Property:GregNotes
From Bodhicitta
This is a property of type Text.
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Topics include:
*East-West comparison regarding philosophical approaches to altruism and the concept of good life"
*Altruism, bodhisattva path, and rebirth
*Critique of Williams regarding the necessity of a sense of self to produce empathy
*Critique of Siderits's understanding of universal compassion +
Topics:
*How to keep "Christmas well" through practice
*The force of habit and karma
*The risk of not following through when having good intentions
*Śāntideva's teaching on these points +
[https://jonangfoundation.org/masters/sazang-mati-panchen Sazang Mati Panchen]'s 13th century commentary on the BCA includes two main parts:
#Motivation: developing bodhicitta (chapters 1 to 3)
#Application: the six perfections (chapters 4 to 10) +
A Comparative of Sanskrit, Tibetan and Mongolian on Prajñāpāramitā Chapter of Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra (2) (The Commemoration Number Published on the Occasion of the Seventieth Birthday of Professor Ryojun Fuyo) +
This article could provide valuable annotations to the source texts of the BCA (Chapter 9) +
11th c. manuscripts of the root text and pañjikā +
A Dialogue between Thomas Merton on Agape and Shantideva on Karuna: Some Moral Dimensions of a Catholic and Mahayana Exchange +
Cross-cultural investigation of Buddhist notions including compassion, kindness, empathy +
Introduction covers:
*Textual sources: "As becomes apparent throughout the text, contrary to popular assumption, the recension incorporated into the Tibetan canon is significantly different from the Sanskrit version edited by Louis de la Vallee Poussin and P. L. Vaidya. This would seem to refute the contention of Crosby and Skilton that the canonical Tibetan translation by Blo ldan shes rab was based on the Sanskrit version available to us today."
*Brief biography of Śāntideva
*Structure of the text and summary of chapter content
*Putative misogyny of Chapter 8 +
The root text was translated by S. Batchelor according to the explanations found in Thogs med bZang po's 12th century commentary. The commentary itself was not translated. +
This book includes a very short foreword to the teaching transcript itself +
Main topics:
*The author makes the interesting point in her conclusion that there is ultimately no agent in Mahāyāna, free or unfree.
*The notion of free will is only relevant on the relative level.
*Issues considered in this context include: continuity of the self, karma, dependent origination, and ultimate truth ''qua'' wisdom. +
The main topics of this article are:
*A contextualization of the BCA
*A short biographical account of Śāntideva
*A presentation of the history and structure of the BCA
*Chapter summaries:
**Chapter 1: Three Jewels, arising of bodhicitta, transmutation of worldly attachment into bodhicitta
**Chapter 2: Freedom as a the ability to choose one's state of mind, practices of offering praising, etc., renunciation mind, mental roaming in the service of practice, the act of remembering as a support to transmute our mental states
**Chapter 3: The experience of joy with regard to bodhicitta and the activities of buddha and bodhisattvas, giving one's merit to others vs. accumulating merit
**Chapter 4: The importance of mindfulness to resist the sirens' songs of mental afflictions, fighting mental afflictions with mental afflictions
**Chapter 5: Mindfulness and alertness to control one's mind and actions, rules of discipline and the centrality of mind
**Chapter 6: The world as a source of suffering, watching without reacting, dealing with discontentment resulting from the belief in existence as a trigger to reaction (i.e., anger, the anti-bodhicitta state of mind), inhibition of reaction to remembering and being alert, ideas pacifying anger are at the root of our anger, the ultimate solution of a cognitive shift regarding what is perceived to exist
**Chapter 7: Nourishing bodhicitta, skillful means and the importance of the purpose of our endeavors
**Chapter 8: Stilling the mind to naturally achieve spiritual transformation, the natural drifting of the mind toward emancipation, inhibiting the forces responsible for the movements of the mind, exchanging ourselves with others
**Chapter 9: Emptiness as an antidote to wrong views, emptiness as a self-dismantling process allowing the ultimate pacification of the mind, the absence of focal awareness with regard to emptiness leads to the notion of emptiness becoming transparent (like these words are to their meaning when you read)
**Chapter 10: Distributing merit instead of cumulating it as away to cause a universal cycle of liberation (instead of samsara as acycle of suffering)
Among the points made by Franco are:
*With regard to BCA 8.101-103, William's critique of Śāntideva is not specific enough since it pertains to the Buddhist doctrine of anātman in general
*Selflessness doesn't necessarily make memory impossible
*Dependent origination and existence (e.g., in the case of pain) is not adequately covered by Williams +
Petitt's review includes the following points:
*Williams's book shows how Tibetan commentators have interpreted key passages of the BCA (e.g., 9.103cd)
*Williams misrepresented Mipham's position
*There are two models of emptiness: emptiness as the absence of elaboration (niṣprapañca = spros bral), and emptiness as the negation of a negandum
*According to Williams, morality is informed by a rational determination of the nature of reality, because that is how Śāntideva has presented his arguments in favor of a universal compassion.
*But "Śāntideva takes as an assumption that the disinterested nature of morality is fulfilled by rational consistency, but that rational consistency must be fulfilled by practical experience for a moral imperative to be drawn from what is, in the broadest sense, a personal experience of reality"
*Therefore, to really understand the connection between emptiness and compassion, we must not only study about emptiness, but meditate on it as well. +
The author explains how one can trace commentarial traditions according to the way Tibetan authors interpret BCA 9.28. This method could be useful to map hermeneutical strategies and interpretive approaches among Tibetan commentators of the BCA. +
Liland 2009: 47: "Čosgi Odser was involved in translations from Tibetan to Mongolian of material (the BCA) that is included in the Tibetan canon." +
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Topics of the book cover:
*The idea of life transformation by awakening the longing for bodhicitta
*The necessity and urgency of this transformation in today's world
*Dealing with the experience of death, decline, war, etc.
*Using our suffering to connect to others
*Not worrying about results when aspiring to help beings
*Being beyond self-centeredness
*Confession to move beyond self-deception and neurosis
*The yearly Life Review: imagining you're about to die
*Rejoicing to overcome jealousy and competitiveness
*Stop hating (e.g., politicians, others, etc.)
*Sharing merit as surrendering
*On the most basic level, wishing others do not experience our suffering (Right in the middle of our foulest emotions, we find this precious gem; there in the midst of confusion and reactivity, we find the jewel of bodhichitta.)
*The bodhisattva path is not about being a “good” person
*Making friends with your emotions through intelligent attention
*Keeping a rule of life
*Gently returning to the present (and all our fears come to nothing)
*In this age of multitasking, Śāntideva's instruction is radical: calm the mind by doing one thing at a time
*Slowing down (speech, etc.)
*No action has to be destitute of merit
*Not getting trapped in fixating thinking leading to anger
*Humor as a way to defuse anger
*Seeking confirmation as a trigger to anger
*Dismantling the illogical logic of self-importance
*Dealing with discouragement
*Taking responsibility for your moods by acknowledging you're not a victim
*The myth of separateness
*Getting in touch with the pain of poverty mind
*How the fictitious self is advised by wisdom mind to free itself and benefit others
*Self-absorption and ego-tripping as the cause of all misery
*Basic goodness vs. self-loathing
*The positive effect of dedication, aspiration, and prayer +
Blasphemie und Sakrileg im Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Verses Bodhicaryāvatāra 6.64 +
Main ideas:
*The notion of blasphemy is alien to Buddhism
*Hatred towards those who destroy images and stupas should be avoided, not because these actions do not harm Buddhas physically, but because this is how one can become a Buddha
*In fact, the presence of the Buddha extends to Buddha images and representations
*The author shows that the Buddha came to be considered physically present in these representations as dharmakāyas
*Independently of the notions of sacrilege and blasphemy, the law of karma applies
*Karmic retribution for the destruction of Buddha images include rebirth in hells or as an animal
*According to the author, parallels can be made between medieval Buddhism and Christianity regarding the blasphemy
*On the presence and absence of the Buddha, see BCA 9.37-39 +
The introduction to the translation includes:
*a contextualization of the BCA
*an extensive account of Śāntideva's life
* a translators note +
The introduction includes:
*a translators note to explain why a new translation was necessary
*a biography of Śāntideva +
Bodhicaryāvatāra 9:2 as a Focus for Tibetan Interpretations of the Two Truths in the Prāsangika Mādhyamika +
Discussed topics include:
*If the conventional is untruth, how can there be two truths (9.105-106)
*Sakya and Nyingma interpretations vs. Gelug view
*If the ultimate is nonconceptual and ineffable, how is it realized through a rational procedure as it is in the BCA? (GF: One thinks here of the distinction between nonconceptual and conceptual ultimate - aparyāya vs. paryāya)
*The author sees Ngul chu Thogs med's commentary on the BCA as a compromise between the positions mentioned above +
