- 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 2, Śāntideva demonstrates the importance of making offerings—material and nonmaterial—paying homage through veneration (prostrations), going for refuge, and, in particular, confessing one's evil deeds. By openly acknowledging one's past negative behaviors and tendencies through confession, only then can one begin to move in a different direction and transform oneself.
Concise Summary of Essential Points
Chapter 1 introduces to us to the incredible qualities and vast intent of bodhicitta, the mind wishing to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
We may feel tremendous appreciation for this incredible altruistic thought for the welfare of all sentient life. Its great depth and profundity may inspire us to begin the process of cultivating that noble mind, but we need to know how to set out on that journey.
The Supreme Worship
In chapters 2 and 3, Śāntideva provides us with a framework within which to begin the journey of cultivating bodhicitta, the seven-limb prayer. This is one form of the ancient Buddhist practice of the supreme worship (annutara pūja), which includes the practices of accumulating merit and purifying the negative actions that we have performed. This practice seems to date back to at least the fourth century CE, and in its shortest form is literally seven lines. The roots of this prayer are found in the Mahāyāna sūtra entitled Samantabhadra's Prayer Called The King of Prayers (Samantabhadracarīpraṇidhānarāja), which makes up the last section of the Gaṇḍavyūha in the Avataṃsakasūtra.
This second chapter contains the first three branches of the supreme worship—the practices of prostration or paying homage, making offerings, and the confession of negative actions. In this chapter Śāntideva also adds the central practice of taking refuge to the traditional seven-limb prayer, to make a total of eight limbs or branches.
The initial part of the chapter, verses 1 to 23, actually starts with the practice of making offerings. We make offerings primarily to the Three Jewels—the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These offerings include things which we ourselves possess and which we manifestly offer up, but they also include all the beautiful and wonderful things of the whole universe, such as those things of natural beauty, which are not personally owned. Moreover, they also include the virtue that we have performed throughout all of our lives, whether that be our physical, verbal, or mental actions. And these offerings are not limited to that which is physically manifest. It is also considered very positive to imagine many wonderful places, environments, or things which we create in our minds and to offer them up.
There are also verses of homage and prostrations to the Three Jewels. We pay reverence to them for the incredible qualities of wisdom and compassion that they possess.
Refuge
Śāntideva then describes one of the key elements of a Buddhist practitioner’s life, that of taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Refuge is a practice shared by all the Buddhist traditions across the world, although here, in the context of the conduct of a bodhisattva, there is special emphasis on Mahāyāna refuge.
Until the essence of enlightenment is reached, I go for refuge to the Buddhas. Also I take refuge in the Dharma And in all the host of Bodhisattvas.
Page(s) 41
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་སྙིང་པོར་མཆིས་ཀྱི་བར། །
སངས་རྒྱས་རྣམས་ལ་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། ། ཆོས་དང་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཡི། །
ཚོགས་ལའང་དེ་བཞིན་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། །byang chub snying por mchis kyi bar/_/
sangs rgyas rnams la skyabs su mchi/_/ chos dang byang chub sems dpa' yi/_/
tshogs la'ang de bzhin skyabs su mchi/_/This means that we take refuge in the Three Jewels as our guides and sources of protection but with the specific purpose of attaining complete enlightenment for the welfare of all. This refuge is maintained until we reach the state of buddhahood. It is not a process of asking for another powerful and omnipotent force to help us out. It is an active process of training one’s own mind. The Buddha very clearly stated that he can only show us the path but that it is up to us to actually walk that path.
Confession of Our Negative Actions
Having oriented ourselves with refuge, we need to create a stable ground on which the qualities and practices can be built.
If we look closely, we may understand how a lot of our lives have been characterized by harmful actions of body, speech, and mind.
We do not need to look any further than this life to see that there are many negative things which we have done, which have either directly or indirectly harmed other sentient beings. At times we have rejoiced in being negative and have even encouraged others to join in. If we bring in the perspective of past lives, then there must be countless actions which we need to feel remorse for and to purify. This is not supposed to make us feel bad about ourselves or cause us to sink into guilt. We are not trying to beat ourselves up but to recognize the reality of who we are and where we are. Confession is not an avoidance of responsibility. Indeed, it is the opposite. We approach all these past negative actions with the goal of letting the bad habits go and moving forward positively. The second half of the chapter, from verse 27 until the end, focuses on the process and sentiment of laying open our actions through confession. We then purify our negative actions through wisdom that understands what we did, and we make a commitment to not repeat the same mistakes. This is done in a formal way through the four antidotal forces or strengths, such as the force of regretting what one has done wrong, which are explained more fully in the introductory essay.
Avoiding Laziness
Even though we may be inspired by the spirit of bodhicitta and now have the tools at our disposal to start building a solid foundation for our Dharma practice, it is easy for us to get sidetracked or to lose sight of our long-term goals.
We may easily become lazy and drawn into the byways of distraction. To counteract this, Śāntideva forcefully points out to us that we cannot wait for tomorrow. Verses 32 to 45 provide us with powerful reminders of how everything, including our own lives, is momentary, in a state of constant flux.
We cannot trust the wanton Lord of Death. The task complete or still to do, he will not wait. In health or sickness, therefore, none of us can trust Our fleeting, momentary lives.
Page(s) 42
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.
We, as individuals, those for whom we engaged in negative actions, and those who we harmed in the process will all eventually pass. Death will not wait for us to finish all that we have planned, and nothing but our Dharma practice can help us at the time of death.
These verses are there to inspire us to ensure we do not pass away with so much negativity left unresolved. We will carry forward the effects of those actions imprinted on our mental continuums, and in the future we may be born in realms of great suffering. There is no way to avoid the unwanted and painful results of these negative actions if we cannot overcome them.
Understanding the fragility of our situation, we are encouraged to confess everything right away and to rid ourselves of all our destructive habits. The remaining verses, from verse 54 until the end of the chapter, relate an essential part of the confession process—that is, to regret what we have done and to promise to restrain ourselves from ever doing it again. There must be some commitment moving forward, a real positive sense of change of direction. Without this sincere commitment, the process of purification will not be complete.
Notes
Additional resources
Learn About Śāntideva's Texts
The Way of the Bodhisattva
The Compendium of Training
Recommended Texts Related to Chapter 2
negative influences and increase virtuous propensities.
The Bodhisattva mind is pure and stainless, without fault, and naturally possessing all transcendental knowledge. This is the result. For the beginner, the vow is to this great goal like the seed is to a great tree. It must be nurtured in order to bear fruit. However, if this is done according to the instructions contained in this book, the result will follow with absolute certainty.
The practitioner, whether new or old to this tradition, should view this book as a set of precious instructions. But this is only half the treasure map. The other half is the practitioner's attitude. Just like a worldly treasure it will never be found if the instructions are not followed. Reviewing the vow each day will remind the practitioner of the importance of the Six Paramitas. Contemplating the Paramitas
and practicing them will help develop humility and devotion. The practitioner will gradually come to realize the profound interconnections and wisdom contained in this book. (preface, Lama Lodrö)Recommended Books Related to Chapter 2
negative influences and increase virtuous propensities.
The Bodhisattva mind is pure and stainless, without fault, and naturally possessing all transcendental knowledge. This is the result. For the beginner, the vow is to this great goal like the seed is to a great tree. It must be nurtured in order to bear fruit. However, if this is done according to the instructions contained in this book, the result will follow with absolute certainty.
The practitioner, whether new or old to this tradition, should view this book as a set of precious instructions. But this is only half the treasure map. The other half is the practitioner's attitude. Just like a worldly treasure it will never be found if the instructions are not followed. Reviewing the vow each day will remind the practitioner of the importance of the Six Paramitas. Contemplating the Paramitas
and practicing them will help develop humility and devotion. The practitioner will gradually come to realize the profound interconnections and wisdom contained in this book. (preface, Lama Lodrö)The English translation Rinpoche uses throughout is that by Stephen Batchelor, published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Since Rinpoche frequently makes reference to Tibetan words and phrasing, the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit original is included in Wylie transliteration in Appendix I.
Appendices II to IV consist of material presented during the period of these teachings that was not strictly a part of the oral explanation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, yet may be of interest to the reader. They include a discussion by Rinpoche of the Seven-Limb Practice, and a Dharma talk by Kyabje Rilbur Rinpoche, one of Gelek Rinpoche's own teachers.
Rinpoche did not introduce a traditional 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 and subheadings in this present volume have been added by the editor for ease of reference, and to help delineate changes of topic. Footnotes and a glossary provide some background information; the first use of each term mentioned in the glossary is printed in bold.
The transcription of these teachings from tapes was done by Hartmut Sagolla, who has spent countless hours transcribing a great number of Rinpoche's teachings. Much editorial advice and support was given by Marianne Soeters, to whom all Jewel Heart owes a debt of gratitude for the efforts she has put in as editor to make transcripts of Rinpoche's teachings available in useful form. Marianne also provided the glossaries from which most of the entries in the glossary in this volume were drawn. (Anne Warren, acknowledgements, i-iii)Recommended Articles Related to Chapter 2
Śāntideva's statement about confession puts the accent on the importance of this last type of self-accusation as an urgent need of a person who has entered into the path towards the bodhi. In the presence of all the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas he acknowledges his misdeeds with a sincere feeling of repentance and strong purpose of never committing them again. This matter is treated in the second chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (w. 27–66), entitled simply "pāpadeśana", and in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, particularly in the eighth chapter named "pāpasódhana". There sins are examined together with their causes. lgnorance (avidyā), wrong appreciation of the value of life, of persons, and of feelings, are the motivations of faults, as well as such causes as thirst (tṛṣṇā) and clinging (upādāna). The sequence of the confession, according to Śāntideva as well as in the tradition, is normally as follows. First of all, it has to be made after the confession of one's offenses against the three jewels (triratna) and after the ones perpetrated against every person who is superior by virtue of culture, age or relation. It has to come after the denunciation of all the contracted vices, and the consideration that all the sins have had origin in the violation of the word of the Buddha. Inevitably they produce sufferings, which means to remain in saṃsāra. After having examined all the types of faults and their sad consequences, the sinners conclude their confession with the promise of avoiding evil for the future and of accomplishing good. (Pezzali, "Śāntideva's Statement about Confession," 134-35)
Recommended Videos Related to Chapter 2
Lesson 1. The Excellence of Bodhicitta
Online Course hosted by The Buddhist Society 18th February 2021 during lockdown
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will analyse the Bodhicaryāvatāra, often translated as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, an 8th-century masterpiece from Indian scholar and yogi Shantideva. In each of the ten lessons, H.E. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will focus on one of the ten chapters of the Bodhicaryāvatāra.
The Bodhicaryāvatāra is regarded as one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist texts and is studied extensively by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners everywhere. Rinpoche delivers his understanding of the text in a way that makes it fully accessible to anyone who is looking for support and help in these times.
Course Outline
Lesson 1. The Excellence of Bodhicitta - Thursday 18th February at 12pm
Lesson 2. Confession - Thursday 25th February at 12pm
Lesson 3. Taking Hold of Bodhicitta - Thursday 11th March at 12pm
Lesson 4. Carefulness - Thursday 25th March at 12pm
Lesson 5. Vigilance - Thursday 22nd April at 12pm
Lesson 6. Patience - Thursday 6th May at 12pm
Lesson 7. Diligence - Thursday 20th May at 12pm
Lesson 8. Meditation - Thursday 3rd June at 12pm
Lesson 9. Wisdom - Thursday 17th June at 12pm
The texts:
The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors: A Commentary on the Introduction to the Actions of Bodhisattvas by Gyaltsab RinpocheA Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life translated by Stephen Batchelor. (Source Accessed Nov 8, 2021)
The first three chapters of the text are in focus:
The Excellence of Bodhicitta, Confession, and Taking Hold of Bodhicitta.
- Discussion of Chapter 1: 14:43 to 1:03:50
- Discussion of Chapter 2: 1:03:50 to 1:33:50
- Discussion of Chapter 3: 1:33:50 to 1:53:57
