View source for Explore/Chapter 8 - Meditative Concentration

{{EditorialContent
|EditorialAuthor=Houlton, S.
|subclass=BCA Chapter Summaries
|sub-theme=Chapter 8
|watermark=Summary
|TermTopics=BCA Chapter 8
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|StoriesPage=Practice/The_Mirror_Clarifying_the_Results_of_Karma:_Chapter_8;Practice/Tales_of_Engaging_the_Way_of_the_Bodhisattva_-_Chapter_Eight#::Tales of Engaging the Way of the Bodhisattva: Chapter 8
|jumbo-image=Tibetans in Meditation.jpg
|jumbo-text=In chapter 8, Śāntideva moves on to discuss the real heart of what is required for spiritual transformation—that is, the ability to see and experience the suffering of others as one's own suffering. Such a goal requires the cultivation of meditative concentration and the conditions conducive to achieving such a goal.
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	|header=Learn About Śāntideva's Texts
	|tiles=Bodhicaryāvatāra;Śikṣāsamuccaya
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	|header=Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 8
	|tiles=Rājāvavādakasūtra;Ugraparipṛcchāsūtra;Dharmasaṃgītisūtra;Samādhirājasūtra
}}{{AddResSection
	|header=Recommended Books Related to Chapter 8
	|tiles=Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life: An Oral Explanation of Chapter 8;Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (2000)
}}{{AddResSection
	|header=Recommended Articles Related to Chapter 8
	|tiles=Sāntideva, The Bodhicaryāvatāra, Chapter 8 (verses 89-140);The Selfless Removal of Pain: A Critical Glance at Śāntideva's Argument in Bodhicaryāvatāra 8: 101–3;Selflessness and Normativity: Śāntideva and Emptiness Ethics;Does Anātman Rationally Entail Altruism? On Bodhicaryāvatāra 8:101-103

}}{{AddResSection
	|header=Recommended Dissertations Related to Chapter 8
	|tiles=The Buddhist Roots of Secular Compassion Training: A Comparative Study of Compassion Cultivation in Indian and Tibetan Mahāyāna Sources with the Contemporary Secular Program of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT)
}}{{AddResSection
	|header=Recommended Videos Related to Chapter 8
	|tiles=Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Don Handrick, Ch. 8 (Part 1 of 12);Bodhisattvacharyavatara - Meditation and Bodhicitta - Chapter 8: Teaching by Ven. Geshe Dorji Damdul (Part 1 of 17);Bodhicharyavatara - Chapter 8: Meditation: Teaching by Ringu Tulku (Part 1 of 41);Shantideva's Engaging in the Bodhisattva's Deeds: Giving Up Attachment: Teaching by Venerable Thubten Chodron (Part 94);Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche: Lesson 8. Meditation


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		|page=Topics/BCA_Chapter_8
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	|header=Key Terms for Chapter 8
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<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3>
A proliferation of conceptual thoughts plagues our lives. As the twenty-first century unfolds in a world of technology and instant media, the fast-paced life that this induces provides a breeding ground for distraction. We find ourselves often lost or unable to properly focus on any given task at hand, whether in our personal or professional lives. Even without modern life's fertile field of diversion, the mind, when left to its own devices, will habitually gravitate toward sensual pleasures, believing they are valuable to us.

The societal impact of this lack of attention is increasingly apparent. There are many cases of young people with attention deficit disorders, and we cannot but feel apprehension at the growing collective consequences. It is obvious to us that distraction is almost always an unhealthy thing, and we all understand the benefits of some level of concentration in our lives, but how do we counteract this situation?

The first step is to understand the disadvantages of being distracted. In our secular lives, it is hard to retain focus, and with the mind following any train of thought that arises, it is difficult for our normal activities to be brought to a successful conclusion. In chapter 8, Śāntideva leads us on from the joy of practicing diligence to the importance of calming distraction and having a concentrated mind.
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In the spiritual context, distraction leads us to easily fall into cycles of negative behavior. Though we may have developed some joy for virtue, without the ability to keep focused, it is easy to be led astray into actions driven by the afflictive emotions. Even if we can retain some attention to virtue, it is hard to get our positive intentions to have their full impact. We need concentration in order to develop the different realizations of wisdom that lead us toward enlightenment—and it is precisely this concentration that serves as the antidote to distraction.

There is a traditional Buddhist story of two people arriving in an ancient temple cave on a stormy night. They carry a lamp with which to examine the frescoes on the walls around them. They wish to use the light of the lamp to examine the wall paintings, yet they must also protect the flame from the wind blowing into the cave in order to see them clearly. The light of the lamp is wisdom itself, and concentration is what protects the flame from the wind. Without a flame, there is no hope of seeing the paintings at all; if the flame is unprotected, some rough outlines can be made out, but none of the details. Similarly, when our mind becomes clear, still, and free from agitation and dullness, we are able to develop penetrating insight into the nature of reality.<ref>This metaphor can be found in Kamalaśīla's ''Stages of Meditation'' (''Bhāvanākrama'') as well as in other texts.</ref>

In the eighth chapter, Śāntideva deals with the development and use of meditative absorption in two main ways. His initial approach is to instruct us on how to quiet our distracted and unruly minds, as we need a solid grounding in concentration if we wish to develop higher states of compassion and wisdom. To help reduce distraction, he extols the virtues of solitude, describing the need for renouncing the world. Since attachment to people and objects plays a central role in distracting us, he dispenses further advice on how to deal with strong emotional states, particularly attachment. By working to overcome these states, we establish some control over our minds.

His second approach is to harness that concentration in service of bodhicitta. Pure concentration in itself is ethically neutral—while it is an effective tool for achieving any objective, it can be directed toward harmful ends just as easily as virtuous ones. It is precisely for this reason that Śāntideva does not stop at concentration alone, but goes on to ensure that the stilled and focused mind is directed toward the welfare of all beings.

Bodhicitta has two main divisions—relative and ultimate. While the earlier chapters of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' mention both forms, their benefits, and associated practices, the latter half of chapter 8 provides a much more detailed presentation of the individual stages of mental development necessary to cultivate relative bodhicitta. Specifically, Śāntideva explains how to take the meditative absorption we have cultivated and use it to develop relative bodhicitta — the wish to attain the fully enlightened state for the highest welfare of all beings. Later, in chapter 9, we will see how he employs that same meditative concentration to develop the nondualistic wisdom mind seeing the true nature of reality, which is ultimate bodhicitta.

In the Mahāyāna tradition, there are two main methods for developing relative bodhicitta. The first is the practice of the seven-point cause and effect, which originates with Maitreya and comes down through Asaṅga. The second, dealt with extensively in the second half of this chapter, is the practice of equalizing and exchanging self and others. This tradition comes down from Mañjuśrī through Nāgārjuna to Śāntideva. In chapter 8, Śāntideva presents the development of bodhicitta through the lens of equalizing and exchanging self and others.

In both systems the initial stage demands that we have a perspective of equanimity in relation to all sentient life. Self and others must be felt to be completely equal. There are several methods for creating this equality. One way is to understand that all beings are equal in that they wish for happiness and do not wish for suffering. Or it could be a more personal equanimity where we understand that there is not a single being who has not at some point been in the role of our kind and caring mother. The root text of the eighth chapter introduces this process of creating a sense of equanimity with all beings through this first perspective of all being equal in wishing for happiness and not wishing to have suffering.
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This perspective is the bedrock on which all the following stages are built. If we cannot see all sentient beings as being equally worthy of our love and compassion, then trying to develop the awakening mind will fail. Śāntideva implores us to understand that we are all in the same boat and that others are just like oneself.
Having accepted that all beings are equal with oneself, Śāntideva then argues that since we are only one, and others are limitless, then it is logical to broaden our limited desire to work only for the happiness of oneself. 

We should not just think to accomplish our own happiness but work for a much greater goal, which encompasses the happiness of others. In the Mahāyāna context, this then becomes the wish to attain the fully enlightened state of an omniscient buddha, which is the most effective way to help others attain their highest potential and happiness. But what is it that gets in the way of doing this? Though we may see that others are equal in wishing for happiness and not wishing suffering, there is still an underlying sense of self-cherishing.

Śāntideva explains the importance of meditation on giving away our own happiness to others and taking their suffering on ourselves.
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The next steps in the practice of equalizing and exchanging self and others are understanding the faults of self-cherishing and the qualities of cherishing others. Śāntideva explains how self-centered actions result only in suffering, and actions done for the welfare of others result in happiness.

With that context in mind, Śāntideva then gives a detailed explanation of the actual exchange of self and others. He does this through a very complex way of imagining ourselves in relation to others from an inferior, equal, and superior perspective. From these different angles, the feelings that are evoked from these different perspectives are then used to destroy the obstacles to the exchange of self and others—our envy, competitiveness, and pride.

The chapter ends with an injunction from Śāntideva to himself and all of us. Seeing the useless nature of self-cherishing and the worldly activities that go with it, Śāntideva now pledges to avoid anything that harms concentration and to train in meditative absorption, just as the bodhisattvas of the past have done.
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