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Online: Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds
April 8, 2023 @ 9:00 am - 10:30 am PDT
Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds
with Ven. Thubten Chodron
Saturdays
9 am Pacific Time
Click here to watch live on YouTube.
Go here for the text of verses recited before and after teachings.
Ven. Chodron refers to the outline of the commentary by Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen. Find a free, downloadable translation here.
Who it’s for:
“Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds” is suitable for new and seasoned Dharma practitioners. It covers the entire span of practices necessary to progress on the path to full awakening. Using stark imagery and profound reasonings, it inspires and transform the mind.
About the author:
Shantideva lived in 8th century ancient India, was born into a royal family and set to assume the throne after his father. However, motivated to be of greatest benefit to all sentient beings, Shantideva left the royal life and entered monastic life at the renowned Nalanda Monastery.
Having arrived for the teaching, Shantideva asked his audience: did they want to listen to something old or new? They chose to hear something new. Shantideva then began to recite the poem he had composed, “Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds.”
The text is composed in verse and divided into ten chapters:
- The first three chapters concern the benefits of bodhicitta, the altruistic intention to achieve full awakening in order to best benefit all sentient beings. These chapters teach the method to cultivate and sustain bodhicitta.
- Chapters four and five focus on how to implement bodhicitta in daily life, providing instruction on the perfection of ethical conduct.
- Chapter six concerns the perfection of fortitude. It offers a wealth of instruction on how to overcome the affliction of anger.
- Chapter seven focuses on the perfection of enthusiastic effort.
- Chapter eight is concerned with the perfection of meditation in the context of cultivating altruism and overcoming attachment to friends, possessions, reputation and one’s own—and others—bodies.
- Chapter nine focuses on the perfection of wisdom, providing an exposition of the Prasangika view of emptiness.
- Chapter ten concludes the text with a prayer dedicating the merit of composing to the awakening of all sentient beings.
More about the teacher
She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, including seven volumes (so far) in The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, co-authored with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with whom she has studied for nearly forty years.
Venerable Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her warm, practical, and humorous explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She is also involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. Learn more about her. Find a media library of her teachings and info on her books on her personal website, ThubtenChodron.org.
