Buddha Mind - Christ Mind

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Buddha Mind - Christ Mind: A Christian Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The Bodhicaryavatara ("Entering the Course towards Awakening") is an Indian Mahayana Buddhist companion to the path of a Bodhisattva, someone motivated by the altruistic "spirit of awakening". Unlike many other Buddhist scriptures, much of this text is written in the very touching form of personal reflections. Despite its late composition (7th-8th cent. CE), the Bodhicaryavatara quickly gained widespread recognition and high appraisal in various parts of the Buddhist world and even beyond. Today it is one of the most widely translated Buddhist texts. The 14th Dalai Lama has emphasized the special impact of this scripture on his own spirituality, and a number of Western scholars have praised it as a true gem among the world’s religious classics. After many commentaries by Buddhist scholars throughout the centuries, this is the first commentary from a Christian perspective, exploring the deep resonances between the "spirit of awakening" and the "spirit of Christ". (Source: Peeters Publishers)

Citation

Schmidt-Leukel, Perry. Buddha Mind - Christ Mind: A Christian Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. With a new translation by Ernst Steinkellner and Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek. Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts 9. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, 2019. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/buddhistwomen2020/files/2020/03/BCA_Translation.pdf.

Table of contents

SOME WORDS AHEADXIII
A WORD ON THE TRANSLATION (by Ernst Steinkellner)XIX
ABBREVIATIONSXXV

PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE BODHICARYĀVATĀRA

CHAPTER 1
The BODHICARYĀVATĀRA: TEXT AND AUTHOR3

CHAPTER 2
The LEGEND OF ŚĀNTIDEVA13
- 1. The Legend Unfolds15
  - 1.1 The earliest written form of the legend15
  - 1.2 An early oral form of the legend19
  - 1.3 The fourteenth-century forms of the legend24
  - 1.4 The late forms of the legend34
- 2. The Legend Interpreted38
  - 2.1 Relating the legend to a person38
  - 2.2 Relating the legend to the text41
  - 2.3 Śāntideva as an ignorant monk: the text as revelation43
  - 2.4 Śāntideva as the "great paṇḍita": the text as an intellectual masterpiece46
  - 2.5 Śāntideva as compassionate Bodhisattva: the text as an existential matrix47
  - 2.6 Śāntideva as miracle-working Siddha: the text as a powerful elixir50

CHAPTER 3
THE SUBJECT OF THE BODHICARYĀVATĀRA53
- 1. Structure and Subject53
- 2. The Bodhicaryāvatāra Compared59
- 3. The Bodhicaryāvatāra ’s Audience70

CHAPTER 4
The BODHICARYĀVATĀRA'S IMPACT75
- 31. The Wider Impact75
- 32. The Impact within Buddhist-Christian Dialogue82

CHAPTER 5
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS97
- 1. Trans-religious Commentarial Writing97
- 2. Levels and Contexts of Interpretation103

PART II: BODHICARYĀVATĀRA: ENTERING THE COURSE TOWARDS AWAKENING TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY

CHAPTER 1
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 1: IN PRAISE OF THE SPIRIT OF AWAKENING (BODHICITTĀNUŚAṂSA)111
- Translation: 1:1-3111
- Commentary: 1. The Source of the Good111
- Translation: 1:4-14116
- Commentary: 2. The Redeeming Spirit117
- Translation: 1:15-36127
- Commentary: 3. The Miracle of the Good128

CHAPTER 2
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 2: CONFESSION OF SINS (PĀPADEŚANĀ)139
- Translation : 2:1-25139
- Commentary: 1. Evoking the Spirit by Venerating Its Incarnations141
- Translation: 2:26-66145
- Commentary: 2. Facing the Abyss and Finding Refuge147

CHAPTER 3
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 3: ADOPTING THE SPIRIT OF AWAKENING (BODHICITTAPARIGRAHA)153
- Translation: 3:1-9153
- Commentary: 1. Resonating With the Spirit154
- Translation : 3:10-23 163163
- Commentary: 2. Imitation of the Buddhas164
- Translation: 3:24-33175
- Commentary: 3. How Life Becomes Meaningful176

CHAPTER 4
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 4: VIGILANT CARE FOR THE SPIRIT OF AWAKENING (BODHICITTĀPRAMĀDA)181
- Translation: 4:1-12181
- Commentary: 1. What is at Stake182
- Translation : 4:13-26185
- Commentary: 2. A Desperate Situation?186
- Translation: 4:27-48190
- Commentary: 3. Facing the True Enemies192

CHAPTER 5
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 5: PRESERVING CIRCUMSPECTION (SAṂPRAJANYARAKṢAṆA)203
- Translation: 5:1-17203
- Commentary: 1. Mind Matters204
- Translation: 5:18-58219
- Commentary: 2. Watch Your Mind221
- Translation : 5:59-70229
- Commentary: 3. Watch Your Body230
- Translation: 5:71-109236
- Commentary: 4. Watch Your Behavior238

CHAPTER 6
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 6: THE PERFECTION OF PATIENCE (KṢANTIPĀRAMITĀ)255
- Translation : 6:1-8255
- Commentary: 1. Exposition: Forbearance versus Hate255
- Translation: 6:9-21260
- Commentary: 2. The Benefit of Suffering261
- Translation: 6:22-75266
- Commentary: 3. Overcoming Anger at Others’ Misdeeds270
- Translation: 6:76-98286
- Commentary: 4. Overcoming Anger at Others’ Success288
- Translation: 6:99-111291
- Commentary: 5. Welcoming One’s Enemies292
- Translation 6:112-134295
- Commentary: 6. Love as True Worship297

CHAPTER 7
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 7: THE PERFECTION OF VIGOR (VĪRYAPĀRAMITĀ)305
- Commentary: 1. A Note on the Structure of Chapter 7305
- Translation: 7:1-15307
- Commentary: 2. A Wake-Up Call from Carelessness308
- Translation: 7:16-30310
- Commentary: 3. Overcoming Dejection311
- Translation 7:31-66315
- Commentary: 4. Spiritual Power318
- Translation: 7:67-75324
- Commentary: 5. The Alertness of the Spiritual Warrior325

EXCURSUS: ŚĀNTIDEVA AND THE BUDDHIST HELLS331

CHAPTER 8
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 8: THE PERFECTION OF ABSORPTION (DHYĀNAPĀRAMITĀ)347
- Commentary: 1. A Note on the Structure of Chapter 8347
- Translation: 8:1-38349
- Commentary: 2. The Legacy of the Śramaṇas351
- Translation: 8:39-88361
- Commentary: 3. The Delusion Inherent in Sexual Desire364
- Translation: 8:89-110375
- Commentary: 4. Equality377
- Translation: 8:111-158388
- Commentary: 6. Self-love and Altruism391
- Translation : 8:159-186402
- Commentary: 6. Putting the Exchange into Practice404

CHAPTER 9
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 9: THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ)413
- Commentary: 1. Preliminary Remarks413
- Translation : 9:1-5415
- Commentary: 2. Gradual Insight and the Illusion of Conceptual Grasping416
- Translation: 9:6-57425
- Commentary: 3. Illusionism, Radical Apophasis and Soteriological Efficacy429
- Translation: 9:58-116444
- Commentary: 4. The Philosophical Justification of Emptiness (I): No-Self and No-Thing449
- Translation: 9:117-151467
- Commentary: 5. The Philosophical Justification of Emptiness (II): No-Causality470
- Translation: 9:152-168488
- Commentary: 6. The Missionary of Emptiness489

CHAPTER 10
BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 10: TRANSFERENCE OF MERIT (PARIṆĀMANĀPARICCHEDA)493
- Commentary: 1. Developing Loving Kindness and the Dedication of Merit493
- Translation: 10:1-18495
- Commentary: 2. For Those on the Bad Plains of Existence497
- Translation: 10:19-50503
- Commentary: 3. For Those on the Good Plains of Existence505
- Translation: 10:51-58512
- Commentary: 4. Śāntideva Praying for Himself513

APPENDIX:
OUTLINE OF THE BODHICARYĀVATĀRA BY ERNST STEINKELLNER517
BIBLIOGRAPHY521
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES555
GENERAL INDEX567

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Full translation of

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.

1 Teaching based 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.

Articles2021About this item

This essay is based on my commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra in which I discovered and exposed a striking similarity between the Pauline tension of spirit and flesh on the one hand and Śāntideva's description of the tension between spirit and defilements on the other hand. By means of a fictive dialogue between Paul and Śāntideva, the essay provides a brief summary of the broader theological and buddhological contexts in which these two conceptions of spiritual endeavor are embedded. In doing so, further parallels but also differences between the teachings of Paul and Śāntideva are highlighted, suggesting that the commonalities are strong enough to indicate a common spiritual source and the differences significant enough to enable reciprocal illumination in terms of a genuinely truth-seeking dialogue.