Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra

The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra (बोधिसत्त्वाचर्यावतार; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa; Chinese: 入菩薩行論; Japanese: 入菩薩行論) translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India which is also where it was composed.

Structure
Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment. The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance (Skt. Kshanti), strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of recent commentaries by Robert Thurman and the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Tibetan scholars consider the ninth chapter, "Wisdom", to be one of the most succinct expositions of the Madhyamaka view. The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers.

Chapter summary

 * 1) The benefits of bodhicitta (the wish to reach full enlightenment for others)
 * 2) Purifying bad deeds
 * 3) Adopting the spirit of enlightenment
 * 4) Using conscientiousness
 * 5) Guarding awareness
 * 6) The practice of patience
 * 7) The practice of joyous effort
 * 8) The practice of meditative concentration
 * 9) The perfection of wisdom
 * 10) Dedication

Exegetical discourse and commentary
Many Tibetan scholars, such as Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso, have written commentaries on this text.