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|jumbo-text=In chapter 8 Śāntideva then 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. | |jumbo-text=In chapter 8 Śāntideva then 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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<h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3> | <h3>Concise Summary of Essential Points</h3> | ||
Revision as of 17:27, 2 March 2026
- Chapter 1 - The Excellence and Benefits of Bodhicitta
- Chapter 10 - Dedication
- Chapter 2 - Confession of Negativity
- Chapter 3 - Taking Hold of Bodhicitta
- Chapter 4 - Conscientiousness
- Chapter 5 - Vigilant Introspection
- Chapter 6 - Patience
- Chapter 7 - Diligence
- Chapter 8 - Meditative Concentration
- Chapter 9 - Wisdom
In chapter 8 Śāntideva then 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.
Concise Summary of Essential Points
A proliferation of conceptual thoughts plague 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 distracted, 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 distraction, the mind, when left to its own devices, will habitually gravitate toward sensual pleasures, convinced of their value to us. We feel this effect on ourselves and see it all around us. There are many cases of young people with attention deficiency disorders, and we cannot but feel apprehension at the increasing societal impact of this lack of attention. 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 any of 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.
Cultivating diligence as just described, In concentration I will place my mind. For those whose minds are slack and wandering Are caught between the fangs of the afflictions.
Page(s) 109
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
༈ དེ་ལྟར་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་བསྐྱེད་ནས་ནི། །
ཡིད་ནི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ལ་བཞག ། སེམས་ནི་རྣམ་པར་གཡེངས་པའི་མི། །
ཉོན་མོངས་མཆེ་བའི་ཕྲག་ན་གནས། །!_de ltar brtson 'grus bskyed nas ni/_/
yid ni ting nge 'dzin la bzhag_/ sems ni rnam par g.yengs pa'i mi/_/
nyon mongs mche ba'i phrag na gnas/_/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. But how to remedy this situation? To counter these natural tendencies toward distraction, the antidote of concentration is essential.
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 provides protection for the flame from the wind. Without a flame, there is no hope to see the paintings at all. If the flame is not protected from the wind, then some rough outlines can be made out, but none of the details can be seen. 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.[1]
In the eighth chapter, Śāntideva deals with the development of meditative absorption in two main ways. The first is to instruct us on how to quiet our distracted and unruly minds. He extols the virtues of solitude, describing the need for renouncing the world, and he dispenses advice on how to deal with strong emotional states, particularly attachment, which draw us away from this state of concentration.
The eighth chapter takes the diligence and mental awareness from earlier chapters and encourages us to drop distraction in all its forms. By applying the antidote to attachment, which plays a central role in distracting us, we establish some control over our minds.
Pure concentration in itself, however, has a neutral quality. It helps in getting things done but could be used for great negativity as much as for positive goals. Śāntideva encourages us to take up this focused mind and to apply it to cultivating the lifeblood of the Mahāyāna path, the mind of enlightenment.
In the earlier chapters of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra), there was much mention of bodhicitta, its benefits, and the practices associated with this central part of the bodhisattva path. But in the second half of chapter eight, we find a much more detailed presentation of the stages of mental development required in order to cultivate relative bodhicitta.
In the Mahāyāna tradition, there are two main methods for developing relative bodhicitta, the mind wishing to attain enlightenment to most effectively work for the welfare of all sentient beings. The first is the tradition of the seven-point cause and effect, which originates with Maitreya and comes down through Asaṅga. The second tradition, dealt with extensively in the second half of this chapter, is the equalizing and exchanging of self and others. This tradition comes down from Mañjuśrī and through Nāgārjuna to Śāntideva. In chapter 8 Śāntideva presents the development of bodhicitta through the lens of the equalizing and exchanging of 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.
Strive at first to meditate Upon the sameness of yourself and others.97See appendix 2. In joy and sorrow all are equal; Thus be guardian of all, as of yourself.
Page(s) 122
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
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.
If I do not interchange My happiness for others’ pain, Enlightenment will never be attained, And even in saṃsāra, joy will fly from me.
Page(s) 128
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
བདག་བདེ་གཞན་གྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་དག །
ཡང་དག་བརྗེ་བར་མ་བྱས་ན། ། སངས་རྒྱས་ཉིད་དུ་མི་འགྲུབ་ཅིང་། །
འཁོར་བ་ན་ཡང་བདེ་བ་མེད། །bdag bde gzhan gyi sdug bsngal dag_/
yang dag brje bar ma byas na/_/ sangs rgyas nyid du mi 'grub cing /_/
'khor ba na yang bde ba med/_/The next steps in the equalizing and exchanging of 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 a 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.
Thus to banish all obscuring veils I’ll bend my mind from the mistaken path; And constantly upon the perfect object I shall rest my mind in even meditation.
Page(s) 136
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
དེ་བས་སྒྲིབ་པ་བསལ་བའི་ཕྱིར། །
ལོག་པའི་ལམ་ལས་སེམས་བླན་ཏེ། །[p.102]Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)
Slob dpon zhi ba lha and Mkhan po kun dpal. Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1990. 
de bas sgrib pa bsal ba'i phyir/_/
log pa'i lam las sems blan te/_/[p.102]Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)
Slob dpon zhi ba lha and Mkhan po kun dpal. Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1990.
Notes
- ↑ This metaphor can be found in Kamalaśīla's Stages of Meditation (Bhāvanākrama) as well as in other texts.
Additional resources
Learn About Śāntideva's Texts
The Way of the Bodhisattva
The Compendium of Training
Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 8
Recommended Books Related to Chapter 8
Throughout this transcript, Rimpoche uses the English translation by Stephen Batchelor, published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Since Rimpoche frequently makes reference to Tibetan words and phrasing, the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit original is included in Wylie transliteration in [Appendix I].
Rimpoche did not introduce a traditional extensive outline in giving this teaching. For those interested, an outline of this sort may be found in Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's Meaningful to Behold. The headings, subheadings and footnotes in this present volume have been added by the editor for ease of reference, and to help delineate changes of topic. A brief bibliography is included. For a glossary, see the transcript on Chapters One through Three in this series.
The transcription of these teachings from recordings was done by Hartmut Sagolla. (Anne Warren, acknowledgements, i–ii)
