Bodhicitta in Practice

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 However, a beginner must make a contrived effort to generate bodhicitta, firstly by cultivating the aspiring bodhicitta and then by engaging in the practice of engaged bodhicitta. Śantideva presents the distinction between the two in the following verses from his text ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' (''Bodhicaryāvatāra'', abbrev. BCA):
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+{{PullBcaVerses|1.15}}
-		|quote-text=Bodhicitta, the awakened mind,
+{{PullBcaVerses|1.16}}
-Is known in brief to have two aspects:
-First, aspiring, bodhicitta in intention;
-Then active bodhichitta, practical engagement. (1.15)
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-{{QuoteCite
-		|quote-text=As corresponding to the wish to go
-And then to setting out,
-The wise should understand respectively
-The difference that divides these two. (1.16)<ref>See Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., ''The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra'', by Śāntideva, rev. ed. (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006), 33.</ref>
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 One must first have the thought to take all sentient beings to the state of the Buddha just as one must first have the thought to go to Bodh Gaya before one starts the journey. Having generated the strong motivation to take all sentient beings to buddhahood, one must then engage in the actual paths and practices which lead them to the goal. The bodhisattva road consists of a long and arduous practice of the six perfections: giving, discipline, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom. These six topics cover the entire range of practices a person must take up as a bodhisattva to reach buddhahood. They also include the practice of both relative bodhicitta, or the moral mental resolve to take all sentient beings to the state of full awakening, and ultimate bodhicitta, which is the deep understanding and experience of the ultimate nature of all things.

Bodhicitta in Practice

Revision as of 13:35, 5 May 2025