stages. For them the Bodhisattva is primarily not a supernatural being
or even a saint but simply a religious person who wishes to perform
the duties and enjoy the privileges of the Church to the full, much
like a communicant in the language of contemporary Christianity. We
have a manual for those who would follow this path, in the
Bodhicaryâvatâra of Śântideva, which in its humility, sweetness and
fervent piety has been rightly compared with the De Imitatione
Christi. In many respects the virtues of the Bodhisattva are those of
the Arhat. His will must be strenuous and concentrated; he must
cultivate the strictest morality, patience, energy, meditation and
knowledge. But he is also a devotee, a _bhakta_: he adores all the
Buddhas of the past, present and future as well as sundry superhuman
Bodhisattvas, and he confesses his sins, not after the fashion of the
Pâtimokkha, but by accusing himself before these heavenly Protectors
and vowing to sin no more.

Śântideva lived in the seventh century[9] but tells us that he follows
the scriptures and has nothing new to say. This seems to be true for,
though his book being a manual of devotion presents its subject-matter
in a dogmatic form, its main ideas are stated and even elaborated in
the Lotus. Not only are eminent figures in the Church, such as
Sâriputra and Ânanda, there designated as future Buddhas, but the same
dignity is predicted wholesale for five hundred and again for two
thousand monks while in Chapter X is sketched the course to be
followed by "young men or young ladies of good family" who wish to
become Bodhisattvas.[10] The chief difference is that the
Bodhicaryâvatâra portrays a more spiritual life, it speaks more of
devotion, less of the million shapes that compose the heavenly host:
more of love and wisdom, less of the merits of reading particular
sûtras. While rendering to it and the faith that produced it all