Spent some time on sunday night on this wonderful talk by Khandro La whom I met in Dharamsala, India a few years back

The contents I have captured here, otherwise in youtube above.

Shantideva is referred in the Tibetan world: life-force of buddhism in tibet and the larger buddhist world

The Way of the Bodhisattva-by Shantideva

10 chapters, 

1 line captures the essence: “May the precious bodhicchita arise where it has not arisen” and where it has arisen, may it not decrease and increase further and further

Sentient beings do not want to suffer, all sentient beings want happiness

Suffering has a cause, likewise, happiness has a cause

Happiness and suffering came through interdependence

Chap 1: benefits of bodhicitta 

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/indian-masters/shantideva/bodhicharyavatara-1

if we don’t understand the benefits of bodhicitta it will be difficult to keep that intention

bodhicitta: inside the mind, inside the precious altruistic mind of enlightenment that has been tamed. 

mind that has not been tamed is full of suffering

methods of taming mind is v important

we have (precious karma ) to achieve this precious human body 

how do we make it meaningful

deep inside mind, there are untamed problems and difficulties, we need to see methods for taming our own mind, see how mind endowed with love, loving kindness is so important to tame the mind

examine ourselves to see the accumulations of merit and wisdom

identifying recognising and acknowledging suffering is v important

suffering comes from self centredness or ego fixation or conceptual mind of ignorance , ie a distorted mind state

distorted mind has ways of grasping and holding things incorrectly

eg what is impermanent is held to be permanent, gives rise to attachment and anger

what is unclean is held to be clean 

what is not self is held to be self

all misunderstandings are distorted mind

subject and object are not seen in nature not seen for what they are, and gives rise to grasping and we have desires anger ill will dullness wrong view

with these it seems we cant find bodhicitta

ignorance or not knowing holds things as being permanent, real or true, substantial and holds oneself and others to be concrete and real 

and what comes from that is suffering

at the root, we find this sense of self: me: what is mine is important

when we have a mind like that, our mind is very small

anytime our understanding is in contradiction to the way things are: we are in confusion

when we look at sense of self importance, based on idea that i m good what i have is good, eg my body , my, we cling, when we look at it in terms of its parts, we start to see the body as what it actually is

the body is flesh, fluid, bones, composed of different parts

as mind, we see that we are grasping to my body and give rise to afflictive emotions such as desire, aversion, envy, ill will, wrong view etc

if we see that our own body, underlying reality of our body, we understand that nature which is also the nature of reality, we come to understand if we use the body well, it is the best support for accomplishing what is truly meaningful such as omniscience, liberation, 

grasping onto ourselves, self centred grasping , based on holding ourselves as the most important, most precious, this comes from self cherishing, and whatever happens, we want the best for ourselves

we need to reverse this tendency, ie cherish others more than ourselves 

the way to do this is by reflecting: the number of other beings is unlimited and there is only one me

consider: myself and others are the same in wanting happiness and not wanting to suffer

doesn’t make sense: that gd things or anything that is desirable, why should I have this only for myself? in fact all of us want the same things such as praise, 

so turn that around and self cherishing into other cherishing

this is taming the mind: reduce our self importance and self cherishing

our mind can become better with this

taming the mind: if we understand the way mind clings , ie all things we experience that holds things as real is not like the way we grasp, if we understand, we can destroy our own grasping and our mind can open up open widely to actual path of liberation that leads to omniscience

and all the qualities we wish for can manifest

then we can look towards enlightenment which means purified and expanded

when we understand that everything is not substantial and solid as we hold, we purify by understanding how things actually are, the  our cherishing can be purified and exhausted

when this happens we can experience genuine renunciation

sometimes we may have a little bit of renunciation compassion from time to time, but it vanishes when we cling

when the inner mind that is experiencing outer objects are not established, we can have genuine renunciation then we can have authentic love for others and ripen into bodhicitta

important to understand that bodhicitta comes from taming the mind not just hoping for it or mere words or aspiration. 

bodhicitta comes from equalising self and others

and understanding that the conceptual mind and everything we perceive is not substantial 

same as realising the nature of mind: simplicity and beyond constructs

anything or what is based on cause and condition is not truly established or substantial   

when can understand this, the sentient beings who wander based on their karma, we can feel compassion rooted in dharma arise

this understanding towards other beings is important

Chap 1:benefits of bodhicitta

Chap 2: confession of negativity

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/indian-masters/shantideva/bodhicharyavatara-2

Chap 3:  Fully Adopting Bodhicitta

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/indian-masters/shantideva/bodhicharyavatara-3

Chap 4&5: we can have expansive and lifted mind

Chap 6: Patience

because of our distorted view, we have been wandering in samsara since the beginningless of time

when mind becomes vast it is because we understand emptiness more and more, and mind becomes honest

the more honest the mind is the more good the mind becomes

Qns: how can we be kind or feel altruistic or bodhicitta towards someone who has harmed us?

we are humans aren’t we, we can arouse our mindful awareness to try not to get angry

anger doesn’t benefit others nor ourselves

when we encounter a bad situation or condition, try to be skilful, we need to have some insights, can i change this situation. if we can, lets try to change it. if nothing can be done, we leave it and let it go

if we understand that phenomenal are not concrete or truly real, we understand that the grasping is the prob , this is based on ignorance or our misunderstanding, then we can feel compassion towards that person and see that he or she has fundamental misunderstandings about the reality

with understanding we can have compassion patience

Qns: what is the best way to help family who has strong afflictive feelings or a difficult time

if we can see and recognise afflictive emotions, its good

in general having a good altruistic mind is a universal right, its not about being a buddhist, its a birthright for all to be happy

but beings are caught in samsara: suffering and distraction can come at any time, towards all beings, we wish them happiness mental and physical and to go beyond suffering and to have liberation

this affectionate loving mind is so important to have and to receive

we do not have to hold on to the idea of a buddhist, just be honest, loving,

rely on the six paramitas on our path : our best companion on the path: we do not have to hold on to bad things done to us, bring forth view of interdependence and conduct of non violence and causing no harm