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|jumbo-text=In the eighth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' Śāntideva presents a series of contemplative practices intended to counteract our rigid fixation with self-centered pursuits associated with the notions of ''I'' and ''mine''. However, in order to engage with those practices one must first free themselves from the deeply ingrained tendencies toward distraction by cultivating its antithesis, concentration. While this section of the text is often referred to as the Meditation Chapter, much of Śāntideva's discussion revolves around the need to distance ourselves from the sources of distraction. | |jumbo-text=In the eighth chapter of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' Śāntideva presents a series of contemplative practices intended to counteract our rigid fixation with self-centered pursuits associated with the notions of ''I'' and ''mine''. However, in order to engage with those practices one must first free themselves from the deeply ingrained tendencies toward distraction by cultivating its antithesis, concentration. While this section of the text is often referred to as the Meditation Chapter, much of Śāntideva's discussion revolves around the need to distance ourselves from the sources of distraction. | ||
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Though the contemplations found in the latter half of this chapter have received quite a bit of attention from modern academics, much of the first half of the chapter, which consists of series of contemplations intended to counteract desire for the female form that are geared solely toward an audience of celibate monks, is often viewed as controversial. As Roger Jackson explains, | Though the contemplations found in the latter half of this chapter have received quite a bit of attention from modern academics, much of the first half of the chapter, which consists of series of contemplations intended to counteract desire for the female form that are geared solely toward an audience of celibate monks, is often viewed as controversial. Nevertheless, this section of the text is emblematic of Śāntideva's instructions on concentration, which are presented as a means for becoming free of worldly distractions, rather than what we might ordinarily consider to be typical meditation instructions. As Roger Jackson explains, | ||
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