Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Patrul Rinpoche was a wandering monk of great scholarship, who dedicated his life to the propagation of the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra. Philosophical views Personal identity and free will Following the Buddha, Śāntideva understood that the self is an illusion. He also discusses the problem of free will in the Bodhicaryāvatāra, writing that "whatever transgressions (aparādha) and vile actions (pāpa) there are, all arise through the power of conditioning factors, while there is nothing that arises independently." Ethical views In line with his views on personal identity and the nature of the self, Śāntideva wrote that one ought to "stop all the present and future pain and suffering of all sentient beings, and to bring about all present and future pleasure and happiness", in what may have been "the very earliest clearly articulated statement of that view, preceding Jeremy Bentham by approximately a thousand years". His basis for preferring altruism over egoism was that "the continuum of consciousness, like a queue, and the combination of constituents, like an army, are not real. The person who experiences suffering does not exist." Similarly, he asks, "when happiness is dear to me and others equally, what is so special about me that I strive after happiness only for myself?" Footnotes References Śāntideva, Cecil Bendall and W. H. D. Rouse (trans)(1922). Śikshā-samuccaya: a compendium of Buddhist doctrine, compiled by Śāntideva chiefly from earlier Mahāyāna Sūtras. London: Murray Of the progresse of the Bodhisattva: the bodhisattvamārga in the Śikṣāsamuccaya / Richard Mahoney (Oxford: Indica et Buddhica, 2016) , 978-0-473-40931-9 &c. L. D. Barnett (trans) (1909 ). "The Path of light rendered for the first time into Engl. from the Bodhicharyāvatāra of Śānti-Deva: a manual of Mahā-yāna Buddhism, New York, Dutton External links Śāntideva's Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra English translation; Readable HTML. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Shantideva by Amod Lele Talk about Shantideva by Stephen Batchelor Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior, full unpublished translation of the Bodhicaryavatara by Alexander Berzin Commentary to Bodhicaryavatara by Patrul Rinpoche (in English ) Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva: Sanskrit Buddhist text Bodhisattvas 8th-century Buddhists Indian Buddhists Indian scholars of Buddhism Indian Buddhist monks Mahasiddhas Monks of Nalanda Mahayana Buddhists Madhyamaka scholars Buddhist yogis Scholars from Gujarat 7th-century births 8th-century deaths Year of death unknown 8th-century Indian philosophers 8th-century Indian monks Consequentialists