No Time to Lose

Class will be led by Sara Hunsaker and Patricia Wolff of Monterey Bay Zen Center's Teaching Council. Saturday sessions, same time each week through August 13. New participants are welcome to register and attend right up to the final class.

The Bodhisattva Way of Life (Bodhicharyavatara) is an early Mahayana text by the Indian Buddhist monk Shantideva. Bodhi means 'awakening' and sattva means 'being.' Based on the 'perfections' this eighth-century poem is relevant to our lives today as it helps us understand the importance of the continued practice of the perfections (paramitas).

Just like the earth and space itself
And all the other mighty elements,
For boundless multitudes of beings
May I always be the ground of life, the source of varied sustenance.

from Shantideva (III:21), The Way of the Bodhisattva, a translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra, the Padmakara Translation Group. Shambhala Publications, Revised Edition 2011, 2019.

Study Texts (in order of use)

• A freely given copy of the main study text (above) is available here from the Padmakara Translation Group. You are encouraged to purchase the in-print edition from Shambhala.

• No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, Pema Chodron

• A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Stephen Batchelor, translator

• The Bodhicaryavatara, Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton, translators

  Other translation/commentary like:

• A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night, The Dalai Lama

• Meaningful to Behold: A commentary to Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Individual classes are $12, as affordable, with donations to the Monterey Bay Zen Center. A $75 donation for the series is encouraged to help cover banking costs.

This is a hybrid class offered both in-person and broadcast on Zoom from the McGowan House Zendo.

For more information:

Image: "#10a Newari Green Tara SHANKAR" by shankargallery, Flickr commons

From the Tibetan Vajrayana cosmology: The great Buddha Green Tara (the most common form of Tara) who made the vow to return always as a female Bodhisattva is resplendent in her aura of green, radiant with the attainment of all the six perfections of giving, ethics, patience, effort, meditative stabilization and wisdom, and bright with her ever-compassionate care for all sentient beings. — from Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s Resources.