A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

A translation of the Buddhist classic from its original Sanskrit, also taking into account the canonical Tibetan translation. For the first time these two versions can be compared in a single work which demonstrates the extent to which the Tibetan translation corresponds to the extant Sanskrit version. In the whole of the Tibetan tradition there is no single treatise more deeply revered or widely practiced than the Bodhicharyavatara.

Composed in the eight century by the Indian master Shantideva, the text presents the methods for harmonizing ones own way of life with the bodhisattva ideal, the altruistic aspiration to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all beings.