Translation of
Bodhipathapradīpa. (T. Byang chub lam gyi sgron ma). In Sanskrit, "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment"; a work composed by the Indian scholar Atiśa Dīpamkaraśrījñāna at Tho ling gtsug lag khang shortly after he arrived in Tibet in 1042. Tibetan histories often note that Atiśa wrote this text in order to clarify problematic points of Buddhist practice, especially tantra, which were thought to have degenerated and become distorted, and to show that tantra did not render basic Buddhist practice irrelevant. The Bodhipathapradīpa emphasizes a gradual training in the practices of the Mahāyāna and vajrayāna and became a prototype and textual basis first for the bstan rim, or "stages of the teaching" genre, and then for the genre of Tibetan
religious literature known as lam rim, or "stages of the path." It is also an early source for the instructions and practice of blo sbyong, or "mind training." Atiśa wrote his own commentary (pańjikā) (Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment) to the text. The text says bodhisattvas must first follow one of the sets of prātimokṣa disciplinary rules; based on those precepts, they practice the six perfections (pāramitā); with those perfections as a solid foundation, they finally practice Buddhist tantra. (Source: "Bodhipathapradīpa." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 133. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
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Bodhisattvamaṇyāvalī
Bodhisattvamaṇyāvalī [alt. Bodhisattvamaṇevalī] (T. byang chub sems dpa'i nor bu'i phreng ba), or The Bodhisattva’s Garland of Jewels, is a lojong text attributed to Atiśa.
According to Thupten Jinpa,
"Although this text appears in the Tengyur (Toh 3951) as a self-standing work, it also exists almost in its entirety in another of Atiśa's works, entitled Letter of Unblemished Precious Jewels (Toh 4188), a letter sent by Atiśa to the Indian Bengali royalty Nayapāla from Nepal. Noting this, the Tibetan historian Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa asserts that Bodhisattva's Jewel Garland may actually have been compiled by Dromtönpa by drawing from Atiśa's writings. See his Joyful Feast for the Learned (Mkas pa'i dga' ston), p. 709." (Source Accessed Mar 14, 2025)Text
Satyadvayāvatāra
Atiśa based his teaching of Madhyamaka thought and practice on the two realities, conventional reality (saṃvṛtisatya) and ultimate reality(paramārthasatya). Entry to the Two Realities succinctly lays out in twenty-eight verses a general exposition on the two realities. Atiśa composed this work between 1012 and 1025 while residing in Sumatra and studying under Serlingpa. Serlingpa inquired about Atiśa's philosophical views in a letter and Atiśa composed this set of verses as a response. Atiśa wrote Entry to the Two Realities in order to change the philosophical view of Serlingpa from a Yogācāra position to that of the Madhyamaka. Atiśa's introductory text on Madhyamaka presents his understanding based on the synthesis of a number of previous Indian Madhyamaka thinkers. (Source: James Apple, Atiśa Dīpaṃkara: Illuminator of the Awakened Mind, 127.
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Caryāsaṃgrahapradīpa
The Caryāsaṃgrahapradīpa outlines the essential elements of the Buddhist path, beginning with generating bodhicitta (the awakening mind) and taking bodhisattva vows. Atiśa emphasizes maintaining pure moral conduct, proper eating habits, and dividing daily practice between meditation, study, and virtuous activities.
Key practices include: moderating food intake and dividing meals into offerings to deities, dharma protectors, and all beings; balancing seated meditation with walking, circumambulation, and study; maintaining awareness that all phenomena are illusion-like; and adapting one's practice based on the stability of one's meditation.
The text concludes with practical advice about conforming to social conventions when necessary and maintaining good intentions even when engaging with worldly matters. Written in Nepal at a friend's request, this guide represents Atiśa's integration of sūtra and tantra approaches, offering a balanced daily routine for serious Buddhist practitioners seeking enlightenment through the bodhisattva path.Text
Partial translation of
Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa
Atiśa's Open Basket of Jewels: Special Instructions on the Middle Way (Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭamadhyamakopadeśa)m is one of the primary works among his collected writings and perhaps the most extensive of his extant writings composed in India. The text outlines a number of significant features regarding his theory and practice of Mahāyāna Buddhism in general, as well as his understanding of Madhyamaka in particular. The term ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭa refers to an open karaṇḍa, a "basket or covered box," made of jewels (ratna) or containing jewels. In this instance, the jeweled box or box of jewels is the text itself, containing over 120 citations from sūtras and tantras, as well as śāstras and hymns attributed to seminal Buddhist figures such as Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva. The citations of these sources indicate that Atiśa had access, possibly in a temple or monastic library or depository,
to a great number of Indian Buddhist texts when he composed this work.
Date and Place of Authorship
According to the colophon of the canonical version of Open Basket of Jewels, the text was written in the great temple of Vikramaśīla, under the patronage of King Devapāla. The colophon explains that Atiśa composed the work at the requests of his Tibetan disciple and translation partner Tsultrim Gyalwa. The colophon also mentions that the translation was redacted by Atiśa, Tsultrim Gyalwa, and the layperson Tsöndrü Sengé. Therefore the text must have been composed before Atiśa left for Tibet circa 1040, as Tsöndrü Sengé passed away in Nepal on the journey to Tibet (Chattopadhyaya 1981, 302). This information also demonstrates the pedagogical relationship Atiśa had with his Tibetan students in India, in that Atiśa composed Open Basket of Jewels as an introduction for them to understand his Madhyamaka lineage, its source texts, and its primary practices. (Apple, Jewels of the Middle Way, 63)Text
Bodhipathakrama
Atiśa's Stages of the Path Awakening (Bodhipathakrama) . . . synthesizes all aspects of Buddhist practice, from the very beginning of the path—reflecting on the fortunate opportunity of human rebirth—up through to attaining omniscient buddhahood by nondual meditation. The Indian master’s faithful disciple Dromtönpa kept these teachings secret, and they were only transmitted to select disciples in a closely guarded transmission, but the lineage died out centuries ago, after Dromtönpa's Kadam school was eclipsed by history. (Source Accessed July 27, 2025)
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Related
Atiśa's Stages of the Path to Awakening
“This book contains a previously secret, lost work on the stages of the path (lamrim) composed by the originator of the genre, Atiśa, one of the greatest Indian Buddhist masters to ever set foot in Tibet.” The Bodhipathakrama.
Nearly a millennium ago, the great Indian Buddhist master Atisa Dipamkarasrijñana (ca. 982–1054) wrote a guidebook for realizing all the stages to awakening at the repeated request of his closest Tibetan disciple. Atisa is famously the author of the Lamp for the Path to Awakening (Bodhipathapradipa), a short work in verse, but this longer prose work has been virtually unknown, even in Tibet—until now.
Atisa's Stages of the Path Awakening (Bodhipathakrama), translated here, synthesizes all aspects of Buddhist practice, from the very beginning of the path—reflecting on the fortunate opportunity of human rebirth—up through to attaining omniscient buddhahood by nondual meditation. The Indian master’s faithful disciple Dromtönpa kept these teachings secret, and they were only transmitted to select disciples in a closely guarded transmission, but the lineage died out centuries ago, after Dromtönpa's Kadam school was eclipsed by history.
Now this significant work of Buddhist path literature has become available owing to recently recovered manuscripts of the Kadampas. This book offers a study and complete translation from the Tibetan of this monument of guidance on the Buddhist path accompanied by the commentaries and ritual texts that were transmitted alongside Atisa's text. Apple's substantial introduction includes a structural comparison with Atisa's famous work, charts the transmission lineage for the present work before it died out, and explores various hypotheses for why their fates diverged. Recovered from the contingencies of history, this book brings to life one of the most holistic and integrated approaches to the highest realizations of the Indian Buddhist path ever transmitted in Tibet. (Source: Simon and Schuster)Book
