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|text=In chapter 4 Śāntideva addresses the topic of conscientiousness (Skt. ''apramādha''), sometimes also translated as carefulness, a mental factor whose function is to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool which allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind, particularly within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided on the path. | |text=In chapter 4 Śāntideva addresses the topic of conscientiousness (Skt. ''apramādha''), sometimes also translated as carefulness, a mental factor whose function is to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool which allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind, particularly within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided on the path. | ||
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<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3> | |||
The first three chapters of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'' introduce the bodhisattva's way of life and conduct and impress upon us the qualities and benefits of bodhicitta and of developing altruistic compassion for the sake of all others. All of those contemplations come under the section of the text which covers the cultivation of bodhicitta where it has not previously been cultivated. | |||
In the first verse of chapter 4, Śāntideva urges to make sure that once we have cultivated this precious mind of bodhicitta we never turn away from it. | |||
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The next three chapters, from chapter 4 through chapter 6, are concerned with protecting this freshly arisen bodhicitta from declining. But how do we work with our minds in order to do this? What way of thinking and conduct are needed to protect this incredible mind of bodhicitta? The answer, Śāntideva suggests, is discipline. | |||
<h4>The Need for Discipline</h4> | |||
In order to protect bodhicitta, one of the primary factors needed is discipline, which is the main theme of chapters 4 and 5. Discipline is required in order to subdue our scattered minds and to prevent the awakening mind from weakening. To establish good discipline, we need the mental tools of conscientiousness, mindfulness, and vigilance. [LINK to main terms] These tools are the chief means through which we are able to subdue our minds, and they provide crucial support for the bodhisattva's practice of the perfection (Skt. ''pāramitā'') of ethical discipline. Chapters 4 and 5 lay out the functions and methods of cultivating these three essential mental factors, which aid us in maintaining the wish to attain full enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. To maintain this bodhicitta, these three mental factors assist us in distinguishing between those practices that help our progress and should be taken up on the path from those practices that hinder us and should be avoided. | |||
The fourth chapter focuses mainly on conscientiousness (Skt. ''apramādha'') [LINK to main terms], sometimes also translated as carefulness. Conscientiousness is a mental factor which functions to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided. | |||
The Tibetan historian and Buddhist researcher Geshe Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley (1927–1997) describes conscientiousness as a way of tuning or adjusting our minds, such that when we are thinking of engaging in some kind of negative activity, conscientiousness assists us in becoming aware that those actions are faulty and unconstructive. He goes on to explain that the main thrust of the chapter on conscientiousness is about how to behave when interacting with others, how to present ourselves in relation to others, and how to act when our minds are scattered.<ref>Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley, ''An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra'', ''Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod'' (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.</ref> | |||
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