Aspirational Bodhi Mind (Lodo 1985)
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Description
When we begin any spiritual practice, we must first examine our motivation. In order to practice the Mahayana Path, our motivation should not be for ourselves alone; we must seek to obtain Buddhahood for the sake of all living beings. Without this vast motivation, the practice becomes just another worldly activity.
In order to have this motivation we must first generate Bodhi Mind. Bodhi Mind has two aspects, aspirational and operational. We will explore aspirational Bodhi Mind first by studying its five components.
The first component of aspirational Bodhi Mind is the non-abandonment of living beings, which insures that the Bodhisattva Vow is not lost or degenerated. The Buddha has said that if we understand this one dharma, or teaching, we will understand all the dharmas. Let us say we have been repeatedly bothered and harmed by a certain person, in fact so often that we reach the point where we think that if there were ever a chance to help this person we would refuse to give help. If harm actually came to them and in some way we could stop it and we did not, then that is what is called abandoning a living being. We must strive never to do this.
