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The Practice of Bodhicitta
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------A 2007 talk at the Second Bodhi Meditation Retreat
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Master Jìqún
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[I. The Importance of Bodhicitta [3](#一菩提心的重要性)](#一菩提心的重要性)
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[1. Why Arouse Bodhicitta [3](#为什么要发菩提心)](#为什么要发菩提心)
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[2. The Mark of a Mahayana Practitioner [5](#大乘人的标帜)](#大乘人的标帜)
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[3. The Uncommon Cause of Buddhahood [5](#成佛的不共因)](#成佛的不共因)
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[II. Bodhicitta and Refuge [7](#二菩提心与皈依)](#二菩提心与皈依)
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[1. The Supreme Excellence of Mahayana Refuge [7](#大乘皈依的殊胜)](#大乘皈依的殊胜)
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[2. Perfecting Refuge Practice through Bodhicitta [9](#由发心完成皈依修行)](#由发心完成皈依修行)
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[III. Bodhicitta and the Seven-Limbed Practice [9](#三菩提心与七支供)](#三菩提心与七支供)
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[1. The Limb of Homage [11](#礼敬支)](#礼敬支)
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[2. The Limb of Offering [14](#供养支)](#供养支)
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[3. The Limb of Confession [15](#忏悔支)](#忏悔支)
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[4. The Limb of Rejoicing [16](#随喜支)](#随喜支)
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[5. The Limb of Requesting the Turning of the Dharma Wheel [17](#请转法轮支)](#请转法轮支)
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[6. The Limb of Beseeching the Buddhas to Remain [18](#请佛住世支)](#请佛住世支)
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[7. The Limb of Dedication [18](#回向支)](#回向支)
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[IV. Bodhicitta and Renunciation [20](#四菩提心与出离心)](#四菩提心与出离心)
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[1. Liberation as Foundation, Renunciation as First Step [20](#解脱为本出离心为先)](#解脱为本出离心为先)
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[2. Bodhicitta as the Extension and Perfection of Renunciation [25](#菩提心是出离心的延伸和圆满)](#菩提心是出离心的延伸和圆满)
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[V. Generating Aspiring Bodhicitta [25](#五发起愿菩提心)](#五发起愿菩提心)
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[1. The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect [26](#七因果)](#七因果)
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[2. Exchanging Self and Others [30](#自他相换)](#自他相换)
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[VI. Upholding Aspiring Bodhicitta [35](#六受持愿菩提心)](#六受持愿菩提心)
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[1. Traditional Basis [36](#传统依据)](#传统依据)
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[2. The Conferral Rite [37](#正授仪轨)](#正授仪轨)
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[3. Safeguarding Bodhicitta [41](#守护菩提心)](#守护菩提心)
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[VII. Receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts [42](#七受菩萨戒)](#七受菩萨戒)
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[1. Qualifications of the Recipient [43](#受者条件)](#受者条件)
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[2. Choosing the Preceptor [44](#戒师选择)](#戒师选择)
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[3. The Conferral Rite [45](#正授仪轨-1)](#正授仪轨-1)
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[4. The Three Pure Precepts [47](#三聚净戒)](#三聚净戒)
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[VIII. Engaging in Bodhisattva Practice [50](#八行菩萨行)](#八行菩萨行)
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[1. The Content of Bodhisattva Practice [50](#菩萨行的内容)](#菩萨行的内容)
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[2. The Distinctive Features of Bodhisattva Practice [52](#菩萨行的特征)](#菩萨行的特征)
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[3. Cultivating the Bodhisattva Practices [53](#菩萨行的修习)](#菩萨行的修习)
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[IX. Bodhisattva Practice and the View of Emptiness [62](#九菩萨行与空性见)](#九菩萨行与空性见)
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[1. Selflessness [62](#无-我)](#无-我)
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[2. Absence of Inherent Existence [63](#无自性)](#无自性)
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[X. Conclusion [64](#十结-语)](#十结-语)
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In the practice of the bodhisattva path, bodhicitta runs through from beginning to end.
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Arousing bodhicitta is not only the start of entering the bodhisattva path---it is also the mark of becoming a bodhisattva practitioner. The entire Mahayana path encompasses a great many Dharma gates and diverse schools, but all of them revolve around two major themes: studying and cultivating bodhicitta, and putting bodhisattva practice into action. Among the two, bodhicitta is the more essential. For bodhisattva practice is built upon the foundation of bodhicitta and is its concrete expression, which is why the scriptures also call it "engaging bodhicitta."
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Here, we will explore the practice of bodhicitta through nine topics: the importance of bodhicitta, bodhicitta and refuge, bodhicitta and the Seven-Limbed Practice, bodhicitta and renunciation, generating aspiring bodhicitta, upholding aspiring bodhicitta, receiving the bodhisattva precepts, engaging in bodhisattva practice, and bodhisattva practice and the view of emptiness.
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Before listening to the teachings on bodhicitta, we must first adopt the right attitude toward hearing the Dharma, so that we become fit vessels. What, then, is the right attitude? The ancient masters summarized it as "abandoning the three faults" and "relying on the six perceptions."
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"Abandoning the three faults" means staying clear of three flawed ways of listening to the Dharma. The *Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path* (*Lamrim Chenmo*) says: "If a vessel is turned upside down, or if, though right-side up, it is dirty inside, or if, though clean inside, it has a crack at the bottom, then even if the heavens pour down rain, the water cannot be received. Or even if received, it is defiled and undrinkable. Or even if undefiled, it leaks away and does not stay." In this passage, an overturned vessel, a dirty vessel, and a leaking vessel serve as metaphors for a student who, when hearing the Dharma, does not pay attention, brings preconceived notions, or does not reflect after hearing.
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An overturned vessel is one turned upside down---not even heaven's sweet dew can enter it. Likewise, when the mind has not opened to the Dharma, the Dharma water cannot reach the heart. No matter how much one hears, the mind remains empty, gaining nothing. A dirty vessel is one already filled with a mix of flavors---even clear water poured in becomes bitter, spicy, sour, or sweet, losing its original taste. Likewise, before receiving the Buddhadharma, each of us has already formed our own fixed ideas. In the process of hearing the Dharma, we should let go of all our existing preconceptions and receive the Dharma with a pure, undefiled mind---just as we wash a cup before drinking from it. Only then can we taste the natural flavor of the Dharma, rather than a corrupted version altered by our fixed ideas. A leaking vessel is one cracked or damaged---no matter how much water is added, it quickly drains away. Likewise, if after hearing the Dharma we do not reflect on it properly and practice accordingly, we are like a leaking vessel, unable to keep the meaning of the Dharma lasting in our hearts. The process of studying the Dharma is one of turning right views into our own views. This requires further reflection after hearing, reinforcing and consolidating through repeated contemplation, so that the Dharma's meaning takes root and sprouts in our mental continuum.
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Relying on the six perceptions means holding six perceptions during the process of hearing the Dharma. First, perceive yourself as a patient. When we speak of illness, we tend to think of physical disease. In truth, physical illness is only temporary; mental illness lasts far longer. Since time without beginning, we have been wandering in samsara, with birth and death unending and afflictions ceaseless---all caused by various sicknesses of the mind. So the greatest disease in life is none other than the confusion and affliction produced by ignorance. We must recognize the faults of these diseases and hear the Dharma with the attitude of seeking treatment---perceiving the teacher as a doctor, the Dharma as medicine, practice as treatment, the Tathagata as a true sage, and generating the wish for the true Dharma to long endure. Only by regarding the Dharma with reverence and a sense of its rarity can we make it an effective therapy for transforming our life. Otherwise, we tend to treat the Dharma merely as a doctrine or abstract discussion. However much we study, it becomes at most a decorative touch in our lives or a wrapping for our words and actions, with no bearing on the true substance of living.
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So I hope everyone will study the bodhicitta teachings with the right attitude toward hearing the Dharma. Only then can we take the Dharma into our hearts, adjust our mental states in accord with it, and bring about an improvement in the quality of our lives.
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{#一菩提心的重要性}
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## I. The Importance of Bodhicitta
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{#为什么要发菩提心}
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### 1. Why Arouse Bodhicitta
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To answer this question, we must first understand where the emphasis of Buddhist practice lies. The Buddhadharma is a teaching of the mind. The entire process of Buddhist practice is precisely a process of recognizing and then transforming our mental states.
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Our mind is like a field, and every thought that arises is a seed planted in it. In the course of our lives, we have had many thoughts and done many things. These thoughts and actions quickly pass, but the seeds left in the mind continue to function in the future, shaping the trajectory of our lives. Among them are wholesome seeds and unwholesome seeds, seeds of affliction and seeds of liberation. When wholesome seeds sprout, when we give rise to love and compassion, that very moment is peaceful and joyful, and those around us can feel this peace and joy too. Conversely, when unwholesome seeds are at work, when we give rise to greed, anger, or jealousy, that very moment is painful. And once such greed and anger are expressed outwardly, those around us suffer harm as well.
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It is this continuity of mind that determines our present state and the direction of our lives. Why are our hearts filled with affliction and suffering? Because there are far too many harmful seeds within. These seeds keep producing mental rubbish, turning the mind into a garbage heap filled with filth. And so suffering becomes inevitable, and sinking into samsara becomes inevitable. Thus, afflictions and even samsara are not external---they come from our own minds. It is the mind that manipulates all this, and it is the mind that decides all this. If we want to be free from suffering, we must cut it off at its cause.
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Buddhist practice is a process of cultivating the field of the mind. Once, when the Buddha went to a farming village for alms, a brahmin who was plowing challenged him: "We work hard at farming before we can harvest. Why do you not work?" The Buddha replied, "Good sir, I too am a farmer who tills the soil!" The brahmin was baffled: "I have never seen a recluse working in the fields. What do you mean?" The Buddha explained: "Faith is the seed, austerity the timely rain, wisdom my yoke, conscience the shaft, mindfulness my guard---such is a good charioteer. One who farms in this way will not undergo further existence." (*Samyuktagama*, fascicle 4) The yoke and shaft are tools for driving draft animals. "Existence" refers to the karmic results of sentient beings---there being causes and effects, they are called existences, including the three existences, four existences, seven existences, nine existences, twenty-five existences, and so on, collectively referred to as "existences." If we take faith in the Three Jewels as our seed, irrigate the mind through practice, guide our mental states with wisdom and conscience, and guard ourselves with right mindfulness, then we are skillful cultivators. Such cultivators will no longer bring forth the bitter fruits of samsara.
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Taking faith as the seed represents our choice of spiritual path, taking the Three Jewels as the ultimate refuge in life. Then, we must let this seed take root in our minds through analytical meditation and stabilizing meditation. Otherwise, the Buddhadharma remains for us merely a set of theories, a way of talking. In life, we can see many people who call themselves Buddhists and regularly offer incense and prostrations to the Buddha, yet the Dharma has not the slightest influence on their mental states. Their conduct still never goes beyond their old views and habitual tendencies. This kind of Buddhist practice yields no result. It is like a farmer who never sows seeds in the field and never works the soil---even if he walks around the field every day, looks it over, and even stays there day and night, could he ever harvest anything? The practice of bodhicitta is the same. If we do not arouse bodhicitta and do not plant the seeds of bodhi in our hearts, how could we ever bear the fruit of bodhi in the future?
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{#大乘人的标帜}
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### 2. The Mark of a Mahayana Practitioner
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If taking refuge is the mark of becoming a disciple of the Buddha, then arousing bodhicitta is the mark of becoming a Mahayana practitioner. The *Abridged Stages of the Path* (*Lamrim*) states: "What is the gate for entering the Mahayana? The Buddha taught that there are the Perfection Vehicle and the Mantra Vehicle, and apart from these there is no other Mahayana. Yet through what gate does one enter these two? Only bodhicitta. When this is born in one's body and mind, even if one has not yet developed any other qualities, one is already abiding in the Mahayana."
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This passage tells us clearly: once we arouse bodhicitta, even if we have not yet developed other qualities, we have already ranked ourselves among the Mahayana and are worthy of being called bodhisattva practitioners. The text further explains: "If at any time one parts from bodhicitta, then even if one has attained such qualities as realizing emptiness, one falls back to the level of a śrāvaka and loses the Mahayana. This is taught in many Mahayana scriptures, and reason also establishes it. Therefore, one's standing in the Mahayana is determined by the presence or absence of bodhicitta."
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Precisely because bodhicitta is the mark of a Mahayana practitioner, once one abandons bodhicitta, even if one has realized emptiness, one will fall back to being a śrāvaka practitioner. Thus, the criterion for the Mahayana is whether one has bodhicitta or not. The *Abridged Stages of the Path* also cites the *Bodhicaryāvatāra* as evidence: "The moment this mind arises, one instantly becomes a child of the Buddha." Here, "child of the Buddha" refers specifically to bodhisattva practitioners. Unlike the śrāvakas, who are content with liberating themselves alone, bodhisattvas do what the Buddha did---benefiting both self and others, awakening both self and others. They are the true heirs of the Buddha.
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Thus, bodhicitta is not only the gateway into the Mahayana, but also the distinctive criterion that sets the Mahayana apart from the two vehicles.
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{#成佛的不共因}
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### 3. The Uncommon Cause of Buddhahood
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Buddhahood is not about attaining something external---not a title, not a position, not an honor---but rather an inner quality of life. This quality encompasses two great dimensions: wisdom and compassion. Wisdom is accomplished through the view of emptiness, bringing about liberation; compassion is accomplished through bodhisattva practice, bringing about merit. Among these, liberation is a goal shared by all three vehicles. Whether śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva, all must possess the capacity for liberation. Compassion, on the other hand, is a path unique to the Mahayana. This is not to say, of course, that śrāvakas do not cultivate compassion. In fact, śrāvaka practitioners likewise cultivate the four immeasurables---loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity---and likewise teach the Dharma according to conditions, benefiting living beings. The difference is that they do not take perfecting compassion as an indispensable practice or as an ultimate goal. From another angle, without bodhicitta as its foundation, such compassion practice also lacks strength and commitment.
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On this question, the *Abridged Stages of the Path* explains with an analogy: "Suppose water, manure, warmth, and earth are combined with a grain seed---they then become the cause of a grain sprout. If combined with a wheat or bean seed, they become the cause of those sprouts. Hence water, manure, warmth, and so on are common causes. A highland barley seed, regardless of what conditions it combines with, can never become the cause of a grain sprout---it is the uncommon cause of a barley sprout. Yet the water and other factors sustained by it will also serve as causes of the barley sprout. Likewise, unsurpassed bodhicitta is the uncommon cause, like the seed, among the causes of a buddha-sprout. The wisdom that realizes emptiness, like water and manure, is a common cause of the three kinds of awakening."
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Just as farming requires seeds, sunlight, rain, fertilizer, and soil. Among these, the seed is the uncommon cause of the crop's growth---from a wheat seed grows wheat, from a rice seed grows rice; the fruit is determined by the qualities contained in the seed. The other conditions are necessary for all crops and belong to common causes. For spiritual practice, the wisdom of emptiness is like sunlight, rain, and soil---a common cause for practice in all three vehicles. But bodhicitta functions as the seed---the uncommon cause of buddhahood. Only by arousing bodhicitta and practicing altruism can we attain the perfect life quality of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. There is no other path.
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The *Abridged Stages of the Path* further cites scripture as proof: "The *Ratnagotravibhaga* says: Conviction in the supreme vehicle is the seed; wisdom is the mother that gives birth to the Buddha qualities. This means that one with conviction in the Mahayana is like the father, the seed. The wisdom that realizes selflessness is like the mother. For example, if the father is a Tibetan, the child will not be Chinese or Mongolian. The father determines the child's lineage---this cause is decisive. But within a Tibetan mother's womb, children of various kinds can be born, which is a common cause."
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A child is born from the union of father and mother, but the father is the uncommon cause that determines lineage. For a practitioner, if one has full conviction in the Mahayana, this functions like the father, while realizing emptiness functions like the mother. With the mother of wisdom that realizes emptiness, one accomplishes liberation; with the father of Mahayana bodhicitta, one accomplishes buddhahood.
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These two analogies vividly illustrate the different roles of bodhicitta and the wisdom of emptiness in spiritual practice. Without bodhicitta as the seed, one cannot become a Mahayana practitioner; without the wisdom of emptiness as the common cause of liberation, one cannot bear the extraordinary fruit of unsurpassed bodhi.
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{#二菩提心与皈依}
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## II. Bodhicitta and Refuge
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Refuge represents our trust in the Three Jewels and our choice to take them as the ultimate refuge in life. This is the foundation of Buddhist practice and the foundation for arousing bodhicitta.
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{#大乘皈依的殊胜}
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### 1. The Supreme Excellence of Mahayana Refuge
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The refuge usually spoken of is the refuge of the Śrāvaka Vehicle. Here, we specifically refer to Mahayana refuge. The "Chapter on Refuge" in the *Mahayana-sutralamkara* particularly introduces the supreme excellence of Mahayana refuge. The text says:
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> Among all forms of refuge in the Three Jewels, know that Mahayana refuge is supreme. Why? Because it is superior by nature in four great respects. What are these four? First, the meaning of all-pervasiveness; second, the meaning of courage; third, the meaning of attaining the fruit; fourth, the meaning of being beyond compare... Mahayana refuge possesses four kinds of all-pervasiveness. First, all-pervasiveness with regard to sentient beings, because one wishes to liberate all sentient beings. Second, all-pervasiveness with regard to vehicles, because one thoroughly understands the three vehicles. Third, all-pervasiveness with regard to wisdom, because one fully realizes the two kinds of selflessness. Fourth, all-pervasiveness with regard to quiescence, because samsara and nirvana are of one taste, and one does not discriminate between faults and virtues...
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>
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> Mahayana refuge has three kinds of superior courage. First, superior courage of aspiration: when taking refuge in the Buddha, one seeks great bodhi and gives rise to abundant joy, knowing the excellent qualities. Second, superior courage of practice: when engaging in practice, one does not retreat or yield, and undertakes what is difficult to do. Third, superior courage of the fruit: upon attaining buddhahood, one awakens equally with all buddhas...
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>
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> The excellent birth of a bodhisattva has four meanings. First, superiority of seed, because bodhicitta is the seed. Second, superiority of birth mother, because prajñāpāramitā is the birth mother. Third, superiority of the womb, because the two accumulations of merit and wisdom sustain it as the womb. Fourth, superiority of the nursemaid, because great compassion nurtures it as a nursemaid...
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>
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> For one who has taken Mahayana refuge, all roots of virtue, for four reasons, are beyond the reach of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. First, great substance; second, great meaning; third, boundlessness; fourth, inexhaustibility. Question: "What do these mean?" Answer: "Great substance means that worldly roots of virtue already attained surpass those of the two vehicles. Great meaning means that supramundane roots of virtue---the supramundane attainment of the two vehicles is merely for self-benefit. Boundlessness means roots of virtue that ripen sentient beings, capable of ripening boundless sentient beings. Inexhaustibility means roots of virtue associated with supranormal powers, which are not exhausted even upon reaching nirvana without remainder..."
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>
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> Refuge is differentiated in six respects: one, nature; two, cause; three, fruit; four, function; five, correspondence; six, category. Aspiration is its nature, because one seeks the essence of buddhahood with utmost sincerity. Great compassion is its cause, because it is for the sake of all sentient beings. Omniscient wisdom is its fruit, because one attains unsurpassed bodhi. Never retreating is its function, because one practices what is difficult for the benefit of others without retreating or yielding. The three forms of transcendence are its correspondence, because one is endowed with the paths of transcendence of the three vehicles. The two attainments are its categories---the conventional attainment and the attainment of the Dharma nature---differing in subtle and coarse.
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This passage introduces in detail, from different angles, the special features by which Mahayana refuge surpasses that of the two vehicles. For a fuller treatment, one may consult the complete "Chapter on Refuge" in the *Mahayana-sutralamkara*, composed by Bodhisattva Asanga. Here, let me briefly summarize a few key points---the main characteristics that distinguish Mahayana refuge from Śrāvaka Vehicle refuge, and the essentials we need to grasp.
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First, the one who takes refuge must possess Mahayana disposition. This may raise a question in our minds: do we actually possess Mahayana disposition? To answer this, we need only examine ourselves to see whether we can give rise to uncontrived bodhicitta, to a genuine wish to benefit others.
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Second, the objects of refuge are the Three Jewels of the Mahayana. Here, the Buddha Jewel is all buddhas of the ten directions and three times; the Dharma Jewel is the Mahayana scriptures; the Sangha Jewel is the great bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra, as well as the present Mahayana monastic community.
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Third, the duration is far longer. The Śrāvaka Vehicle refuge is valid for the duration of one's present life; Mahayana refuge is not confined to this life alone but extends into all future lives until buddhahood is attained, just as the refuge verse says: "In the Buddha, Dharma, and supreme assembly, I take refuge until I reach bodhi."
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Fourth, the motivation is far vaster. Śrāvaka Vehicle refuge is mainly for eliminating affliction and liberating from birth and death, whereas Mahayana refuge does not stop at personal liberation but takes the liberation of all sentient beings as its goal.
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Only by recognizing the supreme excellence of Mahayana refuge can we give rise to genuine refuge in the Mahayana Dharma. This is precisely the basis of aspiring bodhicitta.
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{#由发心完成皈依修行}
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### 2. Perfecting Refuge Practice through Bodhicitta
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After taking refuge, we need to keep practicing it---strengthening the presence of the Three Jewels in our minds, consolidating our confidence in the bodhicitta teachings, and allowing them to take effect in our mental states. In both the Indian and Tibetan traditions, there are practices centered on refuge. I have also compiled a "Refuge Group Practice Liturgy," which includes Mahayana aspiration, confession, the Seven-Limbed Practice, chanting the refuge formula, giving rise to the four immeasurables, and so on.
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Refuge is not merely the beginning of Buddhist practice. In fact, it runs through the entire path to buddhahood. From the ultimate perspective, the one who takes refuge and the objects of refuge are fundamentally one. At the start, a difference does exist---an enormous difference---but this difference is not permanent. The purpose of cultivating refuge, and indeed the purpose of all Dharma practice, is to uncover the innate Three Jewels that all beings possess, to merge oneself with the objects of refuge, and ultimately to accomplish all the qualities that the Three Jewels embody.
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This process cannot be separated from the practice of refuge and bodhicitta. Without refuge as a prerequisite, the practice of bodhicitta has no foundation on which to rest; without bodhicitta as its practical expression, refuge will forever remain a formality. Only by aspiring to the qualities of the Three Jewels, by taking the vows of the buddhas and bodhisattvas as our own vows, and by taking the conduct of the buddhas and bodhisattvas as our own conduct, can we accomplish the noble qualities that are indistinguishable from those of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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{#三菩提心与七支供}
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## III. Bodhicitta and the Seven-Limbed Practice
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The Seven-Limbed Practice is based on Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's Ten Great Vows. It has the function of accumulating merit and purifying obstacles, creating a wholesome mental environment for arousing bodhicitta. The specific content of the Ten Great Vows is: paying homage to all buddhas, praising the Tathagatas, making abundant offerings, confessing karmic obstacles, rejoicing in merit, requesting the turning of the Dharma wheel, beseeching the buddhas to remain in the world, constantly following the Buddha's teachings, according with all sentient beings, and dedicating all merit universally. These practices may seem quite ordinary---why, then, are they honored as "vow kings"? The reason is that the objects of these vows are limitless, all-pervasive.
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We all have various wishes, but ordinary people's wishes are very confined---they think of no more than a few specific people, a few specific matters. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's vows, by contrast, take all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm and the realm of space as their objects. Continuously strengthening such vows can help us open the scope of the mind. When the mind dwells on the people and things right in front of us, it is narrow and limited. Only by taking limitless time and space as our object can we access the limitless dimension of the mind.
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At the same time, "The Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva" can also help us swiftly accumulate the provisions for buddhahood. To use a modern phrase, this text is the primary productive force for accumulating merit and purifying obstacles. This is why Tibetan Buddhism also especially esteems this chapter, treating it as an important preliminary for all Dharma gates. In fact, the significance of "The Practices and Vows" is not limited to being a preliminary---it is itself an extraordinary main practice. For this Dharma gate is built upon the Huayan view, which is utterly sudden and perfectly complete. I call it "the supreme contemplative practice of bodhicitta, a method of copying the qualities of buddhahood." Contemplating and practicing according to Samantabhadra's great vows is precisely a simulation of the mental activity of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, allowing us, through simulation and comparison, to gradually draw closer to them.
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The content of the Seven-Limbed Practice essentially condenses the Ten Great Vows into seven limbs. A limb is a body part, an essential component of the body. If we compare the bodhicitta practice to the trunk, the Seven-Limbed Practice constitutes its vital supports. In the *Bodhicaryāvatāra*, the section on "accumulating merit and purifying obstacles" is also accomplished through the Seven-Limbed Practice.
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To cultivate bodhicitta, we must feel compassion toward all sentient beings and care for them as our own. How can we achieve this? The prerequisite is to take all sentient beings into our hearts. Let us ask ourselves: how many people can our hearts truly hold? If our hearts hold only ourselves, or only a select few, we can never connect with bodhicitta. We must open the scope of the mind---and this opening is not a mere quantitative increase, but the complete dismantling of the boundaries of self. Like space containing all things, we must contain the infinite sentient beings that fill all of space and pervade the entire Dharma realm. If there is still a single being we reject, a single being we are unwilling to benefit, it shows that this compassion has yet to reach perfection.
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Below, I will briefly introduce the Seven-Limbed Practice. I have offered a more detailed explanation in my book *The Contemplative Principles of Samantabhadra's Practices and Vows*, which you may consult.
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{#礼敬支}
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### 1. The Limb of Homage
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Homage means prostrating with reverence. The Dharma is attained through reverence. If we lack reverence for the Three Jewels, the Dharma cannot take effect in us. There are many ways to practice homage, such as prostrating to the Buddha, offering lamps, burning incense, and presenting flowers. So what method of paying homage to the Buddha allows us to swiftly connect with all buddhas and accomplish boundless merit?
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Modern people place great emphasis on efficiency, and spiritual practice is no exception. Someone might ask: doesn't Buddhism stress not clinging to appearances? We should understand that not clinging to appearances is not the same as disregarding efficiency. The correct attitude toward practice is to value efficiency without clinging to the appearance of valuing efficiency. If we think that ignoring efficiency is non-attachment, that muddling through is non-attachment, then not only will we have no hope of attainment, we might even fall into the lower realms. For the paths of samsara are perilous---if you do not advance, you fall back. If we do not seize our present human life of leisure and opportunity to practice, no one can guarantee where we will head in the future or when we will have another chance to continue. So Buddhist practice likewise requires attention to method. When the method is right, we get twice the result with half the effort, advancing life after life.
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The Limb of Homage has four verses in total. The first verse is the general homage of the three gates. The three gates refer to the three actions of body, speech, and mind, giving an overall account of homage. The verse goes:
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> In all the worlds of the ten directions, All lions among humans of the three times,
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>
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> With pure body, speech, and mind I pay homage, To every one, without exception.
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When we pay homage to the Buddha, we usually choose a particular buddha or bodhisattva---prostrating to Śākyamuni Buddha, or to Amitābha Buddha, or to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. But in "The Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra," the objects of homage are not limited to one buddha or two. Rather, one takes all buddhas of the ten directions and three times as the object, prostrating to each and every one without omission. More importantly, one performs the homage with the three actions of body, speech, and mind in purity. This requires recollecting the qualities of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, arousing the sincere wish to emulate them, and thereby freeing oneself from distraction and discursive thought. From the initial thought of prostrating to the Buddha, to joining the palms, bowing down, and rising again, the entire process is sustained by clear visualization, wholeheartedly devoted to paying homage to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. When we prostrate in this way, with this object and method, every prostration is an offering of supreme reverence to all buddhas, an offering of pure tribute.
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Next is homage of the body. The verse goes:
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> Through the majestic power of Samantabhadra's practices and vows, I appear before every tathagata,
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>
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> And in body after body, numerous as the atoms of the land, I pay homage to every buddha, numerous as the atoms of the land.
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The body is limited, and prostration is limited. How, then, can we accomplish limitless homage? This must be done through visualization. Visualization is the use of the imaginative faculty, an important support in Dharma practice. For the mind is limitless, and imagination is also limitless. Only by opening up this limitless dimension can we transform the limited action built upon this mental activity into something limitless. When visualizing, on the one hand we can refer to the prose section of "The Practices and Vows"; on the other hand, we should pray for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's blessings, carrying out the visualization through conviction in Samantabhadra's power of vows.
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First, visualize yourself manifesting infinite, boundless bodies. Visualize that in the universe there are buddhas and bodhisattvas as numerous as motes of dust, and before each buddha or bodhisattva there is a self prostrating. The existence of the buddhas and bodhisattvas is limitless, and my existence is also limitless. Further, visualize that each self is simultaneously prostrating to the countless buddhas filling all of space and pervading the entire Dharma realm. When we visualize in this way, every prostration accomplishes boundless merit, enabling us to swiftly cultivate blessings and amass provisions. Otherwise, with the limited practice of ordinary beings, we could never accomplish the limitless merit of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. For the limitless must take the limitless---not the limited---as its cause. No matter how many finite things you add together, they remain finite; they are merely a larger finite. Only on the level of limitless mental activity can boundless merit be perfected.
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The third is homage of the mind. The verse goes:
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> In a single atom, buddhas numerous as atoms, Each seated amid an assembly of bodhisattvas---
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>
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> So it is throughout the endless Dharma realm, And I have deep faith that they all fill it.
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First, visualize that within every mote of dust there are countless buddhas, each surrounded by an oceanic assembly of bodhisattvas. Second, visualize that the Dharma realm contains endless motes of dust, so that in any region of the universe there exist buddhas and bodhisattvas---layer upon layer, end upon end, beyond counting.
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At this very moment, life is limitless. For its essence is emptiness, free of any boundaries, free of the distinction between self and other. All distinctions are artificial constructs. For instance, this is China, that is a foreign country; this is an enemy, that is a friend; this is liked, that is disliked. All these concepts come from the attachments of sentient beings---they are distinctions and oppositions formed by attachment. From this, various conflicts then arise: conflicts between people, conflicts between humans and nature, conflicts between humans and animals. Once we remove these mistaken constructs, life is limitless, indivisible from all sentient beings, and intimately connected with all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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So when we visualize the limitless, we are not creating a separate limitlessness. We are simply using visualization to dismantle the limited constructs erected by the deluded mind, allowing the mind to return to its original state, return to the limitless content it inherently possesses.
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The fourth is homage of speech. The verse goes:
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> With oceans of every sound, I send forth endless wondrous words,
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>
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> And for all eons of the future, I praise the buddhas' vast ocean of virtues.
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Next, we accomplish verbal praise through visualization. We can visualize that in the universe there are infinite selves, each in unison praising the virtues of all buddhas of the ten directions. We can visualize ourselves as the broadcasters of the universe---when we praise the Buddha, the whole of heaven and earth receives these sounds, and the entire universe reverberates with this praise. We can also visualize every sound we hear as the sound of recollecting the Buddha, recollecting the Dharma, and recollecting the Sangha, as the sound of praising the Three Jewels' endless virtues, thus merging body and mind into this practice, paying homage without cease and praising the Buddha without end.
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{#供养支}
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### 2. The Limb of Offering
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Offerings represent our reverence toward the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Although reverence mainly arises from the heart, it still needs to be expressed through corresponding actions. Offering is an important way of strengthening our reverent attitude. We should make offerings of the finest articles. Offerings include limited offerings and unsurpassed offerings. "Limited" means bounded, not yet reaching the ultimate. "Unsurpassed" means beyond compare, nothing surpassing it.
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First, limited offerings. The verses go:
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> With the finest wondrous flower garlands, Music, perfumed ointments, and parasols,
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>
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> With the finest adornments of all, I make offerings to all the tathagatas.
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>
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> The finest garments, the finest fragrances, Powdered incense, burning incense, lamps, and candles,
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>
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> Each heaped as high as wondrous Sumeru, I offer them all to the tathagatas.
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Limited offerings means offering the best flower garlands, music, perfumed ointments, parasols, garments, powdered incense, burning incense, lamps, candles, and all manner of offerings to the tathagatas of the ten directions, in quantities so vast they are like Mount Sumeru. How can we obtain so many offerings? Through visualization. On the one hand, visualize that the mountains, rivers, earth, and all things in the universe transform into wondrous treasures for offering to the Buddha. On the other hand, visualize the offerings as boundless and infinite, pervading the entire Dharma realm, and with these numerous and excellent articles, make offerings to the tathagatas.
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Next, unsurpassed offerings. These are so called in contrast to limited offerings. The verse goes:
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> With a mind of vast and deep conviction, I have faith in all buddhas of the three times,
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>
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> And through the power of Samantabhadra's practices and vows, I make universal offerings to all the tathagatas.
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"Deep conviction" is belief that is utterly certain. With a mind of vast, deep conviction, we have faith in the existence of all buddhas of the ten directions and three times throughout space and the entire Dharma realm, and through the limitless power of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's vows, we transform limited offerings into limitless ones, thereby making offerings to all buddhas.
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As vast as the scope of our mind, so vast are our offerings, and so vast the merit we reap. Why can the buddhas and bodhisattvas accomplish boundless merit? Because their minds take space and the Dharma realm as their platform---free of all boundaries and all obstructions. This makes every action based upon this platform like a drop of water merging into the vast ocean, from a single drop becoming the water of the great sea.
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{#忏悔支}
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### 3. The Limb of Confession
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In the endless cycle of samsara, we have been endlessly wandering through birth and death, driven by affliction---all caused by the force of past karma. These karmic forces are like life programs we have written. When they run, they produce certain results. Some are programs that lead to the lower realms; some are programs that lead to the higher realms. If we want to change our destiny, we need to change the internal structure and operating patterns of the program. The function of confession is precisely to destroy the basis on which karmic force rests. The verse goes:
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> All the negative actions I have committed in the past, Born of beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance,
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>
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> And produced through body, speech, and mind--- I now confess each and every one.
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We should visualize all buddhas and bodhisattvas filling space and pervading the Dharma realm, and before them generate a sincere mind of confession, repenting each and every misdeed we have committed in the past---including evil acts done intentionally, and also karmic forces created unintentionally. More importantly, we must vow never to commit them again. Every karmic force has a basis for its formation. Through confession, we can destroy the soil on which karma depends, so that it cannot ripen or continue to bring results. For all karmic force comes from attachment to self and phenomena, and confession means negating such attachment. If attachment no longer exists, the karmic force dependent on it naturally loses its root and ceases to be---as the saying goes, when the skin is gone, what can the fur cling to?
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Just as we need to sweep the ground before a Dharma assembly, so too, in welcoming the arrival of bodhicitta, we must confess our karmic obstacles, cleanse the dust from our hearts, and create a wholesome mental environment for the seed of bodhi.
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{#随喜支}
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### 4. The Limb of Rejoicing
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Rejoicing is expressing sincere delight and heartfelt admiration at the virtuous deeds cultivated by others. When we do this, our hearts open in response, and the seeds of virtue within us grow accordingly. The verse goes:
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> For all beings in the ten directions, The learners and those beyond learning of the two vehicles,
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>
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> For all tathagatas and bodhisattvas, I rejoice in every one of their merits.
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Toward all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions, toward the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas of the two vehicles, and even toward the merits of all buddhas and bodhisattvas, we must generate a mind of rejoicing and sustain it at all times. Our time, energy, and capacity are very limited. Even if we try our hardest, the virtuous deeds we can cultivate in one lifetime may not amount to much. Yet buddhahood requires boundless merit as its provisions, which can obviously never be completed by one's own efforts alone. So, then, can we never attain buddhahood? Can we never accomplish this far-reaching goal? Clearly the answer is no. This calls for certain skillful means, and rejoicing happens to be a special path for swiftly accumulating provisions. If we can rejoice in all virtuous deeds with a mind that is vast and limitless, the merit we gain will equal that of the person who performed them, and sometimes even surpass it. For the karmic results drawn forth by a virtuous deed do not depend solely on the action itself; to a great extent, they depend on the different underlying intentions. When we rejoice in all virtuous deeds with a limitless mind, it is as though we multiply ourselves a billionfold, widely practicing virtue in every place and at every moment, cultivating the field of merit.
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Furthermore, rejoicing can also overcome such harmful habits as jealousy and exclusion, and help us form vast wholesome connections with sentient beings. It is an important support for building positive relationships and an excellent opportunity to cultivate equanimity. When we rejoice in beings we normally feel indifferent toward, we are dissolving our coldness and distance from them. When we rejoice in beings with whom we have conflicts, we are dissolving our anger and estrangement toward them. As long as the mind of rejoicing is sincere enough and strong enough, it can gradually transform our existing negative emotions, opening the scope of the mind accordingly.
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{#请转法轮支}
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### 5. The Limb of Requesting the Turning of the Dharma Wheel
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Although the Dharma is naturally as it is---regardless of whether a buddha appears in the world to teach it, it neither increases nor decreases, nor undergoes change---sentient beings do not have the capacity to recognize this truth, still less to practice accordingly and accomplish buddhahood. For this, we need the guidance of the buddhas and bodhisattvas; we need them to proclaim the essential Dharma, so that sentient beings, through hearing the Dharma, can dispel delusion, awaken, and proceed toward liberation. Therefore, requesting the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and even spiritual teachers to teach the Dharma is not only a necessity for our own study but also a necessity for benefiting the wider community. The verse goes:
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> All lamps of the world in the ten directions, Those who first attained bodhi,
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>
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> I now request and beseech them all, To turn the unsurpassed, wondrous Dharma wheel.
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"Lamps of the world" refers to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, including all spiritual teachers endowed with right view. Sentient beings have long dwelled in the darkness of ignorance; only under the guidance of the buddhas and bodhisattvas can we walk from darkness toward light, from confusion toward awakening. We visualize that there are countless buddhas in the universe, then visualize ourselves manifesting in countless forms, arriving before each world-honored one. Before every buddha there is a self making this request. And every self is simultaneously beseeching all buddhas of the Dharma realm, praying that they have compassion for sentient beings and keep the Dharma wheel ever turning, so that the Buddhadharma spreads far and wide in the world, benefiting humans and gods. In our post-meditation practice, we should at all times request spiritual teachers to give teachings, and vigorously support those teachers who proclaim the true Dharma. There are many ways to offer such support. We can organize lectures and invite eminent masters to teach; we can sponsor the printing of scriptures and spread right understanding and right views. All of these are important forms of requesting the turning of the Dharma wheel. For spreading the Dharma requires the convergence of many conditions. By contributing to the necessary supporting conditions---by building bridges between the speaker of the Dharma and the listeners---we are also requesting the turning of the Dharma wheel through concrete action.
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{#请佛住世支}
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### 6. The Limb of Beseeching the Buddhas to Remain
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When the buddhas of the ten directions approach the end of their teaching mission and are about to manifest nirvana, we should, for the lasting benefit and happiness of sentient beings, beseech them with utmost sincerity to remain long in the world and continue guiding beings. The verse goes:
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> When buddhas wish to manifest nirvana, I beseech them all with utmost sincerity,
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>
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> Praying that they remain for eons numerous as atoms of the land, To bring benefit and joy to every sentient being.
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The Buddha sees that his teaching mission is drawing to an end and is about to enter parinirvana. At this moment, we should earnestly entreat him, praying that the buddhas and bodhisattvas long abide in the world. For only thus can the Buddhadharma be passed from generation to generation like a torch. In the practice of beseeching the buddhas to remain, we can visualize that countless buddhas appear throughout the universe, then visualize a self before each buddha praying sincerely that they not enter nirvana. In our post-meditation practice, we can earnestly beseech all spiritual teachers to remain in the world and teach the Dharma, liberating sentient beings, through such means as sutra recitation, buddha-name recitation, lamp offerings, and life release.
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{#回向支}
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### 7. The Limb of Dedication
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Finally, we dedicate all the merit we have cultivated through the preceding practices---paying homage to all buddhas, making offerings to the tathagatas, confessing karmic obstacles, rejoicing in merit, requesting the turning of the Dharma wheel, and beseeching the buddhas to remain---to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm. The verses go:
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> All the merit of homage, praise, and offering, Beseeching the buddhas to remain and turn the Dharma wheel,
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>
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> Rejoicing and confession, all my roots of virtue--- I dedicate to sentient beings and the buddha path.
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>
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> And until the worlds of space are exhausted, Until sentient beings, their karma, and their afflictions are exhausted,
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>
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> Just as these four are vast and boundless, So now may my dedication be.
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The roots of virtue cultivated through the above six limbs are the causes for realizing bodhi. We dedicate them to sentient beings and, with intense aspiration, send them our blessing that they may soon accomplish the buddha path. This dedication is permanent, valid for all future time---as long as the realm of space is not exhausted, as long as the realm of sentient beings is not exhausted, as long as the karma of sentient beings is not exhausted, as long as the afflictions of sentient beings are not exhausted, my vows are never exhausted. In fact, space can never be exhausted, nor can sentient beings or their karma and afflictions. Why then speak of their being exhausted? It is only to highlight just how vast these vows are. Even if endless space were to come to an end, even if endless karma were to come to an end, the vows and dedication we have aroused still flow unceasingly, endlessly. That is to say, this vow is longer lasting than space, longer lasting than the world, longer lasting than the limitless, boundless multitude of sentient beings. This is precisely the key reason that Samantabhadra's great vows are honored as the king of vows: the objects of this aspiration are limitless, and its temporal span is eternal.
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The content of the Seven-Limbed Practice can be further summarized in three aspects. First, accumulating merit: the five limbs of homage, offering, rejoicing, requesting the Dharma, and beseeching the buddhas to remain. Second, purifying obstacles: the limb of confession. Third, causing merit to grow vast and never diminish: the limb of dedication. The mind is the soil in which merit grows. Only in the limitless field of the mind can we perfect the boundless provisions needed for buddhahood. If the mind is narrow, it is like a tiny plot of land---however diligently and strenuously we cultivate it, the harvested fruit will be extremely limited. In studying "The Practices and Vows," we must translate the bodhisattva's boundless power of vows into our own mental activity, thinking as Samantabhadra Bodhisattva thinks and acting as Samantabhadra Bodhisattva acts, making this the ultimate goal of our lives. In that way, at this very moment we can connect with Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and with all buddhas of the ten directions.
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With regard to the above verses, we should understand their meaning, reflect on them properly, and recite them slowly with utmost sincerity and earnestness.
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{#四菩提心与出离心}
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## IV. Bodhicitta and Renunciation
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People come to Buddhist practice for different reasons and with different aims. But the only correct motivations are renunciation and bodhicitta. Śrāvaka practitioners arouse renunciation and accomplish liberation; Mahayana practitioners arouse bodhicitta and accomplish buddhahood. Any other motivation is not the right path. So, do these two kinds of motivation have an inner connection? In other words, do Mahayana practitioners also need to generate renunciation?
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{#解脱为本出离心为先}
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### 1. Liberation as Foundation, Renunciation as First Step
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In the *Stages of the Path*, Je Tsongkhapa distills the Mahayana Dharma's essential framework into the three principal aspects of the path: renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness. He explicitly states that renunciation is the prerequisite for the arising of bodhicitta. The text says: "Those who are controlled by delusion and karma and wander in cyclic existence, oppressed by manifold sufferings---they cannot even accomplish their own welfare, let alone the welfare of others. This is the door to all decline and loss. Bodhisattvas should feel even stronger revulsion toward this and eradicate it than the followers of the lesser vehicle do."
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If we ourselves lack the capacity for renunciation and liberation, if our delusion and karma remain unresolved, then we cannot even benefit ourselves---how could we possibly benefit others, benefit limitless sentient beings? So bodhisattvas likewise need to generate renunciation, and even more strongly than śrāvakas. Without a genuine awareness of the suffering of samsara, without an urgent wish to be free of it, so-called bodhicitta will ultimately be reduced to a slogan, shallow and insincere. If we are content with our present situation and have no wish to leave it behind, yet we say that we "vow to lead all sentient beings to liberation"---isn't that an empty falsehood, deceiving both ourselves and others?
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In the same text, Je Tsongkhapa goes on to tell us: "Only after one has sought to emerge from cyclic existence can one, seeing that sentient beings are one's own relatives, arouse bodhicitta for their sake." Only on the basis of seeking personal liberation can we go further and aspire to lead all sentient beings to liberation together. Liberation is the very foundation of the Buddhadharma. We could say that Buddhist practice exists to seek liberation, and spiritual cultivation exists to accomplish liberation. Thus, renunciation forms the common foundation for all practices. But for practitioners of the bodhisattva path, personal liberation alone is not enough. We must extend this to others, seeing all sentient beings suffering in samsara and extending this renunciation to every one of them, guiding them to liberation together. In this sense, bodhicitta is precisely the extension and perfection of renunciation. In other words, the two paths share the same starting point; only the endpoint differs.
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How can we lead sentient beings to liberation? Passion alone is clearly not enough. Strictly speaking, we must have the experience and capacity for liberation. At the very least, we must understand the principles of liberation. Otherwise, how can we serve as a guide for sentient beings? If we ourselves are blind people who cannot tell directions, yet we want to lead the masses along a rugged mountain path full of thorns, forks, and obstacles, that is merely foolhardy courage---a foolish act that benefits neither ourselves nor others, and it is certainly not what the Buddha advocated. Therefore, before cultivating bodhicitta, we must first arouse renunciation and practice the path to liberation.
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So what is renunciation? It is the wish to leave samsara behind. Its standard as a mental state is to no longer harbor any expectation of or attachment to the splendors of cyclic existence. But in this age of unprecedented material abundance, people have created far too many temptations that numb body and mind, causing the mind to indulge in them and become unable to free itself. So although modern people feel very tired, crushed under unbearable pressure, they mostly do not feel that life is too painful. For there is always some new stimulus to deflect the pain, always some fleeting satisfaction from material desire to dilute it, driving us to exhaust ourselves chasing phantom joys, growing numb by the day through the stimulation of various cravings. The result is a progressive loss of our capacity to even feel suffering.
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Some may wonder: why should we "seek out suffering"? Why should we feel what everyone tries so hard to avoid? We must understand that this sensitivity is actually a protective mechanism for life. Just as we need regular health check-ups to detect illness early and seize the moment for treatment, so too we must maintain awareness of suffering in order to locate its source and address it in time. Otherwise, once the disease has reached a critical stage, everything will be too late.
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How can we awaken from this numbness? We need to contemplate death and impermanence constantly, and contemplate the suffering of samsara. For death is an outcome that life cannot escape, and samsara is the track from which ordinary beings cannot break free. Only by facing this reality squarely can we know what is of true value to our lives and what is the most urgent task before us.
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(1) Contemplating Death and Impermanence
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People tend to unconsciously avoid the topic of death, unwilling to think about it, still less to speak of it, as though this could somehow leave death behind. But in truth, can we escape it? Where exactly does that death we were born with lie in wait for us? The *Stages of the Path* gives us three angles from which to contemplate this.
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First, contemplate that the Lord of Death will surely come and no one can stop him. From ancient times to the present, whether king or beggar, whether strong or weak, who has escaped this ending? There is no need to speak of those in the past---even these lively people before our eyes, these lives that speak and move and seem to possess boundless energy, within at most a hundred years will report to another world. During this time, our lifespan never increases; it only decreases day by day. If we compare birth to the starting point of life, then from the very moment we arrived in this world, we have been walking at every instant toward death, the final destination. With each passing day, with each added year, we draw closer to that endpoint. In other words, the time remaining likewise dwindles, just as the *Dhammapada* says: "This day is already past; life diminishes with it. Like fish in dwindling water---what joy is there in this?"
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Second, contemplate that the time of death is uncertain. When we are healthy and alive, we always assume that life will remain strong and enduring. In truth, human life is no more than an in-breath and an out-breath---if the breath does not come, the turning of one breath is the next life. In this world, every time we take a breath, someone has stopped breathing; every time our heart beats, someone's heart has stopped beating. Among them are those who have lived out their natural span, but also many who die young or meet sudden, violent deaths. Even if we are young and healthy now, seemingly with a long life ahead to enjoy, no one can guarantee what will happen tomorrow, or even in the next moment. In fact, the Lord of Death is waiting at our side at all times, ready to arrive uninvited.
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Third, contemplate that at the time of death, nothing but the Dharma is of any help. When death arrives, which of the things we now cling to---family, status, wealth---can do anything? Can a harmonious family prevent us from dying? Can abundant resources prevent us from dying? Can a high position prevent us from dying? In fact, there is nothing in this world that we can trade with the Lord of Death. Worse still, all of these things will instead make us feel all kinds of reluctance, bringing even more suffering. For most people, the more they own, the more they cling to. And this ownership and attachment become obstacles at the moment of death. On one side, there is the nostalgia for what was once possessed; on the other, the terror of losing everything. But the Lord of Death will not grant us any leniency just because we are nostalgic or afraid. Even worse, such nostalgia and fear often rob us of our final chance to summon right mindfulness. The result: with no other choice, we drift helplessly along with our karma.
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By constantly recollecting death from these three angles, we will recognize the impermanent, illusory nature of the world, and thereby reduce our cravings and arouse the wish to be free. Thus, contemplating death is a crucial support for giving rise to renunciation.
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(2) Contemplating the Suffering of Samsara
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Sentient beings circulate endlessly among the six realms of existence, bobbing up and down without autonomy, filled with every kind of suffering. The Buddhist texts mainly summarize this as the eight sufferings and the six sufferings. If we can thoroughly penetrate the nature of samsara, we will not be fooled by the glamorous illusions it puts on display. So we need to reflect repeatedly upon the suffering of samsara.
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The eight sufferings are: the suffering of birth, the suffering of aging, the suffering of illness, the suffering of death, the suffering of being separated from what we love, the suffering of not getting what we seek, the suffering of encountering what we hate, and the suffering of the blazing five aggregates. First of all, we have no control over birth, aging, illness, and death. From the very day we were cast into this world by karma, we have busied ourselves day after day for the sake of this body---finding food when hungry, finding clothes when cold. We do not want to grow old, yet old age draws near; we do not want to fall ill, yet illness besets us; we do not want to die, yet we have no choice. Which of these is not the opposite of what we wish? Which is an outcome we would gladly see? Beyond the burdens of the body, there are also the pain of being separated across vast distances from those we love (separation from the beloved), the pain of narrow encounters with those we detest (meeting the hated), and the pain of being unable to obtain all that we seek (not getting what we want). These sufferings are ones we have all experienced, are experiencing, and will continue to experience. Even if we isolate ourselves from the world, our minds can still manufacture affliction on their own---this is the suffering of the blazing five aggregates. Why do people, beyond meeting their basic survival needs, keep busying themselves without pause? The reason is that there are too many desires, too much mental rubbish, too many emotions within, keeping body and mind in constant, uncontrollable turmoil.
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Beyond the eight sufferings, the *Suhrllekha* also summarizes the suffering of samsara in six points.
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First, there is no certainty. In samsara, sometimes we are reborn in the heavens enjoying bliss, and sometimes we plunge into the hell realms. Whatever karma ripens, we follow that karma into rebirth---we cannot choose, and yet we are helpless.
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Second, there is no knowing satisfaction. Spurred by ignorance, sentient beings keep generating new demands. Especially today, many desires have been indulged beyond all restraint. In order to satisfy ever more wants, people grow ever busier and ever more blind, having long lost sight of what these desires really are. The things they pour the most energy into are often not what life actually needs, but pursuits drummed up by society's prodding. In other words, what we trade away our lives for are merely things we could do perfectly well without. Think about it carefully---what a terribly unequal transaction this is.
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Third and fourth, we repeatedly abandon our bodies and repeatedly take rebirth. We fear death, yet we continually go through the anguish of parting from loved ones at death, and ceaselessly shuttle between dying and being reborn. When we don't want to die, we have no say; where we don't want to go, we likewise have no say. Not to mention rebirth---even the career we choose right now or the environment we come into contact with is often beyond our power to decide.
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Fifth, we are repeatedly high and low---our status rises and falls unpredictably, in constant flux. Amid such turbulence and change, suffering is unavoidable.
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Sixth, we journey alone. People all fear loneliness, which is why they form families and seek emotional solace. But when we must leave this world, we invariably set out alone. Even blood relatives cannot walk hand in hand with us. Of course, if deep karmic connections bind us, we may meet again in the future. But for a certain stretch of time, we will certainly be solitary, with no one at our side.
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Contemplating death and impermanence, and the faults of samsara, is not meant to plunge us into despair or suffering. It is meant to remind us: nothing before us is reliable. Otherwise, we remain in habitual numbness, assuming that we can go on like this forever. Once circumstances change, suffering follows immediately. In everyday life, we often see people whose careers are booming suddenly diagnosed with an incurable illness. They become flustered, at a loss. That is because we spend our whole lives busy with the matters right in front of us, but never make any preparation for the death that is certain to come, never make any arrangement for life's final destination. We must realize that the human life we now possess is the only chance we have to change our destiny. If we fail to put to use the value that this identity holds, if we fail to use this human life---so hard to obtain and so easy to lose---for spiritual practice, then once death arrives, we will continue to wander in samsara, and it will be too late for regret.
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{#菩提心是出离心的延伸和圆满}
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### 2. Bodhicitta as the Extension and Perfection of Renunciation
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As practitioners of the bodhisattva path, on the basis of having generated renunciation, we must go further and arouse bodhicitta, expanding the mind that seeks liberation from just ourselves to include all sentient beings. Thus, whether we arouse renunciation or bodhicitta, the goal is to accomplish liberation---this is the fundamental and only goal. It is not as though there is some liberation that is higher or more ultimate beyond this liberation.
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The difference between the two lies solely in their objects. Renunciation is oriented toward personal liberation, while bodhicitta is oriented toward all sentient beings, vowing to achieve liberation together with them. Buddhism holds that, at the ultimate level, "mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are without distinction." That is to say, the individual and all sentient beings are one. Only through the mistaken construct of self-attachment have we created the division of self and other and set them in opposition. Once we let go of this mistaken construct, benefiting others becomes a conscious rather than a reluctant choice, an active rather than a passive act.
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In this sense, bodhicitta is the extension and perfection of renunciation. Merely arousing renunciation can only accomplish personal liberation. Only by leaving samsara together with all sentient beings can we accomplish the quality of perfect wisdom and compassion that the Buddha embodies.
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{#五发起愿菩提心}
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## V. Generating Aspiring Bodhicitta
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Aspiring bodhicitta is the wish to "help all sentient beings leave samsara." For ordinary beings, this wish does not arise easily. We could say that we have never truly had such a wish before. Of course, this does not mean we have never helped others. In fact, nearly everyone has performed altruistic acts to varying degrees, whether actively or passively---the difference lies only in how many beings are included. Yet no matter how wide the range of beings we are willing to help, we can never extend it to all, because the mental foundation of ordinary beings is inherently limited and pervaded by inequality.
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When we face sentient beings, we make distinctions between self and other, between nations, between races, between friend and foe. We will like some, dislike others, and be completely indifferent to most, staying unaware of their existence. On such a mental foundation, bodhicitta is hard to bring forth. Just as sowing seeds requires a fertile field, we also need to create a mental environment suitable for the seed of bodhi, so that it can take root, sprout, and gradually ripen. The Buddhist texts provide two lines of approach for generating bodhicitta: the Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect, and exchanging self and others.
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{#七因果}
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### 1. The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect
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The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect practice comes from Master Atiśa's *Bodhipathapradīpa*. The "seven points" are seven links in the process of generating bodhicitta: recognizing all beings as having been our mothers, recollecting their kindness, repaying their kindness, cultivating loving-kindness, cultivating compassion, generating the extraordinary attitude, and arousing bodhicitta. These steps form a progressively unfolding causal chain, guiding us to give rise to an impartial mind of affectionate regard toward all sentient beings. "Affectionate regard" is what we usually call a sense of goodwill. What is the greatest obstacle to arousing bodhicitta? It is the feeling that those sentient beings have nothing to do with me. Sentient beings are sentient beings, I am I; their suffering and even their life and death are none of my concern. And toward those we do not feel goodwill for, not only do we lack the wish to benefit them, we may even build our own happiness on their suffering, gloating and clapping our hands when they encounter hardship. What utterly misguided behavior this is! The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect practice guides us to recognize anew our relationship with all sentient beings. Once we establish that connection, we can gradually develop goodwill, and eventually feel their suffering as our own. The practice of the Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect can be carried out through four steps.
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> Step one: contemplate equanimity, generating a mind of impartiality toward all sentient beings.
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Because of their likes and dislikes, ordinary beings are perpetually in a state of inequality. Even when compassion arises, it is partial and selective. But bodhicitta is impartial and non-discriminating, so we must let go of our existing preferences and aversions. For these preferences and aversions arise from the mind's confused sensations and are determined by various karmic conditions. From the perspective of samsara, the close relatives of past lives have long since become strangers; the family and friends of this present life have merely come together through a convergence of causes and conditions. Once those conditions disperse, we will each go our separate ways---there is nothing fixed or substantial here. In addition, certain likes and dislikes are connected to our moods: when we feel happy, everyone looks agreeable; when we are down, everyone seems annoying. Other likes and dislikes are connected to interests: shared interests may give rise to goodwill toward certain people, but once the relationship changes, the feeling changes with it.
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Recognizing that our preferences and aversions are illusory, we should not cling to them, be deceived by them, or be swayed by them. This contemplation should be practiced not only on the meditation seat but also applied off the seat. When we regard all sentient beings with impartiality, we can counteract the greed and anger that arise from personal likes and dislikes, and nurture the unconditioned great loving-kindness and the great compassion that sees all beings as one that characterize the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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> Step two: contemplate all sentient beings as having been our mothers, cultivating goodwill toward them.
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The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect practice begins by viewing all sentient beings as our own mothers. In fact, Confucianism has a similar idea: "Within the four seas, all are brothers." But people today, influenced by materialism, find this notion hard to accept. They feel that a mother is one unique person, non-interchangeable and non-substitutable---how could she be related to countless millions of sentient beings? From the perspective of the Buddhadharma, however, relationships between people are not limited to this present life; they extend across endless cycles of samsara. I sometimes think of the six realms as an enormous blender, and we are the tiny grains of sand tossed within it, in the ceaseless churning of endless rebirth, coming together now and separating now. So these relationships are by no means a single linear genealogy---they are intricate and complex, full of infinite possibilities, including the possibility of being flesh-and-blood family. If we can regard sentient beings with this mindset, then when we meet anyone---indeed, any living being---we will not feel estranged just because they seem to have nothing to do with us.
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Once we have formed this view, we need to keep consolidating it. On the one hand, we should spend some time each day visualizing on the meditation seat until it becomes a settled conviction. On the other hand, we should apply it continuously in daily life. Whenever we meet any sentient being, we remind ourselves: here is a family member I lost long ago in the vastness of samsara, and now at last we have met again. I will do all I can to help them leave suffering and find happiness. Of course, given our current mental state, it is genuinely difficult to view all sentient beings as our mothers. It may feel forced, requiring great effort to convince ourselves. But this is not a problem, because all views are cultivated step by step. The key is to accept this view and reinforce it repeatedly.
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> Step three: toward these mother-like sentient beings, generate the mind of recollecting kindness and repaying kindness.
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Once we recognize that all sentient beings have been our mothers, we must further contemplate a mother's kindness. Modern society does not emphasize filial education, so many people have no idea of recollecting kindness and have never considered just how much their mother has given them. Consider: without our mother's ten months of pregnancy and painstaking nurturing, we could never have come into this world, still less grown to adulthood. From this perspective, everything we have today is inseparable from our mother. Even if we offered our whole being in return, it could scarcely match the kindness of giving us life and raising us.
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In addition, we can contemplate the kindness of sentient beings from another angle. For we do not live in isolation in this world. We need our parents to raise us, teachers to instruct us, and even after reaching adulthood, we remain dependent on what the wider community provides. Otherwise, we would have to grow our own food, weave our own cloth, and manufacture everything needed for daily life. Just for the basic needs of clothing, food, shelter, and transport each day, how much help, how much sacrifice, have we received from sentient beings? So every sentient being is someone to whom we owe gratitude, someone we should repay with a grateful heart.
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Modern people pay a great deal of attention to the feeling of "self." But from the perspective of the Buddhadharma, this "self" is nothing but a colossal, thoroughly fabricated scam. Misled by this feeling, people easily set themselves against the world and even regard every person as a potential enemy, leading to loneliness, withdrawal, depression, and other psychological disorders. If we shift our perspective and consider that everyone has shown us kindness, that the whole world is serving us, then no one we meet will feel like a stranger.
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So we should frequently remind ourselves to rest the mind steadily in gratitude. Whenever this feeling grows dim, we must reinforce it through analytical meditation: contemplate the kindness that sentient beings have shown us---contemplate until the mind of gratitude arises, then rest in it. In this process, analytical meditation and stabilizing meditation should alternate. Use analytical meditation to evoke gratitude, then use stabilizing meditation to hold it steady and sustain it. In the early stages of practice, this feeling cannot be sustained for long; it will gradually fade, move to the periphery, and be displaced by other mental states. That calls for evoking it again. Through repeated evocation and stabilization, the mental state will gradually become steady and ultimately reach a level of spontaneous ease.
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Once we have aroused gratitude on the meditation seat, we must extend this mental state into our post-meditation practice, continuously applying it in daily life so that it becomes consolidated and grows. From the perspective of phenomena, we all live in the same world. But in fact, we each live in our own separate worlds. Because our views and mental states differ, because our angles of observation differ, the world we each see is different. If we can keep a sense of gratitude in our hearts at all times, we will dwell in a world of gratitude, a world of joy.
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> Step four: contemplate how mother-like sentient beings are suffering in samsara, and generate compassion.
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Loving-kindness is the wish to give happiness; compassion is the wish to remove suffering. The arising of loving-kindness and compassion is inseparable from the contemplations of recollecting kindness and repaying kindness. Why are we so indifferent to the suffering of sentient beings? Most of the time, it is because we feel they have nothing to do with us. If our own parents and dearest ones were suffering, could we bear to turn a blind eye? Could we bear not to ask or care? So reflecting on this relationship is extremely important. We must contemplate that mother-like sentient beings are suffering in samsara---suffering of the body, suffering of the mind, and the double torment of body and mind. Amid layer upon layer of endless suffering, they are all trying to avoid pain and seek happiness. This is in fact the instinct of all living things and the driving force of human civilization. But because people's self-understanding is insufficient, such solutions usually offer only temporary relief and rarely achieve real effectiveness. The giving of happiness and removal of suffering spoken of in the Buddhadharma aims not only to give sentient beings temporary well-being, but to give them ultimate benefit; not only to relieve the suffering before their eyes, but to eliminate the very source that produces that suffering.
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We should not only contemplate the suffering of sentient beings on the meditation seat, but go out and observe it off the seat as well: go to hospitals, to orphanages, to slums, to food markets, to all the places where countless beings are suffering. Do this until we personally feel the suffering of sentient beings and our compassion is aroused, until we vow to take benefiting sentient beings as our mission. Only when compassion reaches this degree can we be said to have entered bodhicitta. If we merely feel a flicker of sympathy when we chance to see something, then sigh and forget it the moment we turn away, there is still a great distance to bodhicitta. For bodhicitta is the noble aspiration to "liberate all sentient beings and benefit all sentient beings," and the commitment to treat this aspiration as a non-negotiable responsibility in this life. Śrāvakas also cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; they also teach the Dharma and liberate beings. Why, then, is their aspiration not called bodhicitta? Precisely because they lack this sense of commitment, this courage of "who, if not me?"
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In truth, everyone has some measure of compassion. But our compassion is narrow---it is differentiated and ranked according to the closeness of our relationships and our personal likes and dislikes. In the state of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, however, there is no sentient being they are unwilling to benefit, and no sentient being who is not an object of their compassion. As vast as the universe is, as vast as the Dharma realm is, so vast is the compassion of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Such compassion is founded on emptiness, which is why it pervades all times and all places. How can we reach such a state? We need to keep opening the scope of the mind, from holding only ourselves, or a few individuals, to a hundred or so, and then to tens of thousands, even millions; from including those we like, to those we feel indifferent toward, to those we dislike; from including humans, to including all animals, and ultimately all sentient beings.
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This expansion is also, at the same time, the dismantling of the narrow constructs of self-attachment. All boundaries in the world are artificial. It is precisely these constructs that carve the mind---which could hold the whole of space---into narrow, confined rooms. And once constructs are in place, they further lead to opposition, conflict, and even war. All conflicts in this world are the result of such self-created constructs. What spiritual practice does is dismantle these constructs one by one, restoring the mind to its original state, restoring the mind to its limitlessness. This is why the great masters of every generation have taken "The Practices and Vows" as a preliminary for cultivating bodhicitta: the contemplative principles it sets forth use space as the reference and the Dharma realm as the object. In this way, we can directly simulate the characteristic mental activity of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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Compassion and bodhicitta are mutually reinforcing, just as "The Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva" says: "All tathagatas take great compassion as their essence. It is because of sentient beings that great compassion arises; it is because of great compassion that bodhicitta arises; and it is because of bodhicitta that one attains perfect awakening." What is the essence of the buddhas and bodhisattvas? What is the life quality of the buddhas and bodhisattvas? It is precisely great compassion, limitless and encompassing all sentient beings. On this basis, bodhicitta can arise further. And from another angle, bodhicitta can in turn infinitely expand compassion, ultimately bringing about the perfect great compassion of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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{#自他相换}
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### 2. Exchanging Self and Others
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The practice of exchanging self and others comes from Bodhisattva Śāntideva's *Bodhicaryāvatāra*. It is the practice of turning the mind that cherishes oneself toward all sentient beings, and turning the mind that disregards sentient beings toward oneself. In the process of arousing bodhicitta and practicing the path of benefiting others, the greatest obstacle is none other than that deep-rooted, endlessly cunning self-attachment. Exchanging self and others happens to be a particularly powerful Dharma gate that directly counteracts self-attachment.
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When we suffer even a minor ache or pain, we find it nearly unbearable and treat it as a major crisis, yet we remain indifferent to the life and death of sentient beings. Because we care only about ourselves, and feel that only we are important. This sense of self-importance is self-attachment. When the heart is entirely occupied by the self, it naturally remains closed to sentient beings, unable to connect with them. In that case, how can we possibly feel what they feel? How can we share their joys and sorrows? Yet the practice of bodhicitta calls for benefiting all sentient beings, which means we must destroy self-attachment and take sentient beings into our hearts, intimately experiencing their happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy, and feeling their true needs. The practice of exchanging self and others can also be carried out through four steps.
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> Step one: contemplate the equality of self and others, dissolving the distinction between them.
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This is the prerequisite for practicing the Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect. If we maintain a strong sense of opposition between self and other, we will be unable to cultivate impartial compassion. We must first recognize that so-called self and other are merely artificial constructs, labels we have added. Essentially, we and all sentient beings are equal and without distinction. Only with this mental foundation can we possibly cultivate vast compassion.
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> Step two: contemplate the many faults of self-attachment, thereby counteracting this ingrained tendency.
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Sentient beings are perpetually concerned with themselves, caring about themselves. But what does this feeling actually mean for us? Has this self-concern brought peace to our minds? Has it brought happiness to our lives? We care only about ourselves, and likewise, others care only about their own feelings. If everyone clings to the self, then feelings clash with feelings, creating opposition.
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Thus, self-attachment is the root of all affliction. Because I like, I want to possess; because I dislike, I want to resist. This keeps us perpetually oscillating between craving and aversion, and the suffering they bring. At the same time, self-attachment also gives rise to such tendencies as pride: always feeling superior to others, putting on airs of superiority and arrogance. Naturally, people are unwilling to associate with such a person, making it hard to build harmonious relationships. Further, self-attachment leads to unscrupulous behavior---to protect personal interests, one will not hesitate to harm others and commit wrongdoings. We can say that self-attachment is the root of every harmful act in this world, and even of crime.
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Someone may protest: "If I don't love myself, don't care about myself, how can I go about living?" The truth is, without self-attachment, it does not stop you from eating, from walking, or from interacting with others. Everything can still proceed normally. But life becomes simpler and healthier because of it. On the other hand, once the stamp of "self" is added, everything becomes complicated and distorted, making us worry about gains and losses, constantly afraid that this "I" is being shortchanged or taken advantage of.
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Well then, what exactly is this "self" that we love, this "self" for which we scheme and labor with such intensity? Most people actually have no idea. Observed through the lens of the Buddhadharma, our present life-form is a composite of the five aggregates: the aggregate of form, which is the material component, and the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, which are the mental components. The physical body is formed from the genetic endowment of our parents combined with the nourishment of food and drink. But from the very instant consciousness enters the womb, we take these material elements to be "I" and cling to them relentlessly. Our present emotions and ideas are even more clearly not inborn; they are accumulated throughout the process of growing up. Among all these raw materials, which one can be said to belong to "me"? Which one has a fixed, unchanging nature?
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Life is akin to a system. We always assume that everything expressed by that system represents "me." When we get angry, we think it is "I" who is angry. And since it is the inviolable "I" who is angry, it seems quite necessary to let this anger burn stronger, last longer, and draw more attention. When we want to obtain something, we do not consider whether the desire is healthy or beneficial; as long as "I" want it, I should get it. Once we get it, we then think of surpassing others, without considering whether such demands are realistic or beneficial. Many of our negative emotions are like tumors of the mind. When a physical tumor appears, we try every means to consult doctors, seek medicine, and actively pursue treatment. But when a tumor grows in the mind, we often look at it as though seeing nothing at all---as if it were an inborn part of us, a reasonable and natural presence. Too often, we even supply nourishment to this tumor, allowing it to keep growing and swelling.
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The selflessness taught in the Buddhadharma helps us break free from the mistaken attachment to "I." When we can observe with the wisdom of prajñā, we discover that the five aggregates are merely a tool formed through the convergence of causes and conditions. We can use it to work, to cultivate the path, to serve sentient beings, and to accomplish every merit of both the mundane and supramundane worlds. To make better use of this tool, we need to promptly eliminate all malfunctions that appear in the system---physical as well as psychological---so that it can perform at its best. Yet many people, through misuse, end up becoming slaves to the tool, swayed by the various confused sensations of the "self." To practice selflessness, we must first view this system as an object. When thoughts arise, instead of plunging headlong into them, we take them as objects of observation, just as we observe a book we are reading or a film we are watching. Every thought that arises is clearly known, yet we do not get caught up in it. A life lived this way becomes transcendent through letting go, free through non-abiding. So we can live perfectly well without self-attachment---and indeed, we can live far better.
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> Step three: contemplate the benefits of loving others, giving rise to the mind that cherishes others.
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Some may ask: "Why should I love others? Why should I arouse bodhicitta? What benefit does arousing it bring me?" This is in fact a major obstacle that keeps many people from wanting to benefit others. For ordinary beings, benefit is an important reference for making judgments and choices. When something brings benefit, people flock to it even without being asked; when something does not, it is hard to get anyone to do it willingly, no matter how much you urge. So we need contemplative practice to realize just what benefits cherishing sentient beings can actually bring us. Once we understand this, loving others becomes our active choice. Think of investors---why are they willing, even eager, to put money in? Precisely because they understand that only a temporary outlay can bring a rich return. So what exactly are the benefits of loving others?
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If we cherish sentient beings, we will not commit such negative acts as killing and stealing, and we will avoid the harmful consequences these bring. If we cherish sentient beings, we will practice such virtues as generosity and patience, drawing forth the happy results of the future. If we cherish sentient beings, we will also receive their goodwill and help in return, building positive relationships. If we cherish sentient beings, we will sincerely rejoice in others' achievements instead of triggering jealousy, resentment, and other unhealthy states, and thus we will be joyful and at ease at all times. If we truly implement cherishing and benefiting others in our mental activity, compassion will increase day by day, ultimately bringing to perfection the qualities of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. This is the greatest and most ultimate benefit in the world.
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Once we recognize the significance of caring for sentient beings, we must let the mind rest in this state for extended periods, and bring this state into our daily lives. For benefiting others is not a slogan---it cannot be accomplished merely by talking or thinking about it. It must be put into action, so that sentient beings can actually benefit from it. At the same time, through altruistic deeds, we consolidate our loving-kindness and nurture our compassionate aspirations.
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> Step four: contemplate the benefits of exchanging self and others, and practice exchanging self and others.
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Exchanging self and others means swapping the objects we now cherish and disregard. Ordinarily, people treat themselves with cherishing and concern, and treat sentient beings with indifference and neglect. The practice of bodhicitta is to turn this mind that cherishes oneself toward cherishing all sentient beings, and to turn the mind that disregards sentient beings toward letting go of one's own sense of importance. In other words, we switch the positions we give to ourselves and to sentient beings in our hearts.
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Of course, this exchange is not easy to carry out. We all have an instinct for self-protection. The moment this protective mechanism is touched, self-attachment will manufacture countless obstacles---direct resistance, indirect excuses, and even all manner of high-sounding justifications that let us continue guarding the territory of "self" with a clear conscience. How can we counteract this? Again, we need to begin by adjusting our views, by reflecting on the faults of self-attachment and the benefits of altruism.
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The *Stages of the Path* tells us: "Self-attachment is the door to all decline and loss; benefiting others is the root of all merits." All the evil, suffering, and affliction in the world arise from selfishness, from the mistaken attachment to self. And all the benefit, merit, and joy arise from benefiting others, from unconditionally helping sentient beings. In life, we can observe that the more people care about themselves, the less happy they are. For they always feel they are getting the short end of the stick, always feel they have suffered losses, always feel they haven't grabbed enough advantage. Caught in this warped cycle of thinking, how could they ever be happy? Conversely, why can the buddhas and bodhisattvas accomplish boundless merit? Precisely because they have no self in their hearts---only sentient beings. As the saying goes, "A heart without selfishness is as wide as heaven and earth." When we let go of the "self," we do not lose anything; instead, we gain the whole world.
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Having recognized the faults of self-attachment and the merits of altruism, do we still want to continue in affliction? Do we not wish to accomplish the boundless merit of the buddhas and bodhisattvas? This calls for adjusting our mental activity. On the one hand, shift the object of our cherishing to all sentient beings, rather than that long-pampered "self." For such cherishing merely provides more nourishment for affliction, making it stronger and more stubborn. On the other hand, turn the indifference we once directed at sentient beings toward ourselves. This does not mean we stop caring for our physical and mental health, but that we no longer indulge the "self's" various schemes and demands, giving it no opportunities to exploit and no food with which to grow and swell. Over time, this "self," starved of sustenance, will gradually wither, losing the energy to stir up trouble.
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The practice of exchanging self and others destroys self-attachment from both sides. For self-attachment and altruism are opponents in a zero-sum game: as one rises, the other falls. When self-attachment is strong, it is very difficult to summon the mind of altruism. Conversely, when we wholeheartedly devote ourselves to benefiting others, self-attachment has few chances to appear on stage. This is why both Indian and Tibetan traditions place great emphasis on exchanging self and others. Beyond seated meditation, we must put it into practice off the seat as well. Regard this body of the five aggregates as an altruistic tool---rare to obtain and easy to lose---and use it to widely practice the six pāramitās and benefit all beings.
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{#六受持愿菩提心}
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## VI. Upholding Aspiring Bodhicitta
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After we arouse aspiring bodhicitta through contemplation of the Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect and exchanging self and others, in order to consolidate this aspiration, we must take a vow before all buddhas of the ten directions and all sentient beings of the six realms---that is, we receive the bodhicitta precepts. This is not merely a ceremony; it is a solemn commitment before all buddhas and a solemn commitment before all sentient beings. Once we have made this commitment, we have no grounds for finding excuses. Otherwise, the greatest trait of the ordinary mind is being clever at finding excuses. Whenever there is something we do not feel like doing, whenever something conflicts with the "self," we can always come up with plenty of reasons. The function of taking the vow is, on the one hand, to strengthen the aspiration, and on the other, to cut off the escape route of retreat.
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Chinese Buddhism is Mahayana, and many people consider it an honor to receive the bodhisattva precepts. But let us ask ourselves: have we actually aroused bodhicitta? Are we actually cultivating compassion? If we have neither aroused bodhicitta nor cultivated compassion, what sort of bodhisattva are we? We are not even a clay bodhisattva. When receiving the bodhisattva precepts, the preceptor will ask: "Are you a bodhisattva? Have you aroused bodhicitta?" If our answer is no, we are not qualified to receive the bodhisattva precepts.
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{#传统依据}
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### 1. Traditional Basis
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The true meaning of being a bodhisattva lies in compassion and wisdom. This is why both the Indian and Tibetan traditions contain records of conferring the bodhicitta precepts. By upholding aspiring bodhicitta, we establish the wish "to benefit all sentient beings" and "to help all sentient beings gain liberation from samsara" as the goal of our lives.
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The *Yogacarabhumi*, "Chapter on Generating the Aspiration," says: "Moreover, when bodhisattvas generate the correct aspirational mind and seek bodhi, they give rise to such a mind and speak such words: 'May I definitely realize unsurpassed, perfect awakening, and may I accomplish all that is meaningful and beneficial for sentient beings, ultimately establishing them securely in final nirvana and in the vast wisdom of the tathagatas.'" When bodhisattvas wish to arouse bodhicitta, they must make this vow: may I in the future realize unsurpassed perfect bodhi, always abide in the vast wisdom of the tathagatas, and thereby benefit all sentient beings.
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The *Prakaranaryavaca-sastra* also tells us: "Conventional generation of the aspiration: a certain person, standing respectfully before a wise one, gives rise to a superior intention and makes this vow: 'Venerable one, please bear witness (or: Noble one, please bear witness; or: Upadhyaya), I, so-and-so, from this day forth arouse the mind for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, wishing to benefit all sentient beings. Henceforth, whatever generosity, ethical discipline, patience, right effort, meditative concentration, and wisdom I cultivate shall all be for the realization of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'"
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Conventional generation of the aspiration refers to aspiring bodhicitta. When generating the aspiration, one must request a qualified bodhisattva to serve as witness and, with utmost sincerity, make this vow: "I, so-and-so, from this day forward, for the sake of benefiting sentient beings, arouse the mind for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. From now on, all virtuous practices I cultivate---generosity and the other pāramitās---are for the accomplishment of unsurpassed buddhahood." For only by attaining buddhahood can we have greater capacity to help sentient beings and benefit all living creatures---as the verse says, "For the sake of benefiting beings, I vow to attain buddhahood."
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Both Gampopa's *Jewel Ornament of Liberation* and Je Tsongkhapa's *Stages of the Path* contain sections on conferring the bodhicitta precepts. Based on these texts, I have also compiled a *Liturgy for Receiving and Upholding the Bodhicitta Precepts*, which includes requesting the preceptor, chanting praises, the preceptor's instructions, inviting the noble assembly, Mahayana refuge, the Seven-Limbed Practice, and the formal conferral of bodhicitta. Before generating the aspiration, one first recites the Mahayana refuge, then uses the Seven-Limbed Practice to open the scope of the mind and create a wholesome mental atmosphere for arousing bodhicitta. After the formal vow, one further makes the Four Great Vows, the universal vows of the bodhisattva path. Next, one chants the praise to Avalokiteśvara and recites Avalokiteśvara's name. Since Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is the embodiment of compassion, reciting Avalokiteśvara's name is reciting the mind of great compassion. This recitation is not merely taking Avalokiteśvara as an object of reverence, but taking him as a model to learn from. Through recollection, we emulate him and accomplish within ourselves the same great loving-kindness and great compassion as Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Finally, the practitioner, for the swift accomplishment of the buddha path and the benefit of all sentient beings, makes a sincere dedication.
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{#正授仪轨}
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### 2. The Conferral Rite
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Preparation: In a buddha hall or main hall, clean and sweep thoroughly. Sprinkle with the finest perfumed water, such as sandalwood. Display sacred images of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as sacred texts such as the *Prajñāpāramitā Sutras*. Arrange offerings of incense, flowers, lamps, and fruit in abundance. The seat of the teacher should also be beautifully arranged with flowers and incense. Then invite the noble assembly. Disciples should bathe and wear clean, fresh clothing, join their palms in reverence, and generate sincere faith before the Three Jewels of the ten directions.
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> (I) Requesting the Preceptor
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The aspirant approaches the preceptor and, seeking aspiring bodhicitta, kneels with palms joined and says:
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> Just as the tathagatas, arhats, and perfectly awakened ones of the past, and all great bodhisattvas who have entered the stages, first aroused the mind for unsurpassed, perfect bodhi, so now I, disciple so-and-so, request the acarya to bear witness: I too now arouse the mind for unsurpassed, perfect bodhi. (Three times)
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>
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> (II) Chanting the Incense Praise
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>
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> As the censer's incense begins to burn, the Dharma realm is suffused with its fragrance. The oceanic assemblies of buddhas all sense it from afar. Everywhere auspicious clouds gather. With utmost sincerity, the buddhas manifest their full presence.
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>
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> Homage to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva, Cloud of Fragrant Incense. (Three times)
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>
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> (III) The Preceptor's Instructions
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The preceptor gives teachings on the bodhicitta doctrine and the significance of upholding aspiring bodhicitta.
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> (IV) Inviting the Noble Assembly
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The preceptor leads the aspirant in reciting, sincerely inviting the Three Jewels of the ten directions to extend their compassionate light:
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> With incense and flowers we welcome! With incense and flowers we invite! Disciple so-and-so single-mindedly invokes: all buddhas of the ten directions and three times, filling space and pervading the Dharma realm.
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>
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> With incense and flowers we welcome! With incense and flowers we invite! Disciple so-and-so single-mindedly invokes: all sacred Dharma of the ten directions and three times, filling space and pervading the Dharma realm.
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>
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> With incense and flowers we welcome! With incense and flowers we invite! Disciple so-and-so single-mindedly invokes: all noble sangha of the ten directions and three times, filling space and pervading the Dharma realm. (Recite three times, with three prostrations)
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>
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> (V) Mahayana Refuge
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The aspirant recollects the suffering of samsara, recollects the virtues of the Three Jewels, and generates a mind of sincere refuge. The preceptor leads the aspirant in reciting:
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> In the Buddha, Dharma, and supreme assembly, I take refuge until I reach bodhi.
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>
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> With all the roots of virtue I have cultivated, for the benefit of sentient beings, may I attain buddhahood. (Recite three times, with three prostrations)
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>
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> (VI) Practicing the Seven-Limbed Practice
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The aspirant practices the Seven-Limbed Practice to accumulate merit, purify obstacles, open the scope of the mind, and create a wholesome mental environment for arousing bodhicitta. The preceptor leads the aspirant in sincere recitation:
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> In all the worlds of the ten directions, All lions among humans of the three times,
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>
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> With pure body, speech, and mind I pay homage, To every one, without exception.
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>
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> Through the majestic power of Samantabhadra's practices and vows, I appear before every tathagata,
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>
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> And in body after body, numerous as the atoms of the land, I pay homage to every buddha, numerous as the atoms of the land.
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>
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> In a single atom, buddhas numerous as atoms, Each seated amid an assembly of bodhisattvas---
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>
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> So it is throughout the endless Dharma realm, And I have deep faith that they all fill it.
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>
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> With oceans of every sound, I send forth endless wondrous words,
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>
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> And for all eons of the future, I praise the buddhas' vast ocean of virtues.
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>
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> With the finest wondrous flower garlands, Music, perfumed ointments, and parasols,
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>
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> With the finest adornments of all, I make offerings to all the tathagatas.
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>
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> The finest garments, the finest fragrances, Powdered incense, burning incense, lamps, and candles,
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>
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> Each heaped as high as wondrous Sumeru, I offer them all to the tathagatas.
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>
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> With a mind of vast and deep conviction, I have faith in all buddhas of the three times,
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>
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> And through the power of Samantabhadra's practices and vows,
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>
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> I make universal offerings to all the tathagatas. All the negative actions I have committed in the past,
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>
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> Born of beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance, And produced through body, speech, and mind---
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>
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> I now confess each and every one. For all beings in the ten directions,
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>
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> The learners and those beyond learning of the two vehicles, For all tathagatas and bodhisattvas,
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>
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> I rejoice in every one of their merits. All lamps of the world in the ten directions,
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>
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> Those who first attained bodhi, I now request and beseech them all,
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>
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> To turn the unsurpassed, wondrous Dharma wheel. When buddhas wish to manifest nirvana,
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>
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> I beseech them all with utmost sincerity, Praying that they remain for eons numerous as atoms of the land,
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>
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> To bring benefit and joy to every sentient being. All the merit of homage, praise, and offering,
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>
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> Beseeching the buddhas to remain and turn the Dharma wheel, Rejoicing and confession, all my roots of virtue---
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>
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> I dedicate to sentient beings and the buddha path. And until the worlds of space are exhausted,
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>
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> Until sentient beings, their karma, and their afflictions are exhausted, Just as these four are vast and boundless,
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>
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> So now may my dedication be. (VII) The Formal Conferral of Aspiring Bodhicitta
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The aspirant contemplates how mother-like sentient beings are suffering in the six realms of samsara, and generates a mind of immense compassion. The preceptor leads the aspirant in making this vow before all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the acarya:
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> May all buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions bear witness. May the acarya bear witness: I, disciple so-and-so, in this life and in future lives, whatever roots of virtue---whether of generosity, ethical discipline, or meditative cultivation---whether done by myself, caused others to do, or rejoiced in seeing others do, with these roots of virtue, just as the tathagatas, arhats, and perfectly awakened ones of the past, and all great bodhisattvas abiding on the stages, aroused the mind for unsurpassed, perfect bodhi, so now I, disciple so-and-so, from this moment until I reach bodhi, arouse the mind for unsurpassed, vast, and perfect bodhi. May those not yet liberated be liberated, may those not yet freed be freed, may those not yet relieved of suffering be relieved, may those not yet fully entered into nirvana fully enter nirvana. (Three times)
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>
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> (VIII) Making Vows
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The aspirant, for the sake of benefiting all sentient beings and accomplishing the buddha path, makes sincere vows:
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> Sentient beings are boundless---I vow to liberate them all. Afflictions are endless---I vow to cut them all off.
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>
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> Dharma gates are immeasurable---I vow to learn them all. The buddha path is unsurpassed---I vow to accomplish it. (Three times)
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>
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> (IX) Chanting the Praise to Avalokiteśvara
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Chant the praise verses to Avalokiteśvara and recite his name. To recollect the virtues of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is to recollect the mind of great compassion.
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> The bodhisattva, titled Universal Penetration, was born within a forest of seven gems.
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>
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> His wondrous true form with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes sits serenely in his Putuo palace.
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>
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> From the tip of his willow branch, sweet dew sprinkles, moistening all beings throughout the Dharma realm.
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>
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> On crests of a thousand waves, his spiritual powers shine forth, radiating light upon this Dharma assembly.
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>
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> Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, wondrous beyond expression, pure and majestic through eons of practice.
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>
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> In thirty-two response-bodies, he pervades worlds numerous as atoms; for countless eons, he transforms the Jambu continent.
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>
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> The sweet dew in his vase ever pours forth; the willow in his hand knows not the passing years.
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>
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> Wherever a thousand voices pray, a thousand responses appear; on the sea of suffering, he is ever the boat that ferries us across.
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>
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> Homage to the greatly compassionate and greatly merciful Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva of the Lapis Lazuli World on Mount Putuo,
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>
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> Homage to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva...
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>
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> (X) Dedication
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The aspirant, for the swift accomplishment of the buddha path and the benefit of all sentient beings, makes a sincere dedication:
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> The merit of generating bodhicitta, an extraordinary practice---all its boundless, excellent blessings I dedicate,
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>
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> With the universal wish that all drowning beings swiftly reach the land of the Buddha of Infinite Light.
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>
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> All buddhas of the ten directions and three times, all bodhisattva mahasattvas, maha-prajñā-pāramitā.
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{#守护菩提心}
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### 3. Safeguarding Bodhicitta
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After receiving and upholding aspiring bodhicitta, how do we safeguard this aspiration so that it remains steady and grows? We can practice in three aspects. First, by recollecting the supreme excellence of bodhicitta, deepening it in our understanding. Second, by making the practice of bodhicitta a fixed daily practice, strengthening it in our mental activity. Third, by putting this aspiration into action through altruistic deeds, consolidating it in our conduct.
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First, we need to keep recollecting the supreme excellence of bodhicitta. In this regard, two scriptural passages should be read often. One is the "Chapter on Generating the Aspiration" in the *Yogacarabhumi*; the other is Maitreya Bodhisattva's hymn to bodhicitta in the *Avatamsaka Sutra*, "Chapter on Entering the Dharma Realm." These texts can help us recognize just how vast the benefits and majestic power of bodhicitta actually are. By reciting them aloud, taking the meaning to heart, and contemplating in accord with the text, we strengthen our joyful eagerness for and aspiration toward arousing bodhicitta.
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Second, practice the bodhicitta liturgy three times a day. The significance of practicing the liturgy is to remind ourselves: what is my aspiration? What is the goal of my life? The ordinary mind is turbulent and chaotic. Without regular reminders, the aspiration we have just brought forth will quickly fade and blur. So we need to nourish this tender seedling of bodhi through daily practice, allowing it to grow strong and become the dominant force within. Only then will our lives not slide into confusion or be disrupted by external temptations. If special circumstances leave no time for the full liturgy, we should at least recite three times: "In the Buddha, Dharma, and supreme assembly, I take refuge until I reach bodhi. Through the merit of hearing, contemplation, and meditation, may I attain buddhahood for the sake of all beings." In short, this practice should be sustained without interruption to achieve the effect of transforming our mental states.
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Furthermore, we must integrate this practice with post-meditation conduct. Because bodhicitta takes benefiting sentient beings as its goal, it must be carried out through the six pāramitās and the four means of gathering. It is not something we merely talk about or shout as a slogan. Through concrete altruistic deeds, we not only strengthen the aspiration but also create a standard for checking: do our words and deeds truly match? Are we putting our altruistic wishes into practice?
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{#七受菩萨戒}
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## VII. Receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts
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Bodhisattva practice is also called engaging bodhicitta. For Dharma practice, though the emphasis is indeed on taming the mind, corresponding conduct is equally indispensable. On the one hand, the aspiration guides our conduct; on the other, conduct gives concrete expression to the aspiration. The two are mutually reinforcing. And what sentient beings directly benefit from is, in the main, the bodhisattva's altruistic practice. So after arousing bodhicitta, we need to go further and engage in bodhisattva practice, so that the aspiration is consolidated and becomes a force that guides the direction of our lives.
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The bodhisattva precepts are precisely the regulations that codify altruistic conduct into standardized rules. They consist of three parts: the precepts of restraining misconduct, the precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas, and the precepts of benefiting sentient beings. Among these, the precepts of restraining misconduct correspond to the pratimokṣa precepts of the śrāvaka, with the emphasis on refraining from wrongdoing. The precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas and the precepts of benefiting sentient beings, by contrast, are unique to the bodhisattva precepts, with the emphasis on cultivating virtue. When virtuous conduct takes the form of precepts, it is no longer optional for a bodhisattva practitioner---it becomes a code of conduct that must be followed. This makes bodhisattva practice concrete and gives it a clear structure to follow.
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Regarding the content of the bodhisattva precepts, Chinese Buddhism mainly has three systems. One is based on the "Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-Ground" of the *Brahmajala Sutra*---the Brahmajala bodhisattva precepts, which are the most widely practiced. Another is based on the *Upasaka Precepts Sutra*---the bodhisattva precepts for lay practitioners. The third is based on the "Bodhisattva Stages" of the *Yogacarabhumi*---the Yogacara bodhisattva precepts, which will be our focus here.
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The *Yogacarabhumi* is the foundational treatise of the Mind-Only school, composed by Maitreya Bodhisattva, comprising one hundred fascicles. The treatise extensively explains the objects, paths, and fruits of the three vehicles, and the "Bodhisattva Stages" is one section among them. Maitreya Bodhisattva is the next buddha of this Saha world. Taking into account the faculties of the beings in this world, he distilled from the Buddha's teachings a form of bodhisattva practice suited to our cultivation. The Brahmajala bodhisattva precepts, on the other hand, were spoken by the Buddha Rocana on the thousand-petaled lotus platform to Śākyamuni Buddha and the great bodhisattvas, representing the state of the great bodhisattvas. In comparison, the Yogacara bodhisattva precepts can be said to have been tailor-made for sentient beings of this Saha world. In his time, Master Taixu strongly advocated them. Having long been engaged in teaching Mind-Only studies, I too feel that the Yogacara bodhisattva precepts offer skillful flexibility in what is permitted and prohibited, and are highly practicable.
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So what conditions must one fulfill to receive the bodhisattva precepts, and what ceremonies are involved?
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{#受者条件}
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### 1. Qualifications of the Recipient
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Practitioners who wish to receive the bodhisattva precepts should meet three conditions.
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First, they should study the Yogacara bodhisattva precepts, understand what is permitted, what is prohibited, what constitutes a transgression, and what does not, and assess whether they have the capacity to put them into practice. If they feel they cannot yet do so, and have no desire to attempt it, there is no need to rush into receiving them. For receiving and upholding the bodhisattva precepts is meant for cultivating the bodhisattva path. This is a conscious choice, not a task to be completed, and certainly not a display of one's level of practice. If someone thinks that receiving the bodhisattva precepts makes them superior to others, and seeks them only for the sake of showing off, that is a distorted and incorrect motivation.
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Second, they should have the foundation of the pratimokṣa precepts. Receiving the bodhicitta precepts only requires having taken refuge in the Three Jewels. But to receive the Yogacara bodhisattva precepts, one needs at least the foundation of the five precepts. For a bodhisattva, if one cannot even observe the precepts against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants, what kind of bodhisattva is that? How could one possibly benefit sentient beings?
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Third, they should have already aroused bodhicitta and made the corresponding mental preparation. During the bodhisattva precept ceremony, the preceptor will ask the candidate: "Are you a bodhisattva? Have you already aroused bodhicitta?" This is the key to receiving the essence of the bodhisattva precepts. Regrettably, nowadays this exchange often becomes a mere formality with little real meaning. When we answer "yes," we have not considered how much responsibility and commitment this answer carries, nor have we given much thought to what we need to do to fulfill this commitment. If the answer were made after deep reflection, there would not be so many "bodhisattvas" who have no idea what bodhicitta is and do not cultivate compassion. Let us be clear: the greatest characteristic of a bodhisattva is compassion---and what is more, unconditioned great loving-kindness and the great compassion that sees all beings as one, accomplished through the cultivation of bodhicitta. As stated earlier, bodhicitta is the gateway into the Mahayana, the mark of a Mahayana practitioner, and the distinctive feature that sets the Mahayana apart from the two vehicles.
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With these conditions met, one is qualified to request the bodhisattva precepts.
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{#戒师选择}
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### 2. Choosing the Preceptor
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The preceptor is our witness in receiving the precepts and the one who transmits the essence of the bodhisattva precepts. Therefore, the preceptor must possess the corresponding virtue and qualifications to be entitled to confer the bodhisattva precepts upon the faithful. Regarding the choice of preceptor, the "Bodhisattva Stages" of the *Yogacarabhumi* tells us:
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> "Furthermore, bodhisattvas should not seek to receive the pure bodhisattva precepts from just anyone who is merely intelligent. They should not receive them from those who lack pure faith---meaning those who, with regard to these pure precepts, have no conviction from the start, cannot enter into them, and do not reflect well. They should not receive them from those who are miserly, from those whose miserliness is a serious flaw, from those with great desires, or from those without contentment. They should not receive them from those who have violated the pure precepts, from those who have no respect for the rules of training, or from those who are lax and negligent regarding the precepts. They should not receive them from those who harbor resentment, from those who are largely impatient, or from those who cannot tolerate others' transgressions. They should not receive them from those who are indolent, from those who are lazy, who indulge excessively in sleeping for enjoyment, leaning for enjoyment, and lying down for enjoyment, who enjoy gathering with companions and take delight in idle chatter. They should not receive them from those whose minds are distracted, who cannot settle their minds single-pointedly on a virtuous object even for the time it takes to milk a cow. They should not receive them from those who are dull, from those of the foolish class, from those with extremely inferior minds, or from those who slander the bodhisattva sutra-pitaka and the bodhisattva abhidharma."
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This passage identifies those who are not qualified to confer the bodhisattva precepts: for example, those without pure faith, those who are miserly, those with great desires, those without contentment, those who have violated the pure precepts, those who harbor resentment, those who are largely impatient, those who are indolent, those who are lazy, those whose minds are distracted, and so forth. Conversely, these are the qualities the preceptor should possess: pure faith, non-miserliness, freedom from craving, upholding the pure precepts, freedom from resentment, and so on.
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The teacher is the guide and safeguard for a disciple embarking on the bodhi path. An unqualified guide may lead disciples astray or abandon them along the way. This is why the śrāvaka precepts place great emphasis on examining the preceptor's qualifications. If the preceptor does not meet the required conditions, and the candidate is aware of this, it will affect the candidate's reception of the precepts. The same holds for the bodhisattva precepts: one must choose a proper preceptor who has received the bodhisattva precepts and can follow the relevant norms. Only a qualified bodhisattva can enable the candidate to receive the blessings of the Three Jewels of the ten directions and take in the essence of the bodhisattva precepts.
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{#正授仪轨-1}
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### 3. The Conferral Rite
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The rite for conferring the bodhisattva precepts mainly consists of four parts.
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First, requesting the preceptor. As candidates, we should fervently wish to become bodhisattvas and at the same time have full trust in the preceptor. Only thus can we receive the essence of the bodhisattva precepts as we wish. If we lack eagerness to receive the precepts and lack respect for the preceptor, then even if we receive the bodhisattva precepts, it will be at best a case of planting some roots of virtue---we may not feel much, nor will the precepts form a force within our mental continuum. Anything we do not genuinely and urgently wish to obtain will not take root in our hearts. The śrāvaka precepts also particularly stress that at the time of receiving the precepts, one must have a sincere and earnest mind in order to obtain the formless essence of the precepts. By "sincere and earnest mind" is meant a genuine and reverent state of mind.
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Receiving the precepts is making the most noble vow of one's life, through which one obtains both the formed and the formless essence of the precepts. The formed essence is obtained at the very moment of receiving, created through the three actions of body, speech, and mind. And when this act has passed, it leaves in the mind a force of "this should be done, this should not be done"---the formless essence of the precepts. Although the formless essence has no shape or form and cannot be seen or heard, it is a powerful and continuous psychological force. It is like a solemn vow once sworn---though the moment has passed, the memory it leaves is deeply engraved in the heart and continues to exert influence. Swearing a vicious oath is also a form of "receiving precepts," which Buddhism calls a negative vow.
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Both the pratimokṣa precepts and the bodhisattva precepts belong to positive vows; they can form a force within the mind that guards against error and prevents wrongdoing. The formation of this force comes from the sincere mind that seeks the precepts, from a proper preceptor and proper karmavacana---the convergence of conditions needed to complete the reception. Even more importantly, the candidate should generate a vast mind and receive the precepts taking all phenomena as their object. For receiving the precepts is not an ordinary pledge, not a commitment toward certain specific people. It is a vow made to all sentient beings of the Dharma realm, a vow made to all buddhas of the ten directions and three times. When we receive the precept against killing, we are making a solemn pledge before the Three Jewels of the ten directions and all sentient beings of the Dharma realm: from now on, I will respect all life and never again harm any living being. If we make this vow taking this as our object, not only will we build up positive forces within ourselves, but we will also create a wholesome interaction with every sentient being, drawing forth a share of merit from each and every one. It is precisely for this reason that receiving the precepts carries such boundless merit. For it helps us firmly establish a life path of abandoning wrong and cultivating good, and helps us improve our relationship with all sentient beings of the Dharma realm and with the entire world. This significance comes not only from the rite itself, but even more from the heart's aspiration for the precepts. Therefore, when receiving the precepts, we must request the preceptor with a reverent mind.
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Second, examining the conditions: the three recipient qualifications described above.
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Third, making the vow and formally receiving the precepts. At this point, the preceptor will ask: "Are you a bodhisattva? Have you aroused bodhicitta?" The candidate should answer: "I am a bodhisattva; I have already aroused bodhicitta." Of course, this answer alone is not enough. The key is that one has genuinely given rise in one's heart to the will to become a bodhisattva and has genuinely aroused the commitment to benefiting both self and others. If one merely goes through the words without the corresponding joyful eagerness, one still cannot receive the precepts. Then comes the formal vow, whose content is the three pure precepts: the precepts of restraining misconduct, the precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas, and the precepts of benefiting sentient beings. Through this vow, we declare to all sentient beings of the Dharma realm: from now on, I will take these precepts as my code of conduct. What should not be done, I will diligently refrain from; what should be done, I will vigorously carry out.
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Fourth, the preceptor prays to the Three Jewels of the ten directions for their blessings and their witness, confirming that we have now entered the ranks of the bodhisattvas. When we truly arouse the aspiration to become a bodhisattva, our minds will connect with all buddhas of the ten directions. For we have then become children of the Buddha who carry on the Tathagata's legacy; we have taken on the same responsibility and mission as the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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These are the key points to understand in the process of receiving the bodhisattva precepts.
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{#三聚净戒}
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### 4. The Three Pure Precepts
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As for the content of the three pure precepts, the "Chapter on Precepts" of the *Yogacarabhumi* says:
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> The precepts of ethical discipline are the various pratimokṣa precepts received by the seven classes of bodhisattva disciples---namely, the precepts of the bhikṣu, the precepts of the bhikṣuṇī, the precepts of the female probationer, the precepts of the male novice, the precepts of the female novice, the precepts of the male lay devotee, and the precepts of the female lay devotee. These seven kinds are based, as appropriate, on the householder and renunciant divisions; they are called the bodhisattva precepts of ethical discipline.
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>
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> The precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas: after the bodhisattvas have received the precepts of ethical discipline, all the virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind they accumulate for the sake of great bodhi are collectively called the precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas. What, further, do these consist of? The bodhisattvas, relying on the precepts and abiding by the precepts, diligently apply themselves to hearing, to contemplation, to the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā, and to delighting in solitude. In this way, from time to time, toward their venerable teachers, they diligently practice the actions of joining the palms, rising, greeting, prostrating, and reverence---that is, they diligently cultivate respectful service toward their teachers. Toward those who are ill, with compassionate concern, they look after them, attend to them, and provide for them. Toward excellent expositions, they express their approval with words of praise. Toward persons possessed of virtuous qualities, they offer sincere commendation. Toward all meritorious activities of all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions, with a superior intention they give rise to pure faith and, voicing their delight, rejoice. Toward all transgressions committed by others, they reflect and patiently endure. All roots of virtue, whether already performed or not yet performed through body, speech, and mind, they dedicate to unsurpassed, perfect bodhi. From time to time, they generate various pure aspirations, and with every kind of excellent offering, they make offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. With regard to all objects of virtue, they are ever courageous and diligent in their cultivation. In their actions of body, speech, and mind, they abide in non-negligence. With regard to all rules of training, they have right mindfulness and clear awareness. Through right conduct they guard themselves, closely protecting the doors of the senses. They know moderation in food, and in the first and last watches of the night they ever cultivate wakefulness. They draw near to virtuous persons and rely on spiritual friends. Their own transgressions, they examine and clearly know, deeply seeing their faults. Having examined, clearly known, and deeply seen their faults, those not yet committed, they single-mindedly guard against; those already committed, before the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and fellow practitioners, they confess from the heart and properly repent and remedy. All such precepts that draw in, protect, and increase virtuous dharmas are called the bodhisattva precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas.
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>
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> What are the bodhisattva precepts of benefiting sentient beings? Know that these precepts comprise, in brief, eleven aspects. What are the eleven? The bodhisattvas, with regard to the various undertakings that can bring benefit to sentient beings, serve as their helpers and companions. When sentient beings develop the sufferings of illness and so forth, they also serve as their helpers and companions in attending to and caring for them. Further, the bodhisattvas, based on various kinds of mundane and supramundane benefit, are able to teach the essential Dharma to sentient beings---first teaching them skillfully, first teaching them properly, and then enabling them to obtain those various benefits. Further, the bodhisattvas, toward sentient beings who have previously shown them kindness, well preserve their awareness of that kindness and, as appropriate, directly repay them. Further, the bodhisattvas, toward all sentient beings beset by the various terrors of lions, tigers, wolves, demons, kings, bandits, fire, and water, are able to rescue and protect them, freeing them from such fearful situations. Further, the bodhisattvas, toward sentient beings who have lost their wealth, possessions, or relatives, skillfully console and guide them, freeing them from grief and sorrow. Further, the bodhisattvas, toward sentient beings who lack the requisites for living, give all such requisites. Further, the bodhisattvas, in accord with right principles, properly provide support and, in accord with the Dharma, guide the community. Further, the bodhisattvas, in accord with worldly affairs and conversation, respond when summoned, come and go to visit, engage in discussion, congratulation, and consolation, go to them as the occasion requires, and accept from them such things as food and drink. In sum, they avoid all behavior that would lead to what is meaningless and contrary to their wishes, and their minds accord with all other matters. Further, the bodhisattvas, whether concealed or revealed, display all their true virtues, so that sentient beings rejoice and advance in learning. Further, the bodhisattvas, toward those who have faults, with inner affection and tender concern for their benefit and happiness, with a superior intention, discipline, reprove, punish, or expel them, in order to remove them from unwholesome situations and establish them in wholesome ones. Further, the bodhisattvas, through the power of supranormal abilities, skillfully manifest the appearances of the hell realms and other states of existence, so that sentient beings become weary of unwholesomeness and are skillfully led to enter the Buddha's noble teaching, giving rise to joyful faith and a sense of wonder, and diligently practicing the right path.
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Every set of precepts has its corresponding precept characteristics. The five precepts, for instance, are: not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not taking intoxicants. The eight precepts add three more on top of the five: (1) not wearing flower garlands or anointing the body with perfume, not singing, dancing, or playing music, and not attending performances; (2) not sitting on high or wide beds; (3) not eating at improper times. In addition, there are the ten precepts of the novice monk, the 250 precepts of the bhikṣu, and the 348 precepts of the bhikṣuṇī. The characteristics of the bodhisattva precepts consist of the ten major and forty-eight minor precepts of the Brahmajala system, the four major and forty-three minor precepts of the Yogacara system, and the six major and twenty-eight minor precepts of the Upasaka system. Although their specific characteristics differ, they are all composed of the three pure precepts.
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The first is the precepts of restraining misconduct: the pratimokṣa precepts of the seven classes, including the five precepts and eight precepts for laypeople, and the novice precepts, bhikṣu precepts, bhikṣuṇī precepts, and so on for renunciants. Their distinctive feature is their emphasis on refraining from wrongdoing, helping us put a stop to all unwholesome conduct. They are also called "restraining precepts"---precepts observed through restraint. Through "this should not be done," one fulfills the precepts and further halts the unwholesome mental continuum.
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The second is the precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas: all the virtuous practices that should be cultivated in the process from generating bodhicitta to perfecting buddhahood, consisting mainly of the six pāramitās of generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Generosity is sharing one's wealth or abilities with the wider community; it includes the giving of material things, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness---using material goods to relieve poverty, using the true Dharma to guide people toward goodness, or dispelling fear for sentient beings. Ethical discipline is restraining body and mind in accordance with the code of conduct laid down by the Buddha; this is the root that rightly accords with liberation, and also the root of unsurpassed bodhi, capable of giving birth to all virtuous dharmas. Patience is enduring various adverse conditions without giving rise to anger; its characteristics are non-anger, non-complaint, and non-resentment. Diligence is vigorously cultivating virtuous dharmas and cutting off unwholesome dharmas, with mind after mind in continuity, never lax. Meditative concentration includes both analytical meditation and stabilizing meditation---contemplating the object of focus and settling single-pointedly upon it, free from distraction. Wisdom is the unsurpassed wisdom that ferries sentient beings from the shore of birth and death to the shore of nirvana. Only under the guidance of the wisdom of prajñā can the preceding five pāramitās become provisions for buddhahood; otherwise, the generosity one practices is not essentially different from the virtuous deeds of the human and heavenly vehicles.
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The third is the precepts of benefiting sentient beings: conduct that benefits sentient beings, the skillful means by which bodhisattvas gather and guide sentient beings. Its main content is the four means of gathering: generosity, kind speech, beneficial action, and working together with others. These four likewise take generosity as their first member, for it is the shortcut to forming vast wholesome connections with sentient beings. When others are willing to draw near you and accept you, their hearts will open to you, and only then can you further guide them with the true Dharma. Kind speech means speaking good words adapted to the dispositions of sentient beings. Since honest advice is often hard on the ears, this requires the support of skillful means, so that sentient beings can gladly accept the truthful and beneficial words you speak. Beneficial action means benefiting sentient beings through the three good actions of body, speech, and mind, causing them to feel joy and draw near to the Buddhadharma. Working together means adapting to the level of acceptance of sentient beings and manifesting in ways they find congenial and pleasing, so that they benefit from the Buddhadharma without even realizing it---this is a teaching method that "moistens things silently, without a sound."
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To become a bodhisattva practitioner, we must genuinely give rise to the aspiration to benefit the wider community and consciously abide by the code of conduct proper to a bodhisattva. On the foundation of refraining from wrongdoing, we widely practice the six pāramitās and, through the four means of gathering, guide and transform sentient beings.
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{#八行菩萨行}
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## VIII. Engaging in Bodhisattva Practice
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{#菩萨行的内容}
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### 1. The Content of Bodhisattva Practice
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Buddhahood is not about attaining something external, but about the two great qualities of compassion and wisdom. For this reason, Je Tsongkhapa stresses in the *Stages of the Path*:
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> If one studies only one aspect---either method or wisdom---one cannot attain buddhahood. Therefore, one must turn to the practice of the methods for accomplishing buddhahood. Yet this, too, requires methods that are free of error. If the path is mistaken, then however much effort one makes, the result will still not arise, like trying to draw milk by tugging at the cow's horn. And even if the path is judged correct, if its components are incomplete, one will also labor without result. It is like seeds, water, soil, and so on: if any one of them is missing, the sprout will not appear. This is stated in the middle section of the *Stages of Meditation* (*Bhāvanākrama*).
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>
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> Well then, what are the complete and error-free causes and conditions? The *Mahavairocana Sutra* states: "The knowledge of all modes arises from great compassion as its root; it arises from bodhicitta as its cause; and it is brought to consummation through skillful means." Here, compassion is as previously explained. Bodhicitta refers to both conventional and ultimate bodhicitta. Skillful means refers to the full perfection of generosity and the other pāramitās.
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Any worldly achievement is inseparable from method, and buddhahood is no different. Without proper method, however much effort one makes is in vain. On this point, Je Tsongkhapa offers a very vivid analogy: it is like milking a cow---you should milk at the udder. If you apply force at the horn, regardless of how much effort you expend or how much time you spend, you will get nothing. The Buddhadharma is a teaching of the mind, so we need to understand the operating principles of mental states and accompany that understanding with correct methods. Only then can we achieve an effect where a small force moves a great weight. Otherwise, not only will we fail to reach the expected goal, we may even fall into demonic deviation, as happens all too often. For the mind is extremely subtle---like a labyrinth filled with forks and traps, where the slightest carelessness can lead one astray, mistaking illusions for attainments and delusions for the ultimate.
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This is why the *Stages of the Path* makes a point of telling us: spiritual practice has two key requirements---correct method and complete content. What exactly does buddhahood accomplish? First, it accomplishes liberation, gaining the capacity to transcend birth and death and break free from samsara. This requires the wisdom of emptiness as its cause. Second, it accomplishes compassion, the quality of unconditioned great loving-kindness and the great compassion that sees all beings as one. This requires bodhicitta as its cause.
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How can we accomplish the wisdom of emptiness? Some people, from the very start of their practice, emphasize non-discrimination and equate discrimination with inverted attachment. But this is wrong. At the beginning of Buddhist practice, the first thing to learn is precisely how to discriminate---of course, correctly, not erroneously. Otherwise, by what means would we adjust our mental state and correct our deviations? As ordinary beings, our present mental activity is built upon ignorance and does not correspond to emptiness. If we do not use discrimination to make choices and adjustments, it is impossible to realize the path in such an inverted state. Thus, the standard approach in Buddhist practice is to draw near to spiritual teachers and listen to the true Dharma, through which one can engage in proper attention and practice the Dharma accordingly. The Noble Eightfold Path particularly emphasizes the role of right thought. Before one merges with emptiness, this kind of thought runs through from beginning to end. Only when one's mental state approaches emptiness is it necessary to enter non-discrimination. For discrimination is only a method for adjusting mental activity; non-discriminating wisdom is what merges with emptiness and directly realizes the true nature. Yet this non-discrimination does not appear out of thin air; it must take discrimination as its prerequisite, take right thought as its prerequisite. If one tries to be non-discriminating from the very start, that is what the ancient masters criticized as vague and muddled---blind practice.
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While cultivating liberation, we must also accomplish compassion. The Buddha, the honored one replete in both, is endowed with perfect merit and perfect wisdom. This merit was accomplished through the Buddha's practice over countless lifetimes. The Jataka tales recount how the Buddha, while on the causal ground, took on every kind of identity to widely carry out altruistic deeds, even giving away his life time and again, ultimately perfecting the provisions of merit. On the path of humans and gods, cultivating merit comes first. Without merit, one can hardly take a step in this world. Spiritual practice likewise cannot be separated from merit. Otherwise, even if one has the heart to practice the Buddha's teachings, all kinds of obstacles will keep appearing. One may be too busy making a living, with no time; or plagued by illness, with no energy; or naturally dull, with no capacity---and so on. Beyond one's own conditions, one also needs the karmic conditions to hear the true Dharma and to receive the guidance of a spiritual teacher. All of this requires merit. Among the followers of heretical teachings, many are single-mindedly devoted to the path and strive hard for liberation, but due to a lack of meritorious conditions, they end up going astray, destroying their Dharma body and wisdom life.
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In the *Stages of the Path*, Je Tsongkhapa especially criticizes two mistaken views: neglecting learning and reflection on the one hand, and despising the cultivation of merit on the other. He identifies these as pitfalls in practice that cannot guide the student to unsurpassed bodhi. On the path to buddhahood, method and wisdom are like the two wheels of a cart---they must advance side by side. As the saying goes, "If either method or wisdom is lacking, buddhahood cannot be attained."
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{#菩萨行的特征}
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### 2. The Distinctive Features of Bodhisattva Practice
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The bodhisattva practice discussed here mainly refers to the six perfections of generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom, also known as the six pāramitās. *Pāramitā* is a Sanskrit term meaning "reaching the other shore." That is to say, the six pāramitās are six kinds of conduct that help us reach the other shore of buddhahood. In fact, these elements are also touched upon in the human-and-heavenly vehicle and the Śrāvaka Vehicle. But the generosity and ethical discipline they practice are merely virtuous deeds at the human and heavenly level; they can at most lead to liberation but cannot become the provisions for buddhahood. Hence they cannot be called pāramitās.
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So what is distinctive about the six pāramitās as practiced by bodhisattvas? The *Mahayana-abhidharma-samuccaya* tells us:
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> What are the characteristics of the perfection of generosity? The bodhisattvas, abiding in the bodhisattva Dharma nature, take bodhicitta as their foundation, use compassion to guide their minds, and relinquish all actions of body, speech, and mind at all times. Thus, through disposition, aspiration, attitude, object, and intrinsic nature, the characteristics of the perfection of generosity are displayed. Disposition means the bodhisattva Dharma nature. Aspiration means bodhicitta. Attitude means a mind guided by compassion. Object means relinquishing all possessions. Intrinsic nature means the actions of body, speech, and mind.
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That is, each of the six pāramitās practiced by a bodhisattva must embody the dimensions of disposition, aspiration, attitude, object, and intrinsic nature.
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The first is disposition: possessing the bodhisattva disposition, a natural inclination to take joy in helping others. The reason bodhisattvas can widely practice the six pāramitās and benefit the wider community is precisely that this disposition provides the foundation. In everyday life, we can see that many people are born with a bodhisattva heart. When others encounter hardship, they take the initiative to aid the poor and needy, to lend a helping hand, without needing to think twice. Others, by contrast, may feel after learning the Dharma that they ought to help, but when it comes time to actually do so, they always find it very forced and must make a special effort to persuade themselves. This is caused by differences in disposition, or we could say, differences in the starting point of their lives.
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The second is aspiration: taking bodhicitta as one's foundation. The generosity and other pāramitās practiced by bodhisattvas all take bodhicitta as their cause and are cultivated out of the wish that "I want to benefit all sentient beings, I want to help all sentient beings be free of suffering." If one helps others in order to gain personal fame, offerings, or advantage, then even if the other party objectively benefits, this does not count as bodhisattva practice.
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The third is attitude: a mind guided by compassion. When bodhisattvas practice the six pāramitās, they do so purely out of compassion for sentient beings. The virtuous deeds of ordinary people, by contrast, are often mixed with impurities. Take generosity: one may wish to display wealth, to boast about one's character, or to assuage a guilty conscience after doing something wrong. Rarely is it purely motivated by compassion. So although many people practice generosity and benefit others, there is still a gap between this and genuine bodhisattva practice.
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The fourth is object: giving up all that one possesses, willingly relinquishing everything for the sake of benefiting others, including one's precious life. Some may wonder: doesn't the Buddha always warn us that human life is rare and should be doubly treasured? Why, then, does he also praise relinquishing everything, even offering up one's life? This is said with a precondition: one must give up these things for the sake of benefiting others, for the sake of accomplishing bodhisattva practice. It is never a matter of momentary recklessness or impulse, but a correct choice made after careful deliberation. Even with this precondition in place, one must still act within one's capacity. For a great bodhisattva who has realized mastery over life and death, giving up the body is like discarding a worn-out sandal---not worth a second thought. But for a bodhisattva at the initial stage of aspiration who has not yet reached this level, it is still necessary to use the physical body to diligently practice and study, seeking enlightenment above and guiding sentient beings below. It must not be carelessly abandoned.
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The fifth is intrinsic nature: the actions of body, speech, and mind. The altruistic virtuous deeds practiced by a bodhisattva encompass all three actions of body, speech, and mind. One can help others through physical action so that they derive benefit, or through kind speech that praises others so that their hearts fill with joy. Such words and deeds must spring from a genuine wish to benefit others.
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Only when these features are present does everything we do belong to bodhisattva practice. Otherwise, even if we practice generosity and the other pāramitās, the practice often remains at the level of human and heavenly virtuous deeds, unable to be elevated into provisions for buddhahood.
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{#菩萨行的修习}
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### 3. Cultivating the Bodhisattva Practices
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In a broad sense, all conduct that springs from bodhicitta and can bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings is bodhisattva practice. But from the perspective of actual cultivation, it centers primarily on the six pāramitās: generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom.
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(1) The Practice of Generosity
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Generosity is of three kinds. The first is the giving of material things, which in turn can be divided into giving of external goods and giving of internal goods. External goods are material wealth---the form of giving most familiar to society at large. Internal goods are one's labor, and even the physical body, offered to help sentient beings, such as donating blood, bone marrow, or organs.
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The second is the giving of Dharma: guiding sentient beings with the Buddhadharma and helping them awaken to the truth of life. The greatest problems of sentient beings are the affliction of ignorance and the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, the giving of Dharma is the most fundamental help of all. The *Diamond Sutra* repeatedly explains this principle through comparisons of merit. For the problems that wealth solves are temporary, whereas the giving of Dharma can fundamentally resolve the core problems of life, enabling sentient beings to gain the capacity for self-renewal, self-rescue, and self-reliance. Its effect is lasting. As disciples of the Buddha, to take part in the giving of Dharma is a shortcut for swiftly accumulating the Dharma-wealth of merit. From the perspective of worldly teachings, teaching sentient beings to acquire technical skills and the means of livelihood also falls within the scope of the giving of Dharma.
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The third is the giving of fearlessness: offering sentient beings a sense of security and dispelling their fear. For example, the five precepts advocated by the Buddhadharma, even as they regulate one's own conduct, produce the effect of giving fearlessness. If we do not kill, others need not fear being bullied or harmed by you. If we do not steal, others need not fear being robbed by you. If we do not engage in sexual misconduct, others need not fear that their family members will be deceived and violated when with you. If we do not lie, others need not fear being duped by your sweet talk. If we do not take intoxicants, others need not fear that you will lose your reason. When people are with a Buddhist disciple who strictly observes the five precepts, they feel a strong sense of safety. Of course, the giving of fearlessness is not limited to these. It also includes proactively rescuing sentient beings. When sentient beings encounter fear or danger, a bodhisattva practitioner absolutely must not stand by and do nothing; instead, they must do their utmost to help them break free. This is also one difference between bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. The śrāvaka precepts emphasize refraining from wrongdoing and do not require that one must do good; doing good is fine, but not doing so does not violate the precepts. The bodhisattva precepts, by contrast, advance both in refraining from wrongdoing and in cultivating good. If one shirks one's responsibility when sentient beings are in need of help, that is a serious breach of the precepts, which must be remedied.
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For ordinary beings, the main obstacle to generosity lies in self-attachment. We invariably affix the label of "self" to whatever we acquire, clinging to it, unwilling to part with it. This is why truly generous people are rare. And yet, what has this clinging brought us? Because of clinging, we must always guard our possessions closely, in constant fear of losing them, on tenterhooks day and night. The moment we suffer a loss, we are filled with regret and remorse, wishing we could turn back time. Never mind that wealth can change hands at any moment---even if we manage to grip it tightly all our lives, we shall still leave this world empty-handed at the end. How, then, can we make our wealth meaningful for the long span of life? Generosity is the best path.
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The benefits of generosity express themselves in four main ways.
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First, it overcomes stinginess and miserliness. The reason changes in wealth can hurt us is, at root, that the mind's attachment is under assault. Otherwise, all changes are simply the normal state of the world, just variations in abstract numbers. So at the same time as we give away material things, we also let go of attachment and affliction. Why not gladly do so?
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Second, generosity can turn short-term gain into long-term benefit. Even if a person has millions or even billions in assets, how much is actually needed for daily living? However many houses you own, you can only sleep in one bed; however many cars, you can only occupy one seat. Since we can enjoy so little, why not transform short-term gain into long-term benefit? In life, people's fortune varies greatly---not because heaven is unfair, but because of the different accumulations of the past. If we are diligent in planting seeds in this life, the future will naturally continue to bring harvest upon harvest, benefit upon benefit.
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Third, generosity allows the provisions of merit to grow swiftly. For spiritual practice, both merit and wisdom are indispensable. As the saying goes, "If you cultivate wisdom without merit, even an arhat must beg with an empty bowl; if you cultivate merit without wisdom, it is like an elephant adorned with jewels." Without accumulating merit, even if you realize the fruit of an arhat, you will still lack the provisions for the path. All the more so for a bodhisattva, who must widely carry out the work of benefiting others---this, too, requires corresponding merit to accomplish.
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Fourth, generosity perfects the practice of compassion. We practice the six pāramitās, beginning with generosity, out of compassion. In the process of doing good, compassion in turn grows and strengthens. Action and aspiration are mutually reinforcing. If compassion is the seed that gives birth to virtuous deeds, then virtuous deeds are the sweet dew that nourishes compassion.
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Conversely, unwillingness to practice generosity causes attachment and the afflictions it brings to keep growing. The more we cling to wealth and emotions, the greater the harm that follows. So we must constantly reflect on the benefits that generosity brings to our lives and the faults of not cultivating it, and rest the mind steadily in the eagerness to be generous. At the same time, off the meditation seat, we should practice according to our capacity: using wealth to relieve poverty, using skills to teach others a livelihood, using a smile to give others confidence, or using words to bring others solace. In short, as long as we have the heart of generosity, regardless of our financial circumstances, we always have the opportunity to help others and to be useful members of society.
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(2) The Practice of Ethical Discipline
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The bodhisattva precepts include the precepts of restraining misconduct, the precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas, and the precepts of benefiting sentient beings. These have been introduced above and need not be repeated here. For the practice of ethical discipline, the real key is to recognize the benefits of upholding the precepts and the faults of breaking them. With this recognition, upholding the precepts becomes a conscious choice rather than something we see as a constraint. In the minds of many people, the precepts are just a bunch of rules and regulations that restrict you---nothing more than making life hard for yourself. Some even regard them as a distortion of human nature, running counter to the individual liberation, democracy, and freedom championed by modern society. Is any of this true?
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We know that even the most democratic society needs law as its safeguard. If a nation had no laws, it might seem that everyone could fully enjoy freedom. But in that case, there would be no restraints on humanity's baser instincts. Anyone could kill, steal, or rob. If such a society were called "free," it would be more accurate to say that everyone lives in terror, with danger lurking everywhere. I doubt anyone wants that kind of "freedom." So the purpose of establishing laws is not to restrain, but to safeguard the security of the public by regulating conduct.
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The function of ethical discipline is the same. It enables us to put a stop to unwholesome actions, to halt the unwholesome continuum of our lives, and thereby purify body and mind and free ourselves from affliction. Ordinary beings are mired in greed, anger, and ignorance. On the surface, it appears that we can eat whatever we want, spend money however we like, and do as we please. But in truth, we have long since been ruled by desire and manipulated by affliction---we are not in control. From another angle, the reason external temptations can influence us is precisely that there is some force within our minds that resonates with them. If these forces were not stirring within, no temptation could take effect. So genuine freedom is not external. However loose the environment, as long as affliction remains in our hearts, we are still bound and unfree.
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As members of society, we need self-discipline. The Confucian teaching "Do not look at what is contrary to propriety; do not listen to what is contrary to propriety; do not speak what is contrary to propriety; do not act in a way contrary to propriety" is also meant to help people develop self-restraint. Such self-restraint comes from respect and care for oneself, from the wish to model oneself after the sages and worthies. When we first undertake to uphold the precepts, it can be quite difficult. At that stage, the force of the precept essence is still weak and needs to be strengthened through continuous observance. Over time, the initial deliberate self-restraint will transform into self-cultivation, into character. The influence of external temptations and inner afflictions will become smaller and smaller, until we can abide by the Dharma and the precepts even without deliberately trying.
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Ethical discipline not only stops harmful habitual tendencies but also nurtures compassion. The precepts of embracing virtuous dharmas and benefiting sentient beings, for instance, codify virtuous practices such as the six pāramitās and the four means of gathering into formal rules, thereby advocating good conduct and allowing the seeds of compassion to grow. When we truly recognize the meaning of ethical discipline and the faults of breaking it, we will uphold the precepts with a joyful heart. In sum, the precepts are the mental traffic rules that safeguard our safe progress along the bodhi path, and also the behavioral corrector that helps us attain physical and mental health.
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(3) The Practice of Patience
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Patience can completely extinguish anger, resentment, and enmity, bringing peace to oneself and others. It includes three kinds: the patience of enduring harm from enemies, the patience of enduring suffering, and the patience of comprehending the Dharma. The patience of enduring harm from enemies is bearing the injuries inflicted by foes. The patience of enduring suffering is bearing harsh conditions, such as coarse food and drink, difficult environments, and the various tests encountered in the course of practice. The patience of comprehending the Dharma is calmly accepting such truths as impermanence and selflessness, which are so far removed from ordinary ways of thinking, placing trust in and understanding what is real, with the mind free of deluded agitation.
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For ordinary people, patience is also a major hurdle. Common sayings such as "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated" or "A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years" are, from the standpoint of the Buddhadharma, completely mistaken. The reason we feel we cannot be humiliated, the reason we seek revenge, is simply that this "I" has been attacked, has been hurt. If we realized that "I" is merely a provisional designation, illusory and unreal, where would there be any humiliation requiring patience, any hatred requiring revenge? Of course, patience also requires wisdom. If we merely force ourselves to endure, it is easy to develop psychological problems as a result. True patience is "enduring when there is nothing to endure." It is like space containing all things, like the earth sustaining all things---they do not feel any need to reject anything, so they do not need to endure anything either.
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In its treatment of patience, the *Yogacarabhumi* asks us to cultivate five contemplations.
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The first is the contemplation of past-life kinship. Reflect that sentient beings have at one time been close relatives of ours. Given that they were our kin, is there really any need to hold a grudge?
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The second is the contemplation of mere phenomena. Life is simply a composite of the five aggregates---a great mass of chaotic emotions coupled with mistaken ideas, within which there is no distinction between you and me. Everyone is like a person fallen into the waves of affliction: wherever the waves sweep them, they are carried along helplessly. So when others harbor hatred toward us or try to harm us, we should know that such anger does not actually represent that person---it is simply the waves of affliction causing mischief, making both sides victims of this emotion. Seeing it this way, we can feel sympathy for the other rather than anger or self-pity at being harmed. When we remove the labels "you" and "I" and observe everything as it truly is, there is no longer any compelling reason to be angry.
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The third is the contemplation of impermanence. Life is impermanent. Regardless of who is right and who is wrong, ultimately everyone must die. Whether you hold a grudge or not, everything is impermanent. Why waste your energy on this, why torment yourself over it?
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The fourth is the contemplation of suffering. In this Saha world, we are beset by all manner of suffering---suffering brought by the environment, suffering brought by the physical body, suffering woven through with affliction. Precisely because we are all in pain, we should be all the more understanding and supportive of one another. A person who is in a good state and psychologically healthy will not go around making trouble for everyone. Only those whose hearts are filled with resentment are like volcanoes ready to erupt at the slightest trigger. If we hold a grudge against such a person, we too will be scorched by immense anger, ignited by the spreading flames. The result can only be suffering on top of suffering.
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The fifth is the contemplation of gathering and guiding. As practitioners of the bodhisattva path who have aroused bodhicitta, we have already vowed to take all sentient beings as the objects of our liberation. So except for actions that benefit them, we should do nothing else.
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When we face adversity, if we can reflect from these angles, we will find that there is truly nothing worth getting angry about. The patience taught in the Buddhadharma is not about getting angry first and then bearing it; it is about using wisdom right at that moment to observe it and transcend it. When the anger within is dissolved, the enemy without disappears along with it. Why do we have enemies? Precisely because we harbor resentment within. Once the resentment is dissolved, naturally there are no enemies. Then, not only are we ourselves at peace and at ease, but those around us can also feel this harmonious atmosphere. Otherwise, we repay resentment with resentment, filling the world with hatred and violence, leading to bloodshed, conflict, and even war. As the Buddha said, only compassion can quell hatred and turn enemies into friends; hatred can only keep escalating the conflict.
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In addition, we must also overcome the various tests that arise in the course of practice. When listening to the Dharma, we may become indolent; in meditation, we may grow dull; in prostrating to the Buddha, we may tire; in reciting the Buddha's name, we may flag. These include physical obstacles and psychological obstacles, and many people retreat because of them. But we should reflect that even worldly people, just to make a living, must rise early and toil late, rushing about and wearing themselves out---and in the process, they can hardly avoid creating negative karma. Now we are seeking the truth, seeking liberation. If we are unwilling to pay any price, how can we possibly reap any reward? Especially in the early stages of practice, we especially need patience, and we must struggle against harmful habitual tendencies. But these efforts will bring us a completely new life---they are well worth it. With this understanding, we will develop an eagerness for patience, and face enemies, adversity, and the various tests of practice with correct observation.
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(4) The Practice of Diligence
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Diligence is staying clear of indolence and other unwholesome conduct, bringing forth immeasurable virtuous dharmas and causing them to increase. It consists of three types: the diligence of armor, the diligence of embracing virtuous dharmas, and the diligence of benefiting sentient beings. The diligence of armor is like a warrior going into battle wearing armor, only then able to penetrate the enemy lines and sweep all before him. The *Sutra of Forty-Two Sections* says: spiritual practice is like one person fighting against ten thousand. We want to establish right Dharma mindfulness in our minds, but we must face the ingrained habits accumulated since beginningless time, and face layer upon layer of endless temptations. Without diligence, it is extremely difficult to break free from these ingrained habits and temptations. The diligence of embracing virtuous dharmas is the effort put forth in the course of practicing the six pāramitās. The diligence of benefiting sentient beings is the unwavering practice of good deeds that benefit sentient beings.
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Ordinary beings are always stuck in inertia. This inertia does not mean doing nothing at all; it means falling into unwholesome habits. Some people love to eat and go everywhere hunting for fine food. Some love to play and travel everywhere. Some love to make money and try every possible way to earn more. Some love to gamble and haunt the casinos regardless of the cost. Though they look very busy, even very hard at it, it is all inertia, because they are merely driven by unwholesome habits and unable to free themselves. Such habits are like the earth's gravity---they possess tremendous force. Why is it so hard for humans to go into outer space? It is because the earth's gravity holds us tightly; otherwise we could roam freely through the worlds of the ten directions. Why are people caught by unwholesome habits? It is precisely because of the inertia inherent in life. To overcome inertia, on the one hand we need courage, and on the other, we need corresponding skill. Without skill, even climbing onto a rooftop is very difficult. But with skill, with method, we can even reach the moon and walk in space.
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Buddhist practice is precisely what helps us master the methods for breaking free from inertia. Then we must persevere with diligence, so that the methods we have learned produce their effect. What diligence does is to stop wrongdoing and to do good. On the one hand, immediately put a stop to unwholesome conduct that has already arisen, and deliberately guard against harmful tendencies that have yet to arise. On the other hand, continue the effort with virtuous practices already cultivated, and actively initiate virtuous practices that have not yet arisen. This is precisely the content of the "four right efforts" among the thirty-seven factors of awakening: put an end to unwholesome states that have already arisen, prevent unwholesome states that have not yet arisen; give rise to wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and increase wholesome states that have already arisen. From this we can see that diligence has a specific meaning. Not all effort can be called diligence. Only effort directed toward stopping wrongdoing and cultivating virtue is the diligence advocated by Buddhism.
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Going further, we must also recognize the faults of indolence. It is precisely because of indolence in transforming our lives that we have wandered through the six realms. If we cannot change this situation, life will sink into this mire, like an old elephant stuck in the mud, unable to pull itself free. Diligence, by contrast, is an uplifting force that allows us to break free from inertia and move toward liberation. Having recognized the merits of diligence and the faults of indolence, we must rest the mind steadily in the eagerness for diligence, and off the meditation seat diligently practice generosity, ethical discipline, patience, meditative concentration, and wisdom.
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(5) The Practice of Meditative Concentration
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The practice of meditative concentration also has three levels. The first is concentration that brings pleasant abiding in the present life---through meditation, one experiences physical and mental ease. The second is concentration that elicits one's own capacity for liberation. The third is concentration that helps us better benefit sentient beings, which belongs to the mental stillness for benefiting sentient beings.
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The ordinary mind constantly swings between distraction and restlessness---in modern terms, it is in a state of agitation. On the stage of our mind, every kind of emotion and thought leaps about ceaselessly, rising and falling, so that we cannot see our mind clearly. It is like a pool of muddy water: with so much silt at the bottom, we have no idea what lies beneath. When we try to focus our thoughts, all sorts of uninvited notions come to interfere, making the mind unstable and unable to sustain clear observation.
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Meditation helps us settle the mind on a virtuous object, gradually calming discursive thoughts, so that we gain the capacity to see our own mind clearly. Otherwise, that perpetually restless mind will keep grasping at external objects. Even when alone in a room, the sixth consciousness will keep churning up the various seeds within, creating chaos. So meditative concentration can help us develop sustained, stable mental power, upon which we can further cultivate insight and uncover undefiled wisdom. It is like water that becomes clear through settling---it can then reflect all things, down to the finest detail.
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To practice meditative concentration, we must first understand the merits of concentration and the faults of distraction. Then we choose a virtuous object as our meditation subject and, through continuous practice, enable the mind to gain focus and stability. This is an indispensable foundation for achieving right mindfulness and developing the wisdom of emptiness.
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(6) The Practice of Wisdom
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Wisdom (prajñā) is the ultimate wisdom that thoroughly sees the true nature of all phenomena. It also includes three kinds. The first is the wisdom that realizes emptiness, the wisdom of selflessness. The second is the wisdom that comprehends conventional truth, mastering such worldly knowledge and skills as medicine and crafts. The third is the wisdom that benefits sentient beings, the skillful means for gathering and guiding them. For the study and practice of the Buddhadharma, wisdom is of critical importance. Precisely because they lack wisdom, sentient beings are perpetually in a state of ignorance, giving rise to self-attachment and other confused sensations.
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Life itself possesses the capacity for awakening. *Buddha* means "the awakened one," representing the awakening of life. The function of the wisdom of prajñā is, on the one hand, to help us break through ignorance and clear away the rubbish of the mind, and on the other, to guide us in the correct practice of the bodhisattva path. Without the guidance of wisdom, the generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, and meditative concentration we cultivate will lose their direction and remain nothing more than ordinary worldly good deeds. Only under the guidance of prajñā can the five pāramitās be elevated and become provisions for buddhahood.
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In the practice of wisdom, we must likewise understand the merits of wisdom and the faults of ignorance. Through hearing and contemplating the teachings, we establish right view; then we transform right view into the power of observation. Through the power of observing prajñā, we ultimately realize the prajñā of true nature.
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Through cultivating the six pāramitās, we can steadily clear away the defiled forces of the ordinary mind. Generosity counteracts attachment; ethical discipline counteracts laxness; patience counteracts anger; diligence counteracts indolence; meditative concentration counteracts distraction; and wisdom counteracts ignorance---allowing wisdom and compassion to gradually reach perfection.
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{#九菩萨行与空性见}
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## IX. Bodhisattva Practice and the View of Emptiness
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As ordinary beings, the bodhisattva practice we engage in is built upon ignorance and self-attachment---it is limited and tainted. We wish to benefit all sentient beings impartially, but this is very difficult to achieve in practice, because our current mental activity is filled with favoritism and aversion, filled with inequality. Only upon reaching the first-stage bodhisattva and realizing the undifferentiated emptiness can we treat all sentient beings equally. With this basis of view, the bodhicitta we arouse is ultimate bodhicitta, and the bodhisattva practice we engage in is the undefiled practice of noble beings.
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So through what kind of practice can we realize emptiness? Here, I will mainly offer two points: first, the understanding of selflessness; second, the understanding of the absence of inherent existence.
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{#无-我}
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### 1. Selflessness
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From the perspective of the Buddhadharma, the so-called "I" is merely a provisional composite of the five aggregates. Neither this present physical body nor the various ideas and notions are inherently existent; they are accumulations formed over the course of life's continuation. Our body is a product of our parents' genetic inheritance and the nourishment of postnatal food and drink. Our ideas are accumulated through the influence of school, family, and society, and through our own reflections, as we grow. Where in all this is there any fixed, unchanging "I"? Just look at our body: from birth to the present, has there been a single day when it was not changing? A single moment when it was not undergoing metabolic renewal? And look at our ideas: from youth to the present, how many turns have they taken, how many quests and denials have they undergone? Even if we managed to hold on to our childhood dreams for a lifetime, they could only have done so through enrichment and adjustment.
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So our body, ideas, and emotions are merely objects---tools we employ during a particular period---not the self we imagine them to be. The function of observation is to help us inspect and maintain these objects, which is also an innate capacity for self-examination that life possesses. Ordinarily, we are in the habit of grasping outward, forever observing the external world, but we never know to turn our gaze back and look at what it is that speaks, moves, feels happy, and suffers. What relationship does it actually bear to that "self" we care so much about? If we can observe the physical body and the arising thoughts as objects, we will no longer be disturbed by the so-called "self" and fall prey to all the problems it creates.
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All the suffering in this world is caused by affixing the label of "self" to things. Take this table, for example. By itself, it would not affect our minds at all. But once the label "mine" is stuck onto it, its changes suddenly feel entirely different. If it breaks, "I" feel upset; if it is lost, "I" feel regret. The greater the attachment, the greater the impact. The same applies to my family, my children, my house, my career, my status. Everything in this world, once branded with the label "mine," instantly becomes weighty and special, instantly sticks to our hearts---hard to put down, impossible to shake off. And worse, affliction follows right behind. Every day, countless families break apart, but only when *my* family breaks apart does it feel gut-wrenching. Every day, many businesses go under, but only when *my* business collapses does it feel unbearable. The question is: can this affliction save the family from breaking apart? Can it stop the business from going under? If not, why would we needlessly court such trouble, injuring our body and mind?
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What Buddhist practice does is help us peel off the label of "self." When each emotion arises, simply observe it objectively: right now I am feeling happy, right now I am feeling angry, right now I am jealous, right now I am sad, and so on. As long as we do not stick the label of "I" onto it, the emotion holds little power. They can come and go, but they are merely passing visitors, staying only briefly. They will not cause much disturbance, much less forcibly take control of the situation. This is the function of understanding selflessness. Once the inner power of observation arises and takes effect, that very moment is liberation, that very moment is freedom.
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{#无自性}
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### 2. Absence of Inherent Existence
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Second, the wisdom of the absence of inherent existence is also very important. Every affliction and emotion has a corresponding object: something caused by family, something caused by career, something caused by a certain event, or something caused by a certain person. Why does this event or this person give rise to affliction in you? The key lies in our attachment to a fixed notion about that event or that person. When this fixed notion clashes with reality---or with some other deluded idea of ours---affliction arises.
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In everyday life, we often hear complaints like: "Why did he treat me this way?" "Why did my efforts yield nothing?" "Why does misfortune always fall on me?" Though the content of these complaints varies, they share a common expression, which is: "I just can't figure it out." Why can't they figure it out? Because they are not truly searching for the reason, not truly seeking the "why." Instead, they construct a fixed idea of how things "should be" and then plunge headlong into a mental dead end. Hitting a wall is then unavoidable.
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How can we dispel affliction? We must change our fixed notions. The *Heart Sutra* and the *Diamond Sutra* both speak of all phenomena being empty of inherent existence. This is meant to help us recognize the truth of phenomena and eliminate our mistaken views of the world. When we realize that everything is a provisional appearance woven by causes and conditions, like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; when we realize that all our past views were merely wishful thinking rather than reflections of reality, affliction will naturally have no ground from which to arise. The reason affliction arises is that we take the world to be solid and real, take those people and events to be solid and real, take our own notions of right and wrong to be solid and real, and take the outcomes that we insist "should be" to be solid and real.
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The practice of emptiness, on the one hand, helps us break through self-attachment, and on the other, guides us in observing the world as it truly is. We live in the same world, yet we each live in our own separate worlds---some in joy, some in pain. The difference lies in how we view the world and how we experience it. This is why the Buddhadharma places such special emphasis on the function of right view, and why the absence of inherent existence in all phenomena is the most fundamental right view of all. Once we recognize this, we possess the wisdom eye for viewing the world and have opened the door that leads out of samsara.
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{#十结-语}
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## X. Conclusion
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Above, I have introduced the practice of bodhicitta in three main parts. The first is the basic understanding of bodhicitta practice, covering four topics: the importance of bodhicitta, bodhicitta and refuge, bodhicitta and the Seven-Limbed Practice, and bodhicitta and renunciation. The second is how to arouse bodhicitta, covering three topics: generating aspiring bodhicitta, upholding aspiring bodhicitta, and receiving the bodhisattva precepts. The third is the practical implementation and elevation of bodhicitta, covering two topics: engaging in bodhisattva practice, and bodhisattva practice and the view of emptiness.
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For disciples of the Buddha who aspire to study and practice the Mahayana, bodhicitta runs through from beginning to end. For the practice of the bodhisattva path begins with arousing bodhicitta and ends with perfecting bodhicitta. With regard to this core, we must not only hear and study it widely and reflect on it properly, but even more importantly, practice it continuously off the meditation seat, so that the practice of bodhicitta is truly put into effect and we become bodhisattva practitioners who are genuine inside and out.
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iacore