Property:Abstract
From Bodhicitta
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No abstract given. Here is the first relevant paragraph:<br><br>
From ancient times, the origin of "''tathāgata''", which has been usually translated as 如 來 (one who comes thus), is not unknown. This has been used as the title of Buddha, chiefly in Buddhism from the start.<br> Now, I will consider the meaning of "''tathāgata''" in the ''Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā Prajñāpāramitā-vyākhyā'' of Haribhadra (ed. by Wogihara) (W.). This includes the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra'' (''As.''), Maitreya's ''Abhisamayālaṃkāraśāstra-kārikā'' (''A.'') which is a summary of the ''Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra'' (''P.''), and Haribhadra's commentary which is based on the ''P.'' and the ''As.'' Accordingly at first, I point out sentences of "''tathāgata''", which I think as the etymological explanations, and then survey the character of it. (Mano, "'Tathāgata' in Haribhadra's Commentary," 22) +
3
This mind training text by the Sakya master Togme Zangpo is studied by all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. The number 37 is significant; there is a set of 37 practices or factors that lead to a purified state. These are well-known practices followed on a graded course of development to progress toward either liberation, following a Hinayana path, or enlightenment, following a Mahayana path. The 37 bodhisattva practices presented in this short text provide the guidelines for the complete bodhisattva path. +
A
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
The best way to begin this practice is by thinking of a person whose suffering you feel strongly and whose happiness is very important to you. This could be someone you know or have known, or someone you’ve seen on the street or read about in the newspaper. The thought of certain people naturally and easily awakens bodhicitta in us: we care about them and we don’t want them to suffer. Think of such a person and, whether you feel love, gratitude or compassion for them, say, “May they be free of suffering and the root of suffering; may they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.” +
The path of accumulation (Skt. ''sambhāramārga''; Tib. ཚོགས་ལམ་, ''tsoklam'', Wyl. ''tshogs lam'') is the first of the five paths. It is divided into greater, intermediate and lesser stages.
Patrul Rinpoche says:
"It is called the path of accumulation because it is the stage at which one makes a special effort to gather the accumulation of merit, and also because it marks the beginning of many incalculable aeons of gathering the accumulations.
On the lesser path of accumulation it is uncertain when one will reach the path of joining. On the intermediate path of accumulation it is certain that one will reach the path of joining in the very next lifetime. On the greater path of accumulation it is certain that one will reach the path of joining within that very same lifetime." ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Path_of_accumulation Source Accessed March 17, 2025]) +
The ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' and the ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' both discuss the generation of the mind of enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings and prescribe practices one must perform in order to attain buddhahood. As such, both texts are designed to elicit a transformation in the reader. While they are stylistically and structurally unique, the two texts are thought to be mutually illuminating, and for this reason it is often recommended that they be studied together. +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
Scholars in diaspora carry their texts with them—as many texts as possible— to preserve their cultural and intellectual tradition when they are threatened by political forces and military invasions. The Tibetan scholars who fled Tibet in 1959 managed to bring out a large number of classic texts central to the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy and religion of pre-invasion Tibet. Among these texts was an old Indian Buddhist work on ethics, Śāntideva’s ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' (''Guide to the Bodhisattva Path''), which had itself been carried out of India centuries earlier during the time when Buddhism disappeared from its Indian birthplace. For over a thousand years, Tibetan philosophers wrote commentaries on this text, taught the text in Tibetan ''shedras'' (monastic universities) and aspired to live by its ethical guidelines. Protected from the suppressions of Buddhism in the countries where it had originally been studied, Śāntideva’s ethical theory of the altruistic principles of a bodhisattva’s training has, now, been introduced to Western philosophers by Tibetan philosophers in exile.<br> As sympathetic as Western scholars have been to the political plight of Tibet, they have little knowledge of its philosophical traditions. Several obstacles lie in front of the welcome mat for Tibetan diasporic texts. First, there is a shortage of translators, especially those trained in philosophy. Tibet had been cut off from the rest of the world prior to the Chinese invasion of 1950, and there were no sizeable, established Tibetan ethnic communities in other countries. Also, in Tibet today, very few ethnic Tibetan children attend schools where they are taught Tibetan grammar and the advanced linguistic skills necessary for understanding the classic texts of the Tibetan canon; instead, most Tibetan children are taught Chinese language and are taught all of their other academic subjects in the Chinese language as well. Without translators, the work of transmitting Tibetan classical texts through other languages will be slow, and yet this work is necessary not only for preserving these texts but for introducing them to international scholars.<br> A second obstacle is that the Tibetan government in exile does not have the financial resources to support scholars with fellowships and travel grants, making it difficult for Tibetan scholars to study in the West and for Western scholars to do research with the Tibetan scholars in exile in India. Private donations fund virtually all intellectual exchanges between Western and Tibetan scholars, as well as the Tibetan libraries, institutes and monasteries outside of Tibet. Compared to the vast financial resources of China’s growing economy, the resources that support research into the Tibetan tradition are paltry. The migration of Tibet’s classic texts has always been on the budget plan.<br> The most significant obstacle, however, is the conceptual disparity between Western philosophy and the Tibetan philosophical and religious tradition. Western scholars who are familiar with the Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka and southeast Asia, the Hinduism and Jainism of India or the Mahayana Buddhism of Japan, Korea and pre-communist China, find that the Tibetan tradition has preserved a substantial body of philosophical theories and Tantric liturgies that are so distinctive that one struggles to compare these with the Buddhism in these other traditions.<br> One of these points of difference is the strong altruism of Tibetan ethical theories. Neither Theravada Buddhism nor Zen Buddhism emphasizes as much as Tibetan theories the altruistic bodhisattva path and the need to develop compassion, along with realization of emptiness. The conceptual disparity between Western theories of altruism and Tibetan theories of altruism is even starker, since it is not simply a matter of lesser or greater emphasis on compassion but a matter of understanding whether the selflessness of altruism involves self-sacrifice or non-existence of a self. Generally, Western theories of altruism are not based on a metaphysical claim that the self does not exist but instead analyze how a self can subordinate self-interest to the interests of others. Buddhist theories of altruism, particularly in the Tibetan tradition, are anchored in the path of realizing that there is no self. (Patrik, "A Buddhist 'good life' Theory," 189–90)
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
Charles Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol'' is one of the greatest tales of human redemption known in the Western world. As a child I heard it read aloud every Christmas, and there was always a thrilling magic to rehearing the story of Scrooge's moving spiritual transformation. Yet, the story raises an important spiritual question: Scrooge is a new man on Christmas day, but what about after that? We often vow to be better people and fail. Why is this? ''A Christmas Carol'' is, of course, pure fantasy—a deeply heartwarming fantasy that bears repeated hearings—but it nonetheless does raise a real question about how spiritual enlightenment is actually achieved.<br> I still appreciate ''A Christmas Carol'' as much as I did when I was a child, but as I have grown older, and after having encountered Buddhist philosophy, I have also begun to contemplate the story of Scrooge's spiritual transformation in a new light. The Buddhist notion of karma entails that, even if we are deeply moved now to change our ways for the better, the unexamined patterns of thought that underpinned our past actions retain a latent force in our mind stream that can influence us unexpectedly. If we are not observant of these patterns of thought, we are likely to repeat the kinds of actions we have performed in the past. Because the force of karma can be very strong, "overnight" spiritual and moral transformations are comparatively rare. On a Buddhist reading, the end of ''A Christmas Carol'' is where the spiritual journey for Scrooge actually ''begins''.<br> This underestimation of the force of karma on Dickens's part was, of course, a necessary case of artistic license, but is somewhat conspicuous given that a realization of the law of karma plays a critical (albeit unnamed) role in the story of Scrooge's putative enlightenment. Scrooge's transformation begins with a visit from the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, a man who was as miserly and selfish as Scrooge himself. Marley's ghost is weighed down by a heavy chain, which represents his regret for having lived such a greedy and shortsighted life. "I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, yard by yard: I girded it on my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it."[1] He warns that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits whose lessons he must heed in order to redeem himself. "Without their visits," Marley declares, "you cannot hope to shun the path I tread."[2] Upon Marley's departure we are then treated to a Dickensian image of the Buddhist "lower realms." Scrooge looks out the window into the cold night air and sees a swarm of unfortunate ghostly forms, suffering and encumbered by heavy chains of remorse: "The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. . . . The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost this power for ever."[3] Later Scrooge's nephew Fred makes this pithy karmic observation: "Scrooge's offences carry their own punishment. . . . Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself, always."[4]<br> Throughout the remainder of the night Scrooge is visited sequentially by the three spirits representing the Christmases past, present, and future, who, like the helpful bodhisattvas, show him scenes from his life in order to awaken him to a realization of the law of karma. By the Ghost of Christmas Past Scrooge is presented with painful images of his childhood suffering as well as the kindness shown to him by others in the past, and learns how the present direction of his life has been shaped by these experiences. The Ghost of Christmas Present reminds Scrooge of the precious opportunities all around him to do good by his fellow human beings, opportunities that he has failed to seize. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Future, a terrifying, faceless, hooded specter, forces Scrooge to face his own mortality, but also teaches him the control he has over the future by choosing to live a more meaningful life. When confronted with the dismal images of his future death, unloved and unmissed, Scrooge decalers, "The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way now."[5] As Scrooge witnesses the bleakness of his current path, he is filled with deep regret.<br> The scenes of Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Future bear a close resemlance to Śāntidēva's frightening verses on death in the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' (Way of the Bodhisattva). Śāntidēva's evocations of regret from chapter 2 of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' capture the kind of horror Scrooge experiences when the Ghost of Christmas Future points relentlessly to his own gravestone. "The thought never came to my mind," writes Śāntidēva, "that I too am a brief and passing thing. And so, through hatred lust, and ignorance, I've been the cause of many evils" (''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', 2.38) . . . "I, so little heeding, had hardly guessed at horrors such as this—and all for this brief, transient existence, I have gathered so much evil to myself" (''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', 2.42).[6] Faced not just with the certainty of his own death but with the possibility of Marley's fate in the lower realms, Scrooge desperately petitions the spirit: "Are these the shadows of things that Will be, or are they the shadows of things that May be, only? Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses were departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus, with which you show me!"[7] Scrooge now realizes the law of karma, and he asks the most ancient and profound of spiritual questions: whether liberation is possible—whether the "ends can change" if one changes one's "course." Like Śāntidēva, it is not just fear of death per se but the regret of having wasted the opportunity to live a meaningful life that inspires Scrooge to be a better person. (Keeling, "A Buddhist Carol," 25–27)
<h5>Notes</h5>
#Charles Dickens, ''A Christmas Carol and Other Stories'' (New York: Random House 2001), 23.
#Ibid., 26.
#Ibid., 27.
#Ibid., 71.
# Ibid., 89.
# ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', trans. Padmakara Translation Group (Boston: Shambhala, 2003).
# Dickens, ''A Christmas Carol'', 97.
In this chapter Geoffrey Barstow translates a text by Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro called ''Words to Increase Virtue'' (''Dge bskul shu yig''), found in a compilation of texts titled ''A Collection of Texts on the Faults of Meat, Alcohol, and Tobacco'' (''Sha chang tha ma kha sogs kyi nyes dmigs phyogs bsdus'').
On this work, Barstow writes:
Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro originally delivered ''Words to Increase Virtue'', the work translated in this chapter, orally as a speech in 2003 during the annual festivities surrounding the Saga Dawa holiday. It was later transcribed and widely distributed in publication, but the work’s originally oral character remains. Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro speaks directly to "those here in this crowd" and repeatedly uses the first-person plural we directly, including himself among those who need to be concerned with this issue. Further, the text is clearly centered on the Larung Gar community. The only religious leader that Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro mentions, in fact, is his teacher Khenpo
Jigme Phuntsok who founded Larung Gar and whose vision of animal ethics deeply informs Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro’s own. Overall, then, this work gives its readers a sense of immediacy, as if they were personally listening to the khenpo speak. (Barstow, ''Voices from Larung Gar'', 126) +
Amdo, the northeastern part of Tibet, has seen important changes since the launch of the "Develop the West" campaign in 2000. The hasty implementation of governmental programs of sedentarisation confronted pastoralists with a new lifestyle for which they are little prepared. Everywhere in Amdo, one can see numerous new settlement villages with rows of similar houses. Deprived of their herds and pastures, unable to find their place in the Chinese-dominated economy because they lack the appropriate qualifications and language abilities, most of the pastoralists are left without any means of subsistence.
But another phenomenon is taking place at the same time; a movement launched by high clerics in Eastern Tibet which is a firm desire to affirm, in what can be described as an emergent Tibetan Buddhist fundamentalism, a strong sense of Tibetaness. This movement that started some decades ago knew a new impetus after the demonstrations of 2008 that spread all over the Tibetan Plateau. The main religious figure in this movement was Khempo Jigme Phuntsok (Mkhan po 'Jigs med phun tshogs, 1933-2004), the charismatic head of themonastic camp of Larung Gar (Bla rung sgar). Several articles have been written on his life and work. But many other monastics have contributed to this movement which is based on a new set of Ten Virtues: 1) not to butcher and sell meat; 2) not to steal and rob; 3) not to fight with weapons; 4) not to prostitute one's body; 5) not to sell guns and opium; 6) not to smoke opium or cigarettes; 7) not to drink alcohol; 8) not to gamble; 9) not to hunt and 10) not to wear skin and fur of animals. The subject has ignited the web to the point that the website Tibet Web Digest called the new Ten Virtues "the most debated topic on Tibetan blogs last year." Some researchers have already started to deal with the subject and published on it.
In the following pages, I would simply like to add a small piece of work dedicated to Elliot Sperling on this topic. Elliot Sperling is, of course, well-known for his work as a historian of Tibet and Sino-Tibetan relationships, but his passion for contemporary history and his concern for the Tibetan situation are also strong, and have made him one of the few outspoken researchers on the subject, even when expressing his views has come at the cost of his personal interest. This is why he might be curious about an article published by Jamyang Kyi ('Jam dbyangs skyid) arguing against vegetarianism, which appeared on June 24th, 2013 on the blog of the famous writer Sangdor. His blog having recently been shut down, this article is no longer accessible.
My aim is thus to provide here a translation of this article and some comments. (Buffetrille, "A Controversy on Vegetarianism," 113–14)
Read [https://highpeakspureearth.com/coerced-vegetarianism-and-the-welfare-of-tibetans-by-jamyang-kyi-2/ "Coerced Vegetarianism and the Welfare of Tibetans" By Jamyang Kyi, Translated by Katia Buffetrille].
A Descriptive Catalogue and Restoration of the Tibetan Language Text of Bodhicaryavatara from Dunhuang Documents +
A general investigation of published Tibetan language documents from Dunhuang collected in the French National Library and British Library confirms that there are 6 extant manuscripts (2 of which have only recently been identified) of the ''Bodhicaryavatara'' (A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life). There are additionally 4 fragmental documents that have been spliced together and separated into two groups based on content, special markings, pagination, format, and calligraphic style. By completing the basic labor of identification and organization of manuscript fragments, this study has laid a foundation for future philological research of the ''Bodhicaryavatara'' in Tibetan script. ([http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/DLMBS/en/search/search_detail.jsp?seq=599321 Source Accessed May 7, 2021]) +
In recent years, a Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscript of Prajñākaramati's ''Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā'' (ZX0617-ZB20, BCAP hereafter) has been identified among the facsimiles of the palm-leaf manuscripts preserved in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Initial investigations (Wang et al. 2021; 2022) have explored various aspects of the manuscript, including its preservation status, the disarray of its leaves, the interpolation of one leaf of the ''Saṃghāṭasūtra'' and the distinct handwriting of at least two scribes. These studies have also supplemented the lacunae in Louis de La Vallée Poussin's (1901-1914) critical edition by providing the BCAP commentaries on the BCA 1.1, 3.28-33, and 4.1-14. This paper extends these initial studies by offering the following BCAP commentaries on the BCA 4.15-48, thereby rendering the fourth chapter of the BCAP a complete Sanskrit text. (Wang et al., introduction, 81) +
A Discourse on Thirty-seven Bodhisattva Practices and The Three Principal Paths (Dalai Lama, 14th 1981) +
A Discourse on "Thirty-seven Bodhisattva Practices" and "The Three Principal Paths" by His Holiness the 14th Dalal Lama. Translated and condensed by Alexander Berzin. Delivered under the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya, India, Jan 12–15, 1981. +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
At the present time there is known to us a considerable number of fragments of various Mongolian manuscripts representative of the preclassical period of the history of Written Mongolian. As most of them have never been studied, little can be said about their linguistic palæographic or literary value. It is not even known what literary works most of these fragments represent. Therefore, their identification with well-known works of original Mongolian literature or with translations from other languages is important, because the number of different fragments of the same works might serve as important testimony to their popularity in the past.<br> Thus, recently it was discovered that the fragment of the ḥP'ags-pa xylograph found by MANNERHEIM[1] is a fragment of the well-known didactic work ''Subhāṣitaratnanidhi''.[2] This was the first fragment of a Mongolian book in ḥP'ags-pa script known to science and it gives evidence of the fact that the didactic work in question enjoyed so great a popularity in the Yüan period that it was chosen to be published in the new script introduced in 1269.<br> Another important work of the Yüan period is the Buddhist philosophic work ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''[3] of which several Mongolian editions are known.[4]<br> A number of fragments of Mongolian manuscripts discovered by the Japanese expedition in Olon Süme ("Many Temples") was published in the valuable article of Professor HATTORI Shirō.[5] Professor HATTORI reproduced the original Mongolian texts by photographic means, romanized them, and gave a Japanese translation. One of the fragments characterized by him as a fragment of a Buddhist text[6] but left unidentified with any particular literary work proves to be a fragment of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''.<br> I present a transcription of this fragment after a photograph published in Professor HATTORI'S article.
<h5>Notes</h5>
#G. J. RAMSTEDT, " Ein Fragment mongolischer Quadratschrift," ''Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne XXVII'': 3 (1912); "A Fragment of Mongolian ' Quadratic ' Script," reprinted from C. G. MANNERHEIM, ''Across Asia from West to East in 1906-08'', Helsinki, 1940.<br>
#Pentti AALTO, "Altaistica I, The Mannerheim Fragment of Mongolian Quadratic Script," ''Studia Orientalia XVII'' :7 (1952), p. 3 ff.; cf. Louis LIGETI, ''Le Subhāṣitaratnanidhi mongol, un document du moyen mongol, Partie Ire, Le manuscrit tibéto-mongol en reproduction phototypique avec une introduction'', Budapest, 1948.<br>
#There is a Sanscrit text of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' published by (undecipherable text) in (undecipherable text) T. IV, CTP. 153 (undecipherable text), and another one published by De La Vallée Poussin in ''Bibliotheca Indica'' (Calcutta) 1901. Cf. Friedrich WELLER, " Zum mongolischen Tanjur," ''Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse'', Bd. 97, Heft 2 (1949), p. 3; cf. Friedrich WELLER, " Über den Quellenbezug eines mongolischen Tanjurtextes," ''Abhandlugen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse'', Bd. 45, Heft 2 (1950), p. 1, n. 2. The Tibetan text of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' has been published by WELLER as an appendix (" Anhang ") to the work cited last. The Mongolian text is mentioned in (Undecipherable text).
#The Mongolian text has been published by B. Ya. VLADIMIRTSOV. Cf. (Undecipherable text) Bodhicaryāvatāra Çāntideva, (Undecipherable text) Čhos-kyi Ḥodzer'a I, (Undecipherable text), ''Bibliotheca Buddhica XXVIII'', (Undecipherable text), 1929. VLADIMIRTSOV knew of two different Mongolian translations, i.e., one by Čhos-kyi Ḥod-zer (1305) and another by Bilig-ün Dalai (1748). Cf. VLADIMIRTSOV, ''op. cit.'', p. I. A xylographic edition of Čhos-kyi Ḥod-zer's commentary on the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' of 1312 has recently been identified by Erich HAENISCH, "Mongolica der Berliner Turfan-Sammlung I, Ein buddhistisches Druckfragment vom Jahre 1312," ''Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst'', Jahrgang 1953, Nr. 3 (Berlin, 1954), pp. 1–22 + "Texttafeln," and, independently, by Francis Woodman CLEAVES, "The ''Bodistw-a Čari-a Awatar-un Tayilbur'' of 1312 by Čosgi Odsir," ''HJAS'' 17 (1954) .1-135.<br>
#HATTORI Shirō (undecipherable Japanese text), "Oron Sumu shutsudo no Mōkogo bunsho ni tsuite " (undecipherable Japanese text) ("The Mongolian Documents Found at Olon Sume, Inner Mongolia"), ''The Tōhō Gakuhō'' (undecipherable Japanese text) (''Journal of Oriental Studies''), Tōkyō, No. 11, Part 2 (July 1940), pp. 257-278.<br>
#Prof. HATTORI uses the term ''kyōten'' (undecipherable Japanese characters) which means "scriptures, sūtras, sacred books," ''op. cit.'', p. 261. I am indebted to Miss Mary SUZUKI, Far Eastern Library of the University of Washington, for help in translating the Japanese text.
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
Here we have another translation of Śāntideva's ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' (see my review
of the Padmakara Translation Group's rendition,[1] ''Tibet Journal'' Vol. 24, No. 2, for
comments on previous versions). The translators are not new to the subject: a
decade ago, B. Alan Wallace published a version of Chapter Nine (on the Perfection of Wisdom), together with a commentary by the Dalai Lama.[2] The advantage of this new book is that it constitutes a translation of the Sanskrit editions of de la Vallée Poussin and P.L. Vaidya but with reference also to the Tibetan sDe dge edition, and where the two differ, a translation of the Tibetan variants is given in footnotes. Furthermore, the translators consulted the ''Pañjikā'' commentary of Prajñākaramati, and the Tibetan commentaries of rGyal tshab dar ma rin chen and Thub bstan chos kyi grags pa, and the footnotes include some explanatory material drawn from these sources. (Cantwell, "Review," 62–63) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43302401 Read more here]
<h5>Notes</h5>
#Shāntideva, ''The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra'', translated from the Tibetan by the Padmakara Translation Group, Boston and London: Shambhala, 1997.
#B.A. Wallace, tr. and ed. ''Transcendent Wisdom''. The Ninth Chapter of the Shantideva's ''Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life'' with a Commentary by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion, 1988. +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
The Bodhicaryāvatāra (BCA) has been translated many times, cf. bibliography pp. 147-8 which even mentions the translation of one chapter into Dutch by Ensink but omits a complete translation into the same language by Ria Kloppenborg: ''De weg tot het inzicht'' (Amsterdam, Meulenhoff, 1980). According to the translators (WW) their version is the first to be based upon the Sanskrit text, the Sanskrit commentary by Prajñākaramati, the Tibetan translation and two Tibetan commentaries. However, there is already a translation from the Tibetan by Stephen Batchelor (Dharamsala, 1979) of which they have made use without acknowledging it.<br> According to the translators they have primarily based their translation on the Sanskrit version and its commentary. However, it is obvious that often their translation is based rather upon the Tibetan version. For instance, Chapter I, verse 4a reads: ''kṣaṇasaṃpad iyaṃ sudurlabhā''. WW translate: "This leisure and endowment, which are so difficult to obtain, have been acquired." This rendering is based upon the Tibetan equivalent for ''akṣaṇa dal-'byor'' which Batchelor translated as "leisure and endowment." The translation "leisure" for ''kṣaṇa'' is particularly inappropriate and is due to the fact that the Tibetan equivalents ''dal-ba'' and ''khom-pa'' are rendered by "leisure" in Tibetan dictionaries. In the American Tibetological school of the Foe Destroyers the rendering "leisure" is generally adopted (cf. ''IIJ'' 20, 1978, p. 138). In this school it seems to be a rule never to translate a Sanskrit text when there is a Tibetan translation available. In this case WW seem not to have consulted the Sanskrit commentary from which they could have learned that ''kṣaṇasaṃpad'' is not a dvandva compound. Edgerton rendered it by "the good luck of (this) favorable birth", cf. ''Buddhist Hybrid Dictionary'' s.v. ''kṣaṇa''. According to WW "endowment" refers to the conjunction of circumstances deemed essential for the successful practice of Dharma (p. 18, n. 4). Perhaps they have found this information in a Tibetan commentary which wrongly took ''dal-'byor'' to be a dvandva compound. In the same note WW state that the Pañjikā specifies the eight non leisures (sic) in the order in which they are listed in Śāntideva's quotation of the Gaṇḍavyūha in his Śikṣāsamuccaya. However, this quotation does not list the eight ''akṣaṇas'' but ten items which are difficult to obtain. The first of them is ''aṣṭākṣaṇavinivṛttiḥ''. The eight ''akṣaṇas'' are mentioned further on in the Sanskrit commentary, cf. ed. L. de La Vallée Poussin (Calcutta, 1901-1914), p. 10, lines 14–15: ''narakapretatiryañco'', etc. (de Jong, "Review," 75–76) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24663465 Read more here]
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
The ''Bodhicharyavatara'' (''The Guide'') of the eighth-century Indian master Shantideva is one of the great works of Buddhist literature. It has been translated into Western languages at least a dozen times in this century, and is already well-known to many students of Buddhism in its venerable translation by Stephen Batchelor, published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives as ''A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life''. Though Batchelor’s work will not soon be eclipsed as one of the best translations of Tibetan material available, these two new translations are significant contributions, both stylistically and methodologically.
Shantideva’s masterpiece shows the way to transcend the limitations of selfishness and realize the boundless compassion of the Bodhisattva, whose only concern is the benefit of others. As the Padmakara translation notes, one of the greatest exemplars of the Bodhisattva’s way is His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who credits ''The Guide'' as his chief inspiration.
The central concept of ''The Guide'' is ''bodhichitta'', or the mind (''chitta'') that aspires and practices for the enlightenment (''bodhi'') of all beings. In the first chapter of the Padmakara translation, Shantideva says, “All other virtues, like the plantain tree,/ Produce their fruit, but then their force is spent./ Alone the marvelous tree of bodhichitta/ Will bear its fruit and grow unceasingly.” As all happiness comes from wishing others well, and all suffering from caring only for ourselves, bodhichitta, he proclaims, is the best medicine for what ails the world. Shantideva paints our prospects for the future in no uncertain terms. In the second chapter, titled “Confession,” he begins by making symbolic offerings to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and then declares: “Due to delusion, attachment, and hatred, I have sinned in many ways… Negligent and unaware of this danger, I have acquired many vices out of attachment to this transient life” (Wallace and Wallace). Neither translation shrinks from the use of the words “sin” and “evil,” which might conjure up unpleasant associations for anyone ever brainwashed with the teaching of Original Sin. But whether we call them sins or not, Shantideva’s frank discussion packs a punch. Death, he observes, does not discriminate between old and young, healthy and ill; it descends like a thunderbolt. The specter of our actions looms large in light of mortality, and the choice is clear: shape up and strive for enlightenment, or be prepared to suffer the consequences. (Pettit, "Review.") [https://tricycle.org/magazine/guide-bodhisattva-way-life/ Read more here]
This is Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen's 1975 teaching on Atiśa's ''Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment'' (''Lam drön''), a foundational eleventh-century text that became the basis for all Tibetan Buddhist ''lamrim'' (graduated path) teachings across all schools.
The commentary explains Atiśa's presentation of the three levels of practitioners: those of small capacity (seeking better rebirth), medium capacity (seeking liberation from samsara), and higher capacity (seeking enlightenment for all beings). Khunu Lama emphasizes the centrality of ''bodhicitta''—the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings—as the defining feature of Mahāyāna Buddhism that distinguishes it from other spiritual paths.
The teaching covers the essential practices: generating bodhicitta, observing moral conduct, developing single-pointed concentration, and cultivating the wisdom realizing emptiness. Khunu Lama stresses that both method (compassion and skillful means) and wisdom must be practiced together to achieve enlightenment. He concludes by encouraging his Western students to study Dharma deeply, learn Tibetan, and spread these teachings, noting that concern for others' welfare rather than one's own is the fundamental distinction of the Mahāyāna path. +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
Buddhism is not lacking in rites of passage, calendric rituals, and festivals, but some Buddhist rituals are meant to be performed at the discretion of individuals and more than once, even on a daily basis. The following selection is a sampling from a classical Mahāyāna liturgy meant to be performed once as a rite of passage (the adoption of the vows of the bodhisattva) and repeatedly as a rite of confirmation or affirmation (as a way of cultivating the mind-set of a bodhisattva and as the starting point for other practices).<br> The selection is from the first four chapters in Śāntideva's ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' (about seventh century C.E.). This text, in over seven hundred stanzas divided into ten chapters, is meant as an "introduction" (''avatāra'') to the bodhisattva path. It outlines the main practices of Mahāyāna conceived as stemming from an initial grasping of "the thought of awakening" (''bodhicitta''), growing in the practice of "the precepts" (''saṃvara'' or ''śikṣā''), and culminating in the perfect practice of compassion and wisdom. Briefly stated, "the thought of awakening" is threefold: the first instant of thought in which a person conceives of the possibility or desirability of seeking buddhahood for the sake of all living beings; the subsequent will to seek buddhahood; and the attitudes and mind-set that accompany the quest for buddhahood. Often "the thought of awakening" is considered to be somehow identical with enlightenment (awakening) itself. For Śāntideva, the first moments of the thought of awakening have to be protected and nurtured until they grow into full-blown awakening. The prescribed forms of behavior that protect and nurture the thought of awakening are "the precepts," a notion that encompasses ritual, demeanor, mental attitudes, monastic rules, and moral principles. The precepts form the basis for the practice of the perfections: perfect generosity, perfect morality, perfect patience, perfect energy, perfect meditation, and perfect discernment. The passages selected emphasize the importance of devotion, worship, and ritual in first consolidating the thought of awakening and laying the foundation for the practice of the precepts.<br> Perhaps the most important connection between the ritual and the ideal conduct of the bodhisattva is the vow (''praṇidhāna''): a solemn promise to pursue the goal of perfect awakening (that is, full buddhahood), in order to relieve the suffering of all living beings. In a certain manner of speaking, the ritual may be seen as a frame for this solemn vow. But it is also possible to see the liturgy as a variant on the "dedication of merit," perhaps the most common and most important form of Mahāyāna ritual. In this interpretation (which could be justified by quoting several passages from the following selection), the ritual is a means toward acquiring merit and then relinquishing it, dedicating it to one's own awakening and to the awakening of all living beings. Conceived in this manner, the ritual is a skillful means toward increasing merit and detachment.<br> The basic structure of the ritual described in this text is used in many other texts and is sometimes called "the sevenfold incomparable worship" (''saptavidhā anuttarā pūjā''), although the liturgy often has more or less than seven parts, and although there is some disagreement as to what the seven parts should be. The structure of the liturgy has some scriptural basis in Mahāyāna texts like the ''Bhadracarī-praṇidhāna'' (in the ''Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra'') and the Triskandhaka (in the ''Upāliparipṛcchā'' and other Mahāyāna sūtras). This structure is also represented in many tantric rituals (see Chapter 27).<br> The ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' was very popular, at least in monastic circles, during the later Mahāyāna period in India (about eighth to thirteenth centuries C.E.). It also had a lasting influence in Tibet, where Śāntideva's ritual formulas have been incorporated into actual liturgies. The ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' is often quoted by the Dalai Lama as an important authority on the cultivation of compassion. It has been translated a number of times into modern languages, including thrice into English and twice into German and French.<br> The passages from the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' included in the following selection are complemented here with selected portions of a late commentary by Prajñākaramati (about eleventh century c.E.). These extracts serve to illustrate the concerns and tenor of scholastic interpretations of the ritual and the style and tone of classical Indian commentaries. They are translated from the edition of La Vallée Poussin, Bibliotheca India (Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica, 1902-1914), which contains both Śāntideva's verses and Prajñākaramati's commentary. On occasion the Tibetan text in the Peking edition of the Tanjur had to be consulted to fill lacunae in the extant Sanskrit text. Needless to say, all headings have been introduced to help punctuate a text that is very terse and disconnected. (Gómez, "A Mahāyāna Liturgy," 183–84)
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
At times like these, when society is polarized and people feel insecure emotionally and financially, we long for connection with others—to know that we’re in this together and that we will take care of one another. Despite this longing, our self-centered mind interferes and keeps us separated.
In order to break down the walls of fear and alienation, we can practice what are called the seven cause-and-effect instructions to develop bodhichitta, the aspiration to attain buddhahood in order to benefit others. This meditation practice helps us see we’ve always been connected to others and that we can open our hearts with love, compassion, and altruism. +
This text, ''A Method for Reciting the Text "Engaging in Bodhisattva Conducts: A Stream of Blessings"'', authored by Dam tshig rdo rje (Mkhan po chos rje), presents a structured approach for reciting Śāntideva's classic Mahāyāna text ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra''). The method includes preliminary visualizations, prayers, and mental preparations, followed by instructions for the actual recitation practice. The author provides guidance on visualizing Śāntideva, performing ritual offerings, inviting divine witnesses, and engaging with the text's meaning. The document explains the significance of each chapter of the original work and concludes with dedication prayers to direct the merit generated from this practice. This recitation method aims to help practitioners deeply connect with the text's teachings on bodhicitta (the awakening mind) and bodhisattva conduct while accumulating spiritual merit. +
