Giving up desire

108 Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds

Part of an ongoing series of teachings based on Shantideva’s classic text, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, often translated as Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds. Venerable Thubten Chodron also refers to the outline of the commentary by Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen and the commentary by the Abbot Dragpa Gyaltsen.

  • What does it mean to have a precious human life?
  • Review of verse 82: Using your energy for something beneficial
  • Verse 83: The desirous experience more suffering than practitioners
  • Verse 84: Contemplating the faults of desire
  • Verse 85: Developing disillusion with desire and affinity for practice
  • Verse 86: Contemplating what is beneficial for others
  • Questions and comments

108 Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds: Giving up desire (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.

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