We’ve introduced you to the 21 Tara paintings, Maitreya and Manjushri paintings, Dharma instruments, and roof ornaments.
Now, meet Shantideva in this beautiful thangka painting. It depicts the great master surrounded by the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. This unique thangka was commissioned by Ven. Ngawang for the Buddha Hall. The artist is Tenzin Ngodup, who also painted the Manjushri, Maitreya, and Four-Armed Chenrezig thangkas for the Buddha Hall.
Beloved Master
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.
Shantideva practiced and studied at Nalanda monastery very secretly, such that his fellow monks had little respect for him. When they tried to embarrass him by asking him to teach, he recited a beautiful and profound text—his own composition. See more details about him in the video below.
Beloved Text
Shantideva and his text, Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds (Bodhicaryāvatāra), are particularly well-loved at the Abbey. Venerable Chodron has taught the text at the Abbey and other venues, and we read the text annually on December 25th.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama keeps a copy of the book besides his bed and often recites one of the beautiful dedication verses:
For as long as space endures
And as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.
Commissioning the Thangka
Ven. Ngawang explained his motivation for commissioning the thangka:
Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara has been a source of profound inspiration for my practice for almost a decade now. Two years ago I had the thought to offer a thangka of Shantideva for my sramanera ordination, but at that time I was only able to offer a print. However, the aspiration did not end there and I continued to investigate this possibility.
The unique design of the thangka comes from the text itself—with input from our wise teachers. Ven. Ngawang explains:
In Chapter Two of the text, six bodhisattvas are mentioned explicitly. When I expressed my thought to commission a thangka of Shantideva with these six, Geshe Dadul immediately responded saying that I should include all eight of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas.
So, last summer I began collecting inspirational images. I sent everything I had collected along with a mockup of my vision for the painting to Tenzin Ngodup, who Venerable Chodron had strongly recommended for this project.
Tenzin Ngodup accepted the commission in the summer of 2023, saying:
Shantideva is one of the most beloved figures among the Buddhist scholars and I myself am very fond of his history and writings. I felt very delighted upon reading your request to recreate the lively episode where he is lifting up in the sky upon reciting Bodhicharyavatara’s last chapters. Indeed that would be a great honour and joy on my behalf to undertake this project.
The Thangka
The central figure of the thangka is Shantideva, rising into the sky. Above him is Shakyamuni Buddha.
Surrounding Shantideva are the Eight Great Bodhisattvas: (left, top to bottom) Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya, Kshitigarbha, Sarvanivaranavishkambhin, (right, top to bottom) Manjushri, Vajrapani, Akashagarbha, and Samantabhadra.
At the bottom, surrounding the throne are Buddhist practitioners. On the left side are representations of Indian practitioners—Shantideva’s original audience at Nalanda. The central group are Tibetan monastics who preserved the Nalanda tradition of India, including the teachings of Shantideva. We are indebted to the lineage of Tibetan masters who have practiced and commented on these profound teachings.
The right side show the diverse mix of Buddhist practitioners in the modern age. This group includes different races, genders, monastics from different traditions, and lay practitioners. They all benefit from Shantideva’s wisdom and are all welcome to come and practice in the Buddha Hall.
After the thangka was finished His Holiness the Dalai Lama signed it saying “With aspirational prayers for everlasting virtue – Dalai Lama.”
Video about the Thangka Painter and Thangka
Tenzin Ngodup’s daughter, Gangkar Metok, posts videos to YouTube about Tibetan culture, women in Buddhism, and family life. She posted the below video about visiting Tenzin Ngodup’s thangka painting school, the process of creating the Shantideva thangka, and a bit about Shantideva.
The video is in Tibetan, so we provide a translation to English below. (Note that the video contains ads)
View Transcript (English)
[2:11] Tenzin Ngodup:
This thangka called the “five bodies”
There’s a Dharma center in America
It’s a monastery called Sravasti Abbey
[2:17] Gangkar Metok:
In America there’s a nunnery called Sravasti Abbey
They’ve asked my father to make a thangka of the master Shantideva
[2:30] Tenzin Ngodup:
(English) I’m not getting much time to give, you know
I have to look for those
If I regularly do I might take like four months, five months
Because so much detail it has
Regarding making this thangka, it’s something special
In the middle Shantideva is slowly vanishing into space
He’s surrounded by the Eight Close Children of the Buddha
(English) Indian, Tibetan should be here, maybe Vietnamese is somewhere here
[3:14] Gangkar Metok:
(English) You can have him (Vietnamese student) as a model
[3:16] Tenzin Ngodup:
(English) All have like similar robes
For example, Nalanda University had many scholars
Shantideva himself was called “Busuku,” I don’t know if that’s Sanskrit or not
In brief, all he did was eat, sleep, and stay in his room
and he was pretty sloppy
The abbot and monks couldn’t figure out how to expel him
They had to find a reason to expel him
In order to embarrass him
once a week the senior monks had to give a teaching on any topic
to the younger monks and the public
They said to him, “Shantideva, next week, it’s your turn to speak”
Shantideva said, “That’s fine”
Everyone was surprised
“Oh, what’s he going to talk about?”
Generally they saw him as lacking
That day, they deliberately tried to harm him
They made a very high throne
How’s he going to get onto it?
When Shantideva arrived, he had attainments
With one finger he pushed the throne down and made it small
Once he sat on the throne, it became large as it was before
Then he taught Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds
Now everyone was shocked, bowled over, dumbfounded
When it came to teaching chapter eight, nine
At the start of chapter nine he vanished into the sky
As he vanished, as he was leaving, what he said was
“I haven’t finished, you’ll find the rest in my room”
It seems he said that when he was leaving
That’s how Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds was completed
[5:20] Gangkar Metok:
In the 8th century the renowned great bodhisattva Shantideva
was born to the west of Bodh Gaya in a place called Saurastra
as the son of King Kalyanavarma
His father’s name was Kalyanavarma
When Shantideva was a child he was called Shantivarma
When Shantideva was little, at the age of six
he met an accomplished master
From that accomplished master
he received the Manjushri empowerment and practiced it
In historical accounts it’s said he saw Manjushri’s face
In short, from a young age
he had keen and great interest in the Dharma and practiced it
Then after a while his father passed away
and he had to take the responsibility of being his heir
One night when he had yet to take on this responsibility he had a dream
In the dream his meditation deity Manjushri appeared seated on the king’s throne
He said, “This is my throne”
“Since I am your spiritual mentor, it’s not possible for both of us to sit together on this throne”
In another dream Venerable Tara poured hot water on his crown
He asked her, “What is this?”
Venerable Tara said, “To hold the position of prince is like entering the Unrelenting Hell”
When he had these dreams, he realized it would not be good to continue to be a prince
Because it would be the main cause of continuing to circle in cyclic existence
Therefore he escaped
Later on he went to Nalanda University
As mentioned earlier he hid his abilities as an accomplished master and meditator
Generally he was a great scholar and great practitioner
He composed the Compendium of Trainings
Compendium of Sutras
and Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds
However, he appeared to others as
someone who was just eating, sleeping, and drinking
as someone who was very lazy and careless
As mentioned before, he taught Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds
at the great Nalanda University
His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives teachings on Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds repeatedly
Whenever I read the root text of Engaging in a Bodhisattva’s Deeds
it’s very beneficial for my mind
I’d like to take the opportunity today to share my favorite verses with you
These verses are from the beginning of chapter five on introspective awareness
[8:00] Verse 12:
Unruly beings are as (unlimited) as space
They cannot possibly all be overcome
But if I overcome thoughts of anger alone
This will be equivalent to vanquishing all foes
Verse 13:
Where would I possibly find enough leather
With which to cover the surface of the earth?
But (wearing) leather just on the soles of my shoes
Is equivalent to covering the earth with it
What does this mean?
Those who don’t like you—people, animals, enemies
Those who say, “You make me angry”
They are limitless like space if you get angry with them
Instead, if you destroy the anger in your mind
That’s the same as destroying all your enemies
The second line gives an example of this
If you had to walk barefoot, you would say
“My feet will get pierced by thorns and stones, etc.”
If you tried to cover all the places in the world
With leather in order to make them smooth
How could you find enough leather?
Instead, if you cover your feet by measuring out leather of the right size
to make good soles, make good shoes
Doesn’t that become the same as covering all places in the world with leather?
In our daily life, whether we are happy or unhappy depends on how we think
For example when it is sunny and you go outside
You might say, “The sun is so hot, it’s so tedious, my face is burning, etc.”
If you keep saying that
there’s no benefit
If you use an umbrella that casts some shade
that’s it
Really, this verse is very beautiful
On YouTube many people have asked
Can we participate in the Udumvara Thangka School?
How can we do this?
Can anyone participate?
How does it work?
[10:05] Tenzin Ngodup:
Anyone can come
It’s good if you have familiarity with the arts
If you have no interest and aren’t skilled with your hands
it’s very difficult
When someone is born they have innate skills
Like being good in sports, being good at drawing
If you have a bit of skill from the beginning
it’s easy and enjoyable for us both
if it’s like that from the student’s side
Otherwise, if someone pushes themselves, it’s difficult
On the other hand, if you want to come here just to gain some experiences
Then that’s fine
To learn about Tibetan culture, that’s a different issue
If you really want to become a professional thangka painter
it will take a very long time, right?
Besides thangka, such as scenery, landscapes, and flowers
sometimes we learn painting to decorate our homes, that’s fine
I’ve been thinking of making a book
I plan to make it quickly
if there’s such a book, it could be helpful
[10:58] Gangkar Metok:
Generally the students who come to learn traditional thangka painting
usually spend up to five to six years and learn many things
Now at Udumvara Art School there is a special Vietnamese guest
he was already an artist
Shambu Kumar completed his five-year training in thangka painting
After completion of his five-year thangka studies
now he’s going back to his own hometown
For both Indians and foreigners, they have to spend five years to study
So this is all about the Udumvara Art School tour and how to participate
and about the great bodhisattva Shantideva
Now I’m going back to my home
the grandfather of Konchog Palden-la is dropping him off
from Gamru to the basketball court of Gangkyi
Are there bananas?
[12:15] Tenzin Ngodup:
These are bananas with a different kind of sweetness
[12:17] Gangkar Metok:
Oh, the small ones
[12:18] Tenzin Ngodup:
It looks like that, right
[12:19] Gangkar Metok:
Yes
[12:20] Tenzin Ngodup:
Some Indians will come when there are more
[12:37] Behind the Scenes
[12:40] Tenzin Ngodup:
Nagarjuna was much earlier
Nagarjuna’s lifespan was very long
400 years after the Buddha
[12:53] Chime Singye:
It was around the time of Tibet’s Dharma kings
Yes, yes, I can’t say the exact one
[13:01] Gangkar Metok:
Please check online, what is this?
What century are you living in?
[13:13] Tenzin Ngodup:
Online is not 100% reliable
[13:15] Gangkar Metok:
Look on Rigpa Wiki, there you will find everything about the lamas and great scholars
[13:20] Tenzin Ngodup:
No, no, I want to know for myself
[13:26] Gangkar Metok:
Then why are you calling Brother Chime at night?
Rigpa Wiki is very reliable
it’s a compendium of biographies of lamas and scholars
everything is written here with sources, it’s very good
There you will find the biographies of scholars in brief and in detail
It’s very good
[13:48] Tenzin Ngodup:
You don’t know
[13:49] Gangkar Metok:
What don’t I know, tell me
[13:52] Tenzin Ngodup:
I’ll tell you face to face
[13:53] Gangkar Metok:
What face to face?
Teacher Tenzin Ngodup-la, what is this thangka?
[13:58] Tenzin Ngodup:
What is this teacher Tenzin Ngodup?
[13:59] Gangkar Metok:
Let me speak, let me speak, I’m enjoying this
You’re making a very beautiful thangka
Please give an introduction of it
[14:10] Tenzin Ngodup:
You’re making me laugh
[14:13] Gangkar Metok:
Oh my god, you’re seated as if you’re going to give a teaching
Konchog Palden-la, do you have anything to say?
Are you going to say something, Konchog Palden-la?
He’s not going to say anything now
One should not disturb Dharma activities
Thank you Konchog Palden-la
Text: Thank you to all our viewers
Credits
Shantideva’s verses in English are from A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, translated by Stephen Batchelor
English subtitles by Norbu Samphel and Thubten Damcho