Explore/Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

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The understanding and practice of bodhicitta depends on the knowledge of the stories, key concepts, texts, and people associated with it. Explore these various aspects to gain a better understanding of bodhicitta, the desire to seek the ultimate happiness for all sentient beings.

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Concise Summary of Essential Points

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 us to make sure that once we have cultivated this precious mind of bodhicitta we never turn away from it.

The children of the Conqueror who thus Have firmly grasped this bodhichitta, Should never turn aside from it, Strive never to transgress its disciplines.

Verse 4.1

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 53
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.

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༈ རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས་ཀྱིས་དེ་ལྟ་བུར། །

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་རབ་བརྟན་བཟུང་ནས། ། གཡེལ་བ་མེད་པར་རྟག་ཏུ་ཡང་། །

བསླབ་ལས་མི་འདའ་འབད་པར་བྱ། །

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.

The Need for Discipline

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. These two chapters 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 and those practices that hinder us and should be avoided.

The fourth chapter focuses primarily on conscientiousness. The Tibetan historian and Buddhist researcher Geshe Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley (1927–1997) describes it 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 is about how to behave when interacting with others, and how to act when our minds are scattered.^[1]

Preciousness of Human Rebirth

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.

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.

Today, indeed, I’m hale and well, I have enough to eat and I am not in danger. But this life is fleeting, unreliable, My body is like something briefly lent.

Verse 4.16

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 55
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.

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ནད་མེད་ཉི་མ་འདི་ལྟ་བུ། །

ཟས་བཅས་འཚེ་བ་མེད་ཀྱང་ནི། ། ཚེ་ནི་སྐད་ཅིག་བསླུ་བ་སྟེ། །

ལུས་ནི་ཐང་ཅིག་བརྙན་པོ་བཞིན། །

Śāntideva encourages us to see the rare opportunity we have right now—fleeting and fragile, like something of great value briefly lent to us. We should therefore uplift our minds and strive in virtue rather than being despondent about temporary obstacles.

The Defects of the Afflictive Emotions

In this chapter, Śāntideva also reflects on the faults of afflictive mental states as a way to ingrain conscientiousness into our behavior.

Anger, lust, these enemies of mine, Are limbless and devoid of faculties. They have no bravery, no cleverness; How then have they reduced me to such slavery?

Verse 4.28

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 57
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.

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ཞེ་སྡང་སྲེད་སོགས་དགྲ་རྣམས་ནི། །

རྐང་ལག་ལ་སོགས་ཡོད་མིན་ལ། ། དཔའ་མཛངས་མིན་ཡང་ཇི་ཞིག་ལྟར། །

དེ་དག་གིས་བདག་བྲན་བཞིན་བྱས། །

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 enemies. 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.

Abandoning Emotional Defilement

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 than 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 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.

I will not leave the fight until, before my eyes,
These enemies of mine are all destroyed. (4.36ab)^[2]

His last words to us in the chapter encourage us to take the medicine of conscientiousness that has been prescribed.

What invalids in need of medicine Ignored their doctor’s words and gained their health? (4.48cd)^[3]

Spurred on by the thought of our precious and rare opportunity and how fragile that 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):

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.^[4]

↑ Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley, An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.
↑ Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra, by Śāntideva (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006), 58.
↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Way of the Bodhisattva, 60.
↑ Stephen Gethin, Helena Blankleder, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005), 31.

Additional resources

Learn About Śāntideva's Texts

Bodhicaryāvatāra
The Way of the Bodhisattva

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.

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Śikṣāsamuccaya
The Compendium of Training

The Compendium of Training is an anthology of excerpts from the Mahāyāna sūtras that discusses the bodhisattva path and principles in much greater length and detail., Śikṣāsamuccaya (T. Bslab pa kun las btus pa; C. Dasheng ji pusa xue lun; J. Daijōjū bosatsugakuron; K. Taesǔng chip posal hak non 大乘集菩薩學論). In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Training," a work by the eighth-century Indian Mahāyāna master Śāntideva. It consists of twenty-seven stanzas on the motivation and practice of the bodhisattva, including bodhicitta, the six perfections (pāramitā), the worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas, the benefits of renunciation, and the peace derived from the knowledge of emptiness (śūnyatā). The topic of each of the stanzas receives elaboration in the form of a prose commentary by the author as well as in illustrative passages, often quite extensive, drawn from a wide variety of Mahāyāna sūtras. Some ninety-seven texts are cited in all, many of which have been lost in their original Sanskrit, making the Śikṣāsamuccaya an especially important source for the textual history of Indian Buddhism. These citations also offer a window into which sūtras were known to a Mahāyāna author in eighth-century India. The digest of passages that Śāntideva provides was repeatedly drawn upon by Tibetan authors in their citations of sūtras. Although Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra and Śikṣāsamuccaya both deal with similar topics, the precise relation between the two texts is unclear. Several of the author's verses appear in both texts and some of the sūtra passages from the Śikṣāsamuccaya also appear in the Bodhicaryāvatāra. One passage in the Bodhicaryāvatāra also refers readers to the Śikṣāsamuccaya, but this line does not occur in the Dunhuang manuscript of the text and may be a later interpolation. (Source: "Śikṣāsamuccaya." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 821. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

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Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 4

Rājāvavādakasūtra

Sutra of Advice to the King (Skt. Rājāvavādakasūtra; Tib. འཕགས་པ་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལ་དམས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།, Wyl. 'phags pa rgyal po la gdams pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo) — The main topic of this sutra is impermanence. (Source: Rigpawiki)

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Saddharmasmṛtyupasthānasūtra

While on the way to Rājagṛha to collect alms, a group of newly ordained monks are approached by some non-Buddhists, who suggest that their doctrine is identical to that of the Buddha, since everyone agrees that misdeeds of body, speech, and mind are to be given up. The monks do not know how to reply, and when they later return to the brahmin town of Nālati, where the Buddha is residing, Śāradvatīputra therefore encourages them to seek clarification from the Blessed One himself. In response to the monks’ request, the Buddha delivers a comprehensive discourse on the effects of virtuous and unvirtuous actions, explaining these matters from the perspective of an adept practitioner of his teachings, who sees and understands all this through a process of personal discovery. As the teaching progresses, the Buddha presents an epic tour of the realm of desire—from the Hell of Ultimate Torment to the Heaven Free from Strife—all the while introducing the specific human actions and attitudes that cause the experience of such worlds and outlining the ways to remedy and transcend them. In the final section of the sūtra, which is presented as an individual scripture on its own, the focus is on mindfulness of the body and the ripening of karmic actions that is experienced among humans in particular. (Source: 84000)

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Upāyakauśalyasūtra

Upāyakauśalyasūtra. (T. Thabs la mkhas pa'i mdo; C. Dasheng fangbian hui; J. Daijō hōben'e; K. Taesǔng pangp'yǒn hoe 大乘方便會). In Sanskrit, "Skillful Means Sūtra," an early Mahāyāna sūtra included in the Ratnakūṭasūtra collection, where it is also known as the Jñānottarabodhisattvaparipṛcchā. (In addition to the recension embedded in the 410 CE Chinese translation of the Ratnakūṭa, as transcribed above, there are also two other Chinese translations, one made in 285 CE, the other c. 980.) The first part of the sūtra extols the virtues of the practice of "skillful means" (upāyakauśalya), generally understood in this context to refer to the dedication of the merit from a virtuous deed, such as offerings made for the welfare and ultimate enlightenment of all beings. The sūtra goes on to explain how apparently nonvirtuous acts, such as sexual misconduct, become virtues when performed by a bodhisattva with skillful means, noting, "Something that sends other sentient beings to hell sends the bodhisattva who is skilled in means to rebirth in the world of Brahmā." Also recounted is the famous story of the Buddha's previous life as a ship captain, when he kills a potential murderer in order to save others' lives. In the second part of the sūtra, the Buddha recounts the events of his life (see Baxiang), from his entry into his mother's womb to his decision to teach the dharma as instances of his skillful means; none of these events are presented as the consequences of his own past nonvirtuous actions or indeed of any fault whatsoever on his part. For example, after his enlightenment, the Buddha has no hesitation to teach the dharma; nonetheless, he compels the god Brahmā to descend from his heaven to implore the Buddha to teach. He forces this act so that beings who worship Brahmā will have faith in the Buddha and so that the myriad forms of the god Brahmā will generate bodhicitta. The sūtra concludes with a discussion of ten cases in the life of the Buddha in which he apparently undergoes suffering (such as a headache, backache, and being pierced by a thorn) that had previously been ascribed to his nonvirtuous deeds in a past life; in each case, these are instead explained as being examples of the Buddha's skillful means. (Source: "Upāyakauśalyasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 943. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

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Nandapravrajyāsūtra

In this sūtra, the Buddha Śākyamuni, accompanied by Ānanda, visits the house of Nanda during his stay in Banyan Grove near Kapilavastu. A discourse ensues in which the Buddha explains to Nanda the importance and benefits of going forth as a monk. Nanda expresses hesitation about going forth, so the Buddha explains by means of analogies how fortunate Nanda is to have obtained an auspicious human birth, to have met the Buddha, and to have the opportunity to become a monk. Nanda is deeply impressed by the Buddha’s teaching and decides to renounce worldly life and go forth. (Source: 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha)

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Trisaṃvaranirdeśaparivartasūtra

The Trisaṃvaranirdeśaparivarta of the Ratnakūṭasūtra collection sets forth the three types of vows as the three types of bodhisattva morality found in the śīlaparivarta ("morality chapter") of the Bodhisattvabhūmi. (Source: "trisaṃvara." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 924. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

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Recommended Books Related to Chapter 4

Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life: An Oral Explanation of Chapter 4

This book is a moderately edited transcript of oral explanations given by Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche on Chapter Four of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Rimpoche gave these teachings on Tuesday nights in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from April 1998 through April 1999. . . .

Throughout this transcript, Rimpoche uses the English translation by Stephen Batchelor, published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Since Rinpoche frequently makes reference to Tibetan words and phrasing, the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit original is included in Wylie transliteration.

Rinpoche did not introduce a traditional extensive outline in giving this teaching. For those interested, an outline of this sort may be found in Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's Meaningful to Behold. The headings and subheadings in this present volume have been added by the editor for ease of reference, and to help delineate changes of topic. A brief bibliography is included. For a glossary, see the previous volumes in this series.

The transcription of these teachings from tapes was done by Hartmut Sagolla and Jayapushpa. (Anne Warren, acknowledgements, i)

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Key Terms for Chapter 4

Śīla

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Apramāda

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Kleśa

Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that, when aroused, negatively affect or taint the mind.

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Bibliography: Works on Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

[1] Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley, An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.

[2] Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra, by Śāntideva (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006), 58.

[3] Blankleder and Fletcher, Way of the Bodhisattva, 60.

[4] Stephen Gethin, Helena Blankleder, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005), 31.

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Explore/Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness

Contents

Concise Summary of Essential Points

The Need for Discipline

Preciousness of Human Rebirth

The Defects of the Afflictive Emotions

Abandoning Emotional Defilement

Notes

Additional resources

Learn About Śāntideva's Texts

Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 4

Recommended Books Related to Chapter 4

Recommended Videos Related to Chapter 4

Explore All Resources Related to Chapter 4

Key Terms for Chapter 4

Śīla

Apramāda

Kleśa

Bibliography: Works on Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness