Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Buddhism The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra (Entering the Bodhisattva Conduct) or Bodhicaryāvatāra (Entering the Bodhi Way; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa; Chinese: 入菩薩行論), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 CE in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā University in India which is also where it was composed.<ref name="Śāntideva1998">Template:Cite book</ref>

Structure

Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance (Skt. [[Kshanti|Template:IAST]]), strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of recent commentaries by Robert Thurman<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the fourteenth Dalai Lama.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Tibetan scholars consider the ninth chapter, "Wisdom", to be one of the most succinct expositions of the Madhyamaka view.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers.Template:Citation needed