A Nichiren Buddhist Guide to Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life
Bodhicaryāvatāra can be translated as Introduction to the Practice of Awakening. A variant title, Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, means Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice. It was written by Śāntideva, an Indian Mahāyāna monk of the eighth century about whom little is known other than that he lived for a time at the great monastic university complex called Nālānda located a few miles to the north of Rājagṛha.
The Bodhicaryāvatāra is comrpised of ten chapters. The first chapter, “The Awakening Mind” is a description and a paean of praise for bodhicitta, the “awakening mind” of the bodhisattvas who aspire to liberate themselves and others from suffering.
Chapters two and three, “Confession of Evil,” and “Adopting the Awakening Mind,” describe what is called the anuttara-pūjā, or “supreme worship.” This is a Mahayana liturgy that is also known as the saptāṅgavidhi, or “seven-branched worship” because it typically includes seven components. I hope to show that the various elements of the so-called seven-branched worship are also very much a part of Tiantai and Nichiren Buddhism.
Chapter four, “Vigilance Regarding the Awakening Mind,” follows up the previous chapters, wherein the practitioner arouses the awakening mind and vows to liberate all beings, with exhortations and encouragements to maintain one’s aspiration.
Chapter five, “Guarding of Awareness,” contains a brief definition of the perfection of generosity (an attitude which featured prominently in the previous chapters) and then proceeds to discuss the perfection of morality. In this manner, an extended description and discussion of the six perfections of bodhisattva practice begins.
Chapters six through nine deal successively with the perfections of patience, energy, meditative absorption, and wisdom. The chapter on wisdom is particularly complex, being essentially a review of the teachings of the Consequentialist (Prāsaṅgika) sub-school of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) school of Mahayana Buddhism.
The work ends with chapter ten, “Dedication,” an extended dedication of merit and an expression of deepening resolution to liberate all beings.
Praise for the Awakening Mind - commentary on chapter one.
Anuttara-pūja: The Unsurpassable Worship – commentary on chapters two through four.
Generosity – commentary on the beginning of chapter five.
Morality – commentary on the rest of chapter five.
Patience – commentary on chapter six.
Energy – commentary on chapter seven.
Meditative Absorption – commentary on chapter eight.
Wisdom The Two Truths – commentary on chapter nine
Debate About the Emptiness of Consciousness
The Necessity of the Mahāyāna Teaching of Emptiness
Emptiness of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness