DESCRIPTION
Chapter Sixteen is brief chapter dealing with the topic of Brahmacarya, which typically implies the ‘religious practice’ of celibacy.
Right Mindfulness Devaputra asks Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, “Bodhisattvas, relying on the teachings of the Tathāgata, don the dyed robe and leave the home life. How are they able to attain purity in the brahmacarya and proceed from the position of a bodhisattva to the attainment of the path of unsurpassed bodhi?”
Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva explains ten dharmas as the object of attention in meditative contemplation. They are:
- body
- physical actions
- speech
- verbal actions
- the mind
- mental actions
- the Buddha
- the Dharma
- the Sangha
- the moral precepts
Contemplate them in this way, asking, “Is the body itself brahmacarya?” and so forth up to, “Are the moral precepts brahmacarya?” etc.