འཕགས་པ་ནམ་མཁའ་སྙང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.16

intro.16

An individual enters the Mahāyāna when he or she produces bodhicitta, the resolve to attain buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.¹⁴ Thus, the first step in the training is the production of this intention, called the bodhicitta of aspiration, which is later followed by active engagement in the path, called applied bodhicitta.¹⁵ In the detailed explanation of the training in applied bodhicitta found in Sakya Paṇḍita’s Elucidation of the Sage’s Intent (thub pa dgongs gsal), the author explains the cause of its arising, the way to cultivate the conditions conducive to its increase, and the methods for preventing its decline.¹⁶ It is in the latter section that he names the Ākāśa­garbha­sūtra as a source for the fundamental transgressions. In the sūtra, these are the transgressions committed by kṣatriyas, ministers, śrāvakas, and beginner bodhisattvas. ¹⁷ This entire list, excluding the śrāvakas’ transgressions, became a prominent feature of the Mahāyāna training known as the fourteen fundamental trans‌gressions.¹⁸ As the text is commonly studied in all Tibetan Buddhist schools, authors of all lineages refer to the Ākāśa­garbha­sūtra as the source for understanding the bodhisattva transgressions.¹⁹