Practice
GENERATING BODHICITTA / ENTERING THE PATH
Preparatory Stage Physical support (meditation on the precious human body, refer book, audio, etc.) Mental support (faith, compassion, think of benefit of Bodhicitta) The seven limbs of worship Brief instructions on Prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, entreaties, dedication Mind Training – four immeasurables, sense of giving Actual Stage Taking refuge Taking Bodhisattva vow Concluding Stage Rejoicing oneself Asking others to rejoice
PROTECTING BODHICITTA / TRAINING ON THE PATH
Precepts (list root vows, dos and don’ts from SSC mainly) Four trainings from SSC Vigilance, mindfulness, introspection Tolerance and patience Reasons for respecting sentient beings
Śāntideva's Works
We have very sparse information on the life and works of Śāntideva. The common accounts claim Śāntideva to have mostly remained as a meditator, even when he was at the famous scholarly center of Nalanda. However, verses 105 and 106 of the fifth chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva mention two other works Śāntideva composed: The Compendium of Training and The Compendium of Sūtras. In the Derge edition of the Tibetan Tengyur collection, we find three works attributed to Śāntideva besides The Way of the Bodhisattva. They are The Compendium of Training, The Verses on the Compendium of Training, and a short text entitled The Hundred Syllable Mantra Essence of the Buddhas for Protection and Purification of Sins. The last two are short supplements to The Compendium of Training, and we do not have any text entitled The Compendium of Sūtras by him. Thus, the two main works of Śāntideva available to us are The Way of the Bodhisattva and The Compendium of Training.
The Way of the Bodhisattva
The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, or The Way of the Bodhisattva, is considered to be one of the most influential Buddhist classical writings. Combining highly inspirational exhortations and incisive philosophical arguments in an evocative poetic language, the book, it is safe to claim, has shaped the lives of millions throughout the centuries. "If studying The Way of the Bodhisattva has not changed a person for the better, there is not much hope," goes a saying among Tibetan Buddhist readers of the book in order to illustrate the powerful impact it has on people's minds. "So simple an instruction which strikes the point, there is no other text like The Way of the Bodhisattva in India or Tibet," goes another praise of the book, often attributed to Patrul Rinpoche, a nineteenth-century master who championed the promotion of The Way of the Bodhisattva and its message. Due to its powerful and comprehensive presentation of the Mahāyāna path, it is perhaps the most widely read, studied, and commented upon text in the Tibetan tradition and one that is also used as a textbook for edification and as an instruction manual for contemplative practices.
The Way of the Bodhisattva is a composition in verse made up of ten chapters and some 913 verses. It begins with a praise of bodhicitta, or the thought of awakening, in chapter 1. Chapters 2 and 3 contain the common Mahāyāna Buddhist practice of what is known as the seven-limb worship, which includes prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting to live long, requesting to teach Dharma, and dedication of merits, before it presents the actual ritual of taking the bodhisattva vow to save all sentient beings from suffering. Having taken the bodhisattva vow, chapter 4 deals with vigilance, and chapter 5 addresses the mindfulness and introspection needed in order to observe the precepts associated with Mahāyāna path. Chapters 2 and 3 are considered to cover the first perfection of giving, and chapters 4 and 5 are said to cover the second perfection of discipline, although these perfections are not explicitly mentioned. Chapter 6 explicitly deals with the perfection of patience, chapter 7 with diligence, chapter 8 with the perfection of meditation or concentration, and chapter 9 with the perfection of wisdom. In this way, The Way of the Bodhisattva has the six perfections of the Mahāyāna system as its main content.
The Compendium of Training
While The Way of the Bodhisattva is an original work of Śāntideva in verse, albeit a digest of the bodhisattva ideal and ethics which are found dispersed in a wide range of Mahāyāna sūtras, The Compendium of Training is an anthology of excerpts from the Mahāyāna sūtras that discusses the bodhisattva path and principles in much greater length and detail. In The Way of the Bodhisattva, Śāntideva claims there is nothing he shall say that has not been said before and that he shall briefly describe the practice of the bodhisattvas according to the scriptures. The Compendium of Training provides exactly those scriptural sources which he succinctly summarizes. Citing important passages from many dozens of Mahāyāna sūtras, The Compendium of Training has 19 chapters and, like The Way of the Bodhisattva, treats the six perfections of the Mahāyāna path as its main topic, although not all six perfections are explicitly mentioned in the chapter headings. If The Way of the Bodhisattva can be considered an original composition which is meant to be used as a core curricular treatise, The Compendium of Training is a crucial reference providing the scriptural basis for the exhortations and arguments in The Way of the Bodhisattva. Śāntideva adeptly presents numerous important passages on bodhisattva ethics, thereby also exhibiting his expert knowledge of the scriptures.
Yet, the main framework used for the exposition of The Compendium of Training includes the four actions of giving, protection, purification, and expansion of the three objects, including body, possessions, and virtues of the past, present, and future times. This is presented in verse form in both the main text of The Compendium of Training and the summary as the crux of the matter to avoid any transgressions on the bodhisattva path:
- The vows of a bodhisattva
Are taught in detail in the Mahāyāna sūtras.
Know these to be the essential points,
By which one can avoid transgressions.
- One's body and possessions
And the virtues accrued in the three times,
Giving them to all sentient beings
Protecting, purifying, and expanding them.
Though The Compendium of Training is mainly a collection of passages from the sūtras, it is still laden with Śāntideva's own inspirational words and advice, such as the following quotes:
"Take up any good project, but in everything know your limits."
"Beware of gain and veneration."
"Eschew arrogance at all times."
"A well-trained body becomes a beneficial wealth."
"Hold the welfare of sentient beings at all times."
Śāntideva's Legacy through the Centuries
Most scholars who have attempted to date Śāntideva estimate that he lived around the end of the seventh century and the middle of the eighth and place him in the middle period of the systematization of the Madhyamaka school of philosophy. The starting date is speculative and is based on the assumption that the Chinese monk travelers Xuanzang and Yijing, who were at Nalanda (Yijing left Nalanda in 685 CE), would have mentioned Śāntideva if he was well known by then. The end date, however, is more reliable, as Śāntarakṣita, who came to Tibet in 763 and died probably in 788 CE, quoted Śāntideva in his Attainment of Reality (Skt. Tattvasiddhi). Also, around 800 CE, Śāntideva's two main works were translated into Tibetan. Thus, it is very likely that Śāntideva lived in the early part of the eighth century and that his works became well known in India by the middle of the eighth century.
While the exact dates for Śāntideva cannot be confirmed, it is quite clear that his writings became very popular among Buddhist circles in India in the subsequent centuries. This can be deduced from the many commentaries written on his works, mainly on The Way of the Bodhisattva, from the tenth century onwards. Later accounts claim a large number of commentaries written on Śāntideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, but only ten such titles are preserved today in Tibetan translation. In addition, another anonymous commentary in Sanskrit was also found in Nepal. A few works related to his Compendium of Training were also composed from the tenth century and are available in Tibetan translation. From these, we can tell that both his works were available and perhaps widely read among Buddhist centers in India during the few centuries before Buddhism started to decline there.
We can also see the spread of Śāntideva's writings and the attention paid to them from the flurry of translations and revisions of translations taking place using Kashmiri or other recensions of his writings. Their prevalence in Nepal, which lay connected to the Indian Buddhist world and served as an avenue for the transmission of Buddhist ideas northward, is another indication. Some forty-one manuscripts associated with The Way of the Bodhisattva alone were found in the Kathmandu Valley in a recent cataloging project, the earliest dated specimen being from 1180 CE. The only existing Sanskrit text of The Compendium of Training was also acquired from Nepal. From South Asia, Śāntideva's writings spread to China by the turn of the second millennium with The Way of the Bodhisattva translated by Tiān Xīzāi 天息災 in 985 CE during the Northern Sòng dynasty, although the text did not gain much influence, most likely due to the difficult style of translation and the declining interests of Chinese Buddhists in new teachings from India. The translation of The Compendium of Training into Chinese was also completed between 1004 and 1058 CE, albeit with attribution to one Dharmayaśas.
The most notable development for the works of Śāntideva, however, is their transmission to Tibet at the turn of the ninth century. Both his major works were translated in the early ninth century by the leading translators of the period. A version of the translation of The Way of the Bodhisattva from this period can be seen today among the Dunhuang collection, although the text is attributed to Akṣayamati, which some scholars think is another name of Śāntideva. The earlier translations were further improved in the eleventh and twelfth centuries by leading translators of the time, and we also see around this time the translation of many commentaries on his works and other associated texts. These sufficiently indicate the importance and popular use of Śāntideva's works among Buddhist circles in Tibet as Tibet saw the resurgence of Buddhist teachings in the early part of the second millennium.
The translations of Śāntideva's works and Indian commentaries on them were soon supplemented by Tibetan writings on Śāntideva's philosophical, ethical, and spiritual theories and practices. By the end of the twentieth century, over a hundred commentarial works, numerous synopses and outlines, and many practical instructions associated with Śāntideva's writings, particularly The Way of the Bodhisattva, were written in Tibetan, making Śāntideva one of the most celebrated classical Buddhist masters. In the Kadam school, which emerged as a leading new Buddhist tradition in the eleventh century, The Way of the Bodhisattva and The Compendium of Training featured as two of six fundamental texts of the school. The Sakya school included The Way of the Bodhisattva in their set of eighteen great treatises and the Nyingma included it in the collection of thirteen great Indian treatises. The Kagyu and Geluk schools also highly regarded The Way of the Bodhisattva, resulting in the composition of extensive commentaries by masters of these schools. Thus, his Way of the Bodhisattva became part of the core curriculum in most scholastic centers and an essential reading for Middle Way studies. Concurrently, the ninth chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva on wisdom and understanding the true nature of reality also became the crux of philosophical debates and controversies among Tibetan thinkers, leading to a rich tradition of polemical exchanges.
Śāntideva's writings also became a cornerstone for the Tibetan Buddhist practices of mind training (lojong) and the preliminary practices (ngöndro) in the Vajrayāna tradition. His words came to be considered as the most powerful source of spiritual and ethical inspiration. The verses in the second and third chapters of his Way of the Bodhisattva are commonly used as the main liturgy for making offerings and for cultivating bodhicitta, or the altruistic thought of enlightenment, and taking the bodhisattva vow. Similarly, the tenth chapter is recited independently as an aspiration prayer. His works came to be seen as the epitome of the Mahāyāna teachings on wisdom and compassion.
In the nineteenth century, Śāntideva's Way of the Bodhisattva found an unprecedented popularity in Tibet through the efforts of Patrul Rinpoche, who championed the study and practice of Śāntideva's work in tandem with the Rimé nonsectarian movement of which he was a chief advocate. Promoting The Way of the Bodhisattva as the tour de force for spiritual and ethical training and edification, Patrul Rinpoche and his disciples spread the study and practice of Śāntideva's works, which led to an outburst of vigorous scholarship and contemplative activities associated with Śāntideva's writings. Largely due to their effort and influence, such vigorous interest and engagement in Śāntideva's works continue in our times in all schools and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
From Tibet, the transmission of Śāntideva's works spread to many other countries which follow Tibetan Buddhism. The Way of the Bodhisattva was first translated into Mongolian in 1305 by Čosgi Odser, who also wrote a commentary. Śāntideva's works also became an important part of Buddhist education in the Himalayan regions to the south of the Tibetan plateau, in places such as Bhutan, Sikkim, Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh. The exodus of Tibetans from Tibet in the twentieth century further enhanced the study and practice of Śāntideva's writings in these areas and also spurred a vibrant study and practice of Śāntideva's works in India through great advocates and teachers such as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
In more recent times, Śāntideva's writings have also begun to spread beyond the traditional Buddhist world, with the first publication of The Way of the Bodhisattva by Ivan P. Minayev, a Russian Indologist, in 1889 and the first translation into a European language by Louis de La Vallée Poussin, a Belgian Indologist, over a century ago. Since then, The Way of the Bodhisattva has seen many different translations in English, and The Compendium of Training has been translated into English twice. The Way of the Bodhisattva has also been translated into dozens of other languages, and Śāntideva's writings have seen both widespread religious adoption and academic study in many parts of the world, the latter even giving rise to heated debates among modern Western commentators and critics. Today, the profusion of engagement in Śāntideva's legacy continues unabated with an increasing range of interest in his philosophical arguments, ethical theory, spiritual mysticism, religious homilies, poetic styles, legendary life story, and social impact.
