Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: How to Enjoy a Life of Great Meaning and Altruism

This book brings me so much comfort and brings me back to my center and to compassion for all. It has been translated in a way that is easy to understand. I did not read it all the way through but go from chapter to chapter in increments. I highly recommend this book.

there aren't words to convey the essence of loving kindness and compassion in this book.it encompasses the entire Mahayana Buddhist Path in an incredibly clear and lucid manner.

One of the greatest poems ever written. A clear and precise explaination of the path to enlightenment. Shantideva is the master of words and his meditative realizations exude widsom..

I have read several translations of this great book and this for me is the best translation, including, in my opinion, the overrated one by the Padmakara Translation Group (I think they were trying too hard). It is also a good size and is unencumbered by “apparatus.” It’s a really nice book. Buy it without hesitation.In my lifetime of reading, I don’t think I have ever read such an eloquent and tightly argued statement against the confused state of mind in favor of the rational, ethical state of mind, and ultimately wisdom. There’s a reason that this is the single book that the Dalai Lama carried out of Tibet when he fled the Chinese.For an excellent commentary on this work, see the Dalai Lama‘s For the Benefit of all Beings, which is a book that is so beautiful it can be read as a stand-alone book without reference to Shantideva. And for a more technical analysis of Shantideva’s famous 9th chapter, what in the present book is called “The Perfection of Wisdom” and which deals with Shantideva’s concept of the inherently clear nature of the mind, see the Dalai Lama‘s eloquent and detailed commentary in his book Practicing Wisdom.

The profundity, meaning and beauty of this poetry is unequaled, but to be understood in more depth, a commentary is needed for almost every reader. To this end, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the translator of this text, has also written Meaningful To Behold, a clear and comprehensive explanation of the great 8th century Buddhist master Shantideva's work.If you are searching for the true meaning of life, or just want to get along with your partner better, you can't do better than these books. They explain how true compassion, together with the wisdom that understands how things really exist, are the very essence of Buddhist teachings. While the books provide a rich and detailed examination of Shantideva's classic teachings, they also give practical, everyday advice you can put into your daily life immediately. Many of us wish we could be more compassionate, but don't understand how we can accomplish this, or indeed why we should. These books reveal the magic of compassion: the more genuinely compassionate we are towards others, the happier we are. In fact, we come to understand the many reasons why our own true happiness is directly dependent on how we treat and think about others.As has been noted, the original teachings were to a group of monks in the 8th century, but they couldn't be more modern. The translator and author Geshe Kelsang notes this, and makes cultural adjustments to the teachings accordingly, but without altering the timeless meaning whatsoever. ..... Shantideva has a well-deserved reputation for not mincing words, which might be shocking to some. Personally, I needed the shock.

What I love about this book is how easily the words flow. I can read and understand it easily. Yet the profound meaning and impact is not lost. That is why this is my favorite translation of this Dharma jewel.

This book was hard to follow I was hoping to learn more about buddhism

This is a wonderful text. Its publisher and the named translator, not so much. This text is copyrighted to the New Kadampa group. Geshe Kalsang Gyatso Rinpoche was one of the founders of New Kadampa. The Tibetan monks associated with this group were forced to leave their monasteries because they refused to discontinue an extreme sectarian practice that had been banned by the Dalai Lama. The practice in question essentially called for the destruction of all the other Tibetan Buddhist lineages. This group's adherents fiercely oppose the Dalai Lama for having banned the practice. One can only image how happy that makes China.