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In his commentary on this verse, Khenpo Kunpal also draws an important distinction here between dedication and aspirational prayers: | In his commentary on this verse, Khenpo Kunpal also draws an important distinction here between dedication and aspirational prayers: | ||
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|quote-text=Dedication and prayers of aspiration are crucially important. According to our tradition, the difference between dedication and aspiration should be understood in the following way. Dedication consists in pledging one’s positive actions to perfect enlightenment for the sake of beings. By contrast, a prayer of aspiration is just the wish that beings themselves attain enlightenment; it is not connected with the performance of wholesome deeds.<ref>Pelden, 393.</ref> | |quote-text=Dedication and prayers of aspiration are crucially important. According to our tradition, the difference between dedication and aspiration should be understood in the following way. Dedication consists in pledging one’s positive actions to perfect enlightenment for the sake of beings. By contrast, a prayer of aspiration is just the wish that beings themselves attain enlightenment; it is not connected with the performance of wholesome deeds.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 393.</ref> | ||
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Aspiration is more the wish for something to happen and does not have to involve the actual engagement in the deeds associated with it. Dedication, on the other hand, is done after the completion of the acts to seal off and make beneficial use of our merit. | Aspiration is more the wish for something to happen and does not have to involve the actual engagement in the deeds associated with it. Dedication, on the other hand, is done after the completion of the acts to seal off and make beneficial use of our merit. | ||
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Not to dedicate or to dedicate awry, | Not to dedicate or to dedicate awry, | ||
To brag to others or to have regrets: | To brag to others or to have regrets: | ||
Four things that lay your virtue waste. . . .<ref>Pelden, 393–94. The last 3 lines here appear to be a verse, but the source is not provided.</ref> | Four things that lay your virtue waste. . . .<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 393–94. The last 3 lines here appear to be a verse, but the source is not provided.</ref> | ||
Accordingly, without the dedication of the roots of virtue, virtue comes to nothing, for there are many causes for its destruction, such as the occurrence of anger. By contrast, when virtue is dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment, it is as when drops of water fall into the ocean; they will remain for as long as the ocean lasts. Virtue dedicated to the attainment of buddhahood will not be spent until enlightenment is gained. Indeed, it will increase and actually take us there.<ref>Pelden, 394.</ref> | Accordingly, without the dedication of the roots of virtue, virtue comes to nothing, for there are many causes for its destruction, such as the occurrence of anger. By contrast, when virtue is dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment, it is as when drops of water fall into the ocean; they will remain for as long as the ocean lasts. Virtue dedicated to the attainment of buddhahood will not be spent until enlightenment is gained. Indeed, it will increase and actually take us there.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 394.</ref> | ||
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And will not dry until the sea itself runs dry, | And will not dry until the sea itself runs dry, | ||
The virtue that to buddhahood is pledged | The virtue that to buddhahood is pledged | ||
Is not consumed till buddhahood is gained.<ref>Pelden, 394.</ref> | Is not consumed till buddhahood is gained.<ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 394.</ref> | ||
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<h4>Dedicating in the context of emptiness</h4> | <h4>Dedicating in the context of emptiness</h4> | ||
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|quote-text=In the same way, we too should consider as our teachers all those through whose kindness our minds have absorbed some of the qualities of the Dharma of transmission and realization. And remembering their kindness, we too should respectfully reverence them in thought, word, and deed. | |quote-text=In the same way, we too should consider as our teachers all those through whose kindness our minds have absorbed some of the qualities of the Dharma of transmission and realization. And remembering their kindness, we too should respectfully reverence them in thought, word, and deed. | ||
<ref>Pelden, 436.</ref> | <ref>Pelden, ''The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 436.</ref> | ||
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We should always be reminded that while these are personal reflections of Śāntideva on his experiences of training, they are also an indirect form of advice for ourselves. This is true of the text as a whole, where in the first chapter although he says the text was only composed to familiarize his mind with the topics, inadvertently his audience also gain a complete instruction on the way of the bodhisattva. | We should always be reminded that while these are personal reflections of Śāntideva on his experiences of training, they are also an indirect form of advice for ourselves. This is true of the text as a whole, where in the first chapter although he says the text was only composed to familiarize his mind with the topics, inadvertently his audience also gain a complete instruction on the way of the bodhisattva. | ||
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