What is Shantideva?
Shantideva (c. 685–763 CE) was a Buddhist monk and scholar at Nālandā monastic university in India who authored the Bodhicaryāvatāra (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life), one of the most influential texts in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The work presents a comprehensive curriculum for cultivating bodhicitta—the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings—through ten chapters covering ethics, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Shantideva synthesized earlier Madhyamaka philosophy with practical instruction on the six perfections (pāramitās), creating a text that functions simultaneously as philosophical treatise, meditation manual, and ethical handbook.
His teachings emphasize the systematic cultivation of compassion through practices such as exchanging self and other (paratma-parivartana) and equalizing self and other, techniques designed to dismantle ego-clinging and generate universal compassion. The Bodhicaryāvatāra is studied across Tibetan, East Asian, and increasingly Western Buddhist lineages, memorized by monastics, and frequently taught in both traditional and contemporary settings.
Origins & Lineage
Shantideva lived during the 8th century at Nālandā, the great Buddhist monastic university in present-day Bihar, India. Hagiographic accounts describe him as appearing lazy and unmotivated—earning the nickname Bhusuku (“idle-eater”)—until fellow monks, attempting to humiliate him, demanded he give a public discourse. According to tradition, Shantideva recited the Bodhicaryāvatāra from memory, and when he reached the ninth chapter on wisdom, he reportedly levitated and disappeared, leaving only his voice behind.
Shantideva composed two surviving works: the Bodhicaryāvatāra (ten chapters, approximately 900 verses) and the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Compendium of Training), an anthology of quotations from earlier sūtras with commentary. Both texts draw heavily from the Madhyamaka school established by Nāgārjuna (c. 2nd century CE), particularly the philosophy of emptiness (śūnyatā), while integrating elements from Yogācāra thought and the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) literature.
The text was transmitted to Tibet beginning in the 11th century through translators including Rinchen Zangpo and gained prominence through commentaries by Tibetan masters. The Indian scholar Prajñākaramati wrote the most influential Sanskrit commentary in the 10th or 11th century. In Tibet, all four major schools—Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug—consider the Bodhicaryāvatāra essential curriculum, with the Gelug tradition in particular emphasizing its ninth chapter on wisdom as a definitive exposition of Madhyamaka philosophy.
How It’s Practiced
Study of Shantideva typically involves close textual analysis combined with contemplative practice. In traditional Tibetan monastic settings, monks memorize large portions or the entirety of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, then engage in debate and commentary study to unpack its philosophical arguments. The text is structured to be studied sequentially, with earlier chapters on ethical discipline and patience preparing the ground for later teachings on concentration and wisdom.
Key contemplative practices derived from Shantideva include:
Tonglen (giving and taking): Based on Chapter 8’s instructions to exchange self and other, practitioners visualize taking on others’ suffering with the in-breath and sending out happiness with the out-breath.
Equalizing and exchanging self and other: Systematic meditations to recognize the arbitrary nature of self-cherishing and cultivate impartial compassion.
Patience practices: Working with the detailed analysis in Chapter 6 of anger’s causes and antidotes, often through journaling or analytical meditation.
Dedication of merit: The practice of directing any positive actions toward the enlightenment of all beings, emphasized throughout the text.
Contemporary study groups often work through the text over months or years, combining reading with discussion and meditation practice. Teachers typically assign specific verses for daily contemplation, encouraging practitioners to integrate the teachings into everyday situations involving conflict, attachment, or self-centeredness.
Shantideva Today
The Bodhicaryāvatāra has been translated into English more than a dozen times, with widely-used versions by Padmakara Translation Group (1997), the Vesna and Alan Wallace translation (1997), and Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton (1995). The Dalai Lama has taught the text publicly numerous times, with recorded teachings available from sessions in 1979, 2004, and 2013. These teachings have introduced Shantideva to Western audiences far beyond traditional Buddhist practitioners.
Major Buddhist centers worldwide offer regular courses on the text. Online platforms including Tricycle, Tergar, and various dharma center websites host guided studies. Academic interest has grown substantially since the 1990s, with philosophers engaging Shantideva’s arguments on selflessness, moral motivation, and the rationality of compassion.
The text particularly appeals to Western practitioners seeking systematic training in compassion and ethical living rather than purely meditation technique. Its integration of rigorous philosophical analysis with devotional elements and practical advice makes it accessible to diverse audiences. Secular adaptations have emerged in therapeutic contexts, particularly tonglen practice in trauma work and end-of-life care.
Common Misconceptions
Shantideva is not a deity or visualization practice but a historical author and monastic. While venerated, he is not prayed to or invoked in the manner of tantric figures or bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara.
The Bodhicaryāvatāra is not light reading or inspirational poetry, despite its occasional anthologization in spiritual quotation collections. It contains demanding philosophical arguments, particularly in the ninth chapter on emptiness, that have generated centuries of scholarly debate and require sustained study to understand.
Shantideva’s approach is explicitly Mahāyāna and presupposes acceptance of the bodhisattva ideal—the commitment to work toward enlightenment across lifetimes for others’ benefit. The text is not easily adapted to secular self-help frameworks without losing its doctrinal coherence, though specific practices like tonglen have been successfully extracted.
The teaching to “exchange self and other” does not mean neglecting one’s own welfare or enabling harmful behavior. Shantideva presents a sophisticated analysis of how genuine self-interest aligns with others’ welfare when properly understood, not a call to self-sacrifice or martyrdom.
How to Begin
Start with a complete annotated translation rather than selections. The Padmakara Translation Group’s The Way of the Bodhisattva includes helpful commentary and is widely recommended for general readers. The Dalai Lama’s commentaries, particularly Healing Anger (based on Chapter 6) and Practicing Wisdom (on Chapter 9), provide accessible entry points.
Many practitioners begin with Chapter 6 on patience, as it addresses everyday challenges with anger and frustration through immediately applicable analysis. Reading 2–3 verses daily with contemplation proves more effective than attempting to consume the text quickly.
Seek instruction from qualified teachers in established Buddhist lineages, as the philosophical portions require guidance. Most Tibetan Buddhist centers offer regular courses. Online options include recorded teachings from major teachers and guided study groups through dharma centers’ distance learning programs.
For academic engagement, consult Paul Williams’ “Altruism and Reality” (1998) and Barbra Clayton’s “Moral Theory in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya” (2006) for scholarly context. The Cowherds’ “Moonpaths: Ethics and Emptiness” (2015) addresses contemporary philosophical interpretations.