Chapter 6: Verses 8-21
Geshe Lhundup Sopa 
Teachings by Geshe Sopa 
Apr 29, 2009 Commentary on Chapter 6 of Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life given at Sravasti Abbey from April 28 to May 6, 2009.
- Explaining a quote from Lama Tsongkhapa, which states that patience, the ability to bear any kind of hardship, is a natural ornament and can be compared to a garuda bird and to armor
- Brief overview of the disadvantages of anger and the causes of anger
- The way in which anger arises due to unhappiness
- Three kinds of patience that can be used to counteract it: the patience of taking in voluntarily whatever harms, the patience of thinking about the truth, and the patience of not retaliating
- Detailed explanation of the benefit of meditating on suffering
- Thinking that all contaminated things are in the nature of suffering, which increases renunciation
- Developing patience
- By getting accustomed to harm one is able to bear greater hardships
- Getting rid of delusions, such as pride
- Stirring compassion
A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life: Patience 02 (download)
Geshe Lhundup Sopa
Geshe Lhundup Sopa is a brilliant scholar and well-loved teacher. Born in 1923, he is one of the last surviving Tibetan teachers originally educated in Tibet prior to 1959. His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent Geshe Sopa to the U.S. in 1962 and he has remained ever since. He is the founder and resident teacher of Deer Park Buddhist Center and Evam Monastery in Madison, Wisconsin. He has also been a professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin for over 30 years. (Bio by Sravasti Abbey)
