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<h3>Introductory Essay</h3> | <h3>Introductory Essay</h3> | ||
The first chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' deals with the qualities of bodhicitta, the mind intent on enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, and aims to inspire us to wish to develop such a mind. The second chapter then deals with the practices of confession and purification, and the third chapter deals with taking hold of this awakening mind of bodhicitta. These earlier chapters address the first of three major topics through which the complete text is explained. That topic is the cultivation of bodhicitta where it has not previously arisen. The next three chapters, 4 through 6, introduce the process of how to prevent that bodhicitta from weakening once it has been cultivated. These chapters also have a flow which follows the main practices of a Mahāyāna practitioner, that of the six ''pāramitās'', or perfections. Khenpo Kunpal [LINK to text] sets this scene for the next series of chapters in terms of these six ''pāramitās'': | |||
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|quote-text=The whole of the Mahayana path may be summarized under two headings: motivation (the generation of the attitude of supreme bodhichitta) and application (the practice of the six paramitas or transcendent perfections). The development of bodhichitta and the practice of the perfection of generosity have already been explained in the foregoing chapters. Shantideva was himself a yogi of extremely simple practice. He therefore did not speak extensively about the practice of giving but did so only from the point of view of a monk staying in retreat. His teaching on the perfection of ethical discipline is to be found in the two chapters that deal with carefulness and vigilant introspection, whereas the four remaining paramitas are explained in the chapters that follow.<ref>Wulstan Fletcher and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., ''The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva'', by Kunzang Pelden (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2010), 139.</ref> | |||
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Khenpo Kunpal clearly indicates to us how the Mahāyāna path proceeds. Motivation, and then active engagement in the practices of the six ''pāramitās'', [LINK to terms] are the two central elements. | |||
Before engaging in the actual practices, cultivating the correct motivation is key. Motivation lays out the perspective within which all the individual practices take place. Since this is a text about the Mahāyāna, then the central motivation is bodhicitta and the goal is the highest welfare for all sentient beings. The basic form of bodhicitta is known as ''aspirational bodhicitta''. [LINK to glossary]. That vast and encompassing motivation alone is unbelievably virtuous, but it also needs grounding in practical application. When conjoined with the actual implementation of the fundamental practices of the bodhisattva, it then becomes what is termed ''engaged bodhicitta'' [LINK to glossary]. | |||
As Khenpo Kunpal mentions above, the first three chapters cover motivation as well as the first of the ''pāramitās'', generosity. Generosity is covered in a more simplified way, probably because Śāntideva was a very simple monk practicing the Mahāyāna path. Śāntideva would mentally give away all his happiness to others but would have very few possessions with which to manifestly make such offerings to others. | |||
<h4>Ethical Discipline</h4> | |||
The text then moves on to the next ''pāramitā'', that of ethical discipline [LINK to main terms]. In regard to discipline, the great master Nāgārjuna says the following: | |||
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|quote-text=Just as the earth's the base for all that’s still or moves, | |||
On discipline, it's said, is founded all that's good.<ref>Gethin, Fletcher, and Blankleder, ''Letter to a Friend'', 29.</ref> | |||
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