The very first moment when you wake up think, “May all sentient beings achieve full enlightenment.” Remember the Bodhicitta Mindfulness instructions for waking, rising, dressing, washing, etc. (chapter 4).
Generate bodhicitta by reflecting on one of the motivations for life, either the longer Cutting the Concept of Permanence (chapter 8) or the more concise Give Up Stretching the Legs (chapter 9). Then recite and contemplate the Bodhisattva Attitude (chapter 10).
You can also contemplate A Direct Meditation on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (appendix 2) or, when taking the eight Mahayana precepts, Four Wrong Concepts (chapter 11).
Either before or after the motivations, recite the Morning Mantras (appendix 3). Then continue with Thirty-five Buddhas, guru yoga and your own practices.
Try to maintain the bodhicitta motivation, bodhisattva attitude and bodhicitta mindfulness practices throughout the day.
Appendix 2: A Direct Meditation on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment 101
Perfected with All the Important Points of the Path to Enlightenment
This short lam-rim prayer can be used as an alternative morning motivation before reciting the Bodhisattva Attitude. It contains the essence of the whole path to enlightenment and reciting it mindfully leaves a positive imprint in the mind to actualize all the realizations. It also directs your life to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings as quickly as possible by practicing the path of the three capable beings and especially Highest Yoga Tantra.
A DIRECT MEDITATION ON THE STAGES OF THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Correctly devoting to the spiritual friend
Nature that embodies all the buddhas,
Source of all the pure transmission and realization Dharma,
Principal amongst all the arya sangha:
I take refuge in all magnificent pure gurus.
Please bless my mind to become Dharma,
That Dharma to become the path,
And that path to be free of all hindrances.
Until I achieve enlightenment, may I,
Just like the bodhisattvas, Sudhana and Sadaprarudita,
Practice pure devotion to my guru in thought and action,
See all the actions of my guru as excellent,
And fulfill whatever he advises.
Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this.
Source of all the pure transmission and realization Dharma,
Principal amongst all the arya sangha:
I take refuge in all magnificent pure gurus.
Please bless my mind to become Dharma,
That Dharma to become the path,
And that path to be free of all hindrances.
Until I achieve enlightenment, may I,
Just like the bodhisattvas, Sudhana and Sadaprarudita,
Practice pure devotion to my guru in thought and action,
See all the actions of my guru as excellent,
And fulfill whatever he advises.
Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this.
The path of the lower capable being
Knowing that this highly meaningful perfect human rebirth
Is difficult to obtain and easily lost,
Realizing the profundity of cause and effect
And the unbearable sufferings of the lower realms,
From my heart I take refuge in the three precious sublime ones,
Abandon negativity, and practice virtue in accordance with the Dharma.
Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this.
Is difficult to obtain and easily lost,
Realizing the profundity of cause and effect
And the unbearable sufferings of the lower realms,
From my heart I take refuge in the three precious sublime ones,
Abandon negativity, and practice virtue in accordance with the Dharma.
Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this.
The path of the middle capable being
In dependence on this, I am able to attain
Only the higher rebirths of humans and gods.
Not having abandoned afflictions,
I have to experience uninterrupted, limitless cyclic existence.
By contemplating well how cyclic existence works,
May I train day and night in the principal path
Of the three precious higher trainings—
The means of attaining liberation.
Please bless me with the potential to always train like this.
Only the higher rebirths of humans and gods.
Not having abandoned afflictions,
I have to experience uninterrupted, limitless cyclic existence.
By contemplating well how cyclic existence works,
May I train day and night in the principal path
Of the three precious higher trainings—
The means of attaining liberation.
Please bless me with the potential to always train like this.
The path of the higher capable being
In dependence on this, I am able to attain only self-liberation.
As there is not one sentient being in all the six realms
Who has not been my mother or father,
I will turn away from this lower happiness
And generate the wish to fulfill their ultimate purposes.
By contemplating the path of equalizing and exchanging self for others,
I will generate the precious bodhicitta
And engage in the bodhisattvas’ actions of the six perfections.
Please bless me with the potential to train in this way.
As there is not one sentient being in all the six realms
Who has not been my mother or father,
I will turn away from this lower happiness
And generate the wish to fulfill their ultimate purposes.
By contemplating the path of equalizing and exchanging self for others,
I will generate the precious bodhicitta
And engage in the bodhisattvas’ actions of the six perfections.
Please bless me with the potential to train in this way.
The path of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana of the higher capable being
Having trained like this in the common path,
I myself will not have aversion to experiencing
The sufferings of cyclic existence for a long time,
But by the force of extraordinary unbearable compassion for sentient beings,
May I enter the quick path of the Vajrayana.
By observing purely my vows and pledges even at the cost of my life,
May I quickly attain the unified state of Vajradhara
In one brief lifetime of this degenerate age.
Please bless me with the potential to attain this.
I myself will not have aversion to experiencing
The sufferings of cyclic existence for a long time,
But by the force of extraordinary unbearable compassion for sentient beings,
May I enter the quick path of the Vajrayana.
By observing purely my vows and pledges even at the cost of my life,
May I quickly attain the unified state of Vajradhara
In one brief lifetime of this degenerate age.
Please bless me with the potential to attain this.
Now read and contemplate the Bodhisattva Attitude, chapter 10.
Appendix 3: Morning Mantras (Concise) 102
Taking the Essence at the Start of Each Day
Recite the following mantras at the start of each day on waking, either before or after contemplating one of the bodhicitta motivations for life. Buddha taught these mantras out of compassion to increase our virtue and help make our lives as meaningful as possible each day by directing it to enlightenment.
Increasing effect mantra
OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA BIMANA SARA MAHA JAVA HUM / OM SMARA SMARA BIMANA SKARA MAHA JAVA HUM (7x)
Reciting this mantra seven times increases any virtue created during the day 100,000 times. This mantra comes from the Sutra of the Complete Dedicated Chakra.
Mala blessing mantra
OM RUCHIRA MANI PRAVARTAYA HUM (7x)
Recite this mantra seven times and then blow over the mala. By doing this, whatever mantra you recite that was taught by the Buddha, the Tathagata, will increase more than one hundred billion times. This is taught in the Sutra of the Unfathomable Celestial Mansion Developing the Jewel.
Mantra for blessing the feet
OM KHRECHA RAGHANA HUM HRI SVAHA (7x)
Recite this mantra three or seven times and spit on the soles of your feet or shoes. Then any insect that dies under your feet during the day will be born in the Thirty-three deva realm. This is from the Manjugosha Root Tantra. You can also spit on the tires of your car and so forth.
Mantra to increase the power of recitations
TADYATHA OM DHARE DHARE BENDHARE SVAHA (7x)
Reciting this mantra seven times before reciting Dharma texts or sadhanas increases the power of your recitation ten million times. Reciting it in the morning will increase the merit of whatever recitations you do during the day.
Blessing the speech 103
I go for refuge to the three precious sublime ones (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha).
May I achieve enlightenment to benefit transmigrating beings. (3x)
May I achieve enlightenment to benefit transmigrating beings. (3x)
Purify in emptiness. Out of emptiness, your wisdom understanding emptiness manifests as the deity with whom you have a karmic connection.104 Above your tongue is the syllable AH, which transforms into a moon disc. At its center stands a white OM. Starting from the front of the OM and circling clockwise is ALI, the white vowels:
OM A AA I II U UU RI RII LI LII E AI O AU AM AH SVAHA
Outside of and around that, starting from the front of the OM and circling counterclockwise is KALI, the red consonants:
OM KA KHA GA GHA NGA / CHA CHHA JA JHA NYA / TA THA DA DHA NA / TA THA DA DHA NA / PA PHA BA BHA MA / YA RA LA VA / SHA SHA SA HA KSHA SVAHA
Starting from the front of the OM and circling clockwise around that is the blue heart of dependent arising mantra:
OM YE DHARMA HETU PRABHAVA HETUN TESHAN TATHAGATO HYAVADAT TESHAN CHAYO 105 // NIRODHA EVAM VADI MAHA SHRAMANA YE SVAHA
Beams emitted from the mantra garlands hook back the blessing power of the holy speech of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas in the form of many vowels, consonants and heart of dependent arising mantras and the eight auspicious signs, seven perfect royal objects and eight substances. These absorb to the mantras on your tongue.
Then the beams hook back the blessing power of all the yogis and accomplished ones on the various grounds of the path both beyond and within samsara and all the sages who have achieved the words of truth 106 in the form of the vowels, consonants and heart of dependent arising mantras and the eight auspicious signs, seven perfect royal objects and eight substances, which absorb to the mantras on your tongue.
Now recite the vowels, consonants and mantra of the heart of dependent arising mantra three times each, pronouncing the syllables very clearly and visualizing as follows:
As you recite the vowels three times, white nectar beams are emitted from each of the white syllables, completely filling your whole body, purifying all the negative karmas of your body and defilements collected from beginningless rebirth up to now:
OM A AA I II U UU RI RII LI LII E AI O AU AM AH SVAHA
As you recite the consonants three times, red nectar beams are emitted, completely filling your whole body, purifying all the negative karmas of your speech and defilements collected from beginningless rebirth up to now:
OM KA KHA GA GHA NGA / CHA CHHA JA JHA NYA / TA THA DA DHA NA / TA THA DA DHA NA / PA PHA BA BHA MA / YA RA LA VA / SHA SHA SA HA KSHA SVAHA
As you recite the mantra of the heart of dependent arising three times, blue nectar beams are emitted, completely purifying all the negative karmas of your mind and defilements collected from beginningless rebirth up to now:
OM YE DHARMA HETU PRABHAVA HETUN TESHAN TATHAGATO HYAVADAT TESHAN CHAYO // NIRODHA EVAM VADI MAHA SHRAMANA YE SVAHA
This visualization can be done one by one or all together.
When you finish reciting the mantra:
- The heart of dependent arising mantra absorbs into the consonants, KALI.
- The consonants absorb into the vowels, ALI.
- The vowels absorb into the OM.
- OM absorbs into the moon disc.
- The moon disc absorbs back into the syllable AH.
- The syllable AH melts into white-red nectar and absorbs into your tongue.
- Then your tongue becomes the nature of the vajra, indestructible. No matter what food you eat, it is impossible for you to lose the power of your speech.
Then think, “My speech has become perfect. All the blessing power of the buddhas and bodhisattvas speech has now entered my speech.” Then recite this dedication prayer:
May my tongue achieve the power 107 of the Ones Gone to Bliss (the buddhas).
By the power of the magnificence of my words,
May all sentient beings be subdued.108
Whatever words I say, may their meaning be accomplished immediately.109
By the power of the magnificence of my words,
May all sentient beings be subdued.108
Whatever words I say, may their meaning be accomplished immediately.109
Reciting the prayer for blessing the speech (1) makes your speech perfect, (2) increases the power of your mantra recitation ten million times, (3) stops the power of your speech being taken away by eating black foods, and (4) transforms whatever you say—even gossiping—into virtue, like reciting a mantra.
It is said that Nagarjuna’s heart practice was to recite these vowels, consonants and the heart of dependent arising mantra after engaging in any virtuous activities of body, speech and mind. Chanting these three after any mantra recitation makes that recitation more powerful and accomplishes the purpose for which you are reciting the mantra.
Arya Totally Pure Stainless Beam mantra
NAMA NAWA NAWA TEENEN TATHAAGATA GANGA NAM DIVA LOKAA NEN / KOTINI YUTA SHATA SAHA SRAA NEN / OM VOVORI / TSARI NI TSARI / MORI GOLI TSALA WAARI SVAHA (a few times)
This mantra has many benefits.110 For example, if you recite this mantra in the morning, any person or animal who hears your voice, touches you or is touched by your shadow will have their very heavy negative karma of having committed the five negative karmas without break in this or past lives purified.
Mantra taught by Buddha Droden Gyälwa Chhö
OM HRI YA DHE SARVA TATHAAGATA HRIDAYA GARBE / ZOLA DHARMA DHATU GARBE / SANGHA HARANA AYU SANGSHODHAYA / PAPAM SARVA TATHAAGATA SAMENDRA AUSHNI KHA VIMALE BISHUDHE SVAHA (a few times)
Again, there are many benefits to this mantra.111 For example, by reciting this, any of the four elements you touch—earth, water, air, fire—become blessed and able to purify the very heavy negative karma of any sentient being who touches them.
Appendix 4: Bodhicitta Mindfulness (Concise)112
How to Live Your Life for Numberless Sentient Beings
This is a concise version of the bodhicitta mindfulness practices compiled by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Rinpoche strongly encourages us to use them in both retreat and daily life.
Mindfulness practice can be related to all the different parts of the lam-rim—renunciation, bodhicitta and right view—as well as tantric practice. These bodhicitta mindfulness practices make our lives highly meaningful because they keep our minds in bodhicitta. Many of them relate to the daily activities we engage in all the time. By doing these everyday actions with the motivation of bodhicitta—dedicating them for the happiness of all sentient beings—they all become the purest Dharma and the cause of enlightenment. This brings the greatest benefit to us, those around us, the world and all sentient beings.
These mindfulness practices come from the Sutra of the Clouds of the Sublime Rare Ones (mdo-sde dkon-mchog-sprin), Rinpoche, his gurus and other sources; here they are presented together. Also included are concise instructions for the yogas of sleeping, cleaning, eating, bathing and walking, as well as offering incense and going to the toilet.
BODHICITTA MINDFULNESS
In the morning, the very first moment when you wake up, think:
Every time you rise—getting up from bed, standing up after sitting and so forth—think:
When you get dressed:
If you are practicing tantra, offer all the clothing as divine dress to yourself as the guru-deity. In tantric practice, as mentioned in the commentaries, all activities—washing, dressing, eating and so forth—become guru yoga because everything is done as an offering to yourself as the guru visualized in the aspect of the deity. By thinking you are offering to the guru, you collect the highest, most extensive merit.
When you tie your belt:
When you release your belt:
Every time you sit down:
Think this, take on the responsibility and also pray for it to happen.
When you lie down in bed:
As you go to sleep:
When you offer incense:
In general, when making any offering, you can, of course, generate the motivation,“I am going to free all sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment, therefore I am going to make this offering,” but the specific dedication for incense is to purify and eliminate the impure moral conduct of all sentient beings. Offering incense is a special cause to be able to live in pure morality in future lives, which is the basis of achieving realizations. Therefore it is good to offer a lot of incense and as you light it, dedicate in this way.
When you clean:
Clean the place where you have holy objects regularly, whether it is dirty or not, thinking that you are cleaning away all sentient beings’ disturbing thought obscurations and subtle defilements. The brush, vacuum, broom and so forth are the antidote to those obscurations—the complete path of method and wisdom, from guru devotion up to enlightenment.
In the lam-rim, when cleaning we recite “Abandon dust and abandon stains.” Here, “dust” refers to the disturbing thought obscurations that mainly interfere with achieving liberation and “stains” refers to the subtle obscurations that interfere with achieving enlightenment. This is mainly related to oneself, but in the bodhicitta mindfulness practices everything is related to other sentient beings.
Every time when you wash anything—your face, clothing, pots, laundry and so forth—or even brush your teeth:
Think that the toothbrush, toothpaste, water, soap and so forth are the complete graduated path to enlightenment and that you are cleaning away every obscuration from all sentient beings’ minds. This way, because you are dedicating for all sentient beings, you create limitless skies of merit with each stroke of the brush as you clean your teeth.
There is always so much washing up to be done in the kitchen after eating. By habituating yourself to this way of thinking, all your activities of washing become the cause of enlightenment. Remember to dedicate for all sentient beings—not just those you love but everybody, including your enemy. Then the action becomes Dharma and you can really enjoy it. By dedicating to wash away all the delusions of others, naturally your own delusions are purified.
Whenever you wash or bathe yourself there are outer, inner and secret washing:
- For outer washing, first bless the water in a bucket or tub by chanting a few of the five powerful mantras that purify negative karma 118—Namgyalma, Mitukpa, Kunrig, Stainless Lotus Pinnacle and the Wish-Granting Wheel mantra—as well as OM MANI PADME HUM and then blowing on the water. This makes the water very powerful and as you wash your negative karma is purified. It also good for healing.
- For inner washing, if you have received a great initiation from the lower tantra, such as the Great Chenrezig, or an initiation of highest tantra, generate yourself as the deity and think that empowering deities are pouring vase water over your head purifying all your delusions and granting initiation.
- Secret washing is done in Highest Yoga Tantra according to the instructions of the deity you are practicing.
In all these cases, dedicate your washing for the obscurations of all sentient beings to be cleared away.
You can also visualize making a bath offering to your guru as you wash. If you have received an initiation, generate yourself as the guru-deity, and if not, visualize your root guru at your heart. Then, while bathing, recite the long, medium or short verses of the Jor-chö bath offering practice.119
To do the bath offering in a short way, as you wash, keep on reciting this offering verse to the guru:120
When you blow your nose, think:
When you enter a temple or even your own house or meditation room:
Pray like this. Think that you are actually doing it and dedicate for it to happen.
When you go out:
When you open any door:
When you close the door:
Each time you meet your guru:
When you see a stupa:
The minute you see any holy object or buddha statue:
When you make a fire:
While you are cooking food in a pot, if you have received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation you can use the same meditation that is used for blessing the inner offering. Then when the food is ready, it is already blessed and you can just eat it.
When you eat food:
When you eat, transform your eating into eating yoga,123 otherwise the eating becomes ordinary and, if done with attachment, the cause of samsara and the lower realms.
There are three things to be done when eating:
1. Make offering to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha by blessing the food and using the food offering meditation and prayers.
2. Make charity to all sentient beings. Make charity to the 21,000 beings living in your body in order to make a connection with them, so that in the future when they become human you can reveal Dharma to them and bring them to enlightenment.
Also, after you finish blessing and offering the food to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, make charity of the food to numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, suras and asuras. Think that they are fully satisfied and generate the complete path to enlightenment and that every one of them becomes the deity.
3. Practice eating yoga. In Hinayana, food is eaten without attachment to sustain the body in order to practice Dharma. In Mahayana Paramitayana, food is eaten seeing oneself as a servant and other sentient beings as the master. One then eats in order to be able to serve them. In Mahayana Tantrayana practice, food is offered to oneself generated as the guru-deity.
In Highest Yoga Tantra, the food is blessed into nectar and then taken in either of two ways:
- As a tsog offering to yourself as the guru in the aspect of the deity by offering the nectar to the seed syllable at your heart or to the deity’s body mandala (if there is one).
- In the manner of doing “burning offering” practice.
With either of these meditations, each bite of food creates the highest most extensive merit and eating becomes the quickest path to enlightenment. If, after taking a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, you do not bless your food and take it in one of these two ways, it becomes pollution, like poison.
If you have not received any initiations you can still visualize offering your food as nectar to your root guru at your heart and generating great bliss.
When you are cutting anything, for example, slicing vegetables, chopping wood and so forth:
When you are walking, follow Milarepa’s advice that, “When I walk, I have an instruction that makes walking circumambulation.” Think that all holy objects in all ten directions are on your right side and that as you walk you are circumambulating them. This purifies past negative karma and creates the cause for enlightenment.
Do the same when you are driving a car, riding a bicycle, traveling on a bus, train and so forth.
You can also remember the pure land where you wish to be reborn and think:
This makes it easy to be born in a pure land when you die. Or you can think:
When you are descending, like walking downhill, think:
When you go to the toilet:
- Visualize Vajrasattva on your crown.
- Recite the long or short Vajrasattva mantra twenty-one times or as many as you can and imagine nectar beams descending and purifying all sentient beings on a moon disc at your heart.
- Think that all the defilements and negative karmas, spirit harms, obscurations and sicknesses—such as cancer—of yourself and all sentient beings collected since beginningless rebirths come out from below and are transformed into nectar that enters into the mouth of the Lord of Death nine storeys down below the earth.
Think that the Lord of Death is fully satisfied. As you flush and close the lid of the toilet, imagine his mouth closes and is sealed with a very heavy, golden double vajra.
Appendix 5: Prayer of St. Francis 124
The prayer commonly attributed to St. Francis is included here in a version adapted by Rinpoche because of its similarity with the Bodhisattva Attitude.
PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
Lord (Buddha), make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, unity.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is error, truth.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, unity.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is error, truth.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Where there is darkness, light.
O divine master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled (happiness for the ego) as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying (having practiced) that we are born to eternal life (from happiness to happiness up to full enlightenment).
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled (happiness for the ego) as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying (having practiced) that we are born to eternal life (from happiness to happiness up to full enlightenment).
Appendix 6: The Shortcomings of Cherishing the Self and the Advantages of Cherishing Others125
Points for Reflection
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF CHERISHING THE SELF 126
First consider how all your present problems are directly related to the self-cherishing thought. Think, for example, that it is because of self-cherishing that:
- I come into conflict, quarrel and argue with others and get upset when criticized or shown disrespect.
- I suffer from stress, loneliness and depression.
- I experience the pain of anger when others don’t do what I want or go against my wishes.
- I experience the pain of attachment and rejection over and over again.
- I suffer from jealousy toward those who have what I want or more than I do; competitiveness toward those I regard as equals; and arrogance toward those I regard as inferior.
- I see others as enemies, break up with friends, and go against my teachers, parents, relatives and even my spiritual friends, who only ever do what is best for me.
- I find it so hard to find time to meditate, to follow the guru’s advice, to train my mind in the path, to generate loving-kindness and compassion for others and help them, and to create the causes for future happiness up to enlightenment.
- I constantly follow my old habitual bad habits seeing them as my friends and blaming others for my problems.
- Even when I do generate good qualities, they become corrupted by pride.
Then consider how all your problems come from negative karma motivated by self-cherishing in the past. (This includes all sicknesses, harms and mental and physical suffering, which are the result of negative thoughts and actions created in the past due to the self-cherishing attitude.) Think how in the past self-cherishing has:
- Kept me locked in the prison of samsara for numberless lives since beginningless time, compelling me to bear the sufferings of the six realms as much as possible.
- Kept me in ignorance, continuously obsessed by countless problems.
- Prevented every opportunity to achieve enlightenment.
- Stopped me from receiving any realizations.
- Prevented me from understanding and practicing the Dharma.
- Not even allowed the enjoyment of temporal happiness.
Finally, recognize how self-cherishing is the source of all problems and will only continue to cause harm in the future:
- Self-cherishing has harmed me in the past, is harming me now and, unless I put an end to it, will constantly harm me again in the future. It is my worst enemy and prevents all my happiness.
- In fact, all the problems and suffering in this world, from the smallest conflict to the largest war, come from the self-cherishing thought.
By analyzing in this way, it becomes clear that self-cherishing is something to be immediately abandoned.
THE ADVANTAGES OF CHERISHING OTHERS
Start by considering how cherishing others prevents all the previous sufferings that arise from self-cherishing and motivates you to abandon nonvirtue and practice virtue, which brings happiness as a result. Think, for example, that by cherishing others:
- I abandon killing and harming and practice protecting life and caring for others, which is the cause for a long life, perfect health and great happiness.
- I abandon stealing and miserliness and practice generosity, which is the cause of wealth and enjoyments.
- I abandon anger and intolerance and become patient, loving and kind, which is a cause for great beauty of body and mind.
Then consider the difference between yourself and the Buddha:
Now consider how everything you have and enjoy this life comes through the kindness of others because:
- My body comes from the kindness of my parents who bore so many hardships for me.
- My education comes from the kindness of those who taught me.
- My money comes from the kindness of those who employ and pay me.
- My clothes come from the kindness of those who make them as well as from those sentient beings whose wool, fur and skin are used as fabric.
- My food comes from the kindness of those who grow it and those creatures who lose their lives when it is being produced.
- My home, office and so forth come from the kindness of those who built them.
- All the material things I have and enjoy and even non-material things, like being praised, having a good reputation, receiving affection and so forth, come from others.
Thinking more deeply about the kindness of others:
- This precious human life with many qualities comes from the kindness of others because I depend on them to create the causes to receive it—ethics, generosity and patience.
- The happiness of future rebirths comes from the kindness of others because I need others in order to create the causes for this, such as abandoning the ten nonvirtues and practicing the ten virtuous actions.
- The everlasting happiness of liberation depends on the kindness of others because the basis for achieving this is ethics, which means living in precepts and avoiding harming others.
- The peerless, ultimate happiness of enlightenment comes from the kindness of others because it comes from bodhicitta, which comes from great compassion, which is generated by cherishing every single being. Also I need others to practice the six perfections and four ways of gathering disciples. For example, it is through the kindness of those who criticize and harm me that I develop patience and so forth.
- The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in whom I take refuge come from sentient beings because without sentient beings there would be no Buddha. Buddha achieved enlightenment because of cherishing sentient beings and then appeared on this earth and taught the Dharma for sentient beings.
Also remember that all this kindness has been shown to you not just this life but over countless past lifetimes. Sentient beings have also been your mother countless times in the past and kind to you in numberless ways127and the kindness will continue endlessly in the future.
By thinking over all these reasons, it becomes clear that sentient beings are the source of all your happiness and are like an inexhaustible field for accumulating endless virtue or a jewel that fulfils all wishes. Therefore it is only right to serve, cherish and hold them dear.
Appendix 7: Compassion is of the Utmost Need 128
Advice to Make All Your Activities the Cause of Enlightenment
These ten powerful and inspiring quotes on compassion were compiled by Rinpoche to be used in daily prayers, as a motivation and as the basis for meditation. They are to be read and reflected upon as a reminder that compassion is of the utmost importance in our lives. Rinpoche says,
This advice has been given so that all your activities in life will become the cause of enlightenment. Please read this especially when you have problems and relate it to those problems. This is the best psychology, the best Dharma advice and the best medicine.
This advice has been given so that all your activities in life will become the cause of enlightenment. Please read this especially when you have problems and relate it to those problems. This is the best psychology, the best Dharma advice and the best medicine.
COMPASSION IS OF THE UTMOST NEED
One. The Destroyer Qualified Gone Beyond One 129 said,
Two. What differentiates Buddhism from other religions is compassion for every single sentient being.
Three. What really pleases all the buddhas and bodhisattvas is compassion.
Four. Compassion makes all sentient beings happy.
Five. Strong compassion is the foundation that causes you to achieve full enlightenment most quickly. If you want to achieve full enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings from suffering and bring them to full enlightenment, the quickest way is to generate strong compassion.
Six. Chandrakirti said,131
Seven. Even for non-believers the best thing and only way to create merit, good karma, is compassion, as well as making offerings and prostrations to holy objects and circumambulating them, even by chance. What gives all beings a happy, satisfied, meaningful and successful life is compassion.
Eight. The Sutra Requested by Lodro Gyatso says,
This shows that if we have compassion for sentient beings, from those we can’t see with the naked eye but only under a microscope up to creatures the size of a mountain, the Buddha has never explained an end to the benefit of such compassion because it is infinite. It’s the same as saving the lives of human beings, animals and insects; we must understand that it has limitless benefits.
Nine. A Kadampa geshe said,
When ordinary people are harmed they retaliate with harm. Holy beings repay harm with positive actions.Whoever sees the enemy as the virtuous friend is happy wherever that person is.
The great Indian scholar bodhisattva Shantideva said in the first chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life:133
Ten. The extensive benefits of bodhicitta, which are like the sky and the depthless ocean, are also the benefits of generating great compassion for all sentient beings. Without great compassion there is no way to achieve bodhicitta, which has limitless benefits.
The conclusion is that compassion is the most important practice in life.
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