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<h4>General Dedication That the Three Realms of Samsara Be Free of Suffering</h4> | <h4>General Dedication That the Three Realms of Samsara Be Free of Suffering</h4> | ||
With the understanding of the vital role that dedication plays in spiritual practice in general and, in particular, in the structure of the supreme worship which we mentioned in the earlier chapters, we can now look at the flow of this last chapter. Chapter 10 begins with several verses of general dedication that all the merit we have accumulated go to clearing away all the sufferings of beings across the whole of spectrum of samsara, with the wish also that, instead of suffering, all beings will have endless peace and happiness. | |||
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These are indeed lofty ideals. But we may wonder if it is really possible to accomplish these goals. In relation to these verses, the contemporary Kagyu master Thrangu Rinpoche explains how some aspirations we make can be fulfilled, while others cannot. | |||
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|quote-text=Some aspirations that we make can be fulfilled and some cannot. For instance, if I wish for a beautiful flower to appear on my table, no flower will appear, no matter how long I pray for it. If, on the other hand, there is soil, a pot, some water and seeds, then there is a good chance that the prayer for a flower will be fulfilled. | |||
So it is important that we don’t just pray or wish that things come about by themselves, but we must also try the best to the best of our capabilities to develop the conditions for our wishes to flourish. In samsara the realm of sentient beings is vast. In all directions there are sentient beings and when there are sentient beings, there are disturbing emotions and suffering. Now we pray that all these sentient beings be endowed with perfect happiness, to continually enjoy this happiness which is beyond the happiness that occurs in samsara, and that they remain in perfect happiness from the virtue of our good activities.<ref>Thrangu Rinpoche, ''A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life of Shantideva: A Commentary by the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche'', trans. Ken and Katia Holmes and Thomas Doctor (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2016), 230.</ref> | |||
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Here, the point being stressed is that we also have to take an active role in helping our lofty wishes come to fruition. It is not enough to just stand on the sidelines and pray. We must act to put the causes in place for the desired result to bear fruit. | |||
<h4>Dedication for the Hell Realm Beings</h4> | |||
Śāntideva then expounds a series of specific dedications to beings who are trapped with their own particular forms of suffering. He begins with the beings in the realm of samsara with the most intense suffering. Verses 4 to 15 are dedications for the benefit of beings who have been reborn in the absolute terror and misery of the hell realms. Śāntideva recognizes a variety of terrible states that beings experience in these realms, and he beautifully expresses his wish for their freedom from this excruciating pain. | |||
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Not only does he wish for their release from these sufferings but he makes a dedication that these sufferings will be transformed into their exact opposite—bliss and happiness. He imagines a hail of weapons and lava transformed into a rain of flowers, the pits of hell becoming fragrant lotus ponds, and in the place of iron hills which crush beings on all sides, he imagines instead temples where the buddhas dwell. | |||
<h4>Dedication for the Animal Realm Beings</h4> | |||
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