Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The monk dismissed as “the three actions” — he apparently only ate, slept, and visited the toilet — was secretly in deep Mañjuśrī meditation and would author the Bodhicaryāvatāra. Geshe Pema Tsering reserves this life story for the close of this 46-minute opening session. First comes the doctrinal foundation: saṃsāra as beginningless cycling through six realms under karma and affliction, each realm’s specific suffering sketched, and a volcano analogy for why renunciation must develop before bodhicitta can. He links the two as mirror minds — renunciation for oneself, bodhicitta for all beings — then tells the full story: Śāntideva’s Mañjuśrī empowerment at age six, the monks’ high-throne trap at Nālānda, and the miraculous floating recitation that first gave the world this text.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 BD 2002 01 31.mp3
UUID: 5460434d-37f7-4be9-88a9-2fe1c08691c5
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-01-31
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.4 minutes
Words: ~2,897
Today, we’re starting this text called a Bodhicaryāvatāra, the Bodhicaryāvatāra. And this text was composed by the great Śāntideva, the the son of the conquerors, or the Jinaputra, or the Gyalse Śāntideva. And Śāntideva himself composed this text to demonstrate the way that bodhicitta is developed and how it’s practiced. So therefore, how the six perfections are practiced, how the four means of taming disciples are achieved and practiced, and those practices coming from bodhicitta itself. And so therefore, also he talks about how bodhicitta is developed.
So there he’s talking about the six causes and one result for achieving bodhicitta, the bodhicitta being the result of those six causes. And in then dealing with the six causes, firstly, he talks about the fact that all beings have been our mothers in the past. So then in contemplating the fact that all beings have been our mothers, then we really need to understand saṃsāra and the fact that saṃsāra itself is beginningless. So in understanding the beginninglessness of saṃsāra first requires some understanding of what saṃsāra itself is. We need to know the essence or the characteristics of saṃsāra.
And within that also, we need to know the faults of saṃsāra. We need to be aware of all the faults and errors that pertain to this thing called saṃsāra. So we need to understand the faults, the disadvantages of saṃsāra. So, really, what saṃsāra refers to is cycling, cyclic existence, and cycling by the strength of the afflictions. And then since saṃsāra is cycling and cycling by afflictions, then what does cycle?
It’s really the beings of the six types that cycle. So the six beings who really represent Samsāra are the hell beings, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the humans, antigods and gods. So in fact, these six types of being cycle due to the power of karma and afflictions, and because they’re unable to set aside karma and affliction, then this cycling is hasn’t stopped. It’s been continuous and has not been stopped till the present. So this process of cycling means taking rebirth again and again in contaminated existence.
And because of this, there is really no happiness for those beings who experience continued cycling within within the universe. In fact, what they experience is only suffering. So in fact, when we examine the state of the six types of migrator, then they experience only suffering. In fact, for the hell beings, the sufferings of the hot and cold hells are immense and don’t require a great deal of explanation. For the hungry ghosts, they suffer from hunger and thirst, very intense hunger and thirst, and the animals also undergo great suffering.
For humans, humans suffer from the four types of human suffering, such as birth, sickness, old age, and death, of achieving what they don’t wish to achieve or not achieving what they want to achieve. And the demigods have great jealousy and so on. And the gods themselves also experience the suffering of having to die at some point. So therefore, by the power of common afflictions, the beings of the six types undergo immense continuous suffering, and this pervades all all beings, all ordinary beings who are under the influence of karma and affliction. So therefore, in understanding the fact of ourselves presently having to cycle through the six types of rebirth continuously without break, and this process is one of unending dissatisfaction and suffering, then we really need to find a means for getting beyond this current state.
We need to be liberated from this condition. So here we need to, therefore, understand the faults of Samsāra, the faults of this continued cycling. It’s a little bit like a volcano. If we understand what a volcano is and the danger of being near a volcano and so forth, we don’t go near the volcano for fear of what will happen to us. Similarly, cyclic existence is like a volcano.
It’s something that only harms us, and it’s something that we have to be liberated from. So therefore, by seeing the faults and disadvantages and the errors of saṃsāra, then one develops this aspiration to leave saṃsāra, to be able to renounce saṃsāra, to achieve definite emergence from the state of saṃsāra. So then having developed the aspiration to leave Samsāra is the aspiration of definite emergence or renunciation. And when this renunciation is present both night and day, and it is present without effort, spontaneously, effortlessly, then one has fully developed renunciation. That renunciation then is the path itself, and it becomes the path of accumulation, the first of the five paths.
So then when we establish that for ourselves, this renunciation, because we see the faults of saṃsāra, then also when we reflect on the situation for other beings, we notice that they also are in the same situation that we’re in. They’re experiencing saṃsāra and all the disadvantages of saṃsāra. But also, like us, they also aspire to be free of suffering, be free of all the negative qualities, negative attributes of our current situation, our current cyclic existence. So therefore, when we view other sentient beings and also aspire for them to be free of their suffering and for ourselves to achieve a state where we can bring that about, then that is the mind of bodhicitta. And then we notice that the mind of bodhicitta and the mind of renunciation are quite similar.
They have similar qualities. Renunciation is viewing our own situation and wishing to be free of saṃsāra for our own sake, whereas bodhicitta is viewing the situations of other beings and wishing that we attain a state of Buddhahood in order to free them from that state. So they are similar in many respects. So here, we’re speaking about the awakening mind or bodhicitta and the motivation for generating that because this particular text that we are going to investigate is a text of the great vehicle. And being of the great vehicle, then we should initially generate a great vehicle motivation in order to listen to this text.
So therefore, at present, we’re talking about the great vehicle motivation of bodhicitta. So in fact, what we need at present is a very strong motivation of compassion and bodhicitta to listen to this text. And in fact, we need as much as possible the aspiration that even as quickly as as is possible, even to attain the state of full enlightenment in this life for the sake of all other sentient beings is necessary. That this is the motivation upon which we should enter the study of this text, so we should strive to develop this. So now we do a little bit of meditation in order to generate this motivation.
So here we’re viewing this condition of all sentient beings and wishing that they they be completely free from all suffering and be conjoined with the highest happiness. In fact, that we ourselves, as quickly as we can, will attain a state of complete Buddhahood in order to establish every sentient being in the state of highest happiness. So initially, in discussing this text, firstly, the text itself was authored by the the conqueror’s son, Śāntideva. And Śāntideva himself was born a prince in a region to the south of Oddiyana in India. And his father, was a king in this particular region, had the name of Gewagucha.
And his mother was, in fact, an emanation of Vajrayoginī, and he was born to those two parents. And Śāntideva, even as a small child, very quickly mastered the sciences, the Vedic sciences that were taught at that time and became very skilled and knowledgeable. And then when he was quite young, Śāntideva, around the age of six, he happened to meet this siddha, a yogic practitioner. But this practitioner was somewhat disguised. It wasn’t obvious that he was, in fact, a siddha.
He didn’t look like a siddha, but his practice was to not reveal his practice to others. And on meeting this particular Siddha, then the siddha himself then gave instruction to the young child to Śāntideva around the age of six when he was very young, and he instructed him on the practices of Mañjuśrī. In fact, that he gave him the empowerment and permission into the practice of Mañjuśrī and on the method of meditating on Mañjuśrī, the mantras, and so forth, and gave him much advice on how to practice. And engaging in practice, the child was soon able to gain a direct vision of Mañjuśrī. And then in gaining a direct vision of Mañjuśrī, then Mañjuśrī himself gave Śāntideva many prophecies in relation to the future and many instructions, many teachings.
And through that, then Śāntideva became very knowledgeable even at a very young age with very clear vision, clear wisdom. At this stage, he was known as the prince Shiwagucha, which was given by his father whose name was Gewagucha. Then around the age around the age of fifteen years, his father, Gewagucha, passed away. Now when the the father passed away, the people themselves began to pressure to have a new king installed, and who the people wanted was the son, Shiwagucha. However, Shiwagucha himself was reluctant to take on the responsibilities of the king.
In fact, he his chief desire was to actually practice and not take on the responsibilities of the king. However, the the people in the kingdom were very persistent and pleaded with him to take on the responsibilities of king. And so after being requested earnestly in that way, he accepted to become king. So having accepted, then he said, well, then there should really be an enthronement, an official ceremony for the enthronement. And so the all the arrangements were then undertaken so that the enthronement could take place the following day.
So, anyway, having arranged that the enthronement would take place tomorrow and everyone is set in motion, yeah, fixing everything to be ready for the ceremony the following day, then Shiwagucha then retired and went to sleep. And that night, he had a dream. And in the dream, he dreamed of Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī came to him in a dream. And in the dream, he was not happy with the arrangement that Shiwagucha, the son, fifteen, sixteen years old, would take on the responsibilities of being king.
So Mañjuśrī had said it wouldn’t be suitable for him to practice if he assumed the responsibilities of a king, and their relationship as a teacher and disciple would be harmed if he took the responsibilities of a king. Anyway, in the morning, he woke from the dream and he thought about the nature of this dream, and he realized that he’d already accepted to become the king. He’d already made that official acceptance in front of the people, but his own teacher had appeared to him and said, it’s better you don’t if you want to maintain our relationship. So he was not sure what to do, and so he fled from the kingdom. And so then the child left the kingdom and headed north and found himself in Nālānda, which was to the north of his kingdom.
So at that time in Nālānda, there were many thousands of monks, but five hundred recognized pandits or scholars. And then from among the five hundred pandits that lived in the Nālānda monastery at that time, there was one who was regarded as the supreme, and his name was Lalitavajra, meaning the divine. So then when this young boy is now fifteen, sixteen years old, when he got there, he found out that this was the supreme scholar from among the five hundred. He went and visited him and requested ordination and was granted ordination. Yes.
And then in taking ordination, he changed his name from to, which is the Tibetan form of Śāntideva. So then having taken ordination, then he entered the normal practices of the monks there, which was to study. So relying on his teacher, then he engaged in study and really focused very much like all the other monks on engaging in a daily cycle of events, which included debate and study and so on. And so the daily routine of the monks there was very strict and very much directed at study and debate and doing prayers and so forth. However, Śāntideva himself didn’t join in with the other monks in these practices.
Instead, he stayed in his room and slept. And otherwise, he went to the toilet, and otherwise, he ate. And in fact, it appeared as if he was doing nothing at all. What he was actually engaged in was meditation. He was constantly engaged in meditation on Mañjuśrī, and in that meditation, he was developing greatly.
However, externally, it appeared as if he was doing very little. However, the other monks, when they observed the actions of Śāntideva, they they saw that he was only engaged in these three actions, so they gave him this nickname of really the three actions or the three actions. All he really discriminates is either eating, sleeping, going to to the toilet. So he was given that name, the three actions. So the other monks having given him this nickname, it didn’t really affect him very much even though they would call him this, it wouldn’t provoke him to do much.
In fact, he simply continued in his old ways of just engaging in these three actions. And so they thought, what can we do to, you know, improve his ways to get him to do something? So they began to think, well, maybe we should devise some way of doing something. We can’t have this continuing. And I thought, well, it’s difficult to expel him because he hasn’t actually done anything wrong that would be a reason for expelling him.
And he’s the student of, you know, the one of the main scholars here as well. So it’s not gonna be easy just to expel him. So they also thought that, well, maybe we could during the confession ceremony, we could ask him to recite the confession ceremony. But, also, it was difficult to also, at times, to locate him to actually have him present during the biweekly or the bimonthly confession ceremony. However, in locating him, they finally put it to him that now your name has come up in order to recite the sūtra during the confession ceremony.
So tomorrow, during the confession ceremony, you should recite from memory that section of the sūtra that’s required in the ceremony. And then he said, oh, that may be difficult. So, anyways, Śāntideva was a bit reluctant because he was not very senior, and when he conversed with the senior, the elders, then they said, yes, it’s okay if you were to recite that sūtra. So Śāntideva said or then accepted to do so. So then they trapped him.
He’d accepted to recite the sūtra. So then they decided that they would build this very high throne for him to teach from. Yes. So they thought, okay, we’ll build a high throne, and and also they left out the stairs. If there are any way of getting to the top of the throne, and they thought, will have him here.
He won’t be able to complete this action. So Śāntideva himself then arrived at the confession ceremony, and then he looked to the head of the the assembly hall, and he noticed this huge throne without a staircase. And realizing that he would have to teach from there or recite the sūtra from there, then question the question, why is it so tall? Because he had clairvoyance, because he had a higher perception, then quickly he realized the motivation for of the monks in putting the throne that high. So then as he approached the throne, it was he made the throne descend to his height, and he got on the throne, and the throne raised again to its original height.
But those in the audience weren’t quite sure what happened. Some actually saw the miraculous ability of Śāntideva, and others didn’t quite see it and were a bit puzzled as to what happened. So then having seated himself on the throne, then he he announced that, well, today it’s it’s fallen on myself to recite a sūtra for the confession ceremony. So I would like to put it to you. What would you like to hear?
A sūtra that was has previously been given or something completely new? So then the answer came back, oh, we’d like something completely new. So then because they’d requested something completely new, he then recited this particular text, this particular teaching here that’s recorded as the Bodhicaryāvatāra. So in fact, this was the first teaching of this particular text then as a new new text. So then as he proceeded to recite the text, then when he reached around the fifth or the sixth chapter, the seat itself that he was seated upon began to float, began to rise up into the space.
And then as he continued reciting the text, then he also continued to float higher and higher above the audience, and this proceeded up until the ninth chapter, the chapter on emptiness on view. And while this is happening, he’s getting