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Chapter 4: Verses 17-26

Chapter 4: Verses 17-26

Part of a series of teachings on Chapter 4: “Attending to the Spirit of Awakening,” from Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, organized by Tai Pei Buddhist Center and Pureland Marketing, Singapore.

  • Two types of meditation and how to practice them
  • Transforming our motivation for daily life
  • Small things making a big difference in showing others the value of the Dharma
  • Seeing people whom we help as our teachers and connecting with those rejecting our help
  • Importance of creating virtue while having the opportunity
  • What negativities we need to abandon (abandoning bodhicitta, ten nonvirtuous actions) and what we need to practice
  • Emphasizing the rarity of our precious human life
  • Experiencing a lower rebirth as a result and a cause of negative karma
  • How our deluded mind makes us stressed
  • Dangers of falling into sloth and joy of purifying our karma
  • Questions and answers

A Guide to a Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Chapter 4: Verses 17-26 (download)

Venerable Thubten Chodron

Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.