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As Thupten Jinpa, referring to the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' as the ''Guide'', explains, | Though the specifics of these two practices are quite distinct, they share a similar theoretical basis and there is considerable overlap in their propagation. As Thupten Jinpa, referring to the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' as the ''Guide'', explains, | ||
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|quote-text=On the surface, the relationship between the ''Guide'' and Tibetan mind training appears fairly straightforward. First and foremost, there seems to be a direct link, if not an equivalence, between the exchanging of self and others as outlined in chapter 8 of the ''Guide'' and <i>lojong</i>'s "giving and taking" (''tonglen'') meditation, which involves imaginatively taking on others' suffering, misfortune, and negative karma and giving to others one's happiness, good fortune, and positive karma. Second, the ''Guide'' is listed as one of the "six treatises of Kadam," which also include Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training''. Third, most ''lojong'' texts, especially since the appearance of Chekawa's "Seven-Point Mind Training" in the twelfth century, seem to contain disproportionately high numbers of citations from the ''Guide''. Fourth, Atiśa's explicit acknowledgment of Serlingpa (literally, "the one from the Island of Sumatra") as the principal source for his instruction on generating ''bodhicitta'', combined with the fact that Serlingpa's approach is thought to emphasize the exchanging of self and others, suggest the ''Guide'' to be the direct source of ''lojong'''s approach to cultivating ''bodhicitta''. Finally, it cannot be a matter of pure coincidence that most Tibetan masters who have been ''Guide'' enthusiasts were also great advocates of ''lojong''. This is true from the earliest Tibetan ''lojong'' teachers, especially Langri Thangpa (1054-1123) and Chekawa (1101-75), to Ngulchu Thokmé Sangpo (1297-1371) and Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and from Yongzin Yeshé Gyaltsen in the eighteenth century to Dza Paltrül in the nineteenth century. | |quote-text=On the surface, the relationship between the ''Guide'' and Tibetan mind training appears fairly straightforward. First and foremost, there seems to be a direct link, if not an equivalence, between the exchanging of self and others as outlined in chapter 8 of the ''Guide'' and <i>lojong</i>'s "giving and taking" (''tonglen'') meditation, which involves imaginatively taking on others' suffering, misfortune, and negative karma and giving to others one's happiness, good fortune, and positive karma. Second, the ''Guide'' is listed as one of the "six treatises of Kadam," which also include Śāntideva's ''Compendium of Training''. Third, most ''lojong'' texts, especially since the appearance of Chekawa's "Seven-Point Mind Training" in the twelfth century, seem to contain disproportionately high numbers of citations from the ''Guide''. Fourth, Atiśa's explicit acknowledgment of Serlingpa (literally, "the one from the Island of Sumatra") as the principal source for his instruction on generating ''bodhicitta'', combined with the fact that Serlingpa's approach is thought to emphasize the exchanging of self and others, suggest the ''Guide'' to be the direct source of ''lojong'''s approach to cultivating ''bodhicitta''. Finally, it cannot be a matter of pure coincidence that most Tibetan masters who have been ''Guide'' enthusiasts were also great advocates of ''lojong''. This is true from the earliest Tibetan ''lojong'' teachers, especially Langri Thangpa (1054-1123) and Chekawa (1101-75), to Ngulchu Thokmé Sangpo (1297-1371) and Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and from Yongzin Yeshé Gyaltsen in the eighteenth century to Dza Paltrül in the nineteenth century. | ||
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