Šantidéva Quotes

Shantideva was an 8th-century CE Indian Buddhist monk and scholar at Nalanda. He was an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna. Wikipedia

✵ 685 – 763

Šantidéva photo

Šantidéva: 41 quotes5 likes

Famous Šantidéva Quotes

“If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”

“We who are like senseless children shrink from suffering, but love its causes. We hurt ourselves; our pain is self-inflicted! Why should others be the object of our anger?”

“Where would I find enough leather
To cover the entire surface of the earth?
But with leather soles beneath my feet,
It’s as if the whole world has been covered.”

§ 5.13
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life
Context: Where would there be leather enough to cover the entire world? With just the leather of my sandals, it is as if the whole world were covered. Likewise, I am unable to restrain external phenomena, but I shall restrain my own mind. What need is there to restrain anything else?

“All the suffering there is in this world arises from wishing our self to be happy. All the happiness there is in this world arises from wishing others to be happy.”

“May the slander, harm
And all forms of abuse
That anyone should direct towards me
Act as a cause of their enlightenment.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Whoever wishes to quickly afford protection
To both himself and others
Should practice that holy secret:
The exchanging of self for others.”

Attributed

Šantidéva Quotes about the world

“You are not here to change the world. The world is here to change you.”

Attributed

“My body, every possession
And all goodness, past, present and future
Without remorse I dedicate
To the well-being of the world.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Where would there be leather enough to cover the entire world? With just the leather of my sandals, it is as if the whole world were covered. Likewise, I am unable to restrain external phenomena, but I shall restrain my own mind. What need is there to restrain anything else?”

§ 5.13
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

Šantidéva Quotes about suffering

“Suffering is transcended by total surrender
And the mind attains to nirvana.
As one day all must be given up,
Why not dedicate it now to universal happiness?”

Bodhicaryavatara

“For as long as space remains
And as long as sentient beings remain
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the suffering of all beings.”

Attributed

“His the knife, and mine the body
the twofold cause of suffering.
He has grasped the knife, I my body.
At which is there anger?”

Bodhicaryavatara

Šantidéva Quotes

“If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying?
If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?”

Attributed

“Like a blind man fumbling in garbage
Happens to find a rare and precious gem,
Likewise I have discovered
The jewel of the precious Bodhimind.”

Bodhicaryavatara
Context: Like a blind man fumbling in garbage
Happens to find a rare and precious gem,
Likewise I have discovered
The jewel of the precious Bodhimind.
Thus was found this supreme ambrosia to dispel
The Lord of death, destroyer of life;
An inexhaustible treasure able to cure
The poverty of all sentient beings.

“The Bodhimind is a great radiant sun
To disperse the darkness of unknowing,
And it is the very essence of butters
Gained from churning the milks of Dharma.”

Bodhicaryavatara
Context: The Bodhimind is a great radiant sun
To disperse the darkness of unknowing,
And it is the very essence of butters
Gained from churning the milks of Dharma.
For all guests on the roads of life
Who would take the very substance of joy,
Here is the actual seat of true happiness,
A veritable feast to satiate the world.

“As long as diseases afflict living beings
May I be the doctor, the medicine
And also the nurse
Who restores them to health.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“In the ocean-like virtue of the Bodhimind
That brings joy to all beings
And in accomplishing the well-being of others,
I lift up my heart and rejoice.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“May I fall as rain to increase
The harvests that must feed living beings
And in ages of dire famine
May I myself serve as food and drink.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“They who out of wisdom
Have seized the supreme Bodhimind
Praise, glorify and rejoice in it,
That it may grow to fulfilment.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“If you have not even dreamed
Of benefiting yourself
Before dreaming of this for sentient beings,
How could you be of benefit to others?”

Attributed

“May I act as the mighty earth
Or like the free and open skies
To support and provide the space
Whereby I and all others may grow.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Just as those standing in the midst of boisterous people carefully guard their wounds, so those standing in the midst of evil people should always guard the wounds of their minds.”

Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“Thus today in the presence of all awakened Ones
I invite every living being to this festival
Giving both immediate and lasting joy.
May the gods and all others rejoice.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Until every being afflicted by pain
Has reached nirvanas shores,
May I serve only as a condition
That encourages progress and joy.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Let those who falsely accuse me, who harm me, and who ridicule me all partake of Awakening.”

§ 3.16
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“Those who injure me are really impelled by my actions.
For this they will go to the realms of hell.
Surely it is they who are harmed by me?”

Bodhicaryavatara

“For the sake of all beings I have made this body pleasureless. Let them continually beat it, revile it, and cover it with filth. Let them play with my body. Let them laugh at it and ridicule it. What does it matter to me? I have given my body to them.”

§ 3.12
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“Let my possessions vanish; let my honor, my body, livelihood, and everything else pass away. But may my virtuous mind never be lost.”

§ 5.22
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“Just as a blind man might find a jewel amongst heaps of rubbish, so this Spirit of Awakening has somehow arisen in me.”

§ 3.27
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“To the Buddhas considering parinirvarna
I join my hands in prayer
Do not abandon the beings in sorrow
But remain and teach for countless ages.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“What need is there to say more?
The childish work for their own benefit,
The buddhas work for the benefit of others.
Just look at the difference between them.”

Attributed

“The Spirit of Awakening … is the tree of rest for beings exhausted from wandering on the pathways of mundane existence.”

§ 3.29
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“May no one who encounters me
Ever have an insignificant contact.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“The Spirit of Awakening is known to be of two kinds: the spirit of aspiring for Awakening, and the spirit of venturing toward awakening. Just as one perceives the difference between a person who yearns to travel and a traveler, so do the learned recognize the corresponding difference between these two.”

§ 1.15
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“May any spiritual energy thus generated
By my devotion to the enlightened ones
Be dedicated to dispelling the misery
Of living beings without exception.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Once I have forsaken the vow of guarding my mind, of what use are many vows to me?”

§ 5.18
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“One should eliminate yearning that arises for various idle conversations, which often take place, and for all kinds of entertainment.”

§ 5.45
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“To the Buddhas of the ten directions
I join my hands in respect
Let blaze the light of Dharmas truth
For the beings lost in darkness”

Bodhicaryavatara

“When one intends to move or when one intends to speak, one should first examine one’s own mind and then act appropriately with composure. When one sees one’s mind to be attached or repulsed, then one should neither act nor speak, but remain still like a piece of wood. When my mind is haughty, sarcastic, full of conceit and arrogance, ridiculing, evasive and deceitful, when it is inclined to boast, or when it is contemptuous of others, abusive, and irritable, then I should remain still like a piece of wood. When my mind is averse to the interests of others and seeks my own self-interest, or when it wishes to speak out of a desire for an audience, then I will remain still like a piece of wood. When it is impatient, indolent, timid, impudent, garrulous, or biased in my own favor, then I will remain still like a piece of wood.”

§ 5.47
Bodhicaryavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

“In the spiritual energy that relieves
The anguish of beings in misery and
Places depressed beings in eternal joy
I lift up my heart and rejoice.”

Bodhicaryavatara

“Regardless whether those whom I meet
Respond towards me with anger or faith,
May the mere fact of our meeting
Contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.”

Bodhicaryavatara

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