Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra:
A Mahāyāna Path to Altered States of Consciousness
Randall Studstill
Question:
How might the bodhisattva path as presented in the
Bodhicaryāvatāra1 transform the consciousness of
the practitioner and create altered states of
consciousness?
Method:
Assessing the potential psychological effects of the
text’s teachings using a systems-based model of
mind.
Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Preliminaries and Background
Mind as a System
Śāntideva on Forbearance
Conclusions
Appendix 1: Tibetan Hagiography
Appendix 2: Themes and Topics in the
Bodhicaryāvatāra Organized by Chapter
Preliminaries
and
Background
Who was Śāntideva?
8th century Indian, Mahāyāna Buddhist monk
Affiliated with the Madhyamaka school
Resident of Nālandā
In addition to the Bodhicaryāvatāra
(“Introduction to the Conduct that Leads to
Enlightenment” or “Undertaking the Way to
Awakening”), author of the Śikṣāsamuccaya
(“Compendium of Doctrines” or “Compendium of
the Training”)
 Beyond these few details, no historically reliable
information




An overview of the text
Part of the text used in Mahāyāna ritual
(anuttara-pūjā)
 Primarily, the text is a guide for contemplative
reflection aimed at cultivating the pāramitā
(generosity, morality, forbearance, diligence,
meditation, wisdom) and the altruistic motivation
for enlightenment (bodhicitta)
 Key themes:





Relentless negation of the self (renunciation; abandoning any
tendency to protect the self)
The rewards of virtue and merit
The suffering (now and/or in future hell realms) of cyclic
existence, the defilements (greed, anger, and delusion), and
selfish thought and action in general
Developing compassion and bodhicitta by extending one’s locus
of concern to include all beings
The text’s significance





“the single greatest Indian poem1 about cultivating
the Mahāyāna spiritual life”2
“the most widely read, cited, and practiced text in
the whole of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition”3
“the primary source of most of the Tibetan
Buddhist literature on the cultivation of altruism”
and bodhicitta4
9th chapter on emptiness “one of the principal
sources for Mahāyāna philosophy”5
One of the Dalai Lama’s principal sources of
religious inspiration (specifically, Bodhicaryāvatāra
10.55: “As long as space abides, so long may I
abide, destroying the sufferings of the world”)6
The organization of the Bodhicāryavatāra1
Canonical, Sanskrit text
912
verses (at least some of this extra material
is derived from the Śikṣāsamuccaya)
10 chapters
Dunhuang, Tibetan
text(s)
Narrative Structure
Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
(“Undertaking the Way of the
Bodhisattva”)
attributed to Akṣayamati
701 ½ verses
9 chapters
Ch. 1 Praise of bodhicitta
(36 verses)
= Ch. 1 (untitled)
Part of the Supreme Worship
(anuttarapūja)?
Cultivating the altruistic
motivation for enlightenment
Ch. 2 Confession of Faults
(66 verses)
= Ch. 2 Adopting (or Seizing)
bodhicitta
Supreme Worship
(anuttarapūjā)
Generating merit2
Cultivating bodhicitta
bodhicitta, stage 1:
“the Mind resolved on
Awakening “ (1:15)
“a person who desires to go”
(1:16)
Ch. 4 Vigilance Regarding bodhicitta
(48 verses)
= Ch. 3 Selflessness (nairātmya)
“strengthening the aspiring
Bodhisattva’s resolve” (p. 11)
Ch. 5 Guarding of Awareness
(109 verses)
= Ch. 4
Bodhisattva training proper;
cultivating the pāramitā
Generosity
Morality
Ch. 3 Adopting (or Seizing) bodhicitta
(33 verses)
Ch. 6 Forbearance (134 verses)
= Ch. 5
Ch. 7 Vigor (75 verses)
= Ch. 6
Ch. 8 Meditative Absorption (dhyāna)
(186 verses)
= Ch. 7
Ch. 9 Understanding (167 verses)
= Ch. 8
Ch. 10 Dedication (58 verses)
= Ch. 9
Cultivating the pāramitā
(Forbearance, etc.)
Vows (praṇidhāna)
Putting the altruistic motivation
for enlightenment into practice
bodhicitta, stage 2
“the Mind proceeding toward
Awakening” (1:15)
“a person . . . who is going”
(1:16)
Notable passages1
“This world is a confusion of insane people striving to delude themselves.” (8:69b)
“Those who have developed the continuum of their mind . . . , to whom the suffering
of others is as important as the things they themselves hold dear, plunge down into
the Avīci hell as geese into a cluster of lotus blossoms.” (8:107)
“All those who suffer in the world do so because of their desire for their own
happiness. All those happy in the world are so because of their desire for the
happiness of others. Why say more? Observe this distinction: between the fool who
longs for his own advantage and the sage who acts for the advantage of others.”
(8:129-130)
“I make over this body to all embodied beings to do with as they please. Let them
continually beat it, insult it, and splatter it with filth. Let them play with my body; let
them be derisive and amuse themselves. I have given this body to them. What point
has this concern of mine?” (3:12-13)
“Whatever suffering is in store for the world, may it all ripen in me.” (10:56a)
Mind
as a
1
System



The mind viewed as an interdependent
network of variables/events
These variables/events function
together to maintain the integrity of the
system as a whole
These variables/events include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Concepts/schema/beliefs
Internal narrative
Attention (selective; self-referentially
oriented on the internal narrative)
Defense mechanisms (e.g., denial,
distortion, projection, displacement)
Distraction-seeking; addiction
System functions
 Constrain
awareness within a dualistic
frame of reference


Perceptual dualism: a self situated in a world
of spatially removed and distinct objects
Evaluative dualism: the reflexive evaluation of
things, persons, conditions, events, etc. as
either attractive (“good”) or repellant (“bad”)
 Maintain
that state of reference in
response to perturbing influences
Constructive processes

Perceptual and evaluative dualism based on
two types of mutually-reinforcing
concepts/schema/beliefs


Perceptual concepts that organize and interpret
sensory data, establishing the background and
focal dimensions of the perceptual field with
reference to a substance-based, intuitive ontology
and the objectification and reification of ordinary
appearances
Evaluative concepts that assign positive or
negative associations to particular things,
situations, conditions, etc. (and thereby prompt
positive or negative emotional responses)
Homeostatic processes

Homeostasis or self-stabilization is maintained
through negative feedback
 The content of the experiential stream (a blur of
thought and sensation) is monitored by the
system in terms of its correspondence with
system constructs (i.e., its confirmation of
positive evaluative associations)
 Inputs that contradict evaluative constructs
initiate processes to adjust the content of the
input so that it matches those constructs
Homeostasis
Inputs regulated in two ways:
1. acting to change the self and/or
environment
2. regulating the experiential stream
(independent of the environment)


Active shaping (fantasy)
Inhibition of inputs (distraction; “drugs”)
The mind’s transformative potential


Disruption of cognitive variables /
boundary conditions may initiate the
transformation of the cognitive system
This transformation is associated with a
qualitative shift in experience that has
both epistemological and affective
implications
Key points

Perceptual and evaluative concepts fuel an
uninterrupted internal narrative characterized by
obsessive self-monitoring and self-concern and
manipulation of the experiential stream (often in
the service of protecting the self-image)
 These factors help maintain a person’s ordinary
(and, from a Buddhist point of view, unsatisfactory)
state of consciousness
 Undermining these concepts may help pacify the
internal narrative and play a role in eliciting a shift
in a person’s state of consciousness, associated
with altered states of consciousness
Śāntideva
on
Forbearance
Bodhicaryāvatāra, Ch. 6
Overview






Forbearance (kṣānti): the 3rd pāramitā
A means of integrating suffering into the spiritual path1
Forbearance described as the highest spiritual practice
(6:102) (perhaps because it is an antidote to anger, one of the
most problematic emotions for an aspiring bodhisattva)
General concern: developing a non-defensive, open,
emotionally positive attitude in response to suffering, attacks
from others, and threats to one’s social status and self-image
The ideal state is a 180 degree shift from ordinary concerns
oriented around self-protection, e.g., suffering is good and
should be welcomed, enemies are good and should be
honored, public humiliation is good and should be embraced
Key ideas: the negative consequences of anger and hatred
(suffering and hell), the rewards of patience (happiness and
buddhahood), cultivating sympathetic joy, giving oneself over
to all beings, self-castigation (observing one’s own egotism)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to suffering in general
 As
aspiring bodhisattvas, we are at war
with the defilements; suffering is a
necessary and inevitable part of war (6:19)
 suffering overcomes complacency,
awakens compassion, and supports
resolve to follow the path (6:21)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior

Offensive behaviors arise through conditioning
factors (6: 22-33); they are not willed into being
(there is no way to intelligibly conceive a
relationship between an unchanging Self and
changing mental events)
 “Since, like a magical display, phenomena do
not initiate activity, at what does one get angry
like this?” (6:31)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior

Anger towards others is unjustified because
others are deluded:



If others cause themselves great suffering, how can I
expect them not to cause me suffering?
“If it is their very nature to cause others distress, my
anger towards those fools is as inappropriate as it
would be towards fire for its nature to burn.” (6:39)
But in fact, this tendency to cause others distress “is
adventitious. Beings are by nature pleasant. So anger
towards them is as inappropriate as it would be
towards the sky if full of acrid smoke.” (6:40)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior

Anger towards others is nonsensical because it
is mistakenly directed



The other person is impelled by hatred, so hatred
itself is the proper object of anger (if there were a
proper object) (6:41)
Emotional upset is ultimately caused by my own
attachment to my body and personal well being (6:4344); if the cause of the problem is my own
attachment, anger at others makes no sense (6:45)
“Some commit offenses out of delusion. Others,
deluded, grow angry. Who among them should we
say is free from blame, or who should we say is
guilty?” (6:67)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior
 Anger
towards other is nonsensical
because it is often inconsistent with the
actual offense: “‘Humiliation, harsh
speech, and disgrace’ . . . does not
oppress the body” (6:53)
 The Buddhist version of “Sticks and stones
. . .”
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior
Exposing self-deceptive justification for anger: “I
become angry at someone speaking ill of me
because they are causing harm to living beings”
(see 6:62)
 But if that’s the case . . .



“why . . . do you feel no anger when he defames
others in the same way?” (6:62)
“You tolerate those showing disfavor when others are
the subject of it, but you show no tolerance toward
someone speaking ill of you . . . .” (6:63)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior
 Exposing
self-deceptive justification for
anger: “I hate those who desecrate sacred
images or teachings” (see 6:64)
 Why should you hate them when “the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not
distressed”? (6:64)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior
 All
unpleasant experiences are karmic: the
result of the pain I have caused others
(6:42)
 “Why did you behave before in such a way
that others now trouble you in this way?
Everybody is subject to the force of prior
actions. Who am I to change this?” (6:68)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior
 Recognizing
the negative consequences
associated with anger/hatred (and,
therefore, the need to suppress it the
moment it arises)
 “. . . when the mind is catching alight with
the fire of hatred . . . , [hatred] must be
cast aside immediately for fear that one’s
body of merit might go up in flames” (6:71)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to suffering occasioned by the path



The path is the means of avoiding hell; the path
involves suffering; therefore, suffering on the path is
the means of avoiding hell; therefore, suffering is
good (6:72)
The path is a means of becoming a buddha and
benefiting other beings; the path involves suffering;
therefore, suffering on the path is a means of
becoming a Buddha and benefiting others; therefore
“Delight is the only appropriate response to suffering
which takes away the suffering of the universe”
(6:75)
Any difficulty you may have enduring suffering now
is all the more reason to restrain anger and hatred,
since these will cause much greater suffering in hell
(6:73)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to praise and blame





Praise has doubtful tangible benefits (6:90-91)
Concern with social status causes suffering : “Like a child that
howls a wail of distress when his sandcastle is broken, so my
own mind appears to me at the loss of praise or renown.”
(6:93)
Encouraging sympathetic joy: Another person’s delight should
cause me to feel delight, regardless of whether or not that
person is delighted with me or someone else (6:94-96)
Praise is actually bad (and blame is actually good) for anyone
serious about the path: “Praise and so on give me security.
They destroy my sense of urgency. They create jealousy
towards those who possess virtue, and anger at success.”
(6:98)
Attachment to praise is an impediment on the path; so anyone
“conspiring to . . . destroy my praise” is helping me (6:100101)
Undermining evaluative associations:
responding to offensive or malicious behavior



Forbearance is transformative; an enemy is an
occasion for the practice of forbearance; therefore
enemies are good
Longing for an enemy: “since he helps me on the
path to Awakening, I should long for an enemy like a
treasure discovered in the home, acquired without
effort” (6:107)
Honoring enemies: “When the transmission of
Buddha-qualities comes equally from both ordinary
beings and from the Conquerors, what logic is there
in not paying that respect to ordinary beings which
one pays to the Conquerors?” (6:113)
Conclusions






Śāntideva’s teachings on forbearance comprise a set of
concepts that conflict with the evaluative associations that
help maintain a person’s ordinary state of consciousness
by fueling self-concern and the internal narrative
Sustained reflection on (and internalization of) those
teachings may undermine evaluative associations and
attenuate the internal narrative
In the short term, this may manifest as the dissipation of
emotional upset in the context of daily social interactions
Over the long term, it may aid in pacifying the internal
narrative in the context of meditative practice
This pacification constitutes the disruption of one of the key
variables in the cognitive system, creating conditions for
possible transformation and the realization of altered states
of consciousness
Repeated suspension of the internal narrative may have a
cumulative effect on consciousness, eventually crossing a
critical threshold and initiating a naturally unfolding
transformation with a corresponding qualitative shift in
experience
Appendix 1:
Tibetan hagiography





“a prince from North India who fled royal
consecration for fear of implication in the evils of
kingship”1
Became a monk; he was a highly advanced
practitioner, though his advanced level of realization
was unrecognized by his fellow monks (“His fellow
monks said that his three ‘realizations’ were eating,
sleeping, and shitting”2)
His spiritual stature was only recognized when he
was asked – in an attempt to humiliate this “lazy”
monk – to give a recitation before the monastery
The Bodhicaryāvatāra is believed to be the record of
that recitation
Toward the end of his recitation he levitated into the
air and vanished, though his voice was still audible
Appendix 2:
Themes and Topics in the
Bodhicaryāvatāra
Organized by Chapter
Ch. 1
Praise of
bodhicitta
Ch. 2
Confession
of Faults1
Ch. 3
Adopting
bodhicitta
Ch. 4
Vigilance
Regarding
bodhicitta
Ch. 5
Guarding of Awareness
Preciousness of
a human birth
(don’t waste it)
(4)
Having reflected
on the value of
bodhicitta (in Ch.
1), worshipping
the Buddhas
and
Bodhisattvas
(making
offerings) (1-25)
Rejoicing in merit
(1-3)
The
consequences of
evil and failing in
one’s
bodhisattva
aspirations: bad
rebirths and hell;
recognizing and
taking advantage
of the precious
opportunity of a
human birth, etc.
(4-26)
Practicing mindfulness (smṛti) and awareness (samprajanya)
as a means cultivating the pāramitā of generosity and moral
discipline
Encouraging a
resolve to destroy
the defilements
and endure
whatever suffering
that may entail
(27-48)
The benefits of a disciplined mind (3-5, 12-16, 21, 33, 44, 100)
Reflecting on the
incomparable
value of
bodhicitta
Bodhicitta
defined (15-16,
18):
Seeking
enlightenment
motivated by a
longing to
remove the
suffering of all
beings
Going for refuge
to those who
have perfected
bodhicitta
Going for refuge
(26, 46-54)
Confession of
faults and the
horrific
consequences
of evil (27-45,
55-66)
The horror of
imminent death
(32-34, 40-45,
59-60)
Requesting the
teaching (4)
Begging the
Buddhas not to
abandon beings
(5)
Affirming one’s
resolve to relieve
others’
suffering; giving
oneself over to
other beings (621)
Arousal of
bodhicitta (22-33)
; prayer affirming
the incomparable
value of bodhicitta
(25-33)
The pāramitā generosity and morality defined as mental attitudes
(10-11) (the chapter therefore focuses on guarding mindfulness
and awareness )
The necessity to restrain the wandering mind (1)
The negative consequences of an undisciplined mind (e.g.,
hell, suffering) (2, 17-18, 20, 24-29, 44)
The mind as the root cause of suffering (6-8)
Encouraging resolve (19, 22-23, 43, 99)
Recollecting the Buddhas (31-32)
Being like a “block of wood”; behavioral observances; rules
taken from the prātimokṣa (34-39, 45, 48-53, 71-98, 102-107)
Mindfulness; the ideal state of mind (40-41, 47, 54-58)
Self-castigation (59-61)
Reflecting on the foulness of the body (60-70, 86)
Awareness defined: “the observation at every moment of the state
of one’s body and one’s mind” (108)
Ch. 6
Forbearance (kṣānti)
Teachings aimed at pacifying emotional
reactivity and upset in response to suffering,
offensive and malicious behavior from
others, and threats to social status and selfimage
The negative consequences of anger and
hatred; reasons to restrain anger (1-5, 8-9, 7071, 128-132)
Description of the ideal state; encouraging
resolve (9-10; 125-127)
Ch. 7
Vigor (vīrya)1
Part 1: “explaining the opposites of vigor and how to overcome them;” Part 2: “the means for
increasing the vigor with which one practices”2
The importance of effort/vigor (1)
Vigor defined, and its opposites (sloth, etc.) listed (2)
The causes of sloth (3)
The imminence of death/hell as an antidote to sloth (4-13)
The preciousness of a human birth (14)
Self-examination; self-castigation at one’s own
egoism (7, 11, 76, 79, 82, 93)
The value of patience (kṣamā) and forbearance
(2, 6, 102, 128-134)
Rejecting “religious” motives for anger (e.g.,
blasphemy) (62-65, 102-)
Overcoming envy (76-86)
Praise and blame (90-101)
The value of enemies (99-108)
Honoring one’s enemies (109-118)
Quotation from the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra;
honoring the Buddhas by treating others with the
same regard that the Buddhas have shown
toward others (119-134)
Encouraging resolve in the face of despondency and defeatism (16-19, 53)
Overcoming fear of suffering caused by the path (20-27)
The pleasure of the path (28-30, 62-66)
Increasing vigor through desire, pride, delight, giving up, dedication, and control (32)
Self-castigation at one’s own laziness(34, 36-38)
The urgency of overcoming faults and cultivating virtue (33)
The importance of righteous desire; the blissful consequences of virtue, the horrific consequences of evil
(39-46)
Cultivating spiritual pride (a fierce determination to overcome obstacles and suffering )(46-61, 67)
Mindfulness (68-71, 73)
Remorse (72)
Ch. 8
Meditative Absorption (dhyāna)1
Renunciation (to calm the mind); self-negation and exchanging self and other as a means of developing compassion (i.e., the extension of selfconcern to include all beings) and bodhicitta
The importance of meditative absorption as a means of overcoming distractions and the defilements (1)
Renunciation is the means of calming the mind, which is in turn the basis of insight that destroys the defilements (4)
Renunciation/social isolation to reduce distractions [and therefore support meditative stabilization] (2-38) (p. 79)
Renunciation of persons; the pain and complacency caused by attachment to or association with persons (5-16)
Detachment from alms gifts and popularity; praise and blame (17-24)
Social isolation (26-38, 70, 85-88)
Contemplating death (30-31)
Developing meditative concentration (39) (p. 79) [this leads directly into verses on renunciation: lust, other persons, worldly life, and a renewed resolve to
live in isolation]
Encouraging resolve to restrain the mind by reflecting on the negative consequences of the passions (40, 84)
Overcoming lust ; contemplating the foulness of the body (aśubha-bhāvanā) (41-69) (p. 79)
Attachment to one's own body and its safety/well-being; the suffering of worldly life (71-83, 173-182, 185)
Meditative contemplation aimed at developing compassion and bodhicitta (89-186); eradicating self-concern; exchanging self and other; extending concern
beyond the self to include all beings; giving oneself over to others out of compassion (p. 80) (some of this from the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra)
Viewing the self and self-concern as enemies; the negative and positive consequences of selfishness and altruism respectively (121-135, 138-139, 155156, 171)
Treating yourself as a despised "other" or as a new bride (p. 81)(159-167); inspired by a fierce indignation at all the trouble and suffering caused by selfconcern, encouraging a relentless assault on the self (168-176)
Ch. 9
Understanding1
All the other pāramitā just preparation for this pāramitā – the perfection of understanding or wisdom (i.e.,
emptiness2) (1)
A critique of the philosophical views of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical schools (Nikāya, Cittamātra,
Sāṃkhya , Nyāya-vaiśeṣika) a demonstration of the inconsistencies or contradictions in any view (p. 106)
Emptiness implied based on the incoherence of positing intrinsic existence about anything
Two-truths (saṃvṛtisatya and paramārthasatya) (2-8, 106-111) (p. 111)
Ordinary appearances are illusory (5, 87); “Reality is beyond the scope of intellection” (2)
Ch. 10
Dedication
Affirmations “in which [Śāntideva]
dedicates to the benefit of all beings
the merit that he has generated
through the training.” (p. 133)
Affirmations for those in hell (4, 616)
Affirmations for animals, hungry
ghosts, the blind, the deaf , the
fearful, etc.(17ff)
Emptiness as a means of pacifying the mind (34)
Affirmations that all beings
encounter the Dharma (37-38)
Appeal to scriptural authority and the authenticity of Mahāyāna scriptures (40-51)
Affirmations for the Sangha (42-46)
True non-grasping depends on emptiness (45-48)
Affirmations that all attain
buddhahood (47)
The urgent need to meditate on emptiness (54)
Comments on the fear of emptiness; the non-existence of the ‘I’ and the ‘body’ (55-59, 74, 78-85 )
The interdependence (and therefore, emptiness) of phenomena (60-74)
Affirmations for Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas (48-49)
Affirmations for non-Mahāyāna
practitioners (50)
If everything is empty, who has compassion for whom? (75-76)
Critique of ‘atoms’ (86, 94-95), sensations (88-91, 98-101, 129-137), ‘contact’ (93-97), mind , consciousness, and
the object of cognition (102-105, 111-115), cause and effect (116-117), God (118-125), primal matter (126-128)
Emptiness and causation (141-154)
A description of the misery of cyclic existence (155-165)
Affirmations for himself, to progress
on the path (51-56)
References
Chödrön, P., & Berliner, H. (2005). No time to lose: A timely guide to the way of
the Bodhisattva. Boston, Mass: Shambhala Publications.
Cozort, D. (2010). Suffering made sufferable: Śāntideva, Dzongkaba, and
modern therapeutic approaches to suffering’s silver lining. In J. Powers & C.
S. Prebish (Eds.), Destroying Mara forever: Buddhist ethics essays in honor
of Damien Keown (pp. 207-220). Ithaca, N.Y: Snow Lion Publications.
Śāntideva, Crosby, K., & Skilton, A. (1996). The Bodhicaryāvatāra. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Śāntideva, Wallace, V. A., & Wallace, B. A. (1997). A guide to the Bodhisattva
way of life: Bodhicaryāvatāra. Ithaca, N.Y., USA: Snow Lion Publications.
Studstill, R. (2005). The unity of mystical traditions: The transformation of
consciousness in Tibetan and German mysticism. Leiden: Brill.
Tanabe, G., Jr. (2004). Merit and Merit-Making. In R. E. Buswell, Jr. (Ed.)
Encyclopedia of Buddhism, (Vol. 2). (pp. 532-534) New York: Macmillan
Reference USA Retrieved June 15, 2011, from Gale Virtual Reference
Library via Gale:
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=ucsantacruz
Williams, P. (2004). Bodhicaryāvatāra. In R. E. Buswell, Jr. (Ed.), Encyclopedia
of Buddhism Vol. 1 (pp. 53-54). New York: Macmillan Reference USA.
Retrieved June 5, 2011, from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale:
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=ucsantacruz
Williams, P. (2004). Śāntideva. In R. E. Buswell, Jr. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of
Buddhism, Vol. 2 (p. 749). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved
June 5, 2011, from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale:
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=ucsantacruz