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In chapter 4 Śāntideva addresses the topic of conscientiousness (Skt. apramādha), sometimes also translated as carefulness, a mental factor whose function is to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool which allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind, particularly within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided on the path.
Concise Summary of Essential Points
The first three chapters of The Way of the Bodhisattva introduce the bodhisattva's way of life and conduct and impress upon us the qualities and benefits of bodhicitta and of developing altruistic compassion for the sake of all others. All of those contemplations come under the section of the text which covers the cultivation of bodhicitta where it has not previously been cultivated.
In the first verse of chapter 4, Śāntideva urges to make sure that once we have cultivated this precious mind of bodhicitta we never turn away from it.
The children of the Conqueror who thus Have firmly grasped this bodhichitta, Should never turn aside from it, Strive never to transgress its disciplines.
Page(s) 53
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.
༈ རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས་ཀྱིས་དེ་ལྟ་བུར། །
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་རབ་བརྟན་བཟུང་ནས། ། གཡེལ་བ་མེད་པར་རྟག་ཏུ་ཡང་། །
བསླབ་ལས་མི་འདའ་འབད་པར་བྱ། །!_rgyal ba'i sras kyis de lta bur/_/
byang chub sems rab brtan bzung nas/_/ g.yel ba med par rtag tu yang /_/
bslab las mi 'da' 'bad par bya/_/The next three chapters, from chapter 4 through chapter 6, are concerned with protecting this freshly arisen bodhicitta from declining. But how do we work with our minds in order to do this? What way of thinking and conduct are needed to protect this incredible mind of bodhicitta? The answer, Śāntideva suggests, is discipline.
The Need for Discipline
In order to protect bodhicitta, one of the primary factors needed is discipline, which is the main theme of chapters 4 and 5. Discipline is required in order to subdue our scattered minds and to prevent the awakening mind from weakening. To establish good discipline, we need the mental tools of conscientiousness, mindfulness, and vigilance. [LINK to main terms] These tools are the chief means through which we are able to subdue our minds, and they provide crucial support for the bodhisattva's practice of the perfection (Skt. pāramitā) of ethical discipline. Chapters 4 and 5 lay out the functions and methods of cultivating these three essential mental factors, which aid us in maintaining the wish to attain full enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. To maintain this bodhicitta, these three mental factors assist us in distinguishing between those practices that help our progress and should be taken up on the path from those practices that hinder us and should be avoided.
The fourth chapter focuses mainly on conscientiousness (Skt. apramādha) [LINK to main terms], sometimes also translated as carefulness. Conscientiousness is a mental factor which functions to protect the mind from negative forms of action. It is a tool that allows us to meticulously examine our actions of body, speech, and mind within the perspective of what is to be taken up and what is to be avoided.
The Tibetan historian and Buddhist researcher Geshe Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley (1927–1997) describes conscientiousness as a way of tuning or adjusting our minds, such that when we are thinking of engaging in some kind of negative activity, conscientiousness assists us in becoming aware that those actions are faulty and unconstructive. He goes on to explain that the main thrust of the chapter on conscientiousness is about how to behave when interacting with others, how to present ourselves in relation to others, and how to act when our minds are scattered.[1]
Preciousness of Human Rebirth
We may feel that we are always unlucky or lack good fortune and that things often go against us. Śāntideva takes a much wider perspective and reminds us that our current situation actually contains a tremendous opportunity. He does this to impress upon us how important the need for conscientiousness is.
Verse 16 of chapter 4, for example, speaks to us of how rare and fortunate we are to be born in the human realm and particularly to have the freedoms and advantages [LINK to main terms] of a precious human rebirth [LINK to main terms]. Moreover, we are encouraged to remember how rare it is to be born in a place where the Buddha's teachings remain.
Today, indeed, I’m hale and well, I have enough to eat and I am not in danger. But this life is fleeting, unreliable, My body is like something briefly lent.
Page(s) 55
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.
ནད་མེད་ཉི་མ་འདི་ལྟ་བུ། །
ཟས་བཅས་འཚེ་བ་མེད་ཀྱང་ནི། ། ཚེ་ནི་སྐད་ཅིག་བསླུ་བ་སྟེ། །
ལུས་ནི་ཐང་ཅིག་བརྙན་པོ་བཞིན། །nad med nyi ma 'di lta bu/_/
zas bcas 'tshe ba med kyang ni/_/ tshe ni skad cig bslu ba ste/_/
lus ni thang cig brnyan po bzhin/_/Śāntideva encourages us to see the rare opportunity we have right now. We are in reasonable health and have enough sustenance and some amount of freedom to practice. But this life is fleeting and a human rebirth hard to obtain again. It is like something of great value briefly lent to us that could be taken back at any moment. As such, Śāntideva argues, we should seize this moment instead of being despondent about temporary obstacles and difficulties. We should uplift our minds and strive in virtue, sustained by the thought of how much fortune we actually already have.
The Defects of the Afflictive Emotions
In this chapter Śāntideva also reflects on the faults of afflictive mental states as a way to ingrain conscientiousness into our behavior.
Anger, lust, these enemies of mine, Are limbless and devoid of faculties. They have no bravery, no cleverness; How then have they reduced me to such slavery?
Page(s) 57
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.
Here, Śāntideva asserts that we are completely at the beck and call of our emotions, slaves to our desire and our aversion. We may follow these emotions even at the cost of our lives, and yet they lead us only to disaster. Alongside ignorance, these emotions are our own inner enemies, the real enemy. Unlike external enemies, they are lazy and cowardly. Śāntideva reprimands us, asking us how all of us, whether weak or strong, have allowed these stupid afflictions to reduce us to such abject slavery and suffering, deprived of every freedom? He reminds us that external enemies such as thieves or bandits may cause us injury over a period of a few years. In contrast, the mental afflictions have caused us harm over countless lifetimes, and if we do not vanquish them now they will continue to cause us great harm into the future.
Abandoning Emotional Defilement
Chapter 4 ends with some stirring words from Śāntideva, as he incites us to wage war on the defiled emotions. Better, he says, to perish by fire then allow ourselves to become servants to the afflictive emotions. But he also offers us hope in the fight against these negative mental states. Common external enemies, once driven away, can regroup and return again to fight another day. But the afflictions have no such strategy, and once properly routed with the eye of wisdom, they can be forever banished. Therefore, Śāntideva says, we must vow day and night to rise up and challenge the mental afflictions and never give up that fight until we see them overcome before our very eyes.
I will not leave the fight until, before my eyes,
These enemies of mine are all destroyed. (4.36ab)[2]
His last words to us in the chapter encourage us to take the medicine of conscientiousness that has been prescribed.
What invalids in need of medicine
Ignored their doctor’s words and gained their health? (4.48cd)[3]
In other words, Śāntideva asks, what kind of patient who is in need of relief from disease would not take the medicine prescribed by their doctor?
Spurred on by the thought of our precious and rare opportunity and how fragile that opportunity can be, Śāntideva implores us to seize the day and strive to develop this conscientiousness that helps us maintain a healthy and disciplined mind.
- ↑ Dungkar Rinpoche Lobsang Trinley, An Introduction to the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Spyod 'jug gi gzhung gi ngo sprod (Dharamsala: Sara Tibetan Publishing House, 2017), 44.
- ↑ Wulstan Fletcher and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans., The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra, by Śāntideva (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006), 58.
- ↑ Fletcher and Blankleder, Way of the Bodhisattva, 60.
