A Precious Lamp in Praise of Bodhicitta (Khunu Lama 1981)
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Description
Kunu Lama Rinpoche, who died in 1976, was born in the Indian Himalayas and educated in Tibet. One of the foremost teachers of his generation, this great bodhisattva had the honour of passing his last five years as a preceptor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The following are selected from his extensive collection of verses praising bodhicitta.
The buddhas, reflecting with love upon all beings
And wishing to help them
Ask, "By what means might we help?"
They see only this-the supreme awakening mind of bodhicitta.
Converging waters form the oceans
And from these oceans clouds arise
And by these clouds is the earth made fertile
And in like manner are beings made beautiful through bodhicitta.
The notion to assume another's end as our own
Does not arise even in our dreams.
Yet within the supreme awakening mind of bodhicitta there dawns
The aspiration to bear the purpose of all sentient beings.
Within bodhicitta there is equality of self and others.
Within bodhicitta there is exchange of self for others.
Within bodhicitta there is a greater love for others than for oneself.
Within bodhicitta the purposes of both self and others are fulfilled.
The sun at its zenith in the sky
Is an eye for all beings in lowly places,
And lofty bodhicitta for them a guide Showing that which is to be taken up
And that which must be forsaken.
Though poets search for images of bodhicitta
They do not find them,
For within expressions of speech
Its likeness is nowhere to be found.
Whatsoever vile and pernicious plight
Might beset the bodhisattva,
Through bodhicitta each and every challenge
Is transformed into but a servant of his virtue.
Out of the precepts, "all beings are our mothers"
And "mindfulness of their kindness" is bodhicitta born.
Out of the precepts, "intent to repay their kindness," "genial love,"
"Compassion" and "exceptional resolve" is bodhicitta born.
Thus, assiduously strive to engender them.
By the jewelled light of the sun
Do those having eyes behold the forms of things,
And by the jewelled light of bodhicitta does the son of the conqueror
Look upon all beings vast as space.
The wind may become entrapped in a snare,
The coolness of sandalwood grow warm,
And light turn to darkness;
But never shall you be deceived by bodhicitta.
Though you devote yourself to others' ends
It is but an outward appearance
If bodhicitta is not within.
A tree barren of fruit, even though beautiful,
Will never appease anyone's hunger.
As darkness is dispelled by a lamp
The clouds of temporary obscurations
Are dispersed from the skies of emptiness
By the swirling winds of bodhicitta.
It is difficult for even the supremely able buddhas
To bring satisfaction to all beings,
But to him who has bodhicitta
Almost all things bring happiness.
Life is barren of fulfillment
For him in whom bodhicitta lays fallow.
It is as if one sought to reap a harvest
Having never sown a seed.
To pride oneself as a mahayanist
When destitute of bodhicitta
Is to fancy oneself a rich man
Having squandered away all that one will ever have.
The round and lovely moon of loving-kindness,
The luminescent moon of compassion:
While these the moons of bodhicitta exist
What of celestial moons?
Translated by Jhampa Gendun and Tenzin Chodak
Notes
The text presents bodhicitta as the most precious quality one can develop, using extensive poetic imagery and metaphors to describe its benefits and supreme importance. Khunu Rinpoche draws on traditional Buddhist sources while offering his own devotional perspective on this central concept.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who was a student of Khunu Rinpoche, has been particularly devoted to this text. He received the oral transmission directly from Khunu Rinpoche himself, noting it was "the first teaching I received from him." The Dalai Lama has taught from The Jewel Lamp on multiple occasions, including extended teachings in Sydney, Australia in 2013. The work is valued for its clarity, inspirational quality, and its role in preserving the emphasis on compassion and altruism in Tibetan Buddhist practice. It has been translated into English and is studied within Tibetan Buddhist communities as both a teaching text and a source of contemplation on compassionate motivation.
