Shantideva on Steadfastness of Mind

Transcendent Patience

Transcendent Patience

1. One moment’s anger shatters all
Good acts accumulated
In a thousand aeons, such as giving
Or offering to the buddhas.

2. There is no misdeed like hatred;
No austerity like patience.
So cultivate assiduously
Patience in various ways.

3. When pangs of hatred clutch the mind,
It does not feel any peace.
No joy, no comfort, and no sleep,
No constancy can be had.

4. Even though he has shown them favor
With riches and respect,
Dependents will confront and kill
A master filled with hate.

5. He will distress his friends and kin.
Those gathered with gifts won’t serve.
In brief, there is not anything
That makes the angry happy.

6. The enemy anger will create
Sufferings such as these.
Those bent on overcoming anger
Are happy here and elsewhere.

7. When what I do not want is done,
Or my desires are blocked,
Displeasure will then fuel my hatred,
Which will grow to destroy me.

8. Thus I’ll destroy the sustenance
Of this, my nemesis.
Other than causing harm to me,
This enemy has no function.

9. Whatever happens, I will not
Upset my cheerfulness.
Displeasure won’t fulfill my wishes
But strip away my virtues.

10. If something can be fixed, what need
Is there to be displeased?
If something can’t be fixed, what good
Is it to be displeased?

11. We don’t want pain, humiliation,
Insults, or disrepute
Either for us or for our friends.
It’s the opposite for our foes.

12. The causes of happiness are rare;
The causes of pain are frequent.
Without pain, there’s no wish for freedom,
So, mind, you must be steadfast.

13. The Durga cults and Karnatans
Pointlessly bear the sensations
Of burns and wounds, so why am I
A coward for freedom’s sake?

14. There’s nothing at all that is not easy
If you are used to it.
By getting used to minor pains,
You’ll bear great harms as well.

15. Don’t I see this with pointless pains
Of serpents and mosquitoes,
Of feelings of hunger, thirst, and such,
And rashes and so forth?

16. Thus I won’t be thin-skinned about
Heat, cold, and wind and rain,
Or illness, bondage, beatings, and such—
Being so makes them worse.

17. Some, seeing their own blood, become
Exceptionally courageous,
And some, on seeing another’s blood,
Will faint and fall unconscious.

18. This is from steadfastness of mind
Or else from cowardice.
Thus disregard the injuries—
Do not let pains affect you.

19. Though pain occurs, the wise do not
Disturb their joy of mind.
When waging war against afflictions,
Harm’s plentiful in battle.

20. Triumphant heroes are they who
Ignore all pain and quash
Hatred and such—the enemy.
Everyone else kills corpses.

21. Plus, suffering has benefits:
Weariness dispels arrogance;
Compassion arises for the samsaric;
Shunning misdeeds, you delight in virtue.

22. We don’t get angry at bile and such,
Great sources of suffering,
So why be angry at the sentient?
Conditions provoke them too.

23. Just as such illnesses occur
Involuntarily,
Afflictions are compelled to arise
Involuntarily.

24. Though people don’t think, “I’ll get angry,”
The commonplace angers them.
Though they don’t think, “I shall arouse it,”
Their fury still arises.

25. All the offenses that there are,
All manifold misdeeds,
Occur because of their conditions—
They have no self-control.

26. And the assembly of conditions
Has no thought “I’ll produce,”
Nor does what it produces have
The thought “I’ll be produced.”

27. The primal substance that they claim
And self that they imagine
Do not think, “I will come to be,”
And arise intentionally.

28. Without arising, they don’t exist—
What then would want to arise?
Always distracted by an object,
It also would never cease.

29. If permanent, the self, like space,
Would clearly have no action.
When it encounters other conditions,
What acts on the unchanging?

30. If during the action, it’s like before,
What does the action do to it?
If you say, “This is what acts on it,”
What is it that’s related?

31. In this way, everything’s dependent
And thus has no control.
When you know that, you won’t get angry
At any illusory thing. . . .

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Shantideva Nalanda, celestial bodhisattva Manjushri, Bodhicharyavatara.Shantideva was a scholar in the eighth century from the monastic university Nalanda, one of the most celebrated centers of learning in ancient India. According to legend, Shantideva was greatly inspired by the celestial bodhisattva Manjushri, from whom he secretly received teachings and great insights.

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Khenpo David Karma Choephel is Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s main English-language translator as well as the translator of many books on Tibetan Buddhism. He studied Buddhist philosophy at the Vajra Vidya Institute in Namo Buddha, Nepal, and Sarnath, India, and earned the title of Khenpo, essentially a PhD in the Tibetan system.

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