Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life

[Ray]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I was rereading Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva way of Life and one line that has always bothered me was:

Since I have given up this body
For the happiness of all living beings
It will always be theirs to beat, to revile
Or even to kill if they please

Therefore in whatever I do
I will never cause harm to others
And whenever anyone encounters me
May it never be meaningless for them

As an aspiring warrior, I've always had trouble in this line because I imagine it as self-justification of letting one get stepped on and taken advantage of. My own life experience has told me that it this isn't productive at all, but I'm having trouble reconciling this with this passage.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ray

[AndyH]

One step at a time

Hi Ray ,

the way I see it there are many, many levels of self-improvement before reaching enlightenment. Beings who are a long way further down that path will probably think differently to you or I. All you need to do is try and be better than you were yesterday. If you fail try again the next day.


Best,
Andy

[Alex McLeod]

I've never read the Guide to a Boddhisatva way of life, so I'm judging from just the quoted passage. I think that the message that was being conveyed is more about removing your attachment to your physical body, and striving to never cause harm, and always bring more meaning to other living beings' lives, than about letting people walk all over you. Gandi practiced this very well, and even inflicted injury upon his body with unsafe fasts in order to change the people around him.

[Michael Durkin]

Hi Ray,

Here's my first reaction to those interesting words you have quoted.

Since I have given up this body
For the happiness of all living beings
It will always be theirs to beat, to revile
Or even to kill if they please

For me this is describing a being that has transcended beyond the physical realm. That this being has given their physical body selflessly as a gift or tool to help all living beings to realise happiness.

For me, I can think of this being like 'a shoulder to cry on', or some kind of sponge for any other beings to express any kind of feeling upon, whether that is hate, love, fear, jealousy, greif, joy etc etc etc. This offering of their physical body, without any desire for anything in return, to help others, is an example of wisdom and great compassion.

"Or even to kill if they please". We all have the freedom of our own mind. What we do with it, and learn from our actions is up to us. If we want to kill, we have the ability to desire, and do it. The important thing is what we learn from it, not intellectually, but from the heart. A sinner can always repent, as long as he realises it and sincerely wishes to repent. It just might take killing someone to bring that person to that point of genuinely repenting.

In that case, giving of ones body for another to kill, so that they have the opportunity to reach that point of awakening is a true self sacrifice.

Therefore in whatever I do
I will never cause harm to others
And whenever anyone encounters me
May it never be meaningless for them

For me this is kind of describing being neutral, and actually something beyond it really. More on neutral later.

It feels as if Shantideva is like a mirror. When ever Shantideva comes accross anyone, Shantideva just lets that other being be themselves. And how ever that other being behaves, is reflected back to them for them to see for themselves their own behaviour (shocking/chilling/joyful etc as it may be in some cases).

"May it never be meaningless for them" shows the short coming of my use of the word neutral, Shantideva is talking about something beyond neutral. This last line for me hints towards some kind of action (unlike being neutral). It feels for me that Shantideva has an intention for the person who has just 'seen their reflection' to actually gain some thing they can learn from, something they have seen in themselves they can take productive action with to improve themselves.

I've always had trouble in this line because I imagine it as self-justification of letting one get stepped on and taken advantage of.

Imagine, if you need , that you are so content and peaceful with your existence, that nothing any other being could do to you could break that feeling of contentment and joy, let alone any kind of physical violence.

This is why Christians would sing to God so joyously when being burned alive by the Romans. Soon they would be with God, once their physical bodies had perished. Their spirits were indestructible and couldn't be destroyed once they had accepted God into their hearts.

Seeing people being burned alive, but so peaceful at the same time, would certainly make the person burning them think about their actions (which is like what I was saying about the mirror before). I mean, what could really bring someone to set someone on fire. A person that would set someone on fire must be in a really dark, sad place. If they see the person they are setting on fire so peaceful, they may have the opportunity to see the error of their ways and see that what they are doing is wrong.

I feel the burner is not the one taking advantage of the person he is burning (though from one perspective it seems so), the burner is doing himself a huge disadvantage. He is burning his own soul by letting himself kill another. This is the mirror in action. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself.

Of course, talking of burning people alive, killing etc is at the extreme end of the scale in most cases. On a more down to earth level, we all have our attachments and ego that is useful for our day to day living. For example, I'm attached to my family and certainly wouldn't so acceptingly watch anyone hurt them. I have faith that God will take care of them never the less, but I still have my attachments to feel suffering from such an act.

Not all of us are able, nor is it safe to, throw away our ego or attachments before we are ready. As the time is right, we slowly ripen towards such realisations of letting them go.



I hope something comes through from all that.

Basically I'm feeling from Shantideva's quote, from which I have never read any of the writings of 'the Guide to a Boddhisatva way of life', is an example of great compassion, sympathy, tolerance, patience, wisdom and many other loving, selfless actions towards helping other beings.

[Ray]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It's been a few days, almost a week in fact, since I have added the guide as part of my morning prayer practice. I also study this with one of Zopa Rinpoche's books and try to make all my actions Dharma. This has a very strong healing efect. For instance this morning I was fretting a bit over whether or not this girl I liked liked me, what I would say to her, etc, etc, etc. And instead I tried to focus my energies on making my daily actions fruitful for the sake of others. Instead of being beaten down by my own insecurities or feeding them I just tried to bring happiness and joy to others in all my actions. After doing so for a little bit I ended up laughing joyfully in the car and felt so much better.
Bodhictta, truly the medicine that cures all ills.

Yours truly,

Ray