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|quote-text=The expression "firmly grasped" in the root text means that the Children of the Conqueror have assimilated the attitude of bodhichitta perfectly and irreversibly. Similarly, from the moment that we have generated the mind of enlightenment, we too must uphold it firmly, with the zealous wish that, come what may, we will never abandon it. If we have such a concentrated intention, telling ourselves that bodhichitta must be omnipresent even in our dreams, this will come about. It is therefore taught that the focusing of our earnest intention is of great importance.<ref>Fletcher and Blankleder, ''Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 141.</ref> | |quote-text=The expression "firmly grasped" in the root text means that the Children of the Conqueror have assimilated the attitude of bodhichitta perfectly and irreversibly. Similarly, from the moment that we have generated the mind of enlightenment, we too must uphold it firmly, with the zealous wish that, come what may, we will never abandon it. If we have such a concentrated intention, telling ourselves that bodhichitta must be omnipresent even in our dreams, this will come about. It is therefore taught that the focusing of our earnest intention is of great importance.<ref>Fletcher and Blankleder, ''Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 141.</ref> | ||
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Śāntideva reminds us that we have taken vows to attain the highest state of enlightenment for the sake of all living beings and to deliver all beings from the sufferings of samsara as well as the drawbacks of the peace of nirvana and to place them in the state of buddhahood. | |||
This is a huge commitment to live by. Having promised to live our lives in a framework dedicated to the welfare of others, how can we turn our backs on helpless sentient beings? | |||
Śāntideva warns us that the worst of all downfalls is to lose the mind of bodhicitta. We must make good on our promise to follow this altruistic path or we will be derided by gods and men, and in the future we will fall into the terrible suffering of the lower states of existence. | |||
In ''The Questions of Sāgaramati'' (Skt. ''Sāgaramatiparipṛcchāsūtra''), Buddha Śākyamuni, addressing the celestial bodhisattva Sāgaramati, illustrates how grave this downfall is. | |||
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|quote-text=Sāgaramati, to draw an analogy, if a king or a royal minister were to announce to all the people of a city that he will distribute supplies to them the following day, and then abandons them, giving them no food or drink, then he has let that group of people down. Because they did not receive any food or drink, they will in turn deride him. Analogously, Sāgaramati, if a bodhisattva teaches extensively about finding relief in order to emancipate all beings who have not yet gone beyond, liberate those who have not yet been liberated, offer relief to those who have not found relief, and bring to parinirvāṇa those who have not yet reached parinirvāṇa, [F.95.a] yet himself fails to strive toward the virtues of the factors of awakening, then that bodhisattva has not practiced what he preached. He has let the world and its gods down. If the gods who have previously beheld buddhas see him, they will deride, disparage, and belittle him. Those who pledge to perform offerings and actually go on to perform such offerings are rare. Still, compared to them, those who begin with the great offerings and remain undiscouraged by the unsurpassed Great Vehicle are even more rare. Sāgaramati, a bodhisattva must not make any claims that will let the world and its gods, humans, and asuras down. <ref>Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., ''The Questions of Sāgaramati, Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā'', Toh 152 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023), | |||
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh152.html?#UT22084-058-001-1799.</ref> | |||
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