ASPECTS OF THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL
The Original Lecture Series
By Urgyen Sangharakshita
Read by Urgyen Sangharakshita
9 hours 58 minutes
The Bodhisattva – one who is becoming awake or enlightened – is one of the great inspiring figures in Buddhism. The title can refer to a mythical being with qualities to which we aspire, such as Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion; or an ordinary person on the quest for Enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. It is a profound ideal for life. In this important lecture series, Urgyen Sangharakshita, one of the most important leading Western Buddhist teachers, sets out the path of the aspiring Bodhisattva living in the 21st century. How should we act? What principles should we follow? How can we balance the urge to benefit others and yet follow a true spiritual path ourselves? This clear, challenging and stimulating series of eight talks is one of the many ground-breaking lectures given in the 1960s when Sangharakshita, having returned to the UK after 25 years in India, was setting up a new Western Buddhist movement, now called the Triratna Buddhist Community. Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal contains such specific talks as The Bodhisattva Vow, Altruism and Individualism in the Spiritual Life and Masculinity and Femininity in the Spiritual Life. These talks have been remastered.
