Bodhicaryavatara: a guide to the Buddhist path of awakening (OUP edition)

Written in India in the early eighth century AD, Santideva's BODHICARYAVATARA became one of the most popular accounts of the Buddhist spiritual path.

The BODHICARYAVATARA takes as its subject the profound desire to become a Buddha and save all beings from suffering. The person who enacts such a desire is a Bodhisattva. Santideva not only sets out what the bodhisattva must do and become, he also invokes the intense feelings of aspiration which underlie such a commitment, using language which has inspired Buddhists from his time to the present.

Important as a manual of training among Mahayana Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the BODHICARYAVATARA is still used by modern Buddhist teachers.

General Introduction: Santideva and his World

Translators' Introductino
The Structure of the Bodhicaryavatara
Concerning the Translation
The Sanskrit Text and Prajnakaramati's Commentary

Note on Pronunciation
Acknowledgements
Select Bibliography

THE BODHICARYAVATARA
Praise of the Awakening Mind
Confession of Faults
Adopting the Awakening Mind
Vigilance regarding the Awakening Mind
The Guarding of Awareness
The Perfection of Forbearance
The Perfection of Vigour
The Perfection of Meditative Absorption
The Perfection of Understanding
Dedication

Notes on the Text