The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyavatara

Shantideva's eighth-century masterpiece on the bodhisattva path—a profound guide to cultivating compassion, wisdom, and the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, revealing the heart of Mahayana Buddhist practice.

Shantideva (8th century), Indian Buddhist monk and scholar at Nalanda monastery, composed the Bodhicharyavatara (Entering the Path of Enlightenment) as a comprehensive guide to the bodhisattva ideal. This translation by the Padmakara Translation Group presents Shantideva's teachings with clarity and precision, making accessible one of Buddhism's most beloved and influential texts on compassion, patience, meditation, and wisdom.

What you'll discover:

• The bodhisattva vow and the aspiration to enlightenment for all beings
• Cultivating the six perfections: generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, meditation, wisdom
• Chapter 6 on patience—a masterpiece of contemplative psychology
• Chapter 8 on meditation and emptiness—profound exposition of shunyata
• Practical guidance for transforming afflictive emotions
• The exchange of self and other—revolutionary compassion practice

Shantideva's central teaching: true happiness comes not from pursuing our own welfare but from dedicating ourselves to the welfare of all beings. Through cultivating bodhichitta—the awakened heart-mind—we transform suffering into the path, obstacles into opportunities, and self-concern into universal compassion. This is not mere altruism but the recognition that self and other are ultimately inseparable.

How do we cultivate genuine compassion? What transforms afflictive emotions into wisdom? How does the bodhisattva path lead to enlightenment?

Shantideva's answers—conveyed with poetic beauty, logical precision, and profound insight—await in The Way of the Bodhisattva, offering not abstract philosophy but practical guidance for living with compassion, wisdom, and dedication to the liberation of all beings.

Perfect for: Students of Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhist practice, meditation practitioners seeking to deepen compassion, readers interested in Buddhist ethics and philosophy, anyone exploring the bodhisattva ideal, contemplatives drawn to transforming the heart through wisdom and compassion.

Paperback edition. One of the most important texts in Mahayana Buddhism—essential reading for understanding the bodhisattva path and cultivating the awakened heart.