Property:SanskritTranslation
From Bodhicitta
This is a property of type Text.
T
The chain or aggregate of phenomena that we call “myself” is only deceptively real, like a line of ants or a marching army. There is no one to possess sorrow; therefore, who can call sorrow his own? +
All sorrow without exception lacks a possessor. It is only because sorrow is sorrow that it should be avoided; why do you imagine then that the sorrow you must allay is limited to your own?<span class="smw-highlighter pagebreaks" data-type="8" data-state="inline" data-title="Page number from:" title="429" tabindex="0"><span class="smwtticon pagebreak note text-80">[p.429]</span><span class="smwttcontent"><big>[[How to Be a Bodhisattva: Introduction to the Practice of the Bodhisattva Path (The Bodhicaryāvatāra)]]</big> <br> <span class="muted">Gómez, Luis O., trans. "How to Be a Bodhisattva: Introduction to the Practice of the Bodhisattva Path (''The Bodhicaryāvatāra'')." In ''Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism'', edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr., 395–441. New York: Norton, 2017.</span></span></span> +
An Objector Interjects: (103ab) Why should one avoid sorrow at all then?
The Author Replies: (103cd) Because all beings agree on wanting to avoid it. If it is to be avoided it should all be avoided in the same way. If it is not to be avoided, then it should not be avoided for oneself also, as much as for other sentient beings. +
An Objector Interjects: (104ab) Compassion brings much suffering; why should it be so consciously cultivated?
The Author Replies: (104cd) Compared to the suffering of the world, how could the pain of compassion be regarded as so great? +
(105) If suffering of the many can be suppressed with the suffering of one individual, then the latter suffering should be fostered by one who feels sympathy for himself and others. +
(106) This is why Supushpachandra,<span class="smw-highlighter" data-type="8" data-state="inline" data-title="Note 7" title="7" tabindex="0"><span class="smwtticon bca-note note">7</span><span class="smwttcontent">A bodhisattva executed by an evil king for teaching the dharma.</span></span> for the sake of many suffering beings, did not try to prevent his own suffering, though he knew the danger of incurring the king’s wrath. +
The bodhisattvas, who have cultivated this chain of phenomena that we call "myself," and for whom the most extreme sorrow is the same as pleasure, descend into the Avichi hell like swans diving into a lotus pond. +
Those who become oceans of joy whenever living beings attain liberation, have they not achieved thereby the highest bliss? Why would they want the tasteless liberation of individual salvation? +
Then, though they do everything for the sake of others, they feel no pride, show no arrogance, they have no desire for the fruit or maturation of their actions. They act, moved solely by a thirst for the well-being of others. +
If I talk to them about what is beneficial for them, they become impatient with me or lead me away from the good. But if I ignore them, they become offended, and by their anger are led to rebirth in evil destinies. +
Therefore, as I would protect myself from all evil, I will think only of care and sympathy toward others. +
Although there is no such thing as “myself,” by the force of habit I come to perceive a self in these drops of semen and blood, which are other than myself. +
Why don’t I perceive in the same manner my self in the body of another sentient being? It should not be difficult, as it has been established that even my own body is other than myself. +
By recognizing that I have many faults, while others are oceans of virtue, I should give up completely the self, and practice adopting others as my self. +
Recognizing one’s own faults, and the oceans of virtues possessed by others, one cultivates the practice of giving up one’s own self to take the place of another. +
If by the force of habit the notion of a self is produced with respect to this body, which has no self, then why not produce by the force of habit the notion of a self with respect to other sentient beings? +
Thus, even while working to attain the objectives of other sentient beings, there will be no arrogance or pride. It is as if one did not expect any recompense from others, because it is one’s self that is already enjoying the fruits. +
Therefore, in the same way that you seek to protect yourself from pain and grief, you should develop an attitude of care and sympathy toward the world. +
This is why the protector Avalokiteshvara<span class="smw-highlighter" data-type="8" data-state="inline" data-title="Note 8" title="8" tabindex="0"><span class="smwtticon bca-note note">8</span><span class="smwttcontent">The bodhisattva who embodies compassion.</span></span> has established his own name even as a means for people to gain confidence in the public assembly. +
You should not turn back in the face of obstacles, because the power of practice is such that in the end you will find pleasure only in that loss of self, the mention of which was so terrifying before.<span class="smw-highlighter pagebreaks" data-type="8" data-state="inline" data-title="Page number from:" title="430" tabindex="0"><span class="smwtticon pagebreak note text-80">[p.430]</span><span class="smwttcontent"><big>[[How to Be a Bodhisattva: Introduction to the Practice of the Bodhisattva Path (The Bodhicaryāvatāra)]]</big> <br> <span class="muted">Gómez, Luis O., trans. "How to Be a Bodhisattva: Introduction to the Practice of the Bodhisattva Path (''The Bodhicaryāvatāra'')." In ''Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism'', edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr., 395–441. New York: Norton, 2017.</span></span></span> +
