8/13/2019 Introduction to Khenpo Kunpal's Commentary to the Bodhicharyavatara

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Introduction to the Bodhisattva-caryvatra translations on our web-site 1

Introduction to the Bodhisattva-caryvatra translations on our web-site

The Bodhisattva-caryvatra is without doubt one of the most significant works inMahyna Buddhist literature. Written entirely in verse, the text is a remarkable pieceof didactic Sanskrit poetry, extolling the bodhisattva ideal and guiding a Buddhistpractitioner along the complete Mahyna path, culminating in the attainment ofenlightenment. The text is generally thought to have been written in the 8 thcentury atthe Buddhist university of Nlandby the Indian master and monk ntideva. Thetext soon acquired great popularity, and a rich tradition of commentarial writing onthe Bodhisattva-caryvatra developed. This, however, ended with the decline ofBuddhism in India.

As part of establishing Indian Buddhism in Tibet, an enormous project of translatingBuddhist texts was carried out by Tibetan translators assisted by Indian paitas,

yogin-scholars. Of the many texts that were translated into Tibetan, the Bodhisattva-caryvatra rapidly gained a prominent position. Many Tibetan explanation lineages[bshad brgyud]of the Bodhisattva-caryvatra came into existence then and have beenpreserved in Buddhist monasteries and philosophical colleges up to the present day.All the main schools of Tibetan BuddhismNyingma, Kagy, Sakya, the OldKadampa, and the New Kadampa School, also known as the Gelukpa Schoolmaintained their own explanation lineages of this revered text.

This work focuses on the explanation lineage of the Bodhisattva-caryvatra accordingto the Nyingma School as taught by the East Tibetan master Paltrl Rinpoche OrgyenJigme Chkyi Wangpo (1808-1887). Paltrl Rinpoche, one of the greatest Nyingma

scholars and practitioners of the 19th

century, is reputed to have taught the entire textmore than one hundred times during his life. Although he was a prolific writer, he leftus no written commentaries on the Bodhisattva-caryvatra. However, the Nyingmainterpretation he gave orally was preserved in writing by a few of his main students,especially Khenpo Kunpal (1862-1943), who studied for many years with PaltrlRinpoche and wrote a comprehensive commentary on the Bodhisattva-caryvatra.

Khenpo Kunpals commentary is entitled, A Word-by-Word Commentary on theBodhisattva-caryvatra, called Drops of Nectar, according to the Personal Statement ofthe Majughoa-like Teacher [byang chub sems dpai spyod pa la jug pai tshig grel jamdbyangs bla mai zhal lung bdud rtsii thig pa].This commentary, specifically designed forpractitioners of Buddhist meditation, has gained wide acceptance among followers of

the Nyingma School and is highly respected by the Sakya and Kagy Schools as well.Even now, Khenpo Kunpals commentary is studied and practiced in Buddhistmonasteries, universities, and dharma centers throughout the world.

On this site, we present the first few chapters of the Bodhisattva-caryvatra togetherwith Khenpo Kunpals commentary, both in transliteration and translation. KhenpoKunpals teachings are based on Paltrl Rinpoches oral lineage. At present, PaltrlRinpoches explanation lineage of the Bodhisattva-caryvatra is taught and

8/13/2019 Introduction to Khenpo Kunpal's Commentary to the Bodhicharyavatara

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2 Introduction to the Bodhisattva-caryvatra translations on our web-site

maintained at many monasteries in East Tibet, particularly at rSiha University ofDzogchen Monastery. We have added to Khenpo Kunpals written commentary theoral explanations given by a modern scholar from that university, Dzogchen KhenpoChga. Following the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Khenpo Chga studied with

qualified masters and began teaching in the late 1980s at r Siha University.Throughout his commentary, Khenpo Chga, in keeping with traditional TibetanBuddhist didacticism, often reiterates key points, a method designed to reinforce thetexts crucial messages in the mind of the student. We felt it important to retain thiselement of repetition in order to present the total work in the manner of a classical oralcommentary. We have divided the root text and both commentaries into small sectionsand numbered each section. This offers the reader an easy way to work with bothcommentaries.

This present commentary on the Bodhisattva-caryvatra by Khenpo Kunpal issuitable for all readers who are interested in studying a classical presentation ofMahyna Buddhism. Because of the Bodhisattva-caryvatras importance in theBuddhist world, we have translated this commentary to make it available to the non-Tibetan reader, thus introducing a small part of Tibets rich oral and writtenexplanation lineages on this text. We suggest that the reader moves between KhenpoKunpals commentary and Khenpo Chgas explanation of the commentary. Sinceeach section of Khenpo Kunpals commentary is numbered, reference to KhenpoChgas explanation of the text section bearing the same number is easy.

The first volume of our work contains the translators introduction that may be ofinterest to the academic reader who wishes to understand the details of the translationand lineage history of the Bodhisattva-caryvatra thoroughly. An introduction byKhenpo Chga is presented from the viewpoint of a highly trained scholar of the

Nyingma tradition and establishes the Bodhisattva-caryvatra within the context ofthe study and practice of Mahyna Buddhism. Tsoknyi Rinpoche approaches theBodhisattva-caryvatra from the perspective of a well-known and accomplishedmeditation master, explaining how to use the text for personal meditation practice.Furthermore, we have included interviews with the eminent Sakya master KhenpoApe as well as with the Kagy-Nyingma scholar Khyabche Khenpo on the study ofBodhisattva-charyavatara.