The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara

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The Concept of Bodhicitta in Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra

Book

Bodhicitta (introduction)

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

This book explores an important concept within the Buddhist Mahayana tradition, bodhicitta. This term appears frequently in Sanskrit literature relating to the spiritual practices of the bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism and has been variously translated as "thought of enlightenment" or "desire of enlightenment." Francis Brassard offers a contextual analysis of bodhicitta based on the presuppositions underlying the spiritual practice of the bodhisattva. Since the understanding that emerges involves how one ought to view the process of spiritual transformation, this work contributes to Buddhist psychology and soteriology in particular, and to comparative religions in general. The book surveys the various interpretations of the concept of bodhicitta, analyzes its possible functions in the context of the spiritual path of the aspirant to enlightenment, and discusses an understanding of bodhicitta in the context of the Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara. (Source: SUNY Press)

Citation

Brassard, Francis. The Concept of Bodhicitta in Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. https://archive.org/details/conceptofbodhicittainsantidevasbodhicaryavatarafrancisbrassardsunny_117_u.

Publisher Link

https://www.sunypress.edu/p-3178-the-concept-of-bodhicitta-in-sa.aspx

Table of contents

List of Abbreviationsix
Introduction1

Chapter one: Bodhicitta and the spiritual path of the Bodhisattva7
- 1. Methodological considerations7
- 2. Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra10
  - i. The text11
  - ii. Śāntideva15
  - iii. Prajñākaramati17
- 3. Review of literature18
  - i. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki18
  - ii. Sangharakshita22

Chapter two: Bodhicitta as a desire for enlightenment29
- 1. The idea of desire30
- 2. Criticism of bodhicitta as an act of will34
  - i. Citta (mind)34
  - ii. Citta-utpāda (arising of the mind)39
  - iii. The two types of bodhicitta41
  - iv. The ethical aspect of bodhicitta46
- 3. Conclusion50

Chapter three: Bodhicitta as an object of concentration53
- 1. Arguments in favor of bodhicitta as an object of concentration55
  - i. Derivatives of the Sanskrit verbal roots √grah (to take) and √dhṛ (to hold)55
  - ii. The practice of meditation58
  - iii. Implications related to the idea of bodhicitta as an object of concentration63
- 2. Criticism of bodhicitta as an object of concentration64

Chapter four: Bodhicitta as cultivation of awareness71
- 1. The nature of religious language73
  - i. The functional aspect of religious language73
  - ii. The metaphysical aspect of religious language77
  - iii. The ethical aspect of religious language80
- 2. The cultivation of awareness87
  - i. Examples of the cultivation of awareness90
  - ii. The feeling of detachment93
  - iii. The breaking up of distinctions97
- 3. The practice of devotion98
  - i. Saddhā/śraddhā99
- 4. Conclusion102

Chapter five: The aspect of renunciation105
- - i. The kleśas (mental afflictions) and the cultivation of awareness109
  - ii. Kṣāntipāramitā (the Perfection of patience)111
  - iii. The workings of the mind113

Chapter six: The aspect of conversion119
- - i. Vīryapāramitā (the Perfection of endeavor)123

Chapter seven: The aspect of contemplation133

Conclusion147

Notes151
Bibliography177
Index187

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Based on dissertation

Brassard, Francis. "The Concept of Bodhicitta in Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra." PhD diss., McGill University, 1996.

Dissertations1996About this item

This thesis argues that the path to realization consists in cultivating an awareness of the reality described by the concept of bodhicitta.

1 Scholarship on

Śāntideva (ཞི་བ་ལྷ་). Bodhicaryāvatāra [बोधिचर्यावतार]. byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa [བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ།]. [The Way of the Bodhisattva]. Tengyur, RKTST 3216 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3216&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

An "Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice," the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is a poem about the path of a bodhisattva, in ten chapters, written by the Indian Buddhist Śāntideva (fl. c. 685–763). One of the masterpieces of world literature, it is a core text of Mahāyāna Buddhism and continues to be taught, studied, and commented upon in many languages and by many traditions around the world. The main subject of the text is bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment, and the path and practices of the bodhisattva, the six perfections (pāramitās). The text forms the basis of many contemporary discussions of Buddhist ethics and philosophy.