Shantideva--'Divine peace'

I didn't realise that Shantideva wrote 'Way of the Bodhisattva' until I drew this card and read about it in the Sol Invictus companion book.

The card shows Shantideva resting under a tree. Sanskrit words lead from his head to a floating, shining cup, reminiscent of the Holy Grail. Nearby, three of Shantideva's fellow monks have their tea from the three remaining cups of this Four of Cups card. In the background is the temple/monastery where they live. The traditional Four of Cups card generally shows a solitary person under a tree, surrounded by three cups while being offered a fourth cup by a hand from above. The figure is usually ignoring this cup, and the card is taken to mean boredom, being uninterested or unwilling to partake of what life has to offer, not seeing what is on offer before you... In this card, it is not Shantideva who is ignoring the shining cup in the sky. He is directly connected to it. It's the three bikkhus who seem to be ignorant of what's on offer. Two of the monks are staring at Shantideva, as if in judgement or as if laughing at him, while the third, pointing his finger skyward, seems to have launched himself into some long speech, or perhaps he is merely distracted by the beauty of the day and has lost himself in a revery. I've just noticed that Shantideva seems to be resting beside a pool on which is floating a lotus blossom. Water is a symbol of hidden depths and the subconscious, as well as the emotions, while of course lotus flowers represent enlightenment. Shantideva is hooked in to enlightenment in this card. It's the men in the background of the card who are oblivious to the fourth cup and all it represents. Why? Because they are distracted by their cup of tea, their conversation, their silent (or perhaps not silent!) judgement of Shantideva for sleeping when he should be awake, even perhaps by the beauty of the day. But instead of sermonising to the others or sitting and thinking about things, Shantideva has surrendered himself fully to the experience of the day and the moment, to the extent that he can meet his physical need of sleep in good conscience.

I didn't know that Shantideva was the source of the important Mahayana work, 'Way of the Bodhicitta,' until I read about it in the Sol Invictus companion book. There are several nice retellings of the story of Shantideva online. I enjoyed this one very much:

Shantideva, from the blog 'Bodicharya: Awakening the Heart by Opening the Mind'

To summarize, Shantideva was not thought highly of by his fellow pupils/monks because he never did anything. He was always seen to be lazing about doing nothing, and of course this caused terrible resentment. They wanted to get rid of him, but he had broken no rules, so they decided to try to humiliate him to get him to leave, and pushed him into agreeing to teach a large group of people. They built a throne for him to sit on, to further humiliate him. But on the day, Shantideva surprised them all by delivering extemporaneously the text of 'Way of the Bodhisittva'. And he was then lifted up and disappeared from view.

This is a very rich back story to draw from in order to interpret this card in a reading. You could identify with Shantideva, or the three people in the background. Perhaps the card could be telling you to pay attention to what is obvious before you, take advantage of what is on offer. Perhaps it's saying that the reward that is before you is not something to be worked for but to be surrendered to. Perhaps it's saying to let go of the judgement you are hanging onto and look at things from the point of view of the person you are judging. There may be a great teacher in your midst. In all instances, the original spirit of the Four of Cups is retained--the sense of refusing to see what is before your eyes. That shining cup is pretty darn promiment!