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|quote-text=And may the stooping animals be freed | |quote-text=And may the stooping animals be freed | ||
From fear of being preyed upon, each other’s food. (10.16ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] | From fear of being preyed upon, each other’s food. (10.16ab)<ref>[[Blankleder, H.|Helena Blankleder]] and [[Fletcher, W.|Wulstan Fletcher]] ([[Padmakara Translation Group]]), trans., ''[[The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)|The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra]]'', by [[Śāntideva]] (Boston: [[Shambhala Publications]], 2006), 165.</ref> | ||
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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. | 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. | ||
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Right at the beginning of the chapter, Śāntideva dedicates all of the virtue that he has amassed through the composition of this text.
By all the virtue I have now amassed By composition of this book, which speaks Of entry to the Bodhisattva way, May every being tread the path to Buddhahood.
Page(s) 163
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.
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.
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 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 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.[1]
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 says in his Nectar of Mañjuśrī's Speech in relation to the benefits of dedication:
Dedication is the path of never-ending merit For virtue is augmented and transformed thereby.[2]
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 it is said:
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.[3]
In his commentary on this verse, Khenpo Kunpal also draws an important distinction here between dedication and aspirational prayers.
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.[4]
Aspiration is more akin to the wish for something to happen, and it is not necessary to have been involved in the actual engagement in the deeds associated with it. Dedication, on the other hand, is done after the completion of positive acts to seal them 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 and explains how dedicating all our virtue for the purpose of all beings attaining enlightenment protects that virtue from ever drying up.
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. . . .
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.[5]
The Sūtra Taught by Inexhaustible Intellect (Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra) 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.
Just as there is no destruction or interruption, until the end of the aeon, of a drop of water that has fallen into a great ocean, there is no destruction or interruption whatsoever of the roots of virtue that have been dedicated to awakening until the bodhisatvas sit on the seat of awakening.[6]
Dedicating with the Context of Emptiness
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 at the time of the virtuous action, there should be an associated wisdom which is unstained or contaminated by concepts of inherent existence in relation to the three spheres. When performing an action, there are three spheres in relation to that action: (1) the agent who is performing the action, the "who," (2) the action itself, the "what," and (3) the person that the action is performed in relation to, the "to whom."
This concept of making dedication unstained by incorrect concepts about these three spheres is mentioned in many chapters of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra). For instance, in chapter 2, when discussing the divisions of the perfection of ethical discipline, Candrakīrti explains how the presence or absence of mistaken concepts about the reality of the three spheres at the time of the action itself determines whether the perfection (pāramitā) qualifies as a mundane one or a supramundane one.
The following verse and commentary from Tsongkhapa's Illuminating the Intent illustrates this point:
- Who relinquishes what and in relation to whom—
when any of these three is objectified,
such morality is described as mundane perfection;
free of attachment to these three is supramundane. (2.9)
When someone is incapable of ceasing the seed of objectifying the three as real—the person who relinquishes, what objects of abandonment he relinquishes, and in relation to which sentient beings he relinquishes—such morality is described as mundane perfection. If that very morality is free of attachment to these three spheres in the form of perceiving them as real—that is to say, if it is sustained by uncontaminated wisdom realizing them as not perceivable—it is supramundane perfection. Hence, by this distinction, morality is twofold.[7]
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.[8]
This may sound a little strange to us, but his point is that, as much as possible, our positive actions should be informed with the understanding of the lack of intrinsic reality (i.e. the emptiness) of these three spheres at the time of performing the action and not at a later time, only after the action is already complete.
Crosby and Skilton explain that the verses of this tenth chapter are written in the form of a series of dedicatory vows (praṇidhāna). These are empathetic prayers wishing that the positive karmic energy we have built up is used for the fulfillment of the happiness of beings. This kind of dedicatory vow is first seen in chapter three.
Through these actions now performed48The reference here is to the seven traditional actions of accumulating merit, often expressed in a verse formula known as the ‟seven-branch prayer.” These actions are homage, offering, confession, rejoicing in all good actions, the request for teaching, the request that the teachers remain in the world and not pass into nirvāṇa, and dedication. The first three actions formed the content of the previous chapter; the remaining four are expressed here in the opening stanzas of chap. 3. See Crosby and Skilton, pp. 9–13, for a description of the ‟sevenfold supreme worship.” And all the virtues I have gained, May all the pain of every living being Be wholly scattered and destroyed!
Page(s) 48
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་འདི་དག་ཀུན་བྱས་ཏེ། །
དགེ་བ་བདག་གིས་བསགས་པ་གང་། ། དེས་ནི་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི། །
སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཐམས་ཅད་བསལ་བར་ཤོག །de ltar 'di dag kun byas te/_/
dge ba bdag gis bsags pa gang /_/ des ni sems can thams cad kyi/_/
sdug bsngal thams cad bsal bar shog_/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.[9]
We may wonder why there is a need to again mention the process of dedication at the end of the text when it has already been covered in earlier chapters. Indeed, why devote an entire chapter to dedication? Is this not unnecessary repetition? There are several reasons for this. Crosby and Skilton point out 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.[10] As Śāntideva himself says in the first chapter of this text:
As corresponding to the wish to go And then to setting out, The wise should understand respectively The difference that divides these two.
Page(s) 33
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.
འགྲོ་བར་འདོད་དང་འགྲོ་བ་ཡི། །
བྱེ་བྲག་ཇི་ལྟར་ཤེས་པ་ལྟར། ། དེ་བཞིན་མཁས་པས་འདི་གཉིས་ཀྱི། །
བྱེ་བྲག་རིམ་བཞིན་ཤེས་པར་བྱ། །gro bar 'dod dang 'gro ba yi/_/
bye brag ji ltar shes pa ltar/_/ de bzhin mkhas pas 'di gnyis kyi/_/
bye brag rim bzhin shes par bya/_/Just as there is a difference between having the wish to go somewhere and actually setting out on the road, so too there is a much greater difference in the positive potential which is created from just wishing that we and others attain enlightenment versus actively entering into the practices which lead us directly on that path.
Another reason for the process of dedication here 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, which is covered in most detail in the preceding ninth chapter, then it will be of much greater strength and more resilient to the effects of negative states of mind such as anger.
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 that misery and experience the exact opposite of their current situation.
General Dedication That the Three Realms of Samsara Be Free of Suffering
With the understanding of the vital role that dedication plays in spiritual practice in general and, in particular, in the structure of the supreme worship which we mentioned in the earlier chapters, we can now look at the flow of this last chapter. Chapter 10 begins with several verses of general dedication that all the merit we have accumulated go to clearing away all the sufferings of beings across the whole of spectrum of samsara, with the wish also that, instead of suffering, all beings will have endless peace and happiness.
May beings everywhere who suffer Torment in their minds and bodies Have, by virtue of my merit, Joy and happiness in boundless measure.
Page(s) 163
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.
ཕྱོགས་རྣམས་ཀུན་ན་ལུས་དང་སེམས། །
སྡུག་བསྔལ་ནད་པ་ཇི་སྙེད་པ། ། དེ་དག་བདག་གི་བསོད་ནམས་ཀྱིས། །
བདེ་དགའ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །phyogs rnams kun na lus dang sems/_/
sdug bsngal nad pa ji snyed pa/_/ de dag bdag gi bsod nams kyis/_/
bde dga' rgya mtsho thob par shog_/As long as they may linger in saṃsāra, May their joy be undiminished; May they taste of unsurpassed beatitude In constant and unbroken continuity.
Page(s) 163
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་དག་འཁོར་བ་ཇི་སྲིད་དུ། །
ནམ་ཡང་བདེ་ལས་ཉམས་མ་གྱུར། ། འགྲོ་བས་བླ་ན་མེད་པ་ཡི། །
བདེ་བ་རྒྱུན་མི་འཆད་ཐོབ་ཤོག །de dag 'khor ba ji srid du/_/
nam yang bde las nyams ma gyur/_/ 'gro bas bla na med pa yi/_/
bde ba rgyun mi 'chad thob shog_/These are indeed lofty ideals. But we may wonder if it is really possible to accomplish these goals. In relation to these verses, the contemporary Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche explains how some aspirations we make can be fulfilled, while others cannot.
Some aspirations that we make can be fulfilled and some cannot. For instance, if I wish for a beautiful flower to appear on my table, no flower will appear, no matter how long I pray for it. If, on the other hand, there is soil, a pot, some water and seeds, then there is a good chance that the prayer for a flower will be fulfilled.
So it is important that we don't just pray or wish that things come about by themselves, but we must also try the best to the best of our capabilities to develop the conditions for our wishes to flourish. In samsara the realm of sentient beings is vast. In all directions there are sentient beings and when there are sentient beings, there are disturbing emotions and suffering. Now we pray that all these sentient beings be endowed with perfect happiness, to continually enjoy this happiness which is beyond the happiness that occurs in samsara, and that they remain in perfect happiness from the virtue of our good activities.[11]
Here, the point being stressed is that we also have to take an active role in helping our lofty wishes come to fruition. It is not enough to just stand on the sidelines and pray. We must act to put the causes in place for the desired result to bear fruit.
Dedication for the Hell Realm Beings
Śāntideva then expounds a series of specific dedications to beings who are trapped in samsara with their own particular forms of suffering. He begins with the beings with the most intense suffering. Verses 4 to 15 are dedications for the benefit of 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 he beautifully expresses his wish for their freedom from this excruciating pain.
Throughout the spheres and reaches of the world,
In hellish states as many as there are,
May beings who abide there taste
The bliss and peace of Sukhāvatī.111Sukhāvatī, the pure land of Buddha Amitābha.[p.164]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
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.
Page(s) 163
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.
འཇིག་རྟེན་ཁམས་ན་དམྱལ་བ་དག །
གང་དག་ཇི་སྙེད་ཡོད་པ་རྣམས། ། དེ་དག་ཏུ་ནི་ལུས་ཅན་རྣམས། །
བདེ་ཅན་* དེ་ནས་ in the source text. བདེ་བས་དགའ་བར་ཤོག །jig rten khams na dmyal ba dag_/
gang dag ji snyed yod pa rnams/_/ de dag tu ni lus can rnams/_/
bde can* de nas [ in the source text. ] bde bas dga' bar shog_/May those caught in the freezing ice be warmed, And from great clouds of Bodhisattvas Torrents rain in boundless streams To cool those burning in infernal fires.
Page(s) 164
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.
གྲང་བས་ཉམ་ཐག་དྲོ་ཐོབ་ཤོག །
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྲིན་ཆེན་ལས། ། བྱུང་བའི་ཆུ་བོ་མཐའ་ཡས་ཀྱིས། །
ཚ་བས་ཉམ་ཐག་བསིལ་བར་ཤོག །grang bas nyam thag dro thob shog_/
byang chub sems dpa'i sprin chen las/_/ byung ba'i chu bo mtha' yas kyis/_/
tsha bas nyam thag bsil bar shog_/Not only does he wish for their release from these sufferings but he makes a dedication that these sufferings will be transformed into their exact opposite—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.
Dedication for the Animal Realm Beings
Having dedicated his merit to the welfare of beings in the various hell realms, in verse 16 Śāntideva moves on to the animal realm.
And may the stooping animals be freed From fear of being preyed upon, each other’s food. (10.16ab)[12]
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 into 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 lives. 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. In addition, these days we see the 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.
Dedication for the Hungry Ghosts
It is said that coveting the wealth and possessions of others and being miserly with one's own is what produces rebirth as a hungry ghost, or preta. The next verses dedicate all accumulated merit to the relief of suffering for beings in the hungry-ghost realm.
And may the famished spirits have such joy As those who dwell within the northern continent. (10.16cd)
And may they be replete and satisfied
By streams of milk that pour
From noble Lord Avalokita’s hand,
And bathing in it, may they be refreshed and cooled.[p.166]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
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.
Page(s) 165
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.
འཕགས་པ་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་གི །
ཕྱག་ནས་འབབ་པའི་འོ་རྒྱུན་གྱིས། ། ཡི་དྭགས་རྣམས་ནི་ཚིམ་བྱས་ཤིང་། །
ཁྲུས་བྱས་རྟག་ཏུ་བསིལ་བར་ཤོག །phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang gi_/
phyag nas 'bab pa'i 'o rgyun gyis/_/ yi dwags rnams ni tshim byas shing /_/
khrus byas rtag tu bsil bar shog_/Here, according to traditional Buddhist cosmology, the northern continent (Uttarakuru) refers to the continent to the north of Mount Sumeru, the sacred five-peaked mountain considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes. (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.
Dedication for Human Beings
Śāntideva then shifts the focus of his dedicatory vows to the beings who inhabit the more fortunate migrations (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 among some of the most stirring in religious literature.
May the poor and destitute find wealth, The haggard and the careworn, joy. May those now in despair be whole in mind, Endowed with sterling constancy.
Page(s) 166
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.
བཀྲེན་པ་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ནོར་ཐོབ་ཤོག །
མྱ་ངན་ཉམ་ཐག་དགའ་ཐོབ་ཤོག ། ཡི་ཆད་རྣམས་ཀྱང་ཡིད་སོས་ཤིང་། །
བརྟན་པ་ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོགས་པར་ཤོག །bkren pa rnams kyis nor thob shog_/
mya ngan nyam thag dga' thob shog_/ yi chad rnams kyang yid sos shing /_/
brtan pa phun sum tshogs par shog_/May every being ailing with disease Be freed at once from every malady. May every sickness that afflicts the living Be wholly and forever absent from the world.
Page(s) 166
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.
སེམས་ཅན་ནད་པ་ཇི་སྙེད་པ། །
མྱུར་དུ་ནད་ལས་ཐར་གྱུར་ཅིག ། འགྲོ་བའི་ནད་ནི་མ་ལུས་པ། །
རྟག་ཏུ་འབྱུང་བ་མེད་པར་ཤོག །sems can nad pa ji snyed pa/_/
myur du nad las thar gyur cig_/ 'gro ba'i nad ni ma lus pa/_/
rtag tu 'byung ba med par shog_/May those who go in dread have no more fear. May captives be unchained and now set free. And may the weak receive their strength. May living beings help each other in kindness.
Page(s) 166
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.
སྐྲག་པ་རྣམས་ནི་འཇིགས་མེད་ཤོག །
བཅིངས་པ་རྣམས་ནི་གྲོལ་བར་འགྱུར། ། མཐུ་མེད་རྣམས་ནི་མཐུ་ལྡན་ཞིང་། །
སེམས་ནི་ཕན་ཚུན་མཉེན་གྱུར་ཅིག །skrag pa rnams ni 'jigs med shog_/
bcings pa rnams ni grol bar 'gyur/_/ mthu med rnams ni mthu ldan zhing /_/
sems ni phan tshun mnyen gyur cig_/May travelers upon the road Find happiness no matter where they go, And may they gain, without the need of toil, The goals on which they set their hearts.
Page(s) 166
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.
འགྲོན་པོ་དག་ནི་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ། །
ཕྱོགས་རྣམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བདེ་བར་ཤོག ། གང་གི་དོན་དུ་འགྲོ་བྱེད་པ། །
དེ་འབད་མི་དགོས་འགྲུབ་གྱུར་ཅིག །gron po dag ni thams cad la/_/
phyogs rnams thams cad bde bar shog_/ gang gi don du 'gro byed pa/_/
de 'bad mi dgos 'grub gyur cig_/May those who put to sea in boat or ship,
Attain the ports that they desire,
And may they safely come to shore
And sweet reunion with their kith and kin.[p.167]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
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.
Page(s) 166
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.
གྲུ་དང་གྲུ་ཆེན་ཞུགས་པ་རྣམས། །
ཡིད་ལ་བསམ་པ་གྲུབ་གྱུར་ཏེ། །[p.129]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. 
gru dang gru chen zhugs pa rnams/_/
yid la bsam pa grub gyur te/_/[p.129]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.
May those who lose their way and wander In the wild find fellow travelers. And safe from threat of thieves and savage beasts, May they be tireless and their journey light.
Page(s) 167
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.
མྱ་ངན་ལམ་གོལ་འཁྱམས་པ་རྣམས། །
འགྲོན་པོ་དག་དང་ཕྲད་གྱུར་ནས། ། ཆོམ་རྐུན་སྟག་སོགས་འཇིགས་མེད་པར། །
མི་ངལ་བདེ་བླག་འདོང་བར་ཤོག །mya ngan lam gol 'khyams pa rnams/_/
'gron po dag dang phrad gyur nas/_/ chom rkun stag sogs 'jigs med par/_/
mi ngal bde blag 'dong bar shog_/May children and the aged, and all those without protection Wandering in the fearful, pathless wastes, Who fall asleep unconscious of their peril, Have pure celestial beings as their guardians.
Page(s) 167
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.
དགོན་སོགས་ལམ་མེད་ཉམ་ང་བར། །
བྱིས་པ་རྒན་པོ་མགོན་མེད་པ། ། གཉིད་ལོག་མྱོས་ཤིང་རབ་མྱོས་རྣམས། །
ལྷ་དག་སྲུང་བ་བྱེད་པར་ཤོག །dgon sogs lam med nyam nga bar/_/
byis pa rgan po mgon med pa/_/ gnyid log myos shing rab myos rnams/_/
lha dag srung ba byed par shog_/May all be freed from states of bondage, May they be possessed of wisdom, faith, and love. With perfect sustenance and conduct, May they always have remembrance of their former lives.
Page(s) 167
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.
མི་དལ་ཀུན་ལས་ཐར་བ་དང་། །
དད་དང་ཤེས་རབ་བརྩེར་ལྡན་ཞིང་། ། ཟས་དང་སྤྱོད་པ་ཕུན་ཚོགས་ནས། །
རྟག་ཏུ་ཚེ་རབས་དྲན་གྱུར་ཅིག །mi dal kun las thar ba dang /_/
dad dang shes rab brtser ldan zhing /_/ zas dang spyod pa phun tshogs nas/_/
rtag tu tshe rabs dran gyur cig_/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 Ryōkan, who said the following:
O, that my priest's robe were wide enough to gather up all the suffering people in this floating world.[13]
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 so that sentient beings will immediately leave aside their nonvirtue and engage in the path that leads to perfect peace.
And thus by all the merit I have gained,
May every being, leaving none aside,
Abandon all their evil ways
Embracing goodness now and ever more.[p.168]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
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.
Page(s) 167
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་གི་བསོད་ནམས་འདི་ཡིས་ནི། །
སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་མ་ལུས་པ། ། སྡིག་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་སྤངས་ནས་ནི། །
རྟག་ཏུ་དགེ་བ་[p.130]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.
bdag gi bsod nams 'di yis ni/_/
sems can thams cad ma lus pa/_/ sdig pa thams cad spangs nas ni/_/
rtag tu dge ba [p.130]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.
From bodhichitta may they never separate, And constantly engage in Bodhisattva actions. May they be accepted as disciples by the Buddhas, Drawing back from what is demons’ work.
Page(s) 168
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.
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དང་མི་འབྲལ་ཞིང་། །
བྱང་ཆུབ་སྤྱོད་ལ་གཞོལ་བ་དང་། ། སངས་རྒྱས་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ཡོངས་བཟུང་ཞིང་། །
བདུད་ཀྱི་ལས་རྣམས་སྤང་བར་ཤོག །byang chub sems dang mi 'bral zhing /_/
byang chub spyod la gzhol ba dang /_/ sangs rgyas rnams kyis yongs bzung zhing /_/
bdud kyi las rnams spang bar shog_/There are also dedications for the monastic communities. 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 will always have harmony.
In monasteries, temples, and the like, May reading and reciting widely flourish. May harmony prevail among the Saṅgha; May its purposes be all fulfilled.
Page(s) 169
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.
གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་རྣམས་ཀློག་པ་དང་། །
ཁ་ཏོན་གྱིས་རྒྱས་ལེགས་གནས་ཤོག ། རྟག་ཏུ་དགེ་འདུན་མཐུན་པ་དང་། །
དགེ་འདུན་དོན་ཡང་འགྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །gtsug lag khang rnams klog pa dang /_/
kha ton gyis rgyas legs gnas shog_/ rtag tu dge 'dun mthun pa dang /_/
dge 'dun don yang 'grub par shog_/_And for those monks who choose a life away from large monastic centers and seek the solitude recommended in chapter 8, he prays that they find perfect places in which their meditation can proceed without interference.
May ordained monks, intent upon the practice, Find perfect places for retreat in solitude, Abandon every vagrant thought, And meditate with trained and serviceable minds.
Page(s) 169
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.
བསླབ་པ་འདོད་པའི་དགེ་སློང་དག །
དབེན་པ་དག་ཀྱང་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག ། གཡེང་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་སྤངས་ནས་ནི། །
སེམས་ནི་ལས་རུང་སྒོམ་གྱུར་ཅིག །bslab pa 'dod pa'i dge slong dag_/
dben pa dag kyang thob par shog_/ g.yeng ba thams cad spangs nas ni/_/
sems ni las rung sgom gyur cig_/Dedication of the Virtue for Perfecting the Supreme Intention
In verses 49 and 50, Śāntideva encourages us to dedicate our merit so that the great bodhisattvas will be able to fulfill their highest intentions, to bring beings to liberation and enlightenment, in exactly the way that they make their prayers and wishes.
May all the Bodhisattvas now fulfill Their high intention for the sake of wanderers. May sentient beings now obtain All that their Guardians wish for them.
Page(s) 170
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.
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ནི། །
འགྲོ་དོན་ཐུགས་ལ་དགོངས་འགྲུབ་ཤོག ། མགོན་པོ་ཡིས་ནི་གང་དགོངས་པ། །
སེམས་ཅན་རྣམས་ལ་དེ་འབྱོར་ཤོག །byang chub sems dpa' rnams kyis ni/_/
'gro don thugs la dgongs 'grub shog_/ mgon po yis ni gang dgongs pa/_/
sems can rnams la de 'byor shog_/With respect to this verse, the contemporary Sakya master Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk explains that our merit is dedicated not toward a living being as such but toward the mindset that is the perfection of the highest of all intentions, the wish to attain the enlightened state for the welfare of all beings.
May the bodhisattvas residing on the tenth ground achieve everything, both in the short- and long-term, exactly according to the ground of their intention, that is for the purpose of migrator beings. May beings also obtain resources, abilities, and results, and be endowed with them in accord with the intent of the guardians, the perfect buddha bhagavāns, and their heart disciples the bodhisattvas, the intent that is for the sake of the temporary and ultimate welfare of migrator beings.[14]
Although śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas gain their liberation from samsara through understanding the profound truth of dependent arising, and although they do not hold this precious intent of wishing to attain complete enlightenment for the welfare of all beings, Śāntideva makes a prayer that they will be endowed with the bliss that occurs when suffering is brought to an end and that they attain the great bliss of ultimate and perfect buddhahood.
And may the Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas Gain their perfect happiness. (10.50)
Dedication of Virtue for One's Own Sake
With such focus on others on the bodhisattva path, we may forget to make positive and beneficial prayers and aspirations for ourselves. Here, in verses 51 to 56, Śāntideva encourages us to also dedicate for our own sake, but this is never for self-indulgent and worldly motives. It is for the positive purpose of being able to have conducive conditions for progress on our spiritual path.
And till, through Mañjughoṣha’s perfect kindness, I attain the ground of Perfect Joy,119Perfect Joy (Skt. pramuditā-bhūmi, Tib. sa rab tu dga' ba): name of the first of the ten Bodhisattva bhūmis or grounds of realization. See note 47. May I remember all my lives And enter into the monastic state.
Page(s) 170
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་ཀྱང་འཇམ་དབྱངས་བཀའ་དྲིན་གྱིས། །
ས་རབ་དགའ་བ་ཐོབ་བར་དུ། ། རྟག་ཏུ་ཚེ་རབས་དྲན་པ་དང་། །
རབ་ཏུ་བྱུང་བ་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །bdag kyang 'jam dbyangs bka' drin gyis/_/
sa rab dga' ba thob bar du/_/ rtag tu tshe rabs dran pa dang /_/
rab tu byung ba thob par shog_/Guided by Mañjughoṣa, Śāntideva wishes that throughout all his lifetimes, until he reaches the first bodhisattva ground of perfect joy, he will always retain the memory of his previous existences. Thus, this will help him to maintain a strong conviction in the karmic law of cause and effect and encourage him to never forget bodhicitta. In relation to the last two lines of the verse, Khenpo Kunpal explains the virtues of monastic life compared to that of a lay person.
He prays that he might "always embrace the perfect discipline of monastic ordination." For whereas to be a householder is the basis of all the faults that bring ruin in this and future lives, to go forth into homelessness is the ground and basis of all excellent qualities and benefits.[15]
Furthermore, Khenpo Kunpal quotes from the The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhirājasūtra) to encourage us to realize how incredible it is in this degenerate era to have virtuous thoughts and the wish to follow the bodhisattva path, and especially to wish to take ordination.
In the present age, if one takes and observes just one of the precepts of the Buddha's teaching, one will acquire great merit and benefits. This has been described in the Samadhiraja-sutra:
- Those who for as many aeons trillionfold
As grains upon the Ganga's sandy shore,
Worship with devoted mind, with food and drink,
And lamps and flowers, parasols and banners,
A thousand million Buddhas—
All are in their merits utterly surpassed
By those who—at this time when sacred Dharma perishes
And when the teaching of the Tathagata wanes—
Will practice day and night a single precept.
This being so, there is no need to speak of the result that will occur when one embraces monastic ordination and observes all the precepts without impairment. One will accomplish perfectly the goals of this and future existences both for oneself and others. The benefits that ensue are inconceivable.[16]
Śāntideva goes on to pray that he will remain healthy for the sake of practice, living a life sustained only by simple alms. But he also prays that, until he reaches buddhahood, he will have a peaceful living environment which is supportive of the practice of virtue.
Thus may I abide, sustained By simple, ordinary fare. And in every life obtain A dwelling place in perfect solitude.
Page(s) 170
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་ནི་ཁ་ཟས་གྱི་ནས་ཀྱང་། །
ཉམས་དང་ལྡན་ཞིང་འཚོ་བར་ཤོག ། ཚེ་རབས་ཀུན་ཏུ་དབེན་གནས་པ། །
ཕུན་སུམ་ལྡན་པ་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །bdag ni kha zas gyi nas kyang /_/
nyams dang ldan zhing 'tsho bar shog_/ tshe rabs kun tu dben gnas pa/_/
phun sum ldan pa thob par shog_/There then comes one of the most famous verses in the whole of The Way of the Bodhisattva and one that is quoted regularly by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as one of the greatest inspirations of his life:
And now as long as space endures, As long as there are beings to be found, May I continue likewise to remain To drive away the sorrows of the world.
Page(s) 171
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.
ཇི་སྲིད་ནམ་མཁའ་གནས་པ་དང་། །
འགྲོ་བ་ཇི་སྲིད་གནས་གྱུར་པ། ། དེ་སྲིད་བདག་ནི་གནས་གྱུར་ནས། །
འགྲོ་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་སེལ་བར་ཤོག །ji srid nam mkha' gnas pa dang /_/
'gro ba ji srid gnas gyur pa/_/ de srid bdag ni gnas gyur nas/_/
'gro ba'i sdug bsngal sel bar shog_/This beautiful stanza sums up the solemn and heartfelt pledge of bodhisattvas: as long as beings remain trapped in the cycle of samsaric existence, they themselves will also remain in order to help drive away their pain and suffering and guide them on the path of wisdom that leads to liberation from all suffering.
Dedication for the Propagation and Prosperity of the Buddha's Doctrine
The chapter concludes with Śāntideva's verse of dedication to Mañjughoṣa and to his gurus. Mañjuśrī's kindness enabled Śāntideva to give up all his attachments to worldly life and to make sincere effort in the virtuous practices of learning, contemplation, and meditation.
And now to Mañjughoṣha I prostrate, Whose kindness is the wellspring of my good intent. And to my virtuous friends I also bow Whose inspiration gave me strength to grow.
Page(s) 171
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.
གང་གི་དྲིན་གྱིས་དགེ་བློ་འབྱུང་། །
འཇམ་པའི་དབྱངས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། ། གང་གི་དྲིན་གྱིས་བདག་དར་བ། །
དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་ལའང་བདག་ཕྱག་འཚལ། །gang gi drin gyis dge blo 'byung /_/
'jam pa'i dbyangs la phyag 'tshal lo/_/ gang gi drin gyis bdag dar ba/_/
dge ba'i bshes la'ang bdag phyag 'tshal/_/Particularly because of Mañjuśrī, the wish to cultivate bodhicitta and the urge to compose the Bodhicaryāvatāra arose in Śāntideva, and so he pays his respects and offers his body, speech, and mind up in homage. In Crosby and Skilton's translation from the Sanskrit, we read the following:
I bow down to Mañjughoṣha through whose inspiration my mind turns to good. I honour the spiritual friend through whose inspiration it grows strong. (10.58)[17]
This translation gives the feel of how Mañjughoṣa's influence was the initial cause that helped turn Śāntideva's mind to good. Once Śāntideva 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 the following of this homage to the gurus:
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 Nalanda and elsewhere. To all his spiritual teachers, therefore, Shantideva bows down.[18]
This provides us with the link back to Śāntideva's history—his gurus and the tradition of Nalanda. Khenpo Kunpal continues by saying that
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.[19]
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. In the first chapter, although he says the text was only composed to familiarize his mind with the topics, inadvertently his audience also gains 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.
Notes
- ↑ 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 Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton, trans., The Bodhicaryāvatāra: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 9–13.
- ↑ 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 Publications, 2010), 394. The source of this verse is not identified by either Khenpo Kunpal or the Padmakara Translation Group.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 393. The source of this verse is not identified by either Khenpo Kunpal or the Padmakara Translation Group.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 393.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 393–94. It is unclear whether the three-line verse here belongs to Khenpo Kunpal or whether he is borrowing it from some other source.
- ↑ Jens Braarvig and David Welsh, trans., The Teaching of Akṣayamati, Akṣayamatinirdeśa, Toh 175 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023), https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-060-004.html?#UT22084-060-004-128. For this passage in verse form, see Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 394.
- ↑ Thupten Jinpa, trans., Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way, by Tsongkhapa (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021), 126–27.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 394.
- ↑ Crosby and Skilton, Bodhicaryāvatāra, 133.
- ↑ Crosby and Skilton, Bodhicaryāvatāra, 134.
- ↑ Thrangu Rinpoche, Shantideva's A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: Commentary by Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, trans. Ken Holmes, Katia Holmes, and Thomas Doctor (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2016), 230.
- ↑ Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra, by Śāntideva (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006), 165.
- ↑ John Stevens, trans. One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan (Boston: Weatherhill, 2014), 75.
- ↑ Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk, A Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Theg pa chen po'i mdo'i dgongs don gyi bstan bcos byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa zhes bya ba'i 'grel pa (Taiwan: Chos kyi blo gros rtsom sgrig khang, 2016), 823.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 429.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 429-30.
- ↑ Crosby and Skilton, Bodhicaryāvatāra, 143.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 436.
- ↑ Blankleder and Fletcher, Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, 436.
