Aci Course 11 - Guide To The Bodhisattva's Way Of Life (Part Ii)

Front 1

Give the names of the root text and commentary we are going to use for our study of the perfections of patience, effort, and meditation; also name their authors and give
their dates.

Back 1

We will use as a root text the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Bodhisattvacharyavatara)
and as a commentary the Entry Point for Children of the Victorious Buddhas. The former was written by the Indian Buddhist Master Shantideva (c. 700 AD), and the latter by one of the principal disciples of Je Tsongkapa, named Gyaltsab Je Darma Rinchen (1364-1432).

Front 2

Describe the principal problem of anger that we cannot see directly.

Back 2

The principal problem of anger that we cannot see directly is that a single instance of anger focused at a bodhisattva destroys thousands of eons of good karma that we have amassed previously; and we cannot be
sure who around us is a bodhisattva.

Front 3

Describe two of the problems of anger that we can see directly.

Back 3

a) It ruins our own happiness, in the sense of giving us no ultimate peace; no happiness of mind; no pleasure physically; no easy sleep; and no settled mind.

b) It ruins our relationships with friends and family, who become tired of being around us, and leave us.

Front 4

Quote from memory the lines that describe the immediate cause of anger, and the usefulness of this cause.

Back 4

If there is something you can do about it,
Why should you feel upset?

If there is nothing you can do about it,
What use is being upset?

Front 5

What is the antidote that can prevent this cause of anger?

Back 5

Maintaining a sense of joy and happiness, refusing to be upset by things we cannot do anything about now.

Front 6

State the logic that supports the idea that we can develop patience even towards great sufferings.

Back 6

The way we think of anything is based primarily upon how we have become accustomed to think, on our mental habits. As such there is no quality of the mind which does not come easily if you make a habit of it.

Front 7

Relate and explain the example used to demonstrate that patience is a state of mind.

Back 7

Some people, warriors in battle, become even more ferocious when they see their own blood spilled. Other people, cowards, faint even at the sight of other people's blood being spilled. There is no difference in the blow that caused the wound, or the body that took the wound, only in the states of mind of the respective persons.

Front 8

Why are those who conquer their mental afflictions real warriors, as opposed to those who go out into war and kill other humans?

Back 8

Those who slay other humans in battle hardly deserve to be called warriors, since the very nature of their enemies is to die eventually anyway. But those who fight the mental afflictions must learn to bear with constant physical and mental wounds, and then kill a very resilient enemy.

Front 9

In general, there are three types of patience. Name and describe them briefly.

Back 9

a) The patience which takes on sufferings willingly: To stop seeing suffering as something terrible, to incorporate it into one's practice and use it as a path.

b) The patience where you concentrate upon the Dharma: The desire and devotion to learn and practice a wide range of Dharma subjects.

c) The patience where you don't mind it when others do you harm: The ability not to become angered when you are blocked from what you want and get what you don't want; and when people try to attack you, hurt your reputation, and so on.

Front 10

Describe the example that Master Shantideva uses to refute the idea that we can be angry at persons who harm us in a way which appears to be intentional.

Back 10

The basic elements within our body do not say to themselves, "I think I will fall out of balance and make this person sick." Neither do even our enemies pre-meditate their harms towards us in the sense of saying, "I think I'll start getting angry now." They are not under their own control, but rather under the control of the mental afflictions.

Front 11

Name the principal qualities of the primal One and the Self-Existent Being which were believed in by early non-Buddhist religions in India.

Back 11

The primal One creates all things as expressions of Himself. The Self-Existent Being, also known as the Original Mental Being, experiences all objects on his own accord, without relying on any other influence. They are said to be uncreated, and thus unchanging, and yet still able to cause effects and be affected, which is impossible.

Front 12

Give examples of things which are (a) changing yet eternal; (b) eternal but not changing; (c) permanent but changing; (d) impermanent and also changing; and (e)
unchanging but able to do something.

Back 12

a) The mind changes but is eternal; it had no beginning, and has no end; it is caused by previous instances of mind and changes from moment to moment, even with a Buddha.

b) Empty space is unchanging, and had no cause, but has existed and always will exist; it can be occupied or not, but does not change in its nature either way.

c) Again, the mind is permanent (never stops), and changes from moment to moment.

d) Jobs and worldly relationships are impermanent (they will all end one day), and also change from moment to moment.

e) There is no such thing.

Front 13

What causes a thing to ever change?

Back 13

The fluctuation of the energy of the thing that produced it, its cause, causes the thing to change. Changing thing, caused thing, produced thing, and thing that does something are all synonyms for "changing thing".

Front 14

Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever create itself, and why?

Back 14

No, because by definition it would change by the act of producing an effect.

Front 15

Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever produce something else, and why?

Back 15

No; because it was never produced itself, it cannot produce something else.

Front 16

Could an uncreated, unchanging being ever experience or be aware of any other object, and why?

Back 16

No, because it would have to be unwaveringly aware of every object, since it never changes.

Front 17

Could our world or the objects and people in it who make us angry ever have been created without a cause?

Back 17

It is completely illogical and impossible for a changing thing not to have been created by a cause.

Front 18

Why does Master Shantideva advise patience, and even pity, for those who harm us?

Back 18

Because they do not even know enough to stop harming themselves, much less us.

Front 19

Name the direct cause for our pain when someone hits us with a stick, and then the thing which impelled this direct cause. At which should we be angry?

Back 19

The direct cause for our pain is the stick or whatever; the thing that impels it is the anger of the person who swings it; so we should be angry not at the person or the stick, but at his or her anger, an emotion which we also share.

Front 20

Explain the role of perception in the true cause of the objects and people which make us angry.

Back 20

Our karma forces us to perceive the objects and people which make us angry. If we had collected good karma instead of bad karma, we would be perceiving these same objects as pleasant.

Front 21

Why do we live in the desire realm, where a human body is sure to be hurt by other people and things constantly?

Back 21

We would not be here if we had not had the necessary mental afflictions to propel us here. The fact that we are here proves that we did not work to eliminate our mental afflictions in the past. This is one of the facts that you realize during the path of seeing.

Front 22

Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva uses to show that we should not be angry with those who do harm to us verbally.

Back 22

That, because the mind is not physical and does not have a body, it cannot be harmed.

Front 23

Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva uses to show that we should not be angry with those who do harm to images or shrines.

Back 23

He says it is improper to be angry with them, for the reason that the Buddha and the other Three Jewels cannot be harmed anyway.

Front 24

What method does Master Shantideva advise for avoiding anger towards those who harm our Lamas and family relatives?

Back 24

We should recognize the true situation, which is that—as explained before—these people are reaping the results of their own past deeds, and we should not feel anger for those who are the instruments for them to
receive the results of their own past karma.

Front 25

Name four reasons why it is appropriate to take joy whenever our enemies receive praise, or other things that they seek.

Back 25

a) In the short run, I can feel the same happiness that they feel when they are praised.

b) Karmically, I will be more happy throughout the future.

c) My positive attitude towards others is the best method for attracting new people to the Dharma.

d) In a negative sense, the karma from being unhappy with others' happiness is so bad that I will not find any happiness myself in the future.

Front 26

Name four reasons why we should not be glad when something negative happens to those we dislike.

Back 26

a) It doesn't benefit us in the slightest.

b) You can't take any (nasty) credit for the negative thing, because it could never have happened just because you wished for it.

c) Karmically, taking joy in the problems of another is the best way to ruin one's own happiness.

d) In terms of rebirth, the karmic result could well be a birth in the hells.

Front 27

Give the reasoning that Master Shantideva states to demonstrate that we should cherish the opportunity which we get to practice the Dharma when we meet irritating people.

Back 27

Those who give us a chance to practice patience are relatively much more rare than poor people, since if we do not respond with anger then we cannot meet them in the future.

Front 28

Give the scriptural reference, and name the scripture from which it comes, that demonstrates why we should respect living beings as we do the Buddhas themselves.

Back 28

The Excellent Collection of Dharma Teachings (Dharma Sangiti Sutra) says: "The field of living beings is the field of the Buddhas, and it is from this field of the Buddhas that we reach the fine qualities of the Buddhas; to do the opposite is very wrong."

Front 29

Name the single highest method of repaying the kindness of the Buddhas.

Back 29

Doing good to living beings is the single highest method.

Front 30

Explain the role of the fourth of the six perfections in attaining the result of the first three and the last two; then name the two results.

Back 30

Attaining the result of the first three and the last two is dependent upon effort, much in the way that a flame never flickers in the absence of a breeze. The result attained from the first three is primarily the collection of merit, and the result attained from the last two is the collection of wisdom.

Front 31

Give the brief definition of effort stated in Master Shantideva's root text.

Back 31

"What is effort? It is joy in doing good."

Front 32

Name the three things that act against the perfection of effort, and describe them briefly.

Back 32

The three things that act against the perfection of effort are laziness, which is attraction to the pleasant feeling of sloth; an attraction to improper activities; and the feeling of being discouraged—of thinking to yourself that you cannot accomplish things.

Front 33

Name and describe three factors that promote a feeling of laziness.

Back 33

Sloth an attraction to the sweet enjoyment of some pleasure, and a reluctance to engage in virtuous activities; a craving for time spent sleeping, and in general the lack of disgust for cyclic life that comes from these two.

Front 34

Relate and explain the metaphor of the oxen and the butcher.

Back 34

If knowing how fast we must die we continue to enjoy lazing around, then we have failed to notice how those around us in our life are being slaughtered steadily by the Lord of Death, and sit as complacently as oxen who watch their brethren steadily being slaughtered by a butcher.

Front 35

Name four experiences at the moment of death that Master Shantideva uses to deny that we can do anything significant to help ourselves at that time.

Back 35

a) You are tormented by the memory of the wrong deeds you have done in your life.

b) You hear the roar of the hell realms in your ears.

c) Out of terror you cover your body in ****.

d) You reach the depths of insanity.

Front 36

Give three causes which Master Shantideva mentions that bring us to cry out in our minds as we are destroyed by death.

Back 36

a) We had expected some excellent results in our lives without exerting ourselves in virtue at all.

b) We had also expected to live as long as an immortal being.

c) We had become increasingly sensitive to multiplying sufferings.

Front 37

How does Master Shantideva describe our priorities and perception of what is happiness?

Back 37

He notes that we easily give up the ultimate source of happiness—the holy Dharma—and instead seek those things that seem to cause happiness and but actually bring pain: bad deeds to get what we want; the distraction of the hustle and bustle of the world; and skipping around mentally from one interest and attraction to another.

Front 38

Name and describe the four types of effort that are needed by warrior bodhisattvas like the four armed forces of a king in ancient India.

Back 38

a) Armor effort, where you are never discouraged in practicing the path.

b) Working effort, where you try hard to amass the two collections.

c) Engaged effort, where you work hard to maintain recollection and awareness during the actual practice of goodness.

d) Self-command, in the sense of being able to get your body and mind to do any virtuous practice you wish, well.

The four forces of a king are, incidentally, elephanteers, charioteers, cavalry, and infantry.

Front 39

Give a paraphrase of the verse where Master Shantideva gives us a reason why we should never feel discouraged in our search for enlightenment. What is the ultimate source of these lines?

Back 39

Master Shantideva says that the Buddhas, who can never lie, have stated that even gnats, flies, bees, and worms can achieve enlightenment if they make the effort. These lines are based on the Sutra Requested by Subahu, a teaching of Lord Buddha himeself.

Front 40

Give the definition of Buddha nature, name the two main types, and give one example of each.

Back 40

The definition of Buddha nature is "that which can turn into a Buddha". The two main types are the innate Buddha nature and the Buddha nature which requires development. The first turns into the essence
body of the Buddha, and the second turns into the mind and the physical bodies of a Buddha. An example of the first would be the emptiness of the mind of an old scroungy mutt; an example of the
second would be the seed for a totally pure state of mind in the mental continuum of the same dog.

Front 41

Give the definition of innate Buddha nature, which is what guarantees that we will become a Buddha; then explain why it provides us this guarantee.

Back 41

The definition of innate Buddha nature is "that thing which is emptiness, and which will become the essence body of a Buddha." The fact that our minds have emptiness, and are blank by nature, is what
makes it possible for extraordinary good karma to cause us to see ourselves as omniscient in the future.

Front 42

Relate the reasoning that Master Shantideva uses to establish that it is unreasonable for us to fear even very great sacrifices, such as cutting off our arms or legs, in our search for enlightenment.

Back 42

He says that we have simply failed to examine the question closely: we have spent infinite eons in the hell realms, with our arms and legs cut, burned by fire, choked, and split with blades, all for no benefit in our
search for enlightenment. Compared to that, these bodhisattva efforts will produce an ultimate result quickly, and we should therefore have no fear for them.

Front 43

Give another argument for, and then one against, people like ourselves trying to perform extreme bodhisattva acts like giving away our arms and legs at this point in our spiritual development.

Back 43

Master Shantideva compares the pains that would come then to the pain of a cut that we endure in surgery in order to remove a greater medical
problem. He also says that the method of the Great Physician is ultimately quite gentle, and that by that stage we will not find these bodhisattva sacrifices difficult. But then he does mention that the
Buddha has prohibited us from undertaking hardships for which we are not yet ready. With practice it will come, in time.

Front 44

Quote the verse that Master Shantideva uses to describe how to become accustomed to great bodhisattva deeds gradually.

Back 44

The Guide has sent us at the beginning
To do our acts of giving
With vegetables and the like.
When we've become accustomed to that
Then later on we'll gradually be able
To give away even our flesh.

Front 45

Explain the reason why bodhisattvas with great compassion feel no physical pain or mental suffering over giving away even their own bodies.

Back 45

These bodhisattvas have already advanced very far along the path, and so they have stopped negative deeds, and have greatly reduced their tendency to see things as self-existent. They are therefore not creating the karma necessary to perceive these things as suffering.

Front 46

What are the two things which, according to Master Shantideva, cause all our physical and mental pain?

Back 46

What causes our mental and physical pain are (1) the tendency to believe in a self-existent me and mine, as well as (2) bad deeds such as killing and the like.

Front 47

Name and describe the four forces used to smash the things that work against effort aimed at helping all beings.

Back 47

a) The force of will, where you feel a great desire to practice properly after contemplating upon karma and its consequences.


b) The force of steadfastness, where you never undertake any activity before you have first analyzed its benefit; but where, once you have analyzed the activity's benefit and undertaken it, you never turn back until you have brought it to its final end.

c) The force of joy, where you apply your efforts without a break, and feel insatiable in your goodness, like a child engrossed in a game.

d) The force of leaving off, where you put forth effort until you are tired in body and mind, then leave off to rest properly, and after that return to your efforts immediately.

Front 48

Relate and explain the metaphor used in the Sutra of the Diamond Banner to illustrate the kind of confidence required for bringing to a successful conclusion all those good deeds which we undertake.

Back 48

This text states that, when the sun shines upon the earth, it is never
stopped from shining by the fact that some people may be blind, or that some mountains may be taller than others—the sunlight touches any location that is ready to receive it. Just so, bodhisattvas perform their activities for the sake of others: their deeds are never stopped by the problems that certain individuals may have in receiving them, and these deeds ripen and liberate those disciples who are ready to receive them.

Front 49

What is Master Shantideva's reasoning for saying that we should be willing to undertake our deeds on behalf of living beings all by ourselves, even if no one else helps
us?

Back 49

He says that, since the great majority of living beings have no idea at all what they should do even to help themselves, for they are at the complete mercy of their mental afflictions, it is no surprise that they might be unwilling to help us in deeds meant to aid all other beings. Therefore we should be ready at all times to undertake our virtuous deeds gladly by ourselves, without any help from anyone else at all.

Front 50

Relate and explain the metaphor of the crow, the snake, and the garuda.

Back 50

Even a crow can act like a great garuda bird, the traditional foe of vipers, in attacking a snake which is already dead. If our attempt to practice the remedies for suffering life are weak, then even a small obstacle—such as feeling somewhat discouraged—can stall our efforts completely.

Front 51

List five of the problems associated with pride, which Master Shantideva cautions us to avoid as we build up our positive feelings of confidence in our practice.

Back 51

a) It will drag us to the lower realms

b) Even if we are born human, it will ruin the feast of happiness we could have enjoyed

c) We will have to live by begging, without enough to eat

d) We will as the subjects of others, as slaves or servants

e) We will be stupid, lacking intelligence

f) We will be ugly physically

g) We will have no self-confidence

h) We will be abused by others, even if we have done nothing to hurt them

Front 52

Relate and explain the metaphor of the razor and the honey.

Back 52

The honey consists of all the attractive sense objects of this realm ; the razor is the fact that they cannot satisfy us, no matter how much we consume them, and ultimately they lead us to negative deeds that cause more of the circle of suffering.

Front 53

What reasoning does Master Shantideva use to prove that we are capable of watching our minds closely and keeping them away from anger and the like?

Back 53

Suppose a person gave us a bowl of oil and told us to walk across a room with it, and then followed us with a sword at our neck, and told us he would slice our throats if we spilled even a single drop. We would never spill the drop. This proves that, if we set our minds to it, we are capable of extraordinary concentration in avoiding mental afflictions, if we really want to.

Front 54

Relate and explain the metaphor which Master Shantideva uses to describe the reasons why we must develop meditative quietude.

Back 54

The mental afflictions are like a great wild beast, and any person who allows themselves to be either agitated or dull mentally is in imminent danger of being destroyed, as much as if they had their head in the beast's mouth, between its fangs.

Front 55

Give a short, definitive description of meditative quietude, which is called shamata in Sanskrit and shi-ne in Tibetan.

Back 55

That single mindedness which is imbued with the exceptional bliss of practiced ease due to deep single pointed meditation on its object.

Front 56

Name the meditational level or platform you must reach and maintain in order to see emptiness directly.

Back 56

The level is known as "No lack of time" (michokme); it is a preliminary stage (nyerdok) within the first concentration level (samten dangpo), a kind of meditation which would normally lead to a form-realm birth. It's complete name in Tibetan therefore is samten dangpoy nyerdok michokme.

Front 57

Give a short, definitive description of special insight, which is called vipashyana in Sanskrit and hlak-tong in Tibetan.

Back 57

That wisdom which is full of the exceptional bliss of practiced ease by power of the analysis of its object, and which is founded upon quietude.

Front 58

List the causes for attachment to the world, an attitude which works against the development of meditative quietude.

Back 58

The attitude is caused inwardly by a craving focused upon onself, which comes because you grasp to a "me" and "mine" which exists independently. Outwardly you have a craving for gain, or having others honor you, praise you, and so on. Both prevent you from eliminating an attachment for the world.

Front 59

List the five obstacles to a meditative state of mind, by quoting the relevant lines from the Letter to a Friend, written by the realized being Nagarjuna.

Back 59

. . .the five obstacles to meditation:
Restless desire and missing a person or thing;
Feelings of malice; drowsiness and dullness;
Attraction to sense objects; and unresolved doubts.

Front 60

Relate the five ways Master Shantideva describes for courting those of the opposite sex, and the attitude that might be appropriate once you have attracted them.

Back 60

a) Beg them to have a relationship with you.
b) Avoid no bad deed in seeking to attract them.
c) Avoid no loss of reputation in seeking them.
d) Engage in any kind of reckless or dangerous behavior to get them.
e) Use up all your money and other resources to get them.
Proper attitude: As you lift her silken veil and look into her gentle, loving eyes, think of how this same face is going to lie rotting under a death-shroud, and the birds of prey will come to the burial ground to lift the veil, and show you how she really looks; you will run away from her as fast as your legs can carry you.

Front 61

Relate the paradox of lifetime and money described by Master Shantideva.

Back 61

If you don't dedicate your younger years to the pursuit of money, you won't have any to enjoy when you're older. If you do dedicate your younger years to the pursuit of money, you'll be too exhausted by the time you're older to enjoy it anyway.

Front 62

Master Shantideva describes the joys of living in forest solitude, and then urges us to spend our time there in the woods, in gentle walks and thoughts of helping others through developing the wish for enlightenment. What method does Master Shantideva recommend first for meditating upon this wish?

Back 62

He recommends first the practice of learning to treat ourselves and others exactly the same.

Front 63

Relate and explain the metaphor that Master Shantideva uses to counter the objection that we could never learn to think of all the different kinds of beings as "me."

Back 63

He gives the metaphor of the different parts of the body, such as the hands and legs. Even though they are many different parts, we still conceive of them as one body belonging to one person, and something that we should care for as we care for our body. Just so we should work to assure the happinesses and remove the sufferings of each and every type of being, since we can learn to think of them as "me."

Front 64

How does Master Shantideva address the objection that we could never learn to treat ourselves and others exactly the same, since their pain does not hurt us, and our pain does not hurt them?

Back 64

He notes that the fact that we find our own pain unbearable is simply a result of the habit of conceptualizing ourselves as we do. He says that,
even though their pains do not touch us directly, we can learn to feel that the pains of all beings are unbearable if we learn to conceptualize all of them as ourselves.

Front 65

Give the two logical proofs that Gyaltsab Je designs from the root text of Master Shantideva, to prove the reasonableness of compassion and love.

Back 65

Consider the pain of other living beings.
It is right that I must stop it,
Because it is pain.
It's like, for example, the pain that I feel myself.

Consider the things that bring happiness to other living beings.
It is right that I must work to bring them about,
Because each person out there is a living being.
It's like, for example, the way I work to bring happiness to my own body.

Front 66

What are the two very famous reasons that Master Shantideva gives to show that it is very wrong for us to work to get happiness only for ourselves, and remove only our own suffering?

Back 66

The reasons are that we are no different: we are all completely the same in wanting happiness, and completely the same in wanting to avoid
suffering. Given that we are completely the same, there is no logic to working to achieve only my own happiness and to avoid only my own suffering.

Front 67

In this latter section of the chapter, Master Shantideva gives another argument why it is wrong to say that we don't have to protect others from pain since we cannot feel their pain ourselves. Relate this argument.

Back 67

He says that, if someone claims that they need not remove the pain of others since they cannot feel that pain directly, then we should never take steps in the present time to care for our future selves, since we cannot feel their pain directly at this time. For example, we tend to put up retirement money for a person who is essentially someone different from us, or plan in the morning to avoid a problem in the evening, and also avoid bad deeds for the sake of another person in our future life.

Front 68

Master Shantideva mentions two examples of the parts of a whole, and gives a metaphor for each one. Relate the examples and the metaphors.

Back 68

a) Collection of parts of a person, referring to the hands and feet and so on of the body; the metaphor is an army composed of many kinds of fighters


b) Stream of a person, referring to the person as a sum of the person as he or she existed at different points in time; the metaphor is a string of beads or flowers, known collectively as a "rosary" or "string."

Front 69

Master Shantideva does not accept the argument that we care for different parts of ourselves because they exist in these two senses. Why?

Back 69

He says that the "me" which we conceptualize from looking either at the collection of parts at a single time, or the collection of different times of the person in the sense of a stream, is unreal, artificial; he says that the delineation of this "me" is arbitrary and can just as well be stretched out to include all other beings.

Front 70

What example does Master Shantideva give to show that, with practice, we can learn to think of other people's eyes as "my eyes," and so on?

Back 70

With practice we learn to think of a few drops of blood and semen which belong to someone else as being ourselves, even though there is no "me" there inherently, from the beginning. If we practice then we will find no difficulty in thinking of others' bodies as being our own.

Front 71

What reason does Master Shantideva give for saying that, eventually, we won't think of working for others as anything amazing, nor feel any conceit for doing so.

Back 71

When we come to see others as ourselves, then we won't find it amazing or find any reason for conceit when we care for them: a person does not congratulate himself for feeding himself his own supper.

Front 72

Write and memorize the two verses in which Master Shantideva identifies the sources of all pain and all happiness in the world.

Back 72

The total amount of happiness
That exists in the world has come from
Wanting to make others happy.
The total amount of suffering
That exists in the world has come from
Wanting to make yourself happy.
What need is there for many words?
The children of the world
Work for their own sake;
The able Buddhas do their labor
For the sake of others—
Come and see the difference.

Front 73

Name five of the reasons Master Shantideva gives for why wise people come to see the body as the enemy.

Back 73

To give the body food and drink, we (1) kill animals and (2) lay traps for other people. To win profit and the respect of others, we would (3) kill even our own parents, or (4) steal from the Three Jewels, all of which will lead us to (5) burn in the lowest hell of No Respite.

Front 74

Name two kinds of problems that Master Shantideva says we "cannot see" and which are caused by self-cherishing.

Back 74

We cannot see, we cannot understand, that the reason we cannot reach our ultimate goal—enlightenment, and our immediate goals—happiness here in the cycle of life, such as financial success—is that we are constantly engaged in the act of cherishing ourselves.

Front 75

What is the greatest single demon of all, and what metaphor does Master Shantideva use to describe it?

Back 75

The greatest single demon in the world is the habit of cherishing ourselves instead of others; and Master Shantideva compares having this attitude to holding a coal of fire in our hands: until such time as we let
go of it, it will continue to burn us.

Front 76

How does Master Shantideva advise us to think of our clothes and other possessions?

Back 76

We have already dedicated our lives to be the servants of others, and so our clothes and so on are completely owned by other people, who by our own agreement are our masters. We should constantly remember who really owns what we wear and use, as a slave regards the clothes and so on given for his or her use by their master, and be ready at any given point to tear them away from us and give them to others.

Front 77

What does it mean when Master Shantideva says that we should practice three attitudes towards those who are higher than, the same as, and lower than ourselves?

Back 77

We are to put ourselves in others' places, and practice how unjust it feels when they (we) are thinking about us (them): jealousy (tradok) towards those who are superior (towa); competitiveness (drensem) towards those who are the same (nyampa), and pride (ngagyel) towards those who are inferior (menpa).

Front 78

Name six good things that the bodhisattva thinking of himself as others wishes on others pictured as him.

Back 78

a) He should get all honor, but not us.

b) He should get things, but not us.

c) He should be praised, we should be belittled.

d) He should have all happiness, and we all pain.

e) He should relax, we should do all the work.

f) He should get famous, we should remain unknown.

Front 79

What answer does Master Shantideva give to those who complain that, although they have worked for other people for a long time, they have not seen any result yet in their own lives?

Back 79

He says very bluntly that, if we had actually engaged in the practice of exchanging ourselves and others earlier, it would be impossible for us to be in this condition now, suffering, instead of enjoying enlightenment.

Front 80

How does Master Shantideva advise us to think of whatever good qualities we may happen to have?

Back 80

Our basic nature is lousy, and any good qualities that we do have are pretty much an accident. Keep your good qualities absolutely secret.

Front 81

What, according to Master Shantideva, is the inevitable result of caring closely and serving this body?

Back 81

The more we serve it, the more sensitive it becomes; for example, rich people who have the money to care closely for their bodies get more and more sensitive to minor problems physically.

Front 82

Why does Master Shantideva compare the body to a dead piece of wood?

Back 82

Like a piece of wood, the body has itself no feelings of attachment or anger; it doesn't really care whether it is eaten by vultures or worshiped by us. It is our own minds which make it an object of anger or attachment.