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<h4>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h4> | <h4>Great Compassion in Relation to Benefiting Others</h4> | ||
Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom [Link to GLOSSARY]. | Having revealed to us the path of bodhicitta and wisdom, and having highlighted the terrible state that ordinary beings find themselves in, to conclude the ninth chapter on cultivating this priceless realization of suchness, verses 166 and 167 speak of the two main wings of the bodhisattva path, compassion and wisdom. Here, it references the two great accumulations—the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom [Link to GLOSSARY]. | ||
In verse 166 Śāntideva is overcome by the wish to pacify the sufferings of all beings trapped in samsara. He asks himself, "When will the time come when I will be able to put out the fires of others' suffering?" In a form of dedication, he wishes from his heart that the rains of bliss which pour forth from the clouds of all his accumulated merit may rain down on the terrible flames of beings' suffering, extinguishing them forever. This verse specifically refers to the accumulation of merit from the method side of practice, through practices such as generosity and ethical discipline. | |||
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Following Śāntideva's example, Gyaltsap Je explains how we must sincerely cultivate this great compassion from deep in our hearts. | |||
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|quote-text=When will I become someone that pacifies the sufferings of the lower realms with medicine, food and the like? That which are parts of my collection of happiness, built up from clouds of merits built up by generosity and so forth. How wonderful would it be if sentient beings were free from suffering? May they be free from suffering. May I bring about that freedom.<ref>Stracke, ''Entrance for the Children: Chapter Nine'', 82, https://research.tsadra.org/img_auth.php/9/9c/Stracke_Fedor_trans_2016_The_Entrance_for_the_Children_of_the_Conquerors_Happy_Monk_Publication.pdf.</ref> | |||
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In verse 86 of his ''Commentary on Bodhicitta'', Nāgārjuna explains that this sense of compassion for beings should be so strong that we are willing to give up the most refined and blissful states of meditative concentration and instead to wish to plunge headlong into the worst of the hellish states. | |||
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|quote-text=When through practice it becomes firm, | |||
Then alarmed by other’s suffering, | |||
The [bodhisattvas] renounce the bliss of concentration | |||
And plunge even to the depths of relentless hells.<ref>Thupten Jinpa, ''Commentary on the Awakening Mind'', 9, PDF, https://tibetanclassics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Awakening-Mind-Commentary.pdf.<ref/> | |||
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