No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
The Guide to Bodhisattva Practice (Bodhicaryāvatāra, henceforth Guide) is rightly praised as a literary masterpiece of philosophy and ethics, so some modern readers might be surprised to learn of the importance of ritual and devotion both in Śāntideva's own text and in its broader reception in Buddhist history. Indeed, while the Guide compellingly portrays the internal struggles of an author, it clearly relies on a framework of common Buddhist practices and even serves as a basis for ritual in and of itself. If nothing else, such rituals provide a structure that reinforces specific progressions along the Buddhist path. Complementing the personal transformations through self-awareness that are foregrounded by the text, these rituals employ faith in higher powers and repetition to bolster the practitioner at critical moments. Accompanying its captivating philosophy and ethics, then, the Guide can be read to reveal actual practices of physical and material worship, such as making offerings to artistic images of the Buddha placed on an altar. Such activities are among the most common forms of Buddhist religiosity, and while they are only loosely addressed in Śāntideva's training text, they clearly underlie its composition and practice.
This chapter investigates the overall ritual structure of the Guide and describes material practices that correspond to specific passages. As with many aspects of Buddhist tradition, these rituals allow multiple, simultaneous levels of interpretation. In one sense, many of the rituals of the text directly support its well-known goals of mental transformation. Rituals of confession and dedication, in which one repeatedly rejects bad actions and devotes oneself to the benefit of others, may be considered mechanisms for improving the habits of one's mind. Such practices can also be understood in terms of faith and material performance. Confession, for example, depends on the real or imagined presence of a more awakened being to act as recipient and help subjects overcome the negative consequences of their past mistakes. The confession ritual described later in this chapter invokes thirty-five separate buddhas who are frequently depicted in paintings as a visual support for the practice. More elaborate rituals of offering involve not only artistic images of buddhas but also the daily placement of precious substances on altars, recitations, and other activities rarely noted when the Guide is treated solely in terms of its doctrines. (Huntington, introductory remarks, 132–33)
