For the Benefit of All Beings (eBook)

From Introduction: The Way of the Bodhisattva

I received the transmission of the Bodhicharyavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva) from Tenzin Gyaltsen, the Kunu Rinpoche, who received it himself from a disciple of Dza Patrul Rinpoche, now regarded as one of the principal spiritual heirs of this teaching. It is said that when Patrul Rinpoche explained this text auspicious signs would occur, such as the blossoming of yellow flowers, remarkable for the great number of their petals. I feel very fortunate that I am in turn able to give a commentary on this great classic of Buddhist literature.

Shantideva composed this text in the form of an inner dialogue. He turned his own weapons upon himself, doing battle with his negative emotions. Therefore, when we teach or listen to this text, it is important that we do so in order to progress spiritually, rather than making it simply a subject of academic study. With this in mind, we begin each session of teaching by paying homage to the Buddha and reciting extracts from the sutras.

Abandon evildoing,
Practice virtue well,
Subdue your mind:
This is the Buddha's teaching.

Like a star, an optical illusion, or a flame,
A magical illusion, a dewdrop, or a bubble,
Like a dream, a flash of lightning, or a cloud—,
So should one consider all compounded things.

While reciting these words, we should reflect on impermanence and the lack of reality in phenomena and conclude with a prayer of dedication:

By this merit may we attain omniscience
And overcome our enemy, our harmful deeds,
And may beings, buffeted by the waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death,
Be liberated from the ocean of existence.

Next we should recite the Heart Sutra, the Praise to Manjushri, and the offering of the mandala. Those of you who cannot recite these should simply think of the Buddha's kindness and reflect on the view of emptiness, which is the meaning of the Prajnaparamita Sutras.

Finally, we should renew our vows, taking refuge and generating bodhichitta three times.In the Jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
We take refuge until we attain enlightenment.
By the merit of practicing generosity and the like,
May we attain Buddhahood for the benefit of beings.

We will now begin our study of the Bodhicharyavatara.

The master of these teachings, the Buddha, began by generating the wish for enlightenment. He then accumulated positive actions through many lifetimes over a period of three great uncountable kalpas. Finally, in the age when the average human life span was one hundred years, he entered this world and attained enlightenment on the Vajra Throne at Bodh Gaya in India. In the twenty-five centuries since he first turned the Wheel of Dharma of the vast and profound teachings, the Buddhist path has been one of the most important of the world's spiritual traditions.

I usually consider the teachings of the Buddha under two headings: activity and view. Activity means refraining from harming others. This is something that is universally helpful, something that all people appreciate, whether they are religious or not. View refers to the principle of interdependence. Happiness and suffering, and the beings who experience them, do not arise without cause nor are they caused by some eternal creator. In fact, all things arise from causes corresponding to them. This idea is upheld by all schools of Buddhism, and so I usually say that our view is that of interdependence.

The view of interdependence makes for a...

Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
ISBN-10	0-8348-2411-6 / 0834824116
ISBN-13	978-0-8348-2411-9 / 9780834824119

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