Budhisattva's way of life

Shantideva and his guide to the Buddhisattva's way of life.  

        Before we proceed further in discussion in patience a few words on  shantideva's guide to the budhisattva's way of life,the sixth chapter of which forms the core of the Dalai lama's teachings in this book are in order written in the eighth century C.E.,shantideva's work soon became an important classic of Mahayana Buddhist legend has it that shantideva a recited the entire text extemporanously when he was asked to give a lecture to a congregation of monks at the famous indian monastic university of Nalanda.It is said that the request to teach initially arose out of a desire to humiliate Shantideva,whom his fellow monks saw as doing nothing but "eating,sleeping and defecating."Little did the monks reality that while shantideva appeared to be leading a some what lazy life,he was in fact rich in inner experience and profound learning.tibetan accounts of the story maintain that when shantideva reach the difficult ninth chapter the chapter in wisdom,he started to ascend into the air and began to disappear although his voice could still be heard.

           Whatever the merits of this legend,the importance of the guide to the bodhisattva's way of life in the cultural and temporal milieu of indian literature cannot be underestimated.Shantideva's text became one of the most celebrated buddhist works for the religious practitioner,it became an important scripture outlining the essential practices of the mahayana buddhist path to enlightenment.Of all  the religious writing of the mahayana buddhist tradition ,it could be said that shantideva's guide and nagarjuna's precious garland together remain  the fundamental text outlining the noble,selfless career of the boddisattva.

          To this day,the chapter of dedication ,the tenth and last chapter,remain one of the most passionate expression of the profound religious sentiment in Mahayana Buddhist Literature .

          The impact of shantideva's guide in Tibet was perhaps unsurpassed .every time its translation into Tibetan in the eleventh century, the work exerted a  powerful influence upon the religious life of the Tibetan people.its pervasive influence upon the religious life of the Tibetan people.

          In addition to giving rise to extensive scholarship related to the Mahayana ideals and practices that are treated extensively in the work, the texts also led to the development of a  whole new genre of literature which became collectively known as lo-jong or "the training of the mind."This is a category of religious writing which deal primarily with two central concern of Shantideva's work,namely the cultivation of the altruistic mind of awakening and the generation of the  profound insight into the nature of reality.As evidence of the text;great inspirational power,those who have attended any talks by the Dalai lama will recall the liberty with which he quotes from Shantideva's guide,The following stanza is now almost immortalized because of the Dalai lama's repeated statements that it is his greatest source of inspiration.