Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life

SHANTIDEVA’S Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life An oral explanation of Chapter 1: The Benefits of the Awakening Mind Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche Teachings 1996 Ann Arbor, Michigan Jewel Heart Transcript Gelek Rimpoche, Bodhisattva’sw Way of Life Chapter One – Extensive Commentary © 2002 Ngawang Gelek. All rights reserved. Cover design: Piet Soeters Jewel Heart Transcripts are lightly to moderately edited transcrip- tions of the teachings of Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and others teachers who have taught at Jewel Heart. Their purpose is to provide Rimpoche’s students, as well as all others who are interested, with these extremely valuable teachings in a way that gives one the feeling of being present at the teachings. JEWEL HEART 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA Phone (1) 734.994.3387 Fax (1) 734.994.5577 www.jewelheart.org ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book contains a lightly edited transcript of Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche’s oral explanations of Chapter One of Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Rinpoche gave these teachings as a series on Tuesday nights in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from May to October 1996. Rinpoche’s teachings on Shantideva’s text have continued to the present; he has now reached Chapter 7. Transcripts of Chapters Two through Ten will be issued in separate volumes as they are completed. The Bodhisattvacharyavatara is, as Rinpoche notes in the Intro- duction, one of the most important texts of Mahayana Bud- dhism. While it has been translated into Western languages a number of times, only a few commentaries exist in English, and these do not comment in detail on every verse (see the Selected Bibliography for a list of English translations and commentaries). Understanding the many Tibetan commentaries requires, in addition to knowledge of the Tibetan lan- guage, both considerable education and spiritual realization. In the oral explanations transcribed here, Rinpoche discusses every verse of Shantideva’s original text, making use of the Tibetan commentaries as well as his own experience and his knowledge of contemporary society. In addition, he presents GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA’S WAY OF LIFE the material in an accessible form useful for meditation and practice in daily life. These qualities make this a uniquely in- spiring and important work, one that we are indeed fortunate to have available. 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 deline- ate changes of topic. Footnotes and a glossary provide some background information; the first use of each term men- tioned in the glossary is printed in bold. The transcription of these teachings from tapes was done by Hartmut Sagolla, who has spent countless hours tran- scribing a great number of Rinpoche’s teachings. Much editorial advice and support was given by Marianne Soe- ters, 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 Gelek Rimpoche in the glossary in this volume were drawn. It has been my great good fortune to be able to work on this volume. Er- rors in this transcript are solely due to my carelessness or lack of knowledge. Please let me know about any you may find in order that we may improve future editions. May this work be of great benefit to all who read it or even hear about it! Jang chub sem chog rin po che May the precious bodhimind Ma kye pa nam kye gyur chig Not yet born arise and grow. Kye pa nyam pa may pa yang May that born have no decline, Gong nay gong du pel war shog But increase forever more. Anne Warren Cleveland, Ohio October 26, 2000 GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA’S WAY OF LIFE CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 The Text Itself: The Title and Homage 15 The Title 15 The Homage 17 Questions and Answers 18 THE TEXT ITSELF: CHAPTER ONE THE BENEFITS OF THE AWAKENING MIND 21 Verse 1a : Paying respect to the Three Jewels 21 Verse 1b: Shantideva’s promise to compose 23 Verse 2: Shantideva’s reasons for writing 28 Verse 3: Reasons for writing (continued) 34 Verse 4: The nature of the teaching: Who can practice 36 Questions and Answers 46 Verse 5 50 Questions and Answers 55 Verse 6 60 Verse 7 65 Verse 8 66 Verse 9 67 Questions and Answers 69 Verse 10 73 Verse 11 74 Verse 12 80 Questions and Answers 83 Gelek Rimpoche Verse 13 84 Verse 14 89 Verse 15 and 16 91 Questions and Answers 94 Verse 17 95 Questions and Answers 106 Verse 17 (continued) 126 Verse 18, 19, and 20 133 Questions and Answers 138 Verse 21 and 22 141 Verse 23 150 Verse 24 151 Verse 25 152 Questions and answers 159 Verse 26 163 Verse 27 168 Verse 28 172 Verse 29 and 30 187 Verse 31 193 Questions and Answers 205 Verse 32 207 Verse 33 210 Questions and Answers 214 Verse 34 216 Verse 35 222 Verse 36 226 Questions and Answers 227 APPENDIX I: TIBETAN TEXT 231 APPENDIX II: A SIMPLE PRACTICE 239 APPENDIX III: RILBUR RINPOCHE ON THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING A SPIRITUAL PATH 255 GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA’S WAY OF LIFE APPENDIX IV: ABOUT WESAK DAY 263 GLOSSARY 265 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 287 ABOUT GELEK RIMPOCHE 291 ABOUT JEWEL HEART 292 JEWEL HEART TRANSCRIPTS 293 Gelek Rimpoche INTRODUCTION We will be talking here about the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Our reason for doing this is that Aura has been requesting it for a number of years. Though it is going to take a little time, it is one of the most important Mahayana textbooks. I did not say that it is one of the most important Buddhist textbooks, but Mahayana textbooks; those of you who are familiar with me know that when I use certain words, you have to underline them. I am very much tempted to go back to a very traditional way of presenting. Normally I talk in an extremely new way or even New Age way, but this time I am tempted to go back completely to the old style of talking. I am not sure how the old style with its ways and means of explaining is going to work with you people. But whatever it may be, let me follow a little the completely traditional Tibetan way, so that you will know how that is done. I am not talking about prayers, etc., but about the way of presenting. How Shakyamuni Buddha Became Enlightened Traditionally it begins like this. Shakyamuni, the kind Bud- dha, first generated a great thought or mind. He built a very important motivation that we call bodhimind. It is very funny - you are going to hear this business of the bodhimind very often in this teaching, because it is the Bodhisattvacharyavatara.1 1 GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA’S WAY OF LIFE What is bodhimind? It is the mind of seeking Buddhahood, the intention to become a Buddha. It is not the Buddha’s mind, but the mind of seeking the state of a Buddha. How did Buddha generate this bodhimind? Theravada and Mahayana There are two ways of explaining this, according to the Theravada (or Hinayana) tradition and according to the Mahayana tradition. You know, Buddhism is often called a vehicle; it is a vehicle that can de- liver an individual to the state of a Buddha, like a car, train, plane or ship can take you where you want to go. Now in Buddhism, there is a bigger vehicle and a smaller vehicle. In Sanskrit, the literal meaning of Mahayana is ‘the great vehicle’, while Hinayana is ‘the small vehicle’. So, in India, this was the traditional distinction: great vehicle and small vehicle. Nowadays, those who belong to the category of the smaller vehicle don’t like that; they object to the term Hinayana, so we use the term Theravada, the self-liberating path or way of the elders rather than the small vehicle. The Mahayana is still called Mahayana, because they themselves don’t object to being called big or great! So the presentation of the teachings is slightly different in the Theravada and the Mahayana tradition. The Theravada tradition will tell you that Buddha Shakyamuni generated his own mind or intention to achieve the state of a Buddha, accumulated merit and then attained Buddhahood all within a single lifetime of eighty years. They only talk about that level. But this is a Mahayana text, so I have to talk to you according to the Mahayana way. The Mahayana tradition says that first Buddha generated bodhimind, then accumulated merits and finally attained enlightenment.

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