Vajrayana · 8th century
Shantideva
Mahayana · Madhyamaka · The Bodhicharyavatara · The Way of the Bodhisattva
A quiet monk whose poem of compassion has dissolved self-love for a thousand years in everyone who hears it.
The essence of the teaching: The highest practice is to give away all accumulated merit for the easing of every being's suffering. By exchanging "self" and "other," you take apart the very wall of the ego.
Transmission
At Nalanda monastery Shantideva was taken for an idler who only ate and slept. But when he was called up to teach as a mockery, he spoke The Way of the Bodhisattva – and rose above his seat, uttering verses that live to this day. His logic is simple and merciless. All beings equally want happiness and flee suffering – so why do I set myself above them? Merit grows when you give it away, and dwindles when you hoard it for yourself. To be saved, give yourself entirely to others. This is no sacrifice – it is the way out of the cramped prison of "I."
The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.
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