Explore/Chapter 3 - Taking Hold of Bodhicitta

Chapter 3 - Taking Hold of Bodhicitta

Summary

BCA Chapter Summaries

• Chapter 1 - The Excellence and Benefits of Bodhicitta
• Chapter 10 - Dedication
• Chapter 2 - Confession of Negativity
• Chapter 3 - Taking Hold of Bodhicitta
• Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness
• Chapter 5 - Vigilant Introspection
• Chapter 6 - Patience
• Chapter 7 - Diligence
• Chapter 8 - Meditative Concentration
• Chapter 9 - Wisdom

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Chapter 3 continues with verses that explain the remainder of the limbs or branches of the supreme worship that began in chapter 2: rejoicing in virtue, the request that the teachers should turn the wheel of the Dharma, the prayer that the teachers might not pass into nirvana, and the dedication of one's roots of virtue for the sake of others.

Concise Summary of Essential Points

The verses of chapter 2 covered the first four branches of the supreme worship (anuttarā pūjā), an eight-limbed Buddhist practice for accumulating merit—specifically, prostration or paying homage, refuge, making offerings, and the confession of negativity.

Chapter 3 contains verses that explain the remainder of those limbs or branches: rejoicing in virtue, the request that the teachers should turn the wheel of the Dharma, the prayer that the teachers might not pass into nirvana, and the dedication of one's roots of virtue for the sake of others.

Rejoicing in virtue is an important and effective way of accumulating merit. As many masters have pointed out, it is one of the easiest ways to accomplish this, as we don't have to actually expend effort in doing the positive actions ourselves. With sincere appreciation, devoid of any sense of envy, we can transform every act of positivity that we witness others do into a store of further merit. Of course, this should not be done cynically or as some kind of excuse for laziness but with an authentic sense of delight in others' virtue, which then acts as a direct antidote to jealousy.

The next verses cover the sixth branch of the supreme worship—namely, requesting the teachers to turn the wheel of the Dharma. This practice dates back all the way to the time of the historical Buddha. Having attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, the Buddha remained silent for seven days, feeling that worldly people had "too much dust in their eyes" to perceive the subtlety and profundity of the truth he had understood. It was only on the urging of the god Brahmā Sahampati that he decided to set in motion the wheel of the Dharma. We urge the buddhas and bodhisattvas to turn the wheel of the Dharma so that even those of us with a lot of dust in our eyes can receive guidance and so that the teachings will continue to remain in the world and benefit all beings.

The seventh of the eight limbs is the prayer requesting the buddhas and our teachers not to pass into nirvana but to remain in samsara to teach and guide suffering beings. The buddhas have reached the state of the "deathless," so they do not die in the same way as ordinary beings. However, due to the fortunate karma of beings, their manifestations will appear in certain world systems for a time and then pass back into the dharmakāya, the sphere of ultimate reality. To keep these manifestations appearing in the world for the benefit of all beings, we beseech them not to pass beyond but to remain for countless eons, until the very end of samsara, to show the path to liberation.

The last branch of the supreme worship is the dedication of our roots of virtue for others. Bringing to mind the merit created with all these practices, we first pray that all sentient beings will be free of their pain and suffering. This is followed by several beautiful verses dedicating the accumulated merit to the complete elimination of sickness, hunger, and poverty.

There follows a series of verses on mind training, which is explained to be the main cause of the arising of the awakening mind. The mind training spoken of here is aimed at relinquishing the very foundations of ego-clinging that are mentioned in the root text as our own bodies, our possessions, and our past, present, and future roots of virtue. Only by giving up these things can we attain nirvana. Since we will have to let go of our very body and possessions when we die, the merit we have created could very easily be destroyed by strong negative emotions such as anger or envy. Śāntideva suggests that it may therefore be better to give them all away now with the heartfelt aspiration that they will become a cause for the temporary and ultimate well-being of all sentient beings.

The second half of the chapter is dedicated to taking the bodhisattva vow and then rejoicing in bodhicitta. Śāntideva gives us the actual words that are used for the ceremony of taking hold of bodhicitta.

Just as all the Buddhas of the past Have brought forth the awakened mind, And in the precepts of the Bodhisattvas Step-by-step abode and trained,

Verse 3.23

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 50
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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[ tib / wyl ]

ཇི་ལྟར་སྔོན་གྱི་བདེ་གཤེགས་ཀྱིས། །

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཐུགས་ནི་བསྐྱེད་པ་དང་། ། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་བསླབ་པ་ལ། །

དེ་དག་རིམ་བཞིན་གནས་པ་ལྟར། །

ji ltar sngon gyi bde gshegs kyis/_/

byang chub thugs ni bskyed pa dang /_/ byang chub sems dpa'i bslab pa la/_/

de dag rim bzhin gnas pa ltar/_/

Likewise, for the benefit of beings, I will bring to birth the awakened mind, And in those precepts, step-by-step, I will abide and train myself.

Verse 3.24

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 50
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.

[ toggle Tib. ]

[ tib / wyl ]

དེ་བཞིན་འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་དོན་དུ། །

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ནི་བསྐྱེད་བགྱི་ཞིང་། ། དེ་བཞིན་དུ་ནི་བསླབ་པ་ལའང་། །

རིམ་པ་བཞིན་དུ་བསླབ་པར་བགྱི། །

de bzhin 'gro la phan don du/_/

byang chub sems ni bskyed bgyi zhing /_/ de bzhin du ni bslab pa la'ang /_/

rim pa bzhin du bslab par bgyi/_/

Reciting these verses three times, we thus take hold of this incredible mind of enlightenment. Śāntideva then bursts forth with several verses to express the supreme qualities of bodhicitta and the amazing good fortune of receiving such a mind. To express this, he likens himself to a blind man who, by complete chance, has stumbled across a jewel buried in the dust.

For I am like a blind man who has found A precious gem inside a heap of dust. For so it is, by some strange chance, That bodhichitta has been born in me.

Verse 3.28

[ src citation ]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Page(s) 51
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.

[ toggle Tib. ]

[ tib / wyl ]

ལོང་བས་ཕྱག་དར་ཕུང་པོ་ལས། །

ཇི་ལྟར་རིན་ཆེན་རྙེད་པ་ལྟར། ། དེ་བཞིན་ཇི་ཞིག་ལྟར་སྟེས་ནས། །

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་འདི་བདག་ལ་སྐྱེས། །

long bas phyag dar phung po las/_/

ji ltar rin chen rnyed pa ltar/_/ de bzhin ci zhig ltar stes nas/_/

byang chub sems 'di bdag la skyes/_/

The chapter ends with a verse to take delight in others' attainment of welfare. ​Śāntideva invites all beings, in the presence of the buddhas, to enjoy the temporary happiness of the gods until they are able to achieve the state of unsurpassed buddhahood.

Notes

More on this chapter

Chapter 3 continues with verses that explain the remainder of the limbs or branches of the supreme worship that began in chapter 2: rejoicing in virtue, the request that the teachers should turn the wheel of the Dharma, the prayer that the teachers might not pass into nirvana, and the dedication of one's roots of virtue for the sake of others.

Detailed Introduction

Read Chapter 3 Verses

Read Previous Summary - Chapter 2

Read Next Summary - Chapter 4

The Mirror Clarifying the Results of Karma: Chapter 3

Tales of Engaging the Way of the Bodhisattva: Chapter 3

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.

Text

 

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.)

Text

Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 3

 

Gṛhapatyugraparipṛcchāsūtra

A group of wealthy householders led by Ugra ask the Buddha for guidance on the proper conduct for married, male, lay practitioners. The Buddha answers by laying out, in great detail, the many challenges presented by remaining in a household as compared to the many advantages of going forth as an ordained monk and renouncing worldly life. Instructions are also given on how laymen should behave when visiting a monastery. Convinced of the superiority of monastic renunciation, Ugra and the other householders request to go forth and receive monastic ordination. The Buddha then lays out the proper conduct for renunciant bodhisattvas while living in retreat in the wilderness. (Source: 84000)

Text

Recommended Books Related to Chapter 3

 

Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: An Oral Explanation of Chapter 3

This book is a moderately edited transcript of oral explanations given by Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche on Chapter Three of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Rinpoche gave these teachings on Tuesday nights in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from July 1997 to April 1998. . . .

Throughout this transcript, Rinpoche 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. Footnotes and a glossary provide some background information.

The transcription of these teachings from tapes was done by Hartmut Sagolla, who has spent countless hours transcribing a great number of Rinpoche's teachings. Much editorial advice and support was given by Marianne Soeters provided the glossaries from which most of the entries in the glossary in this volume were drawn. (Anne Warren, acknowledgements, i–ii)

Book

 

Virtuous Bodies

Virtuous Bodies breaks new ground in the field of Buddhist ethics by investigating the diverse roles bodies play in ethical development. Traditionally, Buddhists assumed a close connection between body and morality. Thus Buddhist literature contains descriptions of living beings that stink with sin, are disfigured by vices, or are perfumed and adorned with virtues. Taking an influential early medieval Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist text-Śāntideva's Compendium of Training (Śikşāsamuccaya)-as a case study, Susanne Mrozik demonstrates that Buddhists regarded ethical development as a process of physical and moral transformation.

Mrozik chooses The Compendium of Training because it quotes from over one hundred Buddhist scriptures, allowing her to reveal a broader Buddhist interest in the ethical significance of bodies. The text is a training manual for bodhisattvas, especially monastic bodhisattvas. In it, bodies function as markers of, and conditions for, one's own ethical development. Most strikingly, bodies also function as instruments for the ethical development of others. When living beings come into contact with the virtuous bodies of bodhisattvas, they are transformed physically and morally for the better.

Virtuous Bodies explores both the centrality of bodies to the bodhisattva ideal and the corporeal specificity of that ideal. Arguing that the bodhisattva ideal is an embodied ethical ideal, Mrozik poses an array of fascinating questions: What does virtue look like? What kinds of physical features constitute virtuous bodies? What kinds of bodies have virtuous effects on others? Drawing on a range of contemporary theorists, this book engages in a feminist hermeneutics of recovery and suspicion in order to explore the ethical resources Buddhism offers to scholars and religious practitioners interested in the embodied nature of ethical ideals. (Source: Oxford University Press)

Book

Recommended Articles Related to Chapter 3

 

Altruism as Antidote to Demagoguery: Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara Chapter 3 as Method for Countering Identity Divisions

What is altruism and how may shifting individuals' attentions from self to other diffuse the self-centered power of sustained victimology, identity divisions, and demagoguery? My paper examines altruism, demagoguery, excerpts from Chapter 3 of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara, and the fostering of altruism through the practice of bodhichitta. Particularly as it pertains to the commitment a bodhisattva makes in acting for the wellbeing of all sentient life in the development of aspirational and action bodhichitta through spiritual activism. Individuals need not be Buddhist to foster, express, or practice the bodhisattva commitment.

Article

 

Cooking Living Beings: The Transformative Effects of Encounters with Bodhisattva Bodies

Bodies play important and diverse roles in Buddhist ethics. Drawing upon an Indian Mahayana Buddhist compendium of bodhisattva practice, this paper explores the role bodhisattva bodies play in the ethical development of other living beings. Bodhisattvas adopt certain disciplinary practices in order to produce bodies whose very sight, sound, touch, and even taste transform living beings in physical and moral ways. The compendium uses a common South Asian and Buddhist metaphor to describe a bodhisattva's physical and moral impact on others. Bodhisattvas are said to "cook living beings." The paper considers how this metaphor suggests ways of nuancing modern Western conceptions of ethical self-cultivation, particularly as articulated by Michel Foucault in his studies of the technologies of the self.

Journal Article

Recommended Dissertations Related to Chapter 3

 

Die Aufnahme des Erleuchtungsgeistes: Eine Übersetzung von Prajñākaramatis Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā 3.1-19

Abstract Śāntideva was a Buddhist monk from India and a follower of the Madhyamaka tradition who composed the Bodhicaryāvatāra in the 8th century A.D. His literary work describes the spiritual path of a bodhisattva, who by following step by step the six perfections (pāramitā), beginning with the production of the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta), until reaching the insight (prajñā) into the highest truth, approaches his goal: The enlightenment (bodhi). In doing so he is constantly accompanied by his compassion (karuṇā) for all beings who are caught in the suffering of saṃsāra and to whom he commits to helping, to whom he pledges to postpone his own salvation until all suffering has come to an end and all beings have gained enlightenment.
      This thesis contains a German translation of Prajñākaramati’s commentary (9th century A.D.) named Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā on the verses 1-19 of the third chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra. The main theme of the third chapter is as the title (bodhicittaparigraha) already reveals the adoption of the mind of enlightenment. The willingness of the bodhisattva to give up everything, that is to say his own bodies from all existences, all his possessions and even the good, he has acquired and will acquire through the course of time, in the past, the present and the future is described in detail in the translated verses and their corresponding passages in the commentary. There the bodhisattva leaves everything and dedicates it to the sentient beings. His entire being is directed towards the necessities of the living beings. He does not hold back anything for himself, he is completely selfless and therefore he overcomes all attachments.
      Moreover, this thesis provides an edition of the Tibetan verse- and commentary text of the relevant passages on the basis of two versions (Derge and Peking) contained in the Tanjur. These were consulted for the translation in addition to the Sanskrit version of the text in order to improve the general understanding of the text.

Dissertation

Recommended Videos Related to Chapter 3

 

Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche: Lesson 3. Taking Hold of Bodhicitta

Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche<br

Lesson 3. Taking Hold of Bodhicitta

Online Course hosted by The Buddhist Society - Thursday 11th March 2021 during lockdown

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will analyse the Bodhicaryāvatāra, often translated as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, an 8th-century masterpiece from Indian scholar and yogi Shantideva. In each of the ten lessons, H.E. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will focus on one of the ten chapters of the Bodhicaryāvatāra.

The Bodhicaryāvatāra is regarded as one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist texts and is studied extensively by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners everywhere. Rinpoche delivers his understanding of the text in a way that makes it fully accessible to anyone who is looking for support and help in these times.

Course Outline
Lesson 1. The Excellence of Bodhicitta - Thursday 18th February at 12pm
Lesson 2. Confession - Thursday 25th February at 12pm
Lesson 3. Taking Hold of Bodhicitta - Thursday 11th March at 12pm
Lesson 4. Carefulness - Thursday 25th March at 12pm
Lesson 5. Vigilance - Thursday 22nd April at 12pm
Lesson 6. Patience - Thursday 6th May at 12pm
Lesson 7. Diligence - Thursday 20th May at 12pm
Lesson 8. Meditation - Thursday 3rd June at 12pm
Lesson 9. Wisdom - Thursday 17th June at 12pm

Lesson 10. Dedication - Thursday 1st July at 12pm

Multimedia

 

Bodhicharyavatara - Chapter 3: Taking Hold of Bodhichitta: Teaching by Ringu Tulku (Part 1 of 17)

Bodhicharyavatara, Chapter 3, Stanzas 1-4

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Bodhicharya Online Shedra (June 26, 2011)

With this video (BA3_1-4) we come to the third chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara, Taking Hold of Bodhichitta. Here Rinpoche explains stanzas 1 to 4, which cover the fifth branch of the eight accumulation practices: rejoicing. The first four branches — offerings, prostrations, refuge and confession — were discussed in chapter 2. These practices are part of the preliminaries for generating or fully adopting the bodhichitta.

Further recommended reading: the commentary book by Kunzang Pelden (Khenpo Kunpal), The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech, p. 119-121.

Multimedia

 

Shantideva's Engaging in the Bodhisattva's Deeds: Requesting Teachings and Our Teachers to Remain: Teaching by Venerable Thubten Chodron (Part 15)

Venerable Thubten Chodron begins chapter three of Engaging in the Bodhisattva's Deeds. She gives commentary to verses 1-11, covering the last four limbs of the seven limb prayer: rejoicing, requesting teachings, requesting the teacher to remain, and dedication of merit.

References:

• The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors: A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas by Gyaltsab Rinpoche
• A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life - translated by Stephen Batchelor (Source Accessed Nov 8, 2021)

Multimedia

Explore All Resources Related to Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3 Topics Page

A complete list of sources related to Bodhicaryāvatāra chapter 3

Topic

Key Terms for Chapter 3

Anumodanā

The practice of feeling genuine joy and appreciation for the good deeds, success, and positive qualities of others. It is a powerful way to overcome jealousy and build positive energy by simply delighting in the virtue found in the world.

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Dharmacakrapravartanādhyeṣaṇā

A significant spiritual practice of formally requesting or entreating a Buddha or a qualified teacher to share the Dharma. It is part of a series of practices called the Supreme Worship and encourages the flourishing of the Dharma.

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Bodhisattvasaṃvara

The ethical code or 'vow' taken by a practitioner on the Great Vehicle path. It is a formal commitment to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings, involving the avoidance of selfish actions and the active practice of helping others. Unlike other Buddhist vows, this commitment is maintained across multiple lifetimes until all beings are liberated.

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Yan lag bdun

The seven branches, or sections, of devotional religious services, or prayers, recited consecutively in order to accumulate merit. The typical set of seven are prostrations, offering, confession, rejoicing in virtue, requesting to turn the wheel of Dharma, requesting to not pass into nirvāṇa, and the dedication of merit, presented in that order.

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Bibliography: Works on Chapter 3 - Taking Hold of Bodhicitta

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhicitta'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhicitta'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhicitta'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhicitta'

Anumodanā - The practice of feeling genuine joy and appreciation for the good deeds, success, and positive qualities of others. It is a powerful way to overcome jealousy and build positive energy by simply delighting in the virtue found in the world. Skt अनुमोदना  Tib རྗེས་སུ་ཡི་རང་བ་  Ch 隨喜  

Go to the page with the definition of 'rejoicing'

Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

Go to the page with the definition of 'virtue'

Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

Go to the page with the definition of 'virtue'

Pariṇāmanā - The Buddhist practice of 'dedicating' or giving away the positive energy from one's good deeds for the benefit of others. It ensures that the goodness created is shared with all beings and directed toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment, preventing it from being exhausted. Skt परिणामना  Tib བསྔོ་བ་  Ch 迴向  

Go to the page with the definition of 'dedication'

Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

Go to the page with the definition of 'merit'

Puṇya - The positive energy or potential created through performing good deeds, such as generosity or kindness. In Buddhism, accumulating this positive force is seen as essential for finding happiness in future lives, and crucial as a foundation for following the spiritual path. Skt पुण्य  Tib བསོད་ནམས་  Ch 福;功德  

Go to the page with the definition of 'merit'

Śaraṇagamana - The foundational act of entering the Buddhist path by formally seeking protection and guidance from the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. Skt शरणगमन  Tib སྐྱབས་འགྲོ་  Ch 皈依  

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Pāpadeśanā - The Buddhist practice of 'confession' or 'laying aside evil.' It involves honestly acknowledging past mistakes and negative actions with regret, then committing not to repeat them. This process helps clear the mind of guilt and negative karmic imprints, creating space for positive qualities to grow. Skt पापदेशना  Tib སྡིག་པ་བཤགས་པ་  Ch 懺悔;披露罪過  

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Pratipakṣa - An antidote or remedy that contributes or supports the elimination or pacification of a particular ailment or affliction. Skt प्रतिपक्ष  Tib གཉེན་པོ་  Ch 對治  

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Bodhi - Enlightenment or awakening. In Tibetan it is translated as "purified" (byang) and "perfected" (chub), which corresponds to Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of purifying all obscurations and perfecting or attaining all qualities associated with a buddha. Skt बोधि  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་  Ch 菩提;悟;覺  

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Bodhi - Enlightenment or awakening. In Tibetan it is translated as "purified" (byang) and "perfected" (chub), which corresponds to Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of purifying all obscurations and perfecting or attaining all qualities associated with a buddha. Skt बोधि  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་  Ch 菩提;悟;覺  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt धर्मकाय  Tib ཆོས་སྐུ་  Ch 法身  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Pratigha - A negative mental state of hostility, anger, or aversion. It is an aggressive attitude toward people or situations that one finds unpleasant, with the wish to cause them harm. It is considered one of the primary 'afflictions' that disturb the mind's peace. Skt प्रतिघ  Tib ཁོང་ཁྲོ་  Ch 瞋;恚  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'byang chub sems dpa''

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Ātman - Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena. Skt आत्मन्  Tib བདག་  Ch 我;灵魂  

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Ātman - Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena. Skt आत्मन्  Tib བདག་  Ch 我;灵魂  

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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.

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of the Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt महायान  Tib ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།  Ch 大乘  

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Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

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Pāramitā - The six or ten types of practices which lead an individual to Buddhahood. The practice of perfections is particularly important in Mahāyāna Buddhism in which the entire path of the Bodhisattva to reach full enlightenment is included in the six or ten perfections. The six perfections are that of giving, of discipline, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom. The perfection of skill-in-means, aspirations, power, and pristine wisdom are added to them to make ten perfections. Skt पारमिता  Tib ཕར་ཕྱིན།;ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།  Ch 波羅蜜  

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Śāntideva (ཞི་བ་ལྷ་). Śikṣāsamuccaya [शिक्षासमुच्चय]. bslab pa kun las btus pa [བསླབ་པ་ཀུན་ལས་བཏུས་པ།]. [The Compendium of Training]. Tengyur, RKTST 3281 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3281&typ=2.

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt शून्यता  Tib སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་  Ch 空;空門  

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Śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt शून्यता  Tib སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་  Ch 空;空門  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt सूत्र  Tib མདོ།  Ch 佛经  

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Gṛhapatyugraparipṛcchāsūtra [गृहपत्युग्रपरिपृच्छासूत्र]. 'phags pa khyim bdag drag shul can gyis zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo [འཕགས་པ་ཁྱིམ་བདག་དྲག་ཤུལ་ཅན་གྱིས་ཞུས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Sūtra of Ugra's Questions (84000)]. Translated by Surendrabodhi, Ye shes sde, Saṅghavarman, Yen Fo-t'iao, Dharmarakṣa. Kangyur, RKTSK 63 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=63&typ=1.

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Śīla - The Buddhist practice of ethical behavior, like being honest, kind, and not harming others. It means following guidelines for good conduct, which helps calm the mind and live a wholesome life. It is the first of the Three Higher Trainings (triśikṣā: śīla, samādhi, prajñā), and the second of the six perfections (pāramitās). In daily practice, śīla is cultivated through mindful attention to one's actions, regular reflection on precepts, and the development of wholesome habits. Skt शील  Tib ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་  Ch 戒  

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Ātman - Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena. Skt आत्मन्  Tib བདག་  Ch 我;灵魂  

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Prajñākaramati (ཤེས་རབ་འབྱུང་གནས་བློ་གྲོས་). Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā [बोधिचर्यावतारपञ्जिका]. byang chub kyi spyod pa la 'jug pa'i dka' 'grel [བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་དཀའ་འགྲེལ།]. [A Commentary on the Difficult Points of (Śāntideva’s) "Entering into the Deeds of a Bodhisattva" (84000)]. Translated by Gnyan lo tsA ba, Sumatikīrti, Mar pa do pa chos kyi dbang phyug. Tengyur, RKTST 3217 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3217&typ=2.

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt मध्यमक  Tib དབུ་མ་  Ch 中觀見  

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Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

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Bodhi - Enlightenment or awakening. In Tibetan it is translated as "purified" (byang) and "perfected" (chub), which corresponds to Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of purifying all obscurations and perfecting or attaining all qualities associated with a buddha. Skt बोधि  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་  Ch 菩提;悟;覺  

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Bodhi - Enlightenment or awakening. In Tibetan it is translated as "purified" (byang) and "perfected" (chub), which corresponds to Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of purifying all obscurations and perfecting or attaining all qualities associated with a buddha. Skt बोधि  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་  Ch 菩提;悟;覺  

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Karuṇā - The profound wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is a core virtue in Buddhism and, in the Mahāyāna tradition, develops into 'great compassion' (mahākaruṇā), the driving force behind the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Skt करुणा  Tib ཐུགས་རྗེ་  Ch 悲  

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Karuṇā - The profound wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is a core virtue in Buddhism and, in the Mahāyāna tradition, develops into 'great compassion' (mahākaruṇā), the driving force behind the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Skt करुणा  Tib ཐུགས་རྗེ་  Ch 悲  

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Karuṇā - The profound wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is a core virtue in Buddhism and, in the Mahāyāna tradition, develops into 'great compassion' (mahākaruṇā), the driving force behind the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Skt करुणा  Tib ཐུགས་རྗེ་  Ch 悲  

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Karuṇā - The profound wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is a core virtue in Buddhism and, in the Mahāyāna tradition, develops into 'great compassion' (mahākaruṇā), the driving force behind the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Skt करुणा  Tib ཐུགས་རྗེ་  Ch 悲  

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Pariṇāmanā - The Buddhist practice of 'dedicating' or giving away the positive energy from one's good deeds for the benefit of others. It ensures that the goodness created is shared with all beings and directed toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment, preventing it from being exhausted. Skt परिणामना  Tib བསྔོ་བ་  Ch 迴向  

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