Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara — Chapter VIII(verses 90 to 187)

90. First, I shall meditate strongly on
The equality of myself and others (in this way):
As everyone’s a fellow being, having happiness and pain,
(Others) are to be cared for (by me) in the same way as I am.

91. Just as, despite its many parts, with divisions into hands and so on,
The body’s to be cared for as a whole;
Similarly, despite the differences among wandering beings,
Yet in regard to happiness and pain, they’re all equal to myself
in wishing to be happy, and (thus form) a whole.

92. Although my own pain
Doesn’t hurt the bodies of others,
Yet being, like that, the pain of a “me,”
It’s unbearable, because of clinging to a “me.”

93. Likewise, though the pain of others
Doesn’t befall me,
Yet being, like that, the pain of a “me,”
It’s (also) difficult to bear, because of clinging to a “me.”

94. Thus, the pain of others is something to be eliminated by me,
Because of its (nature as) pain, like the pain of a “me”;
And others are beings to be helped by me,
Because of their (natures as) limited beings, like the body of a “me.”

95. When happiness is something equally liked,
Both by myself and others,
What’s so special about me
That I strive after happiness for myself alone?

96. And when suffering is something equally disliked,
Both by myself and others,
What’s so special about me
That I take care of myself and not others?

97. If it’s because their suffering doesn’t harm me
That I don’t safeguard them,
Why safeguard myself against future (life) suffering,
If it doesn’t harm me (now)?

98. That notion is distorted that thinks,
“But I’m the one who’ll experience it,”
For, like this, it’s someone else who has died
And someone else who takes birth.

99. If whatever suffering anyone has
Must be taken care of by that one himself,
Then since the foot’s suffering is not the hand’s,
Why is that to be taken care of by it?

100. If it’s the case that (ignoring) it would be illogical
And so here it’s undertaken from a sense of a (whole) self;
Well then, surely what’s illogical regarding (the whole
formed by) myself and others
Is something to be dismissed, as much as I can.

101. What are called “a continuum” and “a group,”
Such as a rosary, an army, and the like,
are not truly (a findable whole),
And so, since a possessor of suffering doesn’t exist,
Whose responsibility is it (as “mine”)?

102. In their being without an owner,
All sufferings lack a distinction:
So it’s (simply) because they’re suffering
that they’re to be averted.
Why are there fixed (limitations) made here?

103. “But why is the suffering of everyone to be averted?”
Well, it’s indisputable:
If (anyone’s) is to be averted, then everyone’s is to be averted;
If not, (that applies) to me as well,
just like to (every other) limited being.

104. “But with compassion there’s much suffering,
So why develop it with (such) effort?”
Well, having thought about the sufferings of wandering beings,
How could the suffering of compassion be much?

105. If the suffering of many disappears
Through the suffering of one,
That suffering would be something that someone
with loving compassion
Would bring on, for the sake of himself and others.

106. Thus Supushpa-chandra,
Though knowing the punishment (he’d receive) from the king,
Didn’t avoid the suffering for himself
In order to dispel the sufferings of many.

107. Those with mental continuums accustomed like this,
And who (hold equally) dear quelling the sufferings of others,
Plunge themselves into even (a joyless realm of) unrelenting pain
Like a swan into a lotus pond.

108. And then, as limited beings are liberated,
they have oceans of joy:
These are the ones (who’ve gained real fulfillment).
Wouldn’t that be sufficient?
What is there with the wish for (insipid) liberation?

109. Thus, even though working for the benefit of others,
There’s no conceit; there’s no amazement;
There’s no hoping for a ripened result (for oneself),
When it’s with an appetite exclusively for what benefits others.

110. Therefore, just as I safeguard myself
Against becoming debased, to the tiniest extent,
Likewise, I shall act like that toward others
With a protective mind and a mind of compassion.

111. Just as, out of familiarity,
There’s an understanding of a “me”
Regarding drops of semen and blood
belonging to others,
Despite it’s not existing as some “thing,”

112. Why couldn’t I likewise take as “me”
A body that belongs to someone else?
(After all,) it’s not difficult to set it, in the same way,
As something other than a body that’s “mine.”

113. (So,) having understood the faultiness of (cherishing) myself
And the oceans of advantages of (cherishing) others,
I shall meditate on discarding my way
Of taking a “me,” and extend it to others.

114. Just as the hand and so on are held dear
Through their being the limbs of the body,
Why couldn’t beings having a body be similarly held dear
Through their being limbs of wandering life?

115. Just as, out of familiarity, an attitude of “me”
Has come about with respect to this body (of mine),
despite its lacking a “me,”
Likewise, out of familiarity, why couldn’t an attitude of “me”
Arise with respect to other limited beings as well?

116. Even though working, like that, for the benefit of others,
Amazement or conceit doesn’t arise:
It’s like the hope for a reward doesn’t arise
From feeding food to myself.

117. Therefore, just as I safeguard myself
Against becoming debased, to the tiniest extent,
Likewise, I’ll habituate myself to having
A protective mind and a mind of compassion
toward (all) wandering beings.

118. That’s why, out of great compassion, the Guardian
Avalokiteshvara
Has elevated even (the power of) his own name
To dispel the fears of wandering beings,
(Such as shyness) in front an audience.

119. So, I shall not turn away from what’s difficult to do,
Since, through the force of familiarity like this,
That very person whose name I was even afraid to hear
(Can become) someone, without whom, I can have no joy.

120. Thus, anyone who wishes to give safe direction
Swiftly to himself and others
Needs to practice the most sacred secret:
The exchange of self with others.

121. Because of sticky attachment to this body as “me, ”
From even small situations for fear, fear arises.
So who wouldn’t reject, like a fear-inspiring foe,
Such a body (as “me”)?

122. (This) body, which, with the wish to remedy
Afflictions such as hunger, thirst, and the like,
Kills fowl, fish, and deer
And hides by the road in ambush (to steal),

123. And which, because of profit and shows of respect,
Would murder even its father and mother,
And, by stealing the property of the Triple Gem,
Would burn in (a joyless realm of) unrelenting pain –

124. What wise man would desire, protect,
And venerate such a body (as “me”)?
Who wouldn’t view it as a foe
And not scorn it?

125. “If I were to give, what would I have to enjoy myself?”
Such thinking of my own self-aims is the way of clutching ghosts.
“If I were to enjoy it myself, what would I have to give?”
Such thinking of the aims of others is a quality of the divine.

126. Paining others for my own self-aims,
I’ll be tormented in joyless realms and the like;
But paining myself for the aims of others,
I’ll acquire all glories.

127. Through the wish for just myself to advance
Come the worse rebirth states, low status, and stupidity;
But transferring that very (wish) to others
Brings the better rebirth states, honor, (and intelligence).

128. Ordering others around for my own self-aims,
I’ll experience being a servant and worse;
But ordering myself around for the aims of others,
I’ll experience being a lord and better.

129. All whosoever who are happy in the world
Are (so) through the wish for the happiness of others;
While all whosoever who are miserable in the world
Are (so) through the wish for the happiness of themselves.

130. But what need is there to elaborate more?
Just look at the difference between the two:
An infantile person acting for his own self-aims
And Sage (Buddha) acting for the aims of others.

131. For those who haven’t exchanged their happiness
For the sufferings of others,
Buddhahood’ll be impossible to attain
And there’ll be no happiness even in samsara.

132. Leave aside the hereafter, not even the aims
Of this seeable life will be fulfilled
For a waged servant not doing his work
And a master not paying his wages.

133. Dropping the production of happiness (for one another) –
A festival of glorious happiness in (this) seeable (life)
and unseeable (beyond) –
Bewildered people grab hold, instead, of unbearable suffering,
Because of causing suffering to one another.

134. Whatever violence there is in the world,
And as much fear and suffering as there is,
All of it arises from grasping at a self:
So what use is that terrible demon to me?

135. If I don’t fully drop (such) a self,
I won’t be able to drop my suffering;
Just as if I don’t fully drop a fire,
I won’t be able to drop being burned.

136. Therefore, for the sake of quelling my own suffering
And for quelling the sufferings of others as well,
I shall give myself over to others,
And take (others) on as myself.

137. O mind, decide for sure,
“I’m under the governance of others.”
Except for the welfare of all limited beings,
You’re not going to have other intentions now.

138. It’s inappropriate (to look) to accomplish my own self-aims
With eyes and so on governed by others;
It’s also inappropriate to dally improperly
(for my own self-aims)
With (hands), eyes and so on (given over) to them.

139. Taking limited beings as the boss through that (view),
Whatever you see on this body of mine,
Rob each and every one of them
And use it for the benefit of others.

140. Creating in lesser beings and so forth (the sense of) a “me”
And creating in yourself (the sense of) others,
Meditate on envy, rivalry, and arrogance (like this),
With a mind free from prejudiced thoughts:

141. “This one’s shown respect, but I’m not;
I don’t have wealth like this one has.
This one’s praised, but I’m belittled;
This one has happiness, but I have suffering;

142. “I do all the work,
While this one lives (a life of) ease.
This one’s renowned in the world as superior,
While I as inferior, without any good qualities.

143. “But how could (any work) be done
by someone having no good qualities?
Thus, all of us possess good qualities!
(And, after all,) there are those among whom this one is inferior
And there are those among whom I’m in fact superior.

144. “Such things as the decline of my ethical discipline and outlook
Are due to disturbing emotions, and not from their being
under my control.
I need to be healed to the best of his ability:
I even readily accept the pain (involved).

145. “But (not only) does this one not treat me
as someone to be healed,
Why does he look down on me?
What use are his good qualities to me,
When this one is the ‘me’ having good qualities?

146. “With no compassion in this one for wandering beings
Caught in the jaws of the carnivorous beast of the worse rebirth states,
And with arrogance (instead) toward everybody else
about his own good qualities,
He wants to outdo the skilled masters!”

147. “Perceiving me on (his) same level,
He would (struggle to) secure the material gain
And show of respect that I have, even through contentious means,
For the sake of increasing his own lead, in any way.

148. “But if my own good qualities
Were to be evident throughout the whole world,
Then, by contrast, any good qualities this one might have
Wouldn’t be heard of by anyone.

149. “And if my own shortcomings were to be concealed,
Then offerings would be made to me, not to him.
Material gain, today, would be well accruing to me
And honors would be coming to me, not to this one.

150. “And we would (all) look on, with delight,
As this one, finally, is put down as incompetent,
Made the laughing stock of all wandering beings,
And reviled all around.”

151. “(Further,) it’s come out that this deluded (miserable) being
Is even (enviously) in competition with me.
But how could the learning, intelligence, physique,
class, or wealth
Of this one be the equal of mine?

152. “That being so and hearing
My own good qualities proclaimed everywhere,
I shall feast on a banquet of joy,
So delighted that the hairs on my body
will stand up on end.

153. “Even if this one might somehow
come to have material gain,
If he’s doing work for us,
He’s to be given merely enough to live on
And the rest is to be taken forcefully by us.

154. “This one is to be brought down from his (idle) state of ease
And invariably linked to the harms we’ve experienced.
For hundreds of times, all around,
We’ve been harmed in recurring samsara by this one.”

155. O mind, countless eons have passed
In your obsessive quest for your own self-aims;
Yet, with such enormous exhaustion as that,
All you’ve procured is just suffering.

156. Please, definitely engage yourself like that
(Right now) for the aims of others;
Then you’ll see the benefits of that in the future,
Since the words of the Sage are never wrong.

157. If, in the past, it would have occurred
That you had taken this action,
Then a situation like this would never have occurred,
In which you’ve been freed (instead) of the bliss
of success as a Buddha!

158. Therefore, just as you’ve placed the sense of a “me”
Onto drops of the semen and blood of others,
Likewise, make it a habit (of placing it)
Onto those of others as well.

159. Having become a scout for others,
Whatever you see on this body of mine,
Rob each and every one of them
And use it for the benefit of others.

160. “This ‘me’ is happy, the others are unhappy;
This ‘me’ is lofty, the others are lowly;
This ‘me’ does what’s of (self) benefit, others do not,”
Thinking (like that), why wouldn’t you engender
envy toward yourself?

161. So, deprive yourself of your happiness
And take onto yourself the sufferings of others.
Investigate what’s the fault of this “me,” by asking,
“When does this one do anything (for others)?”

162. Any mistake that others might make,
Transform it (by seeing it) as the fault of this “me”;
But any, even minor mistake that this “me” might make,
Openly admit it to many people.

163. With declarations that the renown of others is superior,
Let it outshine the renown of this “me”;
And like the lowest of servants,
Set this “me” to (doing) what’s of benefit for all.

164. Don’t praise this naturally fault-ridden one
For some (tiny) share of temporary good qualities;
(Rather) act such that none will ever know, somehow,
Of any good qualities that this one might have.

165. In short, any harmful act you’ve done to others
For the sake of your own self-aims,
Let that (very same) harm descend on yourself,
For the sake of the aims of limited beings.

166. Never give any strengthening to this one
So that he would become boisterous;
Make him, (instead,) behave like a newlywed bride,
Bashful, timid, and restrained.

167. “Do that! Remain like that!
Don’t you ever act like that!”
This one’s to be brought under control like that
And knocked down, if he ever transgresses beyond that.

168. But even when being instructed like that,
If you don’t act in that way, O mind,
Then since all wrongs depend on you,
It’s exactly you whom I shall knock down.

169. That time before was different,
When I was being ruined by you.
But (now) I see you; so where can you go?
I’m going to knock all the arrogance out of you.

170. Throw away, now, any hope,
“I still have my own self-interest.”
I’ve sold you to others, so don’t think
of your weariness;
I’ve offered your energies (to them).

171. If, because of not caring,
I don’t hand you over to limited beings,
Then, for sure, you’ll hand me over
To the guards of the joyless realms.

172. I’ve been handed over, like that,
Many times by you and long tormented;
But now, recalling those grudges,
I shall smash you, you creature of self-interest.

173. If you want self-happiness,
Don’t work for happiness in yourself;
If you want self-protection,
Protect always others.

174. To whatever degree
This body is pampered,
To that degree it degenerates
To a state of becoming ever more dainty.

175. And when it’s degenerated like that,
Not even this entire (wealth-bearing) earth
Has the ability to fulfill its longings;
So, who will be able to grant its desires?

176. For someone desiring the impossible,
Disturbing emotion and the dashing of hopes
come about;
But for someone having no hopes for anything,
His fulfillment never knows an end.

177. Therefore, don’t leave the chance open
For an increase in desire concerning the body.
That object is best, which isn’t taken
Because of its being desirable.

178. It winds up as ashes in the end
And, (even when alive,) being inert,
it’s set into motion by something else –
This filthy form is (truly) ghastly.
Why grasp to it as “mine?”

179. Whether it’s alive or dead,
What use is this device to me?
What difference does it have
from a lump of clay and such things?
But, oh no, you’re not removing
your pride (of identifying with it)!

180. Suffering accumulates pointlessly
Through being partial toward the body;
So what use is being fawning or angry
Over this thing that resembles a block of wood?

181. Whether nurtured by me in this way
Or devoured by vultures and such,
It doesn’t have sticky attachment or anger,
So why do I have sticky attachment to it?

182. Something getting furious at being belittled
Or something getting pleased at being praised –
If it doesn’t know to be either of these,
For whom am I exhausting myself?

183. “But those who desire this body –
They and I are friends.”
Well, since everyone desires the body of oneself,
Why aren’t they as dear to me too?

184. Therefore, without partiality, this body’s
been given over by me
For the benefit of wandering beings.
Nevertheless, though it has many faults,
It needs to be held like a tool for the job.

185. So enough of behaving like an infant,
I’m following in the footsteps of the wise!
(Thus,) recalling the teaching on taking care,
I shall turn back sleepiness and being muddleheaded.

186. Like the compassionate offspring of the Triumphant,
I shall bear the rigors of what’s appropriate (to do);
For if I don’t make a constant effort, day and night,
When will my suffering ever come to an end?

187. Therefore, withdrawing my mind from distorted pathways,
I shall continuously set it in absorbed concentration
On the perfect object,
In order for its obscurations to be gone.

Click here to read verses 1 to 89

Translated from the Tibetan, as clarified by the Sanskrit

By Alexander Berzin, 2004

Source: berzinarchives