Mahāyānapathasādhanavarṇasaṃgraha/Full text
This text by Atiśa (Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna) is a concise guide to Mahāyāna Buddhist practice that begins with recognizing the precious rarity of human life and the urgency to practice due to impermanence, emphasizing taking refuge in the Three Jewels and maintaining ethical conduct as foundational steps. The core of the practice involves generating bodhicitta (the enlightened mind), which is described as essential for all Mahāyāna practice, since without it, even practicing the six perfections remains incomplete. The method requires combining skillful means and wisdom, like "father and mother," to produce the "bodhisattva child," emphasizing the cultivation of both śamatha (calm abiding) and vipaśyanā (insight meditation) in balanced unity. Throughout the path, practitioners are advised to avoid attachments, dwell in solitude when needed, maintain vigilance and mindfulness, see all beings as teachers, with special guidance given for ordained practitioners. The ultimate goal is attaining perfect enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings, becoming like a wish-fulfilling jewel that spontaneously helps others through a systematic path that unites compassionate method with transcendent wisdom from initial motivation through advanced meditation practices.
| Reference | Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (slob dpon chen po dpal mar me mdzad ye shes). mahāyānapathasādhanavarṇasaṃgraha [महायानपथसाधनवर्णसंग्रह]. theg pa chen po'i lam gyi sgrub thabs yi ger bsdus pa [ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་ལམ་གྱི་སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་ཡི་གེར་བསྡུས་པ]. [A Few Concise Words on Practicing the Mahāyāna Path (84000)]. Tengyur, RKTST 3295 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3295&typ=2. |
|---|---|
| People | Atiśa, Gewai Lodrö, Rgya gar gyi mkhan po mar me mdzad ye shes |
