Quotation
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“All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.”
Śāntideva · Mahāyāna Buddhism · Medieval · c. 8th century
What does it mean?
Joy, on the usual reading of this verse, is traced to the wish that others be happy, and misery to a self-centred hunt for pleasure. He offers the contrast as a reason to train that wish, not as a statistic one could check in a week. A rival reading hears a scolding of every private pleasure, as if food, rest, or friendship were already a fault. The verse sits in the meditation chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, inside the exchange of self and other, where the boundary assumed by selfishness is what is being worked on.
Did Śāntideva really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. A widely used English of Bodhicaryavatara 8.129. Translations differ in sharpness. The verse stands in the meditation chapter, on exchanging self and other. The Sanskrit is the source. This wording is a translation.
Where it comes from
Bodhicaryāvatāra 8.129
Approximate date: c. 8th century.
How to use it
A shared flat in Nottingham redraws the washing-up rota so that one person stops keeping a silent tally of who owes whom. Once, the plan for the evening is rewritten as a concrete wish for a housemate's good that can actually be carried out, rather than as a claim on the sink. The verse is severe on purpose, and it is not a finding that every private comfort is a crime.
A mindset reading
The severity is a meditation instruction, not a result from social science. Using it to police someone else's small pleasure misses the training it belongs to, which is a widening of concern rather than a prosecution of joy. A colder misuse turns the verse into guilt with no practice attached, which the chapter does not offer.
Understand the philosophy
Santideva argues that the boundary between self and other is less solid than selfishness assumes. The key term is bodhicitta, the mind aimed at awakening for the sake of others, which he thinks follows from that porous boundary. Chapter eight trains the exchange of self and other. The verse is one reason offered inside that training, not a free-floating proverb about being nice.
- happiness
- ethics
- love
FAQ
What does it mean?
Joy, on the usual reading of this verse, is traced to the wish that others be happy, and misery to a self-centred hunt for pleasure. He offers the contrast as a reason to train that wish, not as a statistic one could check in a week. A rival reading hears a scolding of every private pleasure, as if food, rest, or friendship were already a fault. The verse sits in the meditation chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, inside the exchange of self and other, where the boundary assumed by selfishness is what is being worked on.
Did Śāntideva really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. A widely used English of Bodhicaryavatara 8.129. Translations differ in sharpness. The verse stands in the meditation chapter, on exchanging self and other. The Sanskrit is the source. This wording is a translation.
Which work is it in?
Bodhicaryāvatāra 8.129 Approximate date: c. 8th century.