Find the full talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R_nDFuvHaU
Introduction
This is a very popular text. It already was in India, as the many commentaries in Sanskrit prove. Also in Tibet have been largely propagated, and there are commentaries in all the schools. One of the foremost Tibetan teachers is Patrul Rinpoche (c. XIX), that almost taught it permanently, of which one of his students received from him more than 40 times. There are also many translations to western languages, in particular to English. Ringu Tulku is using for this teaching, the translation to English from Padmakara. Rinpoche has taught also many times this text, and he has been broadcasting in bodhicharya a very detailed one, that is still ongoing. This teaching is a summary of every chapter.
Structure of the book
- Chapters 1-3 How to generate bodhicitta
- Chapters 4-6 How to maintain bodhicitta
- Chapters 7-9 How to increase or develop bodhicitta
- Chapter 10 Dedication
What is bodhicitta?
Bodhicitta has to part: wisdom and compassion. Wisdom means that there is a possibility to find a way to transform ourselves and free from the suffering of samsara. Is the development of our inner qualities that will leads us to find the true happiness. Most of us believe that we will find happiness in the outer things; but this is not correct. So we develop understanding, meditation even faith to transform ourselves.
But we are not transforming ourselves only for our own sake, but to help all the other beings. Because everyone wants to be happy and get free of suffering, I must try to find a way to bring that to everybody. And due to that I will develop all this qualities. This is the compassion aspect. This is the motivation [of the bodhisattva]. And having wisdom and compassion is having generated bodhicitta.
From the Buddhist point of view, the reason we do things is very important. The positive effect of our actions depends more on the reasons , than in the action itself. Rinpoche quote from the book, "How to become richer quicker", the hint to succeed "give more to people what they want, and give less what people don't want". Bodhicitta is similar, but if we do that to become richer, we can become successful in business, but not a bodhisattva. But if we do it to make people get happy and free of suffering, then we are in the bodhisattva path.
Therefore, the first step is to set the right motivation. Shantideva points out that we do a lot of positive actions and negative actions. And we have very difficult to diminish our negative side, so the balance is near to zero. If we have the right attitude [bodhicitta] then our negative actions can be overpowered, even if it take us a lot of time and we encounter a lot of difficulties. Because nothing becomes more important to us than help everybody to liberate from suffering. So bodhicitta becomes the strongest antidote to our negative emotions. Having this intention, our actions will be good for us and for others, there will be no negative, wrong side in them.
Those who developed this intention can be called a bodhisattva, is like being a knight of compassion, a heir of Buddha, a prince Buddha. Once we have bodhicitta, we must become enlightened. There is nothing better to wish.
When Rinpoche was in the school, many authorities visited and some asked me "when you grow up, what you would like to be?". And they expected that Rinpoche replied being a doctor, engineer, but wishing this can only solve some transitory problems. We all want to be happy and get rid of all the suffering, and similar to us anybody else. That is the motivation of a bodhisattva. Acquiring that, we clarify our purpose, although it can take time and it is not going to be easy, because there is nothing better than that. And this make this motivation precious. Moreover, this motivation is very rare, because many people have never even thought about it.
Maintaining bodhicitta will help us to overcome tall our negativities, even we have done some negatives actions, it is like an strong fire that can burn anything, it becomes the strongest antidote of all the negative emotions. Anger, hatred, greed, attachment, jealousy, envy, arrogance, self-centeredness,... compassion is their opposite.
Aspiration bodhicitta is the wish to all beings get free of suffering, and action bodhicitta is putting it into practice. When we want something first he have a thought, but then to make it real we must take some action. When our aspiration becomes really strong, then we go into action, and we practice bodhicitta whatever we do, even sleeping.
If we thing way people suffer, it is not because they want, but because they do not how how get free of it. That way, we work on ourselves to be able to help others. The method of training is the six paramitas, that we will explain in the future chapters.
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