In the last post, we talked about how we can use the practice of taking and giving to generate a special “Christ-like” bodhichitta.  We essentially take on the delusions and contaminated karma of those close to us and then view whatever delusions and negative karma that ripen within our own mind as that which we have taken on.

We can also accomplish this through requests to Dorje Shugden.  From our countless previous lives wandering the realms of samsara, we already have on our mind the contaminated karma for virtually any experience.  We essentially request Dorje Shugden to activate the karma in our mind that corresponds with the delusions and negative karma of those we love.  We request him, “may the delusions that arise in my mind be those of those I love; and when I overcome them in my mind may they be eliminated from their minds.”

The benefits of practicing in this way are almost limitless.  First, it gives our suffering meaning, so we gladly accept it.  For example, imagine we have bad back pain.  Normally, we would just suffer from this experience.  But if instead we viewed it as us having taken on all of the back pain of all those we love, and by our accepting and transforming it, others are freed from ever having to experience back pain in the future, then our experience of this back pain has great meaning and we can gladly accept it.

Second, it helps us cut our identification with the delusions arising within our mind.  When delusions arise in the minds of others, it does not disturb our mind; but when delusions arise within our mind it does.  Why the difference?  If we check, the only reason is because we identify with the latter and not the former.  When we view the delusions that arise within our mind as those of others we have taken on, we no longer feel them to be “our” delusions, rather they are the delusions of others that we have taken on.  By not identifying with them, we give ourselves the distance we need to not suffer from them and to be able to work to overcome them.

Third, Bodhichitta comes naturally.  When we practice in this way, we see a direct connection between overcoming our delusions and negative karma and benefiting others.  Sometimes we think, “OK, I am healing my own mind, but how am I helping anybody else?”  When we practice in this way, viewing our delusions as those we have taken on, this doubt goes away.  We feel ourselves to be like a spiritual surgeon going into the minds of other living beings and removing the cancer of their delusions and restoring them to perfect spiritual health.

Fourth, we create a special karmic connection with these beings which will ripen in the form of them being our disciple and them appearing in our life.  Venerable Tharchin says those specific beings in dependence upon whom we generate bodhichitta will be the first we liberate when we ourselves become a Buddha.  The reason for this is we generate a very close and special karmic connection between ourselves and them which will ripen in the future in the form of us having the realizations we need to lead them to enlightenment and for them to appear in our lives when we have such an ability.

Fifth, by eliminating the delusions in our mind, we eliminate them in their minds.  If we understand emptiness, we understand that their faults and delusions come from our mind anyway.  If last night we dreamt of somebody in a wheelchair, who put them there?  We did, it is coming from our mind.  In the same way, if during the dream of the waking state we see people with certain delusions where do these faults come from?  Our own mind.  But if we remove that fault from our own mind, we will no longer project a world in which this fault appears in others.  In this way, we can directly liberate others from their faults and engage in the actions of a Buddha right now.

Finally, when we practice in this way we carry those we love forward in proportion to their karmic connection with us.  Venerable Tharchin says, “each step we take towards enlightenment we bring all those karmically connected to us along as well.”  This is worth contemplating deeply.  If we are karmically close to certain beings, such as our family, and then we take several steps closer to enlightenment but we remain just as karmically close to them, then they too are now that much closer to enlightenment due to their karmic proximity to us.  This occurs due to socialization effects of being in our karmic orbit and a more powerful stream of blessings flowing through us into them.  If we understand this, we realize all we need do is (1) gain realizations, and (2) cultivate close karmic relationships with others.  The rest will pretty much take care of itself.

We are continuing with our discussion of generating bodhichitta.  We talked in the last post how we rejoice in other’s good qualities and appreciate their faults.  This is the key to generating cherishing love for others.  Here I will try build the bridge between the appearance of other’s faults and king-like Bodhichitta, or what I understand to be “Christ-like” Bodhichitta.

I will explain two methods for building this bridge:  ‘owing others faults as your own’ and ‘viewing your faults as those you have taken on’.

Venerable Tharchin says when we see faults in others we should “own their faults as our own.”  He says the only reason why others appear to have any faults is because we ourself possess the same fault within our mind.  He says when we see a fault in somebody else, we should see that person as a ‘mirror-like’ Buddha who reflects back to us our own faults.  Then we find that fault within ourself and purge it like bad blood.

When we do this, several things happen:  First, we gain the realizations we need to be able to help the other person overcome their fault because we learn how to do it ourself.  Second, we show the best possible example for the other person, namely that of somebody overcoming, or being free from, their biggest fault.  Third, almost magically, the fault will actually disappear in the other person.  The fault in the other person actually comes from our own mind.  When we eliminate it from our mind, it will disappear from the other person because it is our faulty mind projecting a faulty world anyways.  In this way, a Bodhisattva gradually leads all beings to enlightenment.  And at the very least, if we practice in this way we won’t be bothered by the appearance of faults in others and we will gradually come to have one less fault!

The second method for building this bridge is to view our own delusions and negative karma as those we have taken on from those close to us in our life, or as they say in French, nos proches.  When a delusion arises in our mind, we should imagine that it is one that we have taken on from our previous practice of taking and giving.  We then imagine that as we overcome it in our mind, we are eliminating it in the minds of the other person.  A faulty mind projects a world filled with faulty people, but a pure mind projects a world filled with pure beings.  By removing the faults from our own mind, we will stop projecting a faulty dream and start projecting a pure world.  We take on the delusions of nos proches because we realize we are in a better position to work through them than they are.  Just as a young person is in a better position than the old lady to carry her groceries, we are in a better position to “take on” the delusions of those we love because we have the Dharma.

A very profound way of practicing if we can view our mind like a TV screen which reflects the aggregate nexus of the delusions arising in the minds of all living beings.  We have taken them all on, and their synthetic sum is whatever nexus of delusions is arising in our mind.  We feel as if we have become like a contaminated mind treatment facility.  We bring in delusions and negative karma, we treat it within our mind and then return back to them completely purified minds.

King-like bodhichitta is a mind that assumes the personal responsibility to become a Buddha first so that we may help others do the same.  When we understand king-like bodhichitta in the context of understanding the emptiness of the appearance of faults in others, it transforms into what can easily be understood as “Christ-like” Bodhichitta.  It feels like we are treating directly the delusions and suffering within our own mind, but we understand it to be our working through the delusions and suffering we have taken on from others.  Geshe-la explains in Eight Steps to Happiness that Christ was most likely practicing taking and giving on the cross.  Christ took on the negative karma of all living beings, and then his suffering was actually the negative karma of others ripening on him so others didn’t have to experience it.  Christianity works by generating faith in Christ, one gains access to his special blessings which function to free those who rely upon him from their negative karma (sins) by allowing him to take it upon himself.

In the same way, we can take on the negativities, delusions and obstructions of nos proches, and then the negative karma, delusions and obstructions that we experience can be viewed as those of others ripening on us so that others don’t have to experience them.  Venerable Tharchin says, “we can design our own enlightenment.”  The reason why Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri, for example, are particularly capable of helping living beings generate compassion and wisdom is because when they were Bodhisattva’s, they generated special pure intentions to become Buddhas with this ability.  In the same way, we can design our own enlightenment to have the special ability to help those who have the problems that those we love do by imagining we take on their delusions, obstructions and negative karma and working through them in a Christ-like bodhichitta sense.  Then, when we are Buddhas in the future, by others generating faith in us, they will gain access to our special blessings which will function to free them from their negative karma, delusions and obstructions by allowing us to take them upon ourself.  How wonderful!

If we look throughout the Sutra and Tantra teachings, we will notice that the explanations always begin with a discussion of the benefits of the given Dharma mind.  Sometimes we skip over these parts to get to the actual instructions of how to generate the given Dharma mind.  This is a mistake.  In reality, the methods for how to generate the various Dharma minds are all very straight-forward.  The challenge is not not knowing or understanding the methods, the real challenge is being motivated enough to do what it takes over a long enough period of time to transform our mind in the ways indicated by the instructions.

It is explained in the Lamrim that we are “desire realm beings.”  This means we have no choice but to work for whatever we desire.  At present, we desire the things of samsara more than we desire the things beyond samsara.  Why is this?  Because we are deeply familiar with the benefits of our samsaric objects and not familiar at all with the benefits of our Dharma objects.  To change this, we need to do two things:  first, realize that the so-called benefits of samsaric objects are actually deceptive – they promise us happiness but only make us more miserable.  Second, we need to deeply internalize the benefits of the Dharma and where it leads.  If we do this, we will start to “change what we desire.”  If we change what we desire to be Dharma wisdom, liberation and enlightenment, we will quite naturally start putting effort into securing these things.  Kadam Bjorn said our ability to oppose our delusions does not depend so much on our knowing the methods for doing so, rather it is primarily determined by how strong is our desire to overcome them.

The reason for the explanation of all these benefits of bodhichitta is to instill in us a profound desire to gain this precious mind.  From this desire will naturally come effort to gain the realization.  The main reason why we don’t have bodhichitta is not because we don’t know the methods, but because we don’t want it.  This is the main reason.  So we need to meditate again and again on the benefits of bodhichitta to develop an insatiable desire for this mind, where day and night we long to have it.  From this, everything will come quite quickly and easily since the methods themselves are not difficult.

So how do we generate bodhichitta?  Interestingly enough, it primarily comes down to our practice of rejoicing in the good qualities of others and appreciating the value of other’s faults.  Enlightenment comes naturally from bodhichitta, bodhichitta comes naturally from great compassion, great compassion comes naturally from cherishing others, cherishing others naturally comes from finding them precious, and finding them precious depends on us appreciating their qualities.

Rejoicing in other’s good qualities means we identify the good qualities and kindness of the other person and we rejoice in them.  We simply focus our attention on their good qualities and we think about how great they are.  From this, we will naturally think they are precious and so we will naturally cherish them and so forth.  This is fairly easy to do.

Appreciating the value of their faults is a bit more difficult.  Normally, we find faults to be faulty and it makes us not like the other person.  This is samsaric thinking – looking from happiness from external objects.  From the perspective of a Dharma practitioner, however, the greatest quality of another person is their faults because these give us the best opportunities to practice – such as patience, compassion and so forth.  The example is given, what is more precious a diamond or a bone?  Normally, we would all say a diamond.  But the answer is it depends upon who you are, a dog or a human.  In the same way, what is more precious, the good qualities of others or their faults?  It depends upon who you are, an ordinary being or a spiritual being.  An ordinary being finds other’s faults to be bothersome, whereas a spiritual being finds them to be an opportunity to train our mind in virtue.

Paradoxically, appreciating others faults as being precious is the best way to help them abandon them.  Why is this?  The reason is when we appreciate the value of others faults, we accept the other person as they are and we have no selfish desire or need that they change.   From our perspective, we think they are perfect (for us) just the way they are because they are so faulty. When we accept them as they are without judgment and we cease trying to change them, we create the space for others to be able to change from their own side.  When we try change others, they resist our efforts; when we accept them as they are, they begin to change.  If they want to change, we will of course help them, but we feel no need to try change them.

With these two, rejoicing in their good qualities and appreciating their faults, we will naturally come to think they are precious.  By considering them precious, we will begin to cherish them.  From cherishing easily comes great compassion, and from great compassion easily comes bodhichitta.

(1.13) Just as when those who are greatly afraid rely upon a courageous one,
Whoever relies upon bodhichitta will immediately be freed from danger
Even if they have committed unbearable evils;
So why do the conscientious not rely upon it?

When people are afraid, they naturally turn to those who can protect them.  This is true in virtually every domain of life.  But how much better it would be to not need to turn to some outside source for protection, but to instead find all the security we need from within ourself.  With a mind of bodhichitta, we truly live without fear, free from all danger.

As was discussed in the series of posts on cultivating a true self-confidence, when we align ourself with the intention of the Spiritual Guide (who is the synthesis of all the Buddhas), all of his power flows into us so that we have nothing to fear.  All of our suffering, inabilities and ignorance ultimately come from the fact that we have knocked ourselves out of alignment with how things truly exist and function.  But when we bring ourselves back into alignment, it is as if everything powers up and we literally feel as if we have immediate access to all of the abilities and capacities of all of the Buddhas at our fingertips.  We merely need invoke them to accomplish their function, and they will do so through us.  For all practical purposes, even though we ourselves are not yet a Buddha, it will be as if we were one since all the Buddhas can now work through us.  The mind of bodhichitta brings us back into alignment.  The powerful winds of all of the Buddhas blow in the direction of the enlightenment of all beings.  If we run counter or cross this direction, we have no power.  But when we bring the sails of our mind into alignment with these winds, everything becomes easy and possible.

Once we have attained spontaneous bodhichitta, our eventual attainment of enlightenment is guaranteed, even if you die in between.  Spontaneous realizations are distinct from the non-spontaneous kind in that they are self-reproducing.  They are like a perpetual motion machine, which once started never stops.  Once we have attained spontaneous bodhichitta we couldn’t not attain enlightenment, even if we wanted to!  We will continuously be pushed forward towards enlightenment, even while we sleep and even though death itself.

We also come under the care of the Buddhas who take care of us and protect us from danger.  Our bodhichitta motivation creates the cause to receive their protection.  They correctly see us as a future Buddha.  Their sole purpose in attaining enlightenment was to help those who follow in their footsteps do the same.  If Buddhas help all living beings without exception every day, can there be any doubt that they take especially good care of those who seek to join their ranks?

(1.14) Just like the fire at the end of the aeon,
In an instant it completely consumes all great evil.
Its countless benefits were explained by the wise Protector Maitreya
To Bodhisattva Sudhana.

It was explained before that the precious mind of bodhichitta is the supreme method for purifying our negative karma.  The reason for this is the mind of bodhichitta single-handedly runs directly counter to every single harmful deed we ever performed.  In one fell swoop, it seeks to make up for all past harm by delivering these beings to permanent freedom.  Since its time horizon is towards an eternal future, it functions to purify an eternal past.  Even the smallest number multiplied by infinity is infinity.  In the same way, even the smallest virtue motivated by bodhichitta will undo all past harm.

These benefits of bodhichitta are not abstract speculation, nor are they exaggerated.  They are the living experience of all those that have taken the time to develop such a powerful mind, and if we do develop such a mind, it will be as if all of our negative karma were purified in merely an instant.  Such is the power of this mind.

(1.11) Since the limitless wisdom of Buddha, the Sole Navigator of living beings,
Upon thorough investigation has seen its preciousness,
Those who wish to be free from samsara’s suffering
Should firmly maintain this precious mind of bodhichitta.

Turn on any TV or click on any webpage, and we will find no end of things promising us happiness and freedom from suffering.  The total size of the world economy is about $65 trillion a year.  Virtually all of this money is spent in pursuit of finding happiness and freedom from suffering.  Yet none of it works.  All of these sales people are false prophets for false gods.  They are not reliable, and their message is deceptive.

It is incredibly rare to find people in this world whose wisdom is reliable.  We don’t know who we can trust and nobody seems to have a clue what to do.  We need somebody with omniscient wisdom who knows directly all paths.  But it is not enough to have somebody with omniscient wisdom, we need somebody who is selflessly looking out for our interests, without any ulterior motive trying to sell us some pack of lies.  Such a being we could trust.  Their word and advice we could rely upon.

And what do these enlightened ones tell us is the most precious, non-deceptive, beneficial thing in the universe?  The mind of bodhichitta.  There is nothing more valuable, nothing more beneficial, nothing more powerful.  And its free!  Geshe-la says in Eight Steps to Happiness all we need to do is cherish others more than ourself, and everything else will flow naturally from that.  When we cherish them, their happiness will matter to us.  When they suffer, we will want to do something about it.  When we know there is something we can do, we will do it.  What do we need to do?  Become a Buddha ourselves.  The methods are there, they are not complicated, and all those who have sincerely put these methods into practice for sufficiently long time have come to possess the mind of bodhichitta themselves and know directly its value.

If we found a treasure map we knew to be authentic, we would waste no time following it.  But such treasure, in the end, is of limited value.  But we have been given a perfectly reliable treasure map which leads to the greatest treasure there is – the precious mind of bodhichitta.  Yet, we squander our opportunity to seek out this treasure by wasting our time on meaningless pursuits.  I think there are two main reasons for this.  First, we don’t really believe the map is legitimate; and second, we don’t believe we are actually capable of following it.  If we believed these two things, we would quite naturally seize the opportunity we have before us.  We should focus our efforts on these two things, and the rest will come quite naturally.

(1.12) Whereas all other virtues are like plantain trees,
In that they are exhausted once they bear fruit,
The enduring celestial tree of bodhichitta
Is not exhausted but increases by bearing fruit.

Karmically speaking, the power of our virtue is multiplied by the number of beings upon whose behalf we engage in the virtue.  If we engage in a virtuous action just for ourself, the power of that action is multiplied by 1; if we engage in the action for ourself and one other, it is multiplied by 2.  If the action is engaged in for the benefit of countless beings, the power of the virtue is multiplied by countless.  What does this mean?  It means engaging in one virtuous action, such as making somebody dinner, with a motivation of bodhichitta is karmically equivalent to engaging in that same action countless times.

Sometimes people doubt, how it is possible to attain enlightenment in one or a few short lifetimes if we have been cultivating bad habits and engaging in negativity since beginningless time.  The answer is bodhichitta.  With a mind of bodhichitta, in just one moment we can create more merit than it would take us aeons to do with other virtues.  Bodhichitta makes any virtue, even the smallest virtue of letting somebody go first as you walk through a door, into a virtuous act of cosmic proportions.  There is literally no way to exaggerate the multiplying power of bodhichitta.

One of the most amazing things about bodhichitta is the merit we accumulate in dependence upon it continues to work until the object to which it was dedicated is accomplished.  If you dedicate towards a temporary goal, the merit will be exhausted once that goal is accomplished.  Since the final goal of bodhichitta is the enlightenment of all living beings, it will continue to work until that goal is accomplished.

A good way to understand this is through the example of working for the center.  The merit we accumulate by working for the center continues to increase for as long as the center exists and the beings who are touched by this center engage in virtue.  Even if we have long ago left the center and moved on somewhere else, like some spiritual annuity, we continue to accumulate merit from our initial investment without any additional effort on our part.  Our actions motivated by bodhichitta work in exactly the same way.  Any action engaged in with a bodhichitta motivation will continue to operate as a beneficial force in this world until its final goal is realized.

(1.9) The moment bodhichitta is generated
Even in pitiful beings bound within the prison of samsara,
They become Bodhisattvas – a “Son or Daughter of Buddha” –
And are worthy of veneration by humans and worldly gods.

It is worthwhile considering why this would be true.  The reason why they merit being venerated by everyone in samsara is because part of them is outside of samsara.  What part?  Their aspiration.  This is equally true for only even a fraction of bodhichitta, because even a fraction of ourselves outside of samsara is extraordinary.

Samsara is, for all practical purposes, hermetically sealed with no escape.  Absent explanations of Dharma (or any other qualified spiritual path), there is literally nothing in samsara that even hints at an existence outside of samsara.  Even those who have been in the Dharma for many, many years scantly have a clue what samsara is and what lies outside of it.  For most people in the world today, “samsara” is the name of an exotic perfume.  If people have even heard the name, its connotation is something that is tantalizingly sinful – so good, it’s worth throwing personal discipline to the wind.  But most people so only know the prison that they don’t even realize they are in one.

Karma in general is of two types:  contaminated and non-contaminated.  Contaminated karma ripens inside of samsara, non-contaminated karma ripens outside of samsara.  The goal of the Buddhist path is to escape from samsara, so therefore we need as much non-contaminated karma as we can accumulate.  Non-contaminated karma is like a special type of spiritual rocket fuel without which we cannot generate sufficient escape velocity for escaping samsara’s gravitational pull.  Non-contaminated karma, quite simply, is created when its observed object is outside of samsara.  For example, when somebody regards an image of a Buddha, because the object is by nature outside of samsara we accumulate non-contaminated karma, even if we don’t see it as anything more than a pretty piece of art.  Venerable Tharchin explains that “the location of mind is at the object of cognition,” so if our observed object is outside of samsara, then the part of our mind that observes that object literally goes outside of samsara.  Cognizing the object is a mental action, creating karma.  This is why Geshe-la began the International Temple’s Project.  Busloads full of children and tourists come, each one leaves with non-contaminated karmic imprints on their mind.  These imprints later ripen in the form of these people finding a path out of samsara, or even being directly reborn outside of the prison of samsara.

The observed object of the mind of bodhichitta is outside of samsara.  It “sees” a future in which all living beings have been freed from the prison of their contaminated karmic hallucinations and it commits oneself to work towards realizing that vision.  All actions motivated by bodhichitta create non-contaminated karma, even brushing one’s teeth.  Having such a mind is like having within us a magic escape tunnel through which we can ferry all those we love out of samsara.  Even the most powerful person on earth, even a Chakravatin King, can at most make us a little more comfortable as we await our perpetual slaughter.  Only somebody with a mind of bodhichitta can free us from danger.  Only our own mind of bodhichitta can save our loved ones.

When we generate bodhichitta, our spiritual parents become the Buddhas, specifically the Spiritual Guide.  We become part of their family, and therefore come under their care and protection.  When you are a member of a royal family, you can count on their support and protection.  There is nothing a parent would not do for their child.  Ordinary parents, even royal ones, can only help us in very limited ways and the protection they can provide is partial at best.  But when you are a son or daughter of all the Buddhas, you enter an eternal, vajra family and you come under their care and protection.  They are always there for you, guiding you, protecting you, even when you don’t see them or even think of them.  They never stop caring for you.  We need but turn to them and ask for their help, guidance and protection.

(1.10) Just like the supreme elixir that transmutes into gold,
Bodhichitta can transform this impure body we have taken
Into the priceless jewel of a Buddha’s form.
Therefore, firmly maintain bodhichitta.

This does not mean that our ordinary body will transform into the body of a Buddha.  Our ordinary body needs to be completely left behind and is an object of abandonment.  Bodhichitta is the full acceptance of the limitations of our contaminated aggregates, both for ourself and for others, for this life and for all future lives. The limitations of our contaminated aggregates are realized in comparison with the responsibility we have taken on.  They just can’t get the job done.

But what aggregates of body and mind do have the ability?  The pure body and mind of a Buddha.  The pure body of a Buddha has the ability to emanate countless forms in countless worlds directly and simultaneously.  It is one nature with the Dharmakaya so it has the ability to bestow all the realizations of the stages of the path on all beings.  With this human life, we can train in the methods for changing the basis of imputation of our “I” from our ordinary body and mind into the “priceless jewels” of a Buddha’s form and mind.

(1.7) The Able Ones, the Buddhas, who have considered this for many aeons,
Have all seen bodhichitta to be the most beneficial
Because, through it, countless masses of living beings
Can easily attain the supreme bliss of enlightenment.

This is incredible when you think about it.  All the Buddhas with their infinite wisdom have examined and discovered that the most beneficial, the most precious thing in the entire universe is the mind of bodhichitta.  How can we understand this?

If you and all your friends were in poverty and somebody gave you $1,000, it would be very useful and beneficial.  It would be even more beneficial if they gave you a machine with which you could (legally) print your own money for yourself.  It would be even more beneficial if they gave you a machine that made the machines which print the money because then you could give one to each of your friends (assume away inflation for a moment).

In the same way if you and your friends are in spiritual poverty, what is the value of one non-contaminated karmic seed?  It would have to be worth more than all the wealth of samsara for all the three times combined because its ripened effect is beyond all of samsara.  So if you had one non-contaminated seed, it would be extremely valuable and precious.  A mind of renunciation – a mind seeking one’s own individual liberation – would be like a machine with which we can generate for ourselves non-contaminated karmic seeds.  This would be far more useful than just one seed because we can create as many as we want for ourselves.  A mind of bodhichitta – a mind seeking enlightenment to be able to lead all others to the same state – is like a machine which can make machines which can generate non-contaminated karmic seeds.  It generates a special type of non-contaminated seed that ripens in the form of us having the ability to lead others to enlightenment (the ability to bestow methods which enable them to generate non-contaminated seeds themselves). If just one non-contaminated seed is worth more than all the wealth of samsara combined, it is difficult to even fathom how infinitely valuable the mind of bodhichitta is.

(1.8) Those who wish to destroy their own suffering,
Those who wish to dispel the suffering of others,
And those who wish to experience much happiness
Should never forsake the practice of bodhichitta.

Bodhichitta fulfills all wishes.  All beings have the same basic wishes to be free from all suffering and experience perfect happiness.  Bodhichitta fulfills our temporary wish for happiness because it is the king of all virtues.  When our mind is mixed with virtue, it naturally becomes more peaceful and calm.  When our mind is peaceful and calm, we are naturally happy, even if our external circumstance is awful.  Living our life according to bodhichitta enables us to live a meaningful and rewarding life.  Those who have great wealth and can satisfy their every worldly desire often find their lives empty and devoid of meaning, but those who have bodhichitta in their heart live each day knowing they are dedicating their lives to something larger than themselves, something that offers a real and lasting solution to all sorrow.  From a purely individual karmic point of view, making bodhichitta our driving force in life enables us to generate literally unlimited merit, or good karmic luck, with which we can fulfill all of our wishes.

Bodhichitta also enables us to fulfil all of our ultimate wishes.  Our ultimate wish is to lead all living beings, including ourselves, to the everlasting bliss and happiness of full enlightenment.  The cause of all suffering is contaminated aggregates.  Contaminated aggregates are the technical Buddhist term for our ordinary body and mind.  A human suffers from human problems because they impute their “I” onto human aggregates, or a human body and mind.  An animal suffers from animal problems because they impute their “I” onto an animal’s body and mind.  The same is true for hungry spirits, hell beings, demi-gods and gods.  Bodhichitta, quite simply, is the wish to change the basis of imputation of our “I” from a contaminated body and mind to the completely pure body and mind of a Buddha.  Once we have done this, we are then able to help each and every other living being do the same.  In this way we are able to free both ourself and all living beings from all of their suffering.  The pure aggregates of a Buddha experience only non-contaminated bliss, which is the most sublime happiness a being can experience.  In this way it fulfills our own and others wish for pure, ultimate and everlasting happiness.

In science, causes are divided into necessary and sufficient causes.  In Dharma, causes are divided into substantial and circumstantial causes.  An acorn is the substantial cause of an oak tree because it is the thing that transforms into the next thing.  The circumstantial causes are the sunlight, water and rich soil which function to bring about the transformation.  If you have an acorn without sunlight, water and rich soil, an oak tree will never develop; likewise, if you have all of the circumstantial causes assembled but no acorn, an oak tree will never grow.

In exactly the same way, the precious Sutra mind of bodhichitta is the substantial cause of the sublime tantric mind of great bliss.  In Sutra, ultimate bodhichitta is meditating on emptiness motivated by bodhichitta.  The subject mind meditating is the mind of bodhichitta, and the object of its meditation is the wisdom realizing emptiness.  According to Tantra, ultimate bodhichitta is meditating on emptiness with the subject mind of great bliss.   Bodhichitta is the substantial cause of spontaneous great bliss.  By taking the acorn of bodhichitta and then adding the sunlight, water and rich soil of generation and completion stage practices, our mind of bodhichitta will gradually transform into the supreme mind of great bliss.  Without bodhichitta, just like without an acorn, one could engage in the Tantric practices for an eternity, and a qualified great bliss would never arise.  With a mind of great bliss meditating on emptiness, we can almost instantaneously purify all of our previously accumulated contaminated karma and quite quickly become a Buddha.

What could be more precious than bodhichitta?

In French, there is a very good phrase for describing those people who are close to us in life, namely our friends, family, work colleagues, close neighbors and so forth.  They are referred to as “nos proches.”  As Dharma practitioners, included within this is our Sangha friends, including our spiritual teachers.  There isn’t really a good English equivalent (which perhaps says something about English-speaking culture.  On the flip side, there isn’t a good French equivalent for efficient…  Now that I have offended everyone equally, we can proceed!).

One of the biggest obstacles to genuinely advancing along the Mahayana path is, in the beginning at least, it is very difficult to get any feeling for what “all living beings” really means.  It is so vast that it becomes abstract and loses any heartfelt feelings.  It quickly becomes intellectual or an all too common form of cherishing everyone except those close to us, who we normally view as obstacles and problems in our life.  Geshe-la tells us to overcome this problem we need to start by generating our Mahayana virtues with respect to those closest to us, such as our family and closest friends, work colleagues and neighbors – in other words, nos proches.  Once we get some feeling for what it means to put others first and generate genuine love, compassion and bodhichitta, then we gradually expand the scope of our Mahayana virtues until it encompasses all living beings in a heartfelt way.

In deciding who to include in the category of nos proches, we should try expand the scope as widely as we can, without losing the feeling for it in our heart.  If we expand too far and lose the feeling, we should bring it in closer somewhat.  If we have a good feeling, but find ourself caring for very few, we should try push ourself to expand the scope of our Mahayana minds.  For purposes of this blog series, I will quite often refer to nos proches.  The name of this blog is Kadampa Working Dad, and the purpose of this series is to try explore the union of Kadampa Buddhism and modern life.  From a practical point of view, we do this by in particular (though not exclusively) training in the Bodhisattva’s way of life with respect to nos proches. The wish to become a Buddha so that we may better be able to help nos proches is a modern, practical way of training in the Mahayana path and the basis for eventually developing full-fledged bodhichitta.  We can call it, “French bodhichitta.”  Through gaining experience practicing in this way, we can gradually come to include all living beings.  But by primarily practicing in this way, we can keep our practice heartfelt – we can bring the Bodhisattva’s way of life home into our daily lives.

I believe it is important to directly apply the Mahayana practices with respect to nos proches because these people represent our most important karmic connections.  At a profound level, we can say every member of nos proches,  is actually an aspect of our spiritual guide.  By purifying our negative karma with respect to each other we heal the divisions between us, even the most subtle, and are therefore able to unite our individual candles together into a blazing sun.  Further, by learning how to solve the problems that arise between ourselves and nos proches, we gain the wisdom to be able to help all those who have similar problems.  Gaining such wisdoms creates the karmic causes for those who have similar problems to find us, and then we can help them.  In this way, we naturally – almost magically – are able to expand the scope of our bodhichitta.

In particular, if we belong to a Dharma center (or an on-line Dharma group), we should make a special point to be on good terms with all of the members of our Sangha.  We need to function and operate like a vajra family.  Vajra means indestructible, or unshakable.  Healing the divisions and relationships with those within our spiritual community is arguably the most important thing we can do with our life.  Our karma with these people is arguably the highest stakes karma we have because it is with respect to the path.  Many people wind up abandoning the Dharma due to personality clashes with people in a Dharma center.  This is a great shame for all involved in such disputes, and for the wider spiritual community.  This does not mean we should push our disagreements under the carpet, rather it means we should have the courage to put all of our differences squarely on the table and then we collectively and constructively use our Dharma wisdom to work it out.

Shantideva now begins his explanation of the benefits of bodhichitta.  In Buddhism, we identify things by their uncommon characteristic.  The uncommon characteristic of a human life is the ability to accomplish spiritual goals.  Most human beings actually have the mind of an animal.  How do we know this?  Because the goals they seek are no different than what an animal does (gathering resources, defeating enemies, experiencing some samsaric pleasure).  The goal we pursue determines what level of mind we have.  The highest goal we can accomplish with this human life is full enlightenment – in other words, acquire the ability to lead each and every living being to full enlightenment.  In other words, we can solve all of our own problems and put in place the eventual solution to all the problems of all living beings for all their lives.  To attain enlightenment, we need to want to do so.  This wish is bodhichitta.

Bodhichitta is the mind that spontaneously wishes to attain enlightenment for the benefit of others.  It has two wishes.  The principal wish is to lead each and every living being to full enlightenment.  This wish is great compassion.  The assistant wish is to become a Buddha ourselves so as to be able to accomplish the principal wish.  From a practical point of view, normally we think of bodhichitta in terms of the assistant wish because we are in the process of trying to become a Buddha, but we should always keep foremost in our mind the principal wish.  If we don’t know why we are training so hard, it is very easy to simply stop training.

(1.6) Thus, while our virtues are mostly weak,
Our non-virtues are extremely strong and fearsome.
Other than bodhichitta – a compassionate mind wishing for enlightenment –
What virtue can overcome the heaviest evils?

The first benefit of bodhichitta is it is the most powerful method for purifying our negative karma, more powerful than conventional methods of purification, such as Vajrasattva or the 35 Confession Buddhas.  The reason for this is the mind of bodhichitta is directly orthogonal to all of the negative karma we have accumulated towards all living beings since beginningless time.  All negative actions are, one way or another, harmful to others.  In our countless past lives, we have harmed each and every being in a wide variety of ways.  All of these negative deeds have left a good deal of negative karma on our mind.

The mind of bodhichitta wishes to correct for all of our past deeds with respect to everyone.  When we wrong somebody, it is normal that we try set things right with them by making it up to them in some way.  When we do, we usually repair the relationship and purify the negative karma in the process.  Giving flowers to our wife after we have forgotten our anniversary is kind, but its benefits are quite limited.  Promising to take personal responsibility to one day lead her to the permanent freedom of full enlightenment purifies not only the negative karma of forgetting the anniversary, but all of the harm we have ever done to her in this and our countless past lives.  It makes up for all of our past wrong, and karmically purifies everything, even the deepest negative karma.  Bodhichitta wishes to do the same for all that we have wronged, in other words, all living beings.  In this way, it purifies all of our negative karma.

To purify our negative karma we practice the four opponent powers:

The power of regret is the most important.  Regret quite simply is a mind that realizes we have previously made a mistake and that if we don’t purify the negative karma we created, we will regret it.  We think, “damn, I wish I hadn’t done that.  If I don’t fix this and purify, I am going to have to experience terrible suffering as a result.”  Regret accepts the fact that we are still a deluded being and we can’t stop delusions from arising in our mind and taking possession of us, but at the same time it does not accept the validity of these delusions.  It knows they are wrong and when they arise it sees through their lies.  Regret, however, is not guilt.  Guilt blames ourselves saying that we are bad.  Guilt is a form of anger directed against ourselves, and like all anger it seeks to harm the object of the anger, which in this case is ourselves.  Regret makes a clear distinction between ourselves and our delusions.  Just as we are not our cancer, so too we are not our delusions.  They are the sickness of our mind, but they are not us.  We wish to completely destroy our delusions to free ourselves.  Regret it like compassion for our true selves.  It sees us as the victim of our delusions and their karmic consequences, and wishes to free us from their hold over us.  Regret is also forward looking.  It looks to the future and realizes what we must do to avoid the consequences of our negative karma, it doesn’t look back and beat ourselves up over our mistakes.  Here we acknowledge that we have enormous negative karma on our mind, and that if we don’t purify our future will be painful.  This naturally leads to the conclusion:  I need to purify to avoid this fate.  In the context of bodhichitta, we realize that as long as we allow this negative karma we have with others to remain on our mind we are unable to help those we love.  It is important to note that the specific regret we generate determines the specific negative karma we purify.  For example, if we generate a specific regret for all the negative karma we have created with respect to our family or the people we work with, then when we engage in purification practice we will purify that specific negative karma.

The second opponent power is the power of reliance.  The power of reliance can be understood with analogy of falling on the ground.  To get back up, we need to rely upon that which we fell.  Our engaging in negative actions towards living beings is like falling upon them, but we then rely upon them in the form of using them as the objects of our bodhichitta.  We need to purify to set things right with all of them and to undo all the harm we have inflicted upon them.  When we engage in negative actions, we likewise are falling on the holy beings.  Because the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas love all living beings, to harm any living being is like harming the holy being.  We don’t actually harm them because they are utterly beyond being harm, but it is no different than the reaction a mother would have when her children are being harmed.  To purify, though, we turn to them asking them to illuminate the sky of our mind.

The third opponent power is the power of the opponent force.  This is any virtuous action engaged in motivated by regret.  When we harm people and later regret having done so, we naturally do something nice to them to make it up.  We try undo the harm we have inflicted upon them and we apologize to try set things right.  This is the power of the opponent force.  The rest is just the different means or methods by which we set things right.  The ultimate opponent force is bodhichitta.  The mind of bodhichitta is a mental promise to another living being that for as long as it takes we will do everything to eventually lead them to full enlightenment.  As stated above, this is exactly opposite to all the different negative actions we have committed against a particular person, so it functions to purify all the negative karma we have with respect to that person.

The final power is the power of the promise.  This is a promise to not engage in a specific action again towards that person.  In this context, our promise is our promise to never harm this person and to never abandon the intention to lead this person to enlightenment.  For as long as we do not go back on this promise, it continues to function to purify all of our negative karma towards this person, even while we sleep.