to one's abilities, Śāntideva identifies those who deserve to be truly named the proud.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.59}}
Khenpo Kunpal, commenting on this verse, puts this very succinctly.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The offspring of the Conqueror, who maintain a stable self-confidence (the antidote that overturns the enemy of afflictive pride) are the ones who are truly proud [in the positive sense] and worthy of praise. For they are heroes who have vanquished their foe, the pride that is a defilement. Those who have true self-confidence in their ability overwhelm completely the mighty force that holds the three worlds in its power—the thought of "I." And thus, according to their wish, they are able to offer to beings the perfect fruit of buddhahood. It is in this way that Shantideva praises the qualities of a healthy sense of self-worth that is the antidote [to pride].<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 253.</ref>
}}
Those who can be considered in a positive sense to be truly proud are the ones who bring to completion their conquest of the afflictions, and thus become a conqueror, able then to fulfill the wishes of all beings.

<h4>Cultivating a Sense of Self-Confidence with Regard to the Afflictive Emotions</h4>

In this first verse regarding self-confidence in relation to the afflictions, Śāntideva reveals his deep determination not to give in to any afflictive state but instead to stand tall like a lion in the face of whatever comes.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.60}}
Khenpo Kunpal provides us with the a detailed explanation of this verse.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When one keeps the company of attractive people, desire will grow; when one is with hateful people, anger develops. When therefore we find ourselves in dangerous situations in which there are abundant stimulants for the afflictions, we should cultivate the antidotes to them with a proportionate intensity and we should stand up to them in a thousand ways. For example, just as a lion cannot be injured by a fox, we should ensure that our minds are proof against the onslaught of the afflictions. It is said that the best practitioners use as the path the very object that gives rise to the afflictions. Average practitioners apply the antidotes and hold their ground. By contrast, practitioners of a more basic capacity must abandon such objects and retreat.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 254.</ref>
}}
An important point he makes here is that if we are not strong practitioners, then we cannot cope with the onslaught of situations which only strengthen our afflictions. Eventually, we may need to retreat away and completely avoid these situations. But an advanced practitioner can use the objects and situations that give rise to the afflictions. Such a practitioner can not only neutralize them but actually take them onto the path.

In verses 61 and 62 Śāntideva explains how to develop strength in dangerous situations and how to make sure that we remain focused on not being tainted by defilements.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.61}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.62}}
Śāntideva holds to the strongest of resolves—that however difficult things get, whatever happens, even if his life is threatened, he will never allow himself to bow to or be brought under the control of these destructive afflictions.

<h4>The Force of Joyfulness</h4>
The last of the four forces is the force of joy. Patrul Rinpoche, in his meditation manual on Śāntideva's verses, describes this force.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The force of special joy means practising virtue with joyful enthusiasm, but without any expectation of a positive result, celebrating all the good things that we do.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Verses 63 to 66 deal with this force of joyfulness, especially the importance of working for the sake of others without any thought of a reward.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.63}}
Children at play take pure delight in their games, present in that moment and thinking nothing of future reward. They are aware only of the simple joy of play, which they can never have enough of. Likewise, the bodhisattvas should be intensely engaged in a life lived purely for others, practicing the perfections such as generosity with great joy and never satisfied that they have done enough.

The meaning of the first line of this verse has the connotation of "those who hanker after the joyful results of their games." But in Skilton and Crosby's translation of the root text based on the Sanskrit, it is rendered as "like someone hankering for the pleasure and the fruit of love-play."<ref>[[Crosby, K.|Crosby]] and [[Skilton, A.|Skilton]], ''[[The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening|Bodhicaryāvatāra]]'', 73.</ref>

Alan and Vesna Wallace, in their translation of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', note that according to Prajñākaramati's ''Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā'', "'a game' refers to the game of dice, that is, gambling and so forth," and so they would cling to the results of those games, their winnings.<ref>[[Wallace, V.|Vesna Wallace]] and [[Wallace, A.|Alan Wallace]], trans., ''[[A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life|A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life (Bodhicaryāvatāra)]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Ithaca, NY: [[People/Snow Lion Publications|Snow Lion Publications]], 1997), 85n214.</ref>

However, commentaries such those by Khenpo Kunpal and Gyaltsap Je explain this verse using the analogy of a child who takes uninterrupted pleasure in play, absorbed in the simple moments of their games, without a care in the world, and thinking nothing of any future result. Likewise, bodhisattvas should devote themselves to the path and have an insatiable wish to be virtuous for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Śāntideva also reminds us of the unreliable nature of ordinary activities and the uncertainty of achieving the desired result and fulfilling the hopes of happiness we have placed in them. As Khenpo Kunpal says, "In a bid for happiness and contentment, worldly people toil strenuously in their work of farming or commerce. But success is very far from certain."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 254.</ref>

In contrast, the actions of the bodhisattva, based as they are in a deep delight in virtue, are certain to guarantee us both temporary and ultimate happiness. Therefore, Śāntideva asks, who would not immediately engage with that path?

Even though we may have a sincere wish to attain either liberation or the state of complete buddhahood, we still never seem to have enough of what we perceive to be pleasurable samsaric experiences. Yet, Śāntideva warns us that we are mistaken in our estimation of these experiences. Although appearing pleasurable, these worldly things are like licking delicious honey from the edge of a sharp razor blade. The immediate attachment to the pleasure of the taste of the honey is quickly followed by a much greater pain.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And since they never have enough of pleasure,
Honey on the razor’s edge, (7.65ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 106.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva chides us with reason, saying that if you can never have enough of short-term worldly pleasure, which will eventually provide you only with pain, then how could you ever have enough of doing meritorious virtue, whose fruits are stable peace and long-term happiness?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How could they have enough of merit,
Fruits of which are happiness and peace? (7.65cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 106.</ref>
}}
He urges us to dive headlong into our Dharma practice with the same feeling of relief and enthusiasm that an elephant, baked by the heat of the midday sun, would feel plunging headlong into a cool watering hole.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.66}}

<h4>The Force of Relinquishment</h4>
Although the practice of joy in virtue, particularly in the service of others, is essential on the path, Śāntideva recognizes that there are times when it is not possible help others with great intensity, and we may need to take a healthy break.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.67}}
The body and mind can get run down. We may be tired and sick, or we may feel discouraged, and it may not be possible to feel that delight. There are times when we need to take a break, and that is the role of the force of relinquishment. It is not an indulgence in laziness but an important component in allowing us to be realistic about our strengths and a practical way of being able to manage our efforts. But the principal factor is that it is only a temporary laying aside of these activities. We are recuperating only to then be more enthusiastic when we get going again.

Patrul Rinpoche explains this force as a response of moderation that helps to prevent us from getting completely worn down.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The force of moderation means to clear away hindrances by resting for a while whenever we are physically tired or disheartened, in order to continue with renewed vigour shortly thereafter.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}

<h4>The Two Strengths</h4>
The last verses of chapter 7, from verse 68 until the end, discuss cultivating the two strengths: the strength of earnest practice and the strength of controlling body, speech, and mind. These are two strengths that are said to relate to each other like king and minister respectively, and they assist in helping us carry from strength to strength the diligence which has arisen from applying the four supportive forces. Stated more precisely, they are:
#the strength which is the actual practice of diligence to vanquish mental afflictions, held by mindfulness and conscientiousness, and which is the sincere implementation of the principle of adopting what is required on the path and rejecting what is counter to the path.
#the strength which is the mastery of one's body and mind. This strength means to train ourselves in all disciplines, remembering the advice about conscientiousness, and maintaining control over our own body, speech and mind, making body and mind ready and serviceable for the path ahead.

Patrul Rinpoche gives us a slightly different way of looking at these two strengths, emphasizing the use of mindfulness and vigilance, compared to the way to use conscientiousness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The force of sincere application means to overcome what is to be abandoned, devoting ourselves to the vanquishing of the disturbing emotions by employing mindfulness and vigilance.

The force of mastery means to train ourselves in all disciplines, remembering the advice about conscientiousness, and maintaining control over our own body, speech and mind.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun. See section titled Cultivating Condusive Factors under the heading The Pāramitā of Diligence.</ref>
}}
Verse 75 discusses the second strength of mastery over our own mind and body, and the concluding verse, 76, explains the need for that through example.
{{PullBcaVerses|7.75}}
{{PullBcaVerses|7.76}}
Just as a piece of light cotton is blown here and there at the whim of the wind, likewise, the influence of a mindset which takes real joy in virtue inevitably seeps into the way we think, act, and speak, affecting our own lives and those around us. As the great Geluk master Gyaltsap Je remarks in his own concluding stanza on the seventh chapter:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Earnest practice in the search for meaningful liberation
Depends on setting out with diligence, which itself relies on effort
To initially start/begin, and once engaged to bring to its conclusion
Hence one should generate diligence, complete with the four powers.<ref>[[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen]], ''The Gateway for the Children of the Conquerors: An Extensive Explanation of the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad rgyal sras 'jug ngogs'' (Taiwan: Gaden Jangtse Thosam Norling Dratsang, 2007), 335.</ref>
}}
As with all situations in our lives, we need something that encourages us to initially take up an activity, but we also need something which sustains us to continue with it and which then helps bring that activity to a complete and successful conclusion. Gyaltsap Je summarizes the chapter by explaining the need for effort at the start and indeed throughout a task in order to bring it to completion. This effort relies on diligence which takes delight in being positive and engaging in virtue, and that diligence must be underpinned by the four forces of aspiration, steadfastness, joy, and temporary relinquishment, which directly counter the causes of our laziness.</onlyinclude>

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Articles/Wisdom Overview

2026-03-11T15:46:30Z

SimonH:

{{LibraryItem
|Editorial=Yes
|EditorialFullText=<onlyinclude>
<h2>The Place of Wisdom in the Buddhist Path</h2>
While it is through practicing all of the other perfections that we can accumulate great merit, it is only the perfection of wisdom that allows us to cut through the root of the cycle of existence. The earlier chapters of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' present practices which can act as temporary antidotes to their opposing factors. Patience can temporarily reduce our anger, and contemplating the uncleanliness of the body can temporarily reduce our attachment. But when these positive factors wane for a moment, the afflictions will swiftly arise again. There is only one way to finally put an end to the whole range of negative states of mind, and that is to develop the wisdom which understands the lack of any inherent self, both of persons and of all other phenomena.

As this is the case, Śāntideva sets the stage for chapter 9 by explaining how all of the other branches of the doctrine and paths of practice were spoken of in order to prepare for the development of the wisdom which understands the ultimate reality of all.

{{PullBcaVerses|9.1}}

<h2>The Two Truths</h2>

In verses 2 to 4ab, Śāntideva gives a summarized presentation of the two truths—the conventional and the ultimate truth.

The first two lines of verse 2 present us with the division of all phenomena, the division into the conventional and ultimate truths.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Relative and ultimate,
These the two truths are declared to be. (9.2ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 137.</ref>
}}
These verses, and particularly the second two lines of verse 2, have been interpreted in a wide variety of ways and form part of a larger debate involving the different philosophical traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect,
For intellect is said to be the relative. (9.2cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 137.</ref>
}}
There is a much more detailed essay on this topic available on this website entitled "[https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study/Mapping_the_Debate_Between_Mipham_and_Geluk_Scholars Debates on the Wisdom Chapter between Mipham, Drakar, and Pari Rabsel]," but the main argument within the debate is whether or not the ultimate truth is beyond the scope of the intellectual or dualistic conventional mind. Masters such as Lama Tsongkhapa, through his disciple Gyaltsap Je, argue that it is possible to access emptiness, the ultimate reality of phenomena, with the conceptual mind. They also assert that this emptiness is exactly the same entity that is perceived directly by the exalted wisdom consciousness on the path of seeing.

Other masters, such as Mipham Rinpoche, assert that there are two kinds of ultimate truth—the actual ultimate truth (''རྣམས་གྲངས་མ་ཡིན་པའི་དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་

'') and a similitude of the ultimate (''རྣམ་གྲངས་ཡིན་པའི་དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་''). They argue that the similitude of the ultimate can be accessed by the conceptual mind but that the actual ultimate truth cannot be accessed by the ordinary, dualistic mind; it can only be accessed by the exalted wisdom gained in meditative equipoise on the path of seeing and above. Therefore, for this philosophical position, these two categories are not the same entity, and the actual ultimate is more subtle than the similitude and can only be realized by a directly perceiving nonconceptual consciousness devoid of any dualistic factors.

<h3>Different Individuals Perceive Different Levels of Truth</h3>
Having explained the different natures of the two truths, in verses 3 and 4 Śāntideva then moves on to explain what kind of individuals are able to access these different levels of the truth. And here he describes two types of individuals, the ordinary being and the yogi.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.3}}
According to Śāntideva, the understanding of yogic practitioners, who engage in philosophical analysis and meditative practice, undermines the views of ordinary people not engaged in these practices.

In verse 4 he explains how among the individuals considered to be practitioners, there are many levels of understanding. For instance, the understanding of followers of the lower Buddhist tenets, such as the Vaibhāṣikas, undermine the existence of a permanent, unitary, and autonomous self, the understanding of reality held by non-Buddhist schools. Then, increasingly more refined presentations of reality from Mahāyāna tenet systems such as Yogācāra and Madhyamaka outshine the philosophy of systems below them, until what is considered by all the Tibetan schools of Buddhism to be the highest, the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, is reached.

<h3>Refuting This Presentation of the Two Truths</h3>
Throughout the ninth chapter, Śāntideva engages in debates with other philosophical positions about the nature of the self and other phenomena. These opponents are from the Buddhist world but also from non-Buddhist philosophical schools whose roots lie in the ancient Indian religious traditions.

From verse 4cd until verse 56, Śāntideva deals with objections to the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's presentation of the two truths from various other Buddhist schools.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Buddhist Realist/Śrāvaka Position</h3>
Beginning from verse 6, Śantideva begins a series of debates with both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The debates flow back and forth between Śantideva himself, here as a representative of the Madhyamaka tradition in general and specifically the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school, and the holders of these other philosophical traditions.

In verses 6 to 15, Śāntideva answers a series of doubts about the Madhyamaka presentation of all phenomena being empty of intrinsic existence and therefore not existing in the way they ordinarily appear. This presentation of an illusory-like nature draws criticism from many philosophical schools, particularly from the Śrāvaka tradition, who in the well-known presentation of the four schools of Indian Buddhism would be included as the Vaibhāṣikas and Sautāntrikas.

The main core of the objections they raise is that if the ultimate nature of things is unreal, then there is no meaning to practices of virtue and of accumulating merit, since those who commit the acts and the objects of those acts don't really exist. As an extension of that, they argue that if one commits a terrible negative act, such as murder, then, following the Prāsaṅgika presentation of illusion, that act would not lead to any negative karma because the person killed was an illusion.

'''Śrāvaka (9.9):''' If all phenomena are unreal and mere illusions, then the Buddha himself is an illusion too. Merit can only be accrued by making offerings to a real Buddha, so how can merit be accumulated by making offerings to an illusory Buddha? And how could beings take rebirth after they die if they are themselves illusions?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.9}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.10):''' Illusory offerings made to the illusory Buddha give rise to illusory merit, just as you Śrāvakas believe that truly existent merit is accumulated by making truly existent offerings to a truly existent Buddha. The only difference between our systems lies in the respective reality or nonreality of the merit (and of the Buddha); it does not lie in the arising or nonarising of such merit.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.10}}
All phenomena, whether an illusion or what we call a real phenomena, arise on the basis of causes and conditions. As long as the complete conditions of an illusion are assembled, the illusion will manifest. And as long as the complete conditions of karma and afflictions are present, beings will continue to experience death and rebirth.

This is the measure of their reality, and we cannot say beings have true existence because they exist for a longer time. An illusion could exist for a long time and a being for a shorter time, but the duration of the phenomena has no bearing on their ontological status.

Here, Śāntideva is saying that illusions and "real" beings are similar in that they appear but do not exist intrinsically.

'''Śāntideva's continued response (9.11):''' But with regard to the killing of a real person and the "killing" of an illusory person, there is a difference in the karma accrued, as one has a mind to experience suffering and one does not.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.11}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.11):''' The intention to kill the illusory person that in reality is not a person still carries with it the fault of intending great harm on someone. But even if we were able to "kill" that illusory person, because they do not have a mind, no fault of murder would actually be committed.

On the other hand, what we call real beings are illusory-like, but although they are illusory-like they are not illusions. There is a difference between a person and the magical apparition of a person, and this division lies in whether they possess a mind or not. Because an actual person has a mind, they can therefore experience happiness and sorrow. The beneficial or harmful acts committed in relation to an actual person create virtuous or nonvirtuous karma.

In terms of their ontological status, there is not a single difference—both lack any intrinsic existence but still do conventionally exist.

Here, Śāntideva is highlighting an extremely important but commonly misunderstood point of the Middle Way view. He argues that just because things are illusory-like it doesn't mean that they are a complete fabrication, and it does not mean that they do not exist. An illusory-like person does not have any intrinsic nature, but they are still conventionally existent, they have minds and feelings, and if we commit terrible acts in relation to them, they will suffer, and we will accumulate negative karma. Śāntideva is at pains to point out that being empty of inherent existence does not invalidate the conventional and dependently related reality.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Mind-Only School</h3>
In verses 15 to 29, Śāntideva answers questions raised by the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) Buddhist school and also debates with them regarding some of their central philosophical assertions.

The Mind-Only school does not accept the existence of any external phenomena and describes all that we encounter as being of the nature of mind. Objects such as trees and mountains are manifestations of the mind, but they do not exist externally in the way that they appear to do. Instead, when a karmic seed ripens to experience a particular object, like a tree, one part of that seed ripens as the mind experiencing that object, and one part ripens as an appearance of that external object. So the Mind-Only school's presentation of the emptiness of phenomena relies on understanding the lack of a separate entity of the mind and its objects, which leads us to realize that external phenomena have no independent existence “out there” on their own. They are actually only constructions of the mind. According to the Mind-Only school, when we see this ultimate reality of phenomena, our grasping at phenomena ceases and we can attain enlightenment.

The Mind-Only school's presentation of the empty nature of all phenomena relies heavily on what are known as the three natures—the dependent nature (''paratantra''), the imputed nature (''parikalpita''), and the thoroughly established or ultimate nature (''pariniṣpanna'').

Of particular interest to Śāntideva in relation to the Mind-Only school is their presentation of a self-cognizing mind (''svasaṃvedana'', ''rang rig''). The Mind-Only school asserts the existence of this kind of mind that has the ability to be aware of and to ratify its own existence. For the Mind-Only school, if we do not accept the existence of this self-cognizing mind, we will not be able to establish the validity, and therefore the existence, of consciousness through valid cognition (''pramāṇa'').

But since they accept no external objects, when mind perceives what appears to be external phenomena, it is really only perceiving a projection of that very mind itself, and so it is essentially like mind just perceiving mind.

Śāntideva argues through analogies that this kind of mind that perceives its very own self cannot exist, just as a candle flame does not illuminate itself, and just as a sword is not able to cut itself. This refutation is also intimately tied in with the explanation of memory and the need for a valid cognizing mind in order to validate or establish the existence of any particular phenomena.

<h3>The Nature of Illusion</h3>
Verses 30 to 34 contain debates between the Middle Way school and the other lower systems of Buddhist thought—the Vaibhāṣikas, the Sautrāntikas, and the Mind-Only school. The main topic of discussion is the nature of illusion. The Sarvāstivāda school inquires of Śāntideva, "What use is this understanding of emptiness? Even with that understanding, we still fall prey to our desires, just as a magician can still fall to desire for an illusory woman that he has conjured up himself."
Śāntideva counters this argument by saying that it is because of not being fully trained in the understanding of the lack of true existence that it is still possible for desire and the other afflictions to arise.

<h3>Refuting the View That If Everything Is Empty There Is No Point Seeking Enlightenment</h3>
In verses 35 to 39, Śāntideva fields further questions about the consequences of accepting the emptiness of the intrinsic reality of all phenomena. His opponents ask, "The doctrine of emptiness cannot be correct, because when the Buddha finally attains the fruit of the path—complete enlightenment—all discursive thought will cease and they will no longer have any mind. So how will they then be of any benefit to other sentient beings who are stuck in samsara since they have no thought to help others?"

Śāntideva counters this claim by saying that although there are neither conceptual thoughts nor any clinging to the true existence of self or phenomena, that does not mean that the buddhas will be unable to benefit others. Previously, when they were on the bodhisattva path, the buddhas made aspirational prayers to help others. It is these prayers that now come to fruition once the buddhas attain full enlightenment. With the appearance of the form body of the buddha (''rūpakāya''), the buddhas are able to spontaneously and effortlessly appear for the greatest welfare of all.

<h3>Proofs of the Authenticity of the Mahāyāna</h3>
Verses 40 to 43 provide a fascinating debate that questions the grounds on which a tradition can be considered to be authentically Buddhist.

The Śrāvaka tradition believes that directly understanding the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as impermanence, is sufficient to achieve the complete state of arhatship. So, they inquire of the Madhaymaka tradition, "What is the use of understanding emptiness?"

Śāntideva's first response is to quote from the Sūtras. He points out that this need for the understanding of emptiness, in order to completely uproot the afflictions, is mentioned directly in the words of the Buddha, particularly in the perfection of wisdom sūtras.

Some śrāvakas then question whether this kind of scriptural source is a valid teaching of the Buddha, and therefore there remains doubt as to whether a practitioner needs to realize emptiness to attain enlightenment.

Śāntideva then turns to logic, inquiring as to the reasons that the śrāvakas validate their own scriptures. If the śrāvakas reply that their sūtras are accepted by both parties, then, Śāntideva responds, the Vedas would also have to be accepted as valid scriptures teaching the truth because there are at least two parties who accept them to be valid.

And finally, Śāntideva reasons, if the śrāvakas follow with the argument that the teachings of the Mahāyāna are disputed by others so therefore they are not valid, that exact same argument can easily be turned back on them: since the śrāvaka’s own position is disputed by others, therefore the teachings of the śrāvaka vehicle cannot be considered valid.

<h3>The Importance of Emptiness according to the Middle Way School</h3>
In verses 44 to 56, the debate continues between the śrāvakas and the Middle Way school, but the argument shifts away from the scriptural validity of the two schools to the subject of why emptiness is so important.

At this juncture in the chapter, there is another big divergence within the commentarial tradition. The divergence of views rests on the previous discussion of whether the śrāvaka arhats need to realize the lack of intrinsic nature of self and phenomena in order to attain liberation from samsara (''mokṣa'').

The great Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal argues that this section of the text does not assert the need for realizing emptiness in order to attain liberation but instead asserts the supremacy of the Mahāyāna. The great Gelukpa master Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen interprets this section as presenting the need for all practitioners to directly perceive emptiness, whether that is the hearers and solitary realizers of the Hīnayāna or the bodhisattvas of the Mahāyāna. This is one interpretation of the cornerstones of Lama Tsongkhapa's eight great points of Madhyamaka.

<h2>Selflessness</h2>
In the next section of the text, from verses 57 to 110, Śāntideva gives an extensive explanation of how to meditate on the two different kinds of selflessness: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

<h3>1. Selflessness of Persons</h3>
Śāntideva devotes the next major section of chapter 9 (verses 57 to 77) to the refutation of the self of persons (''pudgalātman''). This section is divided into (a) the general refutation of the self of persons and (b) the specific refutations of other school's presentations of the self of persons.

<h4>A. General Refutation in Regard to the Self of Persons</h4>
Verses 57 to 59 present a general refutation of an inherent self, a self which is truly and intrinsically existent and which exists from its own side. Śāntideva does this by analyzing the components of a person—the body and mind. He argues that the self always appears in relation to the five component psychophysical aggregates of the person—the aggregates of form, feeling, formations, discrimination, and consciousness. Therefore, if a person exists in exactly the way that they appear, which is an independent self coming from the side of the aggregates, then that kind of self should be findable within those aggregates when we search for it. These three verses detail that analysis and come to the conclusion that there is nothing called "self" that we find within any of these parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.59}}
<h4>B. Specific Refutations of Other Schools' Presentations of the Self of Persons</h4>
In verses 60 to 69, Śāntideva raises arguments against the non-Buddhist Indian traditions of Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Nyāya. This section of the ninth chapter is a discussion of the self of persons and in particular is a refutation of the self of a person posited by these non-Buddhist schools.

<h5>i. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Sāṃkhya School's Belief in a Permanent Self That Is Conscious</h5>
In this section of the ninth chapter, Śāntideva refutes the self of persons as presented in the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Sāṃkhya''' (also spelled Sāṅkhya) is one of the six major orthodox (''āstika'') schools of Vedic philosophy (the other five are the Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta).

Sāṃkhya is an atheistic system, and its adherents are known as the Enumerators, for it is said that the truth they teach is known by means of enumerating a series of up to twenty-five categories of phenomena. The two central factors of these twenty-five are the primal substance (''prakṛti'') and the person (''puruṣa'').

The Sāṃkhya school maintains that as long as we are ignorant of the fact that all categories are created by the interaction between the primal substance and the person, we therefore remain in a world of multiplicity and duality and remain unenlightened. Escape from this endless circle of samsaric existence is possible only through the realization of the fundamental difference between the primal substance and persons. This realization loosens the bond between them, and an individual person loses interest in the primal substance and is thereby liberated forever from all bodies, both subtle and gross.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

{{standout
|'''Master Argument – Change and Permanence Are Mutually Exclusive'''

'''9.60 to 9.67:''' ''If something causes change to another phenomena or is changed by another phenomena, it cannot also be permanent.''
}}

In the middle section of chapter 9, Śāntideva presents his refutations of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist presentations of the self, or the person. In verses 60 to 67, he challenges the central Sāṃkhya assertion that a self can be consciousness and yet still permanent.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.60}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.61}}
"How can you attribute the quality of knowing to the self?" Śāntideva asks. "You would be implying that if the self is the consciousness of sound, then sound will be perceived at all times. On the other hand, if you assert that cognitions exist even in the absence of their objects—such as sound or physical form—then it follows that a piece of wood could be conscious, since cognitions do not require objects. Since this is not tenable, you would have to agree that without objects of cognition, there can be no cognitions.”

If a particular object is not present, then there cannot be any consciousness which apprehends that phenomena. Consciousness has to depend upon the objects that it is aware of, and it is not possible for something to be a consciousness without its being a consciousness of something.

In the next verse Śāntideva continues his analysis of the philosophical problems inherent in accepting the person to be a permanent consciousness. He asks, "Why does the consciousness apprehending form not also apprehend sound?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.62}}
Since the consciousness is the person, and since that is accepted as a permanent phenomena, then if it apprehends sound, it has to continually apprehend sound, and therefore it cannot apprehend visible objects, such as forms.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.63}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.64}}
'''Adherents of the Sāṃkhya school respond:''' The consciousness is like an actor that performs many parts in a play, so they may put on one costume and act out one role earlier in the play and then don a different costume and play a completely different character later in the same play. Likewise, they say, an earlier consciousness of sound can appear later as the consciousness of form, which then sees visible objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the consciousness is like an actor and plays many different roles by perceiving a variety of different objects, then that consciousness cannot be a constant and unchanging thing, and therefore it cannot be permanent. Change and permanence are mutually exclusive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.65}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Asserting that the latter consciousness of form is of the same nature as the prior consciousness of sound is not tenable. The two statements—(1) that the consciousness has assumed a new aspect that appears quite separately and that is not the same as before, but (2) is nevertheless thought of as being one with the previous and therefore not different in any way—are an incoherent expression of something that is unknown anywhere in the world and which has never before been seen.

'''Sāṃkhyas:''' These variously appearing consciousnesses are not real—they are deceptive forms of appearance which are dependent on temporary conditions.

'''Śāntideva:''' If these consciousnesses are not truly existent, then the Sāṃkhyas must explain what the nature of this truly existent consciousness is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.66}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas respond (9.66cd):''' It is pure consciousness, which is not qualified by any object. It is a single entity of consciousness that is present in all conscious experiences, past or future.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 351.</ref>

'''Śāntideva's response:''' If all consciousness is singular and truly existent, then it must follow that all beings are one since their individual mindstreams are all one with this nature. Since this unqualified consciousness is inherently present in the mindstreams of all beings, they must all be identically one.

In the last verse of the refutation of the Sāṃkhya presentation of the self as permanent consciousness, '''Śāntideva argues (9.67ab):''' even animate consciousness (''puruṣa'') and the twenty-four categories of inanimate matter, such as ''prakṛti'', would become identical since they are all alike in that they exist as permanent, partless entities.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.67}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' If we take away all these different kinds of minds, such as the mind which sees visual objects and hears audible sounds, minds which are all false and deceptive, then although the Sāṃkhya school speaks of this basic consciousness as true, unitary, and universal, it is hard to see what is left of it.

This concludes the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the Sāṃkhya view of the self as a permanent, partless, yet unitary consciousness.

<h5>ii. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Self of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya Schools' Belief in a Self That Is Material and Unconscious</h5>
Verses 68 and 69 contain Śāntideva's refutation of the presentation of self from the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''The Vaiśeṣika school''' is one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy and is based on Kaṇāda's ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'', composed around the second century BCE. Kaṇāda was more interested in the nature of reality, which he saw as being the dharma. He was not an orthodox follower of the Vedas, but he respected them because they revealed the dharma (here, in the general sense of the law or the truth).

Vaiśeṣika philosophy is a form of realism that believes in the pluralistic reality of things in the world around us, things that are outside and separate from us. His text attempts to investigate the diversity of existent phenomena and to categorize these phenomena into different types of entities.

The ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'' explains to us the futility of life in the illusory world of ''māyā'' and how an understanding of god can liberate us from samsara.

For further information regarding the Vaiśeṣika school, see the following page [Link to VAIŚEṢIKA COMMONS PAGE].

The Nyāya school is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. It was founded by Ṛiṣhi Akṣhipāda and is in some sense a continuation of the early Indian philosophical tradition of the Vaiśeṣika. The followers of the Nyāya refer mainly to Gautama Akṣapāda's ''Nyāyasūtra'', from around the end of the first century CE. This text deals mainly with philosophical debate and logical and epistemological ideas.

The followers of the Nyāya (called Naiyāyikas) accept the self to be a permanent, partless, material phenomenon which, although unconscious, is considered to be the experiencer of things. It is the thing that transmigrates from life to life.

The two traditions of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya were maintained separately until around the eleventh century, when they eventually merged to form a tradition known as the Navya-Nyāya, combining the metaphysical basis of Vaiśeṣika with the epistemological developments of Nyāya.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

Śāntideva begins by refuting the main Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya view that the self is unconscious. His main argument here is that a self, or person, must be conscious. This seems to be directly validated by our everyday experience, where we are aware and have knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

The following verses present the basic debate between Śāntideva and the Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya position, interspersed with the relevant verses from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'':

'''Śāntideva:''' If you hold the self to be an unconscious material substance, then the self cannot experience anything. If that is so, there would be no difference between that form of consciousness and ordinary matter, such as a clay pot.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something destitute of mind, we hold, is not a self.
For mindlessness means matter, like a vase. (9.68ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya:''' It is true that since the self is unconscious, it cannot know objects or experience feelings directly. But when the self becomes associated with consciousness, then due to the mind's power, it can then become conscious of objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting this will destroy your central belief that the fundamental nature of the self is to be unconscious and unaware of phenomena. Now you are saying that it can become aware of objects, which is a contradiction:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the self has consciousness when joined to mind."
Then this refutes its nature of unconsciousness. (9.68cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting an immutable, permanent self which is also affected by mind, such that it becomes cognizant of objects, is untenable.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.69}}
'''Śāntideva:''' The self that you assert cannot be permanent, since the self comes to acquire the awareness of objects, an awareness that it did not previously have when it was unassociated with mind. How can something that is permanent, which never undergoes any kind of change, be affected by something else? How can something else cause this self to change its state, from the state of not knowing or experiencing objects to knowing them? It is not possible to act upon something which is permanent.

And it also follows that if this is how the self is, why would we not call empty space the self? Space, too, is inert and unable to act either negatively or positively, and it is similarly devoid of mind and not able to cognize anything.

<h5>Dispelling Objections to Selflessness</h5>
In the next short section of the text, from verse 70 to 77, Śāntideva fields doubts about the validity of the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka explanation of the selflessness of persons, particularly the doubts that if the self does not exist, then the Buddhist presentation of the law of karma would be untenable, and the doubt that cultivating compassion for those that do not exist would be meaningless.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with the Principle of Karma'''
In verses 70 to 74, Śāntideva responds to the argument that accepting a self which lacks any intrinsic nature and also accepting the law of karma such that actions in the past determine the positive or negative results we experience in the future are logically incompatible.

'''The opponent (who some ascribe to be the Nyāya and some as Vaiśeṣika):''' How is it possible for you, the Prāsaṅgika school, to believe in both the law of karma, where actions in the past determine the results we experience in the future, and at the same time to not believe in the existence of a self? Once the karmic action is done, there is no longer the doer. Therefore, who would receive the results of that action? Since the one who experiences the result of a previous action is someone else, the result of the action goes completely to waste.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.70}}
This is a very important philosophical point that touches on the subject of how the existence of the continuity of individual mindstreams for different beings can be compatible with the Buddhist presentation of selflessness.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument Involving Causality'''

'''9.70 to 9.72:''' ''Answering objections that a self which does not exist inherently can still create karmic actions and receive the karmic results of those, showing that karma and lack of true existence are not incompatible''.
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.72ab):''' It is impossible to find a result that still has its substantial cause present at the time that the result arises. At the time of the result, the cause must necessarily have ceased. It is only possible to draw the relationship of these causes to their results when we look at the perspective of the continuity of the mindstream of a particular being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.72}}
'''Śāntideva (9.72cd):''' In dependence on a single continuum of the aggregates, we can refer to the one who creates the karma and the experiencer of the result of that karma. When talking in reference to a continuum, it is valid to say this person creates karma as well as experiences karma.

Connected to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from a Pāli sutta, where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="The result, O monks, of an action once performed does not affect inanimate elements such as earth and so forth. It ripens on the aggregates, elements, and sense powers that are assumed by a consciousness." The result that ripens on the doer of an action is thus posited in terms of a single mental continuum.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref>
}}
The Buddha himself has stated that the results of karmic actions do not ripen on immaterial and inanimate objects, such as rocks and mountains.<ref>There is a longer discussion of this in [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Khenpo Kunpal]]'s commentary. See [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref> They ripen on the aggregates included within the basis of a person, such as the elements or the sense powers. The effects of actions performed by a living being always ripen in relation to aggregates which are associated with consciousness.

So there is continuity between the one who did the act and the one who receives the result. Despite there being no inherently existent self, it is still reasonable to accept that the continuum experiences the result. However, this is not the same person, as is commonly held by the view of ordinary people. The earlier person who commits the act is a different person from the one who experiences it. But then the question arises: what then is this self?

'''Opponent:''' It is the continuum that is the self.

'''Śāntideva (9.73ab):''' But accepting that this continuum is the continuum of mind and that the continuum of mind is the self is not tenable. If the self is mind, then it must be either the past, present, or future mind. But the past mind is gone and the future mind has not yet been produced, so they are not existent right now and therefore cannot be the self.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.73}}
'''Opponent (9.73c):''' It is the current mind right now that is the self.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument about Existence and Time'''

'''9.73:''' ''If the mind is the self, or indeed any one of the aggregates, then since the aggregates change from moment to moment, the self would become nonexistent in the next moment.''
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.73d):''' If the present mind is asserted to be the self, then a permanent self could not be accepted because this present mind perishes in the next moment and a new mind arises (an argument against Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika). For anyone who believes the self to inherently exist, that self must pass from the past into the present and the present into the future. If this is so, the self cannot be identified as the present moment. These arguments refute the theory of the self being the mental continuum.

In relation to verse 73, the commentaries contain an interesting discussion of what it means to be a continuum.

It says in verse 61 of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Qualities ascribed to Upagupta and Maitreya
Are distinct and cannot be assigned to one continuum.
Phenomena that differ by their varying particulars,
Do not compose a single continuity.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham'' (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2002), 76.</ref>
}}
So there are different continuums for different beings. The continuum of Maitreya is not the continuum of Upagupta.

But the question may arise: Does one specific continuum constitute a single self? The answer is that it does not. We can easily see that a person when they are young is completely different from the same person when they are older, and we can also see that the person in an earlier birth is different from the person in a later birth. We can say that they are of the same continuum but that they are not the same person. The continuum is useful as a label, but it does not inherently exist.

{{standout
|'''Master Mereological Argument in Relation to Mind'''

'''9.74:''' ''The mind cannot be found when searched for among its parts, which are the individual moments of mind. It is neither the past mind, the present mind, or the future mind. However, there must still be some connection between past and future moments to allow for the existence of individual continuities of mind for each person.''
}}

Although the Madhyamaka school says that the continuum exists conventionally, they also point out that when we search for its ultimate nature under analysis, we cannot find anything that we can posit as the continuum, and therefore the continuum lacks any true existence.

'''Śāntideva (9.74ab):''' If we take the example of a plantain tree, and if we mentally analyze it or physically dissect it so that we look through all of its leaves, the trunk, or any of its parts, searching for the essence of this tree, we will find nothing that we can point to that is what we call a plantain tree.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.74}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.74cd):''' Likewise, when we analyze the self or phenomena to see whether they exist inherently and concretely in the way that they appear, we find nothing. Searching through the basis of designation of a phenomena, we are unable to uncover anything that we could call an "I" or essence. Therefore, the self cannot exist in any kind of absolute manner. This kind of ultimate analysis harms any kind of assertion of an intrinsically existing independent self.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with Compassion'''
In verses 75 to 77, Śāntideva answers further questions about the Madhyamaka school's presentation of emptiness.

'''Opponent (9.75):''' Since, for the Madhyamaka, the self does not exist, then living beings cannot exist. And if living beings do not exist, there is no one to be the object of compassion, which is one of the foundations of the Mahāyāna:
{{PullBcaVerses|9.75}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.75cd):''' While there is no inherently or independently existing self, it is still possible to posit the existence of beings from a conventional perspective.

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in his commentary to the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' entitled ''Practicing Wisdom'', brings out an interesting understanding of what Śāntideva means here by ignorance.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By "ignorance" here, Shantideva is not referring to the grasping at intrinsic existence, the fundamental ignorance that is at the root of our unenlightened existence. What he is saying is similar to the statement found in Chandrakirti's ''Supplement to the Middle Way'', where the universe is said to be the product of the ignorant mind. Shantideva says that within the framework of relative truth—that is, within the validity of the conventional world of everyday experience—self does exist. Therefore, sentient beings exist for whom we can generate compassion, and these sentient beings have real suffering.<ref>[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way]]'', trans. and ed. [[People/Jinpa,_Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 106.</ref>
}}
Beings are thrown into the world of samsaric birth through the ignorant mind, and through ignorance they engage in contaminated actions that, while bringing positive or negative results, still keep us bound to the wheel of cyclic existence. Within the world of relative truth, beings do exist, and trapped as they are in this endless cycle of suffering, they are a suitable object for our compassion and bodhicitta.

'''Opponent (9.76ab):''' If there are no sentient beings, then there can be no practitioners of the path and no one who can attain the resultant state. Therefore, why would you take a vow to attain the state of buddhahood?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.76}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.76cd):''' It is true that when subjected to ultimate analysis we cannot find anyone who attains the result, no one for whom the result is attained, nor any result. Ultimately, there is no difference between samsara or nirvana—neither of them have any true existence. But to the perception of those enmeshed in ignorance, these things seem very real. This is an essential point of the Middle Way philosophy—at an unanalyzed level, we can accept the existence of the conventional, dependently related world. But under analysis into their deepest nature, nothing of either samsara or nirvana can be found.

Khenpo Kunpal explains this very nicely by using an analogy of someone who is possessed by a harmful spirit, causing them to experience things that are not really there.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For one who, through ignorance, is enmeshed in dualistic mental patterns, samsara incontestably appears. And because of this, nirvana, the reverse of samsara, also exists. It is rather like a man oppressed by malignant spirits. He lives in the same kind of place as ordinary people, but he suffers because he sees demonic shapes and things that others do not perceive—and yet all the while he is in a perfectly wholesome and pleasant environment. In an ultimate sense, neither samsara nor the peace of nirvana has true existence. It is for this very reason that such things as bondage in samsara and liberation from it are possible; if they had real existence, neither could actually occur. This is a key point, which should be fully assimilated.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 355–56.</ref>
}}
Here, Khenpo Kunpal is pointing out a very important point—by not understanding that samsara and nirvana have not a single atom of true existence, there is bondage in cyclic existence. But there is also the possibility of liberation from that.

'''Opponents may raise the doubt:''' If what we hope to gain is actually unreal and unattainable, why should we make so much effort to train on the path?

'''Madhaymaka response:''' Although, on the ultimate level, there is actually nothing to obtain, on the level of appearance, there is still something to work toward. Until we attain buddhahood, when the ultimate reality of all phenomena appears directly to us, we should neither throw away the idea of trying to destroy the afflictions nor throw away the relative idea that liberation can be attained. This is the path we will have to walk to overcome suffering.

Once we have drawn back all the obscurations, including the obscurations to omniscience, and once all dualistic structures are dismantled, when for us the two truths are in union, only then will we be able to overcome the discrepancy between the appearance of phenomena and their deepest nature. Only then, in the sphere of ultimate reality, will we fully realize that the goal never fundamentally existed and be able to drop all hopes and expectations for conventional phenomena, even for enlightenment itself. Candrakīrti captures this in two verses from his classical work on the Madhyamaka view, ''Entering the Middle Way'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Conventional reality therefore becomes the means;
And by this means, the ultimate is reached.
Those who do not know how these two differ
Err in thought and take mistaken paths. (6.80)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Unlike you, who think dependent nature is a true existent,
Even for the all-concealing relative we make no claims.
And yet, to gain the fruit, we speak in harmony with worldly folk
And grant that things exist, though they do not. (6.81)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', 79.</ref>
}}
'''Opponent's objection:''' If the reality of the conventional world is not to be completely negated, isn’t it possible that we might give these conventional phenomena some sort of objective status that they do not actually possess? And if this is so, it seems that although the afflictions and ignorance can be temporarily halted, it will not be possible to stop them completely.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.77}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.77):''' Clinging to the conventional self to be inherently existent creates a false sense of "I," leading us to give rise to anger, attachment, and the whole range of afflictions, and this in turn leads us to suffering.

This may seem like an endless cycle, but it is not. This ignorance can be overcome. This is possible if we cultivate the mind that lies in direct opposition to this false view of the self—the wisdom realizing the emptiness of the self. This insight, based on valid reasoning, perceives the ultimate reality of the self, the lack of any inherently existent nature, and dismantles the ignorance that has kept us bound in samsara.

Khenpo Kunpal neatly sums up this section of the text by encouraging those of us with good fortune to strive to develop the wisdom that sees the ultimate reality.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=To sum up therefore, belief in selfhood is the root of samsaric existence. As long as this is not eliminated, no matter what practices one undertakes, whether austerities or meditation, one cannot get beyond samsara. Consequently, it has been said that those graced with good fortune who wish for liberation should constantly make their practice a remedy to self-clinging.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Selflessness of Phenomena</h3>
Having refuted the positions of other doctrinal systems on the self of the person and implicitly presented the Madhyamaka view of how the person is empty of an inherent nature, Śāntideva then moves on to the selflessness of all other phenomena which are not the person.

<h4>The Four Foundations of Mindfulness</h4>
In the classical Buddhist tradition, there are many ways to analyze phenomena in order to reveal their deeper nature. Here, in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Śāntideva chooses to focus mainly on some of the component aggregates of a person, the basis of designation of the person, which are considered to be included in the category of phenomena and therefore phenomena that are other than the person.

The system of contemplation that Śāntideva presents here is called the four foundations of mindfulness (''catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna''), also translated as the four close placements of mindfulness.

These four mindfulnesses observe four different aggregates within the continuum of a living being. These four are (1) mindfulness of body (''kāyāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (2) mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (3) mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna''); and (4) mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

These four mindfulnesses are a subset of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (''saptatriṃśadbodhipakśyadharma''), the noble eightfold path (''āryaṣṭāṇgamārga''), as well as the five faculties (''pañcabalāni''), and the five powers (''pañcendriya''). These factors are common both to the non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna traditions, although the reach and focus of these factors has developed along with the traditions.

The Theravāda tradition takes the source for these four mindfulnesses from ''The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness'' (''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta''), which is found in the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pāli Canon.<ref>See sūtra 22 in Maurice Walshe, trans., ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya'' (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 1996), 335.</ref>

But what is the general characteristic of these four mindfulnesses? Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains the etymology of the word ''satipaṭṭhāna'' in his introduction to the ''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta'' as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''Satipaṭṭhāna''—the establishing (''upaṭṭhāna'') of mindfulness (''sati'')—is a meditative technique for training the mind to keep mindfulness firmly established in a particular frame of reference in all its activities. The term ''sati'' is related to the verb ''sarati'', to remember or to keep in mind.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, ''The Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse, Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)'', Dhammatalks.org, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN10.html.</ref>
}}
Most commentaries on this ninth chapter include this section of the text under the outline on the selflessness of phenomena. However, there are some commentators, such as the Sakya master Sonam Tsemo, who explain this section as a refutation of each of these four categories of body etc. as not being the self. From that perspective, this section would then still be under the outline of the selflessness of persons.

In his commentary, Sonam Tsemo goes on to compare the Mahāyāna tradition's approach to these four close placements of mindfulness with the earlier, non-Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition's approach.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This section is not a teaching on the four foundations of mindfulness taught elsewhere as the impurity of the body, the suffering of sensations, the impermanence of mind and the non-self of dharmas. However, one need not think there is any contradiction here to that teaching, only a different purpose. In our bodhisattva tradition, the purpose is to analyse the individual self for which grasping arises under the power of wrong views, by developing the characteristics of non-self in the meditative objects [i.e. the four foundations] to purify defilements. In the other tradition, since conduct degenerates under the influence of defilements such as attachment, one develops in one’s stream of being the characteristics of abandonment of the four wrong views as meditative objects to purify conduct.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 389.</ref>
}}
The earlier tradition focuses much more on factors such as the impurity of the body, the changeable and suffering nature of feelings, or the impermanence of the mind. It is only in the fourth category of phenomena that the tradition looks into the aspect of nonself. In the Madhyamaka tradition, there is a much greater emphasis on the ultimate nature of these categories of phenomena.

In our ordinary daily experience, things seem to exist out there and independently, to exist from their own side, as though unconnected to anything else. But instead of just looking into the conventional characteristics of these aggregates, such as the body, Śāntideva follows the Madhyamaka approach of analyzing the final nature of these phenomena, searching to see if they exist inherently and from their own side, which is the way that they seem to appear in ordinary experience.

In regard to the way in which the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna traditions emphasize these meditations differently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama states the following in his ''Practicing Wisdom'' commentary:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Generally speaking, meditating on the mindfulness of body, reflecting upon the nature of our own body, is the approach explained in the Hinayana scriptures. However, we can extend this contemplation to the nature of the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena of all beings, who are limitless like space. Then it becomes a training of the mind according to the Mahayana path. When we contemplate the emptiness of these four factors—body, feelings, mind, and phenomena—we are practicing a mindfulness meditation focused on the ultimate truth.<ref>[[Dalai Lama, 14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom]]'', 109. </ref>
}}
This form of analysis seeks to determine whether phenomena are really "true" and "undeceptive." And one of the primary ways in which we can determine whether something is true or deceptive is to look at whether it actually exists the way that it appears. If we find a discrepancy between how it exists and how it appears to us, we would recognize that as something deceptive.

Thus, in order to examine whether phenomena really do exist out there without dependence on anything else, we use these kinds of analyses, those that look past the surface level appearance to the underlying deepest status of existence.

The arguments in this section are less specifically focused on refuting a particular school. Instead, the principal opponent is more general and encompasses anyone who believes in the inherent existence of phenomena. This includes all the non-Buddhist schools but also the lower systems of Buddhist tenet holders, such as the Cittamātrins.

<h5>Mindfulness of the Body</h5>
Verses 78 to 87 cover the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, the close placement of mindfulness of the body (''kāyasmṛtyupasthāna''), and here, specifically, the mindfulness that analyzes the awareness of the empty nature of the body.

Attachment to our bodies, whether that is as an essential part of maintaining our health and well-being or is for the purposes of making ourselves attractive, is a primary feature of our lives. So much of our experience as human beings occurs in relation to our own physical body, but a very strong component of our experience of attachment is connected also with the physical forms of others. To help release us from this grasping to the physical body, Śāntideva provides us with a variety of reasons to prove that the body has no inherent existence.

In his commentary, Pema Karpo divides mindfulness of the body into three sections: (1) showing that each of the individual parts are not the body; (2) showing that there is no single body that pervades all of its individual parts; and (3) refuting forms of confusion, such as taking the collection of the parts to be the body.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 104 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>

'''1. Showing That Each of the Individual Parts Are Not the Body:'''

In terms of this first section, in verses 78 and 79 Śāntideva searches within the constituent parts of the body, such as the arms and legs, for what we call the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.78}}
In his commentary to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal points out one of the crucial points in the Madhyamaka analysis of whether a phenomena has any trace of true existence or not. The argument is that if the phenomena in question exists inherently from its own side, then it must necessarily be found somewhere within its parts. If it cannot be found in its parts, then it must be a mere imputation.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we call "the body" is a mere imputation; it does not exist inherently. Our reason for saying this is that if a body, which is apprehended as a single (partless) whole complete with all its sense faculties, existed as such, it would have to be present in its members, for example the hand. But the various body parts, the foot, the shins and calves, are not the body. The thighs and hips, the waist and loins, the belly, back, chest and arms, and so on and so forth—none of these is the body.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}
Taking the example here of the body, Śāntideva asks us to search through all the parts of the body to see whether any one of them is the body. If we can find something within those parts that we can call the body, then the body could be said to exist inherently, or from its own side.

The analysis continues to examine each of the individual parts to see whether any of these components of the body can fit the definition of what the body is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.79}}
In the end, the conclusion is that there is nothing within the parts of the body that we can find to call the body. No single part can be considered the body. "So what then is this body?" Śāntideva inquires.

Since we cannot find it under search on the basis on which it appears, it must therefore lack intrinsic existence. It must be a mere imputation.

'''2. Showing That There Is No Single Body That Pervades All of Its Individual Parts:'''

The next argument, seen in verses 80–82, revolves around the way we experience our body. In ordinary life, when thinking about or experiencing the body, it seems to be a singular entity. But Śāntideva points out that there cannot be a singular and inherently existent body that pervades all of its parts.

'''The opponent's position (some commentators attribute to the Sāṃkhyas):''' It is true that each of the individual parts are not the body. But is there something that pervades all the parts? Is there a singular thing that enters all the parts?

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the body does indeed pervade all the parts, then that would suggest that the body itself is not actually composed of parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.80}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Where then does this singular partless body exist? And if this singular and complete whole body exists separately and equally in all of the parts of the body, there would be the fallacy that there would be as many whole bodies as there are parts of the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.81}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Since the body is neither found to exist as identical to its individual parts nor found to exist separately and independently of these parts, the body must therefore lack any form of intrinsic existence, and its deepest nature must be that of emptiness.

'''3. Refuting Forms of Confusion, Such as Taking the Collection of the Parts to Be the Body:'''

In verses 83 to 86, Śāntideva presents arguments against the complete collection of the parts being the body, using the analogy of a pile of stones formed into a cairn appearing to be a person, while actually never being a human being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.83}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.84}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Śāntideva uses an analogy of how, when particular conditions arise, a group of stones which have been piled up, can be mistaken for a person. Similarly, there is no possibility for this body to be self-existent, intrinsically real, and truly existent, without any relation to other phenomena, such as its parts. When conditions arise such that all those parts come together, we can conventionally talk of the body appearing. But since the appearance of the body to an apprehending consciousness relies on the aggregation of many conditions, and since it lacks any autonomous status of its own, the body is actually a mere imputation or designation posited upon the assembled collection of its parts. Aside from being a mere label, this body, in fact, has no other existential status.

Śāntideva extends this mode of analysis of checking whether a phenomena exists in its parts or not, but he turns his focus instead to the individual parts of the body, such as the hands, to see whether they themselves are to be found in their parts. Taking a hand, he looks at all the individual parts that make up a hand and asks, "Where within the parts of the hand can we find what we call the hand?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.85}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking a hand, we mentally dissect it to see where the subject we call hand is to be found. But, just as in the example of the body, when we look for it in its parts, it cannot be found. And if we keep on searching into the parts of the parts and dividing them down into smaller and smaller particles, even the smallest particles lack any form of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.86}}
This process is similar to the scientific search for the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Many scientists are beginning to conclude that it will never be possible to find independent and fundamental particles that cannot be further reduced to their parts.

This verse also contains a refutation of the Vaiśeṣika position that the whole world is formed from the permanent and indivisible atoms, which are the foundations, or creators, of the physical universe. This school accepts space to be permanent and omnipresent, but the atoms of the elements of earth, water, fire, and air are not accepted to be omnipresent but are asserted to be permanent. In contrast, the grosser, more manifest things which are made of these atoms are believed to be impermanent.

This refutation is also very relevant to the refutation of the Mīmāṃsā belief that the smallest particles can be no smaller than what is visible to the naked eye, and therefore, at that level, must be partless.

This refutation is also mentioned in verse 126ab, in the refutation of production from a permanent creator.<ref>Verse 126ab reads:<br>Those who hold the permanence of particles<br>Were indeed refuted earlier.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 155.</ref>

'''All Form Is an Illusion'''

From all this analysis, Śāntideva determines that there can be nothing physical that can have any intrinsic nature, out there and independent, existing from their own side, without being in some way dependent on other phenomena.

In the concluding section on the close placement of mindfulness on the body, Śāntideva reminds us that all physical forms are like illusions—they appear in one way but in reality exist in another way. If our own bodies and those of others are actually like a dream, then what reason is there for anyone who has the wisdom that comes from this kind of analysis to be attached?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.87}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Since the terms ''male'' and ''female'' are designated on the basis of the difference between male and female bodies, and since the intrinsic nature of those bodies is not found on search, then male and female cannot have any inherent existence.

<h5>Mindfulness of Feeling</h5>
For verses 88 to 101, Śāntideva applies similar logical arguments to the subject of feelings. This close application of mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna'') looks into the three primary feelings—pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings—to see if they have any intrinsic existence.

Just as with the body, our feelings play a primary role in our lives, and our attachment to pleasure and aversion to pain are some of the primary drivers of our lives. Underlying this strong clinging is the grasping at the feelings to be true and objectively existent.

However, Thrangu Rinpoche explains how feelings are just mental projections and have no substantial nature of their own.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Feelings themselves are really just mental projections, with no truth or reality in themselves. The feeling we mainly experience is what we think of as pleasure or pain. For example, when we are happy, we enjoy eating nutritious food. But when we are depressed or disappointed, the same delicious food does not give us joy at all. So the feeling of pain or pleasure is not the real substantial event, but a mental projection.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 211.</ref>
}}
In relation to this section of the text, Gyalse Thokme Zangpo quotes from Nāgārjuna's ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' to show that if something has an inherent nature, it cannot transform into something else.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If a thing exists by way of its intrinsic being,
It can never cease to be.
Intrinsic being never can admit
A change into another state. (15.8)<ref>See [[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union, 2003), 343. The translation of [[Nāgārjuna]]'s verse here is from the [[Padmakara Translation Group]]. See [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The Mulamadhyamakakarika'', by [[People/Nāgārjuna|Nagarjuna]] (Boulder, CO: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2016), 48.</ref>
}}
Thokme Zangpo goes on to say the following in relation to this verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If the feeling of suffering itself were truly existent, that could never be discarded. There is no way that it could not harm its direct opposite, great joy and happiness. And because of that they (joy and happiness) would never arise.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 114.</ref>
}}
The important point being made in Nāgārjuna's treatise is that if something inherently exists, it would have to exist forever and could never cease to be. Further consequences would be that they would not be affected by any other conditions, and they would not be able to change into anything else. These arguments lie at the heart of how Śāntideva approaches the refutation of a self of phenomena that exists from its own side. The first verse of this section follows that line of reasoning.

'''Śāntideva (9.88ab):''' If the feeling of suffering were truly real, then it would have to always be present, and therefore pleasurable feelings could never arise. A person who experienced suffering could never feel happy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.88}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.88cd):''' And if the feelings of pleasure and happiness were inherently real, then why would things such as pleasant tastes not provide some solace for those in intense moments of grief.

This argument relies on the understanding that feelings of pleasure and pain cannot exist simultaneously and that existing independently means that no external factors can operate to induce change.

'''Counterargument (9.89ab):''' Happiness may still arise at the time that we are overcome with the suffering of grief, but because the feeling of suffering is very strong, it is able to suppress the happiness so that we do not experience it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.89}}
'''Śāntideva counters (9.89cd):''' The argument that the feeling of suffering overpowers the feeling of happiness, although happiness is still present, makes no sense at all. What is a feeling if it is not actually felt in experience? Feeling is by necessity something that has to be experienced. So if it is not experienced, then it cannot exist.

'''Further objection (9.90ab):''' But when a powerful feeling of happiness is present, it does not mean that no feeling of suffering at all is present. It just means that the painful sensation is a very subtle state, and therefore it is not recognized.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.90}}
'''Śāntideva again counters (9.90cd):''' It is impossible for feelings of suffering and happiness to coexist at the same time in one person's mindstream. If they could coexist, they should both be experienced at the same time, which is not how it ever appears to us.

'''Potential objection (9.90c):''' Perhaps there is subtle pain at the time of great pleasure, but it could be prevented from acting as subtle pain. The powerful sense of bliss could transform that subtle pain into a mere pleasurable sensation such that it is experienced as a kind of subtle pleasure. To represent this objection, Khenpo Kunpal uses the analogy of a clear crystal stained with vermilion, which appears red but is actually a clear crystal underneath.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 361.</ref>

'''Śāntideva responds:''' If you call subtle pain to be mere pleasure, then it is no longer pain. You have classified it as pleasure, and therefore it is no longer any kind of pain, gross or subtle. And if it were mere pleasure experienced as subtle pleasure, what difference would there be between that and the subtler form of pleasure? So none of these invalid distinctions make any sense.

With this analysis revealing the lack of inherent existence of the feelings such as pleasure and pain, Śāntideva advises us to abide in that realization as an antidote to clinging to the true existence of feelings.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.92}}
Since feelings play such a fundamental role in our lives, it is vital that we are able to see through their true existence and understand how they are like illusions. We must release ourselves from believing everything we feel to be real. In the last lines of the verse, Śāntideva encourages us to cultivate the deep meditative absorption on the empty nature of feelings, an absorption which is grown within a fertile field of analysis. This, he says, is the true sustenance of yogis.

'''Refuting Contact–The Cause of Feelings'''

The next section covers verses 93 to 101 and expresses further arguments as to why the feelings we experience have no intrinsic reality. It is based on the idea that feelings arise from contact. For instance, in teachings on the twelve links of dependent origination (''dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda''), the chain starting with ignorance leads to a new rebirth and the emergence of the physical sense powers. The next links are contact, feeling, and then craving and grasping. And the link of contact here, which acts as the direct cause for the arising of feeling, is the contact between the sense powers, the sense object, and an immediately preceding consciousness. Therefore, Śāntideva looks into the lack of inherent status of contact. He determines that if the cause of contact lacks inherent existence, then the effect of feeling must lack inherent existence.

This section is divided into three main outlines: (1) refuting the inherent meeting of sense powers and object; (2) refuting the inherent meeting with the consciousness; (3) refuting inherent contact arising from the meeting of these three.

'''1. Refuting the Inherent Meeting of Sense Powers and Their Objects'''

In verses 93 and 95, Śāntideva presents the impossibility of there being contact between inherently existent sense powers, such as the eye, and their sense objects, such as visible form. Firstly, he analyzes this on the coarser level before going later into the argument at the level of particles.

Feeling happens when its cause, contact, occurs. It comes from the meeting of the three things—the sense faculty, the object, and consciousness. If that meeting is logically examined, it does not exist, and hence there is no arising of feeling due to that condition.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.93}}
'''Śāntideva questions:''' If there is space between the sense power and its object, then how will it be possible for these two to meet? And if there is no space between them, they would become one, and then what would there be to meet what?

'''Opponent's response:''' This meeting of the sense power goes on at a much subtler level. It is not at the gross, directly observable level. Rather, it takes place at the level of particles.

'''Śāntideva responds: (This argument is particularly directed to opponents, such as the Vaibhāṣikas school as well as other Indian non-Buddhist schools, who accept forms of matter that have no parts, such as partless particles)''' Contact between the sense organ and the sense object, even at the level of particles, appears to happen, but in reality it does not. The sense organs and the sense objects are physical forms and are therefore made up of particles. But the sense organs and physical objects are not omnidirectional, and therefore all the particles of each cannot fully meet. Only the closest particles in one direction will meet the other, and therefore there will be some particles in the center of each that prevent the far sides from touching each other.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.94}}
This argument relies on the acceptance of the idea that for two material objects to meet, all of the particles of each object would have to meet and therefore merge.

'''Opponent:''' The particles of the sense faculties and the sense objects meet, but at this level the particles are partless.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It is not possible for two partless physical things to meet. If they are partless, they must lack any kind of direction with which to then meet another physical object and so would have to fully interpenetrate each other, which would essentially mean fusing together.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.95}}
If, on the other hand, there is contact between two physical objects, and their particles touch on one side but do not have contact throughout their entirety, then they cannot be partless. They would then have to possess directional parts, as some would meet another object and some would not.

'''2. Refuting the Inherent Meeting with the Consciousness'''

Having refuted the inherent meeting of the sense power and the sense object, Śāntideva moves on to refute the inherent meeting between consciousness and objects themselves. Here, the consciousness being referred to is the consciousness which acts as the immediately preceding condition, one of the three conditions necessary for sense consciousnesses to arise.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Consciousness is immaterial,
And so one cannot speak of contact with it. (9.96ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is unacceptable to talk of an immaterial consciousness meeting with a material, physical object. There is no possibility for something that has no form to meet something that has form.

The refutation of meeting with the coarse: Also, the meeting with a coarse object that is a collection of many atoms does not exist inherently because no truly existent object exists on that. Similarly, inherent existence had already been refuted earlier through the analysis of the collection of digits.

'''3. Refuting Inherent Contact Arising from the Meeting of These Three'''

In the second two lines of verse 96 and in verses 97 and 98, Śāntideva turns his attention to refuting any kind of contact arising from the meeting of the sense object, the sense faculty, and a consciousness.

'''Opponent:''' Even though it is not coherent to talk of the sense power or the consciousness meeting the sense object, there must be some kind of convergence of these three factors which then causes contact to occur, followed by feeling.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It may appear that there is some kind of convergence between these three factors, but in reality no substantial inherent existence of that contact can be found under ultimate analysis.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A combination, too, has no reality,
Just as we have previously shown. (9.96cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
The last line refers back to the analysis of the hand and searching for it in its basis of designation, the individual fingers. Just as in that example, here also no trace of inherent existence of this contact can be found.

'''Śāntideva's conclusion:''' Feeling itself has been analyzed and found to have no trace of intrinsic existence. Contact, the direct cause of feeling, has also been shown to have no inherent existence, and if a cause lacks inherent existence, that cause's effect must also lack any intrinsic nature, unrelated to its causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.97}}
"What purpose," Śāntideva questions, "is there in expending all our energy in chasing pleasure and trying to avoid pain?"

If we contemplate these points and come to a clear understanding that there is no inherent object of feeling and that feeling itself lacks any inherent existence, how could this not stop our craving?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.98}}
The flow of the argument again relies on the sequence of the twelve links of dependent origination. From the development of name and form in a new rebirth, the sense powers develop. They come into contact with their relevant objects, and from that feelings arise. Following on from feelings, there comes the arising of craving to maintain pleasant sensations and craving to avoid unpleasant sensations. Thus, Śāntideva asks, if we understand the inherent existence of each of these prior links, then how is it that we do not cause our craving to cease?

Having refuted the true existence of contact, the cause of feeling, Śāntideva now turns his analysis to the focal object of feeling. In the first two lines of verse 99, he mentions the object of feeling and specifically mentions visual and tactile objects, but he is referring to any object of feeling.

'''Śāntideva:''' Feeling cannot exist inherently because the objects of feeling are not inherently existent. These objects are conditions for the feeling to arise, but since they themselves are unfindable on search, they are like illusions, mere appearances lacking any true existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we see and what we touch
Is stuff of dreams and mirages. (9.99ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
In all these arguments, Śāntideva is clear to express that while the person, the feelings they experience, and the objects they experience lack any kind of substantial existence, they are not utterly nonexistent. They do exist, but they exist in an unreal way, like dreams.

'''Refuting That Their Object-Possessor Exists Inherently'''

Having refuted the inherent existence of the objects of feeling, Śāntideva turns his attention to the consciousness that perceives the feeling. Feelings arise in conjunction with the mind. In verses 99cd to 101, he asks whether that consciousness occurs at the same time as the feeling, before it, or after it.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If feeling is coincident with consciousness,
It follows that it is not seen thereby. (9.99cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If feeling is accepted to be inherently existent but also simultaneous with feeling, then there would be no way for that consciousness to perceive the feeling. Two things which are both inherently existent and yet simultaneous cannot be connected causally or by being of the same nature. They cannot rely on or interact with one another in any way.

Here, Śāntideva is also arguing the more general point that any two mental events that arise at the same time can never apprehend one another. This relates back to the refutation of self-cognition of the Cittamātra school contained in verses 15 to 29.

'''Question:''' What if feeling and its perceiving consciousness arise sequentially, with one before the other?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.100}}
'''Śāntideva (9.100ab):''' This is not tenable, because if the sense consciousness existed prior to its object—in this case feelings—then it would arise without referencing its own object. It would have no referential object when it was produced. No consciousness can be produced without an object.

And if the consciousness occurs after its object, the feeling, then the same argument applies. Since the object is already nonexistent at the time that consciousness arises, from what referential object is the consciousness produced? This would be a case of remembering a sensation rather than directly experiencing it.

'''Śāntideva concludes (9.100cd):''' Since the feeling cannot experience itself, and there is no other consciousness present at the time that it exists to experience it, then we must conclude that there is no feeling that has any independent, intrinsic nature of any kind.

This concludes the analysis of the nature of feeling, which is done through the close placement of mindfulness of feeling.

<h5>Mindfulness of Mind</h5>
Verses 102 to 105 present the close placement of mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna'').

Śāntideva continues his examination of the aggregates of a person, this time directing the analysis toward the mind. The first context in which the analysis takes place is a search for the location of the mind. Here, he takes mental awareness, and he looks to see where the mind is. He asks, "Is the mind within the sense organs, or does it exist externally within the object of the mind, or is it somewhere in between?"

'''Showing That the Mental Consciousness Does Not Exist Inherently'''

{{PullBcaVerses|9.102}}
This argument was originally in reference to certain non-Buddhist schools that believed that the mind had to be located within the interior of the body, while others believed that it existed at the extremities of the body. We can see a modern correlation of this belief in the scientific tradition, which often presents the mind as located in the brain.

The implication of this argument is that if the mind were to be inherently existent, then it would have to inherently exist in one of these places. But Śāntideva points out that the mind cannot be found in any of these locations. It does not exist in any of the six sense powers—the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the tactical sense, or the mental sense power. It also does not exist in any of the six objects–visible forms, sounds, smells, sights, tactical objects, and mental objects. And since it also does not exist anywhere in between the sense powers and sense objects, there is no basis for the mind.

Having established that there is no physical location for the mind, Śāntideva then turns to an analysis of the deeper nature of the mind.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.103}}
In the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) school, they accept eight different main categories of consciousness. However, in the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school they accept only six main categories of mind—the five sense consciousnesses, and then a sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness. In verses 103 and 104, Śāntideva is specifically referring to this sixth consciousness, which is a mental consciousness.

He runs through all the possibilities of how the sixth mental consciousness could exist if they were to have an inherent nature: it should be located in the body, or outside of it, or in some way mixed with the body. But under analysis it can be found in none of these places, and the conclusion is therefore that it cannot exist inherently.

The last line of this verse has several interpretations. From the perspective of the Gelukpa scholar Gyaltsap Je, the meaning of "beings are by their nature beyond the reach of suffering" is that because the mind does not exist inherently, the emptiness of the mind of sentient beings is beyond sorrow. In contrast, the great Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo explains this last line as meaning that all beings are primordially pure by nature.

'''Showing That the Sense Consciousnesses Do Not Exist Inherently'''

Śāntideva now switches his attention to the sense consciousnesses and searches into their deeper nature to see if he can find any traces of an intrinsic identity. He does this through analysis of them in relation to their sense objects.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.104}}
Geshe Yeshe Tobden explains the essential conditions needed for a sense consciousness to be produced as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Perceiving consciousness arises from three factors—an object of perception, the sense faculty, and the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.<ref>[[Tobden, Yeshe|Geshe Yeshe Tobden]], ''[[The Way of Awakening|The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara]]'', trans. [[Bazzano, M.|Manu Bazzano]] and [[Doveton, S.|Sarita Doveton]], ed. [[Rizzi, F.|Fiorella Rizzi]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 327.</ref>
}}
Out of these three conditions, the objective condition (''dmigs rkyen'') is the external referential object. An example would be a physical form for eye consciousness. That external objective condition must either exist before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness. There are no other possibilities.

If the sense consciousness exists before its focal object, then in connection with which referential object does it arise? If it existed at the same time as the object, then that object could not act as a cause, since causes necessarily need to precede their effects. The same question would then arise: In relation to which object does the sense consciousness arise?

Verse 105 deals with the analysis of whether a consciousness could occur after its referential object. This is a slightly more complex argument, as in normal life effects are actually observed to occur after their causes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If consciousness comes later than its object,
Once again, from what does it arise? (9.105ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, the argument relies more heavily on refuting the consciousness and object as both having an independent and intrinsic nature. If cause and effect are both believed to have inherent existence, then since that means they must be independent of anything else, if a cause is not present at the time of the effect, then it cannot have any influence on it.

'''Śāntideva's questions (9.105ab):''' If the sense consciousness arises after its object, from what does it arise, since the object of its perception has ceased to be? And if the object has ceased, then does it still continue to exist or not?

'''Śāntideva's logical consequences:''' If the object still exists but has not yet ceased at the time of the consciousness, then it must be simultaneous with the perceiving consciousness, and the fault above applies.

If it ceases before the consciousness arises, then it must be accepted that something arises from something that no longer exists. If this is so, then why couldn't plants arise from burned or damaged seeds? If the mind and its objects were inherently existent, and the objects had ceased before the mind arose, then there would be the logical fallacy that anything could come from anything.

An essential point to note here is that while these arguments from the Madhyamaka philosophy refute the inherent existence of the different kinds of mind, they do not in any way refute the conventional existence of the mind.

<h5>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h5>
So far, Śāntideva has covered the lack of inherent nature of the body, feelings, and mind. From the second lines of verse 105 until the verse 150, Śāntideva turns his attention to the last of the four mindfulnesses: the mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

In the first verse of this section, he explains how all phenomena, whether impermanent or permanent, are said to be beyond the scope of knowledge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus the origin of all phenomena
Exceeds the reach of understanding. (9.105cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, Śāntideva is clear to point out that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding.

This is an important point in the argument, because if, through the reasons employed by the Madhyamaka school, Śāntideva is successful in refuting the inherent existence of impermanent things, then—as Nāgārjuna put it clearly in his ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'')—it will be much easier to refute the inherent existence of more abstract entities, such as space and time.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since arising, ceasing, and abiding
Are not established, there are no compounded things.
If all compounded things are unestablished,
How could the uncompounded be established? 7.33<ref>[[Garfield, J.|Jay L. Garfield]], trans., ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (New York: [[People/Oxford_University_Press|Oxford University Press]], 1995), 22.</ref>
}}
But in the last line of verse 105, what does it mean to say that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding? Does that mean that there is no phenomena that can be known? In answer to this question, different scholars provide us with different explanations. For instance, the Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo, in asking us what the mindfulness of phenomena is, also connects this meaning with the analysis in previous sections where the production of a phenomena from inherently existent causes which occur before, at the same time as, or after the result are all analyzed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is the mindfulness of phenomena? Likewise (as analyzed above), because it is not reasonable for something to be produced from something else prior to, at the same time as, or after, the production of all phenomena is something that cannot be realized.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|
Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 107 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunpal follows up on this and explains that the mindfulness of phenomena is approached in the same way as the explanations of the lack of inherent nature in the previous forms of mindfulness. There, we also come to understand through analysis that nothing arises from itself or from something else, nor both, nor neither.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As we have just explained, the way in which phenomena, whether compounded or uncompounded, arise is beyond our conceptual grasp. Phenomena do not come into being before, after, or simultaneously with their cause; they do not arise from themselves nor from something else nor from both nor from neither. They are without origin; and what is without origin can have no abiding or cessation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 366.</ref>
}}
There is also another, more simple presentation from Gyaltsap Je where he says that since we have established all phenomena to lack inherent existence, there can be no inherent production of phenomena, and for that reason they are beyond the scope of understanding.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas. Chapter Nine: The Way of Training in the Wisdom'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Je]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016 ), 58. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>

'''Refuting Objections'''
Śāntideva now turns his attention to countering the objections that opponents raise about the Madhyamaka presentation that all phenomena lack inherent existence but are still nominally existent and are able to perform functions.

This section has two parts: (1) refuting the objection that there is no conventional truth and (2) refuting the objection that this ascertainment entails an infinite regress.

'''1. Refuting the Objection That There Is No Conventional Truth'''

The first objection from the opponent is that the results of the previous method of analysis result in the consequence that no conventional phenomena can exist.

'''Opponent (9.106ab):''' If nothing can be found that is produced from something prior to it, at the same time as it, or after it, then production of conventional phenomena would not be possible. Indeed, if all phenomena lack any inherent existence, then all conventional phenomena must be devoid of identity. If that is so, then conventional phenomena do not exist, and therefore there would be only one truth, the ultimate truth, and there could not be two truths as you assert.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.106}}
'''Someone may respond:''' The relative does exist but only in the worldly people’s deluded thoughts.

'''In response to that question, the opponent raises a second objection (9.106cd):''' If all conventional realities lack any inherent existence and are mere appearances to the confused minds of ordinary beings, then for as long as beings exist their confused minds will also exist. If conventional phenomena are merely attributed by an erroneous mind in the same way as the mistaken mind that attributes a snake to a coiled piece of rope, then how can the conventional phenomena have any reality?

Worldly beings' minds would always be filled with these confused dualistic appearances, and they would never attain nirvana because nirvana is the exhaustion of all of these confused, dualistic conceptions.

'''Śāntideva's reply (9.107):''' If those things were true, there would not be two truths, and beings could never remove their mistaken dualistic appearances. But that is not what I mean by the conventional.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.107}}
'''In answer to the first doubt:''' It is important to note that the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school does not talk of two truths at the ultimate level. At the ultimate level, there is only one truth, pure suchness which is the ultimate mode of being. The two truths are spoken of at a relative level, where we see a disparity between the way things appear and the way things actually are. This disparity corresponds to the conventional and ultimate truths.

'''In answer to the second doubt:''' The Prāsaṅgika Madhyamikas do not assert that conventional phenomena exist only as a mere designation of mistaken minds, leading them to be a false type of existence. Instead, they assert that conventional truths are designations made by a valid mind upon a valid basis. There are not randomly attributed fictions of an ignorant mind. While conventional phenomena do not have any inherent existence, they can perform functions, and therefore there are valid agents, actions, and the results of actions.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.108}}
'''2. Refuting the Objection That This Ascertainment Entails an Infinite Regress'''

In response to this analysis of phenomena and the presentation that there is not a single atom of true existence in phenomena, the other schools raise an objection related to the analyzing consciousness.

'''Opponent's objection (9.109):''' You say that when any phenomena is analyzed, that analytical mind itself, which is a valid cognition, does not find any trace of inherent existence. But that analytical mind is not included in the analysis. So, does that analytical mind require another separate analytical mind to investigate its own lack of inherent nature? And if so, then there would follow an infinite regress of analyzing consciousnesses, each subsequent one needed to verify the preceding one.
And if that first analyzing mind does not require another analyzing consciousness to investigate its nature, then why do other nonmental phenomena require it? There would be no need for any valid cognizer of the lack of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.109}}
'''Śāntideva's reply (9.110):''' The valid cognition which ascertains that all phenomena lack inherent existence does not need other valid cognitions to ascertain it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.110}}
'''Śāntideva continues his reply (9.110):''' Why is that? Because when that initial valid cognition ascertains the lack of inherent existence of phenomena, which is the understanding of their emptiness, then as long as that mind does not wander and decline, then it is not possible for that mind to perceive any phenomena as truly existent.

Here, there are two slightly different interpretations of the meaning of the last two lines of verse 11.

The Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal interprets this verse as meaning that through the process of analysis, when there is no longer any inherent object as a focal point, the subjective consciousness then subsides, and a state of natural nirvana is reached.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Shantideva says that when phenomena are investigated and are found to be without true existence, and when it is ascertained with certainty that they cannot be characterized as produced or unproduced, analysis itself ceases to have an identifiable object or basis. When there is no longer any object or basis to act as a target, no analyzing subject will arise to focus on it. All concepts are stilled, and the analysis itself subsides like ripples on the water. This is called the "natural nirvana in the state of dharmata."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 369.</ref>
}}
In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', the great scholar Minyak Kunzang Sönam presents a slightly different perspective on the meaning of this verse. He explains how no further cognitions are required to validate the mind which realizes emptiness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because when, through logical analytical reasoning, one finds certainty in the irreality of all phenomena, then as long as the mind does not wander from that apprehension, no seemingly true phenomenon which could be the object or basis of that analysis can appear to that mind. Also, the unimpaired strength of the mind which realises validly the absence of true existence of phenomena will know them to be not truly existent as soon as there arises the question in the mind as to whether any observed phenomenon is truly existent. Thus our manifest conceptual belief in the reality of the mind which investigates phenomena will no longer occur because it has been eliminated through the former valid reasoning.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries|Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara]]'', ''Khenchen Kunzang Palden's The Nectar of Mañjushri's Speech and Minyak Kunzang Sönam's The Brilliant Torch'' (Saint Léon sur Vézère, France: [[People/Padmakara|Editions Padmakara]], 1999), 224.</ref>
}}
Because no truly existent phenomena, which could be the basis of analysis, can appear to the mind that has ascertained the lack of true existence, no further cognitions are required, so there is no fault of an infinite regress.

Another reason is that the mind that understands emptiness will break down our conceptual belief in phenomena to be truly existent, and so the belief in an inherently existent mind that realizes emptiness will not arise.

Kunzang Sönam goes on to explain the meaning of "natural nirvana" in this verse as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As there is no longer any truly existent object for such a mind, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the result of the refutation, absence of true existence—or again, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the mind which refutes it—can come into being in reality. The reason for this has just been explained.

Their not coming into being in reality is natural nirvana, and if one becomes used to the realisation of this, this is called attaining the nirvana free of adventitious stains. We can also explain 'not coming into being' as the fact that the assumption that the analysing mind itself is truly existent does not arise.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 224.</ref>
}}
In this explanation, the natural nirvana means that there is no true existence of anything to take as the object of mind. Neither true existence of the object nor lack of true existence nor even the mind that refutes that true existence—none of these—truly exist, and this realization is the nirvana free from adventitious stains.

'''There Is No Proof That Consciousness and Its Objects Truly Exist'''

In verses 111 to 115, Śāntideva turns his attention to the position of the Buddhist realists, such as the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools. In particular, he refutes the position that sensory consciousnesses and their sensory objects are inherently existent. He argues that there are no valid reasons to prove that these phenomena have any true or substantial existence.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.112ab):''' If the true existence of an object is validated by the consciousness apprehending it, then what is it that validates the consciousness? And if an object validates the true existence of the consciousness that apprehends it, then what is it that validates the consciousness itself?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.112}}
'''Opponent’s reply:''' The subjective consciousness and its object both mutually certify each other's true existence.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.112cd):''' It is not possible for the subjective consciousness and its object to mutually validate each other's intrinsic existence. If they are both intrinsically existent, they would have to be completely independent and unrelated to any other phenomena. And if they are mutually validating, they would have to lose any trace of true existence.

Śāntideva goes on to use an analogy of a parent and their son to explain how the consciousness and its object are mutually dependent and therefore can have no intrinsic existence of their own.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.113}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.113):''' Before any child is conceived, a person cannot be said to be a parent. A person can only be said to be a parent once their child has been born. There can be no parent without a child and no child without a parent. The two are established in mutual dependence upon each other.

Likewise, there can be no consciousness without an object and no object without a consciousness to apprehend it. Consciousness and its object are mutually dependent, and therefore it is not valid to say that they are inherently existent.

This point is clearly made in Nāgārjuna's ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivaraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The cognizer perceives the cognizable;
Without the cognizable there is no cognition;
Therefore why do you not admit
That neither object nor subject exists [at all]? (verse 39)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''A Commentary on the Awakening Mind (Bodhicittavivaraṇa)'', by Nāgārjuna (Montreal: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2007), 4–5, PDF, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}
And in one of his other texts from the five great texts on reasoning, ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Nāgārjuna explains the point that being dependently related and also being inherently existent are contradictory.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And how can it be right to speak
Of an intrinsic being that's contrived?
Intrinsic being is not fabricated,
Is not contingent upon something else. (1.2)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', 47.</ref>
}}
Anything which is inherently existent cannot come about through relying on causes and conditions and cannot be dependent on anything else. Anything which is created or dependent on something else must be an interdependent phenomena. Something that is dependent and something fabricated are mutually exclusive, just as there can never be anything that is both dependent and independent or fabricated and unfabricated—these categories are mutually exclusive.

'''Opponent's objection (9.114):''' An inherently existent seed can produce an inherently existent shoot. And the existence of that inherently existent seed can be established from the very presence of its effect, the shoot itself. The existence of consciousness which arises from the object of its cognition must necessarily imply the existence of its object.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.114}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.115ab):''' Your example is untenable because it is not simply through the mere presence of the result, in this case the shoot, that the existence of the seed is established. In order to infer the existence of the seed, a separate consciousness is required that ascertains the causal relationship between the seed and the shoot. If this relationship has not already been ascertained, then the mere presence of the shoot alone will not prove the existence of the seed.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.115}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.115cd):''' If you accept the true existence of both object and the subjective mind which apprehends that object, then what is it that ascertains the existence of the mind realizing the object? It cannot be the mind itself, as self-cognition has already been refuted in the earlier section dedicated to refuting the Mind-Only school. And if another separate mind were needed to ratify it, there would be an infinite regress of one mind being ratified by another and then another.

Khenpo Kunpal concludes this section by presenting to the opponents the consequence that the belief in the inherent existence of phenomena is philosophically untenable.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It may be seen from this that it is extremely difficult to render conventional reality tenable from the point of view of those who hold to real existence. On the other hand, this is highly acceptable for those who say that [true existence] is just an imputation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 371.</ref>
}}

<h3>Key Arguments Refuting Intrinsic Existence</h3>
In verses 116 to 150, Śāntideva presents many of the most important arguments that prove that all phenomena lack any inherent existence, arguments that are presented in the sūtras and the śāstras. They are used to prove that all phenomena lack an inherent nature and therefore that all phenomena are empty.

In the classical presentation, there are five main logical arguments given for the proof of emptiness, but here in the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three of those arguments are explicitly presented:

*1. the diamond-splinters argument, which analyzes the cause of things (verses 116 to 140)
*2. the great reasoning of dependent origination: the king of reasons, which analyzes self essence (verses 141 to 144)
*3. the reasoning of existence and nonexistence, which analyzes the effect (verses 145 to 150)

The other two arguments not explicitly mentioned by Śāntideva are the argument of identity and difference, which investigates the essential identity of phenomena, and the refutation of production related to the four possibilities, which is an investigation into both cause and effect. According to Mipham Rinpoche, this fifth reason can be included within the first category—the investigation of the cause.<ref>See [[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way'' (Lotsawa House, 2005), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/four-great-logical-arguments.</ref>

<h4>1. The Diamond-Splinters Argument (''རྡོ་རྗེ་གཟེགས་མའི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>
The diamond-splinters argument looks into the production of phenomena and particularly into the causes of phenomena.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they do not arise from self, nor from other, nor from both self and other, nor without cause.'''<br>
'''Example: like a dream'''

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, the different aspects of the diamond-splinters argument are dealt with in a slightly different order to that contained in the main syllogism. Here, the basic outline of this section is as follows:

'''a. Refutation of causeless production (verses 116 to 117)'''<br>
'''b. Refutation of production from other (verses 118 to 126)'''<br>
'''c. Refutation of production from self (verses 127 to 140)'''

<h5>a. Refutation of Causeless Production</h5>

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, he begins with the last limb of the above four limbs of the main syllogism—the refutation of phenomena being produced without causes.

In verses 116 and 117, he particularly aims his argument at the philosophy of the ancient Indian philosophical school known as Cārvāka.

'''Cārvāka''' (''རྒྱང་འཕེན་''), also known as Lokāyata (lit. the philosophy of the worldly), is an Indian philosophical school originating in the first millennium BCE, after the development of Buddhism in India. This school is considered one of the five major non-Vedic or heterodox (''nāstika'') Indian schools (the other schools being the Jains, Buddhists, Ajivikas, and Ajñanas).

The Cārvāka school is an atheist and materialist school, and they reject concepts such as an immaterial soul and supernatural entities such as god. They are the only tradition among these ancient Indian philosophical systems that does not accept the law of karma, past and future lives, or the possibility of liberation from our conditioned existence. They believe that only direct perception can be considered a valid form of knowledge with which to establish the truth.
For more detailed information regarding the Cārvāka school, see the following page [Link to CĀRVĀKA COMMONS PAGE].

The following famous verse attributed to the Cārvākas conveys their argument against there being any creator of the universe. The verse remarks on how it is impossible for there to be a creator for the myriad of phenomena, such as the eyes on a peacock feather or the flow of water. These things, they say, can only arise as part of a natural process and were not created by anyone.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The roundness of a pea, the sharpness of a thorn,
The rising of the sun, the movement of water downstream,
The pattern of a peacock's feather and so on, whatever it may be,
It was not created by anyone. Its cause is its own nature.<ref>See [[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 416. We have not been able to locate the original source of this verse.</ref>
}}
The Cārvāka argument is that no one, whether human or creator, is ever observed making such natural details of the world as the roundness of peas or the shape of each individual thorn. Therefore, they conclude, all these things must arise spontaneously and without cause.

'''Śāntideva's refutation through direct experience (9.116):''' There are many logical arguments against causeless production, but it also goes against what we directly observe in our daily experience. In everyday perception, we see in every instance that effects are produced from causes and that we can find nothing that does not originate from a cause.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.116}}
It is evident that, for example, a lotus grows from lotus seed. Without the cause of the lotus seed, the lotus will not arise. The farmer knows that a particular harvest results from having sown a particular seed, and they then plant seeds for that purpose.

What we observe is that all the various types of different effects come about from a whole variety of causes, and therefore nothing can be said to be causeless. For instance, the different parts of a lotus, such as the stem and petals, all come about from different causes.

'''Cārvākas' objection (9.117a):''' The whole range of parts that make up a phenomena, such as a lotus, are not found in the lotus's cause. Therefore, it cannot be said that each part has its own cause.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But what gives rise," you ask, "to such variety of causes?"
An even earlier variety of causes, we declare. (9.117ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.117b):''' It is a multiplicity of causes that precede the effect that account for the whole variety of phenomena of the external universe and the beings living within that universe. Things arise from the various different potentials of the preceding causes which produced them.

'''Cārvākas' further objection (9.117c):''' But how is this whole variety of causes able to produce their effects? What is it that allows certain causes to produce certain kinds of effect? What arranged these causes in this way?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="And how," you ask, "do causes give their fruits?"
Through power, we answer, of preceding causes. (9.117cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's further response (9.117d):''' These causes were not created or arranged by anyone. There is no external agency causing this. Nor can it be that the results are present in their causes, otherwise no causal relationship could exist between them. It is through the power of different kinds of potential within the cause that produces a variety of different results. This can be said simply to be the nature of things.

<h5>b. Refutation of Production from Other</h5>
Having refuted the notion, in the first part of the diamond-splinters argument, that things can come about without causes, Śāntideva then moves on to the refutation of production from something which is of a different nature to the effect. The argument here carries the implication that the cause would be inherently different from the effect, since on a conventional level the Madhyamaka school accepts causes being able to produce effects which are different in nature to them. In this argument Śāntideva indirectly refutes inherent production from an impermanent other, but the main thrust of his argument aims to refute the notion of production from a permanent cause.

Śāntideva attempts to do this using two types of refutation:

i. Refutation of production from a permanent creator (verses 118 to 125)<br>
ii. Specific refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā belief in production from permanent atomic particles (verse 126ab)

'''i. Refutation of Production from a Permanent Creator (verses 118 to 125)'''

In verses 118 to 125, Śāntideva refutes production from a permanent cause. He takes as his main opponents those who believe the idea of a permanent cause to the universe and all the beings in that universe, such as is propounded by non-Buddhist schools that believe in a primal substance or in a creator being such as Śiva. These schools include the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''Śāntideva (9.118ab):''' If you say Īśvara is the cause of everything in the universe, then you must define what the nature of that creator being is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.118}}
'''If the opponent answers:''' The elements of the universe are what we call "God."

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If you say that the basic elemental building blocks of the universe are the creator, then the Madhyamikas agree that these are the causes and conditions of events. But if that is so, what is the need to label that process with an exotic name like Īśvara?

'''Śāntideva's further consequence (9.119ab):''' If you accept that Īśvara is essentially all the different elements, then that kind of Īśvara could not be either permanent or unitary. Instead, it would have to be impermanent, multiple, and could not be inactive, just as is the nature of the elements.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.119}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against divine elements (9.119cd):''' If this divine creator were the elements, then it could not be completely pure as it is believed to be in those philosophies. We see that the elements are easily trampled underfoot. This creator could also be easily trampled underfoot, and therefore how can you consider them to be divine? What kind of God would that be? And further, if the creator can be trampled underfoot, how can they be spoken of as omnipotent?

In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam clearly shows the qualities that these schools attribute to gods such as Īśvara and how it is illogical for them to be the elements.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How do you describe the essential features of Ishvara? You claim that as he is indivisible he is single; as he is not born and does not perish, he is eternal; he has a thinking mind; he is divine; an object of reverence; and that he is pure. On the other hand, the elements are quite the opposite: they are multiple; they arise and perish and are therefore impermanent; they have no mind; they are not divine; they are trodden on by feet and so forth; and they are impure. These elements are not Ishvara—their defining characteristics are completely unalike and plainly contradictory. <ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 229.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the element of space (9.120a):''' If you hold this divine creator to be space, that also is not tenable. Space is inert, unable to move or create anything, and lifeless. These are not qualities that are compatible with a creator god.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the self (9.120b):''' The idea that space is the self has also been refuted early, in the section on refuting the Sāṃkhya school's presentation of the self (''puruṣa'') (in verses 68 and 69) [Link to Verses 68 and 69].
{{PullBcaVerses|9.120}}
'''Opponent's response (9.120c):''' Īśvara, the creator, is inconceivable, so none of the contradictions that you have stated apply.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being inconceivable (9.120cd):''' If you state that the deity is inconceivable, it is illogical to call them inconceivable because that in itself is to describe them. If something is inconceivable, nothing can be said about it, and it would also be of no use to ordinary people. Furthermore, if this creator were to be inconceivable, then anyone who tried to describe them would be describing the inconceivable.

'''Śāntideva's question as to what Īśvara creates (9.121ab):''' What exactly is it that a creator such as Īśvara creates? What is it that the creator wishes to create? Did he create the self of all beings? And did he create all the physical elements in the universe?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.121}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against Īśvara as a creator (9.121cd):''' You cannot accept the self and the elements as being created by Īśvara because the elements and the self would then have to be eternal, just as Īśvara is.

Verse 121d states the Madhyamaka school's own position—that is, consciousness arises from the objects that it apprehends and not from any kind of creator god. And since those objects appear only temporarily, both they and their apprehending consciousnesses are not eternal.

'''Śāntideva states the Madhyamikas’ own position (9.122ab):''' Pleasure and pain come about due to our own past karmic actions. They occur as a result of the actions we commit with a positive or negative motivation. So what is the need for a divine creator in this process?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.122}}
'''Śāntideva continues the argument against production from an eternal creator (9.122cd):''' If you believe a creator god, such as Īśvara, to be beginningless, immutable, and an eternal cause for everything, then it is not possible for them to have a beginning. If the cause which is this creator god has no beginning, then how could the effects produced by that cause have any beginning? They would have to be beginningless, but this is not what we observe in the manifest world.

Śāntideva then presents the logical consequences of a permanent and eternal creator that brings forth all phenomena, whether material or immaterial.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.123}}
'''Śāntideva's question to the theists (9.123):''' If the creator god is the singular cause for all things and all beings in existence, does not rely on any other cause, and is present in every moment, then why are not all beings constantly created?

'''Possible response from the theists:''' The creator god does not bring everything forth in one moment but creates the universe in stages.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If the sole cause of creation is the divine god, and if that god does not rely on any other condition or factor to create, then the complete cause for creation of every single phenomena is present in every moment. Therefore, all phenomena should be produced simultaneously. And if there is nothing that is not made by the creator, then how could they possibly rely on separate causes in order to produce something, since those very separate causes would be created by them. If it is accepted that this creator god does actually rely on a variety of other various conditions to create the universe in the way that we see it gradually unfolding, then those necessary secondary conditions would have to be present all the time. And this would destroy the thesis that all things and events are singularly created by that god, because the god would rely on some cause other than themselves.

In verse 124 Śāntideva turns his attention to the aggregation of causes and conditions that bring about events and phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.124}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.124):''' If it is accepted that the mere coming together of the specific causes and conditions of a phenomena is enough to bring that phenomena into being, then what need is there for the added intervention of a creator god? When the complete causes and conditions are present, nothing can stop the phenomena from arising, and when those causes are not complete, the phenomena does not arise, despite the best efforts of the creator. The creator would have to rely on the aggregation of causes in order to create phenomena. Therefore, what real power does the creator god have?

'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator is forced to create unintended phenomena (9.125ab):''' If it is accepted that the creator god is constrained by the aggregation of causes and conditions but is still involved in the production of phenomena, then they must also be involved in creating things, such as the suffering of living beings, that no benevolent god would intend to create.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.125}}
'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator cannot be omnipotent (9.125cd):''' Even if it is argued that the divine creator creates according to their wish, then again they cannot be considered omnipotent because they would not be spontaneous and under their control. This divine god would be under the sway of their desire or intention, which would then have to arise before any phenomena was created, and would mean the intention itself would be the driving force of creation.

As a round up of this section of the text, most of the commentaries then conclude that, whether through the force of their desire or through their own power, if the creator is counted to be the maker of all things, then they must be impermanent. If they are permanent, then they could not have any effect on the causal process of phenomena.

'''ii. Specific Refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''

Within the section of the text which explains the reasons to refute production from a permanent cause, Śāntideva also refutes production from permanent particles, which is a tenet of some of the non-Buddhist Indian schools, such as the Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, and Mīmāṃsā.

The tenets of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya school have been mentioned earlier, and most commentators just refer to the opponent in this verse as being these two schools. But Khenpo Kunpal also indicates that the Mīmāṃsā school is also one of the main opponents for Śāntideva in this verse.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 374.</ref>

The Mīmāṃsā school of Indian philosophy is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. The core belief of the Mīmāṃsā school is that the Veda is self-existent, an uncreated and unauthored (''apauruṣeya'') revelation (''śruti'') of the truth, that is the incontrovertible and infallible dharma. The Mīmāṃsā school believes that the main role of the Vedas is to ensure that the Vedic rituals are correctly performed. The correct performance of Vedic rituals is believed to be the sole way to practice the dharma.

The Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsāka, and Nyāya schools all believe that the world has not been created by a deity such as Īśvara. They believe that matter can be broken down to irreducible atomic particles that are permanent, and that it is these permanent particles that are the material cause of the animate and inanimate worlds.

The Vaiśeṣika tradition believes that the smallest particles are not visible to the naked eye and exist in a much more subtle form in which their existence can only be inferred, whereas the Mīmāṃsākas give great value to what can be manifestly perceived. They believe that the smallest particles can be no smaller than that which is visible to the naked eye.

In refuting this position at this point in the text, Śāntideva refers back to an earlier verse where he argues that since the particles can be directionally divided, there can never be a particle that is considered permanent or partless.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those who hold the permanence of particles
Were indeed refuted earlier. (9.126ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
The second line of the above verse refers back to verse 86, in the section on the mindfulness of the body, where it refutes the existence of permanent and partless particles by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles.<ref>Verse 86 reads:<br>These parts themselves will break down into particles,<br>And particles divide according to direction.<br>These fragments, too, lack partless parts; they are like space.<br>Thus even particles have no existence.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 149.</ref>

{{standout
|'''Master Arguments against the Mīmāṃsā Position'''<br>'''Specific Refutation of the Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''<br>
'''Verse 9.126ab:''' ''A further part of the diamond-splinters argument refutes production from a permanent cause. In connection with this, Śāntideva refutes production from permanent particles. This refutation of the existence of permanent and partless particles is done by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles. It is also refuted in verse 9.86 in the section on the mindfulness of the body.''
}}

<h5>c. Refutation of Production from Self (9.126cd to 9.140)</h5>
The second main refutation of the Sāṃkhya school in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' is contained in the second half of the chapter, in the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the self of phenomena. In this section of the text, he presents methods to understand the empty nature of all phenomena, the lack of any kind of intrinsic existence.

In his systematic refutation of the belief in production, through the classical Buddhist model of refutation of production from self, other, self and other, and neither self and other, Śāntideva first critiques production from self. In relation to this production from self, Śāntideva focuses in particular on the primal substance (''prakṛti'').

This section contains two main refutations:<br>
i. The Refutation of the Primal Substance (126cd to 134)<br>
ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing (135–140)

'''i. Refuting the Primal Substance'''

'''9.126–9.129 (a) The primal substance cannot be a unitary, partless entity if it has the three ''guṇas'' as its constituent characters.'''<br>
'''9.132 to 9.134 (b) Refuting the belief that the ''guṇas'' can be permanent if they are involved in any kind of agentive action.'''

'''a. Refuting the Primal Substance to Be Unitary'''

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Sāṃkhyas are the ones who hold
That permanent prakṛiti is the cause of the evolving world. (9.126cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.127}}
From verse 128 to the first half of verse 131, Śāntideva refutes the Sāṃkhya belief that the primal substance is unitary. If the primal substance is the balanced state of the three ''guṇas'', he argues, then it cannot be unitary because it is composed of three parts or characteristics. We cannot talk of something being just one thing and at the same time accept that phenomena is composed of three elements. He argues that a single thing with no parts and a single thing with three or more parts are mutually exclusive. Therefore, he concludes, the primal substance cannot exist as it is posited in the Sāṃkhya philosophy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.128}}
'''Continuing the argument about something being unitary but being comprised of multiple factors, Śāntideva argues:''' Since the Sāṃkhya school accepts that each of the ''guṇas'' in turn also have the other two ''guṇas'' as their nature, then each of the ''guṇas'' themselves cannot have a unitary nature, as they are made up of at least three different parts. Therefore, they cannot exist as presented by adherents of the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Śāntideva continues:''' If these ''guṇas'' cannot actually be existent, then the modulations or manifestations of those ''guṇas'', such as sound and form, can also not have any existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.129}}
'''Related to the second two lines of verse 129, Śāntideva goes on to argue:''' Manifestations such as woolen cloth cannot exist as the nature of the primal substance, because they are inanimate and therefore cannot possess the qualities of pain, pleasure, or neutral feeling. Pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings are the natures of the three ''guṇas'', which then must also be the nature of the primal substance. But since they are states of feeling, how can they be permanent? And how can something permanent be described in terms of feelings when it is easy to observe that feelings are fleeting?

'''b. Refuting the ''guṇas'' to be Permanent'''

A further argument that Śāntideva makes here, in verses 132 to 134, is that there is no visible proof of the permanence of the feelings associated with the ''guṇas''. Explicitly, he is refuting the permanent nature associated with the ''guṇas'', but implicitly he is refuting the true existence of them.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' There is a distinction between different states of the ''guṇas''. The gross forms of these states that are manifestly visible, such as pleasure, can become more subtle, and then they exist in an unmanifest latent state of potentiality. In this state they cannot be perceived.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the ''guṇas'', which have been defined as being of the same nature as the primal substance, a unitary and permanent nature, are able to switch from manifest to latent states, then both the subtle and gross states must lack any quality of permanence. Therefore, all these phenomena which you claim to be permanent cannot exist the way you believe them to, because they must possess a transient nature. And if that is the case, why is this impermanent nature not ascribed to all the twenty-five categories of phenomena?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.133}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' Whether in a gross or a subtle state, the actual nature of pleasure is never lost, so its permanent essence is never impaired.

'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' This doesn’t make any sense. The characteristics of being manifest or subtle must either be the same as pleasure itself or they must be different. If, say, the manifest nature is different from pleasure, then when the manifest character subsides, the pleasure would not subside and it should still be experienced.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.134}}
'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' And if, instead, the manifest aspect is not different from the pleasure and is actually one with it, then it is easy to see that pleasure must be impermanent because it can be directly seen to not always be manifest.

'''ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing [135–140]'''

9.135 to 9.140: Refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being. This includes the master refutation of the simultaneity of causes and their effects.

The next verses, from 135 to 140, offer a refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' When the guṇa of pleasure ceases to manifest, it then remains hidden in a subtle state of potentiality within the primal substance. Later on, when it reappears, it is merely the manifestation of what was already there. If things did not preexist in some sense before they became manifest, then it would be like them arising completely causelessly, out of the blue. Therefore, before manifesting, things must exist in a subtle state within the primal substance.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the results are present at the same time of the cause, why are they never perceived?

'''The Sāṃkhyas' reply:''' Even though the results are present at the time of the cause, at that time the results are not apparent to consciousness. Later, just as an object in a darkened room will be made visible by turning on the light, the results will be perceived at a later time when they become manifest.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' While the Sāṃkhyas try to maintain that things cannot arise that were not previously there, they end up actually positing that themselves. This is because they have to say that the manifestation is absent at the time of the cause and only later arises newly, thus contradicting their own tenet. If the manifestation were present at the time of the cause, then they would not be able to differentiate between manifest and unmanifest.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.135}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And likewise with the money they would spend on clothing,
Let them rather buy the cotton grains to wear! (9.136ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is incoherent to talk of results existing within the causes. If that were so, Śāntideva teases, then those who eat their tasty food would at the same time be consuming the result of that food, their own excrement. And why would those who wish to wear smooth cotton clothing not instead go out and buy the cotton seeds to wear, since the result is within and contemporaneous with the cause. But we don’t see people in the world following this way of acting.

'''The Sāṃkhyas respond:''' It is because of delusion that ordinary people cannot see these subtle states, for example, the subtle state of cloth in the cotton seeds.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the world is ignorant and blind.
For this is taught by 'those who know the truth.'" (9.136cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If the Sāṃkhya school says that the perceptions of the worldly are invalid due to ignorance, then since they are able to perceive the resultant manifestations, those manifestations must be false, and therefore it is meaningless to talk about them existing at the time of the cause. Also, if the Sāṃkhya school followers have this knowledge, that the result exists at the time of the cause, then they would be aware of eating their own excrement at the time that they ate a meal. Or it could be said that since the founders of the Sāṃkhya school are seen to insist on wearing cotton clothes and not cotton seeds, this makes it clear that the result does not exist at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva:''' Worldly people also have this knowledge, such as not to wear cotton seeds, thinking there is cloth present, so why do they not see the truth that results are present at the time of the cause?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This knowledge must be present in the worldly too!
And if they have it, why do they not see? (9.137ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' They do not realize it because the perception of worldly beings is not a prime cognition.

'''Śāntideva:''' In that case, the perceptions of the manifestations of the world must also be false because they are not prime cognitions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If now you say that what the worldly see has no validity,
This means that what they clearly see is false. (9.137cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
Leading on from this topic of what is valid consciousness, in the last section of this refutation of production from self, the Sāṃkhyas raise a doubt about the Buddhist presentation of valid cognition.

'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' The Madhyamaka school asserts different types of valid cognitions, such as direct perception and inferential cognition. They maintain that in some way nearly all these types of knowing are deceptive and are therefore not ultimately valid. How is it possible that these deceptive cognitions could in any way validate their objects? Doesn’t it mean that the objects must also be deceptive and unreal? And if that is the case, then even the cognition realizing emptiness and the object of emptiness itself as an object of that would have to be deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.138}}
'''Śāntideva responds:''' You are generally right in saying that objects established by deceptive consciousness must be in some way false. And yes, even in relation to emptiness, since the inferential cognition that apprehends emptiness is deceptive, emptiness, too, is also devoid of any inherent existence. The Madhyamaka system can still posit a direct prime cognizing consciousness that is deceptive but able to verify things.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.139}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' However, the Madhyamaka school has never asserted any kind of truly existent emptiness that is out there and independent on its own, without dependence upon a basis or without reference to things such as a pot, that has been independently established by valid cognition. Rather, emptiness is in a relationship of mutual dependence with the object of which it is the absence of inherent existence.

'''Śāntideva gives an example:''' It is like being in a dream within which we dream a child has died. Within the dream, the thought that the child has died is able to overcome the thought that the child is alive. But throughout this time we are still in the world of the dream, so both thoughts are actually deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.140}}
Likewise, a false antidote of wisdom is still able to overcome a false ignorance. There is still functionality even though things are deceptive and illusory-like.

From verse 126cd until verse 140, Śāntideva presents a series of arguments aimed mainly at the Sāṃkhya school's explanation of the primal substance (''prakṛti''). These arguments are focused on refuting the notion of an underlying substrate of reality, a substrate of reality that has parts and characteristics but is also unitary and unchanging. Śāntideva primarily uses one branch of the diamond-splinters argument, the argument against production from self, to refute his opponents' assertions.

<h5>Conclusion of the Diamond-Splinters Argument</h5>
In verses 141 and 142, Śāntideva wraps up this section of the text on the diamond-splinters, concluding that nothing can be produced without causes, nothing can be produced from itself, and nothing can be produced from a combination of both itself and something other than itself.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.141}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It does not come from somewhere else,
Neither does it stay nor yet depart. (9.142ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
Nothing is without causes, and no effect can be found in either one or all of its causes. Once produced, things do not intrinsically remain, and on cessation they do not go anywhere. They do not have any intrinsic production, abiding, or cessation. Production, abiding, and cessation exist but only at a nominal level.

<h4>2. The Great Reasoning of Dependent Origination (''རིགས་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་གྱི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>

The second reason proving the lack of inherent existence is the great reasoning of dependent origination. Out of all the reasons establishing emptiness, this reason is often referred to as the king or chief of all reasons. It is said to be the king of all reasons to establish the ultimate nature of phenomena because of its unique ability to refute both the extreme of nihilism and the extreme of permanence, or absolutism, at the same time.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they are dependently originated'''<br>
'''Example: like the reflection of a form in a mirror'''

In the second half of verse 142, Śāntideva explains how all phenomena are illusory-like. The mind that grasps at true existence falsely imputes onto its objects a false reality which they do not have.

'''Śāntideva:''' What difference is there between something which is taken to be the truth by a deluded consciousness, on the one hand, and illusions, dreams, or mirages, on the other hand? They both appear to be true while not existing in the way that they appear.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How will what confusion takes for truth
In any sense be different from a mirage? (9.142cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
To a deluded mind, things appear to exist from their own side, while they are actually empty of inherent existence. That deluded mind assents to that appearance and takes the truth to be that things possess an intrinsic nature, a nature which in reality they do not possess.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.143}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Nothing is real. Things do not exist in the way that they appear, intrinsically and from their own side. Instead, they arise and exist in reliance on other phenomena. They are like the reflection of a form in a mirror.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.144}}
Anything that comes into being and any event that occurs happens in dependence on something else. This can be their causes and conditions, their parts, or even conceptual designations of them. Everything is like a mirage or a magical illusion, which is in some sense fabricated.

The example of a reflection of a form in a mirror is used as a concordant example in the great syllogism of dependent origination. This reflection is considered to be an easy and straightforward example that helps us begin to understand that things do not exist as they appear.

A reflection of, for instance, a face in a mirror, appears to exist from the side of the mirror, almost in the mirror itself, and the reflection of the face can appear to those who have no experience of mirrors to be the very face itself. But actually the reflection of the face is not the face itself and is empty of being the face. The reflection of the face only appears in the mirror when conditions such as the presence of the mirror and a person's face placed in front of it are present.

How does this relate to the way things actually exist? Although phenomena lack any form of true or intrinsic existence, they do still exist as dependent originations. Indeed, the very fact that they arise in dependence on other factors means that they cannot have even an atom of independent and inherent existence. All things arise only as a result of an aggregation of a wide variety of conditions. When the conditions are not present, the phenomena cannot come into being.

To illustrate this point, we can take the example of the self or the person. The person does not exist inherently and from the side of its basis of designation, which is the four or five aggregates. But when the condition of the aggregates all come together, then we can say there is a conventional person that does not truly exist but that exists as a mere designation upon the basis of its aggregates.

<h4>3. The Reasoning of Existence and Nonexistence (''ཡོད་མེད་སྐྱེ་འགོག་གི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>
In verses 145 to 150, Śāntideva uses the reasoning of existence and nonexistence to prove that merely dependently originated phenomena cannot have any form of inherent existence. This reason specifically analyzes the effects of causes. It analyzes the status of the effect at the time of their cause, whether those effects are existent, nonexistent, both existent and nonexistent, or neither.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject:''' '''mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate:''' '''are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason:''' '''because at the time of their cause they are neither existent, nonexistent, both, or neither,'''<br>
'''Example:''' '''like the child of a barren woman'''

Śāntideva examines how an effect is produced from its cause, particularly how it is not possible for inherently existent results to come from inherently existent causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.145}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking an object such as a vase, it is incorrect to think of it arising while it was existing. This would be illogical, because if it already existed, there would be no need for it to be produced. If it were thought to arise while not existing, that would entail an existent thing arising from a nonexistent thing, which is not tenable.

Another approach to this is to look at the consequences if we believed things to have their own independent identity. If that were the case, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If things existed inherently and truly, then they would have no need to rely on causes, and causes would have no role. If phenomena were autonomous, causes would not be able to have any influence in giving rise to effects. And, since the purpose of a cause is to produce an effect, there can be no meaning to saying there are effects which exist without any relation to causes.

'''Doubt:''' While it is understandable that something inherently existent does not need to be created, wouldn't something nonexistent need a cause to produce it?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.146}}
Minyak Kunzang Sönam explains in detail this point about how if things are nonexistent they can never become existent.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One might think that while it is true that something inherently existent does not need to be created, why would something non-existent not need a cause to produce it?

Even with a billion causes, a thing which does not exist at all can never become a something. Such a non-existent thing is like the horn of a rabbit, it cannot possibly be produced by causes and conditions, and therefore cannot be turned into anything by anyone.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 243.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation:''' Even with millions of causes, nonexistent phenomena cannot transform into existent phenomena. Something which is nonfunctional can never become something which has a function. These categories are mutually exclusive. If a nonfunctioning thing were able to turn into a functioning thing, then it would not be nonfunctioning. The very ability to be able to transform into something else would mean that it already had functionality.

The production of an effect, such as a shoot which did not exist at the time of its cause, the seed, is not being refuted. All things that come into being do not themselves exist at the time of their causes. What is being refuted is the production from an inherently existent thing, the production of an inherently existent thing, as well as the belief of the Sāṃkhya school that the effect exists at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva (9.147):''' Something nonexistent thing cannot change into an existent thing. If it did, then we would need to examine whether it became something by abandoning its state of nonexistence or it became something after it had abandoned its state of nonexistence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.147}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.148}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148ab):''' If a nonexistent thing is to become something, it must abandon the condition of nonexistence. It cannot exist as something at the time that it is nonexistent, as existence and nonexistence are contradictory. And at the time when something is nonexistent, the phenomena which would be its result would not have come into being, and therefore a nonexistent thing can never change from being nothing.

Also, if a nonexistent became an existent by abandoning the state of nonexistence, at the moment that it abandoned the nonexistent state it would then no longer be nonexistent but instead existent. And if the nonexistent had not yet left behind the state of nonexistence, then it would not be able to transform into anything.

So, even if it were possible for something to inherently exist, or if something inherently nonexistent were possible, they could never change their nature from one state to another. They would have to forever remain existent or nonexistent.

In his ''Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam draws upon Nāgārjuna's summary of this point in his ''Seventy Verses on Emptiness'' (''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'') as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=An existent thing does not come into being because it is existent;
A non-existent thing does not come into being because it is non-existent;
Things are not existent and not non-existent because these are incompatible;
And because there is no origination, there is no dwelling or cessation. (Verse 4)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 245. For the verse in [[Nāgārjuna]], see ''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'' (''Stong pa nyid bdun cu pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3827, dbu ma, vol. 96, fol. 24b.1–2, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3827.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148cd):''' And furthermore, even if there were an inherently existing thing, that could never transform into a nonexistent thing. Something cannot become nothing. If it could, there would be the unwanted consequence that phenomena would possess both existent and nonexistent natures.

Sonam Tsemo gives an interesting read on the last two lines of verse 148, where he compares the ''prasaṅga'', the consequential argument, and the ''svātantra'', the autonomous syllogisms, which are used to refute the belief that existent phenomena can transform into nonexistent phenomena.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nonexistent object is the logical subject:

*The prasaṅga from the reason based on intrinsic nature:
[Contradiction: you claim that the object is non-dual but] it follows that it is dual because of its transformation [from existent to nonexistent].
*The svātantra from the pervader not being supported:
because of being non-dual, there is no transformation.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 444.</ref>
}}
There is a philosophical consequence of accepting that a nonexistent thing can also be nondual. The argument says that it cannot be nondual for the reason that it transforms from existent into nonexistent, which means that it has to have both existent and nonexistent natures.

The autonomous syllogism states that if something is nondual, then since it has both natures, there is actually no transformation from one state to another.

Gyaltsap Je summarizes this refutation of inherent existence through the reasoning of existence and nonexistence in this way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Take the subject 'sprout' - it is not generated inherently - because it is not inherently generated as existent, and it is not inherently generated as non-existent, e.g., like the child of a barren woman. Although its generation is refuted if non-existent at the time of the cause, it is a refutation of its inherent generation at the time of generation, even though it is non-existent at the time of the cause. Therefore, one needs to relate it to the object of negation.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 75, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
To summarize this reasoning, a shoot cannot come into being on its own, because if it is inherently existent, it cannot come into being, and if it is inherently nonexistent, it cannot come into being either. The example used to prove this reason is that of the child of a barren woman.

In conclusion, as it is mentioned in ''The Questions of Sāgaramati'' (''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā''), regarding anything which comes into being in relation to or in dependence on anything else, that thing cannot have even the slightest inherent nature.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whatever is dependently originated
Is without any inherent nature.
What lacks an essential nature
Never actually arises.<ref>[[Hinkle, T.|Timothy Hinkle]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Questions of Sāgaramati: Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā (Hinkle, T.)|The Questions of Sāgaramati, Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā]]'', Toh 152 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-058-001.html#UT22084-058-001-1164.</ref>
}}

<h5>Showing the Sameness of Samsara and Nirvana</h5>
In verses 149 and 150, Śāntideva focuses on the beings wandering in cyclic existence and explains that if they exist independently and intrinsically, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If beings existed autonomously and from their own side, there would be no opportunity for causes to play a role in their production. The main function of causes is to produce effects, and if beings were autonomous and independent, then causes could not affect them.

'''Śāntideva (9.149):''' All phenomena lack the inherent existence they appear to have. There is no intrinsic production, abiding, and cessation of any phenomena. Therefore, at an ultimate level, beings neither come into being nor cease.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.149}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.150}}
'''Śāntideva (9.150):''' Intrinsic production and cessation have been refuted, but it does not make sense to say that beings, and indeed all phenomena, are completely nonexistent. That would mean that they had never had any form of existence. So when considering the aspects of origination and cessation of phenomena, they can only be accepted on a conditional level. Phenomena do exist, but not inherently, and only in dependent relation with other phenomena.

When we are able to understand this way that things exist, we can then understand that at the ultimate level there is no difference between samsara and nirvana. On a conventional level there is a difference, but at the ultimate level there is none. The reason is that from the perspective of their emptiness, the lack of intrinsic nature, samsara and nirvana are exactly the same. It can be said that from this perspective of emptiness, all phenomena from the very beginning have been in a state of natural peace, a natural nirvana.

This assertion that all things have never come into being and that they therefore are originally in a state of peace, a natural nirvana, is mentioned in ''The Jewel Cloud Sūtra'' (''Ratnameghasūtra'') in the following verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When turning the wheel of Dharma,
O Protector, you taught that phenomena
Are primordially peaceful, unarisen,
And at ease by nature.<ref>[[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Jewel Cloud: Ratnamegha (Doctor, T.)|The Jewel Cloud, Ratnamegha]]'', Toh 231 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-064-001.html#UT22084-064-001-97.</ref>
}}
And from ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'' (''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā''), it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That which arises from conditions is unborn‍—
It has no intrinsic essence of arising.
That which depends on conditions is taught to be empty.
One who understands emptiness is heedful.<ref>[[Ewing, B.|Benjamin Ewing]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'', ''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā'', Toh 156 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://84000.co/translation/toh156#UT22084-058-005-308.</ref>
}}
Summarizing this point, that all phenomena exist interdependently and that everything is like a dream or illusion, Nāgārjuna says the following in his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivāraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just like the sounding of a drum,
Likewise a shoot arises from a gathering of causes.
All the things that in the outer world arise dependently
Are, we say, like dreams and magical displays. (64)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That things arise from causes
Never contradicts what we have just declared.
Since causes are devoid of being causes,
We understand phenomena to be unborn. (65)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 4–5, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}

<h2>The Benefits of Meditation on Emptiness</h2>
In all the preceding verses, Śāntideva presented a wide variety of reasons to refute wrong conceptions about the way that phenomena exist. He addresses the views of opponents from the non-Buddhist traditions and he counters some of the assertions of the lower tenet schools of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of refuting these other systems, he also presents the highest view within the Buddhist tradition, that of the Madhyamaka school. In this tradition, phenomena are merely dependent designations and have no intrinsic reality of their own.

Taking this understanding of the way things exist according to the Madhyamaka tradition, in verses 151 to 167 Śāntideva moves on to explain the great benefits of cultivating this understanding of emptiness and meditating on it.

<h3>1. Realizing the Equality of the Eight Worldly Dharmas</h3>
In verses 151 to 153, Śāntideva explains that even seemingly opposed phenomena—such as gain or loss, or happiness and suffering—when viewed from the ultimate perspective, are all equal.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.151–52):''' If all phenomena exist merely imputed by conception and lacking any kind of existence from their own side, if they are empty in this way, then what is there that exists to gain or lose? Who is there to praise me or disparage me?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.151}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.152}}
We crave happiness and wish to gain the objects of our desire. We feel happiness when we gain them and then suffer and often get angry when we lose these objects of our desire. But neither this happiness nor unhappiness, nor the objects that those feelings arise in relation to, none of them are truly existent. Since nothing truly exists, there is nothing to truly gain and nothing to truly lose, and so at this level attachment to the objects of our desire and aversion to those things we dislike makes absolutely no sense.

'''Śāntideva continues (9.152cd):''' Furthermore, if we look deeply into the nature of phenomena, searching for any kind of intrinsic and independent nature, we cannot find anything. Since all phenomena lack this kind of existence from their own side, who is the person craving, and what is it that is craved for?

Sonam Tsemo explains in his commentary that the two verses above discuss the eight worldly concerns—of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, and fame and infamy—taking a look at them from the perspective of their ultimate nature.

He relates how, in the root verses, gain and loss and happiness and suffering are mentioned explicitly, whereas being paid honor and being reviled refer to praise and blame, and joy and pain refer to the joy of fame and the pain of infamy.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 447.</ref>

In verse 153 Śāntideva continues his ultimate analysis of the fundamental way in which phenomena exist by looking at the world of living beings.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.153):''' Who is there in this world who lives and then passes away? Who is there that has been born in the past, and who is there that will be born into another future life? Who are our friends and who are our relatives?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.153}}
It is important to understand that Śāntideva is not saying that there is no cessation and that beings do not pass away. He is not saying that we have not been born in the past nor that we will not die and be reborn in the future. And he is certainly not saying that we have no relatives or friends to benefit us. All of these statements are being made at the level of ultimate analysis where nothing can be found on search. At a conventional level, he accepts these things as existing in some nominal way, but from the ultimate perspective they have no existence.

In the last two lines of verse 154, Śāntideva makes a prayer that all beings like himself develop the crucial discernment that all phenomena lack intrinsic existence and are like space, beyond all categories of existent or nonexistent, and that all beings regard as equal the eight mundane concerns.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May beings like myself discern and grasp
That all things have the character of space! (9.154ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Teaching Great Compassion by Highlighting the Defects of Samsara</h3>
In the last main section of the text, from verses 154cd to 165, Śāntideva explains the explicit need for the realization of emptiness if we wish to turn away from all our suffering. This insistence on the central importance of wisdom comes from a place of deep compassion, compassion that understands the way that the root cause of all our suffering is the ignorance of how things ultimately exist.

<h4>i. The Sufferings That Arise from Ignorance</h4>
Lacking the understanding of the role ignorance plays, and not working to understand the ultimate nature of ourselves and all other phenomena, we will be trapped in a samsaric life that is characterized by suffering and dissatisfaction.

Śāntideva details both the obvious sufferings that we face in this life, but he also goes on to point out the less obvious forms of suffering that come from being trapped in samsara and how we will have to continually be born in lives that are characterized by suffering.

<h5>a. The Manifest Sufferings of This Life</h5>
'''Śāntideva (9.154cd/155):''' Those seeking peace and happiness will never find what they desire if the means through which they strive to attain that involves confrontations or disputes with others or through purely looking for personal enjoyment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But those who seek their happiness and ease,
Through disputes or enjoyments, (9.154cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.155}}
Within this very life there can be no long-term, stable peace and happiness if we are constantly controlled by our reactions to temporary conditions. Ecstatically happy when fortunate things happen to us, or depressed and morose when misfortune comes our way, we are at the whim of our emotions. Our minds are not in balance, and in these fluctuating states we suffer. We can easily be drawn into severe negative actions in relation to others, and in extreme cases this can lead us to cause grievous mental and physical harm to others.

<h5>b. The Invisible Sufferings of Past and Future Lives</h5>
In verse 156 Śāntideva covers the wider context of our samsaric life, spanning over countless lifetimes. From this longer perspective, temporary states of good fortune may very occasionally arise, but they can also end as quickly as they came about.

'''Śāntideva (9.156):''' It is so rare to find rebirth in a happy state, but occasionally we do surface from the depths of samsara and are born into such an opportune life. However, instead of taking that opportunity to seek liberation, we instead follow all kinds of temporary pleasure. When death comes, we will have wasted this precious chance and will now fall into the lower realms for an unimaginably long time.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.156}}
In his commentary Sonam Tsemo explains how this last section of the ninth chapter, from verse 157 to verse 162, covers the five main causes for why we have to constantly experience the various sufferings of conditioned life in cyclic existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In dependence upon the five types of rebirth, one will constantly experience attachment to saṃsāra. Why? There are five main causes:

1. The roots of suffering have not been pacified
2. One does not have the means to dispel it
3. There are many obstacles
4. It is difficult to rely on the supports
5. It is difficult to abandon its causes<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 450.</ref>
}}

'''1. The Roots of Suffering Have Not Been Pacified'''

In verse 157 Śāntideva encourages us to contemplate the vast multitudes of places of rebirth in cyclic existence, referring to them as chasms or abysses. Whether in the desire, form, or formless realms, there will be both the general sufferings of samsara and the specific sufferings of each realm.

We are dragged down into these deep chasms by the ignorance that actively clings to the inherent nature of ourselves and all things. In these dark places no wisdom can be found, and from our state of ignorance spring forth all the negative emotions, which cause us to engage in negative karmic actions.

If we have not pacified this ignorance of reality and have not developed the wisdom that cuts through the root of samsara, there can be no liberation. Therefore, we must strive in every moment to try to understand emptiness.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.157}}

'''2. One Does Not Have the Means to Dispel It'''

The next reason that we must continue to cycle around in samsara is that we do not have the means to prevent ourselves from being propelled into conditioned states of existence.

In verses 158 to 160, Śāntideva reminds us of how little opportunity we get to pull ourselves out of samsara. If we are born in the lower realms, there will be absolutely no chance to engage in virtue, but even if we are born in a happy state of existence where we attain a precious human rebirth, the power to be able to create virtue is weak. Life passes very fast, and this precious opportunity, though gained, can disappear in a moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.158}}
Śāntideva also points out to us that however long we are able to stay in one of these fortunate states, there is actually no time to practice the Dharma. Our time is taken up with so many things. Many of these are essential activities to maintain our lives and health. We need to find food to satisfy our hunger, and many hours of the day are taken up with sleep to help rest our weary bodies. Sickness and injury take up much of our time but so do associations with childish beings that end up being meaningless.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.159}}
Life passes quickly, and mostly without any deeper meaning. It is so hard to find any opportunity to investigate the deeper nature of reality, which is our only means to reverse the process of cyclic existence. Our efforts to contemplate and meditate on emptiness are weak, distraction draws away our attention from what is important, and our unstable lives can end at any moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.160}}

'''3. There Are Many Obstacles'''

In verses 161 and 162, Śāntideva highlights the fact that because there are many obstacles, attaining liberation is extremely hard. Not only are there negative external forces that may try to work against us, especially when we choose the way of virtue, but there are also many false spiritual paths that may lead us astray. Most of these trails lead us to views of eternalism or nihilism, and we have to come to certainty that this path that Śāntideva is revealing to us is the pure and unmistaken one.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.161}}
We may have many doubts about which is the right path, doubts about what needs to be done on the path and where it leads, and it is difficult to find the right conditions to remove these doubts.

In the following passage from his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal remarks on how people these days are taken with the novelty and excitement of modern spiritual paths and lack a respect and love for the ancient texts:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Nowadays, people love novelty and thus neglect the ancient texts, excellent and pure though they be, liking only what is new. But among the recent texts, there are some that are genuine and some false, and it is difficult to discern the goal and point of view of a genuine teaching from a false one—it is difficult to have certainty, unclouded by doubt. And even if a teaching is authentic, if it is practiced with doubt, it will be fruitless and without meaning. It is thus hard to have a true discernment.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 387.</ref>
}}
He agrees that there are genuine texts among those within the modern tradition, but it is very hard to discern which ones those are, and so it is easy to be beset with doubt. And with doubt we find it hard to get any concrete result, however sincerely we strive to engage in our Dharma practice.

'''4. It Is Difficult to Rely on the Supports'''

We also find it hard to gain liberation because the personal support of our precious human rebirth and the external support of the enlightened beings are so hard to find.

In the first two lines of verse 162, Śāntideva reminds us of how hard it is to find again such a state of freedom where we can practice, a state which is characterized by the eight freedoms and ten endowments. Even if we are blessed with this precious opportunity, he also explains the difficulty of finding one crucial external support that is necessary for us to be able to wholeheartedly follow the path—that is, genuinely enlightened teachers.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard it is to find again this state of freedom,
Harder yet to come upon enlightened teachers, (9.162ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}

'''5. It Is Difficult to Abandon Its Causes'''

The last two lines of verse 162 explain how difficult it is to escape from the raging torrent of our afflictions. The causes of our continued rebirth in samsara are the whole range of our negative emotions—craving and clinging, attachment, anger, lack of awareness, and underpinning them all, wrong views and ignorance. We are swept away by these states of mind, and Śāntideva remarks on how difficult it is to turn back this tide.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard, indeed, to turn aside the torrent of defilement!
Alas, our sorrows fall in endless streams! (9.162.cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}
In verses 163 and 164, Śāntideva explains how beings do not even realize what kind of sufferings they are going through. Afloat in the sea of cyclic existence, passing from one suffering state to another, beings are completely unaware of the reality of their situation. Indeed, they often feel the opposite way, looking on things which are contaminated by the afflictions and ignorance as though they are pleasant and a source of happiness. They have no understanding of what conduct to adopt and what to cast aside. "Alas," cries Śāntideva, "How terrible it is that beings do not understand the terrible condition they are in."
{{PullBcaVerses|9.163}}
Here, Śāntideva also critiques the followers of some religious traditions and their practices, those who believe that extreme ascetic practices such as prolonged exposure to excessive heat or cold or bathing in the sacred rivers are the path to liberation. Although these practices do not lead to the desired result, because of their attachment to them they are happy to endure them, and they even consider them pleasant.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.164}}
Most of us carry on our lives as though old age and death will never come to us. But it won't be long before we have to pass away and we have to face our future. If we have been too lazy to engage in virtue and counteract our negative emotions, we will easily be led after death to a rebirth in terrible states.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.165}}

<h2>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h2>
Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom.

In verse 166 Śāntideva is overcome by the wish to pacify the sufferings of all beings trapped in samsara. He asks himself, "When will the time come when I will be able to put out the fires of others' suffering?" In a form of dedication, he wishes from his heart that the rains of bliss which pour forth from the clouds of all his accumulated merit may rain down on the terrible flames of beings' suffering, extinguishing them forever. This verse specifically refers to the accumulation of merit from the method side of practice, through practices such as generosity and ethical discipline.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.166}}
Following Śāntideva's example, Gyaltsap Je explains how we must sincerely cultivate this great compassion from deep in our hearts.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When will I become someone that pacifies the sufferings of the lower realms with medicine, food and the like? That which are parts of my collection of happiness, built up from clouds of merits built up by generosity and so forth. How wonderful would it be if sentient beings were free from suffering? May they be free from suffering. May I bring about that freedom.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
In verse 86 of his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'', Nāgārjuna explains that this sense of compassion for beings should be so strong that we are willing to give up the most refined and blissful states of meditative concentration and to instead plunge headlong into the worst of the hellish states.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When through practice it becomes firm,
Then alarmed by other's suffering,
The [bodhisattvas] renounce the bliss of concentration
And plunge even to the depths of relentless hells.<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 9, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf.</ref>
}}
In the last verse of the chapter, Śāntideva speaks of his continual wish to pacify the mistaken clinging that all living beings possess, the belief in an inherent self and inherent phenomena. He again asks himself, "When will I reveal this truth of emptiness to those beings who suffer in cyclic existence because of their belief in intrinsic existence?" This verse refers to the accumulation of wisdom, which comes from studying, contemplation, and meditation on the ultimate nature of phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.167}}
Gyaltsap Je summarizes how we meditate on the union of calm abiding and special insight as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In short, one should meditate on the mode of abiding in dependence on calm abiding. Further, because the 'I' of the thought 'I' is established as merely labeled in dependence on the aggregates and does not exist inherently, it does not exist intrinsically, it is not established in the slightest in an independent mode. Therefore, the existent person is merely posited in name, it exists only as labeled and in a dependent mode. Hence, take to heart, 'It does not exist inherently'.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
Having understood the way things exist and how ignorance of the nature of reality traps beings in the continual cycle of suffering in samsara, we should then develop the strong wish to reveal this truth of emptiness to all beings, that they may cultivate that understanding and themselves attain the highest state of enlightenment.

<h2>The Results of Practice</h2>
At the very end of his commentary entitled ''A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditating on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Patrul Rinpoche discusses the result of practicing in the way outlined in Śāntideva's text.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By seeing the relative to be a mere display like a magical illusion or the experiences of a dream, we will train in vast enlightened activity in which the seven kinds of attachment are relinquished. And with the understanding that on the ultimate level all things and events lack even so much as an atom's worth of true existence, we will take this practice to heart without becoming attached to anything whatsoever.

May the Dharma, suffering's only cure,
And the source of all real happiness,
Always be valued and respected,
And remain long into the future!

This was spoken by Ragged Abu. May all be virtuous and auspicious!<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Understanding that all phenomena lack even an atom of intrinsic existence, knowing things to exist merely as a magical illusion, and dropping any kind of attachment, we head out onto the path of the Buddhadharma, which leads to the state of full enlightenment.
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Articles/Wisdom Overview

2026-03-11T15:33:30Z

SimonH:

{{LibraryItem
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|EditorialFullText=<onlyinclude>
<h2>The Place of Wisdom in the Buddhist Path</h2>
While it is through practicing all of the other perfections that we can accumulate great merit, it is only the perfection of wisdom that allows us to cut through the root of the cycle of existence. The earlier chapters of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' present practices which can act as temporary antidotes to their opposing factors. Patience can temporarily reduce our anger, and contemplating the uncleanliness of the body can temporarily reduce our attachment. But when these positive factors wane for a moment, the afflictions will swiftly arise again. There is only one way to finally put an end to the whole range of negative states of mind, and that is to develop the wisdom which understands the lack of any inherent self, both of persons and of all other phenomena.

As this is the case, Śāntideva sets the stage for chapter 9 by explaining how all of the other branches of the doctrine and paths of practice were spoken of in order to prepare for the development of the wisdom which understands the ultimate reality of all.

{{PullBcaVerses|9.1}}

<h2>The Two Truths</h2>

In verses 2 to 4ab, Śāntideva gives a summarized presentation of the two truths—the conventional and the ultimate truth.

The first two lines of verse 2 present us with the division of all phenomena, the division into the conventional and ultimate truths.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Relative and ultimate,
These the two truths are declared to be. (9.2ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 137.</ref>
}}
These verses, and particularly the second two lines of verse 2, have been interpreted in a wide variety of ways and form part of a larger debate involving the different philosophical traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect,
For intellect is said to be the relative. (9.2cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 137.</ref>
}}
There is a much more detailed essay on this topic available on this website entitled "[https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study/Mapping_the_Debate_Between_Mipham_and_Geluk_Scholars Debates on the Wisdom Chapter between Mipham, Drakar, and Pari Rabsel]," but the main argument within the debate is whether or not the ultimate truth is beyond the scope of the intellectual or dualistic conventional mind. Masters such as Lama Tsongkhapa, through his disciple Gyaltsap Je, argue that it is possible to access emptiness, the ultimate reality of phenomena, with the conceptual mind. They also assert that this emptiness is exactly the same entity that is perceived directly by the exalted wisdom consciousness on the path of seeing.

Other masters, such as Mipham Rinpoche, assert that there are two kinds of ultimate truth—the actual ultimate truth (''རྣམས་གྲངས་མ་ཡིན་པའི་དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་

'') and a similitude of the ultimate (''rnam grangs yin pa'i don dam bden pa''). They argue that the similitude of the ultimate can be accessed by the conceptual mind but that the actual ultimate truth cannot be accessed by the ordinary, dualistic mind; it can only be accessed by the exalted wisdom gained in meditative equipoise on the path of seeing and above. Therefore, for this philosophical position, these two categories are not the same entity, and the actual ultimate is more subtle than the similitude and can only be realized by a directly perceiving nonconceptual consciousness devoid of any dualistic factors.

<h3>Different Individuals Perceive Different Levels of Truth</h3>
Having explained the different natures of the two truths, in verses 3 and 4 Śāntideva then moves on to explain what kind of individuals are able to access these different levels of the truth. And here he describes two types of individuals, the ordinary being and the yogi.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.3}}
According to Śāntideva, the understanding of yogic practitioners, who engage in philosophical analysis and meditative practice, undermines the views of ordinary people not engaged in these practices.

In verse 4 he explains how among the individuals considered to be practitioners, there are many levels of understanding. For instance, the understanding of followers of the lower Buddhist tenets, such as the Vaibhāṣikas, undermine the existence of a permanent, unitary, and autonomous self, the understanding of reality held by non-Buddhist schools. Then, increasingly more refined presentations of reality from Mahāyāna tenet systems such as Yogācāra and Madhyamaka outshine the philosophy of systems below them, until what is considered by all the Tibetan schools of Buddhism to be the highest, the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, is reached.

<h3>Refuting This Presentation of the Two Truths</h3>
Throughout the ninth chapter, Śāntideva engages in debates with other philosophical positions about the nature of the self and other phenomena. These opponents are from the Buddhist world but also from non-Buddhist philosophical schools whose roots lie in the ancient Indian religious traditions.

From verse 4cd until verse 56, Śāntideva deals with objections to the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's presentation of the two truths from various other Buddhist schools.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Buddhist Realist/Śrāvaka Position</h3>
Beginning from verse 6, Śantideva begins a series of debates with both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The debates flow back and forth between Śantideva himself, here as a representative of the Madhyamaka tradition in general and specifically the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school, and the holders of these other philosophical traditions.

In verses 6 to 15, Śāntideva answers a series of doubts about the Madhyamaka presentation of all phenomena being empty of intrinsic existence and therefore not existing in the way they ordinarily appear. This presentation of an illusory-like nature draws criticism from many philosophical schools, particularly from the Śrāvaka tradition, who in the well-known presentation of the four schools of Indian Buddhism would be included as the Vaibhāṣikas and Sautāntrikas.

The main core of the objections they raise is that if the ultimate nature of things is unreal, then there is no meaning to practices of virtue and of accumulating merit, since those who commit the acts and the objects of those acts don't really exist. As an extension of that, they argue that if one commits a terrible negative act, such as murder, then, following the Prāsaṅgika presentation of illusion, that act would not lead to any negative karma because the person killed was an illusion.

'''Śrāvaka (9.9):''' If all phenomena are unreal and mere illusions, then the Buddha himself is an illusion too. Merit can only be accrued by making offerings to a real Buddha, so how can merit be accumulated by making offerings to an illusory Buddha? And how could beings take rebirth after they die if they are themselves illusions?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.9}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.10):''' Illusory offerings made to the illusory Buddha give rise to illusory merit, just as you Śrāvakas believe that truly existent merit is accumulated by making truly existent offerings to a truly existent Buddha. The only difference between our systems lies in the respective reality or nonreality of the merit (and of the Buddha); it does not lie in the arising or nonarising of such merit.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.10}}
All phenomena, whether an illusion or what we call a real phenomena, arise on the basis of causes and conditions. As long as the complete conditions of an illusion are assembled, the illusion will manifest. And as long as the complete conditions of karma and afflictions are present, beings will continue to experience death and rebirth.

This is the measure of their reality, and we cannot say beings have true existence because they exist for a longer time. An illusion could exist for a long time and a being for a shorter time, but the duration of the phenomena has no bearing on their ontological status.

Here, Śāntideva is saying that illusions and "real" beings are similar in that they appear but do not exist intrinsically.

'''Śāntideva's continued response (9.11):''' But with regard to the killing of a real person and the "killing" of an illusory person, there is a difference in the karma accrued, as one has a mind to experience suffering and one does not.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.11}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.11):''' The intention to kill the illusory person that in reality is not a person still carries with it the fault of intending great harm on someone. But even if we were able to "kill" that illusory person, because they do not have a mind, no fault of murder would actually be committed.

On the other hand, what we call real beings are illusory-like, but although they are illusory-like they are not illusions. There is a difference between a person and the magical apparition of a person, and this division lies in whether they possess a mind or not. Because an actual person has a mind, they can therefore experience happiness and sorrow. The beneficial or harmful acts committed in relation to an actual person create virtuous or nonvirtuous karma.

In terms of their ontological status, there is not a single difference—both lack any intrinsic existence but still do conventionally exist.

Here, Śāntideva is highlighting an extremely important but commonly misunderstood point of the Middle Way view. He argues that just because things are illusory-like it doesn't mean that they are a complete fabrication, and it does not mean that they do not exist. An illusory-like person does not have any intrinsic nature, but they are still conventionally existent, they have minds and feelings, and if we commit terrible acts in relation to them, they will suffer, and we will accumulate negative karma. Śāntideva is at pains to point out that being empty of inherent existence does not invalidate the conventional and dependently related reality.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Mind-Only School</h3>
In verses 15 to 29, Śāntideva answers questions raised by the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) Buddhist school and also debates with them regarding some of their central philosophical assertions.

The Mind-Only school does not accept the existence of any external phenomena and describes all that we encounter as being of the nature of mind. Objects such as trees and mountains are manifestations of the mind, but they do not exist externally in the way that they appear to do. Instead, when a karmic seed ripens to experience a particular object, like a tree, one part of that seed ripens as the mind experiencing that object, and one part ripens as an appearance of that external object. So the Mind-Only school's presentation of the emptiness of phenomena relies on understanding the lack of a separate entity of the mind and its objects, which leads us to realize that external phenomena have no independent existence “out there” on their own. They are actually only constructions of the mind. According to the Mind-Only school, when we see this ultimate reality of phenomena, our grasping at phenomena ceases and we can attain enlightenment.

The Mind-Only school's presentation of the empty nature of all phenomena relies heavily on what are known as the three natures—the dependent nature (''paratantra''), the imputed nature (''parikalpita''), and the thoroughly established or ultimate nature (''pariniṣpanna'').

Of particular interest to Śāntideva in relation to the Mind-Only school is their presentation of a self-cognizing mind (''svasaṃvedana'', ''rang rig''). The Mind-Only school asserts the existence of this kind of mind that has the ability to be aware of and to ratify its own existence. For the Mind-Only school, if we do not accept the existence of this self-cognizing mind, we will not be able to establish the validity, and therefore the existence, of consciousness through valid cognition (''pramāṇa'').

But since they accept no external objects, when mind perceives what appears to be external phenomena, it is really only perceiving a projection of that very mind itself, and so it is essentially like mind just perceiving mind.

Śāntideva argues through analogies that this kind of mind that perceives its very own self cannot exist, just as a candle flame does not illuminate itself, and just as a sword is not able to cut itself. This refutation is also intimately tied in with the explanation of memory and the need for a valid cognizing mind in order to validate or establish the existence of any particular phenomena.

<h3>The Nature of Illusion</h3>
Verses 30 to 34 contain debates between the Middle Way school and the other lower systems of Buddhist thought—the Vaibhāṣikas, the Sautrāntikas, and the Mind-Only school. The main topic of discussion is the nature of illusion. The Sarvāstivāda school inquires of Śāntideva, "What use is this understanding of emptiness? Even with that understanding, we still fall prey to our desires, just as a magician can still fall to desire for an illusory woman that he has conjured up himself."
Śāntideva counters this argument by saying that it is because of not being fully trained in the understanding of the lack of true existence that it is still possible for desire and the other afflictions to arise.

<h3>Refuting the View That If Everything Is Empty There Is No Point Seeking Enlightenment</h3>
In verses 35 to 39, Śāntideva fields further questions about the consequences of accepting the emptiness of the intrinsic reality of all phenomena. His opponents ask, "The doctrine of emptiness cannot be correct, because when the Buddha finally attains the fruit of the path—complete enlightenment—all discursive thought will cease and they will no longer have any mind. So how will they then be of any benefit to other sentient beings who are stuck in samsara since they have no thought to help others?"

Śāntideva counters this claim by saying that although there are neither conceptual thoughts nor any clinging to the true existence of self or phenomena, that does not mean that the buddhas will be unable to benefit others. Previously, when they were on the bodhisattva path, the buddhas made aspirational prayers to help others. It is these prayers that now come to fruition once the buddhas attain full enlightenment. With the appearance of the form body of the buddha (''rūpakāya''), the buddhas are able to spontaneously and effortlessly appear for the greatest welfare of all.

<h3>Proofs of the Authenticity of the Mahāyāna</h3>
Verses 40 to 43 provide a fascinating debate that questions the grounds on which a tradition can be considered to be authentically Buddhist.

The Śrāvaka tradition believes that directly understanding the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as impermanence, is sufficient to achieve the complete state of arhatship. So, they inquire of the Madhaymaka tradition, "What is the use of understanding emptiness?"

Śāntideva's first response is to quote from the Sūtras. He points out that this need for the understanding of emptiness, in order to completely uproot the afflictions, is mentioned directly in the words of the Buddha, particularly in the perfection of wisdom sūtras.

Some śrāvakas then question whether this kind of scriptural source is a valid teaching of the Buddha, and therefore there remains doubt as to whether a practitioner needs to realize emptiness to attain enlightenment.

Śāntideva then turns to logic, inquiring as to the reasons that the śrāvakas validate their own scriptures. If the śrāvakas reply that their sūtras are accepted by both parties, then, Śāntideva responds, the Vedas would also have to be accepted as valid scriptures teaching the truth because there are at least two parties who accept them to be valid.

And finally, Śāntideva reasons, if the śrāvakas follow with the argument that the teachings of the Mahāyāna are disputed by others so therefore they are not valid, that exact same argument can easily be turned back on them: since the śrāvaka’s own position is disputed by others, therefore the teachings of the śrāvaka vehicle cannot be considered valid.

<h3>The Importance of Emptiness according to the Middle Way School</h3>
In verses 44 to 56, the debate continues between the śrāvakas and the Middle Way school, but the argument shifts away from the scriptural validity of the two schools to the subject of why emptiness is so important.

At this juncture in the chapter, there is another big divergence within the commentarial tradition. The divergence of views rests on the previous discussion of whether the śrāvaka arhats need to realize the lack of intrinsic nature of self and phenomena in order to attain liberation from samsara (''mokṣa'').

The great Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal argues that this section of the text does not assert the need for realizing emptiness in order to attain liberation but instead asserts the supremacy of the Mahāyāna. The great Gelukpa master Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen interprets this section as presenting the need for all practitioners to directly perceive emptiness, whether that is the hearers and solitary realizers of the Hīnayāna or the bodhisattvas of the Mahāyāna. This is one interpretation of the cornerstones of Lama Tsongkhapa's eight great points of Madhyamaka.

<h2>Selflessness</h2>
In the next section of the text, from verses 57 to 110, Śāntideva gives an extensive explanation of how to meditate on the two different kinds of selflessness: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

<h3>1. Selflessness of Persons</h3>
Śāntideva devotes the next major section of chapter 9 (verses 57 to 77) to the refutation of the self of persons (''pudgalātman''). This section is divided into (a) the general refutation of the self of persons and (b) the specific refutations of other school's presentations of the self of persons.

<h4>A. General Refutation in Regard to the Self of Persons</h4>
Verses 57 to 59 present a general refutation of an inherent self, a self which is truly and intrinsically existent and which exists from its own side. Śāntideva does this by analyzing the components of a person—the body and mind. He argues that the self always appears in relation to the five component psychophysical aggregates of the person—the aggregates of form, feeling, formations, discrimination, and consciousness. Therefore, if a person exists in exactly the way that they appear, which is an independent self coming from the side of the aggregates, then that kind of self should be findable within those aggregates when we search for it. These three verses detail that analysis and come to the conclusion that there is nothing called "self" that we find within any of these parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.59}}
<h4>B. Specific Refutations of Other Schools' Presentations of the Self of Persons</h4>
In verses 60 to 69, Śāntideva raises arguments against the non-Buddhist Indian traditions of Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Nyāya. This section of the ninth chapter is a discussion of the self of persons and in particular is a refutation of the self of a person posited by these non-Buddhist schools.

<h5>i. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Sāṃkhya School's Belief in a Permanent Self That Is Conscious</h5>
In this section of the ninth chapter, Śāntideva refutes the self of persons as presented in the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Sāṃkhya''' (also spelled Sāṅkhya) is one of the six major orthodox (''āstika'') schools of Vedic philosophy (the other five are the Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta).

Sāṃkhya is an atheistic system, and its adherents are known as the Enumerators, for it is said that the truth they teach is known by means of enumerating a series of up to twenty-five categories of phenomena. The two central factors of these twenty-five are the primal substance (''prakṛti'') and the person (''puruṣa'').

The Sāṃkhya school maintains that as long as we are ignorant of the fact that all categories are created by the interaction between the primal substance and the person, we therefore remain in a world of multiplicity and duality and remain unenlightened. Escape from this endless circle of samsaric existence is possible only through the realization of the fundamental difference between the primal substance and persons. This realization loosens the bond between them, and an individual person loses interest in the primal substance and is thereby liberated forever from all bodies, both subtle and gross.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

{{standout
|'''Master Argument – Change and Permanence Are Mutually Exclusive'''

'''9.60 to 9.67:''' ''If something causes change to another phenomena or is changed by another phenomena, it cannot also be permanent.''
}}

In the middle section of chapter 9, Śāntideva presents his refutations of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist presentations of the self, or the person. In verses 60 to 67, he challenges the central Sāṃkhya assertion that a self can be consciousness and yet still permanent.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.60}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.61}}
"How can you attribute the quality of knowing to the self?" Śāntideva asks. "You would be implying that if the self is the consciousness of sound, then sound will be perceived at all times. On the other hand, if you assert that cognitions exist even in the absence of their objects—such as sound or physical form—then it follows that a piece of wood could be conscious, since cognitions do not require objects. Since this is not tenable, you would have to agree that without objects of cognition, there can be no cognitions.”

If a particular object is not present, then there cannot be any consciousness which apprehends that phenomena. Consciousness has to depend upon the objects that it is aware of, and it is not possible for something to be a consciousness without its being a consciousness of something.

In the next verse Śāntideva continues his analysis of the philosophical problems inherent in accepting the person to be a permanent consciousness. He asks, "Why does the consciousness apprehending form not also apprehend sound?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.62}}
Since the consciousness is the person, and since that is accepted as a permanent phenomena, then if it apprehends sound, it has to continually apprehend sound, and therefore it cannot apprehend visible objects, such as forms.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.63}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.64}}
'''Adherents of the Sāṃkhya school respond:''' The consciousness is like an actor that performs many parts in a play, so they may put on one costume and act out one role earlier in the play and then don a different costume and play a completely different character later in the same play. Likewise, they say, an earlier consciousness of sound can appear later as the consciousness of form, which then sees visible objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the consciousness is like an actor and plays many different roles by perceiving a variety of different objects, then that consciousness cannot be a constant and unchanging thing, and therefore it cannot be permanent. Change and permanence are mutually exclusive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.65}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Asserting that the latter consciousness of form is of the same nature as the prior consciousness of sound is not tenable. The two statements—(1) that the consciousness has assumed a new aspect that appears quite separately and that is not the same as before, but (2) is nevertheless thought of as being one with the previous and therefore not different in any way—are an incoherent expression of something that is unknown anywhere in the world and which has never before been seen.

'''Sāṃkhyas:''' These variously appearing consciousnesses are not real—they are deceptive forms of appearance which are dependent on temporary conditions.

'''Śāntideva:''' If these consciousnesses are not truly existent, then the Sāṃkhyas must explain what the nature of this truly existent consciousness is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.66}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas respond (9.66cd):''' It is pure consciousness, which is not qualified by any object. It is a single entity of consciousness that is present in all conscious experiences, past or future.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 351.</ref>

'''Śāntideva's response:''' If all consciousness is singular and truly existent, then it must follow that all beings are one since their individual mindstreams are all one with this nature. Since this unqualified consciousness is inherently present in the mindstreams of all beings, they must all be identically one.

In the last verse of the refutation of the Sāṃkhya presentation of the self as permanent consciousness, '''Śāntideva argues (9.67ab):''' even animate consciousness (''puruṣa'') and the twenty-four categories of inanimate matter, such as ''prakṛti'', would become identical since they are all alike in that they exist as permanent, partless entities.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.67}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' If we take away all these different kinds of minds, such as the mind which sees visual objects and hears audible sounds, minds which are all false and deceptive, then although the Sāṃkhya school speaks of this basic consciousness as true, unitary, and universal, it is hard to see what is left of it.

This concludes the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the Sāṃkhya view of the self as a permanent, partless, yet unitary consciousness.

<h5>ii. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Self of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya Schools' Belief in a Self That Is Material and Unconscious</h5>
Verses 68 and 69 contain Śāntideva's refutation of the presentation of self from the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''The Vaiśeṣika school''' is one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy and is based on Kaṇāda's ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'', composed around the second century BCE. Kaṇāda was more interested in the nature of reality, which he saw as being the dharma. He was not an orthodox follower of the Vedas, but he respected them because they revealed the dharma (here, in the general sense of the law or the truth).

Vaiśeṣika philosophy is a form of realism that believes in the pluralistic reality of things in the world around us, things that are outside and separate from us. His text attempts to investigate the diversity of existent phenomena and to categorize these phenomena into different types of entities.

The ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'' explains to us the futility of life in the illusory world of ''māyā'' and how an understanding of god can liberate us from samsara.

For further information regarding the Vaiśeṣika school, see the following page [Link to VAIŚEṢIKA COMMONS PAGE].

The Nyāya school is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. It was founded by Ṛiṣhi Akṣhipāda and is in some sense a continuation of the early Indian philosophical tradition of the Vaiśeṣika. The followers of the Nyāya refer mainly to Gautama Akṣapāda's ''Nyāyasūtra'', from around the end of the first century CE. This text deals mainly with philosophical debate and logical and epistemological ideas.

The followers of the Nyāya (called Naiyāyikas) accept the self to be a permanent, partless, material phenomenon which, although unconscious, is considered to be the experiencer of things. It is the thing that transmigrates from life to life.

The two traditions of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya were maintained separately until around the eleventh century, when they eventually merged to form a tradition known as the Navya-Nyāya, combining the metaphysical basis of Vaiśeṣika with the epistemological developments of Nyāya.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

Śāntideva begins by refuting the main Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya view that the self is unconscious. His main argument here is that a self, or person, must be conscious. This seems to be directly validated by our everyday experience, where we are aware and have knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

The following verses present the basic debate between Śāntideva and the Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya position, interspersed with the relevant verses from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'':

'''Śāntideva:''' If you hold the self to be an unconscious material substance, then the self cannot experience anything. If that is so, there would be no difference between that form of consciousness and ordinary matter, such as a clay pot.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something destitute of mind, we hold, is not a self.
For mindlessness means matter, like a vase. (9.68ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya:''' It is true that since the self is unconscious, it cannot know objects or experience feelings directly. But when the self becomes associated with consciousness, then due to the mind's power, it can then become conscious of objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting this will destroy your central belief that the fundamental nature of the self is to be unconscious and unaware of phenomena. Now you are saying that it can become aware of objects, which is a contradiction:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the self has consciousness when joined to mind."
Then this refutes its nature of unconsciousness. (9.68cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting an immutable, permanent self which is also affected by mind, such that it becomes cognizant of objects, is untenable.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.69}}
'''Śāntideva:''' The self that you assert cannot be permanent, since the self comes to acquire the awareness of objects, an awareness that it did not previously have when it was unassociated with mind. How can something that is permanent, which never undergoes any kind of change, be affected by something else? How can something else cause this self to change its state, from the state of not knowing or experiencing objects to knowing them? It is not possible to act upon something which is permanent.

And it also follows that if this is how the self is, why would we not call empty space the self? Space, too, is inert and unable to act either negatively or positively, and it is similarly devoid of mind and not able to cognize anything.

<h5>Dispelling Objections to Selflessness</h5>
In the next short section of the text, from verse 70 to 77, Śāntideva fields doubts about the validity of the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka explanation of the selflessness of persons, particularly the doubts that if the self does not exist, then the Buddhist presentation of the law of karma would be untenable, and the doubt that cultivating compassion for those that do not exist would be meaningless.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with the Principle of Karma'''
In verses 70 to 74, Śāntideva responds to the argument that accepting a self which lacks any intrinsic nature and also accepting the law of karma such that actions in the past determine the positive or negative results we experience in the future are logically incompatible.

'''The opponent (who some ascribe to be the Nyāya and some as Vaiśeṣika):''' How is it possible for you, the Prāsaṅgika school, to believe in both the law of karma, where actions in the past determine the results we experience in the future, and at the same time to not believe in the existence of a self? Once the karmic action is done, there is no longer the doer. Therefore, who would receive the results of that action? Since the one who experiences the result of a previous action is someone else, the result of the action goes completely to waste.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.70}}
This is a very important philosophical point that touches on the subject of how the existence of the continuity of individual mindstreams for different beings can be compatible with the Buddhist presentation of selflessness.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument Involving Causality'''

'''9.70 to 9.72:''' ''Answering objections that a self which does not exist inherently can still create karmic actions and receive the karmic results of those, showing that karma and lack of true existence are not incompatible''.
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.72ab):''' It is impossible to find a result that still has its substantial cause present at the time that the result arises. At the time of the result, the cause must necessarily have ceased. It is only possible to draw the relationship of these causes to their results when we look at the perspective of the continuity of the mindstream of a particular being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.72}}
'''Śāntideva (9.72cd):''' In dependence on a single continuum of the aggregates, we can refer to the one who creates the karma and the experiencer of the result of that karma. When talking in reference to a continuum, it is valid to say this person creates karma as well as experiences karma.

Connected to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from a Pāli sutta, where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="The result, O monks, of an action once performed does not affect inanimate elements such as earth and so forth. It ripens on the aggregates, elements, and sense powers that are assumed by a consciousness." The result that ripens on the doer of an action is thus posited in terms of a single mental continuum.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref>
}}
The Buddha himself has stated that the results of karmic actions do not ripen on immaterial and inanimate objects, such as rocks and mountains.<ref>There is a longer discussion of this in [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Khenpo Kunpal]]'s commentary. See [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref> They ripen on the aggregates included within the basis of a person, such as the elements or the sense powers. The effects of actions performed by a living being always ripen in relation to aggregates which are associated with consciousness.

So there is continuity between the one who did the act and the one who receives the result. Despite there being no inherently existent self, it is still reasonable to accept that the continuum experiences the result. However, this is not the same person, as is commonly held by the view of ordinary people. The earlier person who commits the act is a different person from the one who experiences it. But then the question arises: what then is this self?

'''Opponent:''' It is the continuum that is the self.

'''Śāntideva (9.73ab):''' But accepting that this continuum is the continuum of mind and that the continuum of mind is the self is not tenable. If the self is mind, then it must be either the past, present, or future mind. But the past mind is gone and the future mind has not yet been produced, so they are not existent right now and therefore cannot be the self.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.73}}
'''Opponent (9.73c):''' It is the current mind right now that is the self.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument about Existence and Time'''

'''9.73:''' ''If the mind is the self, or indeed any one of the aggregates, then since the aggregates change from moment to moment, the self would become nonexistent in the next moment.''
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.73d):''' If the present mind is asserted to be the self, then a permanent self could not be accepted because this present mind perishes in the next moment and a new mind arises (an argument against Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika). For anyone who believes the self to inherently exist, that self must pass from the past into the present and the present into the future. If this is so, the self cannot be identified as the present moment. These arguments refute the theory of the self being the mental continuum.

In relation to verse 73, the commentaries contain an interesting discussion of what it means to be a continuum.

It says in verse 61 of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Qualities ascribed to Upagupta and Maitreya
Are distinct and cannot be assigned to one continuum.
Phenomena that differ by their varying particulars,
Do not compose a single continuity.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham'' (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2002), 76.</ref>
}}
So there are different continuums for different beings. The continuum of Maitreya is not the continuum of Upagupta.

But the question may arise: Does one specific continuum constitute a single self? The answer is that it does not. We can easily see that a person when they are young is completely different from the same person when they are older, and we can also see that the person in an earlier birth is different from the person in a later birth. We can say that they are of the same continuum but that they are not the same person. The continuum is useful as a label, but it does not inherently exist.

{{standout
|'''Master Mereological Argument in Relation to Mind'''

'''9.74:''' ''The mind cannot be found when searched for among its parts, which are the individual moments of mind. It is neither the past mind, the present mind, or the future mind. However, there must still be some connection between past and future moments to allow for the existence of individual continuities of mind for each person.''
}}

Although the Madhyamaka school says that the continuum exists conventionally, they also point out that when we search for its ultimate nature under analysis, we cannot find anything that we can posit as the continuum, and therefore the continuum lacks any true existence.

'''Śāntideva (9.74ab):''' If we take the example of a plantain tree, and if we mentally analyze it or physically dissect it so that we look through all of its leaves, the trunk, or any of its parts, searching for the essence of this tree, we will find nothing that we can point to that is what we call a plantain tree.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.74}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.74cd):''' Likewise, when we analyze the self or phenomena to see whether they exist inherently and concretely in the way that they appear, we find nothing. Searching through the basis of designation of a phenomena, we are unable to uncover anything that we could call an "I" or essence. Therefore, the self cannot exist in any kind of absolute manner. This kind of ultimate analysis harms any kind of assertion of an intrinsically existing independent self.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with Compassion'''
In verses 75 to 77, Śāntideva answers further questions about the Madhyamaka school's presentation of emptiness.

'''Opponent (9.75):''' Since, for the Madhyamaka, the self does not exist, then living beings cannot exist. And if living beings do not exist, there is no one to be the object of compassion, which is one of the foundations of the Mahāyāna:
{{PullBcaVerses|9.75}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.75cd):''' While there is no inherently or independently existing self, it is still possible to posit the existence of beings from a conventional perspective.

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in his commentary to the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' entitled ''Practicing Wisdom'', brings out an interesting understanding of what Śāntideva means here by ignorance.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By "ignorance" here, Shantideva is not referring to the grasping at intrinsic existence, the fundamental ignorance that is at the root of our unenlightened existence. What he is saying is similar to the statement found in Chandrakirti's ''Supplement to the Middle Way'', where the universe is said to be the product of the ignorant mind. Shantideva says that within the framework of relative truth—that is, within the validity of the conventional world of everyday experience—self does exist. Therefore, sentient beings exist for whom we can generate compassion, and these sentient beings have real suffering.<ref>[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way]]'', trans. and ed. [[People/Jinpa,_Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 106.</ref>
}}
Beings are thrown into the world of samsaric birth through the ignorant mind, and through ignorance they engage in contaminated actions that, while bringing positive or negative results, still keep us bound to the wheel of cyclic existence. Within the world of relative truth, beings do exist, and trapped as they are in this endless cycle of suffering, they are a suitable object for our compassion and bodhicitta.

'''Opponent (9.76ab):''' If there are no sentient beings, then there can be no practitioners of the path and no one who can attain the resultant state. Therefore, why would you take a vow to attain the state of buddhahood?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.76}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.76cd):''' It is true that when subjected to ultimate analysis we cannot find anyone who attains the result, no one for whom the result is attained, nor any result. Ultimately, there is no difference between samsara or nirvana—neither of them have any true existence. But to the perception of those enmeshed in ignorance, these things seem very real. This is an essential point of the Middle Way philosophy—at an unanalyzed level, we can accept the existence of the conventional, dependently related world. But under analysis into their deepest nature, nothing of either samsara or nirvana can be found.

Khenpo Kunpal explains this very nicely by using an analogy of someone who is possessed by a harmful spirit, causing them to experience things that are not really there.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For one who, through ignorance, is enmeshed in dualistic mental patterns, samsara incontestably appears. And because of this, nirvana, the reverse of samsara, also exists. It is rather like a man oppressed by malignant spirits. He lives in the same kind of place as ordinary people, but he suffers because he sees demonic shapes and things that others do not perceive—and yet all the while he is in a perfectly wholesome and pleasant environment. In an ultimate sense, neither samsara nor the peace of nirvana has true existence. It is for this very reason that such things as bondage in samsara and liberation from it are possible; if they had real existence, neither could actually occur. This is a key point, which should be fully assimilated.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 355–56.</ref>
}}
Here, Khenpo Kunpal is pointing out a very important point—by not understanding that samsara and nirvana have not a single atom of true existence, there is bondage in cyclic existence. But there is also the possibility of liberation from that.

'''Opponents may raise the doubt:''' If what we hope to gain is actually unreal and unattainable, why should we make so much effort to train on the path?

'''Madhaymaka response:''' Although, on the ultimate level, there is actually nothing to obtain, on the level of appearance, there is still something to work toward. Until we attain buddhahood, when the ultimate reality of all phenomena appears directly to us, we should neither throw away the idea of trying to destroy the afflictions nor throw away the relative idea that liberation can be attained. This is the path we will have to walk to overcome suffering.

Once we have drawn back all the obscurations, including the obscurations to omniscience, and once all dualistic structures are dismantled, when for us the two truths are in union, only then will we be able to overcome the discrepancy between the appearance of phenomena and their deepest nature. Only then, in the sphere of ultimate reality, will we fully realize that the goal never fundamentally existed and be able to drop all hopes and expectations for conventional phenomena, even for enlightenment itself. Candrakīrti captures this in two verses from his classical work on the Madhyamaka view, ''Entering the Middle Way'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Conventional reality therefore becomes the means;
And by this means, the ultimate is reached.
Those who do not know how these two differ
Err in thought and take mistaken paths. (6.80)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Unlike you, who think dependent nature is a true existent,
Even for the all-concealing relative we make no claims.
And yet, to gain the fruit, we speak in harmony with worldly folk
And grant that things exist, though they do not. (6.81)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', 79.</ref>
}}
'''Opponent's objection:''' If the reality of the conventional world is not to be completely negated, isn’t it possible that we might give these conventional phenomena some sort of objective status that they do not actually possess? And if this is so, it seems that although the afflictions and ignorance can be temporarily halted, it will not be possible to stop them completely.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.77}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.77):''' Clinging to the conventional self to be inherently existent creates a false sense of "I," leading us to give rise to anger, attachment, and the whole range of afflictions, and this in turn leads us to suffering.

This may seem like an endless cycle, but it is not. This ignorance can be overcome. This is possible if we cultivate the mind that lies in direct opposition to this false view of the self—the wisdom realizing the emptiness of the self. This insight, based on valid reasoning, perceives the ultimate reality of the self, the lack of any inherently existent nature, and dismantles the ignorance that has kept us bound in samsara.

Khenpo Kunpal neatly sums up this section of the text by encouraging those of us with good fortune to strive to develop the wisdom that sees the ultimate reality.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=To sum up therefore, belief in selfhood is the root of samsaric existence. As long as this is not eliminated, no matter what practices one undertakes, whether austerities or meditation, one cannot get beyond samsara. Consequently, it has been said that those graced with good fortune who wish for liberation should constantly make their practice a remedy to self-clinging.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Selflessness of Phenomena</h3>
Having refuted the positions of other doctrinal systems on the self of the person and implicitly presented the Madhyamaka view of how the person is empty of an inherent nature, Śāntideva then moves on to the selflessness of all other phenomena which are not the person.

<h4>The Four Foundations of Mindfulness</h4>
In the classical Buddhist tradition, there are many ways to analyze phenomena in order to reveal their deeper nature. Here, in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Śāntideva chooses to focus mainly on some of the component aggregates of a person, the basis of designation of the person, which are considered to be included in the category of phenomena and therefore phenomena that are other than the person.

The system of contemplation that Śāntideva presents here is called the four foundations of mindfulness (''catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna''), also translated as the four close placements of mindfulness.

These four mindfulnesses observe four different aggregates within the continuum of a living being. These four are (1) mindfulness of body (''kāyāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (2) mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (3) mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna''); and (4) mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

These four mindfulnesses are a subset of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (''saptatriṃśadbodhipakśyadharma''), the noble eightfold path (''āryaṣṭāṇgamārga''), as well as the five faculties (''pañcabalāni''), and the five powers (''pañcendriya''). These factors are common both to the non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna traditions, although the reach and focus of these factors has developed along with the traditions.

The Theravāda tradition takes the source for these four mindfulnesses from ''The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness'' (''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta''), which is found in the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pāli Canon.<ref>See sūtra 22 in Maurice Walshe, trans., ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya'' (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 1996), 335.</ref>

But what is the general characteristic of these four mindfulnesses? Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains the etymology of the word ''satipaṭṭhāna'' in his introduction to the ''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta'' as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''Satipaṭṭhāna''—the establishing (''upaṭṭhāna'') of mindfulness (''sati'')—is a meditative technique for training the mind to keep mindfulness firmly established in a particular frame of reference in all its activities. The term ''sati'' is related to the verb ''sarati'', to remember or to keep in mind.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, ''The Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse, Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)'', Dhammatalks.org, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN10.html.</ref>
}}
Most commentaries on this ninth chapter include this section of the text under the outline on the selflessness of phenomena. However, there are some commentators, such as the Sakya master Sonam Tsemo, who explain this section as a refutation of each of these four categories of body etc. as not being the self. From that perspective, this section would then still be under the outline of the selflessness of persons.

In his commentary, Sonam Tsemo goes on to compare the Mahāyāna tradition's approach to these four close placements of mindfulness with the earlier, non-Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition's approach.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This section is not a teaching on the four foundations of mindfulness taught elsewhere as the impurity of the body, the suffering of sensations, the impermanence of mind and the non-self of dharmas. However, one need not think there is any contradiction here to that teaching, only a different purpose. In our bodhisattva tradition, the purpose is to analyse the individual self for which grasping arises under the power of wrong views, by developing the characteristics of non-self in the meditative objects [i.e. the four foundations] to purify defilements. In the other tradition, since conduct degenerates under the influence of defilements such as attachment, one develops in one’s stream of being the characteristics of abandonment of the four wrong views as meditative objects to purify conduct.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 389.</ref>
}}
The earlier tradition focuses much more on factors such as the impurity of the body, the changeable and suffering nature of feelings, or the impermanence of the mind. It is only in the fourth category of phenomena that the tradition looks into the aspect of nonself. In the Madhyamaka tradition, there is a much greater emphasis on the ultimate nature of these categories of phenomena.

In our ordinary daily experience, things seem to exist out there and independently, to exist from their own side, as though unconnected to anything else. But instead of just looking into the conventional characteristics of these aggregates, such as the body, Śāntideva follows the Madhyamaka approach of analyzing the final nature of these phenomena, searching to see if they exist inherently and from their own side, which is the way that they seem to appear in ordinary experience.

In regard to the way in which the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna traditions emphasize these meditations differently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama states the following in his ''Practicing Wisdom'' commentary:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Generally speaking, meditating on the mindfulness of body, reflecting upon the nature of our own body, is the approach explained in the Hinayana scriptures. However, we can extend this contemplation to the nature of the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena of all beings, who are limitless like space. Then it becomes a training of the mind according to the Mahayana path. When we contemplate the emptiness of these four factors—body, feelings, mind, and phenomena—we are practicing a mindfulness meditation focused on the ultimate truth.<ref>[[Dalai Lama, 14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom]]'', 109. </ref>
}}
This form of analysis seeks to determine whether phenomena are really "true" and "undeceptive." And one of the primary ways in which we can determine whether something is true or deceptive is to look at whether it actually exists the way that it appears. If we find a discrepancy between how it exists and how it appears to us, we would recognize that as something deceptive.

Thus, in order to examine whether phenomena really do exist out there without dependence on anything else, we use these kinds of analyses, those that look past the surface level appearance to the underlying deepest status of existence.

The arguments in this section are less specifically focused on refuting a particular school. Instead, the principal opponent is more general and encompasses anyone who believes in the inherent existence of phenomena. This includes all the non-Buddhist schools but also the lower systems of Buddhist tenet holders, such as the Cittamātrins.

<h5>Mindfulness of the Body</h5>
Verses 78 to 87 cover the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, the close placement of mindfulness of the body (''kāyasmṛtyupasthāna''), and here, specifically, the mindfulness that analyzes the awareness of the empty nature of the body.

Attachment to our bodies, whether that is as an essential part of maintaining our health and well-being or is for the purposes of making ourselves attractive, is a primary feature of our lives. So much of our experience as human beings occurs in relation to our own physical body, but a very strong component of our experience of attachment is connected also with the physical forms of others. To help release us from this grasping to the physical body, Śāntideva provides us with a variety of reasons to prove that the body has no inherent existence.

In his commentary, Pema Karpo divides mindfulness of the body into three sections: (1) showing that each of the individual parts are not the body; (2) showing that there is no single body that pervades all of its individual parts; and (3) refuting forms of confusion, such as taking the collection of the parts to be the body.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 104 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>

'''1. Showing That Each of the Individual Parts Are Not the Body:'''

In terms of this first section, in verses 78 and 79 Śāntideva searches within the constituent parts of the body, such as the arms and legs, for what we call the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.78}}
In his commentary to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal points out one of the crucial points in the Madhyamaka analysis of whether a phenomena has any trace of true existence or not. The argument is that if the phenomena in question exists inherently from its own side, then it must necessarily be found somewhere within its parts. If it cannot be found in its parts, then it must be a mere imputation.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we call "the body" is a mere imputation; it does not exist inherently. Our reason for saying this is that if a body, which is apprehended as a single (partless) whole complete with all its sense faculties, existed as such, it would have to be present in its members, for example the hand. But the various body parts, the foot, the shins and calves, are not the body. The thighs and hips, the waist and loins, the belly, back, chest and arms, and so on and so forth—none of these is the body.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}
Taking the example here of the body, Śāntideva asks us to search through all the parts of the body to see whether any one of them is the body. If we can find something within those parts that we can call the body, then the body could be said to exist inherently, or from its own side.

The analysis continues to examine each of the individual parts to see whether any of these components of the body can fit the definition of what the body is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.79}}
In the end, the conclusion is that there is nothing within the parts of the body that we can find to call the body. No single part can be considered the body. "So what then is this body?" Śāntideva inquires.

Since we cannot find it under search on the basis on which it appears, it must therefore lack intrinsic existence. It must be a mere imputation.

'''2. Showing That There Is No Single Body That Pervades All of Its Individual Parts:'''

The next argument, seen in verses 80–82, revolves around the way we experience our body. In ordinary life, when thinking about or experiencing the body, it seems to be a singular entity. But Śāntideva points out that there cannot be a singular and inherently existent body that pervades all of its parts.

'''The opponent's position (some commentators attribute to the Sāṃkhyas):''' It is true that each of the individual parts are not the body. But is there something that pervades all the parts? Is there a singular thing that enters all the parts?

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the body does indeed pervade all the parts, then that would suggest that the body itself is not actually composed of parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.80}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Where then does this singular partless body exist? And if this singular and complete whole body exists separately and equally in all of the parts of the body, there would be the fallacy that there would be as many whole bodies as there are parts of the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.81}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Since the body is neither found to exist as identical to its individual parts nor found to exist separately and independently of these parts, the body must therefore lack any form of intrinsic existence, and its deepest nature must be that of emptiness.

'''3. Refuting Forms of Confusion, Such as Taking the Collection of the Parts to Be the Body:'''

In verses 83 to 86, Śāntideva presents arguments against the complete collection of the parts being the body, using the analogy of a pile of stones formed into a cairn appearing to be a person, while actually never being a human being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.83}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.84}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Śāntideva uses an analogy of how, when particular conditions arise, a group of stones which have been piled up, can be mistaken for a person. Similarly, there is no possibility for this body to be self-existent, intrinsically real, and truly existent, without any relation to other phenomena, such as its parts. When conditions arise such that all those parts come together, we can conventionally talk of the body appearing. But since the appearance of the body to an apprehending consciousness relies on the aggregation of many conditions, and since it lacks any autonomous status of its own, the body is actually a mere imputation or designation posited upon the assembled collection of its parts. Aside from being a mere label, this body, in fact, has no other existential status.

Śāntideva extends this mode of analysis of checking whether a phenomena exists in its parts or not, but he turns his focus instead to the individual parts of the body, such as the hands, to see whether they themselves are to be found in their parts. Taking a hand, he looks at all the individual parts that make up a hand and asks, "Where within the parts of the hand can we find what we call the hand?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.85}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking a hand, we mentally dissect it to see where the subject we call hand is to be found. But, just as in the example of the body, when we look for it in its parts, it cannot be found. And if we keep on searching into the parts of the parts and dividing them down into smaller and smaller particles, even the smallest particles lack any form of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.86}}
This process is similar to the scientific search for the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Many scientists are beginning to conclude that it will never be possible to find independent and fundamental particles that cannot be further reduced to their parts.

This verse also contains a refutation of the Vaiśeṣika position that the whole world is formed from the permanent and indivisible atoms, which are the foundations, or creators, of the physical universe. This school accepts space to be permanent and omnipresent, but the atoms of the elements of earth, water, fire, and air are not accepted to be omnipresent but are asserted to be permanent. In contrast, the grosser, more manifest things which are made of these atoms are believed to be impermanent.

This refutation is also very relevant to the refutation of the Mīmāṃsā belief that the smallest particles can be no smaller than what is visible to the naked eye, and therefore, at that level, must be partless.

This refutation is also mentioned in verse 126ab, in the refutation of production from a permanent creator.<ref>Verse 126ab reads:<br>Those who hold the permanence of particles<br>Were indeed refuted earlier.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 155.</ref>

'''All Form Is an Illusion'''

From all this analysis, Śāntideva determines that there can be nothing physical that can have any intrinsic nature, out there and independent, existing from their own side, without being in some way dependent on other phenomena.

In the concluding section on the close placement of mindfulness on the body, Śāntideva reminds us that all physical forms are like illusions—they appear in one way but in reality exist in another way. If our own bodies and those of others are actually like a dream, then what reason is there for anyone who has the wisdom that comes from this kind of analysis to be attached?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.87}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Since the terms ''male'' and ''female'' are designated on the basis of the difference between male and female bodies, and since the intrinsic nature of those bodies is not found on search, then male and female cannot have any inherent existence.

<h5>Mindfulness of Feeling</h5>
For verses 88 to 101, Śāntideva applies similar logical arguments to the subject of feelings. This close application of mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna'') looks into the three primary feelings—pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings—to see if they have any intrinsic existence.

Just as with the body, our feelings play a primary role in our lives, and our attachment to pleasure and aversion to pain are some of the primary drivers of our lives. Underlying this strong clinging is the grasping at the feelings to be true and objectively existent.

However, Thrangu Rinpoche explains how feelings are just mental projections and have no substantial nature of their own.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Feelings themselves are really just mental projections, with no truth or reality in themselves. The feeling we mainly experience is what we think of as pleasure or pain. For example, when we are happy, we enjoy eating nutritious food. But when we are depressed or disappointed, the same delicious food does not give us joy at all. So the feeling of pain or pleasure is not the real substantial event, but a mental projection.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 211.</ref>
}}
In relation to this section of the text, Gyalse Thokme Zangpo quotes from Nāgārjuna's ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' to show that if something has an inherent nature, it cannot transform into something else.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If a thing exists by way of its intrinsic being,
It can never cease to be.
Intrinsic being never can admit
A change into another state. (15.8)<ref>See [[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union, 2003), 343. The translation of [[Nāgārjuna]]'s verse here is from the [[Padmakara Translation Group]]. See [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The Mulamadhyamakakarika'', by [[People/Nāgārjuna|Nagarjuna]] (Boulder, CO: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2016), 48.</ref>
}}
Thokme Zangpo goes on to say the following in relation to this verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If the feeling of suffering itself were truly existent, that could never be discarded. There is no way that it could not harm its direct opposite, great joy and happiness. And because of that they (joy and happiness) would never arise.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 114.</ref>
}}
The important point being made in Nāgārjuna's treatise is that if something inherently exists, it would have to exist forever and could never cease to be. Further consequences would be that they would not be affected by any other conditions, and they would not be able to change into anything else. These arguments lie at the heart of how Śāntideva approaches the refutation of a self of phenomena that exists from its own side. The first verse of this section follows that line of reasoning.

'''Śāntideva (9.88ab):''' If the feeling of suffering were truly real, then it would have to always be present, and therefore pleasurable feelings could never arise. A person who experienced suffering could never feel happy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.88}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.88cd):''' And if the feelings of pleasure and happiness were inherently real, then why would things such as pleasant tastes not provide some solace for those in intense moments of grief.

This argument relies on the understanding that feelings of pleasure and pain cannot exist simultaneously and that existing independently means that no external factors can operate to induce change.

'''Counterargument (9.89ab):''' Happiness may still arise at the time that we are overcome with the suffering of grief, but because the feeling of suffering is very strong, it is able to suppress the happiness so that we do not experience it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.89}}
'''Śāntideva counters (9.89cd):''' The argument that the feeling of suffering overpowers the feeling of happiness, although happiness is still present, makes no sense at all. What is a feeling if it is not actually felt in experience? Feeling is by necessity something that has to be experienced. So if it is not experienced, then it cannot exist.

'''Further objection (9.90ab):''' But when a powerful feeling of happiness is present, it does not mean that no feeling of suffering at all is present. It just means that the painful sensation is a very subtle state, and therefore it is not recognized.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.90}}
'''Śāntideva again counters (9.90cd):''' It is impossible for feelings of suffering and happiness to coexist at the same time in one person's mindstream. If they could coexist, they should both be experienced at the same time, which is not how it ever appears to us.

'''Potential objection (9.90c):''' Perhaps there is subtle pain at the time of great pleasure, but it could be prevented from acting as subtle pain. The powerful sense of bliss could transform that subtle pain into a mere pleasurable sensation such that it is experienced as a kind of subtle pleasure. To represent this objection, Khenpo Kunpal uses the analogy of a clear crystal stained with vermilion, which appears red but is actually a clear crystal underneath.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 361.</ref>

'''Śāntideva responds:''' If you call subtle pain to be mere pleasure, then it is no longer pain. You have classified it as pleasure, and therefore it is no longer any kind of pain, gross or subtle. And if it were mere pleasure experienced as subtle pleasure, what difference would there be between that and the subtler form of pleasure? So none of these invalid distinctions make any sense.

With this analysis revealing the lack of inherent existence of the feelings such as pleasure and pain, Śāntideva advises us to abide in that realization as an antidote to clinging to the true existence of feelings.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.92}}
Since feelings play such a fundamental role in our lives, it is vital that we are able to see through their true existence and understand how they are like illusions. We must release ourselves from believing everything we feel to be real. In the last lines of the verse, Śāntideva encourages us to cultivate the deep meditative absorption on the empty nature of feelings, an absorption which is grown within a fertile field of analysis. This, he says, is the true sustenance of yogis.

'''Refuting Contact–The Cause of Feelings'''

The next section covers verses 93 to 101 and expresses further arguments as to why the feelings we experience have no intrinsic reality. It is based on the idea that feelings arise from contact. For instance, in teachings on the twelve links of dependent origination (''dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda''), the chain starting with ignorance leads to a new rebirth and the emergence of the physical sense powers. The next links are contact, feeling, and then craving and grasping. And the link of contact here, which acts as the direct cause for the arising of feeling, is the contact between the sense powers, the sense object, and an immediately preceding consciousness. Therefore, Śāntideva looks into the lack of inherent status of contact. He determines that if the cause of contact lacks inherent existence, then the effect of feeling must lack inherent existence.

This section is divided into three main outlines: (1) refuting the inherent meeting of sense powers and object; (2) refuting the inherent meeting with the consciousness; (3) refuting inherent contact arising from the meeting of these three.

'''1. Refuting the Inherent Meeting of Sense Powers and Their Objects'''

In verses 93 and 95, Śāntideva presents the impossibility of there being contact between inherently existent sense powers, such as the eye, and their sense objects, such as visible form. Firstly, he analyzes this on the coarser level before going later into the argument at the level of particles.

Feeling happens when its cause, contact, occurs. It comes from the meeting of the three things—the sense faculty, the object, and consciousness. If that meeting is logically examined, it does not exist, and hence there is no arising of feeling due to that condition.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.93}}
'''Śāntideva questions:''' If there is space between the sense power and its object, then how will it be possible for these two to meet? And if there is no space between them, they would become one, and then what would there be to meet what?

'''Opponent's response:''' This meeting of the sense power goes on at a much subtler level. It is not at the gross, directly observable level. Rather, it takes place at the level of particles.

'''Śāntideva responds: (This argument is particularly directed to opponents, such as the Vaibhāṣikas school as well as other Indian non-Buddhist schools, who accept forms of matter that have no parts, such as partless particles)''' Contact between the sense organ and the sense object, even at the level of particles, appears to happen, but in reality it does not. The sense organs and the sense objects are physical forms and are therefore made up of particles. But the sense organs and physical objects are not omnidirectional, and therefore all the particles of each cannot fully meet. Only the closest particles in one direction will meet the other, and therefore there will be some particles in the center of each that prevent the far sides from touching each other.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.94}}
This argument relies on the acceptance of the idea that for two material objects to meet, all of the particles of each object would have to meet and therefore merge.

'''Opponent:''' The particles of the sense faculties and the sense objects meet, but at this level the particles are partless.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It is not possible for two partless physical things to meet. If they are partless, they must lack any kind of direction with which to then meet another physical object and so would have to fully interpenetrate each other, which would essentially mean fusing together.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.95}}
If, on the other hand, there is contact between two physical objects, and their particles touch on one side but do not have contact throughout their entirety, then they cannot be partless. They would then have to possess directional parts, as some would meet another object and some would not.

'''2. Refuting the Inherent Meeting with the Consciousness'''

Having refuted the inherent meeting of the sense power and the sense object, Śāntideva moves on to refute the inherent meeting between consciousness and objects themselves. Here, the consciousness being referred to is the consciousness which acts as the immediately preceding condition, one of the three conditions necessary for sense consciousnesses to arise.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Consciousness is immaterial,
And so one cannot speak of contact with it. (9.96ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is unacceptable to talk of an immaterial consciousness meeting with a material, physical object. There is no possibility for something that has no form to meet something that has form.

The refutation of meeting with the coarse: Also, the meeting with a coarse object that is a collection of many atoms does not exist inherently because no truly existent object exists on that. Similarly, inherent existence had already been refuted earlier through the analysis of the collection of digits.

'''3. Refuting Inherent Contact Arising from the Meeting of These Three'''

In the second two lines of verse 96 and in verses 97 and 98, Śāntideva turns his attention to refuting any kind of contact arising from the meeting of the sense object, the sense faculty, and a consciousness.

'''Opponent:''' Even though it is not coherent to talk of the sense power or the consciousness meeting the sense object, there must be some kind of convergence of these three factors which then causes contact to occur, followed by feeling.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It may appear that there is some kind of convergence between these three factors, but in reality no substantial inherent existence of that contact can be found under ultimate analysis.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A combination, too, has no reality,
Just as we have previously shown. (9.96cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
The last line refers back to the analysis of the hand and searching for it in its basis of designation, the individual fingers. Just as in that example, here also no trace of inherent existence of this contact can be found.

'''Śāntideva's conclusion:''' Feeling itself has been analyzed and found to have no trace of intrinsic existence. Contact, the direct cause of feeling, has also been shown to have no inherent existence, and if a cause lacks inherent existence, that cause's effect must also lack any intrinsic nature, unrelated to its causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.97}}
"What purpose," Śāntideva questions, "is there in expending all our energy in chasing pleasure and trying to avoid pain?"

If we contemplate these points and come to a clear understanding that there is no inherent object of feeling and that feeling itself lacks any inherent existence, how could this not stop our craving?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.98}}
The flow of the argument again relies on the sequence of the twelve links of dependent origination. From the development of name and form in a new rebirth, the sense powers develop. They come into contact with their relevant objects, and from that feelings arise. Following on from feelings, there comes the arising of craving to maintain pleasant sensations and craving to avoid unpleasant sensations. Thus, Śāntideva asks, if we understand the inherent existence of each of these prior links, then how is it that we do not cause our craving to cease?

Having refuted the true existence of contact, the cause of feeling, Śāntideva now turns his analysis to the focal object of feeling. In the first two lines of verse 99, he mentions the object of feeling and specifically mentions visual and tactile objects, but he is referring to any object of feeling.

'''Śāntideva:''' Feeling cannot exist inherently because the objects of feeling are not inherently existent. These objects are conditions for the feeling to arise, but since they themselves are unfindable on search, they are like illusions, mere appearances lacking any true existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we see and what we touch
Is stuff of dreams and mirages. (9.99ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
In all these arguments, Śāntideva is clear to express that while the person, the feelings they experience, and the objects they experience lack any kind of substantial existence, they are not utterly nonexistent. They do exist, but they exist in an unreal way, like dreams.

'''Refuting That Their Object-Possessor Exists Inherently'''

Having refuted the inherent existence of the objects of feeling, Śāntideva turns his attention to the consciousness that perceives the feeling. Feelings arise in conjunction with the mind. In verses 99cd to 101, he asks whether that consciousness occurs at the same time as the feeling, before it, or after it.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If feeling is coincident with consciousness,
It follows that it is not seen thereby. (9.99cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If feeling is accepted to be inherently existent but also simultaneous with feeling, then there would be no way for that consciousness to perceive the feeling. Two things which are both inherently existent and yet simultaneous cannot be connected causally or by being of the same nature. They cannot rely on or interact with one another in any way.

Here, Śāntideva is also arguing the more general point that any two mental events that arise at the same time can never apprehend one another. This relates back to the refutation of self-cognition of the Cittamātra school contained in verses 15 to 29.

'''Question:''' What if feeling and its perceiving consciousness arise sequentially, with one before the other?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.100}}
'''Śāntideva (9.100ab):''' This is not tenable, because if the sense consciousness existed prior to its object—in this case feelings—then it would arise without referencing its own object. It would have no referential object when it was produced. No consciousness can be produced without an object.

And if the consciousness occurs after its object, the feeling, then the same argument applies. Since the object is already nonexistent at the time that consciousness arises, from what referential object is the consciousness produced? This would be a case of remembering a sensation rather than directly experiencing it.

'''Śāntideva concludes (9.100cd):''' Since the feeling cannot experience itself, and there is no other consciousness present at the time that it exists to experience it, then we must conclude that there is no feeling that has any independent, intrinsic nature of any kind.

This concludes the analysis of the nature of feeling, which is done through the close placement of mindfulness of feeling.

<h5>Mindfulness of Mind</h5>
Verses 102 to 105 present the close placement of mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna'').

Śāntideva continues his examination of the aggregates of a person, this time directing the analysis toward the mind. The first context in which the analysis takes place is a search for the location of the mind. Here, he takes mental awareness, and he looks to see where the mind is. He asks, "Is the mind within the sense organs, or does it exist externally within the object of the mind, or is it somewhere in between?"

'''Showing That the Mental Consciousness Does Not Exist Inherently'''

{{PullBcaVerses|9.102}}
This argument was originally in reference to certain non-Buddhist schools that believed that the mind had to be located within the interior of the body, while others believed that it existed at the extremities of the body. We can see a modern correlation of this belief in the scientific tradition, which often presents the mind as located in the brain.

The implication of this argument is that if the mind were to be inherently existent, then it would have to inherently exist in one of these places. But Śāntideva points out that the mind cannot be found in any of these locations. It does not exist in any of the six sense powers—the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the tactical sense, or the mental sense power. It also does not exist in any of the six objects–visible forms, sounds, smells, sights, tactical objects, and mental objects. And since it also does not exist anywhere in between the sense powers and sense objects, there is no basis for the mind.

Having established that there is no physical location for the mind, Śāntideva then turns to an analysis of the deeper nature of the mind.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.103}}
In the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) school, they accept eight different main categories of consciousness. However, in the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school they accept only six main categories of mind—the five sense consciousnesses, and then a sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness. In verses 103 and 104, Śāntideva is specifically referring to this sixth consciousness, which is a mental consciousness.

He runs through all the possibilities of how the sixth mental consciousness could exist if they were to have an inherent nature: it should be located in the body, or outside of it, or in some way mixed with the body. But under analysis it can be found in none of these places, and the conclusion is therefore that it cannot exist inherently.

The last line of this verse has several interpretations. From the perspective of the Gelukpa scholar Gyaltsap Je, the meaning of "beings are by their nature beyond the reach of suffering" is that because the mind does not exist inherently, the emptiness of the mind of sentient beings is beyond sorrow. In contrast, the great Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo explains this last line as meaning that all beings are primordially pure by nature.

'''Showing That the Sense Consciousnesses Do Not Exist Inherently'''

Śāntideva now switches his attention to the sense consciousnesses and searches into their deeper nature to see if he can find any traces of an intrinsic identity. He does this through analysis of them in relation to their sense objects.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.104}}
Geshe Yeshe Tobden explains the essential conditions needed for a sense consciousness to be produced as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Perceiving consciousness arises from three factors—an object of perception, the sense faculty, and the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.<ref>[[Tobden, Yeshe|Geshe Yeshe Tobden]], ''[[The Way of Awakening|The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara]]'', trans. [[Bazzano, M.|Manu Bazzano]] and [[Doveton, S.|Sarita Doveton]], ed. [[Rizzi, F.|Fiorella Rizzi]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 327.</ref>
}}
Out of these three conditions, the objective condition (''dmigs rkyen'') is the external referential object. An example would be a physical form for eye consciousness. That external objective condition must either exist before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness. There are no other possibilities.

If the sense consciousness exists before its focal object, then in connection with which referential object does it arise? If it existed at the same time as the object, then that object could not act as a cause, since causes necessarily need to precede their effects. The same question would then arise: In relation to which object does the sense consciousness arise?

Verse 105 deals with the analysis of whether a consciousness could occur after its referential object. This is a slightly more complex argument, as in normal life effects are actually observed to occur after their causes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If consciousness comes later than its object,
Once again, from what does it arise? (9.105ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, the argument relies more heavily on refuting the consciousness and object as both having an independent and intrinsic nature. If cause and effect are both believed to have inherent existence, then since that means they must be independent of anything else, if a cause is not present at the time of the effect, then it cannot have any influence on it.

'''Śāntideva's questions (9.105ab):''' If the sense consciousness arises after its object, from what does it arise, since the object of its perception has ceased to be? And if the object has ceased, then does it still continue to exist or not?

'''Śāntideva's logical consequences:''' If the object still exists but has not yet ceased at the time of the consciousness, then it must be simultaneous with the perceiving consciousness, and the fault above applies.

If it ceases before the consciousness arises, then it must be accepted that something arises from something that no longer exists. If this is so, then why couldn't plants arise from burned or damaged seeds? If the mind and its objects were inherently existent, and the objects had ceased before the mind arose, then there would be the logical fallacy that anything could come from anything.

An essential point to note here is that while these arguments from the Madhyamaka philosophy refute the inherent existence of the different kinds of mind, they do not in any way refute the conventional existence of the mind.

<h5>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h5>
So far, Śāntideva has covered the lack of inherent nature of the body, feelings, and mind. From the second lines of verse 105 until the verse 150, Śāntideva turns his attention to the last of the four mindfulnesses: the mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

In the first verse of this section, he explains how all phenomena, whether impermanent or permanent, are said to be beyond the scope of knowledge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus the origin of all phenomena
Exceeds the reach of understanding. (9.105cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, Śāntideva is clear to point out that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding.

This is an important point in the argument, because if, through the reasons employed by the Madhyamaka school, Śāntideva is successful in refuting the inherent existence of impermanent things, then—as Nāgārjuna put it clearly in his ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'')—it will be much easier to refute the inherent existence of more abstract entities, such as space and time.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since arising, ceasing, and abiding
Are not established, there are no compounded things.
If all compounded things are unestablished,
How could the uncompounded be established? 7.33<ref>[[Garfield, J.|Jay L. Garfield]], trans., ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (New York: [[People/Oxford_University_Press|Oxford University Press]], 1995), 22.</ref>
}}
But in the last line of verse 105, what does it mean to say that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding? Does that mean that there is no phenomena that can be known? In answer to this question, different scholars provide us with different explanations. For instance, the Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo, in asking us what the mindfulness of phenomena is, also connects this meaning with the analysis in previous sections where the production of a phenomena from inherently existent causes which occur before, at the same time as, or after the result are all analyzed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is the mindfulness of phenomena? Likewise (as analyzed above), because it is not reasonable for something to be produced from something else prior to, at the same time as, or after, the production of all phenomena is something that cannot be realized.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|
Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 107 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunpal follows up on this and explains that the mindfulness of phenomena is approached in the same way as the explanations of the lack of inherent nature in the previous forms of mindfulness. There, we also come to understand through analysis that nothing arises from itself or from something else, nor both, nor neither.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As we have just explained, the way in which phenomena, whether compounded or uncompounded, arise is beyond our conceptual grasp. Phenomena do not come into being before, after, or simultaneously with their cause; they do not arise from themselves nor from something else nor from both nor from neither. They are without origin; and what is without origin can have no abiding or cessation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 366.</ref>
}}
There is also another, more simple presentation from Gyaltsap Je where he says that since we have established all phenomena to lack inherent existence, there can be no inherent production of phenomena, and for that reason they are beyond the scope of understanding.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas. Chapter Nine: The Way of Training in the Wisdom'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Je]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016 ), 58. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>

'''Refuting Objections'''
Śāntideva now turns his attention to countering the objections that opponents raise about the Madhyamaka presentation that all phenomena lack inherent existence but are still nominally existent and are able to perform functions.

This section has two parts: (1) refuting the objection that there is no conventional truth and (2) refuting the objection that this ascertainment entails an infinite regress.

'''1. Refuting the Objection That There Is No Conventional Truth'''

The first objection from the opponent is that the results of the previous method of analysis result in the consequence that no conventional phenomena can exist.

'''Opponent (9.106ab):''' If nothing can be found that is produced from something prior to it, at the same time as it, or after it, then production of conventional phenomena would not be possible. Indeed, if all phenomena lack any inherent existence, then all conventional phenomena must be devoid of identity. If that is so, then conventional phenomena do not exist, and therefore there would be only one truth, the ultimate truth, and there could not be two truths as you assert.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.106}}
'''Someone may respond:''' The relative does exist but only in the worldly people’s deluded thoughts.

'''In response to that question, the opponent raises a second objection (9.106cd):''' If all conventional realities lack any inherent existence and are mere appearances to the confused minds of ordinary beings, then for as long as beings exist their confused minds will also exist. If conventional phenomena are merely attributed by an erroneous mind in the same way as the mistaken mind that attributes a snake to a coiled piece of rope, then how can the conventional phenomena have any reality?

Worldly beings' minds would always be filled with these confused dualistic appearances, and they would never attain nirvana because nirvana is the exhaustion of all of these confused, dualistic conceptions.

'''Śāntideva's reply (9.107):''' If those things were true, there would not be two truths, and beings could never remove their mistaken dualistic appearances. But that is not what I mean by the conventional.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.107}}
'''In answer to the first doubt:''' It is important to note that the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school does not talk of two truths at the ultimate level. At the ultimate level, there is only one truth, pure suchness which is the ultimate mode of being. The two truths are spoken of at a relative level, where we see a disparity between the way things appear and the way things actually are. This disparity corresponds to the conventional and ultimate truths.

'''In answer to the second doubt:''' The Prāsaṅgika Madhyamikas do not assert that conventional phenomena exist only as a mere designation of mistaken minds, leading them to be a false type of existence. Instead, they assert that conventional truths are designations made by a valid mind upon a valid basis. There are not randomly attributed fictions of an ignorant mind. While conventional phenomena do not have any inherent existence, they can perform functions, and therefore there are valid agents, actions, and the results of actions.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.108}}
'''2. Refuting the Objection That This Ascertainment Entails an Infinite Regress'''

In response to this analysis of phenomena and the presentation that there is not a single atom of true existence in phenomena, the other schools raise an objection related to the analyzing consciousness.

'''Opponent's objection (9.109):''' You say that when any phenomena is analyzed, that analytical mind itself, which is a valid cognition, does not find any trace of inherent existence. But that analytical mind is not included in the analysis. So, does that analytical mind require another separate analytical mind to investigate its own lack of inherent nature? And if so, then there would follow an infinite regress of analyzing consciousnesses, each subsequent one needed to verify the preceding one.
And if that first analyzing mind does not require another analyzing consciousness to investigate its nature, then why do other nonmental phenomena require it? There would be no need for any valid cognizer of the lack of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.109}}
'''Śāntideva's reply (9.110):''' The valid cognition which ascertains that all phenomena lack inherent existence does not need other valid cognitions to ascertain it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.110}}
'''Śāntideva continues his reply (9.110):''' Why is that? Because when that initial valid cognition ascertains the lack of inherent existence of phenomena, which is the understanding of their emptiness, then as long as that mind does not wander and decline, then it is not possible for that mind to perceive any phenomena as truly existent.

Here, there are two slightly different interpretations of the meaning of the last two lines of verse 11.

The Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal interprets this verse as meaning that through the process of analysis, when there is no longer any inherent object as a focal point, the subjective consciousness then subsides, and a state of natural nirvana is reached.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Shantideva says that when phenomena are investigated and are found to be without true existence, and when it is ascertained with certainty that they cannot be characterized as produced or unproduced, analysis itself ceases to have an identifiable object or basis. When there is no longer any object or basis to act as a target, no analyzing subject will arise to focus on it. All concepts are stilled, and the analysis itself subsides like ripples on the water. This is called the "natural nirvana in the state of dharmata."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 369.</ref>
}}
In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', the great scholar Minyak Kunzang Sönam presents a slightly different perspective on the meaning of this verse. He explains how no further cognitions are required to validate the mind which realizes emptiness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because when, through logical analytical reasoning, one finds certainty in the irreality of all phenomena, then as long as the mind does not wander from that apprehension, no seemingly true phenomenon which could be the object or basis of that analysis can appear to that mind. Also, the unimpaired strength of the mind which realises validly the absence of true existence of phenomena will know them to be not truly existent as soon as there arises the question in the mind as to whether any observed phenomenon is truly existent. Thus our manifest conceptual belief in the reality of the mind which investigates phenomena will no longer occur because it has been eliminated through the former valid reasoning.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries|Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara]]'', ''Khenchen Kunzang Palden's The Nectar of Mañjushri's Speech and Minyak Kunzang Sönam's The Brilliant Torch'' (Saint Léon sur Vézère, France: [[People/Padmakara|Editions Padmakara]], 1999), 224.</ref>
}}
Because no truly existent phenomena, which could be the basis of analysis, can appear to the mind that has ascertained the lack of true existence, no further cognitions are required, so there is no fault of an infinite regress.

Another reason is that the mind that understands emptiness will break down our conceptual belief in phenomena to be truly existent, and so the belief in an inherently existent mind that realizes emptiness will not arise.

Kunzang Sönam goes on to explain the meaning of "natural nirvana" in this verse as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As there is no longer any truly existent object for such a mind, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the result of the refutation, absence of true existence—or again, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the mind which refutes it—can come into being in reality. The reason for this has just been explained.

Their not coming into being in reality is natural nirvana, and if one becomes used to the realisation of this, this is called attaining the nirvana free of adventitious stains. We can also explain 'not coming into being' as the fact that the assumption that the analysing mind itself is truly existent does not arise.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 224.</ref>
}}
In this explanation, the natural nirvana means that there is no true existence of anything to take as the object of mind. Neither true existence of the object nor lack of true existence nor even the mind that refutes that true existence—none of these—truly exist, and this realization is the nirvana free from adventitious stains.

'''There Is No Proof That Consciousness and Its Objects Truly Exist'''

In verses 111 to 115, Śāntideva turns his attention to the position of the Buddhist realists, such as the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools. In particular, he refutes the position that sensory consciousnesses and their sensory objects are inherently existent. He argues that there are no valid reasons to prove that these phenomena have any true or substantial existence.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.112ab):''' If the true existence of an object is validated by the consciousness apprehending it, then what is it that validates the consciousness? And if an object validates the true existence of the consciousness that apprehends it, then what is it that validates the consciousness itself?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.112}}
'''Opponent’s reply:''' The subjective consciousness and its object both mutually certify each other's true existence.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.112cd):''' It is not possible for the subjective consciousness and its object to mutually validate each other's intrinsic existence. If they are both intrinsically existent, they would have to be completely independent and unrelated to any other phenomena. And if they are mutually validating, they would have to lose any trace of true existence.

Śāntideva goes on to use an analogy of a parent and their son to explain how the consciousness and its object are mutually dependent and therefore can have no intrinsic existence of their own.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.113}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.113):''' Before any child is conceived, a person cannot be said to be a parent. A person can only be said to be a parent once their child has been born. There can be no parent without a child and no child without a parent. The two are established in mutual dependence upon each other.

Likewise, there can be no consciousness without an object and no object without a consciousness to apprehend it. Consciousness and its object are mutually dependent, and therefore it is not valid to say that they are inherently existent.

This point is clearly made in Nāgārjuna's ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivaraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The cognizer perceives the cognizable;
Without the cognizable there is no cognition;
Therefore why do you not admit
That neither object nor subject exists [at all]? (verse 39)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''A Commentary on the Awakening Mind (Bodhicittavivaraṇa)'', by Nāgārjuna (Montreal: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2007), 4–5, PDF, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}
And in one of his other texts from the five great texts on reasoning, ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Nāgārjuna explains the point that being dependently related and also being inherently existent are contradictory.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And how can it be right to speak
Of an intrinsic being that's contrived?
Intrinsic being is not fabricated,
Is not contingent upon something else. (1.2)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', 47.</ref>
}}
Anything which is inherently existent cannot come about through relying on causes and conditions and cannot be dependent on anything else. Anything which is created or dependent on something else must be an interdependent phenomena. Something that is dependent and something fabricated are mutually exclusive, just as there can never be anything that is both dependent and independent or fabricated and unfabricated—these categories are mutually exclusive.

'''Opponent's objection (9.114):''' An inherently existent seed can produce an inherently existent shoot. And the existence of that inherently existent seed can be established from the very presence of its effect, the shoot itself. The existence of consciousness which arises from the object of its cognition must necessarily imply the existence of its object.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.114}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.115ab):''' Your example is untenable because it is not simply through the mere presence of the result, in this case the shoot, that the existence of the seed is established. In order to infer the existence of the seed, a separate consciousness is required that ascertains the causal relationship between the seed and the shoot. If this relationship has not already been ascertained, then the mere presence of the shoot alone will not prove the existence of the seed.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.115}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.115cd):''' If you accept the true existence of both object and the subjective mind which apprehends that object, then what is it that ascertains the existence of the mind realizing the object? It cannot be the mind itself, as self-cognition has already been refuted in the earlier section dedicated to refuting the Mind-Only school. And if another separate mind were needed to ratify it, there would be an infinite regress of one mind being ratified by another and then another.

Khenpo Kunpal concludes this section by presenting to the opponents the consequence that the belief in the inherent existence of phenomena is philosophically untenable.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It may be seen from this that it is extremely difficult to render conventional reality tenable from the point of view of those who hold to real existence. On the other hand, this is highly acceptable for those who say that [true existence] is just an imputation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 371.</ref>
}}

<h3>Key Arguments Refuting Intrinsic Existence</h3>
In verses 116 to 150, Śāntideva presents many of the most important arguments that prove that all phenomena lack any inherent existence, arguments that are presented in the sūtras and the śāstras. They are used to prove that all phenomena lack an inherent nature and therefore that all phenomena are empty.

In the classical presentation, there are five main logical arguments given for the proof of emptiness, but here in the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three of those arguments are explicitly presented:

*1. the diamond-splinters argument, which analyzes the cause of things (verses 116 to 140)
*2. the great reasoning of dependent origination: the king of reasons, which analyzes self essence (verses 141 to 144)
*3. the reasoning of existence and nonexistence, which analyzes the effect (verses 145 to 150)

The other two arguments not explicitly mentioned by Śāntideva are the argument of identity and difference, which investigates the essential identity of phenomena, and the refutation of production related to the four possibilities, which is an investigation into both cause and effect. According to Mipham Rinpoche, this fifth reason can be included within the first category—the investigation of the cause.<ref>See [[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way'' (Lotsawa House, 2005), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/four-great-logical-arguments.</ref>

<h4>1. The Diamond-Splinters Argument (''rdo rje gzegs ma'i gtan tshigs'')</h4>
The diamond-splinters argument looks into the production of phenomena and particularly into the causes of phenomena.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they do not arise from self, nor from other, nor from both self and other, nor without cause.'''<br>
'''Example: like a dream'''

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, the different aspects of the diamond-splinters argument are dealt with in a slightly different order to that contained in the main syllogism. Here, the basic outline of this section is as follows:

'''a. Refutation of causeless production (verses 116 to 117)'''<br>
'''b. Refutation of production from other (verses 118 to 126)'''<br>
'''c. Refutation of production from self (verses 127 to 140)'''

<h5>a. Refutation of Causeless Production</h5>

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, he begins with the last limb of the above four limbs of the main syllogism—the refutation of phenomena being produced without causes.

In verses 116 and 117, he particularly aims his argument at the philosophy of the ancient Indian philosophical school known as Cārvāka.

'''Cārvāka''' (''rgyang 'phen''), also known as Lokāyata (lit. the philosophy of the worldly), is an Indian philosophical school originating in the first millennium BCE, after the development of Buddhism in India. This school is considered one of the five major non-Vedic or heterodox (''nāstika'') Indian schools (the other schools being the Jains, Buddhists, Ajivikas, and Ajñanas).

The Cārvāka school is an atheist and materialist school, and they reject concepts such as an immaterial soul and supernatural entities such as god. They are the only tradition among these ancient Indian philosophical systems that does not accept the law of karma, past and future lives, or the possibility of liberation from our conditioned existence. They believe that only direct perception can be considered a valid form of knowledge with which to establish the truth.
For more detailed information regarding the Cārvāka school, see the following page [Link to CĀRVĀKA COMMONS PAGE].

The following famous verse attributed to the Cārvākas conveys their argument against there being any creator of the universe. The verse remarks on how it is impossible for there to be a creator for the myriad of phenomena, such as the eyes on a peacock feather or the flow of water. These things, they say, can only arise as part of a natural process and were not created by anyone.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The roundness of a pea, the sharpness of a thorn,
The rising of the sun, the movement of water downstream,
The pattern of a peacock's feather and so on, whatever it may be,
It was not created by anyone. Its cause is its own nature.<ref>See [[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 416. We have not been able to locate the original source of this verse.</ref>
}}
The Cārvāka argument is that no one, whether human or creator, is ever observed making such natural details of the world as the roundness of peas or the shape of each individual thorn. Therefore, they conclude, all these things must arise spontaneously and without cause.

'''Śāntideva's refutation through direct experience (9.116):''' There are many logical arguments against causeless production, but it also goes against what we directly observe in our daily experience. In everyday perception, we see in every instance that effects are produced from causes and that we can find nothing that does not originate from a cause.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.116}}
It is evident that, for example, a lotus grows from lotus seed. Without the cause of the lotus seed, the lotus will not arise. The farmer knows that a particular harvest results from having sown a particular seed, and they then plant seeds for that purpose.

What we observe is that all the various types of different effects come about from a whole variety of causes, and therefore nothing can be said to be causeless. For instance, the different parts of a lotus, such as the stem and petals, all come about from different causes.

'''Cārvākas' objection (9.117a):''' The whole range of parts that make up a phenomena, such as a lotus, are not found in the lotus's cause. Therefore, it cannot be said that each part has its own cause.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But what gives rise," you ask, "to such variety of causes?"
An even earlier variety of causes, we declare. (9.117ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.117b):''' It is a multiplicity of causes that precede the effect that account for the whole variety of phenomena of the external universe and the beings living within that universe. Things arise from the various different potentials of the preceding causes which produced them.

'''Cārvākas' further objection (9.117c):''' But how is this whole variety of causes able to produce their effects? What is it that allows certain causes to produce certain kinds of effect? What arranged these causes in this way?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="And how," you ask, "do causes give their fruits?"
Through power, we answer, of preceding causes. (9.117cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's further response (9.117d):''' These causes were not created or arranged by anyone. There is no external agency causing this. Nor can it be that the results are present in their causes, otherwise no causal relationship could exist between them. It is through the power of different kinds of potential within the cause that produces a variety of different results. This can be said simply to be the nature of things.

<h5>b. Refutation of Production from Other</h5>
Having refuted the notion, in the first part of the diamond-splinters argument, that things can come about without causes, Śāntideva then moves on to the refutation of production from something which is of a different nature to the effect. The argument here carries the implication that the cause would be inherently different from the effect, since on a conventional level the Madhyamaka school accepts causes being able to produce effects which are different in nature to them. In this argument Śāntideva indirectly refutes inherent production from an impermanent other, but the main thrust of his argument aims to refute the notion of production from a permanent cause.

Śāntideva attempts to do this using two types of refutation:

i. Refutation of production from a permanent creator (verses 118 to 125)<br>
ii. Specific refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā belief in production from permanent atomic particles (verse 126ab)

'''i. Refutation of Production from a Permanent Creator (verses 118 to 125)'''

In verses 118 to 125, Śāntideva refutes production from a permanent cause. He takes as his main opponents those who believe the idea of a permanent cause to the universe and all the beings in that universe, such as is propounded by non-Buddhist schools that believe in a primal substance or in a creator being such as Śiva. These schools include the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''Śāntideva (9.118ab):''' If you say Īśvara is the cause of everything in the universe, then you must define what the nature of that creator being is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.118}}
'''If the opponent answers:''' The elements of the universe are what we call "God."

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If you say that the basic elemental building blocks of the universe are the creator, then the Madhyamikas agree that these are the causes and conditions of events. But if that is so, what is the need to label that process with an exotic name like Īśvara?

'''Śāntideva's further consequence (9.119ab):''' If you accept that Īśvara is essentially all the different elements, then that kind of Īśvara could not be either permanent or unitary. Instead, it would have to be impermanent, multiple, and could not be inactive, just as is the nature of the elements.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.119}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against divine elements (9.119cd):''' If this divine creator were the elements, then it could not be completely pure as it is believed to be in those philosophies. We see that the elements are easily trampled underfoot. This creator could also be easily trampled underfoot, and therefore how can you consider them to be divine? What kind of God would that be? And further, if the creator can be trampled underfoot, how can they be spoken of as omnipotent?

In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam clearly shows the qualities that these schools attribute to gods such as Īśvara and how it is illogical for them to be the elements.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How do you describe the essential features of Ishvara? You claim that as he is indivisible he is single; as he is not born and does not perish, he is eternal; he has a thinking mind; he is divine; an object of reverence; and that he is pure. On the other hand, the elements are quite the opposite: they are multiple; they arise and perish and are therefore impermanent; they have no mind; they are not divine; they are trodden on by feet and so forth; and they are impure. These elements are not Ishvara—their defining characteristics are completely unalike and plainly contradictory. <ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 229.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the element of space (9.120a):''' If you hold this divine creator to be space, that also is not tenable. Space is inert, unable to move or create anything, and lifeless. These are not qualities that are compatible with a creator god.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the self (9.120b):''' The idea that space is the self has also been refuted early, in the section on refuting the Sāṃkhya school's presentation of the self (''puruṣa'') (in verses 68 and 69) [Link to Verses 68 and 69].
{{PullBcaVerses|9.120}}
'''Opponent's response (9.120c):''' Īśvara, the creator, is inconceivable, so none of the contradictions that you have stated apply.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being inconceivable (9.120cd):''' If you state that the deity is inconceivable, it is illogical to call them inconceivable because that in itself is to describe them. If something is inconceivable, nothing can be said about it, and it would also be of no use to ordinary people. Furthermore, if this creator were to be inconceivable, then anyone who tried to describe them would be describing the inconceivable.

'''Śāntideva's question as to what Īśvara creates (9.121ab):''' What exactly is it that a creator such as Īśvara creates? What is it that the creator wishes to create? Did he create the self of all beings? And did he create all the physical elements in the universe?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.121}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against Īśvara as a creator (9.121cd):''' You cannot accept the self and the elements as being created by Īśvara because the elements and the self would then have to be eternal, just as Īśvara is.

Verse 121d states the Madhyamaka school's own position—that is, consciousness arises from the objects that it apprehends and not from any kind of creator god. And since those objects appear only temporarily, both they and their apprehending consciousnesses are not eternal.

'''Śāntideva states the Madhyamikas’ own position (9.122ab):''' Pleasure and pain come about due to our own past karmic actions. They occur as a result of the actions we commit with a positive or negative motivation. So what is the need for a divine creator in this process?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.122}}
'''Śāntideva continues the argument against production from an eternal creator (9.122cd):''' If you believe a creator god, such as Īśvara, to be beginningless, immutable, and an eternal cause for everything, then it is not possible for them to have a beginning. If the cause which is this creator god has no beginning, then how could the effects produced by that cause have any beginning? They would have to be beginningless, but this is not what we observe in the manifest world.

Śāntideva then presents the logical consequences of a permanent and eternal creator that brings forth all phenomena, whether material or immaterial.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.123}}
'''Śāntideva's question to the theists (9.123):''' If the creator god is the singular cause for all things and all beings in existence, does not rely on any other cause, and is present in every moment, then why are not all beings constantly created?

'''Possible response from the theists:''' The creator god does not bring everything forth in one moment but creates the universe in stages.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If the sole cause of creation is the divine god, and if that god does not rely on any other condition or factor to create, then the complete cause for creation of every single phenomena is present in every moment. Therefore, all phenomena should be produced simultaneously. And if there is nothing that is not made by the creator, then how could they possibly rely on separate causes in order to produce something, since those very separate causes would be created by them. If it is accepted that this creator god does actually rely on a variety of other various conditions to create the universe in the way that we see it gradually unfolding, then those necessary secondary conditions would have to be present all the time. And this would destroy the thesis that all things and events are singularly created by that god, because the god would rely on some cause other than themselves.

In verse 124 Śāntideva turns his attention to the aggregation of causes and conditions that bring about events and phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.124}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.124):''' If it is accepted that the mere coming together of the specific causes and conditions of a phenomena is enough to bring that phenomena into being, then what need is there for the added intervention of a creator god? When the complete causes and conditions are present, nothing can stop the phenomena from arising, and when those causes are not complete, the phenomena does not arise, despite the best efforts of the creator. The creator would have to rely on the aggregation of causes in order to create phenomena. Therefore, what real power does the creator god have?

'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator is forced to create unintended phenomena (9.125ab):''' If it is accepted that the creator god is constrained by the aggregation of causes and conditions but is still involved in the production of phenomena, then they must also be involved in creating things, such as the suffering of living beings, that no benevolent god would intend to create.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.125}}
'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator cannot be omnipotent (9.125cd):''' Even if it is argued that the divine creator creates according to their wish, then again they cannot be considered omnipotent because they would not be spontaneous and under their control. This divine god would be under the sway of their desire or intention, which would then have to arise before any phenomena was created, and would mean the intention itself would be the driving force of creation.

As a round up of this section of the text, most of the commentaries then conclude that, whether through the force of their desire or through their own power, if the creator is counted to be the maker of all things, then they must be impermanent. If they are permanent, then they could not have any effect on the causal process of phenomena.

'''ii. Specific Refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''

Within the section of the text which explains the reasons to refute production from a permanent cause, Śāntideva also refutes production from permanent particles, which is a tenet of some of the non-Buddhist Indian schools, such as the Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, and Mīmāṃsā.

The tenets of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya school have been mentioned earlier, and most commentators just refer to the opponent in this verse as being these two schools. But Khenpo Kunpal also indicates that the Mīmāṃsā school is also one of the main opponents for Śāntideva in this verse.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 374.</ref>

The Mīmāṃsā school of Indian philosophy is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. The core belief of the Mīmāṃsā school is that the Veda is self-existent, an uncreated and unauthored (''apauruṣeya'') revelation (''śruti'') of the truth, that is the incontrovertible and infallible dharma. The Mīmāṃsā school believes that the main role of the Vedas is to ensure that the Vedic rituals are correctly performed. The correct performance of Vedic rituals is believed to be the sole way to practice the dharma.

The Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsāka, and Nyāya schools all believe that the world has not been created by a deity such as Īśvara. They believe that matter can be broken down to irreducible atomic particles that are permanent, and that it is these permanent particles that are the material cause of the animate and inanimate worlds.

The Vaiśeṣika tradition believes that the smallest particles are not visible to the naked eye and exist in a much more subtle form in which their existence can only be inferred, whereas the Mīmāṃsākas give great value to what can be manifestly perceived. They believe that the smallest particles can be no smaller than that which is visible to the naked eye.

In refuting this position at this point in the text, Śāntideva refers back to an earlier verse where he argues that since the particles can be directionally divided, there can never be a particle that is considered permanent or partless.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those who hold the permanence of particles
Were indeed refuted earlier. (9.126ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
The second line of the above verse refers back to verse 86, in the section on the mindfulness of the body, where it refutes the existence of permanent and partless particles by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles.<ref>Verse 86 reads:<br>These parts themselves will break down into particles,<br>And particles divide according to direction.<br>These fragments, too, lack partless parts; they are like space.<br>Thus even particles have no existence.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 149.</ref>

{{standout
|'''Master Arguments against the Mīmāṃsā Position'''<br>'''Specific Refutation of the Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''<br>
'''Verse 9.126ab:''' ''A further part of the diamond-splinters argument refutes production from a permanent cause. In connection with this, Śāntideva refutes production from permanent particles. This refutation of the existence of permanent and partless particles is done by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles. It is also refuted in verse 9.86 in the section on the mindfulness of the body.''
}}

<h5>c. Refutation of Production from Self (9.126cd to 9.140)</h5>
The second main refutation of the Sāṃkhya school in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' is contained in the second half of the chapter, in the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the self of phenomena. In this section of the text, he presents methods to understand the empty nature of all phenomena, the lack of any kind of intrinsic existence.

In his systematic refutation of the belief in production, through the classical Buddhist model of refutation of production from self, other, self and other, and neither self and other, Śāntideva first critiques production from self. In relation to this production from self, Śāntideva focuses in particular on the primal substance (''prakṛti'').

This section contains two main refutations:<br>
i. The Refutation of the Primal Substance (126cd to 134)<br>
ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing (135–140)

'''i. Refuting the Primal Substance'''

'''9.126–9.129 (a) The primal substance cannot be a unitary, partless entity if it has the three ''guṇas'' as its constituent characters.'''<br>
'''9.132 to 9.134 (b) Refuting the belief that the ''guṇas'' can be permanent if they are involved in any kind of agentive action.'''

'''a. Refuting the Primal Substance to Be Unitary'''

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Sāṃkhyas are the ones who hold
That permanent prakṛiti is the cause of the evolving world. (9.126cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.127}}
From verse 128 to the first half of verse 131, Śāntideva refutes the Sāṃkhya belief that the primal substance is unitary. If the primal substance is the balanced state of the three ''guṇas'', he argues, then it cannot be unitary because it is composed of three parts or characteristics. We cannot talk of something being just one thing and at the same time accept that phenomena is composed of three elements. He argues that a single thing with no parts and a single thing with three or more parts are mutually exclusive. Therefore, he concludes, the primal substance cannot exist as it is posited in the Sāṃkhya philosophy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.128}}
'''Continuing the argument about something being unitary but being comprised of multiple factors, Śāntideva argues:''' Since the Sāṃkhya school accepts that each of the ''guṇas'' in turn also have the other two ''guṇas'' as their nature, then each of the ''guṇas'' themselves cannot have a unitary nature, as they are made up of at least three different parts. Therefore, they cannot exist as presented by adherents of the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Śāntideva continues:''' If these ''guṇas'' cannot actually be existent, then the modulations or manifestations of those ''guṇas'', such as sound and form, can also not have any existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.129}}
'''Related to the second two lines of verse 129, Śāntideva goes on to argue:''' Manifestations such as woolen cloth cannot exist as the nature of the primal substance, because they are inanimate and therefore cannot possess the qualities of pain, pleasure, or neutral feeling. Pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings are the natures of the three ''guṇas'', which then must also be the nature of the primal substance. But since they are states of feeling, how can they be permanent? And how can something permanent be described in terms of feelings when it is easy to observe that feelings are fleeting?

'''b. Refuting the ''guṇas'' to be Permanent'''

A further argument that Śāntideva makes here, in verses 132 to 134, is that there is no visible proof of the permanence of the feelings associated with the ''guṇas''. Explicitly, he is refuting the permanent nature associated with the ''guṇas'', but implicitly he is refuting the true existence of them.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' There is a distinction between different states of the ''guṇas''. The gross forms of these states that are manifestly visible, such as pleasure, can become more subtle, and then they exist in an unmanifest latent state of potentiality. In this state they cannot be perceived.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the ''guṇas'', which have been defined as being of the same nature as the primal substance, a unitary and permanent nature, are able to switch from manifest to latent states, then both the subtle and gross states must lack any quality of permanence. Therefore, all these phenomena which you claim to be permanent cannot exist the way you believe them to, because they must possess a transient nature. And if that is the case, why is this impermanent nature not ascribed to all the twenty-five categories of phenomena?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.133}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' Whether in a gross or a subtle state, the actual nature of pleasure is never lost, so its permanent essence is never impaired.

'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' This doesn’t make any sense. The characteristics of being manifest or subtle must either be the same as pleasure itself or they must be different. If, say, the manifest nature is different from pleasure, then when the manifest character subsides, the pleasure would not subside and it should still be experienced.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.134}}
'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' And if, instead, the manifest aspect is not different from the pleasure and is actually one with it, then it is easy to see that pleasure must be impermanent because it can be directly seen to not always be manifest.

'''ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing [135–140]'''

9.135 to 9.140: Refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being. This includes the master refutation of the simultaneity of causes and their effects.

The next verses, from 135 to 140, offer a refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' When the guṇa of pleasure ceases to manifest, it then remains hidden in a subtle state of potentiality within the primal substance. Later on, when it reappears, it is merely the manifestation of what was already there. If things did not preexist in some sense before they became manifest, then it would be like them arising completely causelessly, out of the blue. Therefore, before manifesting, things must exist in a subtle state within the primal substance.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the results are present at the same time of the cause, why are they never perceived?

'''The Sāṃkhyas' reply:''' Even though the results are present at the time of the cause, at that time the results are not apparent to consciousness. Later, just as an object in a darkened room will be made visible by turning on the light, the results will be perceived at a later time when they become manifest.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' While the Sāṃkhyas try to maintain that things cannot arise that were not previously there, they end up actually positing that themselves. This is because they have to say that the manifestation is absent at the time of the cause and only later arises newly, thus contradicting their own tenet. If the manifestation were present at the time of the cause, then they would not be able to differentiate between manifest and unmanifest.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.135}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And likewise with the money they would spend on clothing,
Let them rather buy the cotton grains to wear! (9.136ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is incoherent to talk of results existing within the causes. If that were so, Śāntideva teases, then those who eat their tasty food would at the same time be consuming the result of that food, their own excrement. And why would those who wish to wear smooth cotton clothing not instead go out and buy the cotton seeds to wear, since the result is within and contemporaneous with the cause. But we don’t see people in the world following this way of acting.

'''The Sāṃkhyas respond:''' It is because of delusion that ordinary people cannot see these subtle states, for example, the subtle state of cloth in the cotton seeds.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the world is ignorant and blind.
For this is taught by 'those who know the truth.'" (9.136cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If the Sāṃkhya school says that the perceptions of the worldly are invalid due to ignorance, then since they are able to perceive the resultant manifestations, those manifestations must be false, and therefore it is meaningless to talk about them existing at the time of the cause. Also, if the Sāṃkhya school followers have this knowledge, that the result exists at the time of the cause, then they would be aware of eating their own excrement at the time that they ate a meal. Or it could be said that since the founders of the Sāṃkhya school are seen to insist on wearing cotton clothes and not cotton seeds, this makes it clear that the result does not exist at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva:''' Worldly people also have this knowledge, such as not to wear cotton seeds, thinking there is cloth present, so why do they not see the truth that results are present at the time of the cause?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This knowledge must be present in the worldly too!
And if they have it, why do they not see? (9.137ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' They do not realize it because the perception of worldly beings is not a prime cognition.

'''Śāntideva:''' In that case, the perceptions of the manifestations of the world must also be false because they are not prime cognitions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If now you say that what the worldly see has no validity,
This means that what they clearly see is false. (9.137cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
Leading on from this topic of what is valid consciousness, in the last section of this refutation of production from self, the Sāṃkhyas raise a doubt about the Buddhist presentation of valid cognition.

'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' The Madhyamaka school asserts different types of valid cognitions, such as direct perception and inferential cognition. They maintain that in some way nearly all these types of knowing are deceptive and are therefore not ultimately valid. How is it possible that these deceptive cognitions could in any way validate their objects? Doesn’t it mean that the objects must also be deceptive and unreal? And if that is the case, then even the cognition realizing emptiness and the object of emptiness itself as an object of that would have to be deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.138}}
'''Śāntideva responds:''' You are generally right in saying that objects established by deceptive consciousness must be in some way false. And yes, even in relation to emptiness, since the inferential cognition that apprehends emptiness is deceptive, emptiness, too, is also devoid of any inherent existence. The Madhyamaka system can still posit a direct prime cognizing consciousness that is deceptive but able to verify things.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.139}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' However, the Madhyamaka school has never asserted any kind of truly existent emptiness that is out there and independent on its own, without dependence upon a basis or without reference to things such as a pot, that has been independently established by valid cognition. Rather, emptiness is in a relationship of mutual dependence with the object of which it is the absence of inherent existence.

'''Śāntideva gives an example:''' It is like being in a dream within which we dream a child has died. Within the dream, the thought that the child has died is able to overcome the thought that the child is alive. But throughout this time we are still in the world of the dream, so both thoughts are actually deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.140}}
Likewise, a false antidote of wisdom is still able to overcome a false ignorance. There is still functionality even though things are deceptive and illusory-like.

From verse 126cd until verse 140, Śāntideva presents a series of arguments aimed mainly at the Sāṃkhya school's explanation of the primal substance (''prakṛti''). These arguments are focused on refuting the notion of an underlying substrate of reality, a substrate of reality that has parts and characteristics but is also unitary and unchanging. Śāntideva primarily uses one branch of the diamond-splinters argument, the argument against production from self, to refute his opponents' assertions.

<h5>Conclusion of the Diamond-Splinters Argument</h5>
In verses 141 and 142, Śāntideva wraps up this section of the text on the diamond-splinters, concluding that nothing can be produced without causes, nothing can be produced from itself, and nothing can be produced from a combination of both itself and something other than itself.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.141}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It does not come from somewhere else,
Neither does it stay nor yet depart. (9.142ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
Nothing is without causes, and no effect can be found in either one or all of its causes. Once produced, things do not intrinsically remain, and on cessation they do not go anywhere. They do not have any intrinsic production, abiding, or cessation. Production, abiding, and cessation exist but only at a nominal level.

<h4>2. The Great Reasoning of Dependent Origination (''rigs pa'i rgyal po rten 'brel gyi gtan tshigs'')</h4>

The second reason proving the lack of inherent existence is the great reasoning of dependent origination. Out of all the reasons establishing emptiness, this reason is often referred to as the king or chief of all reasons. It is said to be the king of all reasons to establish the ultimate nature of phenomena because of its unique ability to refute both the extreme of nihilism and the extreme of permanence, or absolutism, at the same time.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they are dependently originated'''<br>
'''Example: like the reflection of a form in a mirror'''

In the second half of verse 142, Śāntideva explains how all phenomena are illusory-like. The mind that grasps at true existence falsely imputes onto its objects a false reality which they do not have.

'''Śāntideva:''' What difference is there between something which is taken to be the truth by a deluded consciousness, on the one hand, and illusions, dreams, or mirages, on the other hand? They both appear to be true while not existing in the way that they appear.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How will what confusion takes for truth
In any sense be different from a mirage? (9.142cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
To a deluded mind, things appear to exist from their own side, while they are actually empty of inherent existence. That deluded mind assents to that appearance and takes the truth to be that things possess an intrinsic nature, a nature which in reality they do not possess.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.143}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Nothing is real. Things do not exist in the way that they appear, intrinsically and from their own side. Instead, they arise and exist in reliance on other phenomena. They are like the reflection of a form in a mirror.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.144}}
Anything that comes into being and any event that occurs happens in dependence on something else. This can be their causes and conditions, their parts, or even conceptual designations of them. Everything is like a mirage or a magical illusion, which is in some sense fabricated.

The example of a reflection of a form in a mirror is used as a concordant example in the great syllogism of dependent origination. This reflection is considered to be an easy and straightforward example that helps us begin to understand that things do not exist as they appear.

A reflection of, for instance, a face in a mirror, appears to exist from the side of the mirror, almost in the mirror itself, and the reflection of the face can appear to those who have no experience of mirrors to be the very face itself. But actually the reflection of the face is not the face itself and is empty of being the face. The reflection of the face only appears in the mirror when conditions such as the presence of the mirror and a person's face placed in front of it are present.

How does this relate to the way things actually exist? Although phenomena lack any form of true or intrinsic existence, they do still exist as dependent originations. Indeed, the very fact that they arise in dependence on other factors means that they cannot have even an atom of independent and inherent existence. All things arise only as a result of an aggregation of a wide variety of conditions. When the conditions are not present, the phenomena cannot come into being.

To illustrate this point, we can take the example of the self or the person. The person does not exist inherently and from the side of its basis of designation, which is the four or five aggregates. But when the condition of the aggregates all come together, then we can say there is a conventional person that does not truly exist but that exists as a mere designation upon the basis of its aggregates.

<h4>3. The Reasoning of Existence and Nonexistence (''yod med skye 'gog gi gtan tshigs'')</h4>
In verses 145 to 150, Śāntideva uses the reasoning of existence and nonexistence to prove that merely dependently originated phenomena cannot have any form of inherent existence. This reason specifically analyzes the effects of causes. It analyzes the status of the effect at the time of their cause, whether those effects are existent, nonexistent, both existent and nonexistent, or neither.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject:''' '''mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate:''' '''are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason:''' '''because at the time of their cause they are neither existent, nonexistent, both, or neither,'''<br>
'''Example:''' '''like the child of a barren woman'''

Śāntideva examines how an effect is produced from its cause, particularly how it is not possible for inherently existent results to come from inherently existent causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.145}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking an object such as a vase, it is incorrect to think of it arising while it was existing. This would be illogical, because if it already existed, there would be no need for it to be produced. If it were thought to arise while not existing, that would entail an existent thing arising from a nonexistent thing, which is not tenable.

Another approach to this is to look at the consequences if we believed things to have their own independent identity. If that were the case, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If things existed inherently and truly, then they would have no need to rely on causes, and causes would have no role. If phenomena were autonomous, causes would not be able to have any influence in giving rise to effects. And, since the purpose of a cause is to produce an effect, there can be no meaning to saying there are effects which exist without any relation to causes.

'''Doubt:''' While it is understandable that something inherently existent does not need to be created, wouldn't something nonexistent need a cause to produce it?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.146}}
Minyak Kunzang Sönam explains in detail this point about how if things are nonexistent they can never become existent.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One might think that while it is true that something inherently existent does not need to be created, why would something non-existent not need a cause to produce it?

Even with a billion causes, a thing which does not exist at all can never become a something. Such a non-existent thing is like the horn of a rabbit, it cannot possibly be produced by causes and conditions, and therefore cannot be turned into anything by anyone.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 243.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation:''' Even with millions of causes, nonexistent phenomena cannot transform into existent phenomena. Something which is nonfunctional can never become something which has a function. These categories are mutually exclusive. If a nonfunctioning thing were able to turn into a functioning thing, then it would not be nonfunctioning. The very ability to be able to transform into something else would mean that it already had functionality.

The production of an effect, such as a shoot which did not exist at the time of its cause, the seed, is not being refuted. All things that come into being do not themselves exist at the time of their causes. What is being refuted is the production from an inherently existent thing, the production of an inherently existent thing, as well as the belief of the Sāṃkhya school that the effect exists at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva (9.147):''' Something nonexistent thing cannot change into an existent thing. If it did, then we would need to examine whether it became something by abandoning its state of nonexistence or it became something after it had abandoned its state of nonexistence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.147}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.148}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148ab):''' If a nonexistent thing is to become something, it must abandon the condition of nonexistence. It cannot exist as something at the time that it is nonexistent, as existence and nonexistence are contradictory. And at the time when something is nonexistent, the phenomena which would be its result would not have come into being, and therefore a nonexistent thing can never change from being nothing.

Also, if a nonexistent became an existent by abandoning the state of nonexistence, at the moment that it abandoned the nonexistent state it would then no longer be nonexistent but instead existent. And if the nonexistent had not yet left behind the state of nonexistence, then it would not be able to transform into anything.

So, even if it were possible for something to inherently exist, or if something inherently nonexistent were possible, they could never change their nature from one state to another. They would have to forever remain existent or nonexistent.

In his ''Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam draws upon Nāgārjuna's summary of this point in his ''Seventy Verses on Emptiness'' (''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'') as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=An existent thing does not come into being because it is existent;
A non-existent thing does not come into being because it is non-existent;
Things are not existent and not non-existent because these are incompatible;
And because there is no origination, there is no dwelling or cessation. (Verse 4)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 245. For the verse in [[Nāgārjuna]], see ''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'' (''Stong pa nyid bdun cu pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3827, dbu ma, vol. 96, fol. 24b.1–2, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3827.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148cd):''' And furthermore, even if there were an inherently existing thing, that could never transform into a nonexistent thing. Something cannot become nothing. If it could, there would be the unwanted consequence that phenomena would possess both existent and nonexistent natures.

Sonam Tsemo gives an interesting read on the last two lines of verse 148, where he compares the ''prasaṅga'', the consequential argument, and the ''svātantra'', the autonomous syllogisms, which are used to refute the belief that existent phenomena can transform into nonexistent phenomena.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nonexistent object is the logical subject:

*The prasaṅga from the reason based on intrinsic nature:
[Contradiction: you claim that the object is non-dual but] it follows that it is dual because of its transformation [from existent to nonexistent].
*The svātantra from the pervader not being supported:
because of being non-dual, there is no transformation.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 444.</ref>
}}
There is a philosophical consequence of accepting that a nonexistent thing can also be nondual. The argument says that it cannot be nondual for the reason that it transforms from existent into nonexistent, which means that it has to have both existent and nonexistent natures.

The autonomous syllogism states that if something is nondual, then since it has both natures, there is actually no transformation from one state to another.

Gyaltsap Je summarizes this refutation of inherent existence through the reasoning of existence and nonexistence in this way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Take the subject 'sprout' - it is not generated inherently - because it is not inherently generated as existent, and it is not inherently generated as non-existent, e.g., like the child of a barren woman. Although its generation is refuted if non-existent at the time of the cause, it is a refutation of its inherent generation at the time of generation, even though it is non-existent at the time of the cause. Therefore, one needs to relate it to the object of negation.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 75, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
To summarize this reasoning, a shoot cannot come into being on its own, because if it is inherently existent, it cannot come into being, and if it is inherently nonexistent, it cannot come into being either. The example used to prove this reason is that of the child of a barren woman.

In conclusion, as it is mentioned in ''The Questions of Sāgaramati'' (''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā''), regarding anything which comes into being in relation to or in dependence on anything else, that thing cannot have even the slightest inherent nature.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whatever is dependently originated
Is without any inherent nature.
What lacks an essential nature
Never actually arises.<ref>[[Hinkle, T.|Timothy Hinkle]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Questions of Sāgaramati: Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā (Hinkle, T.)|The Questions of Sāgaramati, Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā]]'', Toh 152 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-058-001.html#UT22084-058-001-1164.</ref>
}}

<h5>Showing the Sameness of Samsara and Nirvana</h5>
In verses 149 and 150, Śāntideva focuses on the beings wandering in cyclic existence and explains that if they exist independently and intrinsically, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If beings existed autonomously and from their own side, there would be no opportunity for causes to play a role in their production. The main function of causes is to produce effects, and if beings were autonomous and independent, then causes could not affect them.

'''Śāntideva (9.149):''' All phenomena lack the inherent existence they appear to have. There is no intrinsic production, abiding, and cessation of any phenomena. Therefore, at an ultimate level, beings neither come into being nor cease.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.149}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.150}}
'''Śāntideva (9.150):''' Intrinsic production and cessation have been refuted, but it does not make sense to say that beings, and indeed all phenomena, are completely nonexistent. That would mean that they had never had any form of existence. So when considering the aspects of origination and cessation of phenomena, they can only be accepted on a conditional level. Phenomena do exist, but not inherently, and only in dependent relation with other phenomena.

When we are able to understand this way that things exist, we can then understand that at the ultimate level there is no difference between samsara and nirvana. On a conventional level there is a difference, but at the ultimate level there is none. The reason is that from the perspective of their emptiness, the lack of intrinsic nature, samsara and nirvana are exactly the same. It can be said that from this perspective of emptiness, all phenomena from the very beginning have been in a state of natural peace, a natural nirvana.

This assertion that all things have never come into being and that they therefore are originally in a state of peace, a natural nirvana, is mentioned in ''The Jewel Cloud Sūtra'' (''Ratnameghasūtra'') in the following verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When turning the wheel of Dharma,
O Protector, you taught that phenomena
Are primordially peaceful, unarisen,
And at ease by nature.<ref>[[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Jewel Cloud: Ratnamegha (Doctor, T.)|The Jewel Cloud, Ratnamegha]]'', Toh 231 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-064-001.html#UT22084-064-001-97.</ref>
}}
And from ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'' (''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā''), it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That which arises from conditions is unborn‍—
It has no intrinsic essence of arising.
That which depends on conditions is taught to be empty.
One who understands emptiness is heedful.<ref>[[Ewing, B.|Benjamin Ewing]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'', ''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā'', Toh 156 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://84000.co/translation/toh156#UT22084-058-005-308.</ref>
}}
Summarizing this point, that all phenomena exist interdependently and that everything is like a dream or illusion, Nāgārjuna says the following in his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivāraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just like the sounding of a drum,
Likewise a shoot arises from a gathering of causes.
All the things that in the outer world arise dependently
Are, we say, like dreams and magical displays. (64)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That things arise from causes
Never contradicts what we have just declared.
Since causes are devoid of being causes,
We understand phenomena to be unborn. (65)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 4–5, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}

<h2>The Benefits of Meditation on Emptiness</h2>
In all the preceding verses, Śāntideva presented a wide variety of reasons to refute wrong conceptions about the way that phenomena exist. He addresses the views of opponents from the non-Buddhist traditions and he counters some of the assertions of the lower tenet schools of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of refuting these other systems, he also presents the highest view within the Buddhist tradition, that of the Madhyamaka school. In this tradition, phenomena are merely dependent designations and have no intrinsic reality of their own.

Taking this understanding of the way things exist according to the Madhyamaka tradition, in verses 151 to 167 Śāntideva moves on to explain the great benefits of cultivating this understanding of emptiness and meditating on it.

<h3>1. Realizing the Equality of the Eight Worldly Dharmas</h3>
In verses 151 to 153, Śāntideva explains that even seemingly opposed phenomena—such as gain or loss, or happiness and suffering—when viewed from the ultimate perspective, are all equal.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.151–52):''' If all phenomena exist merely imputed by conception and lacking any kind of existence from their own side, if they are empty in this way, then what is there that exists to gain or lose? Who is there to praise me or disparage me?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.151}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.152}}
We crave happiness and wish to gain the objects of our desire. We feel happiness when we gain them and then suffer and often get angry when we lose these objects of our desire. But neither this happiness nor unhappiness, nor the objects that those feelings arise in relation to, none of them are truly existent. Since nothing truly exists, there is nothing to truly gain and nothing to truly lose, and so at this level attachment to the objects of our desire and aversion to those things we dislike makes absolutely no sense.

'''Śāntideva continues (9.152cd):''' Furthermore, if we look deeply into the nature of phenomena, searching for any kind of intrinsic and independent nature, we cannot find anything. Since all phenomena lack this kind of existence from their own side, who is the person craving, and what is it that is craved for?

Sonam Tsemo explains in his commentary that the two verses above discuss the eight worldly concerns—of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, and fame and infamy—taking a look at them from the perspective of their ultimate nature.

He relates how, in the root verses, gain and loss and happiness and suffering are mentioned explicitly, whereas being paid honor and being reviled refer to praise and blame, and joy and pain refer to the joy of fame and the pain of infamy.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 447.</ref>

In verse 153 Śāntideva continues his ultimate analysis of the fundamental way in which phenomena exist by looking at the world of living beings.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.153):''' Who is there in this world who lives and then passes away? Who is there that has been born in the past, and who is there that will be born into another future life? Who are our friends and who are our relatives?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.153}}
It is important to understand that Śāntideva is not saying that there is no cessation and that beings do not pass away. He is not saying that we have not been born in the past nor that we will not die and be reborn in the future. And he is certainly not saying that we have no relatives or friends to benefit us. All of these statements are being made at the level of ultimate analysis where nothing can be found on search. At a conventional level, he accepts these things as existing in some nominal way, but from the ultimate perspective they have no existence.

In the last two lines of verse 154, Śāntideva makes a prayer that all beings like himself develop the crucial discernment that all phenomena lack intrinsic existence and are like space, beyond all categories of existent or nonexistent, and that all beings regard as equal the eight mundane concerns.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May beings like myself discern and grasp
That all things have the character of space! (9.154ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Teaching Great Compassion by Highlighting the Defects of Samsara</h3>
In the last main section of the text, from verses 154cd to 165, Śāntideva explains the explicit need for the realization of emptiness if we wish to turn away from all our suffering. This insistence on the central importance of wisdom comes from a place of deep compassion, compassion that understands the way that the root cause of all our suffering is the ignorance of how things ultimately exist.

<h4>i. The Sufferings That Arise from Ignorance</h4>
Lacking the understanding of the role ignorance plays, and not working to understand the ultimate nature of ourselves and all other phenomena, we will be trapped in a samsaric life that is characterized by suffering and dissatisfaction.

Śāntideva details both the obvious sufferings that we face in this life, but he also goes on to point out the less obvious forms of suffering that come from being trapped in samsara and how we will have to continually be born in lives that are characterized by suffering.

<h5>a. The Manifest Sufferings of This Life</h5>
'''Śāntideva (9.154cd/155):''' Those seeking peace and happiness will never find what they desire if the means through which they strive to attain that involves confrontations or disputes with others or through purely looking for personal enjoyment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But those who seek their happiness and ease,
Through disputes or enjoyments, (9.154cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.155}}
Within this very life there can be no long-term, stable peace and happiness if we are constantly controlled by our reactions to temporary conditions. Ecstatically happy when fortunate things happen to us, or depressed and morose when misfortune comes our way, we are at the whim of our emotions. Our minds are not in balance, and in these fluctuating states we suffer. We can easily be drawn into severe negative actions in relation to others, and in extreme cases this can lead us to cause grievous mental and physical harm to others.

<h5>b. The Invisible Sufferings of Past and Future Lives</h5>
In verse 156 Śāntideva covers the wider context of our samsaric life, spanning over countless lifetimes. From this longer perspective, temporary states of good fortune may very occasionally arise, but they can also end as quickly as they came about.

'''Śāntideva (9.156):''' It is so rare to find rebirth in a happy state, but occasionally we do surface from the depths of samsara and are born into such an opportune life. However, instead of taking that opportunity to seek liberation, we instead follow all kinds of temporary pleasure. When death comes, we will have wasted this precious chance and will now fall into the lower realms for an unimaginably long time.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.156}}
In his commentary Sonam Tsemo explains how this last section of the ninth chapter, from verse 157 to verse 162, covers the five main causes for why we have to constantly experience the various sufferings of conditioned life in cyclic existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In dependence upon the five types of rebirth, one will constantly experience attachment to saṃsāra. Why? There are five main causes:

1. The roots of suffering have not been pacified
2. One does not have the means to dispel it
3. There are many obstacles
4. It is difficult to rely on the supports
5. It is difficult to abandon its causes<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 450.</ref>
}}

'''1. The Roots of Suffering Have Not Been Pacified'''

In verse 157 Śāntideva encourages us to contemplate the vast multitudes of places of rebirth in cyclic existence, referring to them as chasms or abysses. Whether in the desire, form, or formless realms, there will be both the general sufferings of samsara and the specific sufferings of each realm.

We are dragged down into these deep chasms by the ignorance that actively clings to the inherent nature of ourselves and all things. In these dark places no wisdom can be found, and from our state of ignorance spring forth all the negative emotions, which cause us to engage in negative karmic actions.

If we have not pacified this ignorance of reality and have not developed the wisdom that cuts through the root of samsara, there can be no liberation. Therefore, we must strive in every moment to try to understand emptiness.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.157}}

'''2. One Does Not Have the Means to Dispel It'''

The next reason that we must continue to cycle around in samsara is that we do not have the means to prevent ourselves from being propelled into conditioned states of existence.

In verses 158 to 160, Śāntideva reminds us of how little opportunity we get to pull ourselves out of samsara. If we are born in the lower realms, there will be absolutely no chance to engage in virtue, but even if we are born in a happy state of existence where we attain a precious human rebirth, the power to be able to create virtue is weak. Life passes very fast, and this precious opportunity, though gained, can disappear in a moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.158}}
Śāntideva also points out to us that however long we are able to stay in one of these fortunate states, there is actually no time to practice the Dharma. Our time is taken up with so many things. Many of these are essential activities to maintain our lives and health. We need to find food to satisfy our hunger, and many hours of the day are taken up with sleep to help rest our weary bodies. Sickness and injury take up much of our time but so do associations with childish beings that end up being meaningless.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.159}}
Life passes quickly, and mostly without any deeper meaning. It is so hard to find any opportunity to investigate the deeper nature of reality, which is our only means to reverse the process of cyclic existence. Our efforts to contemplate and meditate on emptiness are weak, distraction draws away our attention from what is important, and our unstable lives can end at any moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.160}}

'''3. There Are Many Obstacles'''

In verses 161 and 162, Śāntideva highlights the fact that because there are many obstacles, attaining liberation is extremely hard. Not only are there negative external forces that may try to work against us, especially when we choose the way of virtue, but there are also many false spiritual paths that may lead us astray. Most of these trails lead us to views of eternalism or nihilism, and we have to come to certainty that this path that Śāntideva is revealing to us is the pure and unmistaken one.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.161}}
We may have many doubts about which is the right path, doubts about what needs to be done on the path and where it leads, and it is difficult to find the right conditions to remove these doubts.

In the following passage from his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal remarks on how people these days are taken with the novelty and excitement of modern spiritual paths and lack a respect and love for the ancient texts:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Nowadays, people love novelty and thus neglect the ancient texts, excellent and pure though they be, liking only what is new. But among the recent texts, there are some that are genuine and some false, and it is difficult to discern the goal and point of view of a genuine teaching from a false one—it is difficult to have certainty, unclouded by doubt. And even if a teaching is authentic, if it is practiced with doubt, it will be fruitless and without meaning. It is thus hard to have a true discernment.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 387.</ref>
}}
He agrees that there are genuine texts among those within the modern tradition, but it is very hard to discern which ones those are, and so it is easy to be beset with doubt. And with doubt we find it hard to get any concrete result, however sincerely we strive to engage in our Dharma practice.

'''4. It Is Difficult to Rely on the Supports'''

We also find it hard to gain liberation because the personal support of our precious human rebirth and the external support of the enlightened beings are so hard to find.

In the first two lines of verse 162, Śāntideva reminds us of how hard it is to find again such a state of freedom where we can practice, a state which is characterized by the eight freedoms and ten endowments. Even if we are blessed with this precious opportunity, he also explains the difficulty of finding one crucial external support that is necessary for us to be able to wholeheartedly follow the path—that is, genuinely enlightened teachers.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard it is to find again this state of freedom,
Harder yet to come upon enlightened teachers, (9.162ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}

'''5. It Is Difficult to Abandon Its Causes'''

The last two lines of verse 162 explain how difficult it is to escape from the raging torrent of our afflictions. The causes of our continued rebirth in samsara are the whole range of our negative emotions—craving and clinging, attachment, anger, lack of awareness, and underpinning them all, wrong views and ignorance. We are swept away by these states of mind, and Śāntideva remarks on how difficult it is to turn back this tide.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard, indeed, to turn aside the torrent of defilement!
Alas, our sorrows fall in endless streams! (9.162.cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}
In verses 163 and 164, Śāntideva explains how beings do not even realize what kind of sufferings they are going through. Afloat in the sea of cyclic existence, passing from one suffering state to another, beings are completely unaware of the reality of their situation. Indeed, they often feel the opposite way, looking on things which are contaminated by the afflictions and ignorance as though they are pleasant and a source of happiness. They have no understanding of what conduct to adopt and what to cast aside. "Alas," cries Śāntideva, "How terrible it is that beings do not understand the terrible condition they are in."
{{PullBcaVerses|9.163}}
Here, Śāntideva also critiques the followers of some religious traditions and their practices, those who believe that extreme ascetic practices such as prolonged exposure to excessive heat or cold or bathing in the sacred rivers are the path to liberation. Although these practices do not lead to the desired result, because of their attachment to them they are happy to endure them, and they even consider them pleasant.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.164}}
Most of us carry on our lives as though old age and death will never come to us. But it won't be long before we have to pass away and we have to face our future. If we have been too lazy to engage in virtue and counteract our negative emotions, we will easily be led after death to a rebirth in terrible states.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.165}}

<h2>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h2>
Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom.

In verse 166 Śāntideva is overcome by the wish to pacify the sufferings of all beings trapped in samsara. He asks himself, "When will the time come when I will be able to put out the fires of others' suffering?" In a form of dedication, he wishes from his heart that the rains of bliss which pour forth from the clouds of all his accumulated merit may rain down on the terrible flames of beings' suffering, extinguishing them forever. This verse specifically refers to the accumulation of merit from the method side of practice, through practices such as generosity and ethical discipline.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.166}}
Following Śāntideva's example, Gyaltsap Je explains how we must sincerely cultivate this great compassion from deep in our hearts.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When will I become someone that pacifies the sufferings of the lower realms with medicine, food and the like? That which are parts of my collection of happiness, built up from clouds of merits built up by generosity and so forth. How wonderful would it be if sentient beings were free from suffering? May they be free from suffering. May I bring about that freedom.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
In verse 86 of his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'', Nāgārjuna explains that this sense of compassion for beings should be so strong that we are willing to give up the most refined and blissful states of meditative concentration and to instead plunge headlong into the worst of the hellish states.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When through practice it becomes firm,
Then alarmed by other's suffering,
The [bodhisattvas] renounce the bliss of concentration
And plunge even to the depths of relentless hells.<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 9, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf.</ref>
}}
In the last verse of the chapter, Śāntideva speaks of his continual wish to pacify the mistaken clinging that all living beings possess, the belief in an inherent self and inherent phenomena. He again asks himself, "When will I reveal this truth of emptiness to those beings who suffer in cyclic existence because of their belief in intrinsic existence?" This verse refers to the accumulation of wisdom, which comes from studying, contemplation, and meditation on the ultimate nature of phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.167}}
Gyaltsap Je summarizes how we meditate on the union of calm abiding and special insight as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In short, one should meditate on the mode of abiding in dependence on calm abiding. Further, because the 'I' of the thought 'I' is established as merely labeled in dependence on the aggregates and does not exist inherently, it does not exist intrinsically, it is not established in the slightest in an independent mode. Therefore, the existent person is merely posited in name, it exists only as labeled and in a dependent mode. Hence, take to heart, 'It does not exist inherently'.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
Having understood the way things exist and how ignorance of the nature of reality traps beings in the continual cycle of suffering in samsara, we should then develop the strong wish to reveal this truth of emptiness to all beings, that they may cultivate that understanding and themselves attain the highest state of enlightenment.

<h2>The Results of Practice</h2>
At the very end of his commentary entitled ''A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditating on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Patrul Rinpoche discusses the result of practicing in the way outlined in Śāntideva's text.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By seeing the relative to be a mere display like a magical illusion or the experiences of a dream, we will train in vast enlightened activity in which the seven kinds of attachment are relinquished. And with the understanding that on the ultimate level all things and events lack even so much as an atom's worth of true existence, we will take this practice to heart without becoming attached to anything whatsoever.

May the Dharma, suffering's only cure,
And the source of all real happiness,
Always be valued and respected,
And remain long into the future!

This was spoken by Ragged Abu. May all be virtuous and auspicious!<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Understanding that all phenomena lack even an atom of intrinsic existence, knowing things to exist merely as a magical illusion, and dropping any kind of attachment, we head out onto the path of the Buddhadharma, which leads to the state of full enlightenment.
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Articles/Wisdom Overview

2026-03-11T15:18:39Z

SimonH:

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<h2>The Place of Wisdom in the Buddhist Path</h2>
While it is through practicing all of the other perfections that we can accumulate great merit, it is only the perfection of wisdom that allows us to cut through the root of the cycle of existence. The earlier chapters of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' present practices which can act as temporary antidotes to their opposing factors. Patience can temporarily reduce our anger, and contemplating the uncleanliness of the body can temporarily reduce our attachment. But when these positive factors wane for a moment, the afflictions will swiftly arise again. There is only one way to finally put an end to the whole range of negative states of mind, and that is to develop the wisdom which understands the lack of any inherent self, both of persons and of all other phenomena.

As this is the case, Śāntideva sets the stage for chapter 9 by explaining how all of the other branches of the doctrine and paths of practice were spoken of in order to prepare for the development of the wisdom which understands the ultimate reality of all.

{{PullBcaVerses|9.1}}

<h2>The Two Truths</h2>

In verses 2 to 4ab, Śāntideva gives a summarized presentation of the two truths—the conventional and the ultimate truth.

The first two lines of verse 2 present us with the division of all phenomena, the division into the conventional and ultimate truths.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Relative and ultimate,
These the two truths are declared to be. (9.2ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 137.</ref>
}}
These verses, and particularly the second two lines of verse 2, have been interpreted in a wide variety of ways and form part of a larger debate involving the different philosophical traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect,
For intellect is said to be the relative. (9.2cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 137.</ref>
}}
There is a much more detailed essay on this topic available on this website entitled "[https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study/Mapping_the_Debate_Between_Mipham_and_Geluk_Scholars Debates on the Wisdom Chapter between Mipham, Drakar, and Pari Rabsel]," but the main argument within the debate is whether or not the ultimate truth is beyond the scope of the intellectual or dualistic conventional mind. Masters such as Lama Tsongkhapa, through his disciple Gyaltsap Je, argue that it is possible to access emptiness, the ultimate reality of phenomena, with the conceptual mind. They also assert that this emptiness is exactly the same entity that is perceived directly by the exalted wisdom consciousness on the path of seeing.

Other masters, such as Mipham Rinpoche, assert that there are two kinds of ultimate truth—the actual ultimate truth (''rnams grangs ma yin pa'i don dam bden pa'') and a similitude of the ultimate (''rnam grangs yin pa'i don dam bden pa''). They argue that the similitude of the ultimate can be accessed by the conceptual mind but that the actual ultimate truth cannot be accessed by the ordinary, dualistic mind; it can only be accessed by the exalted wisdom gained in meditative equipoise on the path of seeing and above. Therefore, for this philosophical position, these two categories are not the same entity, and the actual ultimate is more subtle than the similitude and can only be realized by a directly perceiving nonconceptual consciousness devoid of any dualistic factors.

<h3>Different Individuals Perceive Different Levels of Truth</h3>
Having explained the different natures of the two truths, in verses 3 and 4 Śāntideva then moves on to explain what kind of individuals are able to access these different levels of the truth. And here he describes two types of individuals, the ordinary being and the yogi.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.3}}
According to Śāntideva, the understanding of yogic practitioners, who engage in philosophical analysis and meditative practice, undermines the views of ordinary people not engaged in these practices.

In verse 4 he explains how among the individuals considered to be practitioners, there are many levels of understanding. For instance, the understanding of followers of the lower Buddhist tenets, such as the Vaibhāṣikas, undermine the existence of a permanent, unitary, and autonomous self, the understanding of reality held by non-Buddhist schools. Then, increasingly more refined presentations of reality from Mahāyāna tenet systems such as Yogācāra and Madhyamaka outshine the philosophy of systems below them, until what is considered by all the Tibetan schools of Buddhism to be the highest, the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, is reached.

<h3>Refuting This Presentation of the Two Truths</h3>
Throughout the ninth chapter, Śāntideva engages in debates with other philosophical positions about the nature of the self and other phenomena. These opponents are from the Buddhist world but also from non-Buddhist philosophical schools whose roots lie in the ancient Indian religious traditions.

From verse 4cd until verse 56, Śāntideva deals with objections to the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's presentation of the two truths from various other Buddhist schools.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Buddhist Realist/Śrāvaka Position</h3>
Beginning from verse 6, Śantideva begins a series of debates with both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The debates flow back and forth between Śantideva himself, here as a representative of the Madhyamaka tradition in general and specifically the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school, and the holders of these other philosophical traditions.

In verses 6 to 15, Śāntideva answers a series of doubts about the Madhyamaka presentation of all phenomena being empty of intrinsic existence and therefore not existing in the way they ordinarily appear. This presentation of an illusory-like nature draws criticism from many philosophical schools, particularly from the Śrāvaka tradition, who in the well-known presentation of the four schools of Indian Buddhism would be included as the Vaibhāṣikas and Sautāntrikas.

The main core of the objections they raise is that if the ultimate nature of things is unreal, then there is no meaning to practices of virtue and of accumulating merit, since those who commit the acts and the objects of those acts don't really exist. As an extension of that, they argue that if one commits a terrible negative act, such as murder, then, following the Prāsaṅgika presentation of illusion, that act would not lead to any negative karma because the person killed was an illusion.

'''Śrāvaka (9.9):''' If all phenomena are unreal and mere illusions, then the Buddha himself is an illusion too. Merit can only be accrued by making offerings to a real Buddha, so how can merit be accumulated by making offerings to an illusory Buddha? And how could beings take rebirth after they die if they are themselves illusions?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.9}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.10):''' Illusory offerings made to the illusory Buddha give rise to illusory merit, just as you Śrāvakas believe that truly existent merit is accumulated by making truly existent offerings to a truly existent Buddha. The only difference between our systems lies in the respective reality or nonreality of the merit (and of the Buddha); it does not lie in the arising or nonarising of such merit.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.10}}
All phenomena, whether an illusion or what we call a real phenomena, arise on the basis of causes and conditions. As long as the complete conditions of an illusion are assembled, the illusion will manifest. And as long as the complete conditions of karma and afflictions are present, beings will continue to experience death and rebirth.

This is the measure of their reality, and we cannot say beings have true existence because they exist for a longer time. An illusion could exist for a long time and a being for a shorter time, but the duration of the phenomena has no bearing on their ontological status.

Here, Śāntideva is saying that illusions and "real" beings are similar in that they appear but do not exist intrinsically.

'''Śāntideva's continued response (9.11):''' But with regard to the killing of a real person and the "killing" of an illusory person, there is a difference in the karma accrued, as one has a mind to experience suffering and one does not.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.11}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.11):''' The intention to kill the illusory person that in reality is not a person still carries with it the fault of intending great harm on someone. But even if we were able to "kill" that illusory person, because they do not have a mind, no fault of murder would actually be committed.

On the other hand, what we call real beings are illusory-like, but although they are illusory-like they are not illusions. There is a difference between a person and the magical apparition of a person, and this division lies in whether they possess a mind or not. Because an actual person has a mind, they can therefore experience happiness and sorrow. The beneficial or harmful acts committed in relation to an actual person create virtuous or nonvirtuous karma.

In terms of their ontological status, there is not a single difference—both lack any intrinsic existence but still do conventionally exist.

Here, Śāntideva is highlighting an extremely important but commonly misunderstood point of the Middle Way view. He argues that just because things are illusory-like it doesn't mean that they are a complete fabrication, and it does not mean that they do not exist. An illusory-like person does not have any intrinsic nature, but they are still conventionally existent, they have minds and feelings, and if we commit terrible acts in relation to them, they will suffer, and we will accumulate negative karma. Śāntideva is at pains to point out that being empty of inherent existence does not invalidate the conventional and dependently related reality.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Mind-Only School</h3>
In verses 15 to 29, Śāntideva answers questions raised by the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) Buddhist school and also debates with them regarding some of their central philosophical assertions.

The Mind-Only school does not accept the existence of any external phenomena and describes all that we encounter as being of the nature of mind. Objects such as trees and mountains are manifestations of the mind, but they do not exist externally in the way that they appear to do. Instead, when a karmic seed ripens to experience a particular object, like a tree, one part of that seed ripens as the mind experiencing that object, and one part ripens as an appearance of that external object. So the Mind-Only school's presentation of the emptiness of phenomena relies on understanding the lack of a separate entity of the mind and its objects, which leads us to realize that external phenomena have no independent existence “out there” on their own. They are actually only constructions of the mind. According to the Mind-Only school, when we see this ultimate reality of phenomena, our grasping at phenomena ceases and we can attain enlightenment.

The Mind-Only school's presentation of the empty nature of all phenomena relies heavily on what are known as the three natures—the dependent nature (''paratantra''), the imputed nature (''parikalpita''), and the thoroughly established or ultimate nature (''pariniṣpanna'').

Of particular interest to Śāntideva in relation to the Mind-Only school is their presentation of a self-cognizing mind (''svasaṃvedana'', ''rang rig''). The Mind-Only school asserts the existence of this kind of mind that has the ability to be aware of and to ratify its own existence. For the Mind-Only school, if we do not accept the existence of this self-cognizing mind, we will not be able to establish the validity, and therefore the existence, of consciousness through valid cognition (''pramāṇa'').

But since they accept no external objects, when mind perceives what appears to be external phenomena, it is really only perceiving a projection of that very mind itself, and so it is essentially like mind just perceiving mind.

Śāntideva argues through analogies that this kind of mind that perceives its very own self cannot exist, just as a candle flame does not illuminate itself, and just as a sword is not able to cut itself. This refutation is also intimately tied in with the explanation of memory and the need for a valid cognizing mind in order to validate or establish the existence of any particular phenomena.

<h3>The Nature of Illusion</h3>
Verses 30 to 34 contain debates between the Middle Way school and the other lower systems of Buddhist thought—the Vaibhāṣikas, the Sautrāntikas, and the Mind-Only school. The main topic of discussion is the nature of illusion. The Sarvāstivāda school inquires of Śāntideva, "What use is this understanding of emptiness? Even with that understanding, we still fall prey to our desires, just as a magician can still fall to desire for an illusory woman that he has conjured up himself."
Śāntideva counters this argument by saying that it is because of not being fully trained in the understanding of the lack of true existence that it is still possible for desire and the other afflictions to arise.

<h3>Refuting the View That If Everything Is Empty There Is No Point Seeking Enlightenment</h3>
In verses 35 to 39, Śāntideva fields further questions about the consequences of accepting the emptiness of the intrinsic reality of all phenomena. His opponents ask, "The doctrine of emptiness cannot be correct, because when the Buddha finally attains the fruit of the path—complete enlightenment—all discursive thought will cease and they will no longer have any mind. So how will they then be of any benefit to other sentient beings who are stuck in samsara since they have no thought to help others?"

Śāntideva counters this claim by saying that although there are neither conceptual thoughts nor any clinging to the true existence of self or phenomena, that does not mean that the buddhas will be unable to benefit others. Previously, when they were on the bodhisattva path, the buddhas made aspirational prayers to help others. It is these prayers that now come to fruition once the buddhas attain full enlightenment. With the appearance of the form body of the buddha (''rūpakāya''), the buddhas are able to spontaneously and effortlessly appear for the greatest welfare of all.

<h3>Proofs of the Authenticity of the Mahāyāna</h3>
Verses 40 to 43 provide a fascinating debate that questions the grounds on which a tradition can be considered to be authentically Buddhist.

The Śrāvaka tradition believes that directly understanding the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as impermanence, is sufficient to achieve the complete state of arhatship. So, they inquire of the Madhaymaka tradition, "What is the use of understanding emptiness?"

Śāntideva's first response is to quote from the Sūtras. He points out that this need for the understanding of emptiness, in order to completely uproot the afflictions, is mentioned directly in the words of the Buddha, particularly in the perfection of wisdom sūtras.

Some śrāvakas then question whether this kind of scriptural source is a valid teaching of the Buddha, and therefore there remains doubt as to whether a practitioner needs to realize emptiness to attain enlightenment.

Śāntideva then turns to logic, inquiring as to the reasons that the śrāvakas validate their own scriptures. If the śrāvakas reply that their sūtras are accepted by both parties, then, Śāntideva responds, the Vedas would also have to be accepted as valid scriptures teaching the truth because there are at least two parties who accept them to be valid.

And finally, Śāntideva reasons, if the śrāvakas follow with the argument that the teachings of the Mahāyāna are disputed by others so therefore they are not valid, that exact same argument can easily be turned back on them: since the śrāvaka’s own position is disputed by others, therefore the teachings of the śrāvaka vehicle cannot be considered valid.

<h3>The Importance of Emptiness according to the Middle Way School</h3>
In verses 44 to 56, the debate continues between the śrāvakas and the Middle Way school, but the argument shifts away from the scriptural validity of the two schools to the subject of why emptiness is so important.

At this juncture in the chapter, there is another big divergence within the commentarial tradition. The divergence of views rests on the previous discussion of whether the śrāvaka arhats need to realize the lack of intrinsic nature of self and phenomena in order to attain liberation from samsara (''mokṣa'').

The great Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal argues that this section of the text does not assert the need for realizing emptiness in order to attain liberation but instead asserts the supremacy of the Mahāyāna. The great Gelukpa master Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen interprets this section as presenting the need for all practitioners to directly perceive emptiness, whether that is the hearers and solitary realizers of the Hīnayāna or the bodhisattvas of the Mahāyāna. This is one interpretation of the cornerstones of Lama Tsongkhapa's eight great points of Madhyamaka.

<h2>Selflessness</h2>
In the next section of the text, from verses 57 to 110, Śāntideva gives an extensive explanation of how to meditate on the two different kinds of selflessness: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

<h3>1. Selflessness of Persons</h3>
Śāntideva devotes the next major section of chapter 9 (verses 57 to 77) to the refutation of the self of persons (''pudgalātman''). This section is divided into (a) the general refutation of the self of persons and (b) the specific refutations of other school's presentations of the self of persons.

<h4>A. General Refutation in Regard to the Self of Persons</h4>
Verses 57 to 59 present a general refutation of an inherent self, a self which is truly and intrinsically existent and which exists from its own side. Śāntideva does this by analyzing the components of a person—the body and mind. He argues that the self always appears in relation to the five component psychophysical aggregates of the person—the aggregates of form, feeling, formations, discrimination, and consciousness. Therefore, if a person exists in exactly the way that they appear, which is an independent self coming from the side of the aggregates, then that kind of self should be findable within those aggregates when we search for it. These three verses detail that analysis and come to the conclusion that there is nothing called "self" that we find within any of these parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.59}}
<h4>B. Specific Refutations of Other Schools' Presentations of the Self of Persons</h4>
In verses 60 to 69, Śāntideva raises arguments against the non-Buddhist Indian traditions of Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Nyāya. This section of the ninth chapter is a discussion of the self of persons and in particular is a refutation of the self of a person posited by these non-Buddhist schools.

<h5>i. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Sāṃkhya School's Belief in a Permanent Self That Is Conscious</h5>
In this section of the ninth chapter, Śāntideva refutes the self of persons as presented in the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Sāṃkhya''' (also spelled Sāṅkhya) is one of the six major orthodox (''āstika'') schools of Vedic philosophy (the other five are the Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta).

Sāṃkhya is an atheistic system, and its adherents are known as the Enumerators, for it is said that the truth they teach is known by means of enumerating a series of up to twenty-five categories of phenomena. The two central factors of these twenty-five are the primal substance (''prakṛti'') and the person (''puruṣa'').

The Sāṃkhya school maintains that as long as we are ignorant of the fact that all categories are created by the interaction between the primal substance and the person, we therefore remain in a world of multiplicity and duality and remain unenlightened. Escape from this endless circle of samsaric existence is possible only through the realization of the fundamental difference between the primal substance and persons. This realization loosens the bond between them, and an individual person loses interest in the primal substance and is thereby liberated forever from all bodies, both subtle and gross.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

{{standout
|'''Master Argument – Change and Permanence Are Mutually Exclusive'''

'''9.60 to 9.67:''' ''If something causes change to another phenomena or is changed by another phenomena, it cannot also be permanent.''
}}

In the middle section of chapter 9, Śāntideva presents his refutations of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist presentations of the self, or the person. In verses 60 to 67, he challenges the central Sāṃkhya assertion that a self can be consciousness and yet still permanent.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.60}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.61}}
"How can you attribute the quality of knowing to the self?" Śāntideva asks. "You would be implying that if the self is the consciousness of sound, then sound will be perceived at all times. On the other hand, if you assert that cognitions exist even in the absence of their objects—such as sound or physical form—then it follows that a piece of wood could be conscious, since cognitions do not require objects. Since this is not tenable, you would have to agree that without objects of cognition, there can be no cognitions.”

If a particular object is not present, then there cannot be any consciousness which apprehends that phenomena. Consciousness has to depend upon the objects that it is aware of, and it is not possible for something to be a consciousness without its being a consciousness of something.

In the next verse Śāntideva continues his analysis of the philosophical problems inherent in accepting the person to be a permanent consciousness. He asks, "Why does the consciousness apprehending form not also apprehend sound?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.62}}
Since the consciousness is the person, and since that is accepted as a permanent phenomena, then if it apprehends sound, it has to continually apprehend sound, and therefore it cannot apprehend visible objects, such as forms.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.63}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.64}}
'''Adherents of the Sāṃkhya school respond:''' The consciousness is like an actor that performs many parts in a play, so they may put on one costume and act out one role earlier in the play and then don a different costume and play a completely different character later in the same play. Likewise, they say, an earlier consciousness of sound can appear later as the consciousness of form, which then sees visible objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the consciousness is like an actor and plays many different roles by perceiving a variety of different objects, then that consciousness cannot be a constant and unchanging thing, and therefore it cannot be permanent. Change and permanence are mutually exclusive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.65}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Asserting that the latter consciousness of form is of the same nature as the prior consciousness of sound is not tenable. The two statements—(1) that the consciousness has assumed a new aspect that appears quite separately and that is not the same as before, but (2) is nevertheless thought of as being one with the previous and therefore not different in any way—are an incoherent expression of something that is unknown anywhere in the world and which has never before been seen.

'''Sāṃkhyas:''' These variously appearing consciousnesses are not real—they are deceptive forms of appearance which are dependent on temporary conditions.

'''Śāntideva:''' If these consciousnesses are not truly existent, then the Sāṃkhyas must explain what the nature of this truly existent consciousness is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.66}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas respond (9.66cd):''' It is pure consciousness, which is not qualified by any object. It is a single entity of consciousness that is present in all conscious experiences, past or future.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 351.</ref>

'''Śāntideva's response:''' If all consciousness is singular and truly existent, then it must follow that all beings are one since their individual mindstreams are all one with this nature. Since this unqualified consciousness is inherently present in the mindstreams of all beings, they must all be identically one.

In the last verse of the refutation of the Sāṃkhya presentation of the self as permanent consciousness, '''Śāntideva argues (9.67ab):''' even animate consciousness (''puruṣa'') and the twenty-four categories of inanimate matter, such as ''prakṛti'', would become identical since they are all alike in that they exist as permanent, partless entities.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.67}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' If we take away all these different kinds of minds, such as the mind which sees visual objects and hears audible sounds, minds which are all false and deceptive, then although the Sāṃkhya school speaks of this basic consciousness as true, unitary, and universal, it is hard to see what is left of it.

This concludes the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the Sāṃkhya view of the self as a permanent, partless, yet unitary consciousness.

<h5>ii. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Self of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya Schools' Belief in a Self That Is Material and Unconscious</h5>
Verses 68 and 69 contain Śāntideva's refutation of the presentation of self from the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''The Vaiśeṣika school''' is one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy and is based on Kaṇāda's ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'', composed around the second century BCE. Kaṇāda was more interested in the nature of reality, which he saw as being the dharma. He was not an orthodox follower of the Vedas, but he respected them because they revealed the dharma (here, in the general sense of the law or the truth).

Vaiśeṣika philosophy is a form of realism that believes in the pluralistic reality of things in the world around us, things that are outside and separate from us. His text attempts to investigate the diversity of existent phenomena and to categorize these phenomena into different types of entities.

The ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'' explains to us the futility of life in the illusory world of ''māyā'' and how an understanding of god can liberate us from samsara.

For further information regarding the Vaiśeṣika school, see the following page [Link to VAIŚEṢIKA COMMONS PAGE].

The Nyāya school is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. It was founded by Ṛiṣhi Akṣhipāda and is in some sense a continuation of the early Indian philosophical tradition of the Vaiśeṣika. The followers of the Nyāya refer mainly to Gautama Akṣapāda's ''Nyāyasūtra'', from around the end of the first century CE. This text deals mainly with philosophical debate and logical and epistemological ideas.

The followers of the Nyāya (called Naiyāyikas) accept the self to be a permanent, partless, material phenomenon which, although unconscious, is considered to be the experiencer of things. It is the thing that transmigrates from life to life.

The two traditions of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya were maintained separately until around the eleventh century, when they eventually merged to form a tradition known as the Navya-Nyāya, combining the metaphysical basis of Vaiśeṣika with the epistemological developments of Nyāya.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

Śāntideva begins by refuting the main Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya view that the self is unconscious. His main argument here is that a self, or person, must be conscious. This seems to be directly validated by our everyday experience, where we are aware and have knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

The following verses present the basic debate between Śāntideva and the Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya position, interspersed with the relevant verses from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'':

'''Śāntideva:''' If you hold the self to be an unconscious material substance, then the self cannot experience anything. If that is so, there would be no difference between that form of consciousness and ordinary matter, such as a clay pot.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something destitute of mind, we hold, is not a self.
For mindlessness means matter, like a vase. (9.68ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya:''' It is true that since the self is unconscious, it cannot know objects or experience feelings directly. But when the self becomes associated with consciousness, then due to the mind's power, it can then become conscious of objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting this will destroy your central belief that the fundamental nature of the self is to be unconscious and unaware of phenomena. Now you are saying that it can become aware of objects, which is a contradiction:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the self has consciousness when joined to mind."
Then this refutes its nature of unconsciousness. (9.68cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting an immutable, permanent self which is also affected by mind, such that it becomes cognizant of objects, is untenable.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.69}}
'''Śāntideva:''' The self that you assert cannot be permanent, since the self comes to acquire the awareness of objects, an awareness that it did not previously have when it was unassociated with mind. How can something that is permanent, which never undergoes any kind of change, be affected by something else? How can something else cause this self to change its state, from the state of not knowing or experiencing objects to knowing them? It is not possible to act upon something which is permanent.

And it also follows that if this is how the self is, why would we not call empty space the self? Space, too, is inert and unable to act either negatively or positively, and it is similarly devoid of mind and not able to cognize anything.

<h5>Dispelling Objections to Selflessness</h5>
In the next short section of the text, from verse 70 to 77, Śāntideva fields doubts about the validity of the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka explanation of the selflessness of persons, particularly the doubts that if the self does not exist, then the Buddhist presentation of the law of karma would be untenable, and the doubt that cultivating compassion for those that do not exist would be meaningless.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with the Principle of Karma'''
In verses 70 to 74, Śāntideva responds to the argument that accepting a self which lacks any intrinsic nature and also accepting the law of karma such that actions in the past determine the positive or negative results we experience in the future are logically incompatible.

'''The opponent (who some ascribe to be the Nyāya and some as Vaiśeṣika):''' How is it possible for you, the Prāsaṅgika school, to believe in both the law of karma, where actions in the past determine the results we experience in the future, and at the same time to not believe in the existence of a self? Once the karmic action is done, there is no longer the doer. Therefore, who would receive the results of that action? Since the one who experiences the result of a previous action is someone else, the result of the action goes completely to waste.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.70}}
This is a very important philosophical point that touches on the subject of how the existence of the continuity of individual mindstreams for different beings can be compatible with the Buddhist presentation of selflessness.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument Involving Causality'''

'''9.70 to 9.72:''' ''Answering objections that a self which does not exist inherently can still create karmic actions and receive the karmic results of those, showing that karma and lack of true existence are not incompatible''.
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.72ab):''' It is impossible to find a result that still has its substantial cause present at the time that the result arises. At the time of the result, the cause must necessarily have ceased. It is only possible to draw the relationship of these causes to their results when we look at the perspective of the continuity of the mindstream of a particular being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.72}}
'''Śāntideva (9.72cd):''' In dependence on a single continuum of the aggregates, we can refer to the one who creates the karma and the experiencer of the result of that karma. When talking in reference to a continuum, it is valid to say this person creates karma as well as experiences karma.

Connected to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from a Pāli sutta, where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="The result, O monks, of an action once performed does not affect inanimate elements such as earth and so forth. It ripens on the aggregates, elements, and sense powers that are assumed by a consciousness." The result that ripens on the doer of an action is thus posited in terms of a single mental continuum.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref>
}}
The Buddha himself has stated that the results of karmic actions do not ripen on immaterial and inanimate objects, such as rocks and mountains.<ref>There is a longer discussion of this in [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Khenpo Kunpal]]'s commentary. See [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref> They ripen on the aggregates included within the basis of a person, such as the elements or the sense powers. The effects of actions performed by a living being always ripen in relation to aggregates which are associated with consciousness.

So there is continuity between the one who did the act and the one who receives the result. Despite there being no inherently existent self, it is still reasonable to accept that the continuum experiences the result. However, this is not the same person, as is commonly held by the view of ordinary people. The earlier person who commits the act is a different person from the one who experiences it. But then the question arises: what then is this self?

'''Opponent:''' It is the continuum that is the self.

'''Śāntideva (9.73ab):''' But accepting that this continuum is the continuum of mind and that the continuum of mind is the self is not tenable. If the self is mind, then it must be either the past, present, or future mind. But the past mind is gone and the future mind has not yet been produced, so they are not existent right now and therefore cannot be the self.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.73}}
'''Opponent (9.73c):''' It is the current mind right now that is the self.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument about Existence and Time'''

'''9.73:''' ''If the mind is the self, or indeed any one of the aggregates, then since the aggregates change from moment to moment, the self would become nonexistent in the next moment.''
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.73d):''' If the present mind is asserted to be the self, then a permanent self could not be accepted because this present mind perishes in the next moment and a new mind arises (an argument against Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika). For anyone who believes the self to inherently exist, that self must pass from the past into the present and the present into the future. If this is so, the self cannot be identified as the present moment. These arguments refute the theory of the self being the mental continuum.

In relation to verse 73, the commentaries contain an interesting discussion of what it means to be a continuum.

It says in verse 61 of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Qualities ascribed to Upagupta and Maitreya
Are distinct and cannot be assigned to one continuum.
Phenomena that differ by their varying particulars,
Do not compose a single continuity.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham'' (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2002), 76.</ref>
}}
So there are different continuums for different beings. The continuum of Maitreya is not the continuum of Upagupta.

But the question may arise: Does one specific continuum constitute a single self? The answer is that it does not. We can easily see that a person when they are young is completely different from the same person when they are older, and we can also see that the person in an earlier birth is different from the person in a later birth. We can say that they are of the same continuum but that they are not the same person. The continuum is useful as a label, but it does not inherently exist.

{{standout
|'''Master Mereological Argument in Relation to Mind'''

'''9.74:''' ''The mind cannot be found when searched for among its parts, which are the individual moments of mind. It is neither the past mind, the present mind, or the future mind. However, there must still be some connection between past and future moments to allow for the existence of individual continuities of mind for each person.''
}}

Although the Madhyamaka school says that the continuum exists conventionally, they also point out that when we search for its ultimate nature under analysis, we cannot find anything that we can posit as the continuum, and therefore the continuum lacks any true existence.

'''Śāntideva (9.74ab):''' If we take the example of a plantain tree, and if we mentally analyze it or physically dissect it so that we look through all of its leaves, the trunk, or any of its parts, searching for the essence of this tree, we will find nothing that we can point to that is what we call a plantain tree.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.74}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.74cd):''' Likewise, when we analyze the self or phenomena to see whether they exist inherently and concretely in the way that they appear, we find nothing. Searching through the basis of designation of a phenomena, we are unable to uncover anything that we could call an "I" or essence. Therefore, the self cannot exist in any kind of absolute manner. This kind of ultimate analysis harms any kind of assertion of an intrinsically existing independent self.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with Compassion'''
In verses 75 to 77, Śāntideva answers further questions about the Madhyamaka school's presentation of emptiness.

'''Opponent (9.75):''' Since, for the Madhyamaka, the self does not exist, then living beings cannot exist. And if living beings do not exist, there is no one to be the object of compassion, which is one of the foundations of the Mahāyāna:
{{PullBcaVerses|9.75}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.75cd):''' While there is no inherently or independently existing self, it is still possible to posit the existence of beings from a conventional perspective.

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in his commentary to the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' entitled ''Practicing Wisdom'', brings out an interesting understanding of what Śāntideva means here by ignorance.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By "ignorance" here, Shantideva is not referring to the grasping at intrinsic existence, the fundamental ignorance that is at the root of our unenlightened existence. What he is saying is similar to the statement found in Chandrakirti's ''Supplement to the Middle Way'', where the universe is said to be the product of the ignorant mind. Shantideva says that within the framework of relative truth—that is, within the validity of the conventional world of everyday experience—self does exist. Therefore, sentient beings exist for whom we can generate compassion, and these sentient beings have real suffering.<ref>[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way]]'', trans. and ed. [[People/Jinpa,_Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 106.</ref>
}}
Beings are thrown into the world of samsaric birth through the ignorant mind, and through ignorance they engage in contaminated actions that, while bringing positive or negative results, still keep us bound to the wheel of cyclic existence. Within the world of relative truth, beings do exist, and trapped as they are in this endless cycle of suffering, they are a suitable object for our compassion and bodhicitta.

'''Opponent (9.76ab):''' If there are no sentient beings, then there can be no practitioners of the path and no one who can attain the resultant state. Therefore, why would you take a vow to attain the state of buddhahood?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.76}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.76cd):''' It is true that when subjected to ultimate analysis we cannot find anyone who attains the result, no one for whom the result is attained, nor any result. Ultimately, there is no difference between samsara or nirvana—neither of them have any true existence. But to the perception of those enmeshed in ignorance, these things seem very real. This is an essential point of the Middle Way philosophy—at an unanalyzed level, we can accept the existence of the conventional, dependently related world. But under analysis into their deepest nature, nothing of either samsara or nirvana can be found.

Khenpo Kunpal explains this very nicely by using an analogy of someone who is possessed by a harmful spirit, causing them to experience things that are not really there.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For one who, through ignorance, is enmeshed in dualistic mental patterns, samsara incontestably appears. And because of this, nirvana, the reverse of samsara, also exists. It is rather like a man oppressed by malignant spirits. He lives in the same kind of place as ordinary people, but he suffers because he sees demonic shapes and things that others do not perceive—and yet all the while he is in a perfectly wholesome and pleasant environment. In an ultimate sense, neither samsara nor the peace of nirvana has true existence. It is for this very reason that such things as bondage in samsara and liberation from it are possible; if they had real existence, neither could actually occur. This is a key point, which should be fully assimilated.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 355–56.</ref>
}}
Here, Khenpo Kunpal is pointing out a very important point—by not understanding that samsara and nirvana have not a single atom of true existence, there is bondage in cyclic existence. But there is also the possibility of liberation from that.

'''Opponents may raise the doubt:''' If what we hope to gain is actually unreal and unattainable, why should we make so much effort to train on the path?

'''Madhaymaka response:''' Although, on the ultimate level, there is actually nothing to obtain, on the level of appearance, there is still something to work toward. Until we attain buddhahood, when the ultimate reality of all phenomena appears directly to us, we should neither throw away the idea of trying to destroy the afflictions nor throw away the relative idea that liberation can be attained. This is the path we will have to walk to overcome suffering.

Once we have drawn back all the obscurations, including the obscurations to omniscience, and once all dualistic structures are dismantled, when for us the two truths are in union, only then will we be able to overcome the discrepancy between the appearance of phenomena and their deepest nature. Only then, in the sphere of ultimate reality, will we fully realize that the goal never fundamentally existed and be able to drop all hopes and expectations for conventional phenomena, even for enlightenment itself. Candrakīrti captures this in two verses from his classical work on the Madhyamaka view, ''Entering the Middle Way'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Conventional reality therefore becomes the means;
And by this means, the ultimate is reached.
Those who do not know how these two differ
Err in thought and take mistaken paths. (6.80)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Unlike you, who think dependent nature is a true existent,
Even for the all-concealing relative we make no claims.
And yet, to gain the fruit, we speak in harmony with worldly folk
And grant that things exist, though they do not. (6.81)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', 79.</ref>
}}
'''Opponent's objection:''' If the reality of the conventional world is not to be completely negated, isn’t it possible that we might give these conventional phenomena some sort of objective status that they do not actually possess? And if this is so, it seems that although the afflictions and ignorance can be temporarily halted, it will not be possible to stop them completely.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.77}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.77):''' Clinging to the conventional self to be inherently existent creates a false sense of "I," leading us to give rise to anger, attachment, and the whole range of afflictions, and this in turn leads us to suffering.

This may seem like an endless cycle, but it is not. This ignorance can be overcome. This is possible if we cultivate the mind that lies in direct opposition to this false view of the self—the wisdom realizing the emptiness of the self. This insight, based on valid reasoning, perceives the ultimate reality of the self, the lack of any inherently existent nature, and dismantles the ignorance that has kept us bound in samsara.

Khenpo Kunpal neatly sums up this section of the text by encouraging those of us with good fortune to strive to develop the wisdom that sees the ultimate reality.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=To sum up therefore, belief in selfhood is the root of samsaric existence. As long as this is not eliminated, no matter what practices one undertakes, whether austerities or meditation, one cannot get beyond samsara. Consequently, it has been said that those graced with good fortune who wish for liberation should constantly make their practice a remedy to self-clinging.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Selflessness of Phenomena</h3>
Having refuted the positions of other doctrinal systems on the self of the person and implicitly presented the Madhyamaka view of how the person is empty of an inherent nature, Śāntideva then moves on to the selflessness of all other phenomena which are not the person.

<h4>The Four Foundations of Mindfulness</h4>
In the classical Buddhist tradition, there are many ways to analyze phenomena in order to reveal their deeper nature. Here, in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Śāntideva chooses to focus mainly on some of the component aggregates of a person, the basis of designation of the person, which are considered to be included in the category of phenomena and therefore phenomena that are other than the person.

The system of contemplation that Śāntideva presents here is called the four foundations of mindfulness (''catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna''), also translated as the four close placements of mindfulness.

These four mindfulnesses observe four different aggregates within the continuum of a living being. These four are (1) mindfulness of body (''kāyāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (2) mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (3) mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna''); and (4) mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

These four mindfulnesses are a subset of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (''saptatriṃśadbodhipakśyadharma''), the noble eightfold path (''āryaṣṭāṇgamārga''), as well as the five faculties (''pañcabalāni''), and the five powers (''pañcendriya''). These factors are common both to the non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna traditions, although the reach and focus of these factors has developed along with the traditions.

The Theravāda tradition takes the source for these four mindfulnesses from ''The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness'' (''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta''), which is found in the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pāli Canon.<ref>See sūtra 22 in Maurice Walshe, trans., ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya'' (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 1996), 335.</ref>

But what is the general characteristic of these four mindfulnesses? Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains the etymology of the word ''satipaṭṭhāna'' in his introduction to the ''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta'' as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''Satipaṭṭhāna''—the establishing (''upaṭṭhāna'') of mindfulness (''sati'')—is a meditative technique for training the mind to keep mindfulness firmly established in a particular frame of reference in all its activities. The term ''sati'' is related to the verb ''sarati'', to remember or to keep in mind.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, ''The Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse, Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)'', Dhammatalks.org, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN10.html.</ref>
}}
Most commentaries on this ninth chapter include this section of the text under the outline on the selflessness of phenomena. However, there are some commentators, such as the Sakya master Sonam Tsemo, who explain this section as a refutation of each of these four categories of body etc. as not being the self. From that perspective, this section would then still be under the outline of the selflessness of persons.

In his commentary, Sonam Tsemo goes on to compare the Mahāyāna tradition's approach to these four close placements of mindfulness with the earlier, non-Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition's approach.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This section is not a teaching on the four foundations of mindfulness taught elsewhere as the impurity of the body, the suffering of sensations, the impermanence of mind and the non-self of dharmas. However, one need not think there is any contradiction here to that teaching, only a different purpose. In our bodhisattva tradition, the purpose is to analyse the individual self for which grasping arises under the power of wrong views, by developing the characteristics of non-self in the meditative objects [i.e. the four foundations] to purify defilements. In the other tradition, since conduct degenerates under the influence of defilements such as attachment, one develops in one’s stream of being the characteristics of abandonment of the four wrong views as meditative objects to purify conduct.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 389.</ref>
}}
The earlier tradition focuses much more on factors such as the impurity of the body, the changeable and suffering nature of feelings, or the impermanence of the mind. It is only in the fourth category of phenomena that the tradition looks into the aspect of nonself. In the Madhyamaka tradition, there is a much greater emphasis on the ultimate nature of these categories of phenomena.

In our ordinary daily experience, things seem to exist out there and independently, to exist from their own side, as though unconnected to anything else. But instead of just looking into the conventional characteristics of these aggregates, such as the body, Śāntideva follows the Madhyamaka approach of analyzing the final nature of these phenomena, searching to see if they exist inherently and from their own side, which is the way that they seem to appear in ordinary experience.

In regard to the way in which the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna traditions emphasize these meditations differently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama states the following in his ''Practicing Wisdom'' commentary:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Generally speaking, meditating on the mindfulness of body, reflecting upon the nature of our own body, is the approach explained in the Hinayana scriptures. However, we can extend this contemplation to the nature of the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena of all beings, who are limitless like space. Then it becomes a training of the mind according to the Mahayana path. When we contemplate the emptiness of these four factors—body, feelings, mind, and phenomena—we are practicing a mindfulness meditation focused on the ultimate truth.<ref>[[Dalai Lama, 14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom]]'', 109. </ref>
}}
This form of analysis seeks to determine whether phenomena are really "true" and "undeceptive." And one of the primary ways in which we can determine whether something is true or deceptive is to look at whether it actually exists the way that it appears. If we find a discrepancy between how it exists and how it appears to us, we would recognize that as something deceptive.

Thus, in order to examine whether phenomena really do exist out there without dependence on anything else, we use these kinds of analyses, those that look past the surface level appearance to the underlying deepest status of existence.

The arguments in this section are less specifically focused on refuting a particular school. Instead, the principal opponent is more general and encompasses anyone who believes in the inherent existence of phenomena. This includes all the non-Buddhist schools but also the lower systems of Buddhist tenet holders, such as the Cittamātrins.

<h5>Mindfulness of the Body</h5>
Verses 78 to 87 cover the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, the close placement of mindfulness of the body (''kāyasmṛtyupasthāna''), and here, specifically, the mindfulness that analyzes the awareness of the empty nature of the body.

Attachment to our bodies, whether that is as an essential part of maintaining our health and well-being or is for the purposes of making ourselves attractive, is a primary feature of our lives. So much of our experience as human beings occurs in relation to our own physical body, but a very strong component of our experience of attachment is connected also with the physical forms of others. To help release us from this grasping to the physical body, Śāntideva provides us with a variety of reasons to prove that the body has no inherent existence.

In his commentary, Pema Karpo divides mindfulness of the body into three sections: (1) showing that each of the individual parts are not the body; (2) showing that there is no single body that pervades all of its individual parts; and (3) refuting forms of confusion, such as taking the collection of the parts to be the body.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 104 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>

'''1. Showing That Each of the Individual Parts Are Not the Body:'''

In terms of this first section, in verses 78 and 79 Śāntideva searches within the constituent parts of the body, such as the arms and legs, for what we call the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.78}}
In his commentary to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal points out one of the crucial points in the Madhyamaka analysis of whether a phenomena has any trace of true existence or not. The argument is that if the phenomena in question exists inherently from its own side, then it must necessarily be found somewhere within its parts. If it cannot be found in its parts, then it must be a mere imputation.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we call "the body" is a mere imputation; it does not exist inherently. Our reason for saying this is that if a body, which is apprehended as a single (partless) whole complete with all its sense faculties, existed as such, it would have to be present in its members, for example the hand. But the various body parts, the foot, the shins and calves, are not the body. The thighs and hips, the waist and loins, the belly, back, chest and arms, and so on and so forth—none of these is the body.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}
Taking the example here of the body, Śāntideva asks us to search through all the parts of the body to see whether any one of them is the body. If we can find something within those parts that we can call the body, then the body could be said to exist inherently, or from its own side.

The analysis continues to examine each of the individual parts to see whether any of these components of the body can fit the definition of what the body is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.79}}
In the end, the conclusion is that there is nothing within the parts of the body that we can find to call the body. No single part can be considered the body. "So what then is this body?" Śāntideva inquires.

Since we cannot find it under search on the basis on which it appears, it must therefore lack intrinsic existence. It must be a mere imputation.

'''2. Showing That There Is No Single Body That Pervades All of Its Individual Parts:'''

The next argument, seen in verses 80–82, revolves around the way we experience our body. In ordinary life, when thinking about or experiencing the body, it seems to be a singular entity. But Śāntideva points out that there cannot be a singular and inherently existent body that pervades all of its parts.

'''The opponent's position (some commentators attribute to the Sāṃkhyas):''' It is true that each of the individual parts are not the body. But is there something that pervades all the parts? Is there a singular thing that enters all the parts?

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the body does indeed pervade all the parts, then that would suggest that the body itself is not actually composed of parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.80}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Where then does this singular partless body exist? And if this singular and complete whole body exists separately and equally in all of the parts of the body, there would be the fallacy that there would be as many whole bodies as there are parts of the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.81}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Since the body is neither found to exist as identical to its individual parts nor found to exist separately and independently of these parts, the body must therefore lack any form of intrinsic existence, and its deepest nature must be that of emptiness.

'''3. Refuting Forms of Confusion, Such as Taking the Collection of the Parts to Be the Body:'''

In verses 83 to 86, Śāntideva presents arguments against the complete collection of the parts being the body, using the analogy of a pile of stones formed into a cairn appearing to be a person, while actually never being a human being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.83}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.84}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Śāntideva uses an analogy of how, when particular conditions arise, a group of stones which have been piled up, can be mistaken for a person. Similarly, there is no possibility for this body to be self-existent, intrinsically real, and truly existent, without any relation to other phenomena, such as its parts. When conditions arise such that all those parts come together, we can conventionally talk of the body appearing. But since the appearance of the body to an apprehending consciousness relies on the aggregation of many conditions, and since it lacks any autonomous status of its own, the body is actually a mere imputation or designation posited upon the assembled collection of its parts. Aside from being a mere label, this body, in fact, has no other existential status.

Śāntideva extends this mode of analysis of checking whether a phenomena exists in its parts or not, but he turns his focus instead to the individual parts of the body, such as the hands, to see whether they themselves are to be found in their parts. Taking a hand, he looks at all the individual parts that make up a hand and asks, "Where within the parts of the hand can we find what we call the hand?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.85}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking a hand, we mentally dissect it to see where the subject we call hand is to be found. But, just as in the example of the body, when we look for it in its parts, it cannot be found. And if we keep on searching into the parts of the parts and dividing them down into smaller and smaller particles, even the smallest particles lack any form of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.86}}
This process is similar to the scientific search for the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Many scientists are beginning to conclude that it will never be possible to find independent and fundamental particles that cannot be further reduced to their parts.

This verse also contains a refutation of the Vaiśeṣika position that the whole world is formed from the permanent and indivisible atoms, which are the foundations, or creators, of the physical universe. This school accepts space to be permanent and omnipresent, but the atoms of the elements of earth, water, fire, and air are not accepted to be omnipresent but are asserted to be permanent. In contrast, the grosser, more manifest things which are made of these atoms are believed to be impermanent.

This refutation is also very relevant to the refutation of the Mīmāṃsā belief that the smallest particles can be no smaller than what is visible to the naked eye, and therefore, at that level, must be partless.

This refutation is also mentioned in verse 126ab, in the refutation of production from a permanent creator.<ref>Verse 126ab reads:<br>Those who hold the permanence of particles<br>Were indeed refuted earlier.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 155.</ref>

'''All Form Is an Illusion'''

From all this analysis, Śāntideva determines that there can be nothing physical that can have any intrinsic nature, out there and independent, existing from their own side, without being in some way dependent on other phenomena.

In the concluding section on the close placement of mindfulness on the body, Śāntideva reminds us that all physical forms are like illusions—they appear in one way but in reality exist in another way. If our own bodies and those of others are actually like a dream, then what reason is there for anyone who has the wisdom that comes from this kind of analysis to be attached?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.87}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Since the terms ''male'' and ''female'' are designated on the basis of the difference between male and female bodies, and since the intrinsic nature of those bodies is not found on search, then male and female cannot have any inherent existence.

<h5>Mindfulness of Feeling</h5>
For verses 88 to 101, Śāntideva applies similar logical arguments to the subject of feelings. This close application of mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna'') looks into the three primary feelings—pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings—to see if they have any intrinsic existence.

Just as with the body, our feelings play a primary role in our lives, and our attachment to pleasure and aversion to pain are some of the primary drivers of our lives. Underlying this strong clinging is the grasping at the feelings to be true and objectively existent.

However, Thrangu Rinpoche explains how feelings are just mental projections and have no substantial nature of their own.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Feelings themselves are really just mental projections, with no truth or reality in themselves. The feeling we mainly experience is what we think of as pleasure or pain. For example, when we are happy, we enjoy eating nutritious food. But when we are depressed or disappointed, the same delicious food does not give us joy at all. So the feeling of pain or pleasure is not the real substantial event, but a mental projection.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 211.</ref>
}}
In relation to this section of the text, Gyalse Thokme Zangpo quotes from Nāgārjuna's ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' to show that if something has an inherent nature, it cannot transform into something else.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If a thing exists by way of its intrinsic being,
It can never cease to be.
Intrinsic being never can admit
A change into another state. (15.8)<ref>See [[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union, 2003), 343. The translation of [[Nāgārjuna]]'s verse here is from the [[Padmakara Translation Group]]. See [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The Mulamadhyamakakarika'', by [[People/Nāgārjuna|Nagarjuna]] (Boulder, CO: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2016), 48.</ref>
}}
Thokme Zangpo goes on to say the following in relation to this verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If the feeling of suffering itself were truly existent, that could never be discarded. There is no way that it could not harm its direct opposite, great joy and happiness. And because of that they (joy and happiness) would never arise.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 114.</ref>
}}
The important point being made in Nāgārjuna's treatise is that if something inherently exists, it would have to exist forever and could never cease to be. Further consequences would be that they would not be affected by any other conditions, and they would not be able to change into anything else. These arguments lie at the heart of how Śāntideva approaches the refutation of a self of phenomena that exists from its own side. The first verse of this section follows that line of reasoning.

'''Śāntideva (9.88ab):''' If the feeling of suffering were truly real, then it would have to always be present, and therefore pleasurable feelings could never arise. A person who experienced suffering could never feel happy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.88}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.88cd):''' And if the feelings of pleasure and happiness were inherently real, then why would things such as pleasant tastes not provide some solace for those in intense moments of grief.

This argument relies on the understanding that feelings of pleasure and pain cannot exist simultaneously and that existing independently means that no external factors can operate to induce change.

'''Counterargument (9.89ab):''' Happiness may still arise at the time that we are overcome with the suffering of grief, but because the feeling of suffering is very strong, it is able to suppress the happiness so that we do not experience it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.89}}
'''Śāntideva counters (9.89cd):''' The argument that the feeling of suffering overpowers the feeling of happiness, although happiness is still present, makes no sense at all. What is a feeling if it is not actually felt in experience? Feeling is by necessity something that has to be experienced. So if it is not experienced, then it cannot exist.

'''Further objection (9.90ab):''' But when a powerful feeling of happiness is present, it does not mean that no feeling of suffering at all is present. It just means that the painful sensation is a very subtle state, and therefore it is not recognized.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.90}}
'''Śāntideva again counters (9.90cd):''' It is impossible for feelings of suffering and happiness to coexist at the same time in one person's mindstream. If they could coexist, they should both be experienced at the same time, which is not how it ever appears to us.

'''Potential objection (9.90c):''' Perhaps there is subtle pain at the time of great pleasure, but it could be prevented from acting as subtle pain. The powerful sense of bliss could transform that subtle pain into a mere pleasurable sensation such that it is experienced as a kind of subtle pleasure. To represent this objection, Khenpo Kunpal uses the analogy of a clear crystal stained with vermilion, which appears red but is actually a clear crystal underneath.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 361.</ref>

'''Śāntideva responds:''' If you call subtle pain to be mere pleasure, then it is no longer pain. You have classified it as pleasure, and therefore it is no longer any kind of pain, gross or subtle. And if it were mere pleasure experienced as subtle pleasure, what difference would there be between that and the subtler form of pleasure? So none of these invalid distinctions make any sense.

With this analysis revealing the lack of inherent existence of the feelings such as pleasure and pain, Śāntideva advises us to abide in that realization as an antidote to clinging to the true existence of feelings.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.92}}
Since feelings play such a fundamental role in our lives, it is vital that we are able to see through their true existence and understand how they are like illusions. We must release ourselves from believing everything we feel to be real. In the last lines of the verse, Śāntideva encourages us to cultivate the deep meditative absorption on the empty nature of feelings, an absorption which is grown within a fertile field of analysis. This, he says, is the true sustenance of yogis.

'''Refuting Contact–The Cause of Feelings'''

The next section covers verses 93 to 101 and expresses further arguments as to why the feelings we experience have no intrinsic reality. It is based on the idea that feelings arise from contact. For instance, in teachings on the twelve links of dependent origination (''dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda''), the chain starting with ignorance leads to a new rebirth and the emergence of the physical sense powers. The next links are contact, feeling, and then craving and grasping. And the link of contact here, which acts as the direct cause for the arising of feeling, is the contact between the sense powers, the sense object, and an immediately preceding consciousness. Therefore, Śāntideva looks into the lack of inherent status of contact. He determines that if the cause of contact lacks inherent existence, then the effect of feeling must lack inherent existence.

This section is divided into three main outlines: (1) refuting the inherent meeting of sense powers and object; (2) refuting the inherent meeting with the consciousness; (3) refuting inherent contact arising from the meeting of these three.

'''1. Refuting the Inherent Meeting of Sense Powers and Their Objects'''

In verses 93 and 95, Śāntideva presents the impossibility of there being contact between inherently existent sense powers, such as the eye, and their sense objects, such as visible form. Firstly, he analyzes this on the coarser level before going later into the argument at the level of particles.

Feeling happens when its cause, contact, occurs. It comes from the meeting of the three things—the sense faculty, the object, and consciousness. If that meeting is logically examined, it does not exist, and hence there is no arising of feeling due to that condition.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.93}}
'''Śāntideva questions:''' If there is space between the sense power and its object, then how will it be possible for these two to meet? And if there is no space between them, they would become one, and then what would there be to meet what?

'''Opponent's response:''' This meeting of the sense power goes on at a much subtler level. It is not at the gross, directly observable level. Rather, it takes place at the level of particles.

'''Śāntideva responds: (This argument is particularly directed to opponents, such as the Vaibhāṣikas school as well as other Indian non-Buddhist schools, who accept forms of matter that have no parts, such as partless particles)''' Contact between the sense organ and the sense object, even at the level of particles, appears to happen, but in reality it does not. The sense organs and the sense objects are physical forms and are therefore made up of particles. But the sense organs and physical objects are not omnidirectional, and therefore all the particles of each cannot fully meet. Only the closest particles in one direction will meet the other, and therefore there will be some particles in the center of each that prevent the far sides from touching each other.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.94}}
This argument relies on the acceptance of the idea that for two material objects to meet, all of the particles of each object would have to meet and therefore merge.

'''Opponent:''' The particles of the sense faculties and the sense objects meet, but at this level the particles are partless.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It is not possible for two partless physical things to meet. If they are partless, they must lack any kind of direction with which to then meet another physical object and so would have to fully interpenetrate each other, which would essentially mean fusing together.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.95}}
If, on the other hand, there is contact between two physical objects, and their particles touch on one side but do not have contact throughout their entirety, then they cannot be partless. They would then have to possess directional parts, as some would meet another object and some would not.

'''2. Refuting the Inherent Meeting with the Consciousness'''

Having refuted the inherent meeting of the sense power and the sense object, Śāntideva moves on to refute the inherent meeting between consciousness and objects themselves. Here, the consciousness being referred to is the consciousness which acts as the immediately preceding condition, one of the three conditions necessary for sense consciousnesses to arise.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Consciousness is immaterial,
And so one cannot speak of contact with it. (9.96ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is unacceptable to talk of an immaterial consciousness meeting with a material, physical object. There is no possibility for something that has no form to meet something that has form.

The refutation of meeting with the coarse: Also, the meeting with a coarse object that is a collection of many atoms does not exist inherently because no truly existent object exists on that. Similarly, inherent existence had already been refuted earlier through the analysis of the collection of digits.

'''3. Refuting Inherent Contact Arising from the Meeting of These Three'''

In the second two lines of verse 96 and in verses 97 and 98, Śāntideva turns his attention to refuting any kind of contact arising from the meeting of the sense object, the sense faculty, and a consciousness.

'''Opponent:''' Even though it is not coherent to talk of the sense power or the consciousness meeting the sense object, there must be some kind of convergence of these three factors which then causes contact to occur, followed by feeling.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It may appear that there is some kind of convergence between these three factors, but in reality no substantial inherent existence of that contact can be found under ultimate analysis.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A combination, too, has no reality,
Just as we have previously shown. (9.96cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
The last line refers back to the analysis of the hand and searching for it in its basis of designation, the individual fingers. Just as in that example, here also no trace of inherent existence of this contact can be found.

'''Śāntideva's conclusion:''' Feeling itself has been analyzed and found to have no trace of intrinsic existence. Contact, the direct cause of feeling, has also been shown to have no inherent existence, and if a cause lacks inherent existence, that cause's effect must also lack any intrinsic nature, unrelated to its causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.97}}
"What purpose," Śāntideva questions, "is there in expending all our energy in chasing pleasure and trying to avoid pain?"

If we contemplate these points and come to a clear understanding that there is no inherent object of feeling and that feeling itself lacks any inherent existence, how could this not stop our craving?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.98}}
The flow of the argument again relies on the sequence of the twelve links of dependent origination. From the development of name and form in a new rebirth, the sense powers develop. They come into contact with their relevant objects, and from that feelings arise. Following on from feelings, there comes the arising of craving to maintain pleasant sensations and craving to avoid unpleasant sensations. Thus, Śāntideva asks, if we understand the inherent existence of each of these prior links, then how is it that we do not cause our craving to cease?

Having refuted the true existence of contact, the cause of feeling, Śāntideva now turns his analysis to the focal object of feeling. In the first two lines of verse 99, he mentions the object of feeling and specifically mentions visual and tactile objects, but he is referring to any object of feeling.

'''Śāntideva:''' Feeling cannot exist inherently because the objects of feeling are not inherently existent. These objects are conditions for the feeling to arise, but since they themselves are unfindable on search, they are like illusions, mere appearances lacking any true existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we see and what we touch
Is stuff of dreams and mirages. (9.99ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
In all these arguments, Śāntideva is clear to express that while the person, the feelings they experience, and the objects they experience lack any kind of substantial existence, they are not utterly nonexistent. They do exist, but they exist in an unreal way, like dreams.

'''Refuting That Their Object-Possessor Exists Inherently'''

Having refuted the inherent existence of the objects of feeling, Śāntideva turns his attention to the consciousness that perceives the feeling. Feelings arise in conjunction with the mind. In verses 99cd to 101, he asks whether that consciousness occurs at the same time as the feeling, before it, or after it.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If feeling is coincident with consciousness,
It follows that it is not seen thereby. (9.99cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If feeling is accepted to be inherently existent but also simultaneous with feeling, then there would be no way for that consciousness to perceive the feeling. Two things which are both inherently existent and yet simultaneous cannot be connected causally or by being of the same nature. They cannot rely on or interact with one another in any way.

Here, Śāntideva is also arguing the more general point that any two mental events that arise at the same time can never apprehend one another. This relates back to the refutation of self-cognition of the Cittamātra school contained in verses 15 to 29.

'''Question:''' What if feeling and its perceiving consciousness arise sequentially, with one before the other?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.100}}
'''Śāntideva (9.100ab):''' This is not tenable, because if the sense consciousness existed prior to its object—in this case feelings—then it would arise without referencing its own object. It would have no referential object when it was produced. No consciousness can be produced without an object.

And if the consciousness occurs after its object, the feeling, then the same argument applies. Since the object is already nonexistent at the time that consciousness arises, from what referential object is the consciousness produced? This would be a case of remembering a sensation rather than directly experiencing it.

'''Śāntideva concludes (9.100cd):''' Since the feeling cannot experience itself, and there is no other consciousness present at the time that it exists to experience it, then we must conclude that there is no feeling that has any independent, intrinsic nature of any kind.

This concludes the analysis of the nature of feeling, which is done through the close placement of mindfulness of feeling.

<h5>Mindfulness of Mind</h5>
Verses 102 to 105 present the close placement of mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna'').

Śāntideva continues his examination of the aggregates of a person, this time directing the analysis toward the mind. The first context in which the analysis takes place is a search for the location of the mind. Here, he takes mental awareness, and he looks to see where the mind is. He asks, "Is the mind within the sense organs, or does it exist externally within the object of the mind, or is it somewhere in between?"

'''Showing That the Mental Consciousness Does Not Exist Inherently'''

{{PullBcaVerses|9.102}}
This argument was originally in reference to certain non-Buddhist schools that believed that the mind had to be located within the interior of the body, while others believed that it existed at the extremities of the body. We can see a modern correlation of this belief in the scientific tradition, which often presents the mind as located in the brain.

The implication of this argument is that if the mind were to be inherently existent, then it would have to inherently exist in one of these places. But Śāntideva points out that the mind cannot be found in any of these locations. It does not exist in any of the six sense powers—the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the tactical sense, or the mental sense power. It also does not exist in any of the six objects–visible forms, sounds, smells, sights, tactical objects, and mental objects. And since it also does not exist anywhere in between the sense powers and sense objects, there is no basis for the mind.

Having established that there is no physical location for the mind, Śāntideva then turns to an analysis of the deeper nature of the mind.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.103}}
In the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) school, they accept eight different main categories of consciousness. However, in the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school they accept only six main categories of mind—the five sense consciousnesses, and then a sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness. In verses 103 and 104, Śāntideva is specifically referring to this sixth consciousness, which is a mental consciousness.

He runs through all the possibilities of how the sixth mental consciousness could exist if they were to have an inherent nature: it should be located in the body, or outside of it, or in some way mixed with the body. But under analysis it can be found in none of these places, and the conclusion is therefore that it cannot exist inherently.

The last line of this verse has several interpretations. From the perspective of the Gelukpa scholar Gyaltsap Je, the meaning of "beings are by their nature beyond the reach of suffering" is that because the mind does not exist inherently, the emptiness of the mind of sentient beings is beyond sorrow. In contrast, the great Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo explains this last line as meaning that all beings are primordially pure by nature.

'''Showing That the Sense Consciousnesses Do Not Exist Inherently'''

Śāntideva now switches his attention to the sense consciousnesses and searches into their deeper nature to see if he can find any traces of an intrinsic identity. He does this through analysis of them in relation to their sense objects.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.104}}
Geshe Yeshe Tobden explains the essential conditions needed for a sense consciousness to be produced as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Perceiving consciousness arises from three factors—an object of perception, the sense faculty, and the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.<ref>[[Tobden, Yeshe|Geshe Yeshe Tobden]], ''[[The Way of Awakening|The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara]]'', trans. [[Bazzano, M.|Manu Bazzano]] and [[Doveton, S.|Sarita Doveton]], ed. [[Rizzi, F.|Fiorella Rizzi]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 327.</ref>
}}
Out of these three conditions, the objective condition (''dmigs rkyen'') is the external referential object. An example would be a physical form for eye consciousness. That external objective condition must either exist before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness. There are no other possibilities.

If the sense consciousness exists before its focal object, then in connection with which referential object does it arise? If it existed at the same time as the object, then that object could not act as a cause, since causes necessarily need to precede their effects. The same question would then arise: In relation to which object does the sense consciousness arise?

Verse 105 deals with the analysis of whether a consciousness could occur after its referential object. This is a slightly more complex argument, as in normal life effects are actually observed to occur after their causes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If consciousness comes later than its object,
Once again, from what does it arise? (9.105ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, the argument relies more heavily on refuting the consciousness and object as both having an independent and intrinsic nature. If cause and effect are both believed to have inherent existence, then since that means they must be independent of anything else, if a cause is not present at the time of the effect, then it cannot have any influence on it.

'''Śāntideva's questions (9.105ab):''' If the sense consciousness arises after its object, from what does it arise, since the object of its perception has ceased to be? And if the object has ceased, then does it still continue to exist or not?

'''Śāntideva's logical consequences:''' If the object still exists but has not yet ceased at the time of the consciousness, then it must be simultaneous with the perceiving consciousness, and the fault above applies.

If it ceases before the consciousness arises, then it must be accepted that something arises from something that no longer exists. If this is so, then why couldn't plants arise from burned or damaged seeds? If the mind and its objects were inherently existent, and the objects had ceased before the mind arose, then there would be the logical fallacy that anything could come from anything.

An essential point to note here is that while these arguments from the Madhyamaka philosophy refute the inherent existence of the different kinds of mind, they do not in any way refute the conventional existence of the mind.

<h5>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h5>
So far, Śāntideva has covered the lack of inherent nature of the body, feelings, and mind. From the second lines of verse 105 until the verse 150, Śāntideva turns his attention to the last of the four mindfulnesses: the mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

In the first verse of this section, he explains how all phenomena, whether impermanent or permanent, are said to be beyond the scope of knowledge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus the origin of all phenomena
Exceeds the reach of understanding. (9.105cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, Śāntideva is clear to point out that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding.

This is an important point in the argument, because if, through the reasons employed by the Madhyamaka school, Śāntideva is successful in refuting the inherent existence of impermanent things, then—as Nāgārjuna put it clearly in his ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'')—it will be much easier to refute the inherent existence of more abstract entities, such as space and time.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since arising, ceasing, and abiding
Are not established, there are no compounded things.
If all compounded things are unestablished,
How could the uncompounded be established? 7.33<ref>[[Garfield, J.|Jay L. Garfield]], trans., ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (New York: [[People/Oxford_University_Press|Oxford University Press]], 1995), 22.</ref>
}}
But in the last line of verse 105, what does it mean to say that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding? Does that mean that there is no phenomena that can be known? In answer to this question, different scholars provide us with different explanations. For instance, the Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo, in asking us what the mindfulness of phenomena is, also connects this meaning with the analysis in previous sections where the production of a phenomena from inherently existent causes which occur before, at the same time as, or after the result are all analyzed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is the mindfulness of phenomena? Likewise (as analyzed above), because it is not reasonable for something to be produced from something else prior to, at the same time as, or after, the production of all phenomena is something that cannot be realized.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|
Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 107 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunpal follows up on this and explains that the mindfulness of phenomena is approached in the same way as the explanations of the lack of inherent nature in the previous forms of mindfulness. There, we also come to understand through analysis that nothing arises from itself or from something else, nor both, nor neither.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As we have just explained, the way in which phenomena, whether compounded or uncompounded, arise is beyond our conceptual grasp. Phenomena do not come into being before, after, or simultaneously with their cause; they do not arise from themselves nor from something else nor from both nor from neither. They are without origin; and what is without origin can have no abiding or cessation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 366.</ref>
}}
There is also another, more simple presentation from Gyaltsap Je where he says that since we have established all phenomena to lack inherent existence, there can be no inherent production of phenomena, and for that reason they are beyond the scope of understanding.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas. Chapter Nine: The Way of Training in the Wisdom'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Je]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016 ), 58. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>

'''Refuting Objections'''
Śāntideva now turns his attention to countering the objections that opponents raise about the Madhyamaka presentation that all phenomena lack inherent existence but are still nominally existent and are able to perform functions.

This section has two parts: (1) refuting the objection that there is no conventional truth and (2) refuting the objection that this ascertainment entails an infinite regress.

'''1. Refuting the Objection That There Is No Conventional Truth'''

The first objection from the opponent is that the results of the previous method of analysis result in the consequence that no conventional phenomena can exist.

'''Opponent (9.106ab):''' If nothing can be found that is produced from something prior to it, at the same time as it, or after it, then production of conventional phenomena would not be possible. Indeed, if all phenomena lack any inherent existence, then all conventional phenomena must be devoid of identity. If that is so, then conventional phenomena do not exist, and therefore there would be only one truth, the ultimate truth, and there could not be two truths as you assert.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.106}}
'''Someone may respond:''' The relative does exist but only in the worldly people’s deluded thoughts.

'''In response to that question, the opponent raises a second objection (9.106cd):''' If all conventional realities lack any inherent existence and are mere appearances to the confused minds of ordinary beings, then for as long as beings exist their confused minds will also exist. If conventional phenomena are merely attributed by an erroneous mind in the same way as the mistaken mind that attributes a snake to a coiled piece of rope, then how can the conventional phenomena have any reality?

Worldly beings' minds would always be filled with these confused dualistic appearances, and they would never attain nirvana because nirvana is the exhaustion of all of these confused, dualistic conceptions.

'''Śāntideva's reply (9.107):''' If those things were true, there would not be two truths, and beings could never remove their mistaken dualistic appearances. But that is not what I mean by the conventional.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.107}}
'''In answer to the first doubt:''' It is important to note that the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school does not talk of two truths at the ultimate level. At the ultimate level, there is only one truth, pure suchness which is the ultimate mode of being. The two truths are spoken of at a relative level, where we see a disparity between the way things appear and the way things actually are. This disparity corresponds to the conventional and ultimate truths.

'''In answer to the second doubt:''' The Prāsaṅgika Madhyamikas do not assert that conventional phenomena exist only as a mere designation of mistaken minds, leading them to be a false type of existence. Instead, they assert that conventional truths are designations made by a valid mind upon a valid basis. There are not randomly attributed fictions of an ignorant mind. While conventional phenomena do not have any inherent existence, they can perform functions, and therefore there are valid agents, actions, and the results of actions.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.108}}
'''2. Refuting the Objection That This Ascertainment Entails an Infinite Regress'''

In response to this analysis of phenomena and the presentation that there is not a single atom of true existence in phenomena, the other schools raise an objection related to the analyzing consciousness.

'''Opponent's objection (9.109):''' You say that when any phenomena is analyzed, that analytical mind itself, which is a valid cognition, does not find any trace of inherent existence. But that analytical mind is not included in the analysis. So, does that analytical mind require another separate analytical mind to investigate its own lack of inherent nature? And if so, then there would follow an infinite regress of analyzing consciousnesses, each subsequent one needed to verify the preceding one.
And if that first analyzing mind does not require another analyzing consciousness to investigate its nature, then why do other nonmental phenomena require it? There would be no need for any valid cognizer of the lack of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.109}}
'''Śāntideva's reply (9.110):''' The valid cognition which ascertains that all phenomena lack inherent existence does not need other valid cognitions to ascertain it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.110}}
'''Śāntideva continues his reply (9.110):''' Why is that? Because when that initial valid cognition ascertains the lack of inherent existence of phenomena, which is the understanding of their emptiness, then as long as that mind does not wander and decline, then it is not possible for that mind to perceive any phenomena as truly existent.

Here, there are two slightly different interpretations of the meaning of the last two lines of verse 11.

The Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal interprets this verse as meaning that through the process of analysis, when there is no longer any inherent object as a focal point, the subjective consciousness then subsides, and a state of natural nirvana is reached.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Shantideva says that when phenomena are investigated and are found to be without true existence, and when it is ascertained with certainty that they cannot be characterized as produced or unproduced, analysis itself ceases to have an identifiable object or basis. When there is no longer any object or basis to act as a target, no analyzing subject will arise to focus on it. All concepts are stilled, and the analysis itself subsides like ripples on the water. This is called the "natural nirvana in the state of dharmata."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 369.</ref>
}}
In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', the great scholar Minyak Kunzang Sönam presents a slightly different perspective on the meaning of this verse. He explains how no further cognitions are required to validate the mind which realizes emptiness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because when, through logical analytical reasoning, one finds certainty in the irreality of all phenomena, then as long as the mind does not wander from that apprehension, no seemingly true phenomenon which could be the object or basis of that analysis can appear to that mind. Also, the unimpaired strength of the mind which realises validly the absence of true existence of phenomena will know them to be not truly existent as soon as there arises the question in the mind as to whether any observed phenomenon is truly existent. Thus our manifest conceptual belief in the reality of the mind which investigates phenomena will no longer occur because it has been eliminated through the former valid reasoning.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries|Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara]]'', ''Khenchen Kunzang Palden's The Nectar of Mañjushri's Speech and Minyak Kunzang Sönam's The Brilliant Torch'' (Saint Léon sur Vézère, France: [[People/Padmakara|Editions Padmakara]], 1999), 224.</ref>
}}
Because no truly existent phenomena, which could be the basis of analysis, can appear to the mind that has ascertained the lack of true existence, no further cognitions are required, so there is no fault of an infinite regress.

Another reason is that the mind that understands emptiness will break down our conceptual belief in phenomena to be truly existent, and so the belief in an inherently existent mind that realizes emptiness will not arise.

Kunzang Sönam goes on to explain the meaning of "natural nirvana" in this verse as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As there is no longer any truly existent object for such a mind, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the result of the refutation, absence of true existence—or again, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the mind which refutes it—can come into being in reality. The reason for this has just been explained.

Their not coming into being in reality is natural nirvana, and if one becomes used to the realisation of this, this is called attaining the nirvana free of adventitious stains. We can also explain 'not coming into being' as the fact that the assumption that the analysing mind itself is truly existent does not arise.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 224.</ref>
}}
In this explanation, the natural nirvana means that there is no true existence of anything to take as the object of mind. Neither true existence of the object nor lack of true existence nor even the mind that refutes that true existence—none of these—truly exist, and this realization is the nirvana free from adventitious stains.

'''There Is No Proof That Consciousness and Its Objects Truly Exist'''

In verses 111 to 115, Śāntideva turns his attention to the position of the Buddhist realists, such as the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools. In particular, he refutes the position that sensory consciousnesses and their sensory objects are inherently existent. He argues that there are no valid reasons to prove that these phenomena have any true or substantial existence.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.112ab):''' If the true existence of an object is validated by the consciousness apprehending it, then what is it that validates the consciousness? And if an object validates the true existence of the consciousness that apprehends it, then what is it that validates the consciousness itself?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.112}}
'''Opponent’s reply:''' The subjective consciousness and its object both mutually certify each other's true existence.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.112cd):''' It is not possible for the subjective consciousness and its object to mutually validate each other's intrinsic existence. If they are both intrinsically existent, they would have to be completely independent and unrelated to any other phenomena. And if they are mutually validating, they would have to lose any trace of true existence.

Śāntideva goes on to use an analogy of a parent and their son to explain how the consciousness and its object are mutually dependent and therefore can have no intrinsic existence of their own.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.113}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.113):''' Before any child is conceived, a person cannot be said to be a parent. A person can only be said to be a parent once their child has been born. There can be no parent without a child and no child without a parent. The two are established in mutual dependence upon each other.

Likewise, there can be no consciousness without an object and no object without a consciousness to apprehend it. Consciousness and its object are mutually dependent, and therefore it is not valid to say that they are inherently existent.

This point is clearly made in Nāgārjuna's ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivaraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The cognizer perceives the cognizable;
Without the cognizable there is no cognition;
Therefore why do you not admit
That neither object nor subject exists [at all]? (verse 39)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''A Commentary on the Awakening Mind (Bodhicittavivaraṇa)'', by Nāgārjuna (Montreal: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2007), 4–5, PDF, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}
And in one of his other texts from the five great texts on reasoning, ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Nāgārjuna explains the point that being dependently related and also being inherently existent are contradictory.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And how can it be right to speak
Of an intrinsic being that's contrived?
Intrinsic being is not fabricated,
Is not contingent upon something else. (1.2)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', 47.</ref>
}}
Anything which is inherently existent cannot come about through relying on causes and conditions and cannot be dependent on anything else. Anything which is created or dependent on something else must be an interdependent phenomena. Something that is dependent and something fabricated are mutually exclusive, just as there can never be anything that is both dependent and independent or fabricated and unfabricated—these categories are mutually exclusive.

'''Opponent's objection (9.114):''' An inherently existent seed can produce an inherently existent shoot. And the existence of that inherently existent seed can be established from the very presence of its effect, the shoot itself. The existence of consciousness which arises from the object of its cognition must necessarily imply the existence of its object.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.114}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.115ab):''' Your example is untenable because it is not simply through the mere presence of the result, in this case the shoot, that the existence of the seed is established. In order to infer the existence of the seed, a separate consciousness is required that ascertains the causal relationship between the seed and the shoot. If this relationship has not already been ascertained, then the mere presence of the shoot alone will not prove the existence of the seed.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.115}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.115cd):''' If you accept the true existence of both object and the subjective mind which apprehends that object, then what is it that ascertains the existence of the mind realizing the object? It cannot be the mind itself, as self-cognition has already been refuted in the earlier section dedicated to refuting the Mind-Only school. And if another separate mind were needed to ratify it, there would be an infinite regress of one mind being ratified by another and then another.

Khenpo Kunpal concludes this section by presenting to the opponents the consequence that the belief in the inherent existence of phenomena is philosophically untenable.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It may be seen from this that it is extremely difficult to render conventional reality tenable from the point of view of those who hold to real existence. On the other hand, this is highly acceptable for those who say that [true existence] is just an imputation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 371.</ref>
}}

<h3>Key Arguments Refuting Intrinsic Existence</h3>
In verses 116 to 150, Śāntideva presents many of the most important arguments that prove that all phenomena lack any inherent existence, arguments that are presented in the sūtras and the śāstras. They are used to prove that all phenomena lack an inherent nature and therefore that all phenomena are empty.

In the classical presentation, there are five main logical arguments given for the proof of emptiness, but here in the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three of those arguments are explicitly presented:

*1. the diamond-splinters argument, which analyzes the cause of things (verses 116 to 140)
*2. the great reasoning of dependent origination: the king of reasons, which analyzes self essence (verses 141 to 144)
*3. the reasoning of existence and nonexistence, which analyzes the effect (verses 145 to 150)

The other two arguments not explicitly mentioned by Śāntideva are the argument of identity and difference, which investigates the essential identity of phenomena, and the refutation of production related to the four possibilities, which is an investigation into both cause and effect. According to Mipham Rinpoche, this fifth reason can be included within the first category—the investigation of the cause.<ref>See [[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way'' (Lotsawa House, 2005), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/four-great-logical-arguments.</ref>

<h4>1. The Diamond-Splinters Argument (''rdo rje gzegs ma'i gtan tshigs'')</h4>
The diamond-splinters argument looks into the production of phenomena and particularly into the causes of phenomena.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they do not arise from self, nor from other, nor from both self and other, nor without cause.'''<br>
'''Example: like a dream'''

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, the different aspects of the diamond-splinters argument are dealt with in a slightly different order to that contained in the main syllogism. Here, the basic outline of this section is as follows:

'''a. Refutation of causeless production (verses 116 to 117)'''<br>
'''b. Refutation of production from other (verses 118 to 126)'''<br>
'''c. Refutation of production from self (verses 127 to 140)'''

<h5>a. Refutation of Causeless Production</h5>

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, he begins with the last limb of the above four limbs of the main syllogism—the refutation of phenomena being produced without causes.

In verses 116 and 117, he particularly aims his argument at the philosophy of the ancient Indian philosophical school known as Cārvāka.

'''Cārvāka''' (''rgyang 'phen''), also known as Lokāyata (lit. the philosophy of the worldly), is an Indian philosophical school originating in the first millennium BCE, after the development of Buddhism in India. This school is considered one of the five major non-Vedic or heterodox (''nāstika'') Indian schools (the other schools being the Jains, Buddhists, Ajivikas, and Ajñanas).

The Cārvāka school is an atheist and materialist school, and they reject concepts such as an immaterial soul and supernatural entities such as god. They are the only tradition among these ancient Indian philosophical systems that does not accept the law of karma, past and future lives, or the possibility of liberation from our conditioned existence. They believe that only direct perception can be considered a valid form of knowledge with which to establish the truth.
For more detailed information regarding the Cārvāka school, see the following page [Link to CĀRVĀKA COMMONS PAGE].

The following famous verse attributed to the Cārvākas conveys their argument against there being any creator of the universe. The verse remarks on how it is impossible for there to be a creator for the myriad of phenomena, such as the eyes on a peacock feather or the flow of water. These things, they say, can only arise as part of a natural process and were not created by anyone.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The roundness of a pea, the sharpness of a thorn,
The rising of the sun, the movement of water downstream,
The pattern of a peacock's feather and so on, whatever it may be,
It was not created by anyone. Its cause is its own nature.<ref>See [[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 416. We have not been able to locate the original source of this verse.</ref>
}}
The Cārvāka argument is that no one, whether human or creator, is ever observed making such natural details of the world as the roundness of peas or the shape of each individual thorn. Therefore, they conclude, all these things must arise spontaneously and without cause.

'''Śāntideva's refutation through direct experience (9.116):''' There are many logical arguments against causeless production, but it also goes against what we directly observe in our daily experience. In everyday perception, we see in every instance that effects are produced from causes and that we can find nothing that does not originate from a cause.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.116}}
It is evident that, for example, a lotus grows from lotus seed. Without the cause of the lotus seed, the lotus will not arise. The farmer knows that a particular harvest results from having sown a particular seed, and they then plant seeds for that purpose.

What we observe is that all the various types of different effects come about from a whole variety of causes, and therefore nothing can be said to be causeless. For instance, the different parts of a lotus, such as the stem and petals, all come about from different causes.

'''Cārvākas' objection (9.117a):''' The whole range of parts that make up a phenomena, such as a lotus, are not found in the lotus's cause. Therefore, it cannot be said that each part has its own cause.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But what gives rise," you ask, "to such variety of causes?"
An even earlier variety of causes, we declare. (9.117ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.117b):''' It is a multiplicity of causes that precede the effect that account for the whole variety of phenomena of the external universe and the beings living within that universe. Things arise from the various different potentials of the preceding causes which produced them.

'''Cārvākas' further objection (9.117c):''' But how is this whole variety of causes able to produce their effects? What is it that allows certain causes to produce certain kinds of effect? What arranged these causes in this way?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="And how," you ask, "do causes give their fruits?"
Through power, we answer, of preceding causes. (9.117cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's further response (9.117d):''' These causes were not created or arranged by anyone. There is no external agency causing this. Nor can it be that the results are present in their causes, otherwise no causal relationship could exist between them. It is through the power of different kinds of potential within the cause that produces a variety of different results. This can be said simply to be the nature of things.

<h5>b. Refutation of Production from Other</h5>
Having refuted the notion, in the first part of the diamond-splinters argument, that things can come about without causes, Śāntideva then moves on to the refutation of production from something which is of a different nature to the effect. The argument here carries the implication that the cause would be inherently different from the effect, since on a conventional level the Madhyamaka school accepts causes being able to produce effects which are different in nature to them. In this argument Śāntideva indirectly refutes inherent production from an impermanent other, but the main thrust of his argument aims to refute the notion of production from a permanent cause.

Śāntideva attempts to do this using two types of refutation:

i. Refutation of production from a permanent creator (verses 118 to 125)<br>
ii. Specific refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā belief in production from permanent atomic particles (verse 126ab)

'''i. Refutation of Production from a Permanent Creator (verses 118 to 125)'''

In verses 118 to 125, Śāntideva refutes production from a permanent cause. He takes as his main opponents those who believe the idea of a permanent cause to the universe and all the beings in that universe, such as is propounded by non-Buddhist schools that believe in a primal substance or in a creator being such as Śiva. These schools include the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''Śāntideva (9.118ab):''' If you say Īśvara is the cause of everything in the universe, then you must define what the nature of that creator being is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.118}}
'''If the opponent answers:''' The elements of the universe are what we call "God."

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If you say that the basic elemental building blocks of the universe are the creator, then the Madhyamikas agree that these are the causes and conditions of events. But if that is so, what is the need to label that process with an exotic name like Īśvara?

'''Śāntideva's further consequence (9.119ab):''' If you accept that Īśvara is essentially all the different elements, then that kind of Īśvara could not be either permanent or unitary. Instead, it would have to be impermanent, multiple, and could not be inactive, just as is the nature of the elements.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.119}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against divine elements (9.119cd):''' If this divine creator were the elements, then it could not be completely pure as it is believed to be in those philosophies. We see that the elements are easily trampled underfoot. This creator could also be easily trampled underfoot, and therefore how can you consider them to be divine? What kind of God would that be? And further, if the creator can be trampled underfoot, how can they be spoken of as omnipotent?

In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam clearly shows the qualities that these schools attribute to gods such as Īśvara and how it is illogical for them to be the elements.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How do you describe the essential features of Ishvara? You claim that as he is indivisible he is single; as he is not born and does not perish, he is eternal; he has a thinking mind; he is divine; an object of reverence; and that he is pure. On the other hand, the elements are quite the opposite: they are multiple; they arise and perish and are therefore impermanent; they have no mind; they are not divine; they are trodden on by feet and so forth; and they are impure. These elements are not Ishvara—their defining characteristics are completely unalike and plainly contradictory. <ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 229.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the element of space (9.120a):''' If you hold this divine creator to be space, that also is not tenable. Space is inert, unable to move or create anything, and lifeless. These are not qualities that are compatible with a creator god.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the self (9.120b):''' The idea that space is the self has also been refuted early, in the section on refuting the Sāṃkhya school's presentation of the self (''puruṣa'') (in verses 68 and 69) [Link to Verses 68 and 69].
{{PullBcaVerses|9.120}}
'''Opponent's response (9.120c):''' Īśvara, the creator, is inconceivable, so none of the contradictions that you have stated apply.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being inconceivable (9.120cd):''' If you state that the deity is inconceivable, it is illogical to call them inconceivable because that in itself is to describe them. If something is inconceivable, nothing can be said about it, and it would also be of no use to ordinary people. Furthermore, if this creator were to be inconceivable, then anyone who tried to describe them would be describing the inconceivable.

'''Śāntideva's question as to what Īśvara creates (9.121ab):''' What exactly is it that a creator such as Īśvara creates? What is it that the creator wishes to create? Did he create the self of all beings? And did he create all the physical elements in the universe?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.121}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against Īśvara as a creator (9.121cd):''' You cannot accept the self and the elements as being created by Īśvara because the elements and the self would then have to be eternal, just as Īśvara is.

Verse 121d states the Madhyamaka school's own position—that is, consciousness arises from the objects that it apprehends and not from any kind of creator god. And since those objects appear only temporarily, both they and their apprehending consciousnesses are not eternal.

'''Śāntideva states the Madhyamikas’ own position (9.122ab):''' Pleasure and pain come about due to our own past karmic actions. They occur as a result of the actions we commit with a positive or negative motivation. So what is the need for a divine creator in this process?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.122}}
'''Śāntideva continues the argument against production from an eternal creator (9.122cd):''' If you believe a creator god, such as Īśvara, to be beginningless, immutable, and an eternal cause for everything, then it is not possible for them to have a beginning. If the cause which is this creator god has no beginning, then how could the effects produced by that cause have any beginning? They would have to be beginningless, but this is not what we observe in the manifest world.

Śāntideva then presents the logical consequences of a permanent and eternal creator that brings forth all phenomena, whether material or immaterial.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.123}}
'''Śāntideva's question to the theists (9.123):''' If the creator god is the singular cause for all things and all beings in existence, does not rely on any other cause, and is present in every moment, then why are not all beings constantly created?

'''Possible response from the theists:''' The creator god does not bring everything forth in one moment but creates the universe in stages.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If the sole cause of creation is the divine god, and if that god does not rely on any other condition or factor to create, then the complete cause for creation of every single phenomena is present in every moment. Therefore, all phenomena should be produced simultaneously. And if there is nothing that is not made by the creator, then how could they possibly rely on separate causes in order to produce something, since those very separate causes would be created by them. If it is accepted that this creator god does actually rely on a variety of other various conditions to create the universe in the way that we see it gradually unfolding, then those necessary secondary conditions would have to be present all the time. And this would destroy the thesis that all things and events are singularly created by that god, because the god would rely on some cause other than themselves.

In verse 124 Śāntideva turns his attention to the aggregation of causes and conditions that bring about events and phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.124}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.124):''' If it is accepted that the mere coming together of the specific causes and conditions of a phenomena is enough to bring that phenomena into being, then what need is there for the added intervention of a creator god? When the complete causes and conditions are present, nothing can stop the phenomena from arising, and when those causes are not complete, the phenomena does not arise, despite the best efforts of the creator. The creator would have to rely on the aggregation of causes in order to create phenomena. Therefore, what real power does the creator god have?

'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator is forced to create unintended phenomena (9.125ab):''' If it is accepted that the creator god is constrained by the aggregation of causes and conditions but is still involved in the production of phenomena, then they must also be involved in creating things, such as the suffering of living beings, that no benevolent god would intend to create.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.125}}
'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator cannot be omnipotent (9.125cd):''' Even if it is argued that the divine creator creates according to their wish, then again they cannot be considered omnipotent because they would not be spontaneous and under their control. This divine god would be under the sway of their desire or intention, which would then have to arise before any phenomena was created, and would mean the intention itself would be the driving force of creation.

As a round up of this section of the text, most of the commentaries then conclude that, whether through the force of their desire or through their own power, if the creator is counted to be the maker of all things, then they must be impermanent. If they are permanent, then they could not have any effect on the causal process of phenomena.

'''ii. Specific Refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''

Within the section of the text which explains the reasons to refute production from a permanent cause, Śāntideva also refutes production from permanent particles, which is a tenet of some of the non-Buddhist Indian schools, such as the Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, and Mīmāṃsā.

The tenets of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya school have been mentioned earlier, and most commentators just refer to the opponent in this verse as being these two schools. But Khenpo Kunpal also indicates that the Mīmāṃsā school is also one of the main opponents for Śāntideva in this verse.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 374.</ref>

The Mīmāṃsā school of Indian philosophy is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. The core belief of the Mīmāṃsā school is that the Veda is self-existent, an uncreated and unauthored (''apauruṣeya'') revelation (''śruti'') of the truth, that is the incontrovertible and infallible dharma. The Mīmāṃsā school believes that the main role of the Vedas is to ensure that the Vedic rituals are correctly performed. The correct performance of Vedic rituals is believed to be the sole way to practice the dharma.

The Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsāka, and Nyāya schools all believe that the world has not been created by a deity such as Īśvara. They believe that matter can be broken down to irreducible atomic particles that are permanent, and that it is these permanent particles that are the material cause of the animate and inanimate worlds.

The Vaiśeṣika tradition believes that the smallest particles are not visible to the naked eye and exist in a much more subtle form in which their existence can only be inferred, whereas the Mīmāṃsākas give great value to what can be manifestly perceived. They believe that the smallest particles can be no smaller than that which is visible to the naked eye.

In refuting this position at this point in the text, Śāntideva refers back to an earlier verse where he argues that since the particles can be directionally divided, there can never be a particle that is considered permanent or partless.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those who hold the permanence of particles
Were indeed refuted earlier. (9.126ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
The second line of the above verse refers back to verse 86, in the section on the mindfulness of the body, where it refutes the existence of permanent and partless particles by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles.<ref>Verse 86 reads:<br>These parts themselves will break down into particles,<br>And particles divide according to direction.<br>These fragments, too, lack partless parts; they are like space.<br>Thus even particles have no existence.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 149.</ref>

{{standout
|'''Master Arguments against the Mīmāṃsā Position'''<br>'''Specific Refutation of the Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''<br>
'''Verse 9.126ab:''' ''A further part of the diamond-splinters argument refutes production from a permanent cause. In connection with this, Śāntideva refutes production from permanent particles. This refutation of the existence of permanent and partless particles is done by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles. It is also refuted in verse 9.86 in the section on the mindfulness of the body.''
}}

<h5>c. Refutation of Production from Self (9.126cd to 9.140)</h5>
The second main refutation of the Sāṃkhya school in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' is contained in the second half of the chapter, in the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the self of phenomena. In this section of the text, he presents methods to understand the empty nature of all phenomena, the lack of any kind of intrinsic existence.

In his systematic refutation of the belief in production, through the classical Buddhist model of refutation of production from self, other, self and other, and neither self and other, Śāntideva first critiques production from self. In relation to this production from self, Śāntideva focuses in particular on the primal substance (''prakṛti'').

This section contains two main refutations:<br>
i. The Refutation of the Primal Substance (126cd to 134)<br>
ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing (135–140)

'''i. Refuting the Primal Substance'''

'''9.126–9.129 (a) The primal substance cannot be a unitary, partless entity if it has the three ''guṇas'' as its constituent characters.'''<br>
'''9.132 to 9.134 (b) Refuting the belief that the ''guṇas'' can be permanent if they are involved in any kind of agentive action.'''

'''a. Refuting the Primal Substance to Be Unitary'''

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Sāṃkhyas are the ones who hold
That permanent prakṛiti is the cause of the evolving world. (9.126cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.127}}
From verse 128 to the first half of verse 131, Śāntideva refutes the Sāṃkhya belief that the primal substance is unitary. If the primal substance is the balanced state of the three ''guṇas'', he argues, then it cannot be unitary because it is composed of three parts or characteristics. We cannot talk of something being just one thing and at the same time accept that phenomena is composed of three elements. He argues that a single thing with no parts and a single thing with three or more parts are mutually exclusive. Therefore, he concludes, the primal substance cannot exist as it is posited in the Sāṃkhya philosophy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.128}}
'''Continuing the argument about something being unitary but being comprised of multiple factors, Śāntideva argues:''' Since the Sāṃkhya school accepts that each of the ''guṇas'' in turn also have the other two ''guṇas'' as their nature, then each of the ''guṇas'' themselves cannot have a unitary nature, as they are made up of at least three different parts. Therefore, they cannot exist as presented by adherents of the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Śāntideva continues:''' If these ''guṇas'' cannot actually be existent, then the modulations or manifestations of those ''guṇas'', such as sound and form, can also not have any existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.129}}
'''Related to the second two lines of verse 129, Śāntideva goes on to argue:''' Manifestations such as woolen cloth cannot exist as the nature of the primal substance, because they are inanimate and therefore cannot possess the qualities of pain, pleasure, or neutral feeling. Pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings are the natures of the three ''guṇas'', which then must also be the nature of the primal substance. But since they are states of feeling, how can they be permanent? And how can something permanent be described in terms of feelings when it is easy to observe that feelings are fleeting?

'''b. Refuting the ''guṇas'' to be Permanent'''

A further argument that Śāntideva makes here, in verses 132 to 134, is that there is no visible proof of the permanence of the feelings associated with the ''guṇas''. Explicitly, he is refuting the permanent nature associated with the ''guṇas'', but implicitly he is refuting the true existence of them.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' There is a distinction between different states of the ''guṇas''. The gross forms of these states that are manifestly visible, such as pleasure, can become more subtle, and then they exist in an unmanifest latent state of potentiality. In this state they cannot be perceived.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the ''guṇas'', which have been defined as being of the same nature as the primal substance, a unitary and permanent nature, are able to switch from manifest to latent states, then both the subtle and gross states must lack any quality of permanence. Therefore, all these phenomena which you claim to be permanent cannot exist the way you believe them to, because they must possess a transient nature. And if that is the case, why is this impermanent nature not ascribed to all the twenty-five categories of phenomena?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.133}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' Whether in a gross or a subtle state, the actual nature of pleasure is never lost, so its permanent essence is never impaired.

'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' This doesn’t make any sense. The characteristics of being manifest or subtle must either be the same as pleasure itself or they must be different. If, say, the manifest nature is different from pleasure, then when the manifest character subsides, the pleasure would not subside and it should still be experienced.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.134}}
'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' And if, instead, the manifest aspect is not different from the pleasure and is actually one with it, then it is easy to see that pleasure must be impermanent because it can be directly seen to not always be manifest.

'''ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing [135–140]'''

9.135 to 9.140: Refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being. This includes the master refutation of the simultaneity of causes and their effects.

The next verses, from 135 to 140, offer a refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' When the guṇa of pleasure ceases to manifest, it then remains hidden in a subtle state of potentiality within the primal substance. Later on, when it reappears, it is merely the manifestation of what was already there. If things did not preexist in some sense before they became manifest, then it would be like them arising completely causelessly, out of the blue. Therefore, before manifesting, things must exist in a subtle state within the primal substance.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the results are present at the same time of the cause, why are they never perceived?

'''The Sāṃkhyas' reply:''' Even though the results are present at the time of the cause, at that time the results are not apparent to consciousness. Later, just as an object in a darkened room will be made visible by turning on the light, the results will be perceived at a later time when they become manifest.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' While the Sāṃkhyas try to maintain that things cannot arise that were not previously there, they end up actually positing that themselves. This is because they have to say that the manifestation is absent at the time of the cause and only later arises newly, thus contradicting their own tenet. If the manifestation were present at the time of the cause, then they would not be able to differentiate between manifest and unmanifest.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.135}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And likewise with the money they would spend on clothing,
Let them rather buy the cotton grains to wear! (9.136ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is incoherent to talk of results existing within the causes. If that were so, Śāntideva teases, then those who eat their tasty food would at the same time be consuming the result of that food, their own excrement. And why would those who wish to wear smooth cotton clothing not instead go out and buy the cotton seeds to wear, since the result is within and contemporaneous with the cause. But we don’t see people in the world following this way of acting.

'''The Sāṃkhyas respond:''' It is because of delusion that ordinary people cannot see these subtle states, for example, the subtle state of cloth in the cotton seeds.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the world is ignorant and blind.
For this is taught by 'those who know the truth.'" (9.136cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If the Sāṃkhya school says that the perceptions of the worldly are invalid due to ignorance, then since they are able to perceive the resultant manifestations, those manifestations must be false, and therefore it is meaningless to talk about them existing at the time of the cause. Also, if the Sāṃkhya school followers have this knowledge, that the result exists at the time of the cause, then they would be aware of eating their own excrement at the time that they ate a meal. Or it could be said that since the founders of the Sāṃkhya school are seen to insist on wearing cotton clothes and not cotton seeds, this makes it clear that the result does not exist at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva:''' Worldly people also have this knowledge, such as not to wear cotton seeds, thinking there is cloth present, so why do they not see the truth that results are present at the time of the cause?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This knowledge must be present in the worldly too!
And if they have it, why do they not see? (9.137ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' They do not realize it because the perception of worldly beings is not a prime cognition.

'''Śāntideva:''' In that case, the perceptions of the manifestations of the world must also be false because they are not prime cognitions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If now you say that what the worldly see has no validity,
This means that what they clearly see is false. (9.137cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
Leading on from this topic of what is valid consciousness, in the last section of this refutation of production from self, the Sāṃkhyas raise a doubt about the Buddhist presentation of valid cognition.

'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' The Madhyamaka school asserts different types of valid cognitions, such as direct perception and inferential cognition. They maintain that in some way nearly all these types of knowing are deceptive and are therefore not ultimately valid. How is it possible that these deceptive cognitions could in any way validate their objects? Doesn’t it mean that the objects must also be deceptive and unreal? And if that is the case, then even the cognition realizing emptiness and the object of emptiness itself as an object of that would have to be deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.138}}
'''Śāntideva responds:''' You are generally right in saying that objects established by deceptive consciousness must be in some way false. And yes, even in relation to emptiness, since the inferential cognition that apprehends emptiness is deceptive, emptiness, too, is also devoid of any inherent existence. The Madhyamaka system can still posit a direct prime cognizing consciousness that is deceptive but able to verify things.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.139}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' However, the Madhyamaka school has never asserted any kind of truly existent emptiness that is out there and independent on its own, without dependence upon a basis or without reference to things such as a pot, that has been independently established by valid cognition. Rather, emptiness is in a relationship of mutual dependence with the object of which it is the absence of inherent existence.

'''Śāntideva gives an example:''' It is like being in a dream within which we dream a child has died. Within the dream, the thought that the child has died is able to overcome the thought that the child is alive. But throughout this time we are still in the world of the dream, so both thoughts are actually deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.140}}
Likewise, a false antidote of wisdom is still able to overcome a false ignorance. There is still functionality even though things are deceptive and illusory-like.

From verse 126cd until verse 140, Śāntideva presents a series of arguments aimed mainly at the Sāṃkhya school's explanation of the primal substance (''prakṛti''). These arguments are focused on refuting the notion of an underlying substrate of reality, a substrate of reality that has parts and characteristics but is also unitary and unchanging. Śāntideva primarily uses one branch of the diamond-splinters argument, the argument against production from self, to refute his opponents' assertions.

<h5>Conclusion of the Diamond-Splinters Argument</h5>
In verses 141 and 142, Śāntideva wraps up this section of the text on the diamond-splinters, concluding that nothing can be produced without causes, nothing can be produced from itself, and nothing can be produced from a combination of both itself and something other than itself.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.141}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It does not come from somewhere else,
Neither does it stay nor yet depart. (9.142ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
Nothing is without causes, and no effect can be found in either one or all of its causes. Once produced, things do not intrinsically remain, and on cessation they do not go anywhere. They do not have any intrinsic production, abiding, or cessation. Production, abiding, and cessation exist but only at a nominal level.

<h4>2. The Great Reasoning of Dependent Origination (''rigs pa'i rgyal po rten 'brel gyi gtan tshigs'')</h4>

The second reason proving the lack of inherent existence is the great reasoning of dependent origination. Out of all the reasons establishing emptiness, this reason is often referred to as the king or chief of all reasons. It is said to be the king of all reasons to establish the ultimate nature of phenomena because of its unique ability to refute both the extreme of nihilism and the extreme of permanence, or absolutism, at the same time.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they are dependently originated'''<br>
'''Example: like the reflection of a form in a mirror'''

In the second half of verse 142, Śāntideva explains how all phenomena are illusory-like. The mind that grasps at true existence falsely imputes onto its objects a false reality which they do not have.

'''Śāntideva:''' What difference is there between something which is taken to be the truth by a deluded consciousness, on the one hand, and illusions, dreams, or mirages, on the other hand? They both appear to be true while not existing in the way that they appear.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How will what confusion takes for truth
In any sense be different from a mirage? (9.142cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
To a deluded mind, things appear to exist from their own side, while they are actually empty of inherent existence. That deluded mind assents to that appearance and takes the truth to be that things possess an intrinsic nature, a nature which in reality they do not possess.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.143}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Nothing is real. Things do not exist in the way that they appear, intrinsically and from their own side. Instead, they arise and exist in reliance on other phenomena. They are like the reflection of a form in a mirror.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.144}}
Anything that comes into being and any event that occurs happens in dependence on something else. This can be their causes and conditions, their parts, or even conceptual designations of them. Everything is like a mirage or a magical illusion, which is in some sense fabricated.

The example of a reflection of a form in a mirror is used as a concordant example in the great syllogism of dependent origination. This reflection is considered to be an easy and straightforward example that helps us begin to understand that things do not exist as they appear.

A reflection of, for instance, a face in a mirror, appears to exist from the side of the mirror, almost in the mirror itself, and the reflection of the face can appear to those who have no experience of mirrors to be the very face itself. But actually the reflection of the face is not the face itself and is empty of being the face. The reflection of the face only appears in the mirror when conditions such as the presence of the mirror and a person's face placed in front of it are present.

How does this relate to the way things actually exist? Although phenomena lack any form of true or intrinsic existence, they do still exist as dependent originations. Indeed, the very fact that they arise in dependence on other factors means that they cannot have even an atom of independent and inherent existence. All things arise only as a result of an aggregation of a wide variety of conditions. When the conditions are not present, the phenomena cannot come into being.

To illustrate this point, we can take the example of the self or the person. The person does not exist inherently and from the side of its basis of designation, which is the four or five aggregates. But when the condition of the aggregates all come together, then we can say there is a conventional person that does not truly exist but that exists as a mere designation upon the basis of its aggregates.

<h4>3. The Reasoning of Existence and Nonexistence (''yod med skye 'gog gi gtan tshigs'')</h4>
In verses 145 to 150, Śāntideva uses the reasoning of existence and nonexistence to prove that merely dependently originated phenomena cannot have any form of inherent existence. This reason specifically analyzes the effects of causes. It analyzes the status of the effect at the time of their cause, whether those effects are existent, nonexistent, both existent and nonexistent, or neither.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject:''' '''mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate:''' '''are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason:''' '''because at the time of their cause they are neither existent, nonexistent, both, or neither,'''<br>
'''Example:''' '''like the child of a barren woman'''

Śāntideva examines how an effect is produced from its cause, particularly how it is not possible for inherently existent results to come from inherently existent causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.145}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking an object such as a vase, it is incorrect to think of it arising while it was existing. This would be illogical, because if it already existed, there would be no need for it to be produced. If it were thought to arise while not existing, that would entail an existent thing arising from a nonexistent thing, which is not tenable.

Another approach to this is to look at the consequences if we believed things to have their own independent identity. If that were the case, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If things existed inherently and truly, then they would have no need to rely on causes, and causes would have no role. If phenomena were autonomous, causes would not be able to have any influence in giving rise to effects. And, since the purpose of a cause is to produce an effect, there can be no meaning to saying there are effects which exist without any relation to causes.

'''Doubt:''' While it is understandable that something inherently existent does not need to be created, wouldn't something nonexistent need a cause to produce it?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.146}}
Minyak Kunzang Sönam explains in detail this point about how if things are nonexistent they can never become existent.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One might think that while it is true that something inherently existent does not need to be created, why would something non-existent not need a cause to produce it?

Even with a billion causes, a thing which does not exist at all can never become a something. Such a non-existent thing is like the horn of a rabbit, it cannot possibly be produced by causes and conditions, and therefore cannot be turned into anything by anyone.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 243.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation:''' Even with millions of causes, nonexistent phenomena cannot transform into existent phenomena. Something which is nonfunctional can never become something which has a function. These categories are mutually exclusive. If a nonfunctioning thing were able to turn into a functioning thing, then it would not be nonfunctioning. The very ability to be able to transform into something else would mean that it already had functionality.

The production of an effect, such as a shoot which did not exist at the time of its cause, the seed, is not being refuted. All things that come into being do not themselves exist at the time of their causes. What is being refuted is the production from an inherently existent thing, the production of an inherently existent thing, as well as the belief of the Sāṃkhya school that the effect exists at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva (9.147):''' Something nonexistent thing cannot change into an existent thing. If it did, then we would need to examine whether it became something by abandoning its state of nonexistence or it became something after it had abandoned its state of nonexistence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.147}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.148}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148ab):''' If a nonexistent thing is to become something, it must abandon the condition of nonexistence. It cannot exist as something at the time that it is nonexistent, as existence and nonexistence are contradictory. And at the time when something is nonexistent, the phenomena which would be its result would not have come into being, and therefore a nonexistent thing can never change from being nothing.

Also, if a nonexistent became an existent by abandoning the state of nonexistence, at the moment that it abandoned the nonexistent state it would then no longer be nonexistent but instead existent. And if the nonexistent had not yet left behind the state of nonexistence, then it would not be able to transform into anything.

So, even if it were possible for something to inherently exist, or if something inherently nonexistent were possible, they could never change their nature from one state to another. They would have to forever remain existent or nonexistent.

In his ''Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam draws upon Nāgārjuna's summary of this point in his ''Seventy Verses on Emptiness'' (''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'') as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=An existent thing does not come into being because it is existent;
A non-existent thing does not come into being because it is non-existent;
Things are not existent and not non-existent because these are incompatible;
And because there is no origination, there is no dwelling or cessation. (Verse 4)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 245. For the verse in [[Nāgārjuna]], see ''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'' (''Stong pa nyid bdun cu pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3827, dbu ma, vol. 96, fol. 24b.1–2, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3827.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148cd):''' And furthermore, even if there were an inherently existing thing, that could never transform into a nonexistent thing. Something cannot become nothing. If it could, there would be the unwanted consequence that phenomena would possess both existent and nonexistent natures.

Sonam Tsemo gives an interesting read on the last two lines of verse 148, where he compares the ''prasaṅga'', the consequential argument, and the ''svātantra'', the autonomous syllogisms, which are used to refute the belief that existent phenomena can transform into nonexistent phenomena.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nonexistent object is the logical subject:

*The prasaṅga from the reason based on intrinsic nature:
[Contradiction: you claim that the object is non-dual but] it follows that it is dual because of its transformation [from existent to nonexistent].
*The svātantra from the pervader not being supported:
because of being non-dual, there is no transformation.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 444.</ref>
}}
There is a philosophical consequence of accepting that a nonexistent thing can also be nondual. The argument says that it cannot be nondual for the reason that it transforms from existent into nonexistent, which means that it has to have both existent and nonexistent natures.

The autonomous syllogism states that if something is nondual, then since it has both natures, there is actually no transformation from one state to another.

Gyaltsap Je summarizes this refutation of inherent existence through the reasoning of existence and nonexistence in this way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Take the subject 'sprout' - it is not generated inherently - because it is not inherently generated as existent, and it is not inherently generated as non-existent, e.g., like the child of a barren woman. Although its generation is refuted if non-existent at the time of the cause, it is a refutation of its inherent generation at the time of generation, even though it is non-existent at the time of the cause. Therefore, one needs to relate it to the object of negation.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 75, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
To summarize this reasoning, a shoot cannot come into being on its own, because if it is inherently existent, it cannot come into being, and if it is inherently nonexistent, it cannot come into being either. The example used to prove this reason is that of the child of a barren woman.

In conclusion, as it is mentioned in ''The Questions of Sāgaramati'' (''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā''), regarding anything which comes into being in relation to or in dependence on anything else, that thing cannot have even the slightest inherent nature.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whatever is dependently originated
Is without any inherent nature.
What lacks an essential nature
Never actually arises.<ref>[[Hinkle, T.|Timothy Hinkle]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Questions of Sāgaramati: Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā (Hinkle, T.)|The Questions of Sāgaramati, Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā]]'', Toh 152 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-058-001.html#UT22084-058-001-1164.</ref>
}}

<h5>Showing the Sameness of Samsara and Nirvana</h5>
In verses 149 and 150, Śāntideva focuses on the beings wandering in cyclic existence and explains that if they exist independently and intrinsically, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If beings existed autonomously and from their own side, there would be no opportunity for causes to play a role in their production. The main function of causes is to produce effects, and if beings were autonomous and independent, then causes could not affect them.

'''Śāntideva (9.149):''' All phenomena lack the inherent existence they appear to have. There is no intrinsic production, abiding, and cessation of any phenomena. Therefore, at an ultimate level, beings neither come into being nor cease.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.149}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.150}}
'''Śāntideva (9.150):''' Intrinsic production and cessation have been refuted, but it does not make sense to say that beings, and indeed all phenomena, are completely nonexistent. That would mean that they had never had any form of existence. So when considering the aspects of origination and cessation of phenomena, they can only be accepted on a conditional level. Phenomena do exist, but not inherently, and only in dependent relation with other phenomena.

When we are able to understand this way that things exist, we can then understand that at the ultimate level there is no difference between samsara and nirvana. On a conventional level there is a difference, but at the ultimate level there is none. The reason is that from the perspective of their emptiness, the lack of intrinsic nature, samsara and nirvana are exactly the same. It can be said that from this perspective of emptiness, all phenomena from the very beginning have been in a state of natural peace, a natural nirvana.

This assertion that all things have never come into being and that they therefore are originally in a state of peace, a natural nirvana, is mentioned in ''The Jewel Cloud Sūtra'' (''Ratnameghasūtra'') in the following verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When turning the wheel of Dharma,
O Protector, you taught that phenomena
Are primordially peaceful, unarisen,
And at ease by nature.<ref>[[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Jewel Cloud: Ratnamegha (Doctor, T.)|The Jewel Cloud, Ratnamegha]]'', Toh 231 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-064-001.html#UT22084-064-001-97.</ref>
}}
And from ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'' (''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā''), it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That which arises from conditions is unborn‍—
It has no intrinsic essence of arising.
That which depends on conditions is taught to be empty.
One who understands emptiness is heedful.<ref>[[Ewing, B.|Benjamin Ewing]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'', ''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā'', Toh 156 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://84000.co/translation/toh156#UT22084-058-005-308.</ref>
}}
Summarizing this point, that all phenomena exist interdependently and that everything is like a dream or illusion, Nāgārjuna says the following in his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivāraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just like the sounding of a drum,
Likewise a shoot arises from a gathering of causes.
All the things that in the outer world arise dependently
Are, we say, like dreams and magical displays. (64)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That things arise from causes
Never contradicts what we have just declared.
Since causes are devoid of being causes,
We understand phenomena to be unborn. (65)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 4–5, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}

<h2>The Benefits of Meditation on Emptiness</h2>
In all the preceding verses, Śāntideva presented a wide variety of reasons to refute wrong conceptions about the way that phenomena exist. He addresses the views of opponents from the non-Buddhist traditions and he counters some of the assertions of the lower tenet schools of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of refuting these other systems, he also presents the highest view within the Buddhist tradition, that of the Madhyamaka school. In this tradition, phenomena are merely dependent designations and have no intrinsic reality of their own.

Taking this understanding of the way things exist according to the Madhyamaka tradition, in verses 151 to 167 Śāntideva moves on to explain the great benefits of cultivating this understanding of emptiness and meditating on it.

<h3>1. Realizing the Equality of the Eight Worldly Dharmas</h3>
In verses 151 to 153, Śāntideva explains that even seemingly opposed phenomena—such as gain or loss, or happiness and suffering—when viewed from the ultimate perspective, are all equal.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.151–52):''' If all phenomena exist merely imputed by conception and lacking any kind of existence from their own side, if they are empty in this way, then what is there that exists to gain or lose? Who is there to praise me or disparage me?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.151}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.152}}
We crave happiness and wish to gain the objects of our desire. We feel happiness when we gain them and then suffer and often get angry when we lose these objects of our desire. But neither this happiness nor unhappiness, nor the objects that those feelings arise in relation to, none of them are truly existent. Since nothing truly exists, there is nothing to truly gain and nothing to truly lose, and so at this level attachment to the objects of our desire and aversion to those things we dislike makes absolutely no sense.

'''Śāntideva continues (9.152cd):''' Furthermore, if we look deeply into the nature of phenomena, searching for any kind of intrinsic and independent nature, we cannot find anything. Since all phenomena lack this kind of existence from their own side, who is the person craving, and what is it that is craved for?

Sonam Tsemo explains in his commentary that the two verses above discuss the eight worldly concerns—of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, and fame and infamy—taking a look at them from the perspective of their ultimate nature.

He relates how, in the root verses, gain and loss and happiness and suffering are mentioned explicitly, whereas being paid honor and being reviled refer to praise and blame, and joy and pain refer to the joy of fame and the pain of infamy.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 447.</ref>

In verse 153 Śāntideva continues his ultimate analysis of the fundamental way in which phenomena exist by looking at the world of living beings.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.153):''' Who is there in this world who lives and then passes away? Who is there that has been born in the past, and who is there that will be born into another future life? Who are our friends and who are our relatives?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.153}}
It is important to understand that Śāntideva is not saying that there is no cessation and that beings do not pass away. He is not saying that we have not been born in the past nor that we will not die and be reborn in the future. And he is certainly not saying that we have no relatives or friends to benefit us. All of these statements are being made at the level of ultimate analysis where nothing can be found on search. At a conventional level, he accepts these things as existing in some nominal way, but from the ultimate perspective they have no existence.

In the last two lines of verse 154, Śāntideva makes a prayer that all beings like himself develop the crucial discernment that all phenomena lack intrinsic existence and are like space, beyond all categories of existent or nonexistent, and that all beings regard as equal the eight mundane concerns.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May beings like myself discern and grasp
That all things have the character of space! (9.154ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Teaching Great Compassion by Highlighting the Defects of Samsara</h3>
In the last main section of the text, from verses 154cd to 165, Śāntideva explains the explicit need for the realization of emptiness if we wish to turn away from all our suffering. This insistence on the central importance of wisdom comes from a place of deep compassion, compassion that understands the way that the root cause of all our suffering is the ignorance of how things ultimately exist.

<h4>i. The Sufferings That Arise from Ignorance</h4>
Lacking the understanding of the role ignorance plays, and not working to understand the ultimate nature of ourselves and all other phenomena, we will be trapped in a samsaric life that is characterized by suffering and dissatisfaction.

Śāntideva details both the obvious sufferings that we face in this life, but he also goes on to point out the less obvious forms of suffering that come from being trapped in samsara and how we will have to continually be born in lives that are characterized by suffering.

<h5>a. The Manifest Sufferings of This Life</h5>
'''Śāntideva (9.154cd/155):''' Those seeking peace and happiness will never find what they desire if the means through which they strive to attain that involves confrontations or disputes with others or through purely looking for personal enjoyment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But those who seek their happiness and ease,
Through disputes or enjoyments, (9.154cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.155}}
Within this very life there can be no long-term, stable peace and happiness if we are constantly controlled by our reactions to temporary conditions. Ecstatically happy when fortunate things happen to us, or depressed and morose when misfortune comes our way, we are at the whim of our emotions. Our minds are not in balance, and in these fluctuating states we suffer. We can easily be drawn into severe negative actions in relation to others, and in extreme cases this can lead us to cause grievous mental and physical harm to others.

<h5>b. The Invisible Sufferings of Past and Future Lives</h5>
In verse 156 Śāntideva covers the wider context of our samsaric life, spanning over countless lifetimes. From this longer perspective, temporary states of good fortune may very occasionally arise, but they can also end as quickly as they came about.

'''Śāntideva (9.156):''' It is so rare to find rebirth in a happy state, but occasionally we do surface from the depths of samsara and are born into such an opportune life. However, instead of taking that opportunity to seek liberation, we instead follow all kinds of temporary pleasure. When death comes, we will have wasted this precious chance and will now fall into the lower realms for an unimaginably long time.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.156}}
In his commentary Sonam Tsemo explains how this last section of the ninth chapter, from verse 157 to verse 162, covers the five main causes for why we have to constantly experience the various sufferings of conditioned life in cyclic existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In dependence upon the five types of rebirth, one will constantly experience attachment to saṃsāra. Why? There are five main causes:

1. The roots of suffering have not been pacified
2. One does not have the means to dispel it
3. There are many obstacles
4. It is difficult to rely on the supports
5. It is difficult to abandon its causes<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 450.</ref>
}}

'''1. The Roots of Suffering Have Not Been Pacified'''

In verse 157 Śāntideva encourages us to contemplate the vast multitudes of places of rebirth in cyclic existence, referring to them as chasms or abysses. Whether in the desire, form, or formless realms, there will be both the general sufferings of samsara and the specific sufferings of each realm.

We are dragged down into these deep chasms by the ignorance that actively clings to the inherent nature of ourselves and all things. In these dark places no wisdom can be found, and from our state of ignorance spring forth all the negative emotions, which cause us to engage in negative karmic actions.

If we have not pacified this ignorance of reality and have not developed the wisdom that cuts through the root of samsara, there can be no liberation. Therefore, we must strive in every moment to try to understand emptiness.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.157}}

'''2. One Does Not Have the Means to Dispel It'''

The next reason that we must continue to cycle around in samsara is that we do not have the means to prevent ourselves from being propelled into conditioned states of existence.

In verses 158 to 160, Śāntideva reminds us of how little opportunity we get to pull ourselves out of samsara. If we are born in the lower realms, there will be absolutely no chance to engage in virtue, but even if we are born in a happy state of existence where we attain a precious human rebirth, the power to be able to create virtue is weak. Life passes very fast, and this precious opportunity, though gained, can disappear in a moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.158}}
Śāntideva also points out to us that however long we are able to stay in one of these fortunate states, there is actually no time to practice the Dharma. Our time is taken up with so many things. Many of these are essential activities to maintain our lives and health. We need to find food to satisfy our hunger, and many hours of the day are taken up with sleep to help rest our weary bodies. Sickness and injury take up much of our time but so do associations with childish beings that end up being meaningless.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.159}}
Life passes quickly, and mostly without any deeper meaning. It is so hard to find any opportunity to investigate the deeper nature of reality, which is our only means to reverse the process of cyclic existence. Our efforts to contemplate and meditate on emptiness are weak, distraction draws away our attention from what is important, and our unstable lives can end at any moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.160}}

'''3. There Are Many Obstacles'''

In verses 161 and 162, Śāntideva highlights the fact that because there are many obstacles, attaining liberation is extremely hard. Not only are there negative external forces that may try to work against us, especially when we choose the way of virtue, but there are also many false spiritual paths that may lead us astray. Most of these trails lead us to views of eternalism or nihilism, and we have to come to certainty that this path that Śāntideva is revealing to us is the pure and unmistaken one.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.161}}
We may have many doubts about which is the right path, doubts about what needs to be done on the path and where it leads, and it is difficult to find the right conditions to remove these doubts.

In the following passage from his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal remarks on how people these days are taken with the novelty and excitement of modern spiritual paths and lack a respect and love for the ancient texts:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Nowadays, people love novelty and thus neglect the ancient texts, excellent and pure though they be, liking only what is new. But among the recent texts, there are some that are genuine and some false, and it is difficult to discern the goal and point of view of a genuine teaching from a false one—it is difficult to have certainty, unclouded by doubt. And even if a teaching is authentic, if it is practiced with doubt, it will be fruitless and without meaning. It is thus hard to have a true discernment.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 387.</ref>
}}
He agrees that there are genuine texts among those within the modern tradition, but it is very hard to discern which ones those are, and so it is easy to be beset with doubt. And with doubt we find it hard to get any concrete result, however sincerely we strive to engage in our Dharma practice.

'''4. It Is Difficult to Rely on the Supports'''

We also find it hard to gain liberation because the personal support of our precious human rebirth and the external support of the enlightened beings are so hard to find.

In the first two lines of verse 162, Śāntideva reminds us of how hard it is to find again such a state of freedom where we can practice, a state which is characterized by the eight freedoms and ten endowments. Even if we are blessed with this precious opportunity, he also explains the difficulty of finding one crucial external support that is necessary for us to be able to wholeheartedly follow the path—that is, genuinely enlightened teachers.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard it is to find again this state of freedom,
Harder yet to come upon enlightened teachers, (9.162ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}

'''5. It Is Difficult to Abandon Its Causes'''

The last two lines of verse 162 explain how difficult it is to escape from the raging torrent of our afflictions. The causes of our continued rebirth in samsara are the whole range of our negative emotions—craving and clinging, attachment, anger, lack of awareness, and underpinning them all, wrong views and ignorance. We are swept away by these states of mind, and Śāntideva remarks on how difficult it is to turn back this tide.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard, indeed, to turn aside the torrent of defilement!
Alas, our sorrows fall in endless streams! (9.162.cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}
In verses 163 and 164, Śāntideva explains how beings do not even realize what kind of sufferings they are going through. Afloat in the sea of cyclic existence, passing from one suffering state to another, beings are completely unaware of the reality of their situation. Indeed, they often feel the opposite way, looking on things which are contaminated by the afflictions and ignorance as though they are pleasant and a source of happiness. They have no understanding of what conduct to adopt and what to cast aside. "Alas," cries Śāntideva, "How terrible it is that beings do not understand the terrible condition they are in."
{{PullBcaVerses|9.163}}
Here, Śāntideva also critiques the followers of some religious traditions and their practices, those who believe that extreme ascetic practices such as prolonged exposure to excessive heat or cold or bathing in the sacred rivers are the path to liberation. Although these practices do not lead to the desired result, because of their attachment to them they are happy to endure them, and they even consider them pleasant.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.164}}
Most of us carry on our lives as though old age and death will never come to us. But it won't be long before we have to pass away and we have to face our future. If we have been too lazy to engage in virtue and counteract our negative emotions, we will easily be led after death to a rebirth in terrible states.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.165}}

<h2>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h2>
Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom.

In verse 166 Śāntideva is overcome by the wish to pacify the sufferings of all beings trapped in samsara. He asks himself, "When will the time come when I will be able to put out the fires of others' suffering?" In a form of dedication, he wishes from his heart that the rains of bliss which pour forth from the clouds of all his accumulated merit may rain down on the terrible flames of beings' suffering, extinguishing them forever. This verse specifically refers to the accumulation of merit from the method side of practice, through practices such as generosity and ethical discipline.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.166}}
Following Śāntideva's example, Gyaltsap Je explains how we must sincerely cultivate this great compassion from deep in our hearts.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When will I become someone that pacifies the sufferings of the lower realms with medicine, food and the like? That which are parts of my collection of happiness, built up from clouds of merits built up by generosity and so forth. How wonderful would it be if sentient beings were free from suffering? May they be free from suffering. May I bring about that freedom.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
In verse 86 of his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'', Nāgārjuna explains that this sense of compassion for beings should be so strong that we are willing to give up the most refined and blissful states of meditative concentration and to instead plunge headlong into the worst of the hellish states.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When through practice it becomes firm,
Then alarmed by other's suffering,
The [bodhisattvas] renounce the bliss of concentration
And plunge even to the depths of relentless hells.<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 9, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf.</ref>
}}
In the last verse of the chapter, Śāntideva speaks of his continual wish to pacify the mistaken clinging that all living beings possess, the belief in an inherent self and inherent phenomena. He again asks himself, "When will I reveal this truth of emptiness to those beings who suffer in cyclic existence because of their belief in intrinsic existence?" This verse refers to the accumulation of wisdom, which comes from studying, contemplation, and meditation on the ultimate nature of phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.167}}
Gyaltsap Je summarizes how we meditate on the union of calm abiding and special insight as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In short, one should meditate on the mode of abiding in dependence on calm abiding. Further, because the 'I' of the thought 'I' is established as merely labeled in dependence on the aggregates and does not exist inherently, it does not exist intrinsically, it is not established in the slightest in an independent mode. Therefore, the existent person is merely posited in name, it exists only as labeled and in a dependent mode. Hence, take to heart, 'It does not exist inherently'.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
Having understood the way things exist and how ignorance of the nature of reality traps beings in the continual cycle of suffering in samsara, we should then develop the strong wish to reveal this truth of emptiness to all beings, that they may cultivate that understanding and themselves attain the highest state of enlightenment.

<h2>The Results of Practice</h2>
At the very end of his commentary entitled ''A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditating on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Patrul Rinpoche discusses the result of practicing in the way outlined in Śāntideva's text.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By seeing the relative to be a mere display like a magical illusion or the experiences of a dream, we will train in vast enlightened activity in which the seven kinds of attachment are relinquished. And with the understanding that on the ultimate level all things and events lack even so much as an atom's worth of true existence, we will take this practice to heart without becoming attached to anything whatsoever.

May the Dharma, suffering's only cure,
And the source of all real happiness,
Always be valued and respected,
And remain long into the future!

This was spoken by Ragged Abu. May all be virtuous and auspicious!<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Understanding that all phenomena lack even an atom of intrinsic existence, knowing things to exist merely as a magical illusion, and dropping any kind of attachment, we head out onto the path of the Buddhadharma, which leads to the state of full enlightenment.
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Articles/Wisdom Overview

2026-03-11T15:18:03Z

SimonH:

{{LibraryItem
|Editorial=Yes
|EditorialFullText=<onlyinclude>
<h2>The Place of Wisdom in the Buddhist Path</h2>
While it is through practicing all of the other perfections that we can accumulate great merit, it is only the perfection of wisdom that allows us to cut through the root of the cycle of existence. The earlier chapters of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' present practices which can act as temporary antidotes to their opposing factors. Patience can temporarily reduce our anger, and contemplating the uncleanliness of the body can temporarily reduce our attachment. But when these positive factors wane for a moment, the afflictions will swiftly arise again. There is only one way to finally put an end to the whole range of negative states of mind, and that is to develop the wisdom which understands the lack of any inherent self, both of persons and of all other phenomena.

As this is the case, Śāntideva sets the stage for chapter 9 by explaining how all of the other branches of the doctrine and paths of practice were spoken of in order to prepare for the development of the wisdom which understands the ultimate reality of all.

{{PullBcaVerses|9.1}}

<h2>The Two Truths</h2>

In verses 2 to 4ab, Śāntideva gives a summarized presentation of the two truths—the conventional and the ultimate truth.

The first two lines of verse 2 present us with the division of all phenomena, the division into the conventional and ultimate truths.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Relative and ultimate,
These the two truths are declared to be. (9.2ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 137.</ref>
}}
These verses, and particularly the second two lines of verse 2, have been interpreted in a wide variety of ways and form part of a larger debate involving the different philosophical traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect,
For intellect is said to be the relative. (9.2cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 137.</ref>
}}
There is a much more detailed essay on this topic available on this website entitled "[https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study/Mapping_the_Debate_Between_Mipham_and_Geluk_Scholars Debates on the Wisdom Chapter between Mipham, Drakar, and Pari Rabsel]," but the main argument within the debate is whether or not the ultimate truth is beyond the scope of the intellectual or dualistic conventional mind. Masters such as Lama Tsongkhapa, through his disciple Gyaltsap Je, argue that it is possible to access emptiness, the ultimate reality of phenomena, with the conceptual mind. They also assert that this emptiness is exactly the same entity that is perceived directly by the exalted wisdom consciousness on the path of seeing.

Other masters, such as Mipham Rinpoche, assert that there are two kinds of ultimate truth—the actual ultimate truth (''རྣམས་གྲངས་མ་ཡིན་པའི་དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་'') and a similitude of the ultimate (''རྣམ་གྲངས་ཡིན་པའི་དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་''). They argue that the similitude of the ultimate can be accessed by the conceptual mind but that the actual ultimate truth cannot be accessed by the ordinary, dualistic mind; it can only be accessed by the exalted wisdom gained in meditative equipoise on the path of seeing and above. Therefore, for this philosophical position, these two categories are not the same entity, and the actual ultimate is more subtle than the similitude and can only be realized by a directly perceiving nonconceptual consciousness devoid of any dualistic factors.

<h3>Different Individuals Perceive Different Levels of Truth</h3>
Having explained the different natures of the two truths, in verses 3 and 4 Śāntideva then moves on to explain what kind of individuals are able to access these different levels of the truth. And here he describes two types of individuals, the ordinary being and the yogi.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.3}}
According to Śāntideva, the understanding of yogic practitioners, who engage in philosophical analysis and meditative practice, undermines the views of ordinary people not engaged in these practices.

In verse 4 he explains how among the individuals considered to be practitioners, there are many levels of understanding. For instance, the understanding of followers of the lower Buddhist tenets, such as the Vaibhāṣikas, undermine the existence of a permanent, unitary, and autonomous self, the understanding of reality held by non-Buddhist schools. Then, increasingly more refined presentations of reality from Mahāyāna tenet systems such as Yogācāra and Madhyamaka outshine the philosophy of systems below them, until what is considered by all the Tibetan schools of Buddhism to be the highest, the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, is reached.

<h3>Refuting This Presentation of the Two Truths</h3>
Throughout the ninth chapter, Śāntideva engages in debates with other philosophical positions about the nature of the self and other phenomena. These opponents are from the Buddhist world but also from non-Buddhist philosophical schools whose roots lie in the ancient Indian religious traditions.

From verse 4cd until verse 56, Śāntideva deals with objections to the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's presentation of the two truths from various other Buddhist schools.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Buddhist Realist/Śrāvaka Position</h3>
Beginning from verse 6, Śantideva begins a series of debates with both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The debates flow back and forth between Śantideva himself, here as a representative of the Madhyamaka tradition in general and specifically the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school, and the holders of these other philosophical traditions.

In verses 6 to 15, Śāntideva answers a series of doubts about the Madhyamaka presentation of all phenomena being empty of intrinsic existence and therefore not existing in the way they ordinarily appear. This presentation of an illusory-like nature draws criticism from many philosophical schools, particularly from the Śrāvaka tradition, who in the well-known presentation of the four schools of Indian Buddhism would be included as the Vaibhāṣikas and Sautāntrikas.

The main core of the objections they raise is that if the ultimate nature of things is unreal, then there is no meaning to practices of virtue and of accumulating merit, since those who commit the acts and the objects of those acts don't really exist. As an extension of that, they argue that if one commits a terrible negative act, such as murder, then, following the Prāsaṅgika presentation of illusion, that act would not lead to any negative karma because the person killed was an illusion.

'''Śrāvaka (9.9):''' If all phenomena are unreal and mere illusions, then the Buddha himself is an illusion too. Merit can only be accrued by making offerings to a real Buddha, so how can merit be accumulated by making offerings to an illusory Buddha? And how could beings take rebirth after they die if they are themselves illusions?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.9}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.10):''' Illusory offerings made to the illusory Buddha give rise to illusory merit, just as you Śrāvakas believe that truly existent merit is accumulated by making truly existent offerings to a truly existent Buddha. The only difference between our systems lies in the respective reality or nonreality of the merit (and of the Buddha); it does not lie in the arising or nonarising of such merit.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.10}}
All phenomena, whether an illusion or what we call a real phenomena, arise on the basis of causes and conditions. As long as the complete conditions of an illusion are assembled, the illusion will manifest. And as long as the complete conditions of karma and afflictions are present, beings will continue to experience death and rebirth.

This is the measure of their reality, and we cannot say beings have true existence because they exist for a longer time. An illusion could exist for a long time and a being for a shorter time, but the duration of the phenomena has no bearing on their ontological status.

Here, Śāntideva is saying that illusions and "real" beings are similar in that they appear but do not exist intrinsically.

'''Śāntideva's continued response (9.11):''' But with regard to the killing of a real person and the "killing" of an illusory person, there is a difference in the karma accrued, as one has a mind to experience suffering and one does not.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.11}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.11):''' The intention to kill the illusory person that in reality is not a person still carries with it the fault of intending great harm on someone. But even if we were able to "kill" that illusory person, because they do not have a mind, no fault of murder would actually be committed.

On the other hand, what we call real beings are illusory-like, but although they are illusory-like they are not illusions. There is a difference between a person and the magical apparition of a person, and this division lies in whether they possess a mind or not. Because an actual person has a mind, they can therefore experience happiness and sorrow. The beneficial or harmful acts committed in relation to an actual person create virtuous or nonvirtuous karma.

In terms of their ontological status, there is not a single difference—both lack any intrinsic existence but still do conventionally exist.

Here, Śāntideva is highlighting an extremely important but commonly misunderstood point of the Middle Way view. He argues that just because things are illusory-like it doesn't mean that they are a complete fabrication, and it does not mean that they do not exist. An illusory-like person does not have any intrinsic nature, but they are still conventionally existent, they have minds and feelings, and if we commit terrible acts in relation to them, they will suffer, and we will accumulate negative karma. Śāntideva is at pains to point out that being empty of inherent existence does not invalidate the conventional and dependently related reality.

<h3>Refuting Objections from the Mind-Only School</h3>
In verses 15 to 29, Śāntideva answers questions raised by the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) Buddhist school and also debates with them regarding some of their central philosophical assertions.

The Mind-Only school does not accept the existence of any external phenomena and describes all that we encounter as being of the nature of mind. Objects such as trees and mountains are manifestations of the mind, but they do not exist externally in the way that they appear to do. Instead, when a karmic seed ripens to experience a particular object, like a tree, one part of that seed ripens as the mind experiencing that object, and one part ripens as an appearance of that external object. So the Mind-Only school's presentation of the emptiness of phenomena relies on understanding the lack of a separate entity of the mind and its objects, which leads us to realize that external phenomena have no independent existence “out there” on their own. They are actually only constructions of the mind. According to the Mind-Only school, when we see this ultimate reality of phenomena, our grasping at phenomena ceases and we can attain enlightenment.

The Mind-Only school's presentation of the empty nature of all phenomena relies heavily on what are known as the three natures—the dependent nature (''paratantra''), the imputed nature (''parikalpita''), and the thoroughly established or ultimate nature (''pariniṣpanna'').

Of particular interest to Śāntideva in relation to the Mind-Only school is their presentation of a self-cognizing mind (''svasaṃvedana'', ''རང་རིག་''). The Mind-Only school asserts the existence of this kind of mind that has the ability to be aware of and to ratify its own existence. For the Mind-Only school, if we do not accept the existence of this self-cognizing mind, we will not be able to establish the validity, and therefore the existence, of consciousness through valid cognition (''pramāṇa'').

But since they accept no external objects, when mind perceives what appears to be external phenomena, it is really only perceiving a projection of that very mind itself, and so it is essentially like mind just perceiving mind.

Śāntideva argues through analogies that this kind of mind that perceives its very own self cannot exist, just as a candle flame does not illuminate itself, and just as a sword is not able to cut itself. This refutation is also intimately tied in with the explanation of memory and the need for a valid cognizing mind in order to validate or establish the existence of any particular phenomena.

<h3>The Nature of Illusion</h3>
Verses 30 to 34 contain debates between the Middle Way school and the other lower systems of Buddhist thought—the Vaibhāṣikas, the Sautrāntikas, and the Mind-Only school. The main topic of discussion is the nature of illusion. The Sarvāstivāda school inquires of Śāntideva, "What use is this understanding of emptiness? Even with that understanding, we still fall prey to our desires, just as a magician can still fall to desire for an illusory woman that he has conjured up himself."
Śāntideva counters this argument by saying that it is because of not being fully trained in the understanding of the lack of true existence that it is still possible for desire and the other afflictions to arise.

<h3>Refuting the View That If Everything Is Empty There Is No Point Seeking Enlightenment</h3>
In verses 35 to 39, Śāntideva fields further questions about the consequences of accepting the emptiness of the intrinsic reality of all phenomena. His opponents ask, "The doctrine of emptiness cannot be correct, because when the Buddha finally attains the fruit of the path—complete enlightenment—all discursive thought will cease and they will no longer have any mind. So how will they then be of any benefit to other sentient beings who are stuck in samsara since they have no thought to help others?"

Śāntideva counters this claim by saying that although there are neither conceptual thoughts nor any clinging to the true existence of self or phenomena, that does not mean that the buddhas will be unable to benefit others. Previously, when they were on the bodhisattva path, the buddhas made aspirational prayers to help others. It is these prayers that now come to fruition once the buddhas attain full enlightenment. With the appearance of the form body of the buddha (''rūpakāya''), the buddhas are able to spontaneously and effortlessly appear for the greatest welfare of all.

<h3>Proofs of the Authenticity of the Mahāyāna</h3>
Verses 40 to 43 provide a fascinating debate that questions the grounds on which a tradition can be considered to be authentically Buddhist.

The Śrāvaka tradition believes that directly understanding the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as impermanence, is sufficient to achieve the complete state of arhatship. So, they inquire of the Madhaymaka tradition, "What is the use of understanding emptiness?"

Śāntideva's first response is to quote from the Sūtras. He points out that this need for the understanding of emptiness, in order to completely uproot the afflictions, is mentioned directly in the words of the Buddha, particularly in the perfection of wisdom sūtras.

Some śrāvakas then question whether this kind of scriptural source is a valid teaching of the Buddha, and therefore there remains doubt as to whether a practitioner needs to realize emptiness to attain enlightenment.

Śāntideva then turns to logic, inquiring as to the reasons that the śrāvakas validate their own scriptures. If the śrāvakas reply that their sūtras are accepted by both parties, then, Śāntideva responds, the Vedas would also have to be accepted as valid scriptures teaching the truth because there are at least two parties who accept them to be valid.

And finally, Śāntideva reasons, if the śrāvakas follow with the argument that the teachings of the Mahāyāna are disputed by others so therefore they are not valid, that exact same argument can easily be turned back on them: since the śrāvaka’s own position is disputed by others, therefore the teachings of the śrāvaka vehicle cannot be considered valid.

<h3>The Importance of Emptiness according to the Middle Way School</h3>
In verses 44 to 56, the debate continues between the śrāvakas and the Middle Way school, but the argument shifts away from the scriptural validity of the two schools to the subject of why emptiness is so important.

At this juncture in the chapter, there is another big divergence within the commentarial tradition. The divergence of views rests on the previous discussion of whether the śrāvaka arhats need to realize the lack of intrinsic nature of self and phenomena in order to attain liberation from samsara (''mokṣa'').

The great Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal argues that this section of the text does not assert the need for realizing emptiness in order to attain liberation but instead asserts the supremacy of the Mahāyāna. The great Gelukpa master Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen interprets this section as presenting the need for all practitioners to directly perceive emptiness, whether that is the hearers and solitary realizers of the Hīnayāna or the bodhisattvas of the Mahāyāna. This is one interpretation of the cornerstones of Lama Tsongkhapa's eight great points of Madhyamaka.

<h2>Selflessness</h2>
In the next section of the text, from verses 57 to 110, Śāntideva gives an extensive explanation of how to meditate on the two different kinds of selflessness: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

<h3>1. Selflessness of Persons</h3>
Śāntideva devotes the next major section of chapter 9 (verses 57 to 77) to the refutation of the self of persons (''pudgalātman''). This section is divided into (a) the general refutation of the self of persons and (b) the specific refutations of other school's presentations of the self of persons.

<h4>A. General Refutation in Regard to the Self of Persons</h4>
Verses 57 to 59 present a general refutation of an inherent self, a self which is truly and intrinsically existent and which exists from its own side. Śāntideva does this by analyzing the components of a person—the body and mind. He argues that the self always appears in relation to the five component psychophysical aggregates of the person—the aggregates of form, feeling, formations, discrimination, and consciousness. Therefore, if a person exists in exactly the way that they appear, which is an independent self coming from the side of the aggregates, then that kind of self should be findable within those aggregates when we search for it. These three verses detail that analysis and come to the conclusion that there is nothing called "self" that we find within any of these parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.59}}
<h4>B. Specific Refutations of Other Schools' Presentations of the Self of Persons</h4>
In verses 60 to 69, Śāntideva raises arguments against the non-Buddhist Indian traditions of Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Nyāya. This section of the ninth chapter is a discussion of the self of persons and in particular is a refutation of the self of a person posited by these non-Buddhist schools.

<h5>i. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Sāṃkhya School's Belief in a Permanent Self That Is Conscious</h5>
In this section of the ninth chapter, Śāntideva refutes the self of persons as presented in the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Sāṃkhya''' (also spelled Sāṅkhya) is one of the six major orthodox (''āstika'') schools of Vedic philosophy (the other five are the Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta).

Sāṃkhya is an atheistic system, and its adherents are known as the Enumerators, for it is said that the truth they teach is known by means of enumerating a series of up to twenty-five categories of phenomena. The two central factors of these twenty-five are the primal substance (''prakṛti'') and the person (''puruṣa'').

The Sāṃkhya school maintains that as long as we are ignorant of the fact that all categories are created by the interaction between the primal substance and the person, we therefore remain in a world of multiplicity and duality and remain unenlightened. Escape from this endless circle of samsaric existence is possible only through the realization of the fundamental difference between the primal substance and persons. This realization loosens the bond between them, and an individual person loses interest in the primal substance and is thereby liberated forever from all bodies, both subtle and gross.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

{{standout
|'''Master Argument – Change and Permanence Are Mutually Exclusive'''

'''9.60 to 9.67:''' ''If something causes change to another phenomena or is changed by another phenomena, it cannot also be permanent.''
}}

In the middle section of chapter 9, Śāntideva presents his refutations of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist presentations of the self, or the person. In verses 60 to 67, he challenges the central Sāṃkhya assertion that a self can be consciousness and yet still permanent.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.60}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.61}}
"How can you attribute the quality of knowing to the self?" Śāntideva asks. "You would be implying that if the self is the consciousness of sound, then sound will be perceived at all times. On the other hand, if you assert that cognitions exist even in the absence of their objects—such as sound or physical form—then it follows that a piece of wood could be conscious, since cognitions do not require objects. Since this is not tenable, you would have to agree that without objects of cognition, there can be no cognitions.”

If a particular object is not present, then there cannot be any consciousness which apprehends that phenomena. Consciousness has to depend upon the objects that it is aware of, and it is not possible for something to be a consciousness without its being a consciousness of something.

In the next verse Śāntideva continues his analysis of the philosophical problems inherent in accepting the person to be a permanent consciousness. He asks, "Why does the consciousness apprehending form not also apprehend sound?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.62}}
Since the consciousness is the person, and since that is accepted as a permanent phenomena, then if it apprehends sound, it has to continually apprehend sound, and therefore it cannot apprehend visible objects, such as forms.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.63}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.64}}
'''Adherents of the Sāṃkhya school respond:''' The consciousness is like an actor that performs many parts in a play, so they may put on one costume and act out one role earlier in the play and then don a different costume and play a completely different character later in the same play. Likewise, they say, an earlier consciousness of sound can appear later as the consciousness of form, which then sees visible objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the consciousness is like an actor and plays many different roles by perceiving a variety of different objects, then that consciousness cannot be a constant and unchanging thing, and therefore it cannot be permanent. Change and permanence are mutually exclusive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.65}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Asserting that the latter consciousness of form is of the same nature as the prior consciousness of sound is not tenable. The two statements—(1) that the consciousness has assumed a new aspect that appears quite separately and that is not the same as before, but (2) is nevertheless thought of as being one with the previous and therefore not different in any way—are an incoherent expression of something that is unknown anywhere in the world and which has never before been seen.

'''Sāṃkhyas:''' These variously appearing consciousnesses are not real—they are deceptive forms of appearance which are dependent on temporary conditions.

'''Śāntideva:''' If these consciousnesses are not truly existent, then the Sāṃkhyas must explain what the nature of this truly existent consciousness is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.66}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas respond (9.66cd):''' It is pure consciousness, which is not qualified by any object. It is a single entity of consciousness that is present in all conscious experiences, past or future.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 351.</ref>

'''Śāntideva's response:''' If all consciousness is singular and truly existent, then it must follow that all beings are one since their individual mindstreams are all one with this nature. Since this unqualified consciousness is inherently present in the mindstreams of all beings, they must all be identically one.

In the last verse of the refutation of the Sāṃkhya presentation of the self as permanent consciousness, '''Śāntideva argues (9.67ab):''' even animate consciousness (''puruṣa'') and the twenty-four categories of inanimate matter, such as ''prakṛti'', would become identical since they are all alike in that they exist as permanent, partless entities.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.67}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' If we take away all these different kinds of minds, such as the mind which sees visual objects and hears audible sounds, minds which are all false and deceptive, then although the Sāṃkhya school speaks of this basic consciousness as true, unitary, and universal, it is hard to see what is left of it.

This concludes the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the Sāṃkhya view of the self as a permanent, partless, yet unitary consciousness.

<h5>ii. Śāntideva's Refutation of the Self of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya Schools' Belief in a Self That Is Material and Unconscious</h5>
Verses 68 and 69 contain Śāntideva's refutation of the presentation of self from the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''The Vaiśeṣika school''' is one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy and is based on Kaṇāda's ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'', composed around the second century BCE. Kaṇāda was more interested in the nature of reality, which he saw as being the dharma. He was not an orthodox follower of the Vedas, but he respected them because they revealed the dharma (here, in the general sense of the law or the truth).

Vaiśeṣika philosophy is a form of realism that believes in the pluralistic reality of things in the world around us, things that are outside and separate from us. His text attempts to investigate the diversity of existent phenomena and to categorize these phenomena into different types of entities.

The ''Vaiśeṣikasūtra'' explains to us the futility of life in the illusory world of ''māyā'' and how an understanding of god can liberate us from samsara.

For further information regarding the Vaiśeṣika school, see the following page [Link to VAIŚEṢIKA COMMONS PAGE].

The Nyāya school is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. It was founded by Ṛiṣhi Akṣhipāda and is in some sense a continuation of the early Indian philosophical tradition of the Vaiśeṣika. The followers of the Nyāya refer mainly to Gautama Akṣapāda's ''Nyāyasūtra'', from around the end of the first century CE. This text deals mainly with philosophical debate and logical and epistemological ideas.

The followers of the Nyāya (called Naiyāyikas) accept the self to be a permanent, partless, material phenomenon which, although unconscious, is considered to be the experiencer of things. It is the thing that transmigrates from life to life.

The two traditions of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya were maintained separately until around the eleventh century, when they eventually merged to form a tradition known as the Navya-Nyāya, combining the metaphysical basis of Vaiśeṣika with the epistemological developments of Nyāya.

For further information regarding the Nyāya school, see the following page [Link to NYĀYA COMMONS PAGE].

Śāntideva begins by refuting the main Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya view that the self is unconscious. His main argument here is that a self, or person, must be conscious. This seems to be directly validated by our everyday experience, where we are aware and have knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

The following verses present the basic debate between Śāntideva and the Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya position, interspersed with the relevant verses from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'':

'''Śāntideva:''' If you hold the self to be an unconscious material substance, then the self cannot experience anything. If that is so, there would be no difference between that form of consciousness and ordinary matter, such as a clay pot.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Something destitute of mind, we hold, is not a self.
For mindlessness means matter, like a vase. (9.68ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Vaiśeṣika/Nyāya:''' It is true that since the self is unconscious, it cannot know objects or experience feelings directly. But when the self becomes associated with consciousness, then due to the mind's power, it can then become conscious of objects.

'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting this will destroy your central belief that the fundamental nature of the self is to be unconscious and unaware of phenomena. Now you are saying that it can become aware of objects, which is a contradiction:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the self has consciousness when joined to mind."
Then this refutes its nature of unconsciousness. (9.68cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 147.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Accepting an immutable, permanent self which is also affected by mind, such that it becomes cognizant of objects, is untenable.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.69}}
'''Śāntideva:''' The self that you assert cannot be permanent, since the self comes to acquire the awareness of objects, an awareness that it did not previously have when it was unassociated with mind. How can something that is permanent, which never undergoes any kind of change, be affected by something else? How can something else cause this self to change its state, from the state of not knowing or experiencing objects to knowing them? It is not possible to act upon something which is permanent.

And it also follows that if this is how the self is, why would we not call empty space the self? Space, too, is inert and unable to act either negatively or positively, and it is similarly devoid of mind and not able to cognize anything.

<h5>Dispelling Objections to Selflessness</h5>
In the next short section of the text, from verse 70 to 77, Śāntideva fields doubts about the validity of the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka explanation of the selflessness of persons, particularly the doubts that if the self does not exist, then the Buddhist presentation of the law of karma would be untenable, and the doubt that cultivating compassion for those that do not exist would be meaningless.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with the Principle of Karma'''
In verses 70 to 74, Śāntideva responds to the argument that accepting a self which lacks any intrinsic nature and also accepting the law of karma such that actions in the past determine the positive or negative results we experience in the future are logically incompatible.

'''The opponent (who some ascribe to be the Nyāya and some as Vaiśeṣika):''' How is it possible for you, the Prāsaṅgika school, to believe in both the law of karma, where actions in the past determine the results we experience in the future, and at the same time to not believe in the existence of a self? Once the karmic action is done, there is no longer the doer. Therefore, who would receive the results of that action? Since the one who experiences the result of a previous action is someone else, the result of the action goes completely to waste.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.70}}
This is a very important philosophical point that touches on the subject of how the existence of the continuity of individual mindstreams for different beings can be compatible with the Buddhist presentation of selflessness.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument Involving Causality'''

'''9.70 to 9.72:''' ''Answering objections that a self which does not exist inherently can still create karmic actions and receive the karmic results of those, showing that karma and lack of true existence are not incompatible''.
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.72ab):''' It is impossible to find a result that still has its substantial cause present at the time that the result arises. At the time of the result, the cause must necessarily have ceased. It is only possible to draw the relationship of these causes to their results when we look at the perspective of the continuity of the mindstream of a particular being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.72}}
'''Śāntideva (9.72cd):''' In dependence on a single continuum of the aggregates, we can refer to the one who creates the karma and the experiencer of the result of that karma. When talking in reference to a continuum, it is valid to say this person creates karma as well as experiences karma.

Connected to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from a Pāli sutta, where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="The result, O monks, of an action once performed does not affect inanimate elements such as earth and so forth. It ripens on the aggregates, elements, and sense powers that are assumed by a consciousness." The result that ripens on the doer of an action is thus posited in terms of a single mental continuum.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref>
}}
The Buddha himself has stated that the results of karmic actions do not ripen on immaterial and inanimate objects, such as rocks and mountains.<ref>There is a longer discussion of this in [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Khenpo Kunpal]]'s commentary. See [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 353.</ref> They ripen on the aggregates included within the basis of a person, such as the elements or the sense powers. The effects of actions performed by a living being always ripen in relation to aggregates which are associated with consciousness.

So there is continuity between the one who did the act and the one who receives the result. Despite there being no inherently existent self, it is still reasonable to accept that the continuum experiences the result. However, this is not the same person, as is commonly held by the view of ordinary people. The earlier person who commits the act is a different person from the one who experiences it. But then the question arises: what then is this self?

'''Opponent:''' It is the continuum that is the self.

'''Śāntideva (9.73ab):''' But accepting that this continuum is the continuum of mind and that the continuum of mind is the self is not tenable. If the self is mind, then it must be either the past, present, or future mind. But the past mind is gone and the future mind has not yet been produced, so they are not existent right now and therefore cannot be the self.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.73}}
'''Opponent (9.73c):''' It is the current mind right now that is the self.

{{standout
|'''Master Argument about Existence and Time'''

'''9.73:''' ''If the mind is the self, or indeed any one of the aggregates, then since the aggregates change from moment to moment, the self would become nonexistent in the next moment.''
}}

'''Śāntideva (9.73d):''' If the present mind is asserted to be the self, then a permanent self could not be accepted because this present mind perishes in the next moment and a new mind arises (an argument against Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika). For anyone who believes the self to inherently exist, that self must pass from the past into the present and the present into the future. If this is so, the self cannot be identified as the present moment. These arguments refute the theory of the self being the mental continuum.

In relation to verse 73, the commentaries contain an interesting discussion of what it means to be a continuum.

It says in verse 61 of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Qualities ascribed to Upagupta and Maitreya
Are distinct and cannot be assigned to one continuum.
Phenomena that differ by their varying particulars,
Do not compose a single continuity.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham'' (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2002), 76.</ref>
}}
So there are different continuums for different beings. The continuum of Maitreya is not the continuum of Upagupta.

But the question may arise: Does one specific continuum constitute a single self? The answer is that it does not. We can easily see that a person when they are young is completely different from the same person when they are older, and we can also see that the person in an earlier birth is different from the person in a later birth. We can say that they are of the same continuum but that they are not the same person. The continuum is useful as a label, but it does not inherently exist.

{{standout
|'''Master Mereological Argument in Relation to Mind'''

'''9.74:''' ''The mind cannot be found when searched for among its parts, which are the individual moments of mind. It is neither the past mind, the present mind, or the future mind. However, there must still be some connection between past and future moments to allow for the existence of individual continuities of mind for each person.''
}}

Although the Madhyamaka school says that the continuum exists conventionally, they also point out that when we search for its ultimate nature under analysis, we cannot find anything that we can posit as the continuum, and therefore the continuum lacks any true existence.

'''Śāntideva (9.74ab):''' If we take the example of a plantain tree, and if we mentally analyze it or physically dissect it so that we look through all of its leaves, the trunk, or any of its parts, searching for the essence of this tree, we will find nothing that we can point to that is what we call a plantain tree.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.74}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.74cd):''' Likewise, when we analyze the self or phenomena to see whether they exist inherently and concretely in the way that they appear, we find nothing. Searching through the basis of designation of a phenomena, we are unable to uncover anything that we could call an "I" or essence. Therefore, the self cannot exist in any kind of absolute manner. This kind of ultimate analysis harms any kind of assertion of an intrinsically existing independent self.

'''The Emptiness of the Self Is Not Compatible with Compassion'''
In verses 75 to 77, Śāntideva answers further questions about the Madhyamaka school's presentation of emptiness.

'''Opponent (9.75):''' Since, for the Madhyamaka, the self does not exist, then living beings cannot exist. And if living beings do not exist, there is no one to be the object of compassion, which is one of the foundations of the Mahāyāna:
{{PullBcaVerses|9.75}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.75cd):''' While there is no inherently or independently existing self, it is still possible to posit the existence of beings from a conventional perspective.

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in his commentary to the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' entitled ''Practicing Wisdom'', brings out an interesting understanding of what Śāntideva means here by ignorance.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By "ignorance" here, Shantideva is not referring to the grasping at intrinsic existence, the fundamental ignorance that is at the root of our unenlightened existence. What he is saying is similar to the statement found in Chandrakirti's ''Supplement to the Middle Way'', where the universe is said to be the product of the ignorant mind. Shantideva says that within the framework of relative truth—that is, within the validity of the conventional world of everyday experience—self does exist. Therefore, sentient beings exist for whom we can generate compassion, and these sentient beings have real suffering.<ref>[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way]]'', trans. and ed. [[People/Jinpa,_Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 106.</ref>
}}
Beings are thrown into the world of samsaric birth through the ignorant mind, and through ignorance they engage in contaminated actions that, while bringing positive or negative results, still keep us bound to the wheel of cyclic existence. Within the world of relative truth, beings do exist, and trapped as they are in this endless cycle of suffering, they are a suitable object for our compassion and bodhicitta.

'''Opponent (9.76ab):''' If there are no sentient beings, then there can be no practitioners of the path and no one who can attain the resultant state. Therefore, why would you take a vow to attain the state of buddhahood?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.76}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.76cd):''' It is true that when subjected to ultimate analysis we cannot find anyone who attains the result, no one for whom the result is attained, nor any result. Ultimately, there is no difference between samsara or nirvana—neither of them have any true existence. But to the perception of those enmeshed in ignorance, these things seem very real. This is an essential point of the Middle Way philosophy—at an unanalyzed level, we can accept the existence of the conventional, dependently related world. But under analysis into their deepest nature, nothing of either samsara or nirvana can be found.

Khenpo Kunpal explains this very nicely by using an analogy of someone who is possessed by a harmful spirit, causing them to experience things that are not really there.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For one who, through ignorance, is enmeshed in dualistic mental patterns, samsara incontestably appears. And because of this, nirvana, the reverse of samsara, also exists. It is rather like a man oppressed by malignant spirits. He lives in the same kind of place as ordinary people, but he suffers because he sees demonic shapes and things that others do not perceive—and yet all the while he is in a perfectly wholesome and pleasant environment. In an ultimate sense, neither samsara nor the peace of nirvana has true existence. It is for this very reason that such things as bondage in samsara and liberation from it are possible; if they had real existence, neither could actually occur. This is a key point, which should be fully assimilated.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 355–56.</ref>
}}
Here, Khenpo Kunpal is pointing out a very important point—by not understanding that samsara and nirvana have not a single atom of true existence, there is bondage in cyclic existence. But there is also the possibility of liberation from that.

'''Opponents may raise the doubt:''' If what we hope to gain is actually unreal and unattainable, why should we make so much effort to train on the path?

'''Madhaymaka response:''' Although, on the ultimate level, there is actually nothing to obtain, on the level of appearance, there is still something to work toward. Until we attain buddhahood, when the ultimate reality of all phenomena appears directly to us, we should neither throw away the idea of trying to destroy the afflictions nor throw away the relative idea that liberation can be attained. This is the path we will have to walk to overcome suffering.

Once we have drawn back all the obscurations, including the obscurations to omniscience, and once all dualistic structures are dismantled, when for us the two truths are in union, only then will we be able to overcome the discrepancy between the appearance of phenomena and their deepest nature. Only then, in the sphere of ultimate reality, will we fully realize that the goal never fundamentally existed and be able to drop all hopes and expectations for conventional phenomena, even for enlightenment itself. Candrakīrti captures this in two verses from his classical work on the Madhyamaka view, ''Entering the Middle Way'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Conventional reality therefore becomes the means;
And by this means, the ultimate is reached.
Those who do not know how these two differ
Err in thought and take mistaken paths. (6.80)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Unlike you, who think dependent nature is a true existent,
Even for the all-concealing relative we make no claims.
And yet, to gain the fruit, we speak in harmony with worldly folk
And grant that things exist, though they do not. (6.81)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', 79.</ref>
}}
'''Opponent's objection:''' If the reality of the conventional world is not to be completely negated, isn’t it possible that we might give these conventional phenomena some sort of objective status that they do not actually possess? And if this is so, it seems that although the afflictions and ignorance can be temporarily halted, it will not be possible to stop them completely.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.77}}
'''Śāntideva responds (9.77):''' Clinging to the conventional self to be inherently existent creates a false sense of "I," leading us to give rise to anger, attachment, and the whole range of afflictions, and this in turn leads us to suffering.

This may seem like an endless cycle, but it is not. This ignorance can be overcome. This is possible if we cultivate the mind that lies in direct opposition to this false view of the self—the wisdom realizing the emptiness of the self. This insight, based on valid reasoning, perceives the ultimate reality of the self, the lack of any inherently existent nature, and dismantles the ignorance that has kept us bound in samsara.

Khenpo Kunpal neatly sums up this section of the text by encouraging those of us with good fortune to strive to develop the wisdom that sees the ultimate reality.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=To sum up therefore, belief in selfhood is the root of samsaric existence. As long as this is not eliminated, no matter what practices one undertakes, whether austerities or meditation, one cannot get beyond samsara. Consequently, it has been said that those graced with good fortune who wish for liberation should constantly make their practice a remedy to self-clinging.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Selflessness of Phenomena</h3>
Having refuted the positions of other doctrinal systems on the self of the person and implicitly presented the Madhyamaka view of how the person is empty of an inherent nature, Śāntideva then moves on to the selflessness of all other phenomena which are not the person.

<h4>The Four Foundations of Mindfulness</h4>
In the classical Buddhist tradition, there are many ways to analyze phenomena in order to reveal their deeper nature. Here, in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Śāntideva chooses to focus mainly on some of the component aggregates of a person, the basis of designation of the person, which are considered to be included in the category of phenomena and therefore phenomena that are other than the person.

The system of contemplation that Śāntideva presents here is called the four foundations of mindfulness (''catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna''), also translated as the four close placements of mindfulness.

These four mindfulnesses observe four different aggregates within the continuum of a living being. These four are (1) mindfulness of body (''kāyāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (2) mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna''); (3) mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna''); and (4) mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

These four mindfulnesses are a subset of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (''saptatriṃśadbodhipakśyadharma''), the noble eightfold path (''āryaṣṭāṇgamārga''), as well as the five faculties (''pañcabalāni''), and the five powers (''pañcendriya''). These factors are common both to the non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna traditions, although the reach and focus of these factors has developed along with the traditions.

The Theravāda tradition takes the source for these four mindfulnesses from ''The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness'' (''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta''), which is found in the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pāli Canon.<ref>See sūtra 22 in Maurice Walshe, trans., ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya'' (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 1996), 335.</ref>

But what is the general characteristic of these four mindfulnesses? Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains the etymology of the word ''satipaṭṭhāna'' in his introduction to the ''Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta'' as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''Satipaṭṭhāna''—the establishing (''upaṭṭhāna'') of mindfulness (''sati'')—is a meditative technique for training the mind to keep mindfulness firmly established in a particular frame of reference in all its activities. The term ''sati'' is related to the verb ''sarati'', to remember or to keep in mind.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, ''The Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse, Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10)'', Dhammatalks.org, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN10.html.</ref>
}}
Most commentaries on this ninth chapter include this section of the text under the outline on the selflessness of phenomena. However, there are some commentators, such as the Sakya master Sonam Tsemo, who explain this section as a refutation of each of these four categories of body etc. as not being the self. From that perspective, this section would then still be under the outline of the selflessness of persons.

In his commentary, Sonam Tsemo goes on to compare the Mahāyāna tradition's approach to these four close placements of mindfulness with the earlier, non-Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition's approach.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This section is not a teaching on the four foundations of mindfulness taught elsewhere as the impurity of the body, the suffering of sensations, the impermanence of mind and the non-self of dharmas. However, one need not think there is any contradiction here to that teaching, only a different purpose. In our bodhisattva tradition, the purpose is to analyse the individual self for which grasping arises under the power of wrong views, by developing the characteristics of non-self in the meditative objects [i.e. the four foundations] to purify defilements. In the other tradition, since conduct degenerates under the influence of defilements such as attachment, one develops in one’s stream of being the characteristics of abandonment of the four wrong views as meditative objects to purify conduct.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 389.</ref>
}}
The earlier tradition focuses much more on factors such as the impurity of the body, the changeable and suffering nature of feelings, or the impermanence of the mind. It is only in the fourth category of phenomena that the tradition looks into the aspect of nonself. In the Madhyamaka tradition, there is a much greater emphasis on the ultimate nature of these categories of phenomena.

In our ordinary daily experience, things seem to exist out there and independently, to exist from their own side, as though unconnected to anything else. But instead of just looking into the conventional characteristics of these aggregates, such as the body, Śāntideva follows the Madhyamaka approach of analyzing the final nature of these phenomena, searching to see if they exist inherently and from their own side, which is the way that they seem to appear in ordinary experience.

In regard to the way in which the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna traditions emphasize these meditations differently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama states the following in his ''Practicing Wisdom'' commentary:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Generally speaking, meditating on the mindfulness of body, reflecting upon the nature of our own body, is the approach explained in the Hinayana scriptures. However, we can extend this contemplation to the nature of the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena of all beings, who are limitless like space. Then it becomes a training of the mind according to the Mahayana path. When we contemplate the emptiness of these four factors—body, feelings, mind, and phenomena—we are practicing a mindfulness meditation focused on the ultimate truth.<ref>[[Dalai Lama, 14th|14th Dalai Lama]], ''[[Practicing Wisdom]]'', 109. </ref>
}}
This form of analysis seeks to determine whether phenomena are really "true" and "undeceptive." And one of the primary ways in which we can determine whether something is true or deceptive is to look at whether it actually exists the way that it appears. If we find a discrepancy between how it exists and how it appears to us, we would recognize that as something deceptive.

Thus, in order to examine whether phenomena really do exist out there without dependence on anything else, we use these kinds of analyses, those that look past the surface level appearance to the underlying deepest status of existence.

The arguments in this section are less specifically focused on refuting a particular school. Instead, the principal opponent is more general and encompasses anyone who believes in the inherent existence of phenomena. This includes all the non-Buddhist schools but also the lower systems of Buddhist tenet holders, such as the Cittamātrins.

<h5>Mindfulness of the Body</h5>
Verses 78 to 87 cover the first of the four foundations of mindfulness, the close placement of mindfulness of the body (''kāyasmṛtyupasthāna''), and here, specifically, the mindfulness that analyzes the awareness of the empty nature of the body.

Attachment to our bodies, whether that is as an essential part of maintaining our health and well-being or is for the purposes of making ourselves attractive, is a primary feature of our lives. So much of our experience as human beings occurs in relation to our own physical body, but a very strong component of our experience of attachment is connected also with the physical forms of others. To help release us from this grasping to the physical body, Śāntideva provides us with a variety of reasons to prove that the body has no inherent existence.

In his commentary, Pema Karpo divides mindfulness of the body into three sections: (1) showing that each of the individual parts are not the body; (2) showing that there is no single body that pervades all of its individual parts; and (3) refuting forms of confusion, such as taking the collection of the parts to be the body.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 104 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>

'''1. Showing That Each of the Individual Parts Are Not the Body:'''

In terms of this first section, in verses 78 and 79 Śāntideva searches within the constituent parts of the body, such as the arms and legs, for what we call the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.78}}
In his commentary to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal points out one of the crucial points in the Madhyamaka analysis of whether a phenomena has any trace of true existence or not. The argument is that if the phenomena in question exists inherently from its own side, then it must necessarily be found somewhere within its parts. If it cannot be found in its parts, then it must be a mere imputation.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we call "the body" is a mere imputation; it does not exist inherently. Our reason for saying this is that if a body, which is apprehended as a single (partless) whole complete with all its sense faculties, existed as such, it would have to be present in its members, for example the hand. But the various body parts, the foot, the shins and calves, are not the body. The thighs and hips, the waist and loins, the belly, back, chest and arms, and so on and so forth—none of these is the body.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 357.</ref>
}}
Taking the example here of the body, Śāntideva asks us to search through all the parts of the body to see whether any one of them is the body. If we can find something within those parts that we can call the body, then the body could be said to exist inherently, or from its own side.

The analysis continues to examine each of the individual parts to see whether any of these components of the body can fit the definition of what the body is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.79}}
In the end, the conclusion is that there is nothing within the parts of the body that we can find to call the body. No single part can be considered the body. "So what then is this body?" Śāntideva inquires.

Since we cannot find it under search on the basis on which it appears, it must therefore lack intrinsic existence. It must be a mere imputation.

'''2. Showing That There Is No Single Body That Pervades All of Its Individual Parts:'''

The next argument, seen in verses 80–82, revolves around the way we experience our body. In ordinary life, when thinking about or experiencing the body, it seems to be a singular entity. But Śāntideva points out that there cannot be a singular and inherently existent body that pervades all of its parts.

'''The opponent's position (some commentators attribute to the Sāṃkhyas):''' It is true that each of the individual parts are not the body. But is there something that pervades all the parts? Is there a singular thing that enters all the parts?

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the body does indeed pervade all the parts, then that would suggest that the body itself is not actually composed of parts.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.80}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' Where then does this singular partless body exist? And if this singular and complete whole body exists separately and equally in all of the parts of the body, there would be the fallacy that there would be as many whole bodies as there are parts of the body.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.81}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Since the body is neither found to exist as identical to its individual parts nor found to exist separately and independently of these parts, the body must therefore lack any form of intrinsic existence, and its deepest nature must be that of emptiness.

'''3. Refuting Forms of Confusion, Such as Taking the Collection of the Parts to Be the Body:'''

In verses 83 to 86, Śāntideva presents arguments against the complete collection of the parts being the body, using the analogy of a pile of stones formed into a cairn appearing to be a person, while actually never being a human being.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.83}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.84}}
'''Śāntideva concludes:''' Śāntideva uses an analogy of how, when particular conditions arise, a group of stones which have been piled up, can be mistaken for a person. Similarly, there is no possibility for this body to be self-existent, intrinsically real, and truly existent, without any relation to other phenomena, such as its parts. When conditions arise such that all those parts come together, we can conventionally talk of the body appearing. But since the appearance of the body to an apprehending consciousness relies on the aggregation of many conditions, and since it lacks any autonomous status of its own, the body is actually a mere imputation or designation posited upon the assembled collection of its parts. Aside from being a mere label, this body, in fact, has no other existential status.

Śāntideva extends this mode of analysis of checking whether a phenomena exists in its parts or not, but he turns his focus instead to the individual parts of the body, such as the hands, to see whether they themselves are to be found in their parts. Taking a hand, he looks at all the individual parts that make up a hand and asks, "Where within the parts of the hand can we find what we call the hand?"
{{PullBcaVerses|9.85}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking a hand, we mentally dissect it to see where the subject we call hand is to be found. But, just as in the example of the body, when we look for it in its parts, it cannot be found. And if we keep on searching into the parts of the parts and dividing them down into smaller and smaller particles, even the smallest particles lack any form of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.86}}
This process is similar to the scientific search for the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Many scientists are beginning to conclude that it will never be possible to find independent and fundamental particles that cannot be further reduced to their parts.

This verse also contains a refutation of the Vaiśeṣika position that the whole world is formed from the permanent and indivisible atoms, which are the foundations, or creators, of the physical universe. This school accepts space to be permanent and omnipresent, but the atoms of the elements of earth, water, fire, and air are not accepted to be omnipresent but are asserted to be permanent. In contrast, the grosser, more manifest things which are made of these atoms are believed to be impermanent.

This refutation is also very relevant to the refutation of the Mīmāṃsā belief that the smallest particles can be no smaller than what is visible to the naked eye, and therefore, at that level, must be partless.

This refutation is also mentioned in verse 126ab, in the refutation of production from a permanent creator.<ref>Verse 126ab reads:<br>Those who hold the permanence of particles<br>Were indeed refuted earlier.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 155.</ref>

'''All Form Is an Illusion'''

From all this analysis, Śāntideva determines that there can be nothing physical that can have any intrinsic nature, out there and independent, existing from their own side, without being in some way dependent on other phenomena.

In the concluding section on the close placement of mindfulness on the body, Śāntideva reminds us that all physical forms are like illusions—they appear in one way but in reality exist in another way. If our own bodies and those of others are actually like a dream, then what reason is there for anyone who has the wisdom that comes from this kind of analysis to be attached?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.87}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Since the terms ''male'' and ''female'' are designated on the basis of the difference between male and female bodies, and since the intrinsic nature of those bodies is not found on search, then male and female cannot have any inherent existence.

<h5>Mindfulness of Feeling</h5>
For verses 88 to 101, Śāntideva applies similar logical arguments to the subject of feelings. This close application of mindfulness of feelings (''vedanāsmṛtyupasthāna'') looks into the three primary feelings—pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings—to see if they have any intrinsic existence.

Just as with the body, our feelings play a primary role in our lives, and our attachment to pleasure and aversion to pain are some of the primary drivers of our lives. Underlying this strong clinging is the grasping at the feelings to be true and objectively existent.

However, Thrangu Rinpoche explains how feelings are just mental projections and have no substantial nature of their own.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Feelings themselves are really just mental projections, with no truth or reality in themselves. The feeling we mainly experience is what we think of as pleasure or pain. For example, when we are happy, we enjoy eating nutritious food. But when we are depressed or disappointed, the same delicious food does not give us joy at all. So the feeling of pain or pleasure is not the real substantial event, but a mental projection.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 211.</ref>
}}
In relation to this section of the text, Gyalse Thokme Zangpo quotes from Nāgārjuna's ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' to show that if something has an inherent nature, it cannot transform into something else.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If a thing exists by way of its intrinsic being,
It can never cease to be.
Intrinsic being never can admit
A change into another state. (15.8)<ref>See [[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union, 2003), 343. The translation of [[Nāgārjuna]]'s verse here is from the [[Padmakara Translation Group]]. See [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''The Root Stanzas of the Middle Way: The Mulamadhyamakakarika'', by [[People/Nāgārjuna|Nagarjuna]] (Boulder, CO: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2016), 48.</ref>
}}
Thokme Zangpo goes on to say the following in relation to this verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If the feeling of suffering itself were truly existent, that could never be discarded. There is no way that it could not harm its direct opposite, great joy and happiness. And because of that they (joy and happiness) would never arise.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 114.</ref>
}}
The important point being made in Nāgārjuna's treatise is that if something inherently exists, it would have to exist forever and could never cease to be. Further consequences would be that they would not be affected by any other conditions, and they would not be able to change into anything else. These arguments lie at the heart of how Śāntideva approaches the refutation of a self of phenomena that exists from its own side. The first verse of this section follows that line of reasoning.

'''Śāntideva (9.88ab):''' If the feeling of suffering were truly real, then it would have to always be present, and therefore pleasurable feelings could never arise. A person who experienced suffering could never feel happy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.88}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.88cd):''' And if the feelings of pleasure and happiness were inherently real, then why would things such as pleasant tastes not provide some solace for those in intense moments of grief.

This argument relies on the understanding that feelings of pleasure and pain cannot exist simultaneously and that existing independently means that no external factors can operate to induce change.

'''Counterargument (9.89ab):''' Happiness may still arise at the time that we are overcome with the suffering of grief, but because the feeling of suffering is very strong, it is able to suppress the happiness so that we do not experience it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.89}}
'''Śāntideva counters (9.89cd):''' The argument that the feeling of suffering overpowers the feeling of happiness, although happiness is still present, makes no sense at all. What is a feeling if it is not actually felt in experience? Feeling is by necessity something that has to be experienced. So if it is not experienced, then it cannot exist.

'''Further objection (9.90ab):''' But when a powerful feeling of happiness is present, it does not mean that no feeling of suffering at all is present. It just means that the painful sensation is a very subtle state, and therefore it is not recognized.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.90}}
'''Śāntideva again counters (9.90cd):''' It is impossible for feelings of suffering and happiness to coexist at the same time in one person's mindstream. If they could coexist, they should both be experienced at the same time, which is not how it ever appears to us.

'''Potential objection (9.90c):''' Perhaps there is subtle pain at the time of great pleasure, but it could be prevented from acting as subtle pain. The powerful sense of bliss could transform that subtle pain into a mere pleasurable sensation such that it is experienced as a kind of subtle pleasure. To represent this objection, Khenpo Kunpal uses the analogy of a clear crystal stained with vermilion, which appears red but is actually a clear crystal underneath.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 361.</ref>

'''Śāntideva responds:''' If you call subtle pain to be mere pleasure, then it is no longer pain. You have classified it as pleasure, and therefore it is no longer any kind of pain, gross or subtle. And if it were mere pleasure experienced as subtle pleasure, what difference would there be between that and the subtler form of pleasure? So none of these invalid distinctions make any sense.

With this analysis revealing the lack of inherent existence of the feelings such as pleasure and pain, Śāntideva advises us to abide in that realization as an antidote to clinging to the true existence of feelings.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.92}}
Since feelings play such a fundamental role in our lives, it is vital that we are able to see through their true existence and understand how they are like illusions. We must release ourselves from believing everything we feel to be real. In the last lines of the verse, Śāntideva encourages us to cultivate the deep meditative absorption on the empty nature of feelings, an absorption which is grown within a fertile field of analysis. This, he says, is the true sustenance of yogis.

'''Refuting Contact–The Cause of Feelings'''

The next section covers verses 93 to 101 and expresses further arguments as to why the feelings we experience have no intrinsic reality. It is based on the idea that feelings arise from contact. For instance, in teachings on the twelve links of dependent origination (''dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda''), the chain starting with ignorance leads to a new rebirth and the emergence of the physical sense powers. The next links are contact, feeling, and then craving and grasping. And the link of contact here, which acts as the direct cause for the arising of feeling, is the contact between the sense powers, the sense object, and an immediately preceding consciousness. Therefore, Śāntideva looks into the lack of inherent status of contact. He determines that if the cause of contact lacks inherent existence, then the effect of feeling must lack inherent existence.

This section is divided into three main outlines: (1) refuting the inherent meeting of sense powers and object; (2) refuting the inherent meeting with the consciousness; (3) refuting inherent contact arising from the meeting of these three.

'''1. Refuting the Inherent Meeting of Sense Powers and Their Objects'''

In verses 93 and 95, Śāntideva presents the impossibility of there being contact between inherently existent sense powers, such as the eye, and their sense objects, such as visible form. Firstly, he analyzes this on the coarser level before going later into the argument at the level of particles.

Feeling happens when its cause, contact, occurs. It comes from the meeting of the three things—the sense faculty, the object, and consciousness. If that meeting is logically examined, it does not exist, and hence there is no arising of feeling due to that condition.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.93}}
'''Śāntideva questions:''' If there is space between the sense power and its object, then how will it be possible for these two to meet? And if there is no space between them, they would become one, and then what would there be to meet what?

'''Opponent's response:''' This meeting of the sense power goes on at a much subtler level. It is not at the gross, directly observable level. Rather, it takes place at the level of particles.

'''Śāntideva responds: (This argument is particularly directed to opponents, such as the Vaibhāṣikas school as well as other Indian non-Buddhist schools, who accept forms of matter that have no parts, such as partless particles)''' Contact between the sense organ and the sense object, even at the level of particles, appears to happen, but in reality it does not. The sense organs and the sense objects are physical forms and are therefore made up of particles. But the sense organs and physical objects are not omnidirectional, and therefore all the particles of each cannot fully meet. Only the closest particles in one direction will meet the other, and therefore there will be some particles in the center of each that prevent the far sides from touching each other.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.94}}
This argument relies on the acceptance of the idea that for two material objects to meet, all of the particles of each object would have to meet and therefore merge.

'''Opponent:''' The particles of the sense faculties and the sense objects meet, but at this level the particles are partless.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It is not possible for two partless physical things to meet. If they are partless, they must lack any kind of direction with which to then meet another physical object and so would have to fully interpenetrate each other, which would essentially mean fusing together.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.95}}
If, on the other hand, there is contact between two physical objects, and their particles touch on one side but do not have contact throughout their entirety, then they cannot be partless. They would then have to possess directional parts, as some would meet another object and some would not.

'''2. Refuting the Inherent Meeting with the Consciousness'''

Having refuted the inherent meeting of the sense power and the sense object, Śāntideva moves on to refute the inherent meeting between consciousness and objects themselves. Here, the consciousness being referred to is the consciousness which acts as the immediately preceding condition, one of the three conditions necessary for sense consciousnesses to arise.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Consciousness is immaterial,
And so one cannot speak of contact with it. (9.96ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is unacceptable to talk of an immaterial consciousness meeting with a material, physical object. There is no possibility for something that has no form to meet something that has form.

The refutation of meeting with the coarse: Also, the meeting with a coarse object that is a collection of many atoms does not exist inherently because no truly existent object exists on that. Similarly, inherent existence had already been refuted earlier through the analysis of the collection of digits.

'''3. Refuting Inherent Contact Arising from the Meeting of These Three'''

In the second two lines of verse 96 and in verses 97 and 98, Śāntideva turns his attention to refuting any kind of contact arising from the meeting of the sense object, the sense faculty, and a consciousness.

'''Opponent:''' Even though it is not coherent to talk of the sense power or the consciousness meeting the sense object, there must be some kind of convergence of these three factors which then causes contact to occur, followed by feeling.

'''Śāntideva's response:''' It may appear that there is some kind of convergence between these three factors, but in reality no substantial inherent existence of that contact can be found under ultimate analysis.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A combination, too, has no reality,
Just as we have previously shown. (9.96cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
The last line refers back to the analysis of the hand and searching for it in its basis of designation, the individual fingers. Just as in that example, here also no trace of inherent existence of this contact can be found.

'''Śāntideva's conclusion:''' Feeling itself has been analyzed and found to have no trace of intrinsic existence. Contact, the direct cause of feeling, has also been shown to have no inherent existence, and if a cause lacks inherent existence, that cause's effect must also lack any intrinsic nature, unrelated to its causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.97}}
"What purpose," Śāntideva questions, "is there in expending all our energy in chasing pleasure and trying to avoid pain?"

If we contemplate these points and come to a clear understanding that there is no inherent object of feeling and that feeling itself lacks any inherent existence, how could this not stop our craving?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.98}}
The flow of the argument again relies on the sequence of the twelve links of dependent origination. From the development of name and form in a new rebirth, the sense powers develop. They come into contact with their relevant objects, and from that feelings arise. Following on from feelings, there comes the arising of craving to maintain pleasant sensations and craving to avoid unpleasant sensations. Thus, Śāntideva asks, if we understand the inherent existence of each of these prior links, then how is it that we do not cause our craving to cease?

Having refuted the true existence of contact, the cause of feeling, Śāntideva now turns his analysis to the focal object of feeling. In the first two lines of verse 99, he mentions the object of feeling and specifically mentions visual and tactile objects, but he is referring to any object of feeling.

'''Śāntideva:''' Feeling cannot exist inherently because the objects of feeling are not inherently existent. These objects are conditions for the feeling to arise, but since they themselves are unfindable on search, they are like illusions, mere appearances lacking any true existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What we see and what we touch
Is stuff of dreams and mirages. (9.99ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
In all these arguments, Śāntideva is clear to express that while the person, the feelings they experience, and the objects they experience lack any kind of substantial existence, they are not utterly nonexistent. They do exist, but they exist in an unreal way, like dreams.

'''Refuting That Their Object-Possessor Exists Inherently'''

Having refuted the inherent existence of the objects of feeling, Śāntideva turns his attention to the consciousness that perceives the feeling. Feelings arise in conjunction with the mind. In verses 99cd to 101, he asks whether that consciousness occurs at the same time as the feeling, before it, or after it.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If feeling is coincident with consciousness,
It follows that it is not seen thereby. (9.99cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 151.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If feeling is accepted to be inherently existent but also simultaneous with feeling, then there would be no way for that consciousness to perceive the feeling. Two things which are both inherently existent and yet simultaneous cannot be connected causally or by being of the same nature. They cannot rely on or interact with one another in any way.

Here, Śāntideva is also arguing the more general point that any two mental events that arise at the same time can never apprehend one another. This relates back to the refutation of self-cognition of the Cittamātra school contained in verses 15 to 29.

'''Question:''' What if feeling and its perceiving consciousness arise sequentially, with one before the other?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.100}}
'''Śāntideva (9.100ab):''' This is not tenable, because if the sense consciousness existed prior to its object—in this case feelings—then it would arise without referencing its own object. It would have no referential object when it was produced. No consciousness can be produced without an object.

And if the consciousness occurs after its object, the feeling, then the same argument applies. Since the object is already nonexistent at the time that consciousness arises, from what referential object is the consciousness produced? This would be a case of remembering a sensation rather than directly experiencing it.

'''Śāntideva concludes (9.100cd):''' Since the feeling cannot experience itself, and there is no other consciousness present at the time that it exists to experience it, then we must conclude that there is no feeling that has any independent, intrinsic nature of any kind.

This concludes the analysis of the nature of feeling, which is done through the close placement of mindfulness of feeling.

<h5>Mindfulness of Mind</h5>
Verses 102 to 105 present the close placement of mindfulness of mind (''cittasmṛtyupasthāna'').

Śāntideva continues his examination of the aggregates of a person, this time directing the analysis toward the mind. The first context in which the analysis takes place is a search for the location of the mind. Here, he takes mental awareness, and he looks to see where the mind is. He asks, "Is the mind within the sense organs, or does it exist externally within the object of the mind, or is it somewhere in between?"

'''Showing That the Mental Consciousness Does Not Exist Inherently'''

{{PullBcaVerses|9.102}}
This argument was originally in reference to certain non-Buddhist schools that believed that the mind had to be located within the interior of the body, while others believed that it existed at the extremities of the body. We can see a modern correlation of this belief in the scientific tradition, which often presents the mind as located in the brain.

The implication of this argument is that if the mind were to be inherently existent, then it would have to inherently exist in one of these places. But Śāntideva points out that the mind cannot be found in any of these locations. It does not exist in any of the six sense powers—the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, the tactical sense, or the mental sense power. It also does not exist in any of the six objects–visible forms, sounds, smells, sights, tactical objects, and mental objects. And since it also does not exist anywhere in between the sense powers and sense objects, there is no basis for the mind.

Having established that there is no physical location for the mind, Śāntideva then turns to an analysis of the deeper nature of the mind.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.103}}
In the Mind-Only (Cittamātra) school, they accept eight different main categories of consciousness. However, in the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school they accept only six main categories of mind—the five sense consciousnesses, and then a sixth consciousness, the mental consciousness. In verses 103 and 104, Śāntideva is specifically referring to this sixth consciousness, which is a mental consciousness.

He runs through all the possibilities of how the sixth mental consciousness could exist if they were to have an inherent nature: it should be located in the body, or outside of it, or in some way mixed with the body. But under analysis it can be found in none of these places, and the conclusion is therefore that it cannot exist inherently.

The last line of this verse has several interpretations. From the perspective of the Gelukpa scholar Gyaltsap Je, the meaning of "beings are by their nature beyond the reach of suffering" is that because the mind does not exist inherently, the emptiness of the mind of sentient beings is beyond sorrow. In contrast, the great Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo explains this last line as meaning that all beings are primordially pure by nature.

'''Showing That the Sense Consciousnesses Do Not Exist Inherently'''

Śāntideva now switches his attention to the sense consciousnesses and searches into their deeper nature to see if he can find any traces of an intrinsic identity. He does this through analysis of them in relation to their sense objects.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.104}}
Geshe Yeshe Tobden explains the essential conditions needed for a sense consciousness to be produced as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Perceiving consciousness arises from three factors—an object of perception, the sense faculty, and the immediately preceding moment of consciousness.<ref>[[Tobden, Yeshe|Geshe Yeshe Tobden]], ''[[The Way of Awakening|The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara]]'', trans. [[Bazzano, M.|Manu Bazzano]] and [[Doveton, S.|Sarita Doveton]], ed. [[Rizzi, F.|Fiorella Rizzi]] (Boston: [[People/Wisdom Publications|Wisdom Publications]], 2005), 327.</ref>
}}
Out of these three conditions, the objective condition (''དམིགས་རྐྱེན་'') is the external referential object. An example would be a physical form for eye consciousness. That external objective condition must either exist before, after, or at the same time as the consciousness. There are no other possibilities.

If the sense consciousness exists before its focal object, then in connection with which referential object does it arise? If it existed at the same time as the object, then that object could not act as a cause, since causes necessarily need to precede their effects. The same question would then arise: In relation to which object does the sense consciousness arise?

Verse 105 deals with the analysis of whether a consciousness could occur after its referential object. This is a slightly more complex argument, as in normal life effects are actually observed to occur after their causes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If consciousness comes later than its object,
Once again, from what does it arise? (9.105ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, the argument relies more heavily on refuting the consciousness and object as both having an independent and intrinsic nature. If cause and effect are both believed to have inherent existence, then since that means they must be independent of anything else, if a cause is not present at the time of the effect, then it cannot have any influence on it.

'''Śāntideva's questions (9.105ab):''' If the sense consciousness arises after its object, from what does it arise, since the object of its perception has ceased to be? And if the object has ceased, then does it still continue to exist or not?

'''Śāntideva's logical consequences:''' If the object still exists but has not yet ceased at the time of the consciousness, then it must be simultaneous with the perceiving consciousness, and the fault above applies.

If it ceases before the consciousness arises, then it must be accepted that something arises from something that no longer exists. If this is so, then why couldn't plants arise from burned or damaged seeds? If the mind and its objects were inherently existent, and the objects had ceased before the mind arose, then there would be the logical fallacy that anything could come from anything.

An essential point to note here is that while these arguments from the Madhyamaka philosophy refute the inherent existence of the different kinds of mind, they do not in any way refute the conventional existence of the mind.

<h5>Mindfulness of Phenomena</h5>
So far, Śāntideva has covered the lack of inherent nature of the body, feelings, and mind. From the second lines of verse 105 until the verse 150, Śāntideva turns his attention to the last of the four mindfulnesses: the mindfulness of phenomena (''dharmasmṛtyupasthāna'').

In the first verse of this section, he explains how all phenomena, whether impermanent or permanent, are said to be beyond the scope of knowledge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus the origin of all phenomena
Exceeds the reach of understanding. (9.105cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 152.</ref>
}}
Here, Śāntideva is clear to point out that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding.

This is an important point in the argument, because if, through the reasons employed by the Madhyamaka school, Śāntideva is successful in refuting the inherent existence of impermanent things, then—as Nāgārjuna put it clearly in his ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'' (''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'')—it will be much easier to refute the inherent existence of more abstract entities, such as space and time.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since arising, ceasing, and abiding
Are not established, there are no compounded things.
If all compounded things are unestablished,
How could the uncompounded be established? 7.33<ref>[[Garfield, J.|Jay L. Garfield]], trans., ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā'' (New York: [[People/Oxford_University_Press|Oxford University Press]], 1995), 22.</ref>
}}
But in the last line of verse 105, what does it mean to say that all phenomena are beyond the reach of understanding? Does that mean that there is no phenomena that can be known? In answer to this question, different scholars provide us with different explanations. For instance, the Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo, in asking us what the mindfulness of phenomena is, also connects this meaning with the analysis in previous sections where the production of a phenomena from inherently existent causes which occur before, at the same time as, or after the result are all analyzed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What is the mindfulness of phenomena? Likewise (as analyzed above), because it is not reasonable for something to be produced from something else prior to, at the same time as, or after, the production of all phenomena is something that cannot be realized.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|
Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 107 (e-book), https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunpal follows up on this and explains that the mindfulness of phenomena is approached in the same way as the explanations of the lack of inherent nature in the previous forms of mindfulness. There, we also come to understand through analysis that nothing arises from itself or from something else, nor both, nor neither.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As we have just explained, the way in which phenomena, whether compounded or uncompounded, arise is beyond our conceptual grasp. Phenomena do not come into being before, after, or simultaneously with their cause; they do not arise from themselves nor from something else nor from both nor from neither. They are without origin; and what is without origin can have no abiding or cessation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 366.</ref>
}}
There is also another, more simple presentation from Gyaltsap Je where he says that since we have established all phenomena to lack inherent existence, there can be no inherent production of phenomena, and for that reason they are beyond the scope of understanding.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas. Chapter Nine: The Way of Training in the Wisdom'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Je]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016 ), 58. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>

'''Refuting Objections'''
Śāntideva now turns his attention to countering the objections that opponents raise about the Madhyamaka presentation that all phenomena lack inherent existence but are still nominally existent and are able to perform functions.

This section has two parts: (1) refuting the objection that there is no conventional truth and (2) refuting the objection that this ascertainment entails an infinite regress.

'''1. Refuting the Objection That There Is No Conventional Truth'''

The first objection from the opponent is that the results of the previous method of analysis result in the consequence that no conventional phenomena can exist.

'''Opponent (9.106ab):''' If nothing can be found that is produced from something prior to it, at the same time as it, or after it, then production of conventional phenomena would not be possible. Indeed, if all phenomena lack any inherent existence, then all conventional phenomena must be devoid of identity. If that is so, then conventional phenomena do not exist, and therefore there would be only one truth, the ultimate truth, and there could not be two truths as you assert.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.106}}
'''Someone may respond:''' The relative does exist but only in the worldly people’s deluded thoughts.

'''In response to that question, the opponent raises a second objection (9.106cd):''' If all conventional realities lack any inherent existence and are mere appearances to the confused minds of ordinary beings, then for as long as beings exist their confused minds will also exist. If conventional phenomena are merely attributed by an erroneous mind in the same way as the mistaken mind that attributes a snake to a coiled piece of rope, then how can the conventional phenomena have any reality?

Worldly beings' minds would always be filled with these confused dualistic appearances, and they would never attain nirvana because nirvana is the exhaustion of all of these confused, dualistic conceptions.

'''Śāntideva's reply (9.107):''' If those things were true, there would not be two truths, and beings could never remove their mistaken dualistic appearances. But that is not what I mean by the conventional.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.107}}
'''In answer to the first doubt:''' It is important to note that the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school does not talk of two truths at the ultimate level. At the ultimate level, there is only one truth, pure suchness which is the ultimate mode of being. The two truths are spoken of at a relative level, where we see a disparity between the way things appear and the way things actually are. This disparity corresponds to the conventional and ultimate truths.

'''In answer to the second doubt:''' The Prāsaṅgika Madhyamikas do not assert that conventional phenomena exist only as a mere designation of mistaken minds, leading them to be a false type of existence. Instead, they assert that conventional truths are designations made by a valid mind upon a valid basis. There are not randomly attributed fictions of an ignorant mind. While conventional phenomena do not have any inherent existence, they can perform functions, and therefore there are valid agents, actions, and the results of actions.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.108}}
'''2. Refuting the Objection That This Ascertainment Entails an Infinite Regress'''

In response to this analysis of phenomena and the presentation that there is not a single atom of true existence in phenomena, the other schools raise an objection related to the analyzing consciousness.

'''Opponent's objection (9.109):''' You say that when any phenomena is analyzed, that analytical mind itself, which is a valid cognition, does not find any trace of inherent existence. But that analytical mind is not included in the analysis. So, does that analytical mind require another separate analytical mind to investigate its own lack of inherent nature? And if so, then there would follow an infinite regress of analyzing consciousnesses, each subsequent one needed to verify the preceding one.
And if that first analyzing mind does not require another analyzing consciousness to investigate its nature, then why do other nonmental phenomena require it? There would be no need for any valid cognizer of the lack of inherent existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.109}}
'''Śāntideva's reply (9.110):''' The valid cognition which ascertains that all phenomena lack inherent existence does not need other valid cognitions to ascertain it.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.110}}
'''Śāntideva continues his reply (9.110):''' Why is that? Because when that initial valid cognition ascertains the lack of inherent existence of phenomena, which is the understanding of their emptiness, then as long as that mind does not wander and decline, then it is not possible for that mind to perceive any phenomena as truly existent.

Here, there are two slightly different interpretations of the meaning of the last two lines of verse 11.

The Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal interprets this verse as meaning that through the process of analysis, when there is no longer any inherent object as a focal point, the subjective consciousness then subsides, and a state of natural nirvana is reached.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Shantideva says that when phenomena are investigated and are found to be without true existence, and when it is ascertained with certainty that they cannot be characterized as produced or unproduced, analysis itself ceases to have an identifiable object or basis. When there is no longer any object or basis to act as a target, no analyzing subject will arise to focus on it. All concepts are stilled, and the analysis itself subsides like ripples on the water. This is called the "natural nirvana in the state of dharmata."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 369.</ref>
}}
In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', the great scholar Minyak Kunzang Sönam presents a slightly different perspective on the meaning of this verse. He explains how no further cognitions are required to validate the mind which realizes emptiness.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Because when, through logical analytical reasoning, one finds certainty in the irreality of all phenomena, then as long as the mind does not wander from that apprehension, no seemingly true phenomenon which could be the object or basis of that analysis can appear to that mind. Also, the unimpaired strength of the mind which realises validly the absence of true existence of phenomena will know them to be not truly existent as soon as there arises the question in the mind as to whether any observed phenomenon is truly existent. Thus our manifest conceptual belief in the reality of the mind which investigates phenomena will no longer occur because it has been eliminated through the former valid reasoning.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries|Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara]]'', ''Khenchen Kunzang Palden's The Nectar of Mañjushri's Speech and Minyak Kunzang Sönam's The Brilliant Torch'' (Saint Léon sur Vézère, France: [[People/Padmakara|Editions Padmakara]], 1999), 224.</ref>
}}
Because no truly existent phenomena, which could be the basis of analysis, can appear to the mind that has ascertained the lack of true existence, no further cognitions are required, so there is no fault of an infinite regress.

Another reason is that the mind that understands emptiness will break down our conceptual belief in phenomena to be truly existent, and so the belief in an inherently existent mind that realizes emptiness will not arise.

Kunzang Sönam goes on to explain the meaning of "natural nirvana" in this verse as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As there is no longer any truly existent object for such a mind, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the result of the refutation, absence of true existence—or again, neither true existence which is to be refuted nor the mind which refutes it—can come into being in reality. The reason for this has just been explained.

Their not coming into being in reality is natural nirvana, and if one becomes used to the realisation of this, this is called attaining the nirvana free of adventitious stains. We can also explain 'not coming into being' as the fact that the assumption that the analysing mind itself is truly existent does not arise.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 224.</ref>
}}
In this explanation, the natural nirvana means that there is no true existence of anything to take as the object of mind. Neither true existence of the object nor lack of true existence nor even the mind that refutes that true existence—none of these—truly exist, and this realization is the nirvana free from adventitious stains.

'''There Is No Proof That Consciousness and Its Objects Truly Exist'''

In verses 111 to 115, Śāntideva turns his attention to the position of the Buddhist realists, such as the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools. In particular, he refutes the position that sensory consciousnesses and their sensory objects are inherently existent. He argues that there are no valid reasons to prove that these phenomena have any true or substantial existence.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.112ab):''' If the true existence of an object is validated by the consciousness apprehending it, then what is it that validates the consciousness? And if an object validates the true existence of the consciousness that apprehends it, then what is it that validates the consciousness itself?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.112}}
'''Opponent’s reply:''' The subjective consciousness and its object both mutually certify each other's true existence.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.112cd):''' It is not possible for the subjective consciousness and its object to mutually validate each other's intrinsic existence. If they are both intrinsically existent, they would have to be completely independent and unrelated to any other phenomena. And if they are mutually validating, they would have to lose any trace of true existence.

Śāntideva goes on to use an analogy of a parent and their son to explain how the consciousness and its object are mutually dependent and therefore can have no intrinsic existence of their own.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.113}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.113):''' Before any child is conceived, a person cannot be said to be a parent. A person can only be said to be a parent once their child has been born. There can be no parent without a child and no child without a parent. The two are established in mutual dependence upon each other.

Likewise, there can be no consciousness without an object and no object without a consciousness to apprehend it. Consciousness and its object are mutually dependent, and therefore it is not valid to say that they are inherently existent.

This point is clearly made in Nāgārjuna's ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivaraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The cognizer perceives the cognizable;
Without the cognizable there is no cognition;
Therefore why do you not admit
That neither object nor subject exists [at all]? (verse 39)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Geshe Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''A Commentary on the Awakening Mind (Bodhicittavivaraṇa)'', by Nāgārjuna (Montreal: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2007), 4–5, PDF, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}
And in one of his other texts from the five great texts on reasoning, ''The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', Nāgārjuna explains the point that being dependently related and also being inherently existent are contradictory.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And how can it be right to speak
Of an intrinsic being that's contrived?
Intrinsic being is not fabricated,
Is not contingent upon something else. (1.2)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way'', 47.</ref>
}}
Anything which is inherently existent cannot come about through relying on causes and conditions and cannot be dependent on anything else. Anything which is created or dependent on something else must be an interdependent phenomena. Something that is dependent and something fabricated are mutually exclusive, just as there can never be anything that is both dependent and independent or fabricated and unfabricated—these categories are mutually exclusive.

'''Opponent's objection (9.114):''' An inherently existent seed can produce an inherently existent shoot. And the existence of that inherently existent seed can be established from the very presence of its effect, the shoot itself. The existence of consciousness which arises from the object of its cognition must necessarily imply the existence of its object.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.114}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.115ab):''' Your example is untenable because it is not simply through the mere presence of the result, in this case the shoot, that the existence of the seed is established. In order to infer the existence of the seed, a separate consciousness is required that ascertains the causal relationship between the seed and the shoot. If this relationship has not already been ascertained, then the mere presence of the shoot alone will not prove the existence of the seed.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.115}}
'''Śāntideva continues (9.115cd):''' If you accept the true existence of both object and the subjective mind which apprehends that object, then what is it that ascertains the existence of the mind realizing the object? It cannot be the mind itself, as self-cognition has already been refuted in the earlier section dedicated to refuting the Mind-Only school. And if another separate mind were needed to ratify it, there would be an infinite regress of one mind being ratified by another and then another.

Khenpo Kunpal concludes this section by presenting to the opponents the consequence that the belief in the inherent existence of phenomena is philosophically untenable.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It may be seen from this that it is extremely difficult to render conventional reality tenable from the point of view of those who hold to real existence. On the other hand, this is highly acceptable for those who say that [true existence] is just an imputation.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 371.</ref>
}}

<h3>Key Arguments Refuting Intrinsic Existence</h3>
In verses 116 to 150, Śāntideva presents many of the most important arguments that prove that all phenomena lack any inherent existence, arguments that are presented in the sūtras and the śāstras. They are used to prove that all phenomena lack an inherent nature and therefore that all phenomena are empty.

In the classical presentation, there are five main logical arguments given for the proof of emptiness, but here in the ninth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' three of those arguments are explicitly presented:

*1. the diamond-splinters argument, which analyzes the cause of things (verses 116 to 140)
*2. the great reasoning of dependent origination: the king of reasons, which analyzes self essence (verses 141 to 144)
*3. the reasoning of existence and nonexistence, which analyzes the effect (verses 145 to 150)

The other two arguments not explicitly mentioned by Śāntideva are the argument of identity and difference, which investigates the essential identity of phenomena, and the refutation of production related to the four possibilities, which is an investigation into both cause and effect. According to Mipham Rinpoche, this fifth reason can be included within the first category—the investigation of the cause.<ref>See [[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way'' (Lotsawa House, 2005), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/four-great-logical-arguments.</ref>

<h4>1. The Diamond-Splinters Argument (''རྡོ་རྗེ་གཟེགས་མའི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>
The diamond-splinters argument looks into the production of phenomena and particularly into the causes of phenomena.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they do not arise from self, nor from other, nor from both self and other, nor without cause.'''<br>
'''Example: like a dream'''

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, the different aspects of the diamond-splinters argument are dealt with in a slightly different order to that contained in the main syllogism. Here, the basic outline of this section is as follows:

'''a. Refutation of causeless production (verses 116 to 117)'''<br>
'''b. Refutation of production from other (verses 118 to 126)'''<br>
'''c. Refutation of production from self (verses 127 to 140)'''

<h5>a. Refutation of Causeless Production</h5>

In the flow of Śāntideva's text, he begins with the last limb of the above four limbs of the main syllogism—the refutation of phenomena being produced without causes.

In verses 116 and 117, he particularly aims his argument at the philosophy of the ancient Indian philosophical school known as Cārvāka.

'''Cārvāka''' (''རྒྱང་འཕེན་''), also known as Lokāyata (lit. the philosophy of the worldly), is an Indian philosophical school originating in the first millennium BCE, after the development of Buddhism in India. This school is considered one of the five major non-Vedic or heterodox (''nāstika'') Indian schools (the other schools being the Jains, Buddhists, Ajivikas, and Ajñanas).

The Cārvāka school is an atheist and materialist school, and they reject concepts such as an immaterial soul and supernatural entities such as god. They are the only tradition among these ancient Indian philosophical systems that does not accept the law of karma, past and future lives, or the possibility of liberation from our conditioned existence. They believe that only direct perception can be considered a valid form of knowledge with which to establish the truth.
For more detailed information regarding the Cārvāka school, see the following page [Link to CĀRVĀKA COMMONS PAGE].

The following famous verse attributed to the Cārvākas conveys their argument against there being any creator of the universe. The verse remarks on how it is impossible for there to be a creator for the myriad of phenomena, such as the eyes on a peacock feather or the flow of water. These things, they say, can only arise as part of a natural process and were not created by anyone.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The roundness of a pea, the sharpness of a thorn,
The rising of the sun, the movement of water downstream,
The pattern of a peacock's feather and so on, whatever it may be,
It was not created by anyone. Its cause is its own nature.<ref>See [[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 416. We have not been able to locate the original source of this verse.</ref>
}}
The Cārvāka argument is that no one, whether human or creator, is ever observed making such natural details of the world as the roundness of peas or the shape of each individual thorn. Therefore, they conclude, all these things must arise spontaneously and without cause.

'''Śāntideva's refutation through direct experience (9.116):''' There are many logical arguments against causeless production, but it also goes against what we directly observe in our daily experience. In everyday perception, we see in every instance that effects are produced from causes and that we can find nothing that does not originate from a cause.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.116}}
It is evident that, for example, a lotus grows from lotus seed. Without the cause of the lotus seed, the lotus will not arise. The farmer knows that a particular harvest results from having sown a particular seed, and they then plant seeds for that purpose.

What we observe is that all the various types of different effects come about from a whole variety of causes, and therefore nothing can be said to be causeless. For instance, the different parts of a lotus, such as the stem and petals, all come about from different causes.

'''Cārvākas' objection (9.117a):''' The whole range of parts that make up a phenomena, such as a lotus, are not found in the lotus's cause. Therefore, it cannot be said that each part has its own cause.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But what gives rise," you ask, "to such variety of causes?"
An even earlier variety of causes, we declare. (9.117ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's response (9.117b):''' It is a multiplicity of causes that precede the effect that account for the whole variety of phenomena of the external universe and the beings living within that universe. Things arise from the various different potentials of the preceding causes which produced them.

'''Cārvākas' further objection (9.117c):''' But how is this whole variety of causes able to produce their effects? What is it that allows certain causes to produce certain kinds of effect? What arranged these causes in this way?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="And how," you ask, "do causes give their fruits?"
Through power, we answer, of preceding causes. (9.117cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 154.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's further response (9.117d):''' These causes were not created or arranged by anyone. There is no external agency causing this. Nor can it be that the results are present in their causes, otherwise no causal relationship could exist between them. It is through the power of different kinds of potential within the cause that produces a variety of different results. This can be said simply to be the nature of things.

<h5>b. Refutation of Production from Other</h5>
Having refuted the notion, in the first part of the diamond-splinters argument, that things can come about without causes, Śāntideva then moves on to the refutation of production from something which is of a different nature to the effect. The argument here carries the implication that the cause would be inherently different from the effect, since on a conventional level the Madhyamaka school accepts causes being able to produce effects which are different in nature to them. In this argument Śāntideva indirectly refutes inherent production from an impermanent other, but the main thrust of his argument aims to refute the notion of production from a permanent cause.

Śāntideva attempts to do this using two types of refutation:

i. Refutation of production from a permanent creator (verses 118 to 125)<br>
ii. Specific refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā belief in production from permanent atomic particles (verse 126ab)

'''i. Refutation of Production from a Permanent Creator (verses 118 to 125)'''

In verses 118 to 125, Śāntideva refutes production from a permanent cause. He takes as his main opponents those who believe the idea of a permanent cause to the universe and all the beings in that universe, such as is propounded by non-Buddhist schools that believe in a primal substance or in a creator being such as Śiva. These schools include the non-Buddhist schools of Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya.

'''Śāntideva (9.118ab):''' If you say Īśvara is the cause of everything in the universe, then you must define what the nature of that creator being is.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.118}}
'''If the opponent answers:''' The elements of the universe are what we call "God."

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If you say that the basic elemental building blocks of the universe are the creator, then the Madhyamikas agree that these are the causes and conditions of events. But if that is so, what is the need to label that process with an exotic name like Īśvara?

'''Śāntideva's further consequence (9.119ab):''' If you accept that Īśvara is essentially all the different elements, then that kind of Īśvara could not be either permanent or unitary. Instead, it would have to be impermanent, multiple, and could not be inactive, just as is the nature of the elements.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.119}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against divine elements (9.119cd):''' If this divine creator were the elements, then it could not be completely pure as it is believed to be in those philosophies. We see that the elements are easily trampled underfoot. This creator could also be easily trampled underfoot, and therefore how can you consider them to be divine? What kind of God would that be? And further, if the creator can be trampled underfoot, how can they be spoken of as omnipotent?

In his commentary to the ninth chapter entitled ''The Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam clearly shows the qualities that these schools attribute to gods such as Īśvara and how it is illogical for them to be the elements.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How do you describe the essential features of Ishvara? You claim that as he is indivisible he is single; as he is not born and does not perish, he is eternal; he has a thinking mind; he is divine; an object of reverence; and that he is pure. On the other hand, the elements are quite the opposite: they are multiple; they arise and perish and are therefore impermanent; they have no mind; they are not divine; they are trodden on by feet and so forth; and they are impure. These elements are not Ishvara—their defining characteristics are completely unalike and plainly contradictory. <ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 229.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the element of space (9.120a):''' If you hold this divine creator to be space, that also is not tenable. Space is inert, unable to move or create anything, and lifeless. These are not qualities that are compatible with a creator god.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being the self (9.120b):''' The idea that space is the self has also been refuted early, in the section on refuting the Sāṃkhya school's presentation of the self (''puruṣa'') (in verses 68 and 69) [Link to Verses 68 and 69].
{{PullBcaVerses|9.120}}
'''Opponent's response (9.120c):''' Īśvara, the creator, is inconceivable, so none of the contradictions that you have stated apply.

'''Śāntideva's argument against the creator being inconceivable (9.120cd):''' If you state that the deity is inconceivable, it is illogical to call them inconceivable because that in itself is to describe them. If something is inconceivable, nothing can be said about it, and it would also be of no use to ordinary people. Furthermore, if this creator were to be inconceivable, then anyone who tried to describe them would be describing the inconceivable.

'''Śāntideva's question as to what Īśvara creates (9.121ab):''' What exactly is it that a creator such as Īśvara creates? What is it that the creator wishes to create? Did he create the self of all beings? And did he create all the physical elements in the universe?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.121}}
'''Śāntideva's further argument against Īśvara as a creator (9.121cd):''' You cannot accept the self and the elements as being created by Īśvara because the elements and the self would then have to be eternal, just as Īśvara is.

Verse 121d states the Madhyamaka school's own position—that is, consciousness arises from the objects that it apprehends and not from any kind of creator god. And since those objects appear only temporarily, both they and their apprehending consciousnesses are not eternal.

'''Śāntideva states the Madhyamikas’ own position (9.122ab):''' Pleasure and pain come about due to our own past karmic actions. They occur as a result of the actions we commit with a positive or negative motivation. So what is the need for a divine creator in this process?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.122}}
'''Śāntideva continues the argument against production from an eternal creator (9.122cd):''' If you believe a creator god, such as Īśvara, to be beginningless, immutable, and an eternal cause for everything, then it is not possible for them to have a beginning. If the cause which is this creator god has no beginning, then how could the effects produced by that cause have any beginning? They would have to be beginningless, but this is not what we observe in the manifest world.

Śāntideva then presents the logical consequences of a permanent and eternal creator that brings forth all phenomena, whether material or immaterial.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.123}}
'''Śāntideva's question to the theists (9.123):''' If the creator god is the singular cause for all things and all beings in existence, does not rely on any other cause, and is present in every moment, then why are not all beings constantly created?

'''Possible response from the theists:''' The creator god does not bring everything forth in one moment but creates the universe in stages.

'''Śāntideva's response (9.118cd):''' If the sole cause of creation is the divine god, and if that god does not rely on any other condition or factor to create, then the complete cause for creation of every single phenomena is present in every moment. Therefore, all phenomena should be produced simultaneously. And if there is nothing that is not made by the creator, then how could they possibly rely on separate causes in order to produce something, since those very separate causes would be created by them. If it is accepted that this creator god does actually rely on a variety of other various conditions to create the universe in the way that we see it gradually unfolding, then those necessary secondary conditions would have to be present all the time. And this would destroy the thesis that all things and events are singularly created by that god, because the god would rely on some cause other than themselves.

In verse 124 Śāntideva turns his attention to the aggregation of causes and conditions that bring about events and phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.124}}
'''Śāntideva's argument (9.124):''' If it is accepted that the mere coming together of the specific causes and conditions of a phenomena is enough to bring that phenomena into being, then what need is there for the added intervention of a creator god? When the complete causes and conditions are present, nothing can stop the phenomena from arising, and when those causes are not complete, the phenomena does not arise, despite the best efforts of the creator. The creator would have to rely on the aggregation of causes in order to create phenomena. Therefore, what real power does the creator god have?

'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator is forced to create unintended phenomena (9.125ab):''' If it is accepted that the creator god is constrained by the aggregation of causes and conditions but is still involved in the production of phenomena, then they must also be involved in creating things, such as the suffering of living beings, that no benevolent god would intend to create.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.125}}
'''Śāntideva's argument that the creator cannot be omnipotent (9.125cd):''' Even if it is argued that the divine creator creates according to their wish, then again they cannot be considered omnipotent because they would not be spontaneous and under their control. This divine god would be under the sway of their desire or intention, which would then have to arise before any phenomena was created, and would mean the intention itself would be the driving force of creation.

As a round up of this section of the text, most of the commentaries then conclude that, whether through the force of their desire or through their own power, if the creator is counted to be the maker of all things, then they must be impermanent. If they are permanent, then they could not have any effect on the causal process of phenomena.

'''ii. Specific Refutation of the Vaiśeṣika and Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''

Within the section of the text which explains the reasons to refute production from a permanent cause, Śāntideva also refutes production from permanent particles, which is a tenet of some of the non-Buddhist Indian schools, such as the Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, and Mīmāṃsā.

The tenets of the Vaiśeṣika and Nyāya school have been mentioned earlier, and most commentators just refer to the opponent in this verse as being these two schools. But Khenpo Kunpal also indicates that the Mīmāṃsā school is also one of the main opponents for Śāntideva in this verse.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 374.</ref>

The Mīmāṃsā school of Indian philosophy is also one of the six major orthodox schools of Vedic philosophy. The core belief of the Mīmāṃsā school is that the Veda is self-existent, an uncreated and unauthored (''apauruṣeya'') revelation (''śruti'') of the truth, that is the incontrovertible and infallible dharma. The Mīmāṃsā school believes that the main role of the Vedas is to ensure that the Vedic rituals are correctly performed. The correct performance of Vedic rituals is believed to be the sole way to practice the dharma.

The Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsāka, and Nyāya schools all believe that the world has not been created by a deity such as Īśvara. They believe that matter can be broken down to irreducible atomic particles that are permanent, and that it is these permanent particles that are the material cause of the animate and inanimate worlds.

The Vaiśeṣika tradition believes that the smallest particles are not visible to the naked eye and exist in a much more subtle form in which their existence can only be inferred, whereas the Mīmāṃsākas give great value to what can be manifestly perceived. They believe that the smallest particles can be no smaller than that which is visible to the naked eye.

In refuting this position at this point in the text, Śāntideva refers back to an earlier verse where he argues that since the particles can be directionally divided, there can never be a particle that is considered permanent or partless.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those who hold the permanence of particles
Were indeed refuted earlier. (9.126ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
The second line of the above verse refers back to verse 86, in the section on the mindfulness of the body, where it refutes the existence of permanent and partless particles by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles.<ref>Verse 86 reads:<br>These parts themselves will break down into particles,<br>And particles divide according to direction.<br>These fragments, too, lack partless parts; they are like space.<br>Thus even particles have no existence.<br>See Blankleder and Fletcher, ''Way of the Bodhisattva'', 149.</ref>

{{standout
|'''Master Arguments against the Mīmāṃsā Position'''<br>'''Specific Refutation of the Mīmāṃsā Belief in Production from Permanent Atomic Particles'''<br>
'''Verse 9.126ab:''' ''A further part of the diamond-splinters argument refutes production from a permanent cause. In connection with this, Śāntideva refutes production from permanent particles. This refutation of the existence of permanent and partless particles is done by the analysis which further reduces them to further smaller particles. It is also refuted in verse 9.86 in the section on the mindfulness of the body.''
}}

<h5>c. Refutation of Production from Self (9.126cd to 9.140)</h5>
The second main refutation of the Sāṃkhya school in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' is contained in the second half of the chapter, in the section on Śāntideva's refutation of the self of phenomena. In this section of the text, he presents methods to understand the empty nature of all phenomena, the lack of any kind of intrinsic existence.

In his systematic refutation of the belief in production, through the classical Buddhist model of refutation of production from self, other, self and other, and neither self and other, Śāntideva first critiques production from self. In relation to this production from self, Śāntideva focuses in particular on the primal substance (''prakṛti'').

This section contains two main refutations:<br>
i. The Refutation of the Primal Substance (126cd to 134)<br>
ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing (135–140)

'''i. Refuting the Primal Substance'''

'''9.126–9.129 (a) The primal substance cannot be a unitary, partless entity if it has the three ''guṇas'' as its constituent characters.'''<br>
'''9.132 to 9.134 (b) Refuting the belief that the ''guṇas'' can be permanent if they are involved in any kind of agentive action.'''

'''a. Refuting the Primal Substance to Be Unitary'''

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Sāṃkhyas are the ones who hold
That permanent prakṛiti is the cause of the evolving world. (9.126cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 155.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.127}}
From verse 128 to the first half of verse 131, Śāntideva refutes the Sāṃkhya belief that the primal substance is unitary. If the primal substance is the balanced state of the three ''guṇas'', he argues, then it cannot be unitary because it is composed of three parts or characteristics. We cannot talk of something being just one thing and at the same time accept that phenomena is composed of three elements. He argues that a single thing with no parts and a single thing with three or more parts are mutually exclusive. Therefore, he concludes, the primal substance cannot exist as it is posited in the Sāṃkhya philosophy.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.128}}
'''Continuing the argument about something being unitary but being comprised of multiple factors, Śāntideva argues:''' Since the Sāṃkhya school accepts that each of the ''guṇas'' in turn also have the other two ''guṇas'' as their nature, then each of the ''guṇas'' themselves cannot have a unitary nature, as they are made up of at least three different parts. Therefore, they cannot exist as presented by adherents of the Sāṃkhya school.

'''Śāntideva continues:''' If these ''guṇas'' cannot actually be existent, then the modulations or manifestations of those ''guṇas'', such as sound and form, can also not have any existence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.129}}
'''Related to the second two lines of verse 129, Śāntideva goes on to argue:''' Manifestations such as woolen cloth cannot exist as the nature of the primal substance, because they are inanimate and therefore cannot possess the qualities of pain, pleasure, or neutral feeling. Pleasure, pain, and neutral feelings are the natures of the three ''guṇas'', which then must also be the nature of the primal substance. But since they are states of feeling, how can they be permanent? And how can something permanent be described in terms of feelings when it is easy to observe that feelings are fleeting?

'''b. Refuting the ''guṇas'' to be Permanent'''

A further argument that Śāntideva makes here, in verses 132 to 134, is that there is no visible proof of the permanence of the feelings associated with the ''guṇas''. Explicitly, he is refuting the permanent nature associated with the ''guṇas'', but implicitly he is refuting the true existence of them.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' There is a distinction between different states of the ''guṇas''. The gross forms of these states that are manifestly visible, such as pleasure, can become more subtle, and then they exist in an unmanifest latent state of potentiality. In this state they cannot be perceived.

'''Śāntideva:''' But if the ''guṇas'', which have been defined as being of the same nature as the primal substance, a unitary and permanent nature, are able to switch from manifest to latent states, then both the subtle and gross states must lack any quality of permanence. Therefore, all these phenomena which you claim to be permanent cannot exist the way you believe them to, because they must possess a transient nature. And if that is the case, why is this impermanent nature not ascribed to all the twenty-five categories of phenomena?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.133}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' Whether in a gross or a subtle state, the actual nature of pleasure is never lost, so its permanent essence is never impaired.

'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' This doesn’t make any sense. The characteristics of being manifest or subtle must either be the same as pleasure itself or they must be different. If, say, the manifest nature is different from pleasure, then when the manifest character subsides, the pleasure would not subside and it should still be experienced.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.134}}
'''Śāntideva (9.134ab):''' And if, instead, the manifest aspect is not different from the pleasure and is actually one with it, then it is easy to see that pleasure must be impermanent because it can be directly seen to not always be manifest.

'''ii. The Main Refutation of Self-Production: Something Cannot Arise from Nothing [135–140]'''

9.135 to 9.140: Refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being. This includes the master refutation of the simultaneity of causes and their effects.

The next verses, from 135 to 140, offer a refutation of the Sāṃkhya position that things that manifest must already be present in some latent state prior to their coming into being.

'''The Sāṃkhya position:''' When the guṇa of pleasure ceases to manifest, it then remains hidden in a subtle state of potentiality within the primal substance. Later on, when it reappears, it is merely the manifestation of what was already there. If things did not preexist in some sense before they became manifest, then it would be like them arising completely causelessly, out of the blue. Therefore, before manifesting, things must exist in a subtle state within the primal substance.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' If the results are present at the same time of the cause, why are they never perceived?

'''The Sāṃkhyas' reply:''' Even though the results are present at the time of the cause, at that time the results are not apparent to consciousness. Later, just as an object in a darkened room will be made visible by turning on the light, the results will be perceived at a later time when they become manifest.

'''Śāntideva's critique:''' While the Sāṃkhyas try to maintain that things cannot arise that were not previously there, they end up actually positing that themselves. This is because they have to say that the manifestation is absent at the time of the cause and only later arises newly, thus contradicting their own tenet. If the manifestation were present at the time of the cause, then they would not be able to differentiate between manifest and unmanifest.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.135}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And likewise with the money they would spend on clothing,
Let them rather buy the cotton grains to wear! (9.136ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' It is incoherent to talk of results existing within the causes. If that were so, Śāntideva teases, then those who eat their tasty food would at the same time be consuming the result of that food, their own excrement. And why would those who wish to wear smooth cotton clothing not instead go out and buy the cotton seeds to wear, since the result is within and contemporaneous with the cause. But we don’t see people in the world following this way of acting.

'''The Sāṃkhyas respond:''' It is because of delusion that ordinary people cannot see these subtle states, for example, the subtle state of cloth in the cotton seeds.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text="But," you say, "the world is ignorant and blind.
For this is taught by 'those who know the truth.'" (9.136cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva:''' If the Sāṃkhya school says that the perceptions of the worldly are invalid due to ignorance, then since they are able to perceive the resultant manifestations, those manifestations must be false, and therefore it is meaningless to talk about them existing at the time of the cause. Also, if the Sāṃkhya school followers have this knowledge, that the result exists at the time of the cause, then they would be aware of eating their own excrement at the time that they ate a meal. Or it could be said that since the founders of the Sāṃkhya school are seen to insist on wearing cotton clothes and not cotton seeds, this makes it clear that the result does not exist at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva:''' Worldly people also have this knowledge, such as not to wear cotton seeds, thinking there is cloth present, so why do they not see the truth that results are present at the time of the cause?
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=This knowledge must be present in the worldly too!
And if they have it, why do they not see? (9.137ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' They do not realize it because the perception of worldly beings is not a prime cognition.

'''Śāntideva:''' In that case, the perceptions of the manifestations of the world must also be false because they are not prime cognitions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If now you say that what the worldly see has no validity,
This means that what they clearly see is false. (9.137cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 156.</ref>
}}
Leading on from this topic of what is valid consciousness, in the last section of this refutation of production from self, the Sāṃkhyas raise a doubt about the Buddhist presentation of valid cognition.

'''The Sāṃkhyas:''' The Madhyamaka school asserts different types of valid cognitions, such as direct perception and inferential cognition. They maintain that in some way nearly all these types of knowing are deceptive and are therefore not ultimately valid. How is it possible that these deceptive cognitions could in any way validate their objects? Doesn’t it mean that the objects must also be deceptive and unreal? And if that is the case, then even the cognition realizing emptiness and the object of emptiness itself as an object of that would have to be deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.138}}
'''Śāntideva responds:''' You are generally right in saying that objects established by deceptive consciousness must be in some way false. And yes, even in relation to emptiness, since the inferential cognition that apprehends emptiness is deceptive, emptiness, too, is also devoid of any inherent existence. The Madhyamaka system can still posit a direct prime cognizing consciousness that is deceptive but able to verify things.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.139}}
'''Śāntideva continues:''' However, the Madhyamaka school has never asserted any kind of truly existent emptiness that is out there and independent on its own, without dependence upon a basis or without reference to things such as a pot, that has been independently established by valid cognition. Rather, emptiness is in a relationship of mutual dependence with the object of which it is the absence of inherent existence.

'''Śāntideva gives an example:''' It is like being in a dream within which we dream a child has died. Within the dream, the thought that the child has died is able to overcome the thought that the child is alive. But throughout this time we are still in the world of the dream, so both thoughts are actually deceptive.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.140}}
Likewise, a false antidote of wisdom is still able to overcome a false ignorance. There is still functionality even though things are deceptive and illusory-like.

From verse 126cd until verse 140, Śāntideva presents a series of arguments aimed mainly at the Sāṃkhya school's explanation of the primal substance (''prakṛti''). These arguments are focused on refuting the notion of an underlying substrate of reality, a substrate of reality that has parts and characteristics but is also unitary and unchanging. Śāntideva primarily uses one branch of the diamond-splinters argument, the argument against production from self, to refute his opponents' assertions.

<h5>Conclusion of the Diamond-Splinters Argument</h5>
In verses 141 and 142, Śāntideva wraps up this section of the text on the diamond-splinters, concluding that nothing can be produced without causes, nothing can be produced from itself, and nothing can be produced from a combination of both itself and something other than itself.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.141}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It does not come from somewhere else,
Neither does it stay nor yet depart. (9.142ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
Nothing is without causes, and no effect can be found in either one or all of its causes. Once produced, things do not intrinsically remain, and on cessation they do not go anywhere. They do not have any intrinsic production, abiding, or cessation. Production, abiding, and cessation exist but only at a nominal level.

<h4>2. The Great Reasoning of Dependent Origination (''རིགས་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རྟེན་འབྲེལ་གྱི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>

The second reason proving the lack of inherent existence is the great reasoning of dependent origination. Out of all the reasons establishing emptiness, this reason is often referred to as the king or chief of all reasons. It is said to be the king of all reasons to establish the ultimate nature of phenomena because of its unique ability to refute both the extreme of nihilism and the extreme of permanence, or absolutism, at the same time.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject: mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate: are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason: because they are dependently originated'''<br>
'''Example: like the reflection of a form in a mirror'''

In the second half of verse 142, Śāntideva explains how all phenomena are illusory-like. The mind that grasps at true existence falsely imputes onto its objects a false reality which they do not have.

'''Śāntideva:''' What difference is there between something which is taken to be the truth by a deluded consciousness, on the one hand, and illusions, dreams, or mirages, on the other hand? They both appear to be true while not existing in the way that they appear.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How will what confusion takes for truth
In any sense be different from a mirage? (9.142cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 157.</ref>
}}
To a deluded mind, things appear to exist from their own side, while they are actually empty of inherent existence. That deluded mind assents to that appearance and takes the truth to be that things possess an intrinsic nature, a nature which in reality they do not possess.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.143}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Nothing is real. Things do not exist in the way that they appear, intrinsically and from their own side. Instead, they arise and exist in reliance on other phenomena. They are like the reflection of a form in a mirror.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.144}}
Anything that comes into being and any event that occurs happens in dependence on something else. This can be their causes and conditions, their parts, or even conceptual designations of them. Everything is like a mirage or a magical illusion, which is in some sense fabricated.

The example of a reflection of a form in a mirror is used as a concordant example in the great syllogism of dependent origination. This reflection is considered to be an easy and straightforward example that helps us begin to understand that things do not exist as they appear.

A reflection of, for instance, a face in a mirror, appears to exist from the side of the mirror, almost in the mirror itself, and the reflection of the face can appear to those who have no experience of mirrors to be the very face itself. But actually the reflection of the face is not the face itself and is empty of being the face. The reflection of the face only appears in the mirror when conditions such as the presence of the mirror and a person's face placed in front of it are present.

How does this relate to the way things actually exist? Although phenomena lack any form of true or intrinsic existence, they do still exist as dependent originations. Indeed, the very fact that they arise in dependence on other factors means that they cannot have even an atom of independent and inherent existence. All things arise only as a result of an aggregation of a wide variety of conditions. When the conditions are not present, the phenomena cannot come into being.

To illustrate this point, we can take the example of the self or the person. The person does not exist inherently and from the side of its basis of designation, which is the four or five aggregates. But when the condition of the aggregates all come together, then we can say there is a conventional person that does not truly exist but that exists as a mere designation upon the basis of its aggregates.

<h4>3. The Reasoning of Existence and Nonexistence (''ཡོད་མེད་སྐྱེ་འགོག་གི་གཏན་ཚིགས་'')</h4>
In verses 145 to 150, Śāntideva uses the reasoning of existence and nonexistence to prove that merely dependently originated phenomena cannot have any form of inherent existence. This reason specifically analyzes the effects of causes. It analyzes the status of the effect at the time of their cause, whether those effects are existent, nonexistent, both existent and nonexistent, or neither.

'''The main syllogism is:'''

'''The subject:''' '''mere appearances (all phenomena)'''<br>
'''The predicate:''' '''are without true inherent nature'''<br>
'''Reason:''' '''because at the time of their cause they are neither existent, nonexistent, both, or neither,'''<br>
'''Example:''' '''like the child of a barren woman'''

Śāntideva examines how an effect is produced from its cause, particularly how it is not possible for inherently existent results to come from inherently existent causes.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.145}}
'''Śāntideva:''' Taking an object such as a vase, it is incorrect to think of it arising while it was existing. This would be illogical, because if it already existed, there would be no need for it to be produced. If it were thought to arise while not existing, that would entail an existent thing arising from a nonexistent thing, which is not tenable.

Another approach to this is to look at the consequences if we believed things to have their own independent identity. If that were the case, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If things existed inherently and truly, then they would have no need to rely on causes, and causes would have no role. If phenomena were autonomous, causes would not be able to have any influence in giving rise to effects. And, since the purpose of a cause is to produce an effect, there can be no meaning to saying there are effects which exist without any relation to causes.

'''Doubt:''' While it is understandable that something inherently existent does not need to be created, wouldn't something nonexistent need a cause to produce it?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.146}}
Minyak Kunzang Sönam explains in detail this point about how if things are nonexistent they can never become existent.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One might think that while it is true that something inherently existent does not need to be created, why would something non-existent not need a cause to produce it?

Even with a billion causes, a thing which does not exist at all can never become a something. Such a non-existent thing is like the horn of a rabbit, it cannot possibly be produced by causes and conditions, and therefore cannot be turned into anything by anyone.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 243.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation:''' Even with millions of causes, nonexistent phenomena cannot transform into existent phenomena. Something which is nonfunctional can never become something which has a function. These categories are mutually exclusive. If a nonfunctioning thing were able to turn into a functioning thing, then it would not be nonfunctioning. The very ability to be able to transform into something else would mean that it already had functionality.

The production of an effect, such as a shoot which did not exist at the time of its cause, the seed, is not being refuted. All things that come into being do not themselves exist at the time of their causes. What is being refuted is the production from an inherently existent thing, the production of an inherently existent thing, as well as the belief of the Sāṃkhya school that the effect exists at the time of the cause.

'''Śāntideva (9.147):''' Something nonexistent thing cannot change into an existent thing. If it did, then we would need to examine whether it became something by abandoning its state of nonexistence or it became something after it had abandoned its state of nonexistence.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.147}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.148}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148ab):''' If a nonexistent thing is to become something, it must abandon the condition of nonexistence. It cannot exist as something at the time that it is nonexistent, as existence and nonexistence are contradictory. And at the time when something is nonexistent, the phenomena which would be its result would not have come into being, and therefore a nonexistent thing can never change from being nothing.

Also, if a nonexistent became an existent by abandoning the state of nonexistence, at the moment that it abandoned the nonexistent state it would then no longer be nonexistent but instead existent. And if the nonexistent had not yet left behind the state of nonexistence, then it would not be able to transform into anything.

So, even if it were possible for something to inherently exist, or if something inherently nonexistent were possible, they could never change their nature from one state to another. They would have to forever remain existent or nonexistent.

In his ''Brilliant Torch'', Minyak Kunzang Sönam draws upon Nāgārjuna's summary of this point in his ''Seventy Verses on Emptiness'' (''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'') as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=An existent thing does not come into being because it is existent;
A non-existent thing does not come into being because it is non-existent;
Things are not existent and not non-existent because these are incompatible;
And because there is no origination, there is no dwelling or cessation. (Verse 4)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], and [[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], ''[[Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries]]'', 245. For the verse in [[Nāgārjuna]], see ''Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā'' (''Stong pa nyid bdun cu pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa zhes bya ba''), in Derge Tengyur D3827, dbu ma, vol. 96, fol. 24b.1–2, purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3827.</ref>
}}
'''Śāntideva's explanation (9.148cd):''' And furthermore, even if there were an inherently existing thing, that could never transform into a nonexistent thing. Something cannot become nothing. If it could, there would be the unwanted consequence that phenomena would possess both existent and nonexistent natures.

Sonam Tsemo gives an interesting read on the last two lines of verse 148, where he compares the ''prasaṅga'', the consequential argument, and the ''svātantra'', the autonomous syllogisms, which are used to refute the belief that existent phenomena can transform into nonexistent phenomena.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nonexistent object is the logical subject:

*The prasaṅga from the reason based on intrinsic nature:
[Contradiction: you claim that the object is non-dual but] it follows that it is dual because of its transformation [from existent to nonexistent].
*The svātantra from the pervader not being supported:
because of being non-dual, there is no transformation.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 444.</ref>
}}
There is a philosophical consequence of accepting that a nonexistent thing can also be nondual. The argument says that it cannot be nondual for the reason that it transforms from existent into nonexistent, which means that it has to have both existent and nonexistent natures.

The autonomous syllogism states that if something is nondual, then since it has both natures, there is actually no transformation from one state to another.

Gyaltsap Je summarizes this refutation of inherent existence through the reasoning of existence and nonexistence in this way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Take the subject 'sprout' - it is not generated inherently - because it is not inherently generated as existent, and it is not inherently generated as non-existent, e.g., like the child of a barren woman. Although its generation is refuted if non-existent at the time of the cause, it is a refutation of its inherent generation at the time of generation, even though it is non-existent at the time of the cause. Therefore, one needs to relate it to the object of negation.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 75, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
To summarize this reasoning, a shoot cannot come into being on its own, because if it is inherently existent, it cannot come into being, and if it is inherently nonexistent, it cannot come into being either. The example used to prove this reason is that of the child of a barren woman.

In conclusion, as it is mentioned in ''The Questions of Sāgaramati'' (''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā''), regarding anything which comes into being in relation to or in dependence on anything else, that thing cannot have even the slightest inherent nature.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whatever is dependently originated
Is without any inherent nature.
What lacks an essential nature
Never actually arises.<ref>[[Hinkle, T.|Timothy Hinkle]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Questions of Sāgaramati: Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā (Hinkle, T.)|The Questions of Sāgaramati, Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā]]'', Toh 152 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-058-001.html#UT22084-058-001-1164.</ref>
}}

<h5>Showing the Sameness of Samsara and Nirvana</h5>
In verses 149 and 150, Śāntideva focuses on the beings wandering in cyclic existence and explains that if they exist independently and intrinsically, then what need would there be for them to have a cause? If beings existed autonomously and from their own side, there would be no opportunity for causes to play a role in their production. The main function of causes is to produce effects, and if beings were autonomous and independent, then causes could not affect them.

'''Śāntideva (9.149):''' All phenomena lack the inherent existence they appear to have. There is no intrinsic production, abiding, and cessation of any phenomena. Therefore, at an ultimate level, beings neither come into being nor cease.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.149}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.150}}
'''Śāntideva (9.150):''' Intrinsic production and cessation have been refuted, but it does not make sense to say that beings, and indeed all phenomena, are completely nonexistent. That would mean that they had never had any form of existence. So when considering the aspects of origination and cessation of phenomena, they can only be accepted on a conditional level. Phenomena do exist, but not inherently, and only in dependent relation with other phenomena.

When we are able to understand this way that things exist, we can then understand that at the ultimate level there is no difference between samsara and nirvana. On a conventional level there is a difference, but at the ultimate level there is none. The reason is that from the perspective of their emptiness, the lack of intrinsic nature, samsara and nirvana are exactly the same. It can be said that from this perspective of emptiness, all phenomena from the very beginning have been in a state of natural peace, a natural nirvana.

This assertion that all things have never come into being and that they therefore are originally in a state of peace, a natural nirvana, is mentioned in ''The Jewel Cloud Sūtra'' (''Ratnameghasūtra'') in the following verse:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When turning the wheel of Dharma,
O Protector, you taught that phenomena
Are primordially peaceful, unarisen,
And at ease by nature.<ref>[[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''[[The Jewel Cloud: Ratnamegha (Doctor, T.)|The Jewel Cloud, Ratnamegha]]'', Toh 231 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-064-001.html#UT22084-064-001-97.</ref>
}}
And from ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'' (''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā''), it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That which arises from conditions is unborn‍—
It has no intrinsic essence of arising.
That which depends on conditions is taught to be empty.
One who understands emptiness is heedful.<ref>[[Ewing, B.|Benjamin Ewing]] ([[Dharmachakra Translation Committee]]), trans., ''The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta'', ''Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā'', Toh 156 ([[People/84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://84000.co/translation/toh156#UT22084-058-005-308.</ref>
}}
Summarizing this point, that all phenomena exist interdependently and that everything is like a dream or illusion, Nāgārjuna says the following in his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'' (''Bodhicittavivāraṇa''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just like the sounding of a drum,
Likewise a shoot arises from a gathering of causes.
All the things that in the outer world arise dependently
Are, we say, like dreams and magical displays. (64)
}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=That things arise from causes
Never contradicts what we have just declared.
Since causes are devoid of being causes,
We understand phenomena to be unborn. (65)<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 4–5, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf</ref>
}}

<h2>The Benefits of Meditation on Emptiness</h2>
In all the preceding verses, Śāntideva presented a wide variety of reasons to refute wrong conceptions about the way that phenomena exist. He addresses the views of opponents from the non-Buddhist traditions and he counters some of the assertions of the lower tenet schools of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of refuting these other systems, he also presents the highest view within the Buddhist tradition, that of the Madhyamaka school. In this tradition, phenomena are merely dependent designations and have no intrinsic reality of their own.

Taking this understanding of the way things exist according to the Madhyamaka tradition, in verses 151 to 167 Śāntideva moves on to explain the great benefits of cultivating this understanding of emptiness and meditating on it.

<h3>1. Realizing the Equality of the Eight Worldly Dharmas</h3>
In verses 151 to 153, Śāntideva explains that even seemingly opposed phenomena—such as gain or loss, or happiness and suffering—when viewed from the ultimate perspective, are all equal.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.151–52):''' If all phenomena exist merely imputed by conception and lacking any kind of existence from their own side, if they are empty in this way, then what is there that exists to gain or lose? Who is there to praise me or disparage me?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.151}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.152}}
We crave happiness and wish to gain the objects of our desire. We feel happiness when we gain them and then suffer and often get angry when we lose these objects of our desire. But neither this happiness nor unhappiness, nor the objects that those feelings arise in relation to, none of them are truly existent. Since nothing truly exists, there is nothing to truly gain and nothing to truly lose, and so at this level attachment to the objects of our desire and aversion to those things we dislike makes absolutely no sense.

'''Śāntideva continues (9.152cd):''' Furthermore, if we look deeply into the nature of phenomena, searching for any kind of intrinsic and independent nature, we cannot find anything. Since all phenomena lack this kind of existence from their own side, who is the person craving, and what is it that is craved for?

Sonam Tsemo explains in his commentary that the two verses above discuss the eight worldly concerns—of gain and loss, praise and blame, pleasure and pain, and fame and infamy—taking a look at them from the perspective of their ultimate nature.

He relates how, in the root verses, gain and loss and happiness and suffering are mentioned explicitly, whereas being paid honor and being reviled refer to praise and blame, and joy and pain refer to the joy of fame and the pain of infamy.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 447.</ref>

In verse 153 Śāntideva continues his ultimate analysis of the fundamental way in which phenomena exist by looking at the world of living beings.

'''Śāntideva's question (9.153):''' Who is there in this world who lives and then passes away? Who is there that has been born in the past, and who is there that will be born into another future life? Who are our friends and who are our relatives?
{{PullBcaVerses|9.153}}
It is important to understand that Śāntideva is not saying that there is no cessation and that beings do not pass away. He is not saying that we have not been born in the past nor that we will not die and be reborn in the future. And he is certainly not saying that we have no relatives or friends to benefit us. All of these statements are being made at the level of ultimate analysis where nothing can be found on search. At a conventional level, he accepts these things as existing in some nominal way, but from the ultimate perspective they have no existence.

In the last two lines of verse 154, Śāntideva makes a prayer that all beings like himself develop the crucial discernment that all phenomena lack intrinsic existence and are like space, beyond all categories of existent or nonexistent, and that all beings regard as equal the eight mundane concerns.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=May beings like myself discern and grasp
That all things have the character of space! (9.154ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}

<h3>2. Teaching Great Compassion by Highlighting the Defects of Samsara</h3>
In the last main section of the text, from verses 154cd to 165, Śāntideva explains the explicit need for the realization of emptiness if we wish to turn away from all our suffering. This insistence on the central importance of wisdom comes from a place of deep compassion, compassion that understands the way that the root cause of all our suffering is the ignorance of how things ultimately exist.

<h4>i. The Sufferings That Arise from Ignorance</h4>
Lacking the understanding of the role ignorance plays, and not working to understand the ultimate nature of ourselves and all other phenomena, we will be trapped in a samsaric life that is characterized by suffering and dissatisfaction.

Śāntideva details both the obvious sufferings that we face in this life, but he also goes on to point out the less obvious forms of suffering that come from being trapped in samsara and how we will have to continually be born in lives that are characterized by suffering.

<h5>a. The Manifest Sufferings of This Life</h5>
'''Śāntideva (9.154cd/155):''' Those seeking peace and happiness will never find what they desire if the means through which they strive to attain that involves confrontations or disputes with others or through purely looking for personal enjoyment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=But those who seek their happiness and ease,
Through disputes or enjoyments, (9.154cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 159.</ref>
}}
{{PullBcaVerses|9.155}}
Within this very life there can be no long-term, stable peace and happiness if we are constantly controlled by our reactions to temporary conditions. Ecstatically happy when fortunate things happen to us, or depressed and morose when misfortune comes our way, we are at the whim of our emotions. Our minds are not in balance, and in these fluctuating states we suffer. We can easily be drawn into severe negative actions in relation to others, and in extreme cases this can lead us to cause grievous mental and physical harm to others.

<h5>b. The Invisible Sufferings of Past and Future Lives</h5>
In verse 156 Śāntideva covers the wider context of our samsaric life, spanning over countless lifetimes. From this longer perspective, temporary states of good fortune may very occasionally arise, but they can also end as quickly as they came about.

'''Śāntideva (9.156):''' It is so rare to find rebirth in a happy state, but occasionally we do surface from the depths of samsara and are born into such an opportune life. However, instead of taking that opportunity to seek liberation, we instead follow all kinds of temporary pleasure. When death comes, we will have wasted this precious chance and will now fall into the lower realms for an unimaginably long time.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.156}}
In his commentary Sonam Tsemo explains how this last section of the ninth chapter, from verse 157 to verse 162, covers the five main causes for why we have to constantly experience the various sufferings of conditioned life in cyclic existence.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In dependence upon the five types of rebirth, one will constantly experience attachment to saṃsāra. Why? There are five main causes:

1. The roots of suffering have not been pacified
2. One does not have the means to dispel it
3. There are many obstacles
4. It is difficult to rely on the supports
5. It is difficult to abandon its causes<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 450.</ref>
}}

'''1. The Roots of Suffering Have Not Been Pacified'''

In verse 157 Śāntideva encourages us to contemplate the vast multitudes of places of rebirth in cyclic existence, referring to them as chasms or abysses. Whether in the desire, form, or formless realms, there will be both the general sufferings of samsara and the specific sufferings of each realm.

We are dragged down into these deep chasms by the ignorance that actively clings to the inherent nature of ourselves and all things. In these dark places no wisdom can be found, and from our state of ignorance spring forth all the negative emotions, which cause us to engage in negative karmic actions.

If we have not pacified this ignorance of reality and have not developed the wisdom that cuts through the root of samsara, there can be no liberation. Therefore, we must strive in every moment to try to understand emptiness.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.157}}

'''2. One Does Not Have the Means to Dispel It'''

The next reason that we must continue to cycle around in samsara is that we do not have the means to prevent ourselves from being propelled into conditioned states of existence.

In verses 158 to 160, Śāntideva reminds us of how little opportunity we get to pull ourselves out of samsara. If we are born in the lower realms, there will be absolutely no chance to engage in virtue, but even if we are born in a happy state of existence where we attain a precious human rebirth, the power to be able to create virtue is weak. Life passes very fast, and this precious opportunity, though gained, can disappear in a moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.158}}
Śāntideva also points out to us that however long we are able to stay in one of these fortunate states, there is actually no time to practice the Dharma. Our time is taken up with so many things. Many of these are essential activities to maintain our lives and health. We need to find food to satisfy our hunger, and many hours of the day are taken up with sleep to help rest our weary bodies. Sickness and injury take up much of our time but so do associations with childish beings that end up being meaningless.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.159}}
Life passes quickly, and mostly without any deeper meaning. It is so hard to find any opportunity to investigate the deeper nature of reality, which is our only means to reverse the process of cyclic existence. Our efforts to contemplate and meditate on emptiness are weak, distraction draws away our attention from what is important, and our unstable lives can end at any moment.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.160}}

'''3. There Are Many Obstacles'''

In verses 161 and 162, Śāntideva highlights the fact that because there are many obstacles, attaining liberation is extremely hard. Not only are there negative external forces that may try to work against us, especially when we choose the way of virtue, but there are also many false spiritual paths that may lead us astray. Most of these trails lead us to views of eternalism or nihilism, and we have to come to certainty that this path that Śāntideva is revealing to us is the pure and unmistaken one.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.161}}
We may have many doubts about which is the right path, doubts about what needs to be done on the path and where it leads, and it is difficult to find the right conditions to remove these doubts.

In the following passage from his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal remarks on how people these days are taken with the novelty and excitement of modern spiritual paths and lack a respect and love for the ancient texts:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Nowadays, people love novelty and thus neglect the ancient texts, excellent and pure though they be, liking only what is new. But among the recent texts, there are some that are genuine and some false, and it is difficult to discern the goal and point of view of a genuine teaching from a false one—it is difficult to have certainty, unclouded by doubt. And even if a teaching is authentic, if it is practiced with doubt, it will be fruitless and without meaning. It is thus hard to have a true discernment.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 387.</ref>
}}
He agrees that there are genuine texts among those within the modern tradition, but it is very hard to discern which ones those are, and so it is easy to be beset with doubt. And with doubt we find it hard to get any concrete result, however sincerely we strive to engage in our Dharma practice.

'''4. It Is Difficult to Rely on the Supports'''

We also find it hard to gain liberation because the personal support of our precious human rebirth and the external support of the enlightened beings are so hard to find.

In the first two lines of verse 162, Śāntideva reminds us of how hard it is to find again such a state of freedom where we can practice, a state which is characterized by the eight freedoms and ten endowments. Even if we are blessed with this precious opportunity, he also explains the difficulty of finding one crucial external support that is necessary for us to be able to wholeheartedly follow the path—that is, genuinely enlightened teachers.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard it is to find again this state of freedom,
Harder yet to come upon enlightened teachers, (9.162ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}

'''5. It Is Difficult to Abandon Its Causes'''

The last two lines of verse 162 explain how difficult it is to escape from the raging torrent of our afflictions. The causes of our continued rebirth in samsara are the whole range of our negative emotions—craving and clinging, attachment, anger, lack of awareness, and underpinning them all, wrong views and ignorance. We are swept away by these states of mind, and Śāntideva remarks on how difficult it is to turn back this tide.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Hard, indeed, to turn aside the torrent of defilement!
Alas, our sorrows fall in endless streams! (9.162.cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 160.</ref>
}}
In verses 163 and 164, Śāntideva explains how beings do not even realize what kind of sufferings they are going through. Afloat in the sea of cyclic existence, passing from one suffering state to another, beings are completely unaware of the reality of their situation. Indeed, they often feel the opposite way, looking on things which are contaminated by the afflictions and ignorance as though they are pleasant and a source of happiness. They have no understanding of what conduct to adopt and what to cast aside. "Alas," cries Śāntideva, "How terrible it is that beings do not understand the terrible condition they are in."
{{PullBcaVerses|9.163}}
Here, Śāntideva also critiques the followers of some religious traditions and their practices, those who believe that extreme ascetic practices such as prolonged exposure to excessive heat or cold or bathing in the sacred rivers are the path to liberation. Although these practices do not lead to the desired result, because of their attachment to them they are happy to endure them, and they even consider them pleasant.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.164}}
Most of us carry on our lives as though old age and death will never come to us. But it won't be long before we have to pass away and we have to face our future. If we have been too lazy to engage in virtue and counteract our negative emotions, we will easily be led after death to a rebirth in terrible states.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.165}}

<h2>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h2>
Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom.

In verse 166 Śāntideva is overcome by the wish to pacify the sufferings of all beings trapped in samsara. He asks himself, "When will the time come when I will be able to put out the fires of others' suffering?" In a form of dedication, he wishes from his heart that the rains of bliss which pour forth from the clouds of all his accumulated merit may rain down on the terrible flames of beings' suffering, extinguishing them forever. This verse specifically refers to the accumulation of merit from the method side of practice, through practices such as generosity and ethical discipline.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.166}}
Following Śāntideva's example, Gyaltsap Je explains how we must sincerely cultivate this great compassion from deep in our hearts.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When will I become someone that pacifies the sufferings of the lower realms with medicine, food and the like? That which are parts of my collection of happiness, built up from clouds of merits built up by generosity and so forth. How wonderful would it be if sentient beings were free from suffering? May they be free from suffering. May I bring about that freedom.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
In verse 86 of his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'', Nāgārjuna explains that this sense of compassion for beings should be so strong that we are willing to give up the most refined and blissful states of meditative concentration and to instead plunge headlong into the worst of the hellish states.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=When through practice it becomes firm,
Then alarmed by other's suffering,
The [bodhisattvas] renounce the bliss of concentration
And plunge even to the depths of relentless hells.<ref>[[Jinpa, Thupten|Jinpa]], ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 9, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf.</ref>
}}
In the last verse of the chapter, Śāntideva speaks of his continual wish to pacify the mistaken clinging that all living beings possess, the belief in an inherent self and inherent phenomena. He again asks himself, "When will I reveal this truth of emptiness to those beings who suffer in cyclic existence because of their belief in intrinsic existence?" This verse refers to the accumulation of wisdom, which comes from studying, contemplation, and meditation on the ultimate nature of phenomena.
{{PullBcaVerses|9.167}}
Gyaltsap Je summarizes how we meditate on the union of calm abiding and special insight as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In short, one should meditate on the mode of abiding in dependence on calm abiding. Further, because the 'I' of the thought 'I' is established as merely labeled in dependence on the aggregates and does not exist inherently, it does not exist intrinsically, it is not established in the slightest in an independent mode. Therefore, the existent person is merely posited in name, it exists only as labeled and in a dependent mode. Hence, take to heart, 'It does not exist inherently'.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine]]'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref>
}}
Having understood the way things exist and how ignorance of the nature of reality traps beings in the continual cycle of suffering in samsara, we should then develop the strong wish to reveal this truth of emptiness to all beings, that they may cultivate that understanding and themselves attain the highest state of enlightenment.

<h2>The Results of Practice</h2>
At the very end of his commentary entitled ''A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditating on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Patrul Rinpoche discusses the result of practicing in the way outlined in Śāntideva's text.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By seeing the relative to be a mere display like a magical illusion or the experiences of a dream, we will train in vast enlightened activity in which the seven kinds of attachment are relinquished. And with the understanding that on the ultimate level all things and events lack even so much as an atom's worth of true existence, we will take this practice to heart without becoming attached to anything whatsoever.

May the Dharma, suffering's only cure,
And the source of all real happiness,
Always be valued and respected,
And remain long into the future!

This was spoken by Ragged Abu. May all be virtuous and auspicious!<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Understanding that all phenomena lack even an atom of intrinsic existence, knowing things to exist merely as a magical illusion, and dropping any kind of attachment, we head out onto the path of the Buddhadharma, which leads to the state of full enlightenment.
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Articles/Meditative Concentration Overview

2026-03-11T14:51:49Z

SimonH:

{{#widget:ScrollFix|anchor=How_to_Meditate_on_Equalizing_Self_and_Others_(Verses_91_to_110)|offset=130}}
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<div class="drop-cap">
Having been galvanized into action with the practice of diligence which takes delight in engaging in virtue, we now need to focus the mind. With our minds becoming clearer, more still, and free from agitation and dullness, we will be able to develop penetrating insight into the nature of reality. The next two chapters of Śāntideva's text deal with these essential aspects of the bodhisattva path.

In his commentary to this eighth chapter, the Nyingma master Khenpo Kunpal sets the scene for the chapter by quoting directly from Śāntideva's other main work, ''The Compendium of Training'' (''Śikṣāsamuccaya'').
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Cultivate forbearance, seek the teachings,
Then in the forest take up your abode.
In meditative equipoise exert yourself,
And contemplate repulsiveness and other things.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 258. For the verse in the ''[[Śikṣāsamuccayakārikā]]'', see [[Śāntideva]], "''Bslab pa kun las btus pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa''," in Derge Tengyur D3939, dbu ma, khi, vol. 111, 2b4-5, http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/MW23703_3939.</ref>
}}
Having developed the earlier perfections such as patience, and having sought out and understood the teachings, we are now ready to take to an isolated place, to really put those teachings into practice.

<h4>Calm Abiding and Special Insight (''Śamatha'' and ''Vipaśyanā'')</h4>
At the beginning of this eighth chapter, Śāntideva stresses a crucial point regarding what the ultimate goal of the path is—the vital importance of being able to see with wisdom the nature of reality of phenomena directly.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.4}}
Calm-abiding (''śamatha'') meditation is the means to achieve mental stability and serves as the base on which penetrating insight (''vipaśyanā'') can be developed. The ninth-century Indian master Kamalaśīla describes the essential need for this single-pointed mind in giving rise to wisdom through an analogy of a lamp in the middle section of his ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'').
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Due to the power of calm abiding meditation, the mind will not be disturbed by the wind of conceptual thoughts, like a butter lamp undisturbed by the breeze.<ref>Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell, trans., ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', by the Dalai Lama and Kamalashila (Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2019), 71.</ref>
}}

Both ''śamatha'' and ''vipaśyanā'' are required to subdue the mental afflictions, and since there is a cause-effect relationship between these two, the chapter presenting meditative absorption is presented before the chapter on wisdom. With ''śamatha'' and ''vipaśyanā'' acting as the main causes, we can destroy all the afflictive mental states along with their seeds (''bīja'') and habitual or latent imprints (''vāsanā'', ''བག་ཆགས་'').

The results of such practices are not only an undistracted mind and the ability to see into the nature of reality but also, crucially, they lead the practitioner to more compassionate action. This point is mentioned in ''The Compendium of the Teachings Sūtra'' (''Dharmasaṃgītisūtra'') in relation to bodhisattvas who have mastered such practices.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Through their supreme joy they become physically and mentally pliable, and they reach a stage of bliss through that physical and mental pliancy and attain samādhi. Resting in meditative composure they see everything exactly as it is. Bodhisattvas who see everything exactly as it is act with great compassion for beings.<ref>Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, trans., ''The Dharma Council'', ''Dharmasaṅgīti'', Toh 238 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-065-001.html?#UT22084-065-001-532.</ref>
}}
In his commentary ''A Lamp for the Middle Way'', Pema Karpo gives a detailed explanation of the etymology of the terms ''śamatha'' and ''vipaśyanā''. He firstly explains ''śamatha'' as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In order to calm the afflictions, the mind is made to abide, therefore it is called "calm abiding." Its nature is a mind of single-pointed concentration. Its definition is that it is a meditative absorption where the mind is directed toward its focal object.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 69 (e-book). https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/</ref>
}}
And in terms of ''vipaśyanā'', he writes:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nature of superior seeing is the wisdom that apprehends the reality of phenomena. Its etymology is that it is a special realization of the nature of phenomena or insight into their reality. . . . ''Vipaśyanā'' arises from its cause, calm abiding, and when it is in union with calm abiding it becomes ''vipaśyanā'' that fully possesses calm abiding.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 69–70 (e-book). https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/</ref>
}}
In the introduction to their translation of the eighth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', Crosby and Skilton give a more detailed description of what calm-abiding meditation is, emphasizing the techniques and practices employed to achieve this state as well as the effort required.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''Śamathā'' meditation is generally concerned with calming and stabilizing the mind, and cultivating positive emotions such as friendliness and compassion. Characteristic techniques employed to achieve these states are the 'mindfulness while breathing' (''ānāpāna-smṛti'') and the 'development of friendliness' (''maitrī-bhāvanā'') respectively. The successful practice of any technique involves a sustained effort to suppress any of the five possible 'hindrances' (''nīvaraṇa'') which might arise and distract the mind of the meditator, and for which task an array of meditations is available. Progress in calming meditation results in the 'rising' of the mind through successively more refined and purified levels of consciousness, known technically as 'meditative absorptions', ''dhyāna''. The ''dhyānas'' are four in number, and are characterized by the successive simplification and purification of the contents of consciousness.<ref>[[Crosby, K.|Kate Crosby]] and [[Skilton, A.|Andrew Skilton]], trans., ''[[The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening]]'' (Oxford: [[People/Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]], 1996), 75.</ref>
}}
Thus, we can see from the above explanations that calm-abiding/''śamatha'' and special-insight/''vipaśyanā'' meditation work in tandem. It is calm abiding which is the necessary first step and which, with effort and persistence, gives rise to penetrating insight through a process of mental refinement or purification.

In looking at the structure of chapter 8 on the ''pāramitā'' of meditative absorption, Patrul Rinpoche divides it into two main sections: (1) abandoning factors that are not conducive to concentration and (2) working with the objects of ''śamatha'' meditation.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|The Brightly Shining Sun]]'', by [[Dpal sprul rin po che|Patrul Rinpoche]] ([[People/Lotsāwa_House|Lotsawa House]], 2019), https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>

<h4>1. Abandoning Factors That Are Not Conducive to Concentration</h4>
The first section on counteracting obstacles to concentration is further divided into two: (a) giving up mundane concerns and (b) letting go of discursive thought.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>

<h5>A. Giving Up Mundane Concerns</h5>
''The Need To Achieve Calm Abiding''<br>

Our first task is to establish some level of calming of the mind. But to do this, at the outset Śāntideva suggests that for us beginners to initially engage in the process of developing concentration, it is best to isolate ourselves as much as possible from those things that immediately give rise to clinging attachment.
In relation to this need for isolation, Patrul Rinpoche explains the problems that occur when we are busily involved in the mundane concerns of our worldly lives, including the tendency to fall into our habitual patterns when around objects of attachment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As regards renouncing mundane concerns, our mind will never settle into a state of one-pointed absorption as long as it is under the sway of attachment to parents, relatives and friends or attendants. So we must give up all our habitual preoccupations and busyness, and remain alone in an isolated place suitable for meditation.

Being attached to rewards and honours, praise or good reputation, or trifling necessities and then pursuing them will only obstruct the authentic path, so we must cut through any expectations and anxieties about such things, and train in being content with whatever comes our way.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
Since an important part of being able to meditate is to be able to concentrate on our object of meditation, we need to get rid of distraction. But how do we do this? In verse 2, Śāntideva provides us with an answer to this question.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.2}}
Since distraction is often hard to control in the worldly hustle and bustle of life, we are encouraged as beginners to seek out places conducive to concentration, such as remote areas and forests.

Khenpo Kunpal asserts that there are two main kinds of distractions, physical and mental, that we must abandon.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If we want to give up the afflictions, we must give up distractions, and in order to do this, we must have recourse to solitude, which means to distance ourselves from two kinds of object. On the physical level, we must relinquish all attachment to the affairs and meaningless doings of the world. On the mental level, we must completely put a stop to the mind's wandering toward the objects of the senses, and we should train ourselves in concentration. And for this, it is necessary to be alone. For the company of even one person will result in obstacles to concentration.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 259.</ref>
}}
But why is concentration so important on the spiritual path, and what happens if we are unable to sustain concentration? Khenpo Kunpal vividly explains how a person who is unable to sustain concentration becomes a victim of his or her defilements.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=A person whose mind is slack and left to drift to the objects of the six consciousnesses is like a scrap of food caught between the fangs of demons, namely, the defilements of attachment and hatred. It is certain that people who leave their minds to their own devices will lose whatever spiritual qualities they may have.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 259.</ref>
}}

''Obstacles Caused By Attachment to People''

Within the topic of giving up mundane concerns, Śāntideva encourages us to abandon the obstacles caused by attachment to people. The next section of the text attempts to show us the disadvantages of associating too closely with worldly beings and the faults of attachment in relation to others.

In verse 5 Śāntideva points out that one transient being clinging strongly to another transient being means that we will not see our desired objects again for a very long time.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.5}}
The argument here is that it is not wise for those who are themselves impermanent to get so attached to others who are also impermanent. In his commentary the contemporary Sakya master Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk elaborates on this point as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=How can it be appropriate for ourselves, impermanent and subject to death, to have strong attachment to anyone else, such as our relatives, those close to us, and like-minded friends, who are also impermanent and who will die? It is not appropriate. If we are attached and cling, by that very drawback, from our next birth onward we will not see those dear to our heart for many thousands of lives.<ref>[[Ngag dbang kun dga' dbang phyug|Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk]], ''A Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''Theg pa chen po'i mdo'i dgongs don gyi bstan bcos byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa zhes bya ba'i 'grel pa'' (Taiwan: Chos kyi blo gros rtsom sgrig khang, 2016), 508.</ref>
}}
Further clarifying the nature of this attachment, Pema Karpo explains that those who have strong attachments to friends and family, beings that are by nature impermanent, will suffer unfortunate rebirths.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For whoever gets strongly attached, through clinging to the true existence of impermanent friends and relatives, will be born in the unhappy states for thousands of lifetimes and will never see the objects which are dear to their hearts.<ref>[[Drukchen, 4th (pad+ma dkar po)|Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 71.</ref>
}}
He points out that the worst clinging which causes the gravest of consequences is the clinging to the self and others to be inherently existent, when in reality they lack this inherent nature.

Śāntideva then goes on to explain what will happen even if we are lucky enough to again see those so dear to our hearts.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.6}}
In his commentary Gyaltsap Je explains the first two lines of this verse relating to what happens when we are bereft of the joy of seeing our loved ones.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If one does not see anything beautiful, one will not have joy. Since one's mind will be unhappy, it will be distracted, it will not enter equipoise on concentration and one will not attain happiness.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas, Chapter Eight: The Way of Training in the Mental Stabilizations Contained in the Common and Uncommon Types of Calm Abiding'', by [[Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen|Gyaltsab Rinpoche]] (N.p.: [[People/Happy_Monks_Publication|Happy Monks Publication]], 2016), 4, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>
}}
Through separation from those close to us, we will lose our sense of joy and brood about the situation. It will become much easier to get distracted, which will make it impossible for concentration and wisdom to arise.

In lines 3 and 4 of verse 6, Śāntideva points out to us that even in the unlikely event of us being able to meet again those who are the object of our desire, we will still never be able to get enough of that, and through further longing and attachment, we will never find satisfaction. In ''The Play in Full Sūtra'' (''Lalitavistarasūtra''), this lack of contentment is explained through the following analogy:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Desired objects never satisfy;
They are just like salty water from the ocean.<ref>[[People/Dharmachakra_Translation_Committee|Dharmachakra Translation Committee]], trans., ''[[The Play in Full: Lalitavistara (Doctor, A.)|The Play in Full, Lalitavistara]]'', Toh 95 ([[People/84000:_Translating_the_Words_of_the_Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2024), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-046-001.html?#UT22084-046-001-864.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva then goes on to list a whole other series of dangers that can befall us if we are overly attached to those dear to us. Firstly, we will lose sight of the truth and our sense of discontentment.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.7}}
With this strong craving, a veil falls over the truth, and we will quickly lose our sense of disillusionment with the sorrowful state of samsara, and liberation will become farther away from us. And when those dear to us eventually leave us or pass away, we will be left with that terrible agony of separation from the objects of our attachment.

Furthermore, he reminds us, with all our thoughts centered on those we love, we will waste away our lives in the byways of attachment and distraction, looking back at our lives with very little accomplished.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.8}}
Here, Śāntideva tells us, given our strong emotional attachments, we will not be able to accomplish any virtue, and our lives will be spent in negativity and pain. All our families and friends fade and pass. Nevertheless, the attachment that we feel for them will undermine our ability to practice Dharma. That alone is the means by which we can achieve the unsurpassable state of immutability.

Another point that can be noted here comes in relation to O'Sullivan's translation of the root text, where Śāntideva neatly explains how relations with the worldly can destroy great benefits.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The unchanging dharma
Is lost though transient friends. (8.8)<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', by [[Bsod nams rtse mo|Sonam Tsemo]] (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 252. The word ''though'' here is probably a typo for ''through''.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva counsels us that very little good can come from close interactions with the worldly beings.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.10}}
These kinds of worldly acquaintances are unreliable and inconstant. One minute they are loving friends, and the next minute they turn into our bitter enemies. If we try to encourage them in the direction of virtue, which would actually be a source of their happiness, they easily get irritated and react negatively. No matter what we do, it is extremely hard to please ordinary people.

''The King of Samadhis Sūtra'' states very clearly this particular difficulty of the reaction of many worldly people to words in accord with the Dharma.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=They may speak with words about the Dharma
But do not believe it, showing their anger and aggression.
Such is the Dharma of fools, and knowing this to be so
The wise do not rely on it.<ref>[[Roberts, P.|Peter Alan Roberts]] and team, trans., ''[[The King of Samādhis Sūtra: Samādhirājasūtra (Roberts, P.)|The King of Samādhis Sūtra, Samādhirājasūtra]]'', Toh 127 ([[People/84000:_Translating_the_Words_of_the_Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-055-001.html?#UT22084-055-001-905.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva explains that not only will we not benefit from these associations with the worldly but they will actually come to harm us.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.12}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.13}}
Gyaltsap Je expands on the problems of these interactions.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Further, the childish are jealous of those higher, compete with those that are equal and if they observe those that are lower, they are proud. When praised they generate conceit, but if one says something unpleasant they become angry.

Hence, when does one receive benefit from involvement with the childish? Not only does one not, but what non-virtue does one not acquire by keeping company with the childish? One will definitely take on praising oneself and criticizing others, or get in the habit of conversation that takes pleasure in cyclic existence, such as stories that deal with the king, the people in the country and so forth. Therefore, one should not associate with the childish.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 6, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
Moreover, it is very easy in these interactions to get drawn into all forms of negativity. We end up lured into conversations about the so-called wondrous things of samsaric life and are led far away from renunciation. Even brief meetings with people we have never met, while on a journey for instance, can elicit nonvirtuous behavior.

Throughout this section Śāntideva often uses the term ''childish'' (''བྱིས་པ་'') to refer to worldly or spiritually immature beings. Khenpo Kunpal clarifies what this term refers to as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If we are not Aryas, we are childish (that is, ordinary) beings. And if we consort with other childish beings, every kind of vice is sure to follow. Whether directly or indirectly, there will be self-aggrandizement and contempt for others.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 262.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva exhorts us to keep away from the company of those "childish" beings, who will only drag us down. However, he does advise us that we should always maintain cordial relations, without becoming too close or familiar.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.15}}
He also gives us some advice as to how to protect our own minds and how to conduct ourselves when we are in contact with the worldly.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.16}}
This analogy of the honey bee, according to Khenpo Kunpal, is mentioned in ''The Uposatha of Vishvabhukra'' (Vishvabhukra, or ཐམས་ཅད་སྐྱོབ་, being the third in the sequence of the seven heroic Buddhas), which states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Like a bee that does not harm
The blossom's scent or hue
But sips the nectar and departs:
That's how the Sage goes into town.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 263.</ref>
}}
In relation to this last verse, the great Kadampa master Gyalse Thokme Zangpo advises us on how to deal positively with interactions with the worldly.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If we meet (the worldly), we should please them with positive forms of behavior. However, we should not become overly familiar with them but maintain ordinary relations, such that we follow a path of conduct which is devoid of both attachment and aversion. Just as a honey bee is not attached to the flower but extracts the nectar from it, likewise, we should take up only those (activities) such as giving explanations of the meaning of the Dharma or other forms of Dharma conduct. But we should remain as though we have not seen (them) before, without familiarity.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''An Ocean of Excellent Explanation: A Commentary on Entering into the Conduct of the Bodhisattva'', ''Byang chub sems spa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i rtsa ba dang 'grel pa legs par bshad pa'i rya mtsho (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union 2003), 268.</ref>
}}
Throughout this section of the text on the disadvantages of attachment to people, Śāntideva's tone seems very severe. We may wonder why he seems so negative about associating with other beings in the world. Indeed, this whole section seems to be in direct contradiction to the message earlier in the text about loving all beings and the need to actively engage in helping them in whatever way we can. The contemporary Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche raises this question in his commentary and helps to clarify this apparent contradiction.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=We may wonder, "Doesn't the Dharma say that as bodhisattvas we should help other sentient beings?" This is not a contradiction because here we are talking about relating to sentient beings with desire and attachment. When we relate to sentient beings because we crave their company, there can be no positive effects out of this. We will not be able to help ourselves, much less other sentient beings. The only way we can help other sentient beings is by practicing true compassion. But when the relationship to others is based on attachment and need, nothing can be accomplished. With an attitude based on desire, we will not be able to practice the Dharma whole-heartedly. Not only that, but by putting so much energy into socializing with others, we will lose the energy and time necessary for benefitting all sentient beings.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Thrangu Rinpoche 2016)|
Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken Holmes]], [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]], and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 150.</ref>
}}
Thus, the difference, Thrangu Rinpoche suggests, lies in our emotional attachment to others. Śāntideva's stern tone with respect to dealing with the worldly can be understood as a means of guarding against such attachment.

''Giving Up Attachment to Worldly Gain''

Continuing with the topic of giving up mundane concerns, in verses 17 to 24 Śāntideva reminds us of the futile nature of the objects of our attachments.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.19}}
Even if we are able to gain the worldly things that we crave, there is one underlying truth that we must face: all meetings will end in separation. Everything that is born will die, and everything in time will fade. Śāntideva asks us to think about how valuable these things really are and whether the attachment for them brings us happiness or not. There are people in the past who gained great wealth and renown. But, Śāntideva asks, where is that fame and fortune now?
{{PullBcaVerses|8.20}}
Patrul Rinpoche singles out our attachment to rewards, gain, and praise and our aversion to loss and blame as being what gets in the way of authentic practice. He advises us to cut through our hopes and fears about such things and to develop a mind of contentment with what we already have.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>

''The Value of Relying on Solitude''

Having understood the faults of attachment, in verses 25 to 38 Śāntideva encourages us further to live away from society, high in the mountains or in remote forests, a place where in the past so many accomplished beings have resided. There, for company, we will have only the birds and wild animals, which he says is the best kind of company to keep. Away from any source of distraction, as well as the complications of maintaining relationships with worldly people, our mind can settle.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.25}}
Even in our worldly lives, we often say that we come into this world alone and we leave it alone. It is something understood by ordinary people. The root text reflects on this sentiment as follows:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.32}}
Śāntideva acknowledges that while others may empathize with us, no one can really share our lives. No one, however much they care about us, can really take away our sufferings. Although others may try to help to alleviate the situation, it is we alone who must experience the actual pain.

In his commentary on this verse, Khenpo Kunpal concludes by suggesting that relationships with family and friends can actually be obstacles.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Therefore of what avail are our relatives and friends—who create obstacles to our virtuous practice of ethical discipline, to our learning and study, and to the approach and accomplishment phases of our practice in retreat? Such relationships are by no means indispensable.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 269.</ref>
}}
He questions the value of the relationships we form in life. This must be understood in the context of the chapter, where isolation from surroundings which stimulate the proliferation of afflictive emotions is encouraged. There can be a time in our spiritual development when removing ourselves to places of solitude may be the most constructive choice. At this stage, even the best of worldly relationships may hinder our advancement. However, we should always remember the perspective from the mind training tradition, where every inconducive condition can be taken as sustenance on the path.

Śāntideva concludes this section with an expression of the joy to be found in living alone in wild and isolated places.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.37}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.38}}
Dropping all of his other worldly preoccupations, Śāntideva commits himself to solitude in order to deal with his attachments. In an environment free of distraction, he vows to tame his mind through developing concentration.

<h5>B. Letting Go of Discursive Thought</h5>
The first part of the outline from Patrul Rinpoche's meditation manual concerning abandoning factors that are not conducive to concentration involves giving up mundane concerns. But this process also involves letting go of discursive thought. From verses 39 to 84, Śāntideva encourages us to find ways to give up our attachment and the wandering thoughts which attachment induces.

All the chapters of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' in some way deal with advice on how to reduce our distracted mind. But here the chapter on meditative concentration specifically sets forth the antidote to distraction that is driven by desire and attachment, which is the root of suffering. As Śāntideva states in verse 39:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In this and in the worlds to come,
Desire's the parent of all woe: (8.39ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 114.</ref>
}}
Specifically, however, this next section deals with attachment and sexual desire for a partner or lover. It considers all the struggles that people go through to find the perfect partner and the complications that still arise even if they do manage to find them. The text reminds us that the desire for a lover is fertile ground for sowing the seeds of suffering, not only in this life but in future lives as well. In an attempt to attract a lover, people are prepared to endure tremendous hardships but also to commit grave negative actions driven by their attachment. Reflecting on this situation humans find themselves in, Khenpo Kunpal quotes a proverb which says "Joyful though the act may be, the price is paid in tears."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 270.</ref> In chapter 7 Śāntideva uses a similar analogy of honey on a razor's edge. In our desire to enjoy the sweet taste of honey, we may be unaware of the sharp edge of the razor, which can easily cut our tongue. These examples tell us that although we may be overwhelmed by immediate attraction to the objects of our desire and the temporary pleasure that they give us, ultimately these objects will bring us nothing but suffering and ruin. Emphasizing this sentiment, Gyaltsap Je quotes from ''The Sūtra Requested By The Girl Supreme Moon'' (''Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇasūtra''), where it says:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Due to the cause of desire objects sentient beings fall into the lower realms.
Due to attachment they become hungry ghosts and animals.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 13, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
In connection with this section of the text, Patrul Rinpoche mentions other kinds of obstruction to our practice—the fact that although we may find ourselves in a conducive environment, in an isolated place, discursive thoughts and craving members of the opposite sex can still overwhelm us.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even though we may be in an isolated place, not seeking possessions and such like to any great extent, if our mind falls under the power of desire, a genuine state of meditative concentration will not arise in our being, and our mind will be unable to rest in a state of absorption. Therefore thoughts of desire must be given up. To turn our thoughts away from attachment to desirable things is particularly important for gaining the special higher levels of concentration, so we should certainly turn the mind away from craving after members of the opposite sex by reflecting on the cause, the fact that they are not easy to obtain; their nature, which is impure; and the result, which involves a lot of harm, and so on.

Moreover, we must understand that the eight worldly concerns and all thoughts of the present life are our real enemies. We must reflect, therefore, at some length on the problems caused by negative thoughts of desire, and, generating a sense of inner dignity, make heartfelt efforts to abandon them, no matter how many may arise. <ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
We seek gain and desperately try to avoid loss. We are naturally drawn toward experiences of pleasure and steer away from pain. We crave fame and praise, and we hate blame and infamy. These ways of engagement in daily life are called the eight worldly dharmas or eight worldly concerns.

The roots of this direct instruction concerning the eight worldly concerns trace back all the way to the suttas of the Pali tradition. In ''The Failings of the World'' (Pali. ''Lokavipatti Sutta''), we find the following words of the Buddha:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Monks, these eight worldly conditions spin after the world, and the world spins after these eight worldly conditions. Which eight? Gain, loss, status, disgrace, censure, praise, pleasure, & pain. . . .

The Blessed One said, "Gain arises for an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person. He does not reflect, 'Gain has arisen for me. It is inconstant, stressful, & subject to change.' He does not discern it as it has come to be. . . .

"He welcomes the arisen pleasure and rebels against the arisen pain. As he is thus engaged in welcoming & rebelling, he is not released from birth, aging, or death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, or despairs. He is not released, I tell you, from suffering & stress.

"Now, gain arises for a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones. He reflects, 'Gain has arisen for me. It is inconstant, stressful, & subject to change.' He discerns it as it actually is.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, ''The Failings of the World - Lokavipatti Sutta'' (AN 8:6), Dhammatalks.org, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN8_6.html.</ref>
}}
Although these eight dharmas arise for both worldly beings and the "well-instructed" students of the Dharma, their understanding of those dharmas is very different. To ordinary people, the thought will never come to mind that those dharmas are inconstant, a source of tension, and necessarily impermanent. Consumed with attachment, they welcome things like gain, which they perceive to be positive, and resist those dharmas, such as loss, that they perceive to be harmful to them. The wise will never do this. The wise see things as they are and understand that both the wanted and unwanted are all temporary and not to be clung to. They watch the arising and passing of phenomena without getting consumed by them.

''Reflecting on the Unclean Nature of the Human Body''

In verses 40 to 70, in an effort to get us to abandon discursive thought and attachment to our bodies and the bodies of the opposite sex, Śāntideva presents the Buddhist perspective on the unclean nature of the body and the complication and suffering that come to us through attachment to our bodies and the bodies of others. He looks at this through craving for lovers and the hardships people are willing to endure in order to pursue their lover.

In the modern era, where the body is almost considered as a temple, some of these contemplations may seem very extreme, but Śāntideva's main aim is to help us to reduce our unrealistic attachment.

This section begins with a general question as to why we feel such strong attachment to those dear to us but who will soon enough pass away and leave us alone in our grief.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.42}}
Śāntideva says that such people have always been just a heap of bones, which in reality lacks any form of autonomous self or any kind of freedom. So, he asks, why would we not put down our attachment and start out on the path to enlightenment?

The next verses are entirely devoted to explaining the extreme dangers of strong desirous attachment, particularly that of a man for a woman. However, firstly, there are arguments related to the attachment to one who has died and is at the cemetery. This part of the text is reminiscent of a genre of guided meditations on the foulness of the body (Pali. ''asubhabhāvanā'') designed to discourage us from the longing for sexual pleasure. The technique, again, dates back to the early Pali Buddhist tradition and is found in the early Vinaya texts.

Śāntideva does not hold back in asking us why we were once so attached when loved ones were alive and yet so repulsed by their body after they have passed away.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.44}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.45}}
This advice must be framed in the historical context of ancient India, where the majority of people were cremated in a public place. In a modern context, there would be no exposure to the gruesome sights of the vultures attacking the corpse of a loved one. Yet the question still remains. Why do we feel so attached to them and their body when they are alive but within a day of their death are so repulsed by the sight of them? This questioning requires of us a deeper level of investigation into our strong desires and the presumptions which lie behind them.

Śāntideva continues to probe into the roots of our desire to show how baseless the reasons behind these strong attachments really are. He points out that even while alive and fully clothed we are obsessed over the object of our desire and may have imagined them naked. Yet why do we not feel that same desire now when they lay naked in front of us as a corpse.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.48}}
A large part of this section of the text relies on the argument that the body is naturally unclean. Especially in the modern world, we may find this argument very difficult to swallow. Through marketing and seductive advertising, every effort is made to shield us from the uglier aspects of reality. In a world where fashion and beauty have overwhelming influence, it is hard for us to contemplate the uncleanliness of the human body.

One of our evasive responses to this insistence in the teachings on the unpleasant nature of the body is to accept that the internal parts of the body, such as the intestines, are indeed filthy, but then to argue that it is the skin and surface features of the body that we are attached to. Śāntideva next refutes this justification in the following verse:
{{PullBcaVerses|8.54}}
Here, Śāntideva asks us, if you accept that the internal flesh and organs are unpleasant, but it is the external skin that you crave, then why do not crave it when the skin is separated from the flesh and organs and lies inanimate on the ground?

We may respond, "It is the mind that I desire, so once the mind has departed there is no desire anymore." But, again, Śāntideva will not let us escape the relentless trap of his logic.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.55}}
Śāntideva has a logical counterargument for us. He chides us and points out how confused we are. He argues that the mind of one's lover is not something that can be physically touched. It is their body that we can see and touch, but that body has nothing to do with their mind. We claim to be desirous of the mind and not the body, but then why do we spend time copulating with this physical body, which is not the immaterial mind?

According to Śāntideva, to counter this strong and ultimately destructive desire for others' bodies, we should meditate on how the person who we are so attracted to—for whom we have expended so much time, energy, and money—is only a mass of bloody flesh and internal organs and many other unpleasant fluids and substances.

We need to look deeply into what it is that our desire is really fixated on. Is it the mind of the other or their body? On a deeper level, we have to accept that there is never anything we can really point to that is the true source of our attachment.

''Reflecting on the Many Harms that Result from Attachment''

In verses 72 to 84, Śāntideva points out that making so much effort for worldly concerns is ultimately a waste of time. We see all around us people working day and night with little sleep or rest to attain positions of prominence. The wealth we strive so diligently to obtain often ends up creating unwanted problems. We obtain some portion of it, but we are left unsatisfied and wish only for more, like trying to quench our thirst with saltwater. We fear to lose it, and we even fight over it, which can lead to the break up of friends or family. As with all samsaric pleasures, we suffer when we have too little of them and suffer also when we have too much.

Śāntideva then moves on to explain the pain and suffering that is brought about by our attachment to oneself and others, and also to material possessions. In the following verses, he touches on how exhausting life can be when we are constantly chasing after wealth.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.72}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.73}}
Our whole lives are often spent trying to accumulate wealth. But what use is this to us? Śāntideva questions. All it does is wear us out and cause us to age beyond our years. The young work hard to support themselves, to build a family life and support children. But then when they finally get to retire, they are already too old and cannot enjoy what they worked so hard to gain.

Khenpo Kunpal very vividly captures the sufferings that we face when we get caught in the trap of chasing after wealth.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=There are some miserable people who have much desire but who spend their entire days working. From the early morning they plough the fields, cut the hay, shear their sheep. It is already night when they go home, worn out by the day's work; and broken with fatigue, they sleep the slumbers of a corpse. Then as soon as they awake, back they go to work. Their lives are a continuous hardship.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 276.</ref>
}}
We can all relate to this in our modern lives. People work day and night to earn a good salary and to achieve status and success. And yet, even if successful, they have so little time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. They come home exhausted with only enough energy to fall asleep, and then they are back up again early the next morning. We are unable to break this unhappy cycle, and slowly it ages us and wears us out.

Śāntideva reminds us also of the pain and suffering for those who, in pursuit of wealth and riches, choose to leave their homeland and travel far away.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.74}}
Although such people set out with the intention to earn a living so they can support their family, they may end up traveling thousands of miles away to other lands, which results in the separation from their spouses and loved ones for many years to come.

In his commentary, Gyalse Tokme Zangpo provides us with six additional outlines for this section of the text, explaining the further drawbacks of attachment: (1) we will accrue physical suffering, (2) it will prevent any opportunity for liberation,(3) presenting the drawbacks through example, (4) it will waste our freedoms and endowments, (5) we will suffer for no great reason, and (6) the suffering is beyond comparison.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 114.</ref>

1. ''We Will Accrue Physical Suffering''<br>
Śāntideva points out how, through attachment and the wish to benefit themselves, some may even sell their services or their bodies to others for the purpose of gain.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.75}}
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Some sell themselves, no longer free,
In bondage, slavery to others. (8.76ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 119.</ref>
}}
Unfortunately, as they are deluded with regard to the methods that will bring about the benefit, some people often end up in bad conditions or with a very bad wage. With their freedom taken away and their fate blown about by the wind of others' whims, they cannot achieve their desired results and instead experience only suffering.

Ensnared by the objects of their desire, some foolish people may even decide to try to make their fortune by going to war, even if they fear for their lives. Hopeful of a great bounty at the end of it, instead of a profitable reward, they often must risk or even lose their own lives.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.77}}
In the last line of this verse, Śāntideva says that there are also some people who, through attachment to desirous things and for assistance in order to get the better of their enemies, will pay protection money to cruel and powerful people. However, they must then submit to them, becoming their slave and living in constant fear.

In summary, Śāntideva reminds us of the immediate problems that arise in this life, when we have too much attachment to possessions and property.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The pain of gaining, keeping, and of losing all!
See the endless hardships brought on us by property! (8.79ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 120.</ref>
}}
He points out how striving for the objects of desire is a constant source of suffering. Initially, we have to make great effort and endure many hardships to attain those things. But even if we are fortunate enough to obtain them, there is then the difficulty of holding on to them and the constant worry that we will lose that which we own or have it stolen away. And at the end, we all have to suffer the loss of leaving all that we gained behind. Gyaltsap Je puts this point very succinctly, stating,
"As the accumulation, protecting and lastly losing of wealth is all suffering, one should understand wealth to be the root of infinite destruction and faults."<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 23, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>

2. ''It Will Prevent Any Opportunity for Liberation''<br>
Having covered the hardships that we encounter in this life as a result of our attachment to material things, Śāntideva then moves on to explain that not just in this life, but in the future, these strong attachments will prevent us from attaining even liberation from samsara, let alone the fully enlightened state of a buddha.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For those distracted by their love of wealth
There is no chance for freedom from the sorrows of existence. (8.79ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 120.</ref>
}}
Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk explains the meaninglessness of chasing after all our desires and the long-term consequences of that as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those whose minds are completely distracted by attachment to all this contaminated wealth that lacks any essence will be separated from the practice of the path of the three higher trainings. They will never have any opportunity to attain nirvana, the liberation from the sufferings of the cycle of existence.<ref>[[Ngag dbang kun dga' dbang phyug|Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk]], ''Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', 557.</ref>
}}

3. ''Presenting the Drawbacks through Example''<br>
Explaining through example, Śāntideva shows us how attachment reduces us to the level of little more than oxen.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.80}}
The desirous who crave only the purposes of this life find it hard to experience much happiness from all their hard work to achieve their desired goals. They become like an ox, who must work extremely hard against its wishes to pull the heavy load of the cart. Occasionally, they are able to reach out and grab a small tuft of grass, but that can only sustain them for a short time.

Gyaltsap Je expands on this point of how attachment causes us to become like simple animals.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For example, like an ox that, while pulling the cart, can grab a bit of grass from time to time, to work to achieve happiness and clear away suffering only in this life is something even animals stronger than humans do; it is something the ox also does.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 23, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}

4. ''Wasting Our Freedoms and Endowments''<br>
Śāntideva returns to the very important topic of our precious human rebirth to encourage us to avoid attachment and make the best use of this precious opportunity.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.81}}
We find ourselves tormented by the actions driven by craving objects, which are deceptive. Seeing them to be the source of happiness when in fact they bring suffering, we destroy this perfect opportunity to practice the Dharma, instead wasting our time on trying to obtain just a few insignificant pleasures of this life, such as food and shelter. But these things are not rare—even ordinary animals will spend all their energy on trying to obtain them. Contemplating these faults, we should make great effort to take the essence of this mental and physical support, replete with all the freedoms and endowments.

5. ''Suffering for No Great Purpose''<br>
Śāntideva then pleads with us to understand the foolishness of our behavior. The objects of our attachment are so temporary, and yet on account of them many future pains await us.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.82}}
All the objects of our desire are impermanent. What has been accumulated will eventually be exhausted, what comes together must eventually separate, and what is born must die. It is the nature of compounded phenomena that in the end they are destroyed.

Thrangu Rinpoche explains how much difficulty we are prepared to endure for small samsaric pleasures, and yet how comparatively little the suffering on the path to enlightenment is.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whatever is done out of desire or attachment will have unfortunate results. There is a great deal of suffering that comes from attachment. Enlightenment itself is reached by just going through a comparatively small amount of suffering when it is compared to the amount of suffering that we go through as a result of desire. The suffering that we take upon ourselves to reach enlightenment has a great purpose, whereas the suffering that comes from fulfilling our desires is completely wasted and meaningless.<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Thrangu Rinpoche 2016)|Shantideva's A Guide]]'', 162.</ref>
}}

6. ''The Suffering Is Beyond Comparison''<br>
Here, Gyalse Thokme reflects on the results of our desire.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If we think about the sufferings such as the hell realms, which are the results of desire, the desire cannot compare to the comparisons which are used (for it), such as weapons, poison, fire, a precipice, and an enemy.<ref>[[Thogs med bzang po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''Ocean of Excellent Explanation'', 283.</ref>
}}
All our efforts invested in these areas of worldly life are never fully satisfying. But Śāntideva reminds us that if we applied such diligence to the spiritual path, it would yield an unimaginably greater harvest, with far less suffering along the way.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.83}}

''Reflection on the Excellent Qualities of Solitude''

In verses 85 to 89, Śāntideva again mentions the benefits of solitude. In earlier passages he tries to inspire us to seek out remote places, but here he is trying to encourage us to remain there. Having set up our residence in solitude, it is possible for doubts and longings to again draw us back into the world. He uses enticing images of peaceful forests and the brush of gentle woodland breezes to encourage us to remain there dedicated to our task, and he argues that we must understand the pain of all that goes with our material lives and instead live free of care, roaming the remote places.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.85}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.86}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.87}}
In summarizing the excellence of solitude and the tremendous benefits of contentment, Khenpo Kunpal quotes the following verse from Nāgārjuna's ''Letter to a Friend'' (''Suhṛllekha'').
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Of every kind of wealth, contentment is supreme:
This the Teacher of both gods and humankind has taught.
Therefore be content. If so you are,
You may have nothing but are rich indeed!<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 281</ref>
}}

<h4>2. Working With the Objects of ''Śamatha'' Meditation</h4>
In Patrul Rinpoche's text, the second major outline of the eighth chapter is working with the objects of ''śamatha'' (or calm-abiding) meditation. In this chapter Śāntideva almost exclusively discusses using bodhicitta as the object of his ''śamatha'' meditation in order to increase the strength of this mind of enlightenment.

In the Mahāyāna tradition, there are two main methods for developing relative bodhicitta, the mind wishing to attain enlightenment to most effectively work for the welfare of all sentient beings. There is the tradition of the seven-point cause and effect, originating with Maitreya and coming through Asaṅga. And the second tradition, dealt with extensively in the second half of this chapter, is the equalization and exchange of self and others. This tradition is said to come from Mañjuśrī and then through Nāgārjuna to Śāntideva.
<span id="equalizing-anchor" style="display: block;"></span>
<h5>How to Meditate on Equalizing Self and Others (Verses 91 to 110)</h5>
In his commentary, Gyaltsap Je presents the basic method for meditating on this equalizing of self and others, stating,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Just as we act to accomplish our own happiness and prevent our own suffering, others equally act to cast off their suffering and take up happiness. Therefore, we should protect all sentient beings, cherishing them just as we do ourselves.<ref>NEEDS CITATION</ref>
}}
Such a statement, while attractive and aspirational, is easier said than done.

In our lives most of us have remained convinced that an "I" truly exists, even though we can never find that "I" under analysis. On the basis of this belief, we consider that we have a right to be happy and have a right to escape unhappiness. But surely all other sentient beings have this same right too. Why should we strive for only our own happiness and not take responsibility for others' happiness? Why should we make an effort to avoid suffering for ourselves and not be responsible for doing the same for others? Śāntideva calls on us to look deeply into the question of why we should be so much more important than all the other living beings.

We may feel it is impossible to accustom ourselves to this way of thinking. But actually, if we train ourselves, we can come to understand how all beings are in the same predicament as ourselves. Eventually, we will be able to develop the wish to protect others from suffering in just the same way as we currently do with ourselves. It is a matter of training and familiarization.

With the basic intent set out, how then do we train our minds so that we can gradually equalize our sense of self and others? Śāntideva eloquently explains this in the root text in verse 91.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.91}}
On a conventional level, we can look at how we protect ourselves and our body in daily life. In normal situations we can easily differentiate the different parts of our body, such as the arms or the legs. But in a moment of danger, there is an immediate feeling of wishing to protect each part of ourselves as though they were all one thing, all part of "one" body that we innately hold to be "mine."

Likewise, there are many different kinds of sentient life, all living in different realms and with completely different experiences. Yet all are equal in wishing for happiness and not wishing to have suffering. Khenpo Kunpal delves deeper into this feeling of "I" and "mine." He reminds us that there is no real logical basis with which to exclusively connect it to our own mind and body—in reality, it can be extended outward infinitely to encompass all other sentient life.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=It is the mind that says "my body," and it is on the basis of this idea of a single entity that it is possible to impute the notions of "I," "mine," and all the rest. To claim, moreover, that it is reasonable to attach the name "I" to this aggregate and not to another is quite unfounded. Consequently, it is taught that the name "I" can be applied to the whole collection of suffering beings. It is possible for the mind to think, "They are myself."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 284.</ref>
}}
To strengthen the sense of closeness in our relationships with others, Patrul Rinpoche brings in the notion that all sentient beings have been our dear mother. Illustrating this, he quotes from Nāgārjuna's ''Letter to a Friend''.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If each mother in the lineage of mothers
Were considered as a ball the size of a juniper seed,
The whole earth could not contain their number. (v.68)<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun. See also, Padmakara Translation Group, trans., ''Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend with Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche'' (Boulder: Snow Lion Publications, 2013), 53.</ref>
}}
Patrul Rinpoche encourages us to use scriptural quotations and logical reasonings to cultivate the understanding of this very close connection that we have with others. He then explains how to take that feeling of closeness and connect it to the practice of equalizing of self and others.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Whenever we experience happiness, we can cultivate this thought from the depths of your heart: "May all beings find such happiness and its causes!" And likewise, whenever we experience suffering, we can cultivate the following wish from the very core of our bones: "May I and all beings be free from suffering and its causes!"<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Pearcey]], ''[[The Brightly Shining Sun (Lotsawa House)|
Brightly Shining Sun]]'', https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bodhicharyavatara-brightly-shining-sun.</ref>
}}
So far these forms of analysis have taken place on a more relative level. But in his commentary to the root text, Khenpo Kunpal takes a deeper look into the status of self and others from the ultimate perspective. At this deepest level of reality, no individual "I" separate from "others" can be found. As he explains:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Although they have no ultimate grounds for doing so, all beings think in terms of "I" and "mine." Because of this, they have a conception of "other," fixated on as something alien—though this too has no basis in reality. Aside from being merely mental imputations, "I" and "other" are totally unreal. They are both illusory. Moreover, when the nonexistence of "I" is realized, the notion of "other" also disappears, for the simple reason that "other" is only posited in relation to the thought of "I." Just as it is impossible to cut the sky in two with a knife, when the space-like quality of egolessness is realized, it is no longer possible to make a separation between "I" and "other," and there arises an attitude of wanting to protect others as oneself and of taking them as one's own. As it is said, "Whoever casts aside the ordinary, trivial view of self, will discover the profound meaning of great 'Selfhood.'"

Thus, for the realization of the equality of "I" and "other," it is essential to grasp that "I" and "other" are merely labels without any basis in reality. This vital point of egolessness is difficult to understand, difficult even for a person of high intelligence. Thus, as the teachings say, it is of great importance that egolessness be clearly demonstrated and assimilated.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 282–83.</ref>
}}
We develop the realization that at an ultimate level it is impossible to make any separation between self and others. These reference points are merely labels for something that has no underlying intrinsic existence of its own. Free from these ingrained reference points, a sense of greater "selfhood" arises, which embraces all, and naturally from that arises the sense of equally wishing to protect all.

This topic is the subject of great debate among the different commentators, with some arguing that without the correct realization of emptiness our practice of developing bodhicitta will never be complete.<ref>For more on this, see the essays concerning the ninth chapter on Wisdom, located in the [https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study/The_Ninth_Chapter STUDY SECTION].</ref>

Śāntideva then moves on to the main body of the practice of equalizing self and others. The next verses delve into why we feel it is so important to remove our own suffering and yet seem to disregard the suffering of others.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.92}}
{{PullBcaVerses|8.93}}
Uninterested in the pain of others, we may defensively reply that others' physical suffering does not in any way harm one's own body, and one's own physical suffering does not harm others' bodies. Therefore, it is incorrect to think that dispelling their suffering is equivalent to dispelling one's own suffering. On this, Gyaltsap Je explains Śāntideva's perspective as a bodhisattva.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even though one's suffering does not harm the body of others, and the suffering of others does not harm oneself, their suffering is one's own suffering. By grasping at oneself as 'self' one finds one's own suffering unbearable. Similarly, by meditating on holding other sentient beings as self, even though their sufferings do not fall upon oneself to experience, their sufferings become sufferings to be cleared by oneself, because by holding sentient beings as one's own self, if they experience sufferings, they become difficult to bear for oneself.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 28, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
It is true that the pains of others do not directly harm us, but if we are a bodhisattva, then we must consider others as ourselves. Therefore, others' pain becomes ours as well, and as our own they are then unbearable to us.

We now come to the core of Śāntideva's argument for the equalization of self and others. He presents it in the form of a logical syllogism. First, he states the thesis of his argument as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And therefore I'll dispel the pain of others,
For it is simply pain, just like my own. (8.94ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 122.</ref>
}}
The syllogism is that I (the subject) will dispel the pain of others (the predicate) because it is pain (the reason, ''hetu''), just as I dispel my own pain (similar example).

Khenpo Kunpal adds to this by saying that the pain is completely useless to others and brings them no ultimate benefit. Just as he dispels the sufferings of thirst and hunger etc., which harm him, so too will he dispel others' pain purely for the reason that it is pain.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 286.</ref>

Conversely, Śāntideva promises to provide others with all possible happiness just because they are sentient beings.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And others I will aid and benefit,
For they are living beings, like my body. (8.94cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 122.</ref>
}}
{{standout
|'''This syllogistic argument is as follows: I (subject) will aid and benefit all other living beings (predicate) because they are living beings (reason), just as I do with my own body (similar example).'''
}}
These are the two main logical arguments in this section of the equality of self and others. The arguments may seem disarmingly simple, but when we really look into our emotional life and start debating with our selfishness, we will start to see the underlying beauty and profundity of what is being presented here.

Śāntideva then goes on to explain the pervasion of the argument.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.95}}
This verse reflects the idea that there is not the slightest difference between ourselves and others in our mutual wish for happiness. Therefore, what possible reason could there be for not working for the happiness of others? It does not make any sense at all to strive only for one's own happiness.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.96}}
Taking a similar argument, we can also see that there is not the slightest difference between ourselves and others in terms of wanting to avoid the experience of suffering. So for what reason do we fail to protect others from suffering? It is illogical to think of protecting only ourselves.

<h5>Countering Objections to These Reasons for Equalizing Self and Others</h5>
But we may object to this assertion that we should dispel others' pain.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since the pain of others does no harm to me,
I do not shield myself from it. (8.97ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 123.</ref>
}}
We may argue that there is no need to do anything to protect others from their pain, for the reason that their pain does not harm us at all in the present. Putting aside the argument that it is possible in some mental way for us to also experience suffering when encountering other's pain, then we may argue that their suffering in no way directly brings about our own suffering. Śāntideva's calm response to this is to point out the logical flaw in our argument.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=So why to guard against "my" future pain,
Which does no harm to this, my present "me"? (8.97cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 123.</ref>
}}
He questions why we spend so much time trying to protect ourselves from our own future suffering. That future suffering does not currently harm us in any way. In fact, the potential future suffering does not currently exist and may never exist at all. It is a projection of our fears onto the future that may never come to pass. Yet we still expend all our energy planning for this uncertain future and seek ways to prevent future suffering, even though it does not directly harm us. Yet right here, right now, there is another person undergoing immediate suffering, so why do we not help?

Another objection we may raise against this practice might be that really encountering others' pain, and being compassionate in the face of that, will cause us to suffer more. And since the whole import of all these arguments is to remove suffering, what is the point of generating compassion which does not directly help the other and only brings further pain to oneself? Śāntideva directly addresses this argument in verse 104.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.104}}
In answer to that question, in the last two lines of the verse, Śāntideva responds that it is true that developing compassion does have an aspect of being painful, as we expose ourselves to the pain of the world. But when we compare this pain we feel to all the sufferings of beings wandering aimlessly through the different samsaric realms, this feeling of compassion is only a tiny thing. And since this compassion is a cause for eliminating the greater sufferings of samsara, we should endure this tiny personal pain.

Gyaltsap Je and Khenpo Kunpal approach these verses in different ways. Gyaltsap argues that when bodhisattvas contemplate other sentient beings' suffering, their own suffering does not increase at all. But through their compassion, all their own feelings of suffering are eliminated.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 32, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref> Khenpo Kunpal, on the other hand, admits that there is suffering, even for the bodhisattva. But he points out that for the contemplation of suffering, for instance the suffering of the hell realms, we only need to think of those sufferings, which is nothing compared to the intense agony actually suffered by beings in that realm.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 290.</ref> Both of these positions are united though in their interpretation of verse 105.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.105}}
The pain that can arise through strong compassion for others is likened to the incision of a surgeon's knife. There is an immediate pain at the point of incision, but the act is for the long-term purpose of curing the disease. So the verse tells us we should strive to take on this lighter pain because through it a multitude of other beings' sufferings can be cured. In his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal puts this sentiment quite eloquently, stating,
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If it is by the single pain of a compassionate person that the many sufferings of other beings are removed, then loving persons must surely foster such pain both in themselves and other practitioners!<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 290.</ref>
}}
If we have real affection for other living beings, then we should be prepared to undergo the small and insignificant sufferings which may arise as part of our compassion, for through these smaller difficulties the many sufferings of others can be eliminated.

This section concludes with a verse connected with the bodhisattva Supuṣhpachandra, who lived during the time of a past Buddha, and is related in ''The King of Concentrations Sūtra'' (''Samādhirājasūtra'').
{{PullBcaVerses|8.106}}
King Shūradatta had forbidden the bodhisattva Supuṣhpachandra from teaching the Dharma and threatened him with death if he were to do so. However, Supuṣhpachandra decided against selfishly protecting his own life, knowing that his teachings would be of great benefit to others. He disobeyed the king and went ahead and taught the Dharma, going cheerfully to his death as a result. This story gives an idea of the power of training in the practices of bodhicitta and how our limited minds can be so dramatically transformed.

<h5>The Benefits of Such a Practice</h5>
Having countered all the objections raised in relation to the practice of equalizing self and others, Śāntideva then turns to the great benefits that accrue from developing this kind of mind. Firstly, he mentions the joy that arises for the bodhisattva when they swoop in to help relieve the pain of others.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.107}}
Slowly, through practice and familiarization, we can become accustomed to this view. We will be able to feel constant joy in the wish to relieve others of both their temporary and deeper sufferings. It will provide us with the courage to dive even into the deepest of the hell realms in order to help relieve the most acute pains of others, like swans swooping down upon a lake festooned with lotuses.

<h5>The Exchange of Self and Others</h5>
Having developed the mind equalizing self and others through the contemplations and meditations above, the second phase of this method of cultivating bodhicitta is the exchanging of ourselves with others. Śāntideva reminds us that it will be impossible to find any kind of lasting worldly happiness without the mindset which exchanges self with others, let alone achieving the fully enlightened state. In verse 113 he introduces the basic principle of the exchange of self and others.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.113}}
We try to look clearly at the reality of things—how we have so many faults and how the qualities of others stretch out like the vast ocean.

We may wonder why this is so. Why do others particularly have so many more qualities than ourselves? Gyaltsap Je expands on this point as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Since cherishing oneself is the source of all shortcomings it is faulty and needs to be abandoned with great purpose, and since cherishing other sentient beings is the source of all that is good, it has an ocean of qualities. Understanding this, one should meditate on completely abandoning cherishing self and accept cherishing others.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Eight]]'', 35, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
One of the obstacles we face in our thinking is that we find it hard to accept that if sentient beings are limitless, then how could we possibly hold them all as dearly as we hold ourselves. In the next verse, Śāntideva responds to this doubt.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.114}}
He argues that we are able to take distinct entities, such as the hands and feet of our body, and think of them collectively as a single entity. With the strong wish to protect that one entity, which is the collective of all those parts, we also protect each individual part. Why, therefore, can we not take to be ourselves the different entities which are the "other" sentient beings living throughout the six samsaric realms? Why would we not consider them to be just like the limbs of a living whole and feel like they are all one? At the hub of this argument is the idea of how we mentally group together different phenomena into parts of a collective.

<h5>Extensive Explanation of How to Exchange Self and Others</h5>
The previous verses gave us a quick overview of the importance of the exchange of self and others, but now Śāntideva delves much deeper into the practice. These steps involve, first of all, getting rid of self-cherishing.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.136}}
The direct antidote to self-cherishing is cherishing others by completely giving ourselves over to others and loving them as we love ourselves. It is important to note that this exchange is essentially an exchange of the exaggerated prioritization of our own welfare over that of others. It is not physically possible to be in the shoes of another or to literally perform an exchange where we become them and them us. Here, Khenpo Kunpal brings in a quote to highlight the root of all of our negativity.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Having "I," we know of "other."
From "I" and "other," clinging and aversion manifest.
And it is from these two, so closely linked,
That every evil, every sin appears.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 297. The source of these lines are not identified by [[Kun bzang dpal ldan|Khenpo Kunpal]].</ref>
}}
With a strong egoistic sense of "I," we then divide up the world into "self" and "other." This ties in with our deep-seated attachment to self and aversion to anything which is "other" than self. With this framework we easily engage in selfish actions to protect ourselves and aggressive actions which harm others. This eventually rains down on us a harvest of pain and suffering.

The antidote which reverses this process is to cherish others in just the same way we cherish ourselves, to give ourselves away to others fully. In his commentary, Thubten Chokyi Drakpa explains how this process of reversing the focus of self-cherishing works.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If presenting a summary of this method of exchanging self and others, the meaning of "exchanging self and others" is exchanging the position of our self-cherishing and the neglect of others. We give rise to the mind which cherishes others as we did ourselves and forsakes ourselves just as we did others.<ref>Thubten Chokyi Drakpa ([[Mi nyag kun bzang bsod nams|Minyak Kunzang Sonam]]), ''[[Spyod 'jug gi 'grel bshad rgyal sras yon tan bum bzang (Krung go'i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang 1990)|Excellent Vase That Spills Forth an Ocean of the Inexhaustible and Precious Qualities of the Victor's Heirs: An Explanation of the "Way of the Bodhisattva," Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i 'grel bshad rgyal sras rgya mtsho'i yon tan rin po che mi zad 'jo ba'i bum bzang]]'' (Krungo: Tibetan Cultural Printing Press, 1990), 541.</ref>
}}
The purpose of this form of mind training is to take the cherishing which we currently have for ourselves and transpose that onto others. We then take the lack of importance, the almost dismissive way in which we often relate to others, and transpose that attitude onto ourselves. On the basis of this, we cultivate giving away our own happiness to sentient beings and taking their sufferings upon ourselves.

<h5>Getting Rid of Self-Cherishing</h5>
Śāntideva teaches that one of the principal sources which leads to self-cherishing is attachment to our bodies. We exert ourselves fully in protecting it even from the smallest of dangers, such as bees and flies, and we harm others so that it may be clothed and fed.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.122}}
As embodied beings we naturally suffer hunger, thirst, and the effects of heat and cold. In order to relieve these conditions connected with our bodies, we are prepared to take the lives of other living creatures. We use their flesh for food and their skins to keep us warm. To obtain money to satisfy these physical needs, we may even take to a life of crime. The text also mentions how some of us are even driven to kill their own parents or steal from temples or the Three Jewels in order to satiate our greed. For these negativities, we will suffer unbearable agony in the lower realms.

Therefore, Śāntideva asks us, how can we consider ourselves to be wise if we exhibit such strong self-cherishing for the body?
{{PullBcaVerses|8.124}}
If we are skilled in thought, we will realize that this self-cherishing is a real enemy, which brings down great suffering upon our heads. It must be noticed that this teaching is designed to counterbalance the over-gratification of the body and is in no way meant to encourage us into forms of self-harm.

<h5>The Faults of Considering Oneself as Most Important and the Qualities of Considering Others as Most Important</h5>
In the next set of verses, Śāntideva begins by explaining the topic of generosity as a means to counteract our self-cherishing. He cites the danger of our way of thinking becoming like that of a hungry ghost (''preta''), whose only thought is what they can keep or obtain. This way of thinking and the actions that spring from it will lead us down to the realm of the hungry ghosts and flesh-eating demons. Instead, we must turn that miserly thinking around and consider that if we hang on to money or possessions for our own sake, then there will be very little left over to offer to others. This, he says, is the way of thinking that leads us to the celestial realm of buddhahood.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.125}}
Khenpo Kunpal illustrates this attitude with the following story:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Once upon a time, in the country of King Brahmadana, no rain fell for twelve years. The whole population was fed from the royal treasury. Finally, the king even took the bushel of barley that had been set aside for himself and offered it to a Pratyekabuddha. As a result, the latter miraculously produced rain, so that the famine came to an end.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 295.</ref>
}}
One part of the argument being made here rests on the karmic results that we will receive from the actions we perform. According to Śāntideva, through the power of self-cherishing, if we think only of our own selfish needs, the results will be birth in the lower realms. We will lack intelligence, be of unattractive appearance, and have inferior status compared to those around us. This attitude needs to be transformed into one in which we want only the best of everything for others. This will lead us to birth in the human realms, and we will be born in positions of wealth and authority.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.127}}
We have promised to give our happiness to others and take on their sufferings. If we fail to do this, not only will there not be any chance to advance on the path toward full enlightenment, but even in the worldly states we will find no joy.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.131}}
In verse 134, Śāntideva, again, clearly identifies the root of all of our suffering. All of the pain and suffering in all our lives—the birth, sickness, old age and death—all of this comes from ego-grasping. All the fear and aggression all come from there. The clinging to a solid, independent, inherently existing "I" binds us to the wheel of samsaric life. Like an invasive weed, if this ignorance is not completely pulled out by the root, the fruits of it will spring anew.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.134}}
Khenpo Kunpal expands upon this particular verse and the evil that is caused by ego-clinging in the following way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The three so-called rudras—which are the roots of samsaric existence—are the three kinds of ego-clinging, associated with thought, word, and deed. Ego-clinging is the mighty demon of the three worlds; it is the source of all evil spirits and deadly influences.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 297.</ref>
}}
Having identified our ego-clinging and self-cherishing as the root of all our suffering, Śāntideva then argues that we must bring ourselves to a life of service to others, wherein all our thoughts and actions are motivated by being of benefit to others. In other words, we must exchange our service to ourselves with service to others.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.137}}
In relation to this verse, Khenpo Kunpal explains how we must make the firm resolve that from this time onward we must have concern solely for others.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Once we have made this exchange, it follows that from that moment on, we are "beneath the rule of others." This is what we must tell ourselves; this is how we should inform our minds. We must resolve that from now on, concern for the benefit of all beings will take the place of the self-centered thoughts that we formerly had.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 298.</ref>
}}
In the process of exchanging ourselves with others, we offer ourselves completely to them, so from now on we are "beneath the rule of others." Everything we do from now on should be for their sakes and not our own. Moreover, everything beneficial that comes to us must be used exclusively for their purposes.
{{PullBcaVerses|8.139}}
If we look inside of ourselves, it may be very hard for us to give up even small possessions or a small amount of money. But we must have the courage to be generous so that eventually we can give everything away without regret. This is the way to crush our attachment to self.

In the main body of the text, there is then a discussion of how to supplement our understanding of the exchange of self and others using a technique to evoke strong emotional responses in us in relation to others. This is done by visualizing a series of other people in different positions of status. One will be higher than us, one of similar capacity to us, and one lower than us. We then exchange ourselves with them by taking their position and then looking back at our former self, who is now in the position of the "other." We allow the natural feelings that occur in us to arise—that is, jealousy for those who are higher, competitiveness for those of similar status, and pride and disdain for those we consider to be inferior.

This process is done in order to show us those reactions that overcome us in our daily lives. This meditation allows us to see the destructive qualities of each of these emotions. Face to face with them, we see clearly how harmful they are, both to the one in whom it arises but also on the one who is subject to those emotions. This process helps to naturally reduce our jealousy, competitiveness, and pride. As they subside, so too does the self-cherishing mind, and then space is given for the mind which truly cherishes others to flourish.

For further details on this topic see the [https://bodhicitta.tsadra.org/index.php/Study STUDY SECTION]

<h5>Summary of the Chapter</h5>
At the end of the chapter, Śāntideva adopts a pragmatic approach. Though earlier in the chapter he talked extensively of the many faults of this body of ours, in the end he submits that it still can be of some use. It is all we have. If we can free ourselves from the claws of attachment, this vessel of tremendous potential can be employed in the great service of our own and all other beings' happiness. As Śāntideva states,
{{PullBcaVerses|8.184}}
</onlyinclude>

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Explore/Chapter 2 - Confession of Negativity

2026-03-10T21:00:22Z

SimonH:

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|StoriesPage=Practice/The_Mirror_Clarifying_the_Results_of_Karma:_Chapter_2;Practice/Tales_of_Engaging_the_Way_of_the_Bodhisattva_-_Chapter_Two#::Tales of Engaging the Way of the Bodhisattva: Chapter 2
|jumbo-image=Shakyamuni Buddha with the 35 Buddhas of Confession HAR.jpg
|jumbo-text=In chapter 2, Śāntideva demonstrates the importance of making offerings—material and nonmaterial—paying homage through veneration (prostrations), going for refuge, and, in particular, confessing one's evil deeds. By openly acknowledging one's past negative behaviors and tendencies through confession, only then can one begin to move in a different direction and transform oneself.
|add-resources-text=
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|tiles=Triskandhakasūtra;Ratnolkādhāraṇīsūtra;Rājāvavādakasūtra;Ākāśagarbhasūtra;Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarāja;Caturdharmakasūtra;Prātimokṣasūtra
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|header=Recommended Books Related to Chapter 2
|tiles=The Confession of Downfalls;Maintaining the Bodhisattva Vow and the Bodhicitta Precepts;Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: An Oral Explanation of Chapter 1;Everlasting Rain of Nectar
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|tiles=Śāntideva's Statement about Confession; Comparative Confession: A Comparative Study of Confession in the Writings of Tertullian, Cassian, and Śāntideva; Ritual Structure and Material Culture in the Guide to Bodhisattva Practice
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|main-text=
<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3>
Chapter 1 introduces to us to the incredible qualities and vast intent of bodhicitta, the mind wishing to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

We may feel tremendous appreciation for this incredible altruistic thought for the welfare of all sentient life. Its great depth and profundity may inspire us to begin the process of cultivating that noble mind, but we need to know how to set out on that journey.

<h4>The Supreme Worship</h4>
In chapters 2 and 3, Śāntideva provides us with a framework within which to begin the journey of cultivating bodhicitta, the seven-limb prayer. This is one form of the ancient Buddhist practice of the supreme worship (''anuttarā pūja''), which includes the practices of accumulating merit and purifying the negative actions that we have performed. This practice seems to date back to at least the fourth century CE, and in its shortest form is literally seven lines. The roots of this prayer are found in the Mahāyāna sūtra entitled ''Samantabhadra's Prayer Called The King of Prayers'' (''Samantabhadracarīpraṇidhānarāja''), which makes up the last section of the ''Gaṇḍavyūha'' in the ''Avataṃsakasūtra''.

This second chapter contains the first three branches of the supreme worship—the practices of prostration or paying homage, making offerings, and the confession of negative actions. In this chapter Śāntideva also adds the central practice of taking refuge to the traditional seven-limb prayer, to make a total of eight limbs or branches.

The initial part of the chapter, verses 1 to 23, actually starts with the practice of making offerings. We make offerings primarily to the Three Jewels—the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These offerings include things which we ourselves possess and which we manifestly offer up, but they also include all the beautiful and wonderful things of the whole universe, such as those things of natural beauty, which are not personally owned. Moreover, they also include the virtue that we have performed throughout all of our lives, whether that be our physical, verbal, or mental actions. And these offerings are not limited to that which is physically manifest. It is also considered very positive to imagine many wonderful places, environments, or things which we create in our minds and to offer them up.

There are also verses of homage and prostrations to the Three Jewels. We pay reverence to them for the incredible qualities of wisdom and compassion that they possess.

<h4>Refuge</h4>
Śāntideva then describes one of the key elements of a Buddhist practitioner’s life, that of taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Refuge is a practice shared by all the Buddhist traditions across the world, although here, in the context of the conduct of a bodhisattva, there is special emphasis on Mahāyāna refuge.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.26}}
This means that we take refuge in the Three Jewels as our guides and sources of protection but with the specific purpose of attaining complete enlightenment for the welfare of all. This refuge is maintained until we reach the state of buddhahood. It is not a process of asking for another powerful and omnipotent force to help us out. It is an active process of training one’s own mind. The Buddha very clearly stated that he can only show us the path but that it is up to us to actually walk that path.

<h4>Confession of Our Negative Actions</h4>
Having oriented ourselves with refuge, we need to create a stable ground on which the qualities and practices can be built.

If we look closely, we may understand how a lot of our lives have been characterized by harmful actions of body, speech, and mind.

We do not need to look any further than this life to see that there are many negative things which we have done, which have either directly or indirectly harmed other sentient beings. At times we have rejoiced in being negative and have even encouraged others to join in. If we bring in the perspective of past lives, then there must be countless actions which we need to feel remorse for and to purify. This is not supposed to make us feel bad about ourselves or cause us to sink into guilt. We are not trying to beat ourselves up but to recognize the reality of who we are and where we are. Confession is not an avoidance of responsibility. Indeed, it is the opposite. We approach all these past negative actions with the goal of letting the bad habits go and moving forward positively. The second half of the chapter, from verse 27 until the end, focuses on the process and sentiment of laying open our actions through confession. We then purify our negative actions through wisdom that understands what we did, and we make a commitment to not repeat the same mistakes. This is done in a formal way through the four antidotal forces or strengths, such as the force of regretting what one has done wrong, which are explained more fully in the introductory essay.
<h4>Avoiding Laziness</h4>
Even though we may be inspired by the spirit of bodhicitta and now have the tools at our disposal to start building a solid foundation for our Dharma practice, it is easy for us to get sidetracked or to lose sight of our long-term goals.

We may easily become lazy and drawn into the byways of distraction. To counteract this, Śāntideva forcefully points out to us that we cannot wait for tomorrow. Verses 32 to 45 provide us with powerful reminders of how everything, including our own lives, is momentary, in a state of constant flux.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.33}}
We, as individuals, those for whom we engaged in negative actions, and those who we harmed in the process will all eventually pass. Death will not wait for us to finish all that we have planned, and nothing but our Dharma practice can help us at the time of death.

These verses are there to inspire us to ensure we do not pass away with so much negativity left unresolved. We will carry forward the effects of those actions imprinted on our mental continuums, and in the future we may be born in realms of great suffering. There is no way to avoid the unwanted and painful results of these negative actions if we cannot overcome them.

Understanding the fragility of our situation, we are encouraged to confess everything right away and to rid ourselves of all our destructive habits.
The remaining verses, from verse 54 until the end of the chapter, relate an essential part of the confession process—that is, to regret what we have done and to promise to restrain ourselves from ever doing it again. There must be some commitment moving forward, a real positive sense of change of direction. Without this sincere commitment, the process of purification will not be complete. {{TextEndMarker}}

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Key Terms/Paramārthabodhicitta

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Paramārthabodhicitta

2026-03-05T16:17:24Z

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|Glossary-Chinese=勝義菩提心
|Glossary-Pinyin=shèngyì pútíxīn
|Glossary-JapanTranslit=shōgi bodaishin
|Glossary-Korean=sŭngŭi porisim
|Glossary-English=ultimate bodhicitta
|Glossary-EnglishKB=
|Glossary-EnglishRB=
|Glossary-EnglishJH=
|Glossary-EnglishGD=
|Glossary-EnglishIW=
|Glossary-Term-Alt=don dam sems bskyed; ultimate mind of enlightenment; དོན་དམ་བྱང་སེམས་
|Glossary-SourceLanguage=Sanskrit
|Glossary-PopUpBeginnerDefinition=The direct realization of the true nature of reality, specifically emptiness, as an essential part of the path to enlightenment for the sake of all beings.
|Glossary-PopUpScholarDefinition=One of the two primary divisions of ''bodhicitta'', referring to the non-conceptual wisdom that directly realizes the ultimate nature of phenomena (''dharmatā'') or emptiness (''śūnyatā''). Unlike conventional ''bodhicitta'', which involves aspirational and engaging states of mind, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is identical to the realization achieved on the path of seeing and beyond.
|Glossary-DefinitionPDB=
|Glossary-DefinitionTsadra=
# Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): In the general Mahāyāna context, ''paramārthabodhicitta'' (T. ''don dam byang chub kyi sems'') is distinguished from conventional ''bodhicitta'' (''saṃvṛtibodhicitta''). While conventional ''bodhicitta'' consists of the aspiration to attain enlightenment and the application of the perfections, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is the wisdom that directly realizes emptiness (''śūnyatā''). It is often described as being free from all conceptual elaborations (''niṣprapañca'') and is the actual state of wisdom that sees phenomena as they truly are. The transition from conventional to ultimate ''bodhicitta'' typically occurs at the path of vision (''darśanamārga''), marking the attainment of the first bodhisattva ''bhūmi''.
# Pramāṇa (Indo-Tibetan): Within the framework of valid cognition, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is identified with the superfactual (''don dam'') level of reality. It is a non-dualistic awareness that transcends the subject-object bifurcation (''grāhyagrāhakavikalpa'') inherent in conventional, dualistic consciousness. In this context, it is often described as ''superfactual truth'' (''paramārthasatya'') as experienced by the noble beings (''āryas'') in meditative equipoise.
# Vajrayāna (Indo-Tibetan): In the Vajrayāna or Secret Mantra traditions, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is associated with the realization of the inseparable union of emptiness and bliss. It is sometimes equated with the white ''bindu'' or "seed" of enlightenment that is cultivated through specific yogic practices involving the subtle body's channels, winds, and drops. In the context of the four empowerments, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is specifically pointed out in the fourth empowerment as the actual, factual wisdom that is the innate nature of mind.
# Dzogchen/Mahāmudrā (Indo-Tibetan): Within these traditions, ultimate ''bodhicitta'' is frequently used as a synonym for the "essence of mind" (''sems kyi ngo bo'') or the "primordial state" (''rigpa''). It refers to the naturally arising, uncreated wisdom that is the fundamental basis of both ''saṃsāra'' and ''nirvāṇa''. Here, it is described as "alpha purity" (''ka dag''), meaning the purity that has been present in the mind from the very beginning, untouched by adventitious defilements.
|Glossary-DefinitionTDC=
|Glossary-DefinitionDKTDC=བདག་གཞན་མཉམ་བརྗེའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་དེ་ལ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ལྟ་བས་རྒྱས་ཐེབས་པ་ལ་ཟེར།
|Glossary-DefinitionTP=བདག་གཞན་མཉམ་བརྗེའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དེ་ལ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ལྟ་བས་རྒྱས་ཐེབས་པ་ལ་ཟེར།
|Glossary-DefinitionLotsawas=ultimate bodhicitta; absolute mind of enlightenment; superfactual bodhicitta
|Glossary-DefinitionBodhicittaWiki=''Paramārthabodhicitta'' is the wisdom aspect of the bodhisattva's path, representing the direct realization of emptiness (''śūnyatā'') that is inseparable from the great compassion (''mahākaruṇā'') of conventional ''bodhicitta''. It is the generative cause that allows a bodhisattva to overcome cognitive obscurations (''jñeyāvaraṇa'') and eventually achieve the state of a Buddha. On the bodhisattva path, it is primarily cultivated during meditative equipoise, where the practitioner rests in the non-conceptual recognition of the nature of reality. It is considered "ultimate" because it refers to the final, unchanging truth of phenomena, whereas conventional ''bodhicitta'' is a necessary but provisional method used to reach this realization.
}}

Karuṇā

2026-03-05T16:00:19Z

SimonH: Gadget "InstantCreateRedirect" created this page with "#REDIRECTKey Terms/Karuṇā" via the API.

#REDIRECT[[Key Terms/Karuṇā]]

Key Terms/Karuṇā

2026-03-05T15:58:16Z

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Explore/Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

2026-03-04T19:13:07Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
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|jumbo-image=Maitreya Alex.jpg
|jumbo-text=In chapter 4 Śāntideva addresses the topic of conscientiousness (''apramādha'', ''བག་ཡོད་''), sometimes also translated as carefulness, a mental factor whose function is to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind, particularly within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided on the path.
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<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3>
The first three chapters of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' introduce the bodhisattva's way of life and conduct and impress upon us the qualities and benefits of bodhicitta and of developing altruistic compassion for the sake of all others. All of those contemplations come under the section of the text which covers the cultivation of bodhicitta where it has not previously been cultivated.

In the first verse of chapter 4, Śāntideva urges to make sure that once we have cultivated this precious mind of bodhicitta we never turn away from it.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.1}}
The next three chapters, from chapter 4 through chapter 6, are concerned with protecting this freshly arisen bodhicitta from declining. But how do we work with our minds in order to do this? What way of thinking and conduct are needed to protect this incredible mind of bodhicitta? The answer, Śāntideva suggests, is discipline.

<h4>The Need for Discipline</h4>
In order to protect bodhicitta, one of the primary factors needed is discipline, which is the main theme of chapters 4 and 5. Discipline is required in order to subdue our scattered minds and to prevent the awakening mind from weakening. To establish good discipline, we need the mental tools of conscientiousness, mindfulness, and vigilance. These tools are the chief means through which we are able to subdue our minds, and they provide crucial support for the bodhisattva's practice of the perfection (''pāramitā'') of ethical discipline. Chapters 4 and 5 lay out the functions and methods of cultivating these three essential mental factors, which aid us in maintaining the wish to attain full enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. To maintain this bodhicitta, these three mental factors assist us in distinguishing between those practices that help our progress and should be taken up on the path from those practices that hinder us and should be avoided.

The fourth chapter focuses mainly on conscientiousness (''apramādha'', ''བག་ཡོད་''), sometimes also translated as carefulness. Conscientiousness is a mental factor which functions to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided.

The Tibetan historian and Buddhist researcher Geshe Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley (1927–1997) describes conscientiousness as a way of tuning or adjusting our minds such that when we are thinking of engaging in some kind of negative activity, conscientiousness assists us in becoming aware that those actions are faulty and unconstructive. He goes on to explain that the main thrust of the chapter on conscientiousness is about how to behave when interacting with others, how to present ourselves in relation to others, and how to act when our minds are scattered.<ref>[[Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las|Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley]], ''An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''[[Gsung 'bum blo bzang 'phrin las (pod ta pa) (sa rA bod kyi dpe skrun khang gis par skrun zhus 2017)|Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod]]'' (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.</ref>

<h4>Preciousness of Human Rebirth</h4>
We may feel that we are always unlucky or lack good fortune and that things often go against us. Śāntideva takes a much wider perspective and reminds us that our current situation actually contains a tremendous opportunity. He does this to impress upon us how important the need for conscientiousness is.

Verse 16 of chapter 4, for example, speaks to us of how rare and fortunate we are to be born in the human realm and particularly to have the freedoms and advantages of a precious human rebirth.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.16}}
Śāntideva encourages us to see the rare opportunity we have right now. We are in reasonable health and have enough sustenance and some amount of freedom to practice. But this life is fleeting and a human rebirth hard to obtain again. It is like something of great value briefly lent to us that could be taken back at any moment. As such, Śāntideva argues, we should seize this moment instead of being despondent about temporary obstacles and difficulties. We should uplift our minds and strive in virtue, sustained by the thought of how much fortune we actually already have.

<h4>The Defects of the Afflictive Emotions</h4>
In this chapter Śāntideva also reflects on the faults of afflictive mental states as a way to ingrain conscientiousness into our behavior.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.28}}
Here, Śāntideva asserts that we are completely at the beck and call of our emotions, slaves to our desire and our aversion. We may follow these emotions even at the cost of our lives, and yet they lead us only to disaster. Alongside ignorance, these emotions are our own inner enemies, the real enemy. Unlike external enemies, they are lazy and cowardly. Śāntideva reprimands us and asks how all of us, whether weak or strong, have allowed these stupid afflictions to reduce us to such abject slavery and suffering, deprived of every freedom. He reminds us that external enemies such as thieves or bandits may cause us injury over a period of a few years, but the mental afflictions have caused us harm over countless lifetimes. If we do not vanquish them now, they will continue to cause us great harm into the future.

<h4>Abandoning Emotional Defilement</h4>
Chapter 4 ends with some stirring words from Śāntideva, as he incites us to wage war on the defiled emotions. Better, he says, to perish by fire then allow ourselves to become servants to the afflictive emotions. But he also offers us hope in the fight against these negative mental states. Common external enemies, once driven away, can regroup and return again to fight another day. But the afflictions have no such strategy, and once properly routed with the eye of wisdom, they can be forever banished. Therefore, Śāntideva says, we must vow day and night to rise up and challenge the mental afflictions and never give up that fight until we see them overcome before our very eyes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I will not leave the fight until, before my eyes,<br>
These enemies of mine are all destroyed. (4.36ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 58.</ref>
}}
His last words to us in the chapter encourage us to take the medicine of conscientiousness that has been prescribed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What invalids in need of medicine
Ignored their doctor’s words and gained their health? (4.48cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 60.</ref>
}}
In other words, Śāntideva asks, what kind of patient who is in need of relief from disease would not take the medicine prescribed by their doctor?

Spurred on by the thought of our precious and rare opportunity and how fragile that opportunity can be, Śāntideva implores us to seize the day and strive to develop this conscientiousness that helps us maintain a healthy and disciplined mind.

As Nāgārjuna says in his ''Letter to a Friend'' (''Suhṛllekha''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Carefulness is the way to deathlessness,
While carelessness is death, the Buddha taught.
And thus, so that your virtuous deeds may grow,
Be careful, constantly and with respect.<ref>[[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]], [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche'' (New York: [[People/Snow_Lion_Publications|Snow Lion Publications]], 2005), 31.</ref>{{TextEndMarker}}
}}
}}

Explore/Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

2026-03-04T18:01:08Z

SimonH:

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|jumbo-image=Maitreya Alex.jpg
|jumbo-text=In chapter 4 Śāntideva addresses the topic of conscientiousness (''apramādha'', ''bag yod''), sometimes also translated as carefulness, a mental factor whose function is to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind, particularly within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided on the path.
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|main-text=

<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3>
The first three chapters of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' introduce the bodhisattva's way of life and conduct and impress upon us the qualities and benefits of bodhicitta and of developing altruistic compassion for the sake of all others. All of those contemplations come under the section of the text which covers the cultivation of bodhicitta where it has not previously been cultivated.

In the first verse of chapter 4, Śāntideva urges to make sure that once we have cultivated this precious mind of bodhicitta we never turn away from it.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.1}}
The next three chapters, from chapter 4 through chapter 6, are concerned with protecting this freshly arisen bodhicitta from declining. But how do we work with our minds in order to do this? What way of thinking and conduct are needed to protect this incredible mind of bodhicitta? The answer, Śāntideva suggests, is discipline.

<h4>The Need for Discipline</h4>
In order to protect bodhicitta, one of the primary factors needed is discipline, which is the main theme of chapters 4 and 5. Discipline is required in order to subdue our scattered minds and to prevent the awakening mind from weakening. To establish good discipline, we need the mental tools of conscientiousness, mindfulness, and vigilance. These tools are the chief means through which we are able to subdue our minds, and they provide crucial support for the bodhisattva's practice of the perfection (''pāramitā'') of ethical discipline. Chapters 4 and 5 lay out the functions and methods of cultivating these three essential mental factors, which aid us in maintaining the wish to attain full enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. To maintain this bodhicitta, these three mental factors assist us in distinguishing between those practices that help our progress and should be taken up on the path from those practices that hinder us and should be avoided.

The fourth chapter focuses mainly on conscientiousness (''apramādha'', ''བག་ཡོད་''), sometimes also translated as carefulness. Conscientiousness is a mental factor which functions to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided.

The Tibetan historian and Buddhist researcher Geshe Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley (1927–1997) describes conscientiousness as a way of tuning or adjusting our minds such that when we are thinking of engaging in some kind of negative activity, conscientiousness assists us in becoming aware that those actions are faulty and unconstructive. He goes on to explain that the main thrust of the chapter on conscientiousness is about how to behave when interacting with others, how to present ourselves in relation to others, and how to act when our minds are scattered.<ref>[[Dung dkar blo bzang 'phrin las|Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley]], ''An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''[[Gsung 'bum blo bzang 'phrin las (pod ta pa) (sa rA bod kyi dpe skrun khang gis par skrun zhus 2017)|Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod]]'' (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.</ref>

<h4>Preciousness of Human Rebirth</h4>
We may feel that we are always unlucky or lack good fortune and that things often go against us. Śāntideva takes a much wider perspective and reminds us that our current situation actually contains a tremendous opportunity. He does this to impress upon us how important the need for conscientiousness is.

Verse 16 of chapter 4, for example, speaks to us of how rare and fortunate we are to be born in the human realm and particularly to have the freedoms and advantages of a precious human rebirth.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.16}}
Śāntideva encourages us to see the rare opportunity we have right now. We are in reasonable health and have enough sustenance and some amount of freedom to practice. But this life is fleeting and a human rebirth hard to obtain again. It is like something of great value briefly lent to us that could be taken back at any moment. As such, Śāntideva argues, we should seize this moment instead of being despondent about temporary obstacles and difficulties. We should uplift our minds and strive in virtue, sustained by the thought of how much fortune we actually already have.

<h4>The Defects of the Afflictive Emotions</h4>
In this chapter Śāntideva also reflects on the faults of afflictive mental states as a way to ingrain conscientiousness into our behavior.
{{PullBcaVerses|4.28}}
Here, Śāntideva asserts that we are completely at the beck and call of our emotions, slaves to our desire and our aversion. We may follow these emotions even at the cost of our lives, and yet they lead us only to disaster. Alongside ignorance, these emotions are our own inner enemies, the real enemy. Unlike external enemies, they are lazy and cowardly. Śāntideva reprimands us and asks how all of us, whether weak or strong, have allowed these stupid afflictions to reduce us to such abject slavery and suffering, deprived of every freedom. He reminds us that external enemies such as thieves or bandits may cause us injury over a period of a few years, but the mental afflictions have caused us harm over countless lifetimes. If we do not vanquish them now, they will continue to cause us great harm into the future.

<h4>Abandoning Emotional Defilement</h4>
Chapter 4 ends with some stirring words from Śāntideva, as he incites us to wage war on the defiled emotions. Better, he says, to perish by fire then allow ourselves to become servants to the afflictive emotions. But he also offers us hope in the fight against these negative mental states. Common external enemies, once driven away, can regroup and return again to fight another day. But the afflictions have no such strategy, and once properly routed with the eye of wisdom, they can be forever banished. Therefore, Śāntideva says, we must vow day and night to rise up and challenge the mental afflictions and never give up that fight until we see them overcome before our very eyes.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=I will not leave the fight until, before my eyes,<br>
These enemies of mine are all destroyed. (4.36ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 58.</ref>
}}
His last words to us in the chapter encourage us to take the medicine of conscientiousness that has been prescribed.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What invalids in need of medicine
Ignored their doctor’s words and gained their health? (4.48cd)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|Way of the Bodhisattva]]'', 60.</ref>
}}
In other words, Śāntideva asks, what kind of patient who is in need of relief from disease would not take the medicine prescribed by their doctor?

Spurred on by the thought of our precious and rare opportunity and how fragile that opportunity can be, Śāntideva implores us to seize the day and strive to develop this conscientiousness that helps us maintain a healthy and disciplined mind.

As Nāgārjuna says in his ''Letter to a Friend'' (''Suhṛllekha''):
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Carefulness is the way to deathlessness,
While carelessness is death, the Buddha taught.
And thus, so that your virtuous deeds may grow,
Be careful, constantly and with respect.<ref>[[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]], [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche'' (New York: [[People/Snow_Lion_Publications|Snow Lion Publications]], 2005), 31.</ref>{{TextEndMarker}}
}}
}}

Articles/Confession of Negativity Overview

2026-03-03T17:54:52Z

SimonH:

{{LibraryItem
|Editorial=Yes
|EditorialFullText=<onlyinclude>
<div class="drop-cap">
Inspired by the qualities of this jewel-like bodhicitta and the amazing practices of the bodhisattva, our interest is now raised to enter into this Mahāyāna path.

Although we may be enthusiastic to get going on the path, at the beginning obstacles may lie in our way. Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley, in his ''Introduction to the Way of the Bodhisattva'', mentions that when beginning our engagement in any spiritual activity, our progress will be best facilitated by two important practices—accumulating merit and purifying the negative actions that we have performed.<ref>[[People/Dung_dkar_blo_bzang_'phrin_las|Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley]], "[[Spyod 'jug gi gzhung ngo sprod dang sangs rgyas chos lugs kyi mtshan nyid rig pa]]", in ''[[Gsung 'bum blo bzang 'phrin las (pod ta pa)]]'' (Dharamsala: sa rA bod kyi dpe skrun khang gis par skrun zhus, 2017), 40.</ref> Chapters 2 and 3 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' is basically divided into these two sections, although chapter 3 is also concerned with practices related to merit.

In the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' the practice of accumulating merit is explained through the classical seven-limb prayer. This is also referred to as the supreme worship (''annutara pūja'') and includes a series of religious activities such as rejoicing in the merit of others, making offerings, and dedicating our own merit to other beings' awakening. It provides us with a complete form of daily religious practice. Chapters 2 and 3 basically cover the branches of practice of the seven-limb prayer, with this second chapter containing the first three branches of the practice—prostration or paying homage, making offerings, and the confession of negative actions.

<h4>Making Offerings</h4>

The first section of the chapter deals with making offerings of the physical actions of our body, the verbal actions of our speech, and and the mental actions of our mind. We make these offerings to the Three Jewels—the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.1}}
We go on to offer everything in the universe. This is not limited to the things we actually own, but we also offer up even things which do not have any owner, such as the beauty of the natural world:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.3}}
We also offer a host of wonderful offerings which are mentally created, as exemplified by verse 10.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.10}}

<h4>Homage</h4>

The verses of homage and prostration come after the verses of offering.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.24}}
Bringing to mind the qualities of those Three Jewels, Śāntideva physically and mentally prostrates to them. He imagines himself to have innumerable bodies, as innumerable as there are atoms in the universe, and respectfully recites the words of homage. The chapter then goes on to discuss the Buddhist method of taking refuge in the Three Jewels.

<h4>Refuge</h4>

Refuge is the key orientation for Buddhists and is essential in considering oneself a Buddhist. We place our trust in the Three Jewels and commit to relying on them regardless of what is happening in our lives. It is not just a request seeking help when times are hard but an understanding of the qualities of the Three Jewels, particularly the Dharma Jewel, which is said to be the real refuge.

{{PullBcaVerses|2.26}}
Refuge is a shared practice across all the Buddhist traditions. Because Śāntideva is introducing us to the conduct of the bodhisattvas, here the refuge is specifically Mahāyāna refuge. We go for refuge for the purpose of attaining the unsurpassed, fully enlightened state for the welfare of all sentient beings. We carry this refuge with us until we reach the ultimate state of buddhahood, where we will then be able to spontaneously and most effectively work for their benefit.

Khenpo Kunzang Palden, aka Khenpo Kunpal (1862–1943), in his famous commentary to the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' entitled ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', reminds us of the general way in which we take refuge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In accordance with the formula "The Buddha is the teacher unsurpassed; the sacred Dharma is the guardian unsurpassed, the Sangha is the leader unsurpassed," the actual protector or refuge for beginners is in fact the Dharma. The Buddha said, "I have taught you the methods that lead to liberation. Practice with diligence; your liberation depends on you."<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[Books/The_Nectar_of_Manjushri's_Speech|The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech]]'', by [[People/Kun_bzang_dpal_ldan|Kunzang Pelden]] (Boston: [[People/Shambhala_Publications|Shambhala Publications]], 2010), 90.</ref>
}}
The Buddha is telling us that, for beginners, the main refuge is the teaching and one's own realization. But he also makes sure to point out that, although he has revealed the way, walking the path must be done by ourselves. Thus, taking refuge does not involve giving up responsibility to another higher power who will pull us along the path but is a process of relying on someone with deep experience and knowledge and then integrating their advice and teachings into our own lives. As the famous and oft-repeated lines on this say:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Sage does not wash sins away with water,
Nor wipe away the pain of beings with his hands.
His realization he does not transfer to others,
He frees by showing them the peace of ultimate reality.<ref>Although it is somewhat difficult to trace the source of these exact lines, they appear to derive at least in part from the ''Udānavarga'' or Prajñāvarman's commentary on the ''Udānavarga''.</ref>
}}
There are two main causes of refuge. One is the fear of the suffering that is an inevitable consequence of the negative actions we have done. The other cause is to understand that the Three Jewels have the power to protect us from those sufferings.

<h4>Confession of Our Negative Actions</h4>

The second half of chapter 2 explains the next branch of the seven-limb prayer, confession. Of course, we must strive from the beginning in trying not to engage in negative actions. Even whilst following the path we may stumble, whether through carelessness or our many afflictions, but it is not suitable to thoughtlessly just leave our negative actions unconfessed. Confession means literally "laying aside" or "laying down or putting down" all negative actions of body, speech, and mind that we have performed in the past. It is a combined process of acknowledging our faults, honestly admitting to them and disclosing them, and then laying them aside and letting go of them.

Confession of downfalls from specific vows that we have taken, such as monastic vows, individual liberation vows, and the bodhisattva or tantric vows, should be confessed and restored according to their respective methods. Here, Śāntideva explains to us the process of purifying our general negativity.

Firstly, we must visualize those who will witness our confession.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.27}}

Khenpo Kunpal explains in his commentary how this is done.

{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In the sky in front of himself, Shantideva visualizes the object of confession: all the perfect Buddhas, victorious, virtuous and transcendent, together with all the great Bodhisattvas, who reside in the infinite buddhafields in the ten directions and who are the sovereigns of great compassion. He prays to them with his palms pressed together.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 95.</ref>
}}

We fold our hands together and we make sincere supplications to the fully enlightened buddhas and the bodhisattvas who abide in all directions, requesting them to pay heed to us. Filled with regret, we confess the negative deeds we have committed.

Since we have been bound to the wheel of samsaric existence since beginningless time, we confess every negative action that we have done in this and all other lives, actions which we did through lack of knowledge about the ripening results of karma.

Gyaltsap Je Darma Rinchen also points out in his commentary ''The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors'' that all karma can be overcome with confession:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=If the created and accumulated karmas are karmas definitely to be experienced then, since they can be cleared away, what need is there to say about those that are not definite.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Fedor Stracke]], trans., ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors]] - A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas. Chapter Two: Purifying Negativities'', by [[People/Rgyal_tshab_rje_dar_ma_rin_chen|Gyaltsab Rinpoche]] (N.p.: Happy Monks Publication, 2016), 15, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/. Note that the pagination starts over for every chapter in Stracke's translation.</ref>
}}

There are two kinds of karma—karma whose result will definitely be experienced and karma the result of which it is not definite to be experienced. If it is possible using the correct methods to clear away even those karmic seeds whose result is definite, then there is no doubt that this is also true for those actions whose result is not definite. But what kind of method can we adopt to clear away the effects of the negative actions we have done? In ''The Sūtra Teaching the Four Factors'' (''Caturdharmanirdeśasūtra'') it says the following:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Sudharmā assembly hall in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, together with a great gathering of five hundred monks, and very many bodhisattva mahāsattvas, including Maitreya and Mañjuśrī.

At that time the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, [F.59.b] “O Maitreya, bodhisattva mahāsattva, if you possess four factors, the misdeeds you have committed and accumulated will be overcome.

“What are these four? The action of repentance, antidotal action, the power of restraint, and the power of support.<ref>[[Pearcey, A.|Adam Pearcey]], trans., ''The Sūtra Teaching the Four Factors'', ''Caturdharmanirdeśasūtra'', Toh 249 ([[People/84000:_Translating_the_Words_of_the_Buddha|84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha]], 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/toh249.html?#UT22084-066-007-55.</ref>
}}

Here, Śāntideva explains the practice of confession of more general negative actions through the four antidotal forces, which are:

# the force of regretting that one has done wrong, or repentance
# the force of the support
# the force of the antidote
# the force of turning away from repeating the fault, or the force of restraint

In their commentaries, both Minyak Kunzang Sonam and Khenpo Kunpal use "the force of restoration" or "the force of amendment" instead of the more commonly used phrase "the force of turning away from repeating the fault."

<h5>The Power of Regretting That One Has Done Wrong</h5>

Verses 27 to 46 explain in much greater detail the power of regretting that one has done wrong.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.28}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.29}}

Confession does not mean just simply absolving ourselves of the bad actions we have done. It involves a full understanding of why what we did was negative and the heartfelt promise to not engage in these actions in the future. We put them aside but at the same time continue to improve by trying to prevent them from occurring again. Confession is also not done in the way of wallowing in self-absorption with respect to past actions. It is a practical acceptance that we did wrong, but this is turned into a positive process which has the element of encouraging us to improve in the future.

We confess these negative actions to the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and our gurus. And we confess not only the negativities that we ourselves have done but also those that we have induced others to do. Likewise, we confess the faults of having rejoiced in the negativities of others.

But this is not asking a savior to wash away those sins with the wave of the hand. This process involves a clear awareness of what we have done and heartfelt regret at the harm that those actions may cause.

Gyaltsap Je describes how the power of regret must arise from cultivating the understanding of the way in which negative actions give rise to the three kinds of result. <ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 15, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>

Here the three kinds of result refers to the fully ripening result, the dominant result, and the result similar to the cause. The result similar to the cause is further divided into (1) ''བྱས་པ་རྒྱུ་མཐུན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ་'', the fruits corresponding to its actions (e.g., the fact that a person who may have been a sinner in the past life has the natural urge to do similar actions in this life), and (2) ''མྱོང་བ་རྒྱུ་མཐུན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ་'', the fruits corresponding to its experience (e.g., the fact that a person who practices generosity in this life would become rich in his future life).

<h4>Fear of Dying Without Confession</h4>

We may feel lazy to carry out this process of confession everyday and may wonder if it is really necessary to do it regularly. We feel that since we will be alive for a long time there is nothing wrong with leaving negative actions unconfessed. Śāntideva chides us and reminds us that death can be just around the corner:{{PullBcaVerses|2.32}}
He reminds us that our lives are fleeting and that we do not want death to catch us unaware, sending us on to the next life with a whole mass of negative actions left unconfessed. We must be careful and attentive to make sure that whenever we commit transgressions, we must repair them and work to never repeat them.

We go forth into the next life completely alone, leaving everything behind us. In these next verses Śāntideva confesses that he has been forgetful of this and instead has been engaged in many wrongdoings.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.34}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.35}}
He tells us that he himself has committed many negative actions such as killing, lying, and stealing, as well as encouraging others to do so. These were driven by attachment to protect his family and those close to him and by aversion to his enemies and the wish to get the better of them. But this has all been pointless. Everyone and everything will eventually disintegrate. Khenpo Kunpal expands on the theme of this last verse in his commentary.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For even if he has failed to overcome them, his enemies will die in any case and cease to exist. Even if he is successful in guarding and caring for his friends and loved ones, nothing is achieved; they too will vanish in death. And he himself will die and cease to be. The entire universe, with its continents and mountains, with all the beings that it contains, friendly, hostile, or indifferent—be they as high-ranking as the heavens, as strong as thunder, as rich as the nagas, as beautiful as the gods, as fascinating as rainbows—all is destined to destruction. Whatever strongholds have been built, whatever wealth has been accumulated, whatever families have come together—everything will go. How absurd to do evil for their sake!<ref> [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 102.</ref>
}}
Throughout the text, Śāntideva provides us with constant reminders of how everything will eventually pass. All that we own and everyone that we love will eventually become just memories, remaining nothing more than a fleeting dream. Although the situations in which we created the karmic actions have receded into the past, the imprints of those actions remain behind with us. As these imprints remain in our mindstream, they can easily mature and produce results when causes and conditions coalesce.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.36}}
Śāntideva also encourages us to imagine the situation when death comes to us. As we lie on our deathbed, no one can help us. However many caring friends and family members are there at our bedside, we will have no choice but to go on to the next life alone:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.40}}
The thread that ties us to this birth is almost worn through and the messengers from the Lord of Death approach us. Who can help us? What can be done?
{{PullBcaVerses|2.41}}
Śāntideva replies that at this moment, as our life force fades, there is only one real protection. Only the Dharma can really help us at that moment, and in particular it is only the merit that derives from the positive karmic actions we have done throughout our life that can be of aid in this stricken moment. It is therefore important to develop a strong sense of regret that we had opportunities to act in more positive ways and yet we never took them. The feeling of regret for missing such an opportunity to engage in virtue and instead acting in negative ways can also be taken as a kind of confession.

For all these reasons, Śāntideva advises us to look for a source of guidance and protection, a true place of refuge.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.45}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.46}}
As we near death, the possibility of falling into the lower realms suddenly becomes real. But if we have not made any effort to seek out and correctly rely on a valid source of refuge, and if we have failed to recognize our past negative actions and confess them, we will be helpless at the time of dying. Gyaltsap Je's conclusion here is that we must put all of these practices into place now while we have the leisure and time, since leaving them to our last moments will be disastrous.

<h5>The Force of Support</h5>

Verses 47 to 53 discuss the force of support. Gyaltsap Je describes this third force as being the meditation on such practices as bodhicitta.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 15, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>

The main body of this chapter is about the confession of negativity and how the Three Jewels can act as a support for that confession. But the Three Jewels are also able to act as a support for the process of purification.

These supports may be used either as the object to which confession is addressed or that which we rely on for purification. In the present case, we are concerned with the latter.

Understanding that we will be unable to find any source of help if we leave it until the time of death, when terror overwhelms us, Śāntideva implores us to look around right now for a source of support. When we carefully examine who can be such a reliable support, Śāntideva argues that we will find that it is only the buddhas, the supreme guardians of beings, who can truly protect us from all sorrow. Coming to this conclusion, Śāntideva takes refuge.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.47}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.48}}
We may wonder why Śāntideva is bringing up refuge again in the same chapter? What is the difference between the refuge mentioned here and that mentioned in the earlier part of this chapter? Here, the great Drukpa Kagyu master Pema Karpo sheds further light on this issue.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The previously (mentioned) refuge is an essential support for the arousing of bodhicitta. With the latter, if we take refuge in it, we will be liberated from all negative actions. For that reason, it says in scripture:

Whoever has gone for refuge to the buddhas
Will be liberated from all negativity.<ref>[[People/Drukchen,_4th_(pad%2Bma_dkar_po)|Pema Karpo]], ''A Lamp for the Middle Way: A Commentary on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara'', ''Spyod 'jug gi 'bru 'grel dbu ma'i lam gyi sgron ma'' (Kathmandu: Shree Gautam Buddha Vihara, 2017), 19 (e-book). https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/</ref>
}}

The previously mentioned refuge was presented in a much more general way, identifying what the objects of refuge are. But here Śāntideva wants to show us how the Three Jewels are a support for confession and purification of our negative actions.

In his word commentary the great Sakya master Sonam Tsemo gives an interesting explanation of the reasons why the Three Jewels are the ultimate source of refuge.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Buddhas are 'conquerors' of the benefit of self in respect of abandoning the defilements and possessing good qualities. They are 'protectors' of beings in that they fulfill the benefit of others:
:Everything that is harmful,<br> Non-methods [of mistaken paths], the lower realms, <br> The transitory collections and lesser vehicles— <br> Because of protecting from these, he is supreme among refuges.
Thus the protectors of beings strive in these ways, using manifold powers and dispelling fears of samsara. The 'dharma' means the dharma of realization which, when it is taken to heart, is cessation —freedom of the dhatu from adventitious impurities—and the dharma of the path, which dispels fears of samsara. The 'sangha' means the community of bodhisattvas.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|Adrian O'Sullivan]], trans., ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Dechen Foundation]], 2019), 63.</ref>
}}
Sonam Tsemo describes two qualities that the buddhas have that make them the most supreme of refuges—the quality of being a conqueror (''jina'') and the quality of being a protector (''natha''). Here, they are called the conqueror because they have overcome all that is to be abandoned, such as the afflictions and their seeds, and they have attained all the positive qualities, such as the ten powers and the four fearlessnesses. They are called the protectors of beings because they fulfill the aims and welfare of all beings by protecting them from everything that is harmful and that endangers us, especially the fears and sufferings of samsara.

In his commentary to verse 48, Khenpo Kunpal elaborates on the Dharma and Sangha Jewels.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Accordingly, the Dharma that resides within the Buddha's heart, in other words, the Dharma that he realized, includes all the teachings profound and vast. If practiced, it scatters and pacifies all the terrors of samsara. Therefore from now on, we must take refuge in the Dharma of transmission and realization and take it as our path. Henceforth too, we must take refuge—perfectly, straightforwardly, and without hesitation—in the Sangha of the noble Bodhisattvas residing on the grounds of realization from which there is no regression. For they are our companions on the path.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 109.</ref>
}}
Here, Khenpo Kunpal says that the Sangha Jewel is specifically the bodhisattvas who have realized emptiness directly and who have reached the bodhisattva's grounds, or ''bhūmis''.

<h4>Prayers to the Eight Great Bodhisattvas</h4>

Verses 50 to 52 connect to the practice of refuge in the exalted bodhisattvas who are the Sangha Jewel. Realizing the miserable situation he has found himself in, Śāntideva is gripped with dread and cries out to the children of the conquerors, the great bodhisattvas, for help, particularly to help eradicate the future results ensuing from our negative karma.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.50}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.51}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.52}}
These verses specifically reference the eight bodhisattvas (Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Samantabhadra, Vajrapāṇi, Mañjuśrīghoṣa, Sarvanivāraṇaviṣkambhin, Kṣitigarbha, and Ākāśagarbha). They are the main retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni and are also called his eight heart sons. Although they possess the same qualities, powers, and great compassion, they personify different aspects of the bodhisattva’s activities and exemplify different roles in helping beings. For instance, Gyale Thokme Zangmo highlights the way in which these verses relate to each bodhisattva.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Through fear of the sufferings such as those of the hell realms, I feel terror. I offer myself to the great bodhisattva Samantabhadra, I offer my very own body to Mañjuśhrīghoṣha. To the protector Avalokiteśhvara, who is infallible in both compassionate thought and deed, stricken with suffering I cry out for help, t “I beseech you to be a refuge for such a sinner as me.” Calling out in despair from my heart I cry, “In the exalted Ākāśhagarbha and Kṣhitigarbha, Maitreya and Samantabhadra, and in all the compassionate protectors I seek for and go for refuge.”I also take refuge in Vajrapāṇi, the one who possesses the vajra, and who on being beheld scatters to the four directions those who strike fear in beings, such as the Messenger of the Lord of Death (Yamārāja).<ref>[[People/Thogs med bzang po|Ngul Chu Thokme Zangpo]], ''[[Texts/Spyod_%27jug_gi_%27grel_pa_legs_bshad_rgya_mtsho|An Ocean of Excellent Explanation]]'' (Varanasi: Sakya Students Union, 2003), 155–56.</ref>
}}
Śāntideva sums up this section on the force of support as follows:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.53}}
Gyaltsap Je expands on this.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Previously I transgressed your words, committed negativities and did not practice virtue. Now, having seen the infinity of cyclic existence and the great horror of the lower realms, I take refuge in you.

By my implementing what has to be practiced and what has to be abandoned according to your advice, please quickly eliminate all dangers I pray.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 23, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
The great contemporary Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche ends this section of his commentary to ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' by explaining how we should think as we make our confession.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In the presence of all the buddhas we now make our confession and ask for the support of the Three Jewels by thinking, "In their omniscience the buddhas know all the faults and misdeeds that I have been doing. When I confess, they see that I am confessing all the wrong that I have been doing. Before them I will now do what is wholesome and forever turn away from what is unwholesome."
<ref>[[Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Books/Shantideva%27s_A_Guide_to_the_Bodhisattva%27s_Way_of_Life_(Thrangu_Rinpoche_2016)|A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life of Shantideva: A Commentary by the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche]]'', trans. [[Holmes, Ken|Ken]] and [[Holmes, Katia|Katia Holmes]] and [[Doctor, T.|Thomas Doctor]] (Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 2016), 29.</ref>
}}
Thrangu Rinpoche makes a very important point here—that is, the buddhas through their omniscient mind know all that we have done and continue to do. We cannot hide from them and should therefore not hesitate to confess all our negativity to them and turn toward all that is beneficial, both for oneself and others.

<h5>The Force of the Antidote</h5>

Verses 54 to 59 deal with the force of the antidote. Gyaltsap Je describes this force in the following way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=There are, as explained in the Compendium of Trainings, relying on profound sutras, meditating on emptiness, relying on recitation, relying on the holy form, relying on offerings and relying on the names.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 15, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
In relation to this force, Śāntideva provides us with reasons why confession is necessary. He does this using two examples, the first of which is the example of a common illness, which is used to explain why it is necessary to make effort in applying the antidote.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.54}}
If we are scared of ordinary illnesses, particularly serious ones that might threaten our lives, we will immediately attempt to overcome that sickness by implementing all the advice of the trained medical practitioners and taking the appropriate course of medicine. If that is so, Gyaltsap Je advises us:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=. . . what need is there to mention that it is appropriate to rely on the antidote according to the instructions of the conqueror, the supreme physician, in order to be cured from the great chronic disease of the three poisons of attachment, anger and ignorance, as one has been continuously beaten down since beginningless time by the sources of hundreds of thousands of shortcomings.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 24. https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/</ref>
}}
The next verses indicate the great faults of the illnesses in our mindstream, of the many defilements such as attachment, hatred, and delusion, and how it would be utterly inexplicable to turn our backs on the cure for these ills, the Buddha's Dharma:
{{PullBcaVerses|2.55}}
{{PullBcaVerses|2.56}}
Sonam Tsemo explains how the first two lines of verse 55 indicate the great faults of such illness. The next two lines indicate the rarity of the remedy.<ref>[[O'Sullivan, A.|O'Sullivan]], ''[[Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)|Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary]]'', 100.</ref>

We may wonder at the meaning of this verse. How can just one of these poisons drag down all the beings in this world system and cast them into the lower realms? In his commentary, Gyaltsap Je qualifies this statement, explaining the shortcomings of the three poisons and the rarity of the medicine which counteracts them.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Even one moment of anger towards a bodhisattva can destroy all humans in Dzambuling and throw them into the lower realms. The medicine against this great sickness, meditating on the path and so forth, one will not find anywhere else, apart from the texts that reveal it. If one cannot find it in any other place, such as the world of Brahma and so forth, then it is unfindable elsewhere and therefore rare.<ref>[[Stracke, F.|Stracke]], ''[[Books/The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors|Entrance for the Children: Chapter Two]]'', 24, https://happymonkspublication.org/product/bodhisattvacharyavatara-chapter-1-10-commentary/.</ref>
}}
In verse 56 Śāntideva chides us, saying "How can you be so delusional as to turn your back on the supreme doctor, the all-knowing physician, and their medicine which has the potential to liberate yourself from all the afflictions and the pain that they bring you?" But Thrangu Rinpoche provides a chastening context to the instruction to turn to the Three Jewels for help with clearing away the effects of all our negative karma.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=At this point, we may wonder whether the Three Rare and Supreme ones and all the great bodhisattvas are able to immediately clear away the result of negative actions. The answer is “no”. They can’t do this because we accumulated these negative actions; they did not. Therefore they do not have the power to immediately clear away the results of our negative actions. They do, however, have great compassion for all sentient beings, so if we are able to eliminate these unpleasant future results, they would do so. But since we have committed these negative actions, they cannot undo them. It does, however, help to pray to them and request their help because if we develop faith and devotion for these great beings , then they will show us the path and method for eliminating our negative karma. So it is our personal effort that allows us to clear away the future effects of negative karma.<ref>[[People/Thrangu_Rinpoche|Thrangu Rinpoche]], ''[[Books/Shantideva%27s_A_Guide_to_the_Bodhisattva%27s_Way_of_Life_(Thrangu_Rinpoche_2016)|Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life]]'', 31.</ref>
}}
The second example that Śāntideva uses to spur us on in applying the antidotes is that of a precipice.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.57}}
If we need to take so much care and attention when close to just a small precipice, what need is there to speak of the care and conscientiousness we require when we are in danger of falling into the deepest chasm of suffering, from which we will need to remain for a vast stretch of time before we can be free of that place. The danger to us here is our habitual negative patterns. Therefore, we must take great care to avoid engaging in faulty karmic actions, and we must rely on the antidote to the afflictions.

The next verse encourages us not to waste time.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.58}}
We must not lull ourselves into a false sense of security, thinking that we are alive today and that all is well. We must never fall prey to procrastination and delay our practice of virtue, which is the main remedy.

In his ''Letter to a Friend'' (''Suhṛllekha''), Nāgārjuna makes this point very strongly.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=With all its many risks, this life endures
No more than windblown bubbles in a stream.
How marvellous to breathe in and out again,
To fall asleep and then awake refreshed. (verse 55)<ref>[[Gethin, S.|Stephen Gethin]], [[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]], and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[People/Padmakara Translation Group|Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche'' (Ithaca, NY: [[People/Snow_Lion_Publications|Snow Lion Publications]], 2005), 49.</ref>
}}
Continuing with this theme Śāntideva warns us against letting our guard down and feeling too much at ease.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.59}}
Khenpo Kunpal gives some very emotive commentary to this verse, imploring us not to forget that death can come at any moment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=What guarantee can anyone give that we will not die today and that death is nothing to be afraid of? There is no one who can give us such assurance, not even a Buddha. What escape is there for us from the horrors of death? It is said in the ''Bhadrakaratri-sutra'':
:What man is sure he will not die tomorrow?<br>This very day you should prepare yourself.<br>The great hordes of the Lord of Death—<br>Are they not your faithful friends?

Death, our own death, is coming. How can we relax in careless ease? It is highly inappropriate to rest at our leisure, eating, drinking, and amusing ourselves. As Ashvaghosha once said in his ''Shokavinodana'':
:Of all those born upon this earth<br>Or in the upper realms,<br>Did you see, or hear, or even doubt,<br>That some were born that have not died?<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 114–15.</ref>
}}

Pema Karpo makes a very interesting point in his commentary about how the force of the antidote ties in with the three higher trainings, and he relates that to a very famous verse from ''The Sūtra of Individual Liberation'' (''Pratimokṣasūtra'').
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In terms of the manifest realizations of the three higher trainings, ethical discipline is the dam which acts as an antidote to hold back the manifest causes of negative actions, that is to say non-virtue. The mind acting as an antidote (concentration), which is empowered with that (ethical discipline), suppresses nonvirtue such that it cannot intrude. Wisdom destroys the seeds of the nonvirtue, which are completely uprooted such that they can never arise again. These three trainings are explained in the three pitakas. The meaning of this is summed up in ''The Sūtra of Individual Liberation'':
:Commit not a single unwholesome action,<br>Cultivate a wealth of virtue,<br>Tame completely your own mind—<br>This is the teaching of the Buddha.<ref>[[People/Drukchen,_4th_(pad%2Bma_dkar_po)|Pema Karpo]], ''Lamp for the Middle Way'', 19 (e-book). https://dharmacloud.tsadra.org/library/?post_types=book,book_author&search-terms=A+Lamp+for+the+Middle+Way:+A+Commentary+on+the+Bodhisattvacharyavatara&subjects=any&view=list/</ref>
}}

<h5>The Force of Turning Away from Repeating the Fault, or The Force of Restraint</h5>

In verses 60 to 64, Śāntideva mentions the last key feature of confession through the four antidotal forces—the promise never to engage again in the actions which we have confessed. This section of the text explains how to restrain ourselves from committing the same kind of actions again, as we have done in the past. Understanding who the valid objects of refuge are, we reflect on all the negative actions we have done and confess them to those objects of refuge, as we set a course for ourselves moving forward.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.62}}
We swear to ourselves that our one course of action must be to break free of all of our negative habitual patterns and actions. Khenpo Kunpal expands on this point in the following way:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=So we should ask ourselves, how can we make sure to rid ourselves of evil, which alone is the cause of sorrow? This should be our only concern, as the text says—our sole and constant thought. This should be our daytime obsession and something that keeps us awake at night! It is thus that we should strive to confess our evil actions.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 116.</ref>
}}
In his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal also makes a very important point regarding our negative actions: it is not just that they lead to future suffering in the lower realms, but they also prevent our virtuous actions right now, such as trying to study, contemplate, and meditate on the teachings, from being effective and coming to fruition.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 116.</ref>

To conclude this chapter, Śāntideva implores the buddhas and bodhisattvas to accept him as he is, along with all the negativity he has engaged in.
{{PullBcaVerses|2.65}}
He promises never to do those negative actions again, which is a central part of the practice. We do not expect to say some simple words of how sorry we feel and then simply be absolved from any further consequence. Confession in the Buddhist tradition is an active process of recognizing the bad things we have done, admitting honestly to them, and confessing them to the buddhas and our teachers. Through this confession, we mark a line in the sand and commit to not transgressing these boundaries again.

Kunga Wangchuk describes this force of turning away from repeating the fault as the force of amendment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=We recognize that our previously committed wrong deeds of body, speech, and mind are unwholesome, and that they are the cause and conditions which produce all of the suffering of the lower realms of samsara. We think "From this day on, I will never commit any of these nonvirtuous negative actions, even at the cost of my life." The force of amendment is the promise from now on never to commit unwholesome actions.<ref>[[People/Ngag_dbang_kun_dga%27_dbang_phyug|Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk]], ''A Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''[[Texts/Byang_chub_sems_dpa%27i_spyod_pa_la_%27jug_pa_zhes_bya_ba%27i_%27grel_pa|Theg pa chen poi do'i dgongs don gyi bstan bcos byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa zhes bya ba'i 'grel pa]]'' (Chos kyi blo gros rtsom sgrig khang, 2016), 143.</ref>
}}
In a very beautiful passage of his commentary, Khenpo Kunpal explains the importance of amending our behavior so that we turn away forever from all forms of unwholesome conduct.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=To engage in evil action is like passing from light into darkness. It produces effects that are difficult to bear. For holy beings, such unwholesome conduct is an object of derision. Therefore, from now on, we must promise never to repeat such actions even at the cost of our lives. And when pronouncing such a resolution, we should consider that rays of many-colored light stream from the bodies of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and cleanse and purify our every fault and downfall—every negativity and obscuration of ourselves and other beings—like the sun rising in the midst of darkness.<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''[[Books/The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech|Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', 118.</ref>
}}
Nāgārjuna provides us with a final word of hope in regard to this whole process of confession. He reminds us of the only redeeming feature of the negative actions, which is that they can be purified by confession. As he says in his ''Letter to a Friend'':
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Those who formerly were careless
But then took heed are beautiful and fair,
As is the moon emerging from the clouds,
Like Nanda, Angulimala, Darshaka, Udayana.<ref>[[Gethin, S.|Gethin]], [[Blankleder, H.|Blankleder]], and [[Fletcher, W.|Fletcher]], ''Letter to a Friend'', 33.</ref>
}}
Gyalse Tokme Zangpo concludes this chapter by instructing us to confess our negative actions day and night.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In the direct presence of the protectors we place our palms together, and with a mind of fear of suffering we prostrate again and again, confessing all of our negative actions.<ref>[[People/Thogs_med_bzang_po|Thokme Zangpo]], ''[[Texts/Spyod_%27jug_gi_%27grel_pa_legs_bshad_rgya_mtsho|Ocean of Excellent Explanation]]'', 159.</ref>
}}
</onlyinclude>

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Explore/The Two Accumulations

2026-02-25T17:55:00Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|theme=The Path of the Bodhisattva
|sub-theme=Two Accumulations
|TermTopics=Two Accumulations
|featured-books=Illuminating the Intent; The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King; The Words of My Perfect Teacher (1998); A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher; The Excellent Path of the Two Accumulations; Gone Beyond (Volume One); Gone Beyond (Volume Two); Cultivating the Two Accumulations; Two Accumulations: Merit and Wisdom
|featured-articles=The Accumulations of Merit and Wisdom; Understanding the Accumulation of Merit and Wisdom
|featured-texts=Madhyamakāvatāra; Rājaparikathāratnāvali; Abhisamayālaṃkāranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrakārikā
|jumbo-image=File:Two Accumuations Sambhota cropped.jpg
|jumbo-text=The two accumulations consist of merit and wisdom, which respectively cause the Buddha's form body and truth body. The three higher trainings provide a sequential foundation: ethical discipline creates stability, concentration develops focused awareness, and wisdom penetrates ultimate reality. Bodhisattvas engage in these practices because their compassionate motivation extends beyond personal liberation—they must first attain complete buddhahood themselves, gaining both the omniscient mind and ability to appear to beings, before they can effectively guide all sentient beings toward enlightenment.
|main-text==== Practicing the Bodhisattva Path ===

Having taken the bodhisattva vows, the Mahāyāna practitioner sets out on the journey along the path of the bodhisattva. The practices of the bodhisattva path can be explained by looking at them through many different lenses. For instance, they can be presented from the perspective of the two accumulations (''sambhāradvaya'', ''ཚོགས་གཉིས་'')—that is, the accumulation of merit (''puṇyasambhāra'', ''བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་'') and the accumulation of wisdom (''jñānasambhāra'', ''ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་''). They can also be presented in the context of the three higher trainings (''adhiśikṣātraya'', ''ལྷག་པའི་བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་''), in the context of the practices of the six perfections (''ṣaṭpāramitā'', ''ཕར་ཕྱིན་དྲུག་''), or through the more extensive presentation of the ten perfections (''daśapāramitā'', ''ཕར་ཕྱིན་བཅུ་''). Here, the practices of the bodhisattva path are primarily discussed in relation to the two accumulations, while a fuller discussion of the six perfections, ten perfections, and the three higher trainings are discussed in separate articles.

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=== The Two Accumulations ===

Engaging in practices connected to the two accumulations is a very important factor for the bodhisattva following the Mahāyāna path. Since their driving motivation is not merely to liberate themselves from samsara but also to be able to help place all sentient beings in the state of perfect enlightenment, they must first follow a path that will lead to themselves attaining the fully enlightened state. Only when they have become a buddha themselves can they then help others to follow in their footsteps. It is the qualities of complete buddhahood that hold the key to how buddhas can help other beings and what distinguishes this state from attaining liberation for oneself alone.

The buddhas are endowed with two bodies (''kāya'') or aspects—the truth body (''dharmakāya''), and the form body (''rūpakāya''). The truth body has several elements, but the principal one is that of the omniscient mind, a mind that knows all phenomena, both relative and ultimate, directly and nonconceptually. This omniscient mind also knows all of the predispositions of every individual being and is therefore able to aid them in following the path in the most effective way. But just knowing the minds of beings alone is not enough. If the buddhas do not have a way to directly appear to other beings and communicate with them, then no matter how much wisdom they have they will never be able to share that wisdom. For this, the second body of the buddha, the form body, is extremely important. The form body represents the aspect of the buddhas that manifests to living beings, connecting and communicating with them in an infinite array of ways that show them how to follow the path to enlightenment.

These two bodies are vital components of the buddhas, without which they cannot guide beings. Each of the bodies of the buddha is created through the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. There is a direct causal relationship between them. It is primarily the accumulation of wisdom that is the cause for the truth body, and it is the accumulation of merit that primarily brings about the form body. This is why the practice of the two accumulations is considered to be so important.

===Definitions of the Two Accumulations===
In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', the contemporary master Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley explains the accumulations as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The nature of the accumulations in general is anything that is either a virtue, a method, or wisdom that acts as means by which to accomplish the two bodies–the Dharma body (''dharmakāya'') and the form body (''rūpakāya'').<ref>Dunkar Lobzang Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo - White Conch Encyclopedia'' (Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, 2002), 1718.</ref>
}}
The accumulations are divided into two accumulations: the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. The accumulation of merit can be thought of as the progressive increase of virtuous karma, and the accumulation of wisdom can be thought of as the progressive deepening of spiritual understanding.

The ''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' defines the accumulation of merit as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Positive virtuous karma, such as offerings and generosity, which have a referent.<ref>''Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary'' (''Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo'') (Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House, 1985), 3051.</ref>
}}
Here, having a referent means that the mind connected with these virtuous practices still has some clinging to the inherent nature of reality and therefore objectifies the different elements of that virtuous act. For instance, if a person engaged in an act of generosity had not eliminated the mental states that cling to the true existence of phenomena, they would perceive the giver (themselves), the recipient, and the gift as all having some solid and independent nature, making this generosity a virtuous act that has a referent.

In the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'', Dungkar Rinpoche expands the definition of the accumulation of merit by emphasizing its relationship to the attainment of the Buddha's form body:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The accumulation of merit refers to virtuous practices such as making offerings and guarding our ethical discipline that primarily lead to the result of accomplishing the form body of the Buddha.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The accumulation of merit does act as a cooperative condition for the accomplishment of the wisdom body of the buddhas, but it primarily acts as the substantial cause for the accomplishment of the form body of the buddhas.

In the same dictionary, Dungkar Rinpoche defines the accumulation of wisdom as follows:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=One of the two accumulations; and that which is the collection of exalted wisdom with no referent. It is an accumulation of uncontaminated virtue that brings about the attainment of the wisdom ''dharmakāya'' (''jñānadharmakāya''), that which is the result of the influence of (the wisdom realizing) emptiness and bodhicitta.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
Once a practitioner has developed the wisdom that is the direct realization that all phenomena lack an inherently established or independent nature, they will then reduce and eventually abandon all clinging to the self and phenomena. Without this strong clinging when they engage in virtuous acts there will be no inherent referent for them. This wisdom is the substantial cause which leads to accomplishing the omniscient mind of the buddhas, the wisdom ''dharmakāya''.

===The Relationship between the Two Accumulations and the Six Perfections===
Relating the two accumulations to the practices of the six perfections, the first three perfections—generosity, ethical discipline, and patience—constitute the accumulation of merit. They are causes for achieving the Buddha's form bodies: the emanation body (''nirmāṇakāya'') and the complete enjoyment body (''sambhogakāya''). This point is mentioned in Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), where it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The three practices of generosity and so on
the Sugata lauded mostly for the householder.
They also constitute what is known as the collection of merit,
and they are the cause of the buddha's form body. (3.12)<ref>See Thupten Jinpa, trans., ''Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way'', by Tsongkhapa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 145.</ref>
}}
The last two perfections, which include the practices of cultivating concentration and realizing the view of emptiness, are included within the accumulation of wisdom.

This is defined in the ''Great Dungkar Dictionary'' as:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The uncontaminated virtuous accumulation that primarily leads to attaining the wisdom truth body (''jñānadharmakāya'') and indirectly to the essential body of a buddha (''svabhāvakāya'').<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
The perfection of diligence is different from the other perfections. The other perfections are the cause of either the accumulation of merit or the accumulation of wisdom. In contrast, the practice of diligence acts as the cause for both the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom. This point is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'', a chapter that describes the fourth bodhisattva ground, The Radiant.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=All higher qualities follow after diligence;
it is the cause of merit and wisdom, the two collections. (4.1ab)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 148.</ref>
}}
===The Accumulations and the Bodies of the Buddha===
Dungkar Rinpoche's dictionary also describes the fundamental importance of the two accumulations in eventually attaining the resultant bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=By gathering these two causal accumulations, one definitely achieves the two resultant bodies. Without completing these two accumulations, there is no means to attain Buddhahood with its two purities.<ref>Trinley, ''Dungkar Tsikdzo Chenmo'', 1719.</ref>
}}
In the third chapter of his text ''The Precious Garland'' (''Ratnāvalī''), Nāgārjuna highlights the specific causal relationship between the two accumulations and their corresponding results, the attainment of the different bodies of the buddhas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=In brief, King, the buddhas' form-bodies
arise from the collection of merit,
and their dharma-body is born
from the collection of wisdom. (3.12)<ref>John Dunne and Sarah McClintock, trans., ''The Precious Garland: An Epistle to a King'', by Nāgārjuna (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1997), 43.</ref>
}}
Here, Nāgārjuna draws a direct causal relationship between two accumulations and their respective results: the accumulation of merit contributes to the eventual development of the buddha's form body, while the accumulation of wisdom results in the wisdom body (''dharmakāya'')—the omniscient mind that simultaneously knows all conventional and ultimate phenomena.

It must be noted here that while practitioners of the non-Mahāyāna Buddhist systems have presentations of merit and wisdom in their traditions of philosophy and practice, they do not accept that there is a resultant state of complete buddhahood, a state that is replete with these four bodies of the Buddha. Instead, they focus only on the merit and wisdom that helps them to be liberated from the suffering of the samsaric condition.

In his text ''The Precious Garland'', Nāgārjuna conveys a whole range of advice to his friend King Gautamīputra. In particular, he encourages the king, and therefore indirectly encourages us, to devote ourselves to gathering together these two accumulations of merit and wisdom so that we may bring about the state of complete enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus, these two collections
cause the obtainment of buddhahood;
hence, in short, devote yourself
always to merit and wisdom. (3.13)<ref>Dunne and McClintock, ''Precious Garland'', 43.</ref>
}}
And to inspire us in this process, Candrakīrti writes poetically in his ''Entering the Middle Way'' of how important it is to gather these two accumulations in order to correctly follow the bodhisattva path that leads to the fully enlightened state. Without these two wings, we will never be able to fly far across the realm of birth and death, to the other shore, the citadel of perfect enlightenment.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=And like a king of swans soaring ahead of other accomplished swans,
with white wings of conventional and ultimate truths spread wide,
propelled by the powerful winds of virtue, the bodhisattva would
     cruise
to the excellent far shore, the oceanic qualities of the conquerors. (6.226)<ref>See Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 510.</ref>
}}
|imageSource=Calligraphy by Sambhota Works
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Explore/Compassion

2026-02-25T17:42:08Z

SimonH:

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=Key Concepts
|theme=The Path of the Bodhisattva
|sub-theme=Compassion; Bodhicitta
|TermTopics=Compassion; Topics/Buddhist Ethics
|featured-books=Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra, Vol. 1 (Braarvig, J.); Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind; Illuminating the Intent; The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2; A Fearless Heart; Courageous Compassion; How to Be Compassionate; How to Expand Love
|featured-articles=Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism
|featured-dissertations=The Circle of Compassion: An Interpretive Study of Karuṇā in Indian Buddhist Literature
|featured-texts=Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra; Bhāvanākrama; Madhyamakāvatāra; Lam rim chen mo
|jumbo-image=Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara HAR.jpg
|jumbo-text=Within the Buddhist tradition, compassion represents an active intention for all beings to be free from suffering, extending far beyond natural sympathy for loved ones. Unlike ordinary pity, compassion must be deliberately cultivated to encompass every living being without bias. Buddhist teachings emphasize transforming our limited, selective empathy into universal concern through systematic spiritual practice.
|main-text==== Compassion in Relation to Bodhicitta ===
Compassion forms a central pillar for nearly all religions, and this is particularly true of the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit word for compassion is ''karuṇā'', and in the Buddhist tradition compassion is not the passive response of pity toward the pain of ourselves or others. Rather, compassion is an active wish that living beings be free from their suffering. It can range from the mere wish that someone be relieved of a headache to the universal compassion that wishes for every being without exception to be free of even the subtlest forms of suffering.

In all the Buddhist traditions, compassion plays a fundamental role in all aspects of practice, from those just beginning their journey on the path to the highest levels of practice. The Buddhist teachings encourage us to engage in practices and to develop ways of thinking that extend our compassion out to a much wider circle than just our loved ones and those close to us. Eventually, through training and awareness, we will be able to extend our compassion out even to our enemies and those who harm us. In the sūtras, the feeling of love and compassion is likened to a mother who would risk her own life to protect her only child.

We may all feel this sense of concern in the face of the suffering of those close to us. This immediate form of compassion is very powerful, but at this basic biological level it is still very biased. It focuses only on those we like, not on those toward whom we have neutral or negative feelings.

In contrast, Buddhism stresses that our compassion should not be biased. It should focus not on a small number of people who we hold dear to us. The Buddhist teachings inspire us to cultivate this strong feeling of concern equally in relation to all beings, whether they are our friends or our enemies. However, this kind of compassion does not arise naturally within us. It has to be cultivated through training and awareness.

Starting with our innate feeling of compassion for those close to us, we extend that same feeling out so that it eventually encompasses every single living being. We try to overcome our limited ways of thinking and feeling until the wish for others to be free of suffering becomes limitless. Eventually, with diligence, our compassion for all beings can become effortless and spontaneous.

This way of thinking finds one of its fullest expressions in the form of compassion that is included in the four immeasurable thoughts (in Pāli, ''cattāribrahmavihārā'')—immeasurable equanimity, love, compassion, and joy. Here, immeasurable compassion is the wish for all beings to be free of all suffering and all the causes of that suffering.

To help us achieve the transformation from an attitude focused mainly on our own suffering to one focused on all others' suffering, the Buddhist teachings provide us with techniques to break down our self-centered outlook and to help open us up to the pain and suffering of others around us.

=== His Holiness on Compassion for Peace of Mind ===
In the following extract, the Dalai Lama offers profound insights into the nature of human well-being and the path to inner peace through his teachings on mental cultivation and compassion:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life. If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace.

From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life. ([https://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion-and-human-values/compassion Source Accessed June 12, 2025])
}}

=== Roots of Compassion in the Buddhist Tradition ===
The basic meaning of compassion is the wish for someone to be free of their suffering, and this essential factor is found at the very heart of the Buddhist tradition. Its primary importance is stressed by the Buddha in the Pāli suttas:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate the heart limitlessly
with regard to all beings.
With goodwill for the entire cosmos,
cultivate the heart limitlessly:
above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without hostility or hate.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, trans., ''Karaṇīya Mettā Sutta — Goodwill'', in Khuddakapāṭha (Khp 9) of Khuddaka Nikāya (Collection of Short Discourses), Dhammatalks.org: Talks, Writings and Translations of Thānissaro Bhikkhu, https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Khp/khp9.html.</ref>
}}
Here we can clearly see, in the early roots of the tradition, the Buddha exhorting us to cultivate goodwill for every single living being. That goodwill should have the same strength of feeling that a mother would have toward their very own child, wishing to protect them from any form of danger or suffering.

=== Widening Our Compassion ===
The mental state of compassion can take many forms. At its most basic level it may be focused on just a single living being who is very dear to us, and we may wish only for their relief from a very temporary form of suffering. While this in itself is considered to be a positive state of mind, the Buddha stressed the importance of widening the circle of our compassion. Eventually, our compassion should be able to encompass even those toward whom we feel animosity or hatred.

This sense of how our compassion must reach out in every direction is captured in the ''Kālāmasutta'', where the Buddha describes to his listeners how vast this mind must become:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.<ref>Thānissaro Bhikkhu, trans., ''Kalama Sutta: To the Kalamas'', in Anguttara Nikaya, 3.65, accesstoinsight.org, 1994, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html.</ref>
}}
Free from bias and even the subtlest thoughts of ill will, our compassion must reach out in all directions to every living being.

=== Deepening Our Compassion ===
We may be able to cultivate the wish that every living being we encounter be free of their suffering. But having widened the scope of the object of our compassion, it is also very important to examine how deep that feeling of compassion really goes.

Since compassion is the wish that beings be free of suffering, a close examination of what compassion means will eventually lead us to examine the nature of suffering itself. The depth of our compassion is ultimately linked to the depths of our understanding about what it means to suffer. Our compassion can only be as deep as our understanding of suffering.

The Buddhist tradition stresses the importance of sharpening the lens through which we see the suffering of beings. This lens should not just be focused on the level of obvious and manifest pain. There is no one who does not recognize this as suffering. Instead, we must understand the very subtlest forms of suffering that beings experience.

=== The Meaning of ''Duḥkha'' ===
What is really meant when we say "suffering"? Is it the desire that someone be free of the pain of a headache or even a serious illness? Does it refer to just physical pain and situations such as the loss of a loved one? Is this the deepest level of suffering that beings experience, or is there some further subtle meaning? From the perspective of the Buddhist tradition, the extent of what it means to suffer goes much deeper than just these experiences. The Sanskrit word ''duḥkha'' has been translated in many ways into English and other non-Indian languages. The most common translation of the term in English is "suffering," but this word does not capture the full range of the Sanskrit term ''duḥkha''. In the Buddhist context, the word has much subtler tones and meanings beyond the manifest pain of life that we all experience. It also applies to deeper levels of experience, many of which we actually feel are happy or pleasant experiences.

Beyond pain and loss, the word ''duḥkha'' points to a fundamental instability and unsatisfactoriness characterizing conditioned existence. We can see from our own personal experience that even though manifest suffering is temporarily absent, it will eventually return to haunt us. It seems to be embedded in the very fabric of our lives, and we can never seem to shake it off. The Buddhist teachings explain that this is because more subtle forms of suffering underlie this grosser form of suffering and provide a ground out of which more manifest forms of suffering arise.

Beyond the manifest level of suffering that the Buddha called the suffering of suffering (''duḥkhaduḥkhatā''), he described two further levels of suffering—the suffering of change (''vipariṇāmaduḥkhatā'') and all-pervasive conditioned suffering (''saṃskāraduḥkhatā'').

In his very first teaching, ''Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dharma'' (in Pāli: ''Dhammacakkappavattanasutta''), the Buddha exhorts us to identify these deeper levels of ''duḥkha'' when he says the following:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering . . .<ref>Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans., ''Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma (Dhammacakkappavattanasutta)'', in Saṁyutta Nikāya, 56.11, Suttacentral.net, 2000, https://suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false.</ref>
}}
Deeper forms of compassion must look beyond the manifest layer of suffering that is the basic pain of the world of sickness, old age, and death, a pain that even animals are aware of. We must also look beyond the suffering of not getting what we want and encountering what we do not want.

While acknowledging that all beings wish to be free from these manifest forms of suffering, the Buddha explained that there were much subtler levels of ''duḥkha''. These subtler forms of suffering come from our mistaken views about ourselves and phenomena. Specifically, we cling to things as permanent and as if they have some kind of intrinsic nature, and then, under the sway of these wrong views, we engage in unconstructive actions that create negative karma.

Here, in his very first teaching, the Buddha is pointing out that birth itself is suffering. He is showing us that the whole cycle of birth and death, because it is under the influence of contaminated karma (''sāsravakarma'', ''ཟག་བཅས་ཀྱི་ལས་'') and mental afflictions (''kleśa'', ''ཉོན་མོངས་''), is in the very nature of suffering. Under the sway of these two factors, we must continue to be reborn in samsara, taking up again and again the contaminated aggregates (''ཟག་བཅས་ཉེར་ལེན་གྱི་ཕུང་པོ་'') of body and mind. Because the causes of these aggregates of body and mind are contaminated, the nature of the body and mind of beings born from these factors is in the very nature of suffering. Therefore, understanding that these subtle levels of conditioned existence are in fact ''duḥkha'' requires us to develop wisdom of the subtle momentary nature of all things and the subtlest nature of the existence of phenomena.

=== Compassion in the Mahāyāna Tradition ===
For the Mahāyāna tradition, compassion forms an extremely important framework for practice that aids in moving the practitioner's focus away from personal self-interest toward a much wider and more altruistic point of reference.

In ''The Teachings of Akṣayamati Sūtra'' (''Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra''), it states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Furthermore, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, the bodhisatvas' great compassion is also imperishable. Why? Because it is a prerequisite. Venerable Śāradvatīputra, just as breathing in and out is a prerequisite for the power of life of a great being, great compassion is also a prerequisite for the bodhisatvas' accomplishment of the Great Vehicle.<ref>Jens Braarvig and David Welsh, trans., ''The Teaching of Akṣayamati'' (''Akṣayamatinirdeśa'', ''Blo gros mi zad pas bstan pa'', Toh 175), Online publication (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023), https://84000.co/translation/toh175.</ref>
}}
As is explained here, for a bodhisattva, compassion should be as important to their practice as breathing is to life itself.

Besides influencing their daily practice, for a Mahāyāna practitioner, compassion must also influence the goal that they aim for in their spiritual practice. They forsake the more modest goal of personal liberation from samsara and absorption in the solitary peace of nirvana. Instead, their goal of attaining the fully enlightened state is purely for the purpose of attaining a state where they can most effectively help remove others' suffering and bring them also to the highest state of happiness.

In Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama''), the primary importance of compassion for the bodhisattva on the Mahāyāna path is further stressed:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=''The Compendium of Perfect Dharma'' reads, "O Buddha, a Bodhisattva should not train in many practices. If a Bodhisattva properly holds to one Dharma and learns it perfectly, he has all the Buddha's qualities in the palm of his hand. And, if you ask what that one Dharma is, it is great compassion."<ref>Fourteenth Dalai Lama, ''Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind'', root text by Kamalashila, trans., Venerable Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell (Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019), 30.</ref>
}}
By keeping close to the one central practice of compassion, and by training deeply in it, the bodhisattva is able to hold in their hands all the qualities and practices of the buddhas.

=== In Praise of Compassion in the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of the Path ===
Very often, at the beginning of the great Indian Buddhist works, the authors praise the great beings, such as one of the buddhas or bodhisattvas. However, in his seminal work, ''Entering the Middle Way'' (''Madhyamakāvatāra''), Candrakīrti (pronounced Chandrakirti) takes a very different approach. Right at the beginning of the text, rather than praising the buddhas, he chooses instead to praise the quality of compassion itself:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=As compassion alone is accepted to be
the seed of the perfect harvest of buddhahood,
the water that nourishes it, and the fruit that is long a source of enjoyment,
I will praise compassion at the start of all. (MAv 1 .2)<ref>[[Thupten Jinpa]], trans., ''Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way'', by [[Tsongkhapa]] (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 45.</ref>
}}
Besides being a praise for the quality of compassion in a general sense, here Candrakīrti praises compassion for three important ways in which it nourishes the practice of a bodhisattva. Firstly, compassion acts as the seed from which the fully ripened result of the enlightened state of a buddha comes. Second, compassion continues to act as a primary condition to nourish that seed so that it does not dry up or lie dormant. And third, it is said to resemble the ripened fruit that can forevermore be a source of enjoyment for the beings who train in the path.

In his master work, ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lamrim Chenmo''), Tsongkhapa explains in greater detail the importance of compassion throughout all stages of the path. Firstly, he comments on why compassion acts as a seed for the harvest of complete enlightenment:

Firstly, he comments on why compassion acts as a seed for the harvest of complete enlightenment:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Once your mind is moved by great compassion, you will definitely make the commitment to free all living beings from cyclic existence. If your compassion is weak, you will not. Therefore, compassion is important in the beginning because feeling responsible to free all beings requires great compassion and because, if you do not take on this responsibility, you are not ranked as a Mahāyāna practitioner.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, trans., ''The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment'', by Tsongkhapa, vol. 2, ed. Joshua W. C. Cutler and Guy Newland (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2000), 28.</ref>
}}
Tsongkhapa then stresses that even after we have cultivated the mind of enlightenment (''bodhicitta''), compassion is still very important in the middle of our journey to buddhahood.
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=You may develop the spirit of enlightenment at one time and then engage in the bodhisattva deeds. But when you see that living beings are innumerable and act improperly, that the training is very difficult and limitless, and that you need an immeasurable length of time, you may lose heart and fall into the Hīnayāna. However, by accustoming yourself to increasingly greater compassion that is not just a one-time development, you become less concerned with your own happiness or suffering and are not discouraged at providing others' welfare.<ref>Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, ''Great Treatise'', 29.</ref>
}}
Finally, compassion is important at the end of the path, even when we have attained the fully enlightened state. In his second volume of ''Stages of Meditation'', Kamalaśīla reminds us that even though the buddhas have attained the ultimate state of enlightenment, they still need compassion. Compassion, even at this most advanced stage of spiritual development, helps the buddhas to abide until the end of cyclic existence to guide all other beings along the path:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=The Buddhas have already achieved all their own goals, but remain in the cycle of existence for as long as there are sentient beings. This is because they possess great compassion. They also do not enter the immensely blissful abode of nirvana like the Hearers. Considering the interests of sentient beings first, they abandon the peaceful abode of nirvana as if it were a burning iron house. Therefore, great compassion alone is the unavoidable cause of the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha.<ref>Fourteenth Dalai Lama, ''Stages of Meditation'', 30.</ref>
}}
Great compassion, even at the point when we have become fully enlightened, becomes a cause for the nonabiding nirvana of a buddha. Instead of entering into their own state of perfect peace, they remain to appear in the world forever, to be of benefit for all beings.

=== The Three Compassions ===
With respect to deepening our compassion, in his work ''Entering the Middle Way'', Candrakīrti pays homage to the increasingly deepening levels of compassion that we need to develop in relation to the different forms of suffering that beings experience. These three levels of compassion are: (1) compassion that takes sentient beings as its object, (2) compassion that takes phenomenal reality as its object, and (3) compassion that takes no reference as its object.

==== Compassion That Takes Sentient Beings as Its Object ====
In relation to compassion that takes sentient beings as its object, ''Entering the Middle Way'' reads:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=First, with the thought "I am," they cling to a self;
then, with the thought "mine," they become attached to things;
like buckets on a waterwheel, they turn without control;
I bow to the compassion that cares for such suffering beings. (MAv 1.3)<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 47.</ref>
}}
Here, Candrakīrti explains the basic process through which beings find themselves trapped in the continuing cycle of samsaric existence. The whole process begins because we cling to the notion of the self as having some kind of inherent reality, unrelated and independent of any other factors. Focusing on the self that is the referent of the thought "I am," we take that self to have some kind of intrinsic nature.
From this mistaken view of "I," we then cling to things in close relation to the "I"—the closest of these being our own aggregates of body and mind. We take these aggregates to be intrinsically "mine," and thus we cling to "mine" as existing inherently and independently of anything else.

The above verse highlights a very important fact—before any thought of "mine" can arise, it must be preceded by the thought of "I." That mistaken identity that clings to an inherently existent "mine" leads us to become strongly attached to things. Dividing the world up into categories of "mine" and "others'," we become overly attached to anything that is mine. We grasp so tightly that we develop attachment to what appears pleasant to us and are averse to that which appears unpleasant, and from here stems the whole range of afflictive mental states. Thus, we set in motion the whole process of life on the wheel of samsara.

On this verse, Lama Tsongkhapa, in his commentary ''Illuminating the Intent'' (དབུ་མ་དགོངས་པ་རབབགསལ), states:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Thus, like buckets on a waterwheel in motion or spinning in a circle, sentient beings turn in a cycle without control, and it is to the compassion that cares for such suffering beings that I bow here.<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 47.</ref>
}}
The analogy used here for this process of samsara is that of an irrigation wheel, as was often found in ancient India. The perpetual process of the wheel turning without break is used to show how we are trapped on the wheel and carried away uncontrollably through the different realms of cyclic existence. Even if we temporarily attain a higher state, inevitably we must again plunge down to much lower states of existence.

This is the way that Candrakīrti pays homage to compassion that takes sentient beings as its object.

==== 2. Compassion That Takes Phenomenal Reality as Its Object, and 3. Compassion That Takes No Reference as Its Object ====

The next verse of Candrakīrti’s text covers the last two levels of compassion. The verse is read in different ways according to which form of compassion is being e highlighted:
{{QuoteCite
|quote-text=Beings are like reflections of the moon in rippling water;
seeing them as fleeting and as devoid of intrinsic nature,
the bodhisattva's mind falls under compassion's sway,
yearning to set free every transmigrating being. (MAv 1.4)<ref>Jinpa, ''Illuminating the Intent'', 50.</ref>
}}

==== How These Different Forms of Compassion Deepen Our Practice ====
It is important to remember that these three states of mind are all forms of compassion. The aspect of the mind for each of them is the same—it is still the wish that the object, which is all beings, be free of suffering. The deepening levels of wisdom associated with each of these levels of compassion infuse and support that compassion. As the wisdom that holds that compassion in its embrace deepens, the related compassion begins to deepen. As we are able to see more and more clearly the subtler levels of suffering that a being can experience, so our compassion deepens.

As we meditate on the nature of subtle impermanence, we understand that all beings, and indeed all compounded phenomena, do not abide even in the next moment. And yet because we do not see this subtle level of momentariness, we cling to things in the hope that they will remain with us continuously. This clinging attachment gives rise to negative emotions, afflictive mental states that cause us immediate suffering, but also lays down the karmic imprints for future unwanted results. Seeing that phenomena are in a process of constant flux and that they cannot abide even in the next moment, we start to understand how things are neither permanent nor have an abiding self. Compassion infused with this wisdom is the compassion that takes phenomenal reality as its object.

Under the sway of the ignorance that clings to things as existing independently and from their own side, we divide the world into positive and negative and then act with aversion or attachment. This eventually leads to complications, difficulties, and suffering in our lives. At its deepest level, this ignorance drives the whole process of rebirth in samsara, acting as the very first link in the twelve links of dependent origination (''Dvādaṡāṅga pratītyasamutpāda'').

Although phenomena appear to exist solidly and intrinsically from their own side, when we analyze them in search of this kind of existence, we cannot find a single trace of them existing in this way. As we develop the wisdom that understands this true reality of all things—the lack of inherent existence of all phenomena—we slowly release our clinging to "I" and "mine." As our understanding deepens, we are then able to loosen the grip of this false identity view and eventually break free from the cycle of birth and rebirth forever.

Seeing the tremendous value of this deepest form of wisdom for ourselves, we then understand that beings who are unaware of this subtlest level of reality will be trapped in the wheel of life and death and must endure the unbearable suffering that entails. With this wisdom of the nature of phenomena supporting our compassion, we are able to see through to the all-pervasive conditioned suffering that is the basic underlying suffering of beings trapped in cyclic existence. This is what is called compassion that takes no reference as its object.
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