Readings of Śāntideva’s Guide to Bodhisattva Practice

Śāntideva’s eighth-century work, the Guide to Bodhisattva Practice (Bodhicaryāvatāra), is known for its eminently practical instructions and its psychologically vivid articulations of the Mahāyāna path. It is a powerful, succinct poem into which are woven diverse Buddhist traditions of moral transformation, meditative cultivation, and philosophical insight. Since its composition, it has seen continuous use as a ritual, contemplative, and philosophical manual, making it one of the crucial texts of the Buddhist ethical and philosophical tradition.

This book serves as a companion to this Indian Buddhist classic. The fifteen essays contained here illuminate the Guide’s many philosophical, literary, ritual, and ethical dimensions. Distinguished scholars discuss the historical significance of the text as an innovative piece of Indian literature, illuminate the important roles it played in shaping Buddhism in Tibet, and bring to light its contemporary significance for philosophy and psychology. Whether experienced or first-time students of Buddhist literature, readers will find compelling new approaches to this resonant masterpiece.

A Note to the Reader
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Participatory Authorship and Communal Interpretation: The Bodhicaryāvatāra as a “World Classic,” by Jonathan C. Gold
1. Śāntideva: The Author and His Project, by Paul Harrison
2. Reason and Knowledge on the Path: A Protreptic Reading of the Guide, by Amber Carpenter
3. On Learning to Overhear the “Vanishing Poet,” by Sonam Kachru
4. An Intoxication of Mouse Venom: Reading the Guide, Chapter 9, by Matthew T. Kapstein
5. Seeing from All Sides, by Janet Gyatso
6. Bodies and Embodiment in the Bodhicaryāvatāra, by Reiko Ohnuma
7. Ritual Structure and Material Culture in the Guide to Bodhisattva Practice, by Eric Huntington
8. Bodhicaryāvatāra and Tibetan Mind Training (Lojong), by Thupten Jinpa
9. Taming Śāntideva: Tsongkhapa’s Use of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, by Roger Jackson
10. The Middle Way of the Bodhisattva, by Douglas S. Duckworth
11. Seeing Sentient Beings: Śāntideva’s Moral Phenomenology, by Jay L. Garfield
12. Śāntideva’s Ethics of Impartial Compassion, by Charles Goodman
13. Śāntideva and the Moral Psychology of Fear, by Bronwyn Finnigan
14. Innate Human Connectivity and Śāntideva’s Cultivation of Compassion, by John Dunne
Appendix 1: A Guide to Guide Translations: Advice for Students and Instructors
Appendix 2: Index of Guide Verses Cited
Bibliography
Contributors
Index