The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara By Francis Brassard [pdf]

The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara By Francis Brassard
Publisher: Sta..te Unive..rsity of New York Press 2000 | 193 Pages | ISBN: 0791445755 , 0791445763 | PDF | 3 MB

This book explores an important concept within the Buddhist Mahayana tradition, bodhicitta. This term appears frequently in Sanskrit literature relating to the spiritual practices of the bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism and has been variously translated as "thought of enlightenment" or "desire of enlightenment." Francis Brassard offers a contextual analysis of bodhicitta based on the presuppositions underlying the spiritual practice of the bodhisattva. Since the understanding that emerges involves how one ought to view the process of spiritual transformation, this work contributes to Buddhist psychology and soteriology in particular, and to comparative religions in general.