|
|
| Line 62: |
Line 62: |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| <h3>Introductory essay</h3> | | <h3>Introductory Essay</h3> |
|
| |
|
| | <h4>Dedication</h4> |
| | |
| | Right at the beginning of the chapter, Śāntideva dedicates all of the virtue that he has amassed through the composition of this text. |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.1}} | | {{PullBcaVerses|10.1}} |
| | The text is, without exception, a manual which shows us how to engage in the path of the bodhisattvas. Therefore, Śāntideva dedicates all of the merit from its composition to every single living being so that they may be able to start out on their journey to full enlightenment. |
|
| |
|
| Right at the beginning of the chapter, Śāntideva dedicates all of the virtue that he has amassed through the composition of this text.
| | Dedication of merit is part of an important and widespread Mahāyāna liturgy known as the ''anuttara-pūja'', the supreme worship. The arrangement of practices in this liturgy may date back to around the second century CE. It is a traditional practice for accumulating merit and is often arranged in seven limbs or branches. These branches are paying homage, making offerings, confession of negativity, rejoicing in all good actions, requesting for teachings, beseeching the teachers to remain in the world and not pass into nirvana, and dedication. |
| | |
| The text is without exception a manual which shows us how to engage in the path of the bodhisattvas, and therefore he dedicates all of the merit from its composition so that every single living being is able to start out on their journey to full enlightenment.
| |
| | |
| Dedication of merit is part of an important and widespread Mahāyāna liturgy known as the ''anuttara-pūja'', the supreme worship. The arrangement of practices in this liturgy may date back to around the second century CE. It is a traditional practice for accumulating merit and is often arranged in seven limbs or branches. | |
| | |
| These branches are paying homage, making offerings, confession of negativity, rejoicing in all good actions, requesting for teachings, beseeching the teachers to remain in the world and not pass into nirvāṇa, and dedication. | |
| | |
| The first three limbs form the content of chapter two, and the remaining four are covered in chapter three. The limb of dedication is dealt with most extensively in this last chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''.
| |
|
| |
|
| Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton's translation of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' from the Sanskrit entitled ''Śāntideva: The Bodhicaryāvatāra'' gives an excellent and very detailed explanation of this seven-limb prayer in their introduction to the second chapter. | | The first three limbs form the content of chapter two, and the remaining four are covered in chapter three. The limb of dedication is dealt with most extensively in this last chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''.<ref>Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton's translation of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' from the Sanskrit gives an excellent and very detailed explanation of this seven-limb prayer in their introduction to the second chapter. See Crosby and Skilton, trans., ''The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 9–13.</ref> |
|
| |
|
| The branch of dedication is both a practice for further accumulation of the merit already accumulated but also a way to offer all that up in the most positive way possible—for the greatest short- and long-term welfare of all sentient beings. | | The branch of dedication is both a practice for further accumulation of the merit already accumulated and a way to offer all that up in the most positive way possible—for the greatest short- and long-term welfare of all sentient beings. |
|
| |
|
| As Khenpo Kunpal quotes in relation to the benefits of dedication: | | As Khenpo Kunpal says in his ''Nectar of Mañjuśrī's Speech'' in relation to the benefits of dedication: |
| {{QuoteCite | | {{QuoteCite |
| |quote-text=Dedication is the path of never-ending merit | | |quote-text=Dedication is the path of never-ending merit |
| For virtue is augmented and transformed thereby.<ref>Kunzang Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva'', trans. Wulstan Fletcher and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group) (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2007), 394. This is a verse quoted by Khenpo Kunpal. However, he does not share his source.</ref> | | For virtue is augmented and transformed thereby.<ref>Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher (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, 2010), 394. The source of this verse is not identified by either Khenpo Kunpal or the Padmakara Translation Committee.</ref> |
| }} | | }} |
| Dedication is a way of building virtue on top of virtue. The merit that we have already amassed from other virtuous practices is further increased and augmented in the very process of dedicating it so that all beings attain the highest enlightenment. | | Dedication is a way of building virtue on top of virtue. The merit that we have already amassed from other virtuous practices is further increased and augmented in the very process of dedicating it so that all beings attain the highest enlightenment. |
| As Khenpo Kunpal says:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=If the wishing gem, the two accumulations,
| |
| is not well polished with good aspirations,
| |
| the needed, wished-for fruit will not arise.
| |
| So finish off all your works with dedication.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 393. Khenpo Kunpal does not provide a source for this verse.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
|
| |
| In his commentary on this verse, Khenpo Kunpal also draws an important distinction here between dedication and aspirational prayers:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=Dedication and prayers of aspiration are crucially important. According to our tradition, the difference between dedication and aspiration should be understood in the following way. Dedication consists in pledging one’s positive actions to perfect enlightenment for the sake of beings. By contrast, a prayer of aspiration is just the wish that beings themselves attain enlightenment; it is not connected with the performance of wholesome deeds.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 393.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
| Aspiration is more the wish for something to happen and does not have to involve the actual engagement in the deeds associated with it. Dedication, on the other hand, is done after the completion of the acts to seal off and make beneficial use of our merit.
| |
|
| |
| Khenpo Kunpal then reminds us of the dangers of not capping off all of our positive actions with dedication:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=Failure to dedicate virtuous action to the good of others is a fault:
| |
| Not to dedicate or to dedicate awry,
| |
| To brag to others or to have regrets:
| |
| Four things that lay your virtue waste. . . .<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 393–94. The last 3 lines here appear to be a verse, but the source is not provided.</ref>
| |
|
| |
| Accordingly, without the dedication of the roots of virtue, virtue comes to nothing, for there are many causes for its destruction, such as the occurrence of anger. By contrast, when virtue is dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment, it is as when drops of water fall into the ocean; they will remain for as long as the ocean lasts. Virtue dedicated to the attainment of buddhahood will not be spent until enlightenment is gained. Indeed, it will increase and actually take us there.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 394.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
|
| |
| The ''Sūtra Taught by Inexhaustible Intellect'' (Skt. ''Akṣayamatisūtra'') reminds us of this important point—if our roots of virtue are properly dedicated, then they cannot be damaged or destroyed until we achieve enlightenment:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=As, in the great sea, drops of water fall,
| |
| And will not dry until the sea itself runs dry,
| |
| The virtue that to buddhahood is pledged
| |
| Is not consumed till buddhahood is gained.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 394.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
| <h4>Dedicating in the context of emptiness</h4>
| |
|
| |
| It is often stated that the dedication of our merit should be sealed with the wisdom of emptiness. But how does that process of sealing virtue with emptiness take place? It means that it should be associated with a wisdom unstained by the concepts of the three spheres. This form of dedication is said to be uncontaminated/unpoisoned/unstained.
| |
|
| |
| This concept of making dedication unstained by impurities is also mentioned in many chapters of Candrakīrti's ''Entering the Middle Way'' (Skt. ''Madhyamakāvatāra ''). For instance, in chapter two, Longchenpa makes a subtle point that the capping off of positive activities after they are complete with the understanding of emptiness is tantamount to nihilism. This may sound a little strange to us, but his point is that . . .
| |
|
| |
| <h4>Dedication for Other's Merit</h4>
| |
| Many masters have also reminded us that we can rejoice in and then dedicate the merit of others.
| |
|
| |
| With the understanding of the vital role that dedication plays, we can now look at the flow of this last chapter.
| |
|
| |
| One commentator (?) explains that these verses are written in the form of a series of dedicatory vows (Skt. ''praṇidhāna''). These are empathic prayers wishing that the positive karmic energy we have built up go to the fulfillment of the happiness of beings. This kind of dedicatory vow is first seen in chapter three:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|3.7}}
| |
|
| |
| In that chapter Śāntideva makes vast but much more general dedications that any virtue accrued may completely dispel every single suffering of every living being. So why would there be the need to mention again the process of dedication at the end of the text? Indeed, why dedicate an entire chapter to it? Is this not unnecessary repetition?
| |
|
| |
| There are several reasons for this. One commentator, Kate Crosby, mentions that in the third chapter what is being dedicated is the merit which arises from developing aspirational bodhicitta, whereas here in the last chapter, having worked our way through the practices which actually implement the perfections, the merit that is being dedicated is that which arises from engaged bodhicitta [LINK to glossary].
| |
|
| |
| As Śāntideva himself says in the first chapter of this text:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|1.16}}
| |
|
| |
| Just as there is a difference between having the wish to go somewhere and actually setting out along the road, so too there is a much greater difference in the positive potential which is created from just wishing that ourselves and others attain enlightenment than there is in actively entering into the practices which lead us directly on that path.
| |
|
| |
| Another reason is related to the structure of the six perfections. This last chapter comes at the end of an explanation of how to actively involve ourselves in each of the six perfections. So it is natural that once they are complete we take all that positive action and make sure that it is dedicated to the highest welfare.
| |
|
| |
| Also, as mentioned above, if we can dedicate our accumulated virtue with the seal of the understanding of emptiness, then . . .
| |
|
| |
| And finally, it is natural in the flow of our practice that the most extensive dedication would come at the end of the text. As with all of our activities, it is good to rejoice in the positive things we have done. In a worldly context we might put our feet up at the end of a day spent doing something satisfying and look back and rejoice in our efforts. In the same way, in the spiritual context where our lives are framed with the wish to be of benefit, we look back over what we have done and make sure that none of that positive potential goes to waste by making dedications.
| |
|
| |
| The content of the dedications is also quite different from the earlier chapters. Here in the last chapter, Śāntideva makes a series of much more specific dedications. He addresses the very particular sufferings of each of the different realms of existence and dedicates the merit he himself has accumulated, praying that those beings be immediately relieved of all those pains and experience the exact opposite of their current experience.
| |
|
| |
| <h4>Dedication for the hell realm beings</h4>
| |
| Śāntideva begins his dedications to others with the beings in the realm of saṃsāra with the most intense suffering. Verses 4 to 15 make dedications for the benefit of the beings who have been reborn in the absolute terror and misery of the hell realms. Śāntideva recognizes a variety of terrible states that beings experience in these realms and beautifully expresses his wish for their freedom from this excruciating pain:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.4}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.5}}
| |
|
| |
| Not only does he wish for their release from these sufferings, but he dedicates for the transformation of these sufferings into their opposite of bliss and happiness. He imagines a hail of weapons and lava transformed into a rain of flowers, the pits of hell becoming fragrant lotus ponds, and in the place of iron hills which crush beings on all sides, he imagines instead temples where the buddhas dwell.
| |
|
| |
| <h4>Dedication for the animal realm beings</h4>
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=And may the stooping animals be freed
| |
| From fear of being preyed upon, each other’s food. (''Verse 10.16ab'')
| |
| }}
| |
| It is said that the animal realm is generally characterized by ignorance. There are certain exceptional cases where animals show unique mental capabilities, but in general animals lack sophisticated cognitive abilities. Crucially, they are nearly always unaware of any consequence to their actions. They are therefore unable to comprehend what would be necessary to abandon to follow the path to liberation and what actions to take up in service of the path.
| |
|
| |
| Some animals have been born through unusual karmic ripening in situations of great comfort and luxury. But the majority of the wild world is usually prey to uninterrupted suffering. The domesticated animals we see around us, especially the pets of humans, lead lives which are not representative of life in the animal realm. In the wild, most creatures are in constant terror of losing their life. The threat of direct predators is ever-present, and we see with our own eyes how creatures are in a constant state of agitation. They concern themselves only with immediate needs such as food, shelter, and mates.
| |
|
| |
| These days we see also a new and ever-increasing threat of human impact on the natural habitats of the world, with many species being brought closer and closer to extinction. Here Śāntideva encourages us to dedicate all our merit for these helpless beings trapped in their animal existence and particularly from the most direct threat of all, the threat of losing their own life.
| |
|
| |
| <h4>Dedication for the hungry ghosts</h4>
| |
| The next verses dedicate merit to the relief of suffering in the hungry ghost, or ''preta'', realm.
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=And may the famished spirits have such joy
| |
| As those who dwell within the northern continent. (''Verse 10.16cd'')
| |
| }}
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.17}}
| |
| It is said that coveting the wealth and possessions of others and being miserly with one's own is what produces rebirth as a ''preta''.
| |
|
| |
| Here, the northern continent (Skt. ''Uttarakuru'') refers to the continent to the north of Mount Sumeru, according to traditional Buddhist cosmology. (Our world, Jambudvīpa, is the southern continent.) The northern continent is said to be a place of great harmony and prosperity. There, life is one of perfect pleasure and the people of gentle and virtuous mind, and therefore no one indulges in the ten negative actions.
| |
|
| |
| <h4>Dedication of virtue to free beings from the sufferings of the three higher realms</h4>
| |
|
| |
| Śāntideva now shifts the focus of his dedicatory vows to the beings which inhabit the more fortunate migrations (Skt. ''sugati''). But, of course, though a being may have had the good fortune to avoid the lower realms, and even to have the fortune of a human birth, there are still many kinds of sufferings that they face throughout their lives.
| |
|
| |
| The next sequence of poetic verses, backed up as they are with Śāntideva's deep compassion, are amongst some of the most stirring in religious literature:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.20}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.21}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.22}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.23}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.24}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.25}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.26}}
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.27}}
| |
|
| |
| The verses themselves are self-explanatory, but one can feel the deep compassion and emotions, the empathy and understanding that Śāntideva has for the whole gamut of human beings' sufferings.
| |
|
| |
| The verses are reminiscent of lines from a poem by the famous Japanese Buddhist master and hermit-poet Ryokan, who said: "O, that my priest's robe were wide enough to gather up all the suffering people in this floating world."<ref>Ryōkan, ''One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan'', trans. John Stevens (New York: Weatherhill, 1997), 75.</ref>
| |
|
| |
| It is important, however, that dedications are not just made for freedom from the manifest sufferings. Eventually, to avoid all these sufferings mentioned above sentient beings will have to align themselves with the spiritual path and strive to overcome their afflictions and ignorance. That is the only hope of avoiding suffering in the long-term. Therefore, Śāntideva also dedicates his merit that sentient beings will also immediately leave aside their nonvirtue and engage in the path that leads to perfect peace:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.31;10.32}}
| |
|
| |
| There are also dedications for the monastic communities:
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.42;10.43}}
| |
|
| |
| The monastic communities form an extremely important role in the transmission of the Dharma. Śāntideva therefore makes fervent prayers that monastic institutions of all kinds will flourish and that they always have harmony. And for those monks who choose a life away from large monastic centers and seek the solitude recommended in chapter eight, he prays that they find perfect places in which their meditation can proceed without interference.
| |
|
| |
| {{PullBcaVerses|10.58}}
| |
|
| |
| The chapter concludes with Śāntideva's verse of dedication to Mañjughoṣa and to his gurus.
| |
|
| |
| Mañjuśrī's kindness enabled Śāntideva to give up on all his attachments to the worldly life and to make a sincere effort in the virtuous practices of learning, contemplation, and meditation. It was particularly because of Mañjuśrī, the wish to cultivate bodhicitta and then the urge to compose this text arose in Śāntideva, and so he pays his respects and offers his body, speech, and mind up in homage.
| |
|
| |
| In Andrew Skilton's translation from the Sanskrit it says:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=I bow down to Manjughosa
| |
| through whose inspiration my mind turns to good.
| |
| I honour the spiritual friend
| |
| through whose inspiration it grows strong. (''Verse 10.58'')
| |
| }}
| |
| This translation gives the feel of how Mañjughoṣa's influence was the initial cause which helped turn Śāntideva's mind to good. Once turned in a positive direction, his gurus then helped him to build on this inspiration and make firm in his mind the realizations related to hearing, contemplation, and meditation.
| |
|
| |
| Khenpo Kunpal says of this homage to the gurus:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=In the same vein he prostrates respectfully to the holy beings thanks to whose kindness he was able to take monastic ordination and receive the bhikshu vows—the same beings who spread and propagate the Dharma of transmission and realization, namely, the ordaining abbot Jinadeva and the other teachers of the glorious monastery of Nālandā and elsewhere. To all his spiritual teachers, therefore, Śāntideva bows down.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 436.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
| This provides us with the link back to Śāntideva's history—his gurus and the tradition of Nālandā.
| |
|
| |
| He continues:
| |
| {{QuoteCite
| |
| |quote-text=In the same way, we too should consider as our teachers all those through whose kindness our minds have absorbed some of the qualities of the Dharma of transmission and realization. And remembering their kindness, we too should respectfully reverence them in thought, word, and deed.
| |
| <ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 436.</ref>
| |
| }}
| |
| We should always be reminded that while these are personal reflections of Śāntideva on his experiences of training, they are also an indirect form of advice for ourselves. This is true of the text as a whole, where in the first chapter although he says the text was only composed to familiarize his mind with the topics, inadvertently his audience also gain a complete instruction on the way of the bodhisattva.
| |
|
| |
| For us also it is important to continually remember the kindness of our teachers. Through them we have received the inspiration to turn our minds toward the Buddhist path. And it is through their continued support and guidance that we traverse the road that leads to buddhahood.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| }} | | }} |
