ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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What does it mean that the perfection of diligence can transcend kalpas?

Sufficiently diligent practice can accumulate the merit of practice spanning countless kalpas within a short period of time.

It is like a fierce fire that can melt solid ice in an instant; if one uses only a weak flame to heat it, a long time is required, and there is also the risk of the flame being extinguished midway.

I have never seen an accomplished person in any field who is lazy.

In reality, many people feel they are very ordinary. Most of them blame objective circumstances, and subjectively they blame themselves for lacking talent. Every time I see such people, I also think: effort itself is also a kind of talent.

Effort can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, and can enable ordinary beings burdened by karmic obstacles to attain realization within a short time.

Human life lasts a hundred years at most—like a candle flickering in the wind that can be extinguished in an instant.

I have also asked many people who are content with the status quo why they do not strive to break through. The majority of answers are either “It’s fine just like this” or “There’s no way; this is all I can do.” These two types of “good teachers” have actually given me great insight.

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Let us return to the topic of practice and study. The Dharma indicated by the first type is actually the absence of renunciation—they do not regard the three realms as a burning house. In worldly terms, it means lacking a sense of urgency and mistakenly believing that things can continue forever as they are. This is clearly an unreasonable view.

The latter type is as if their hands and feet are bound; they feel they are already powerless to reverse the situation. The Dharma indicated by this is actually a lack of understanding of the qualities of the noble path—they cannot see the dawn ahead, have no hope, and lack joyful aspiration.

Clearly, both problems can be resolved in the course of our gradual practice and study.

To emphasize the key point once more: in our future views, we must firmly establish that “diligence equals accomplishment.” This is of crucial importance.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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I don’t know how to begin; there is so much that moves me here.

Is there anyone who has truly struggled and striven?

When studying for school entrance exams, because of fierce competition, to enter the best school one must achieve the best results, and thus must put forth the greatest effort.

To secure the best job opportunities, one must also exert the utmost effort to cultivate the strongest abilities.

To gain the greatest room for advancement and realize one’s value, one must likewise work with the greatest effort to produce results.

To establish a foothold in the intense commercial environment, one must again put forth the greatest effort to excel in every aspect.

To attain the virtues of abandonment and realization in spiritual practice, one must once more spare no effort and practice without interruption.

To achieve any even minute worldly or transcendental accomplishment, none can do without the power of diligence.

I once contemplated what is the single greatest decisive factor for a worldly person to attain worldly success, and the conclusion was effort.

The greater a person’s motivation and the harder they strive, the greater their probability of success; nothing else is as crucial as this factor.

Talent may be higher than others’, yet without effort it is wasted.

Quantitative methods that surpass others can also be used by those who strive; yet effort itself is a stable state.

Regarding spiritual practice, only with diligence is even the slightest accomplishment possible, because continuously practicing wholesome dharmas and making progress is extremely difficult—it goes against habitual tendencies. As soon as the power of diligence is interrupted, regression is certain.

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Those who have truly struggled will surely understand: when effort reaches a certain degree, it is like drilling wood to make fire—at a certain point sparks suddenly appear.

Even the least talented person, when effort accumulates to the point of qualitative change, the wisdom of the mind is activated.

Among the Six Perfections, the perfection of diligence encompasses the maturation, continuity, and increase of all wholesome dharmas; it is absolutely indispensable.

It can be said that diligence equals all accomplishments, including worldly ones.

Within the perfection of diligence it specifically refers to wholesome dharmas.

Yet the nature of diligence is precisely that which causes all dharmas to be accomplished, just as fire can cook all food.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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Dharma patience must permeate every stage of practice and study. In a simple sequence: first correctly comprehend the meaning of the Dharma, then continuously contemplate it for a long time, and constantly uphold mindfulness of the Dharma. In this way one gradually becomes proficient in the method of cultivating Dharma patience. Thereafter, when studying and practicing any teaching, it will easily merge into one’s continuum.

Our habitual tendency is usually to be fickle and inconsistent, treating methods as mere techniques: the Dharma is the Dharma, and I am I—the two are not one. In this way one cannot practice Dharma patience.

To briefly summarize the first two kinds of patience once more: suffering is divided into two categories.

The first is suffering that one has no choice but to undergo. The merit of this lies in reminding us of the impermanence of the world, that arrogance is unacceptable, and that sentient beings await rescue. Through this fruition of suffering one also exhausts past negative karma.

Historically, many great masters suffered harm. Even in his later years Master Xuyun still endured persecution. When undergoing persecution one should reflect: “Sentient beings are helping me exhaust my negative karma so that I need not fall into the hells. By suffering in the human realm a pain infinitely lighter than that of the hells, the karma is purified, while the other party will consequently fall into the hells.” Thus compassion increases, and it becomes utterly impossible to generate hatred toward those who inflict the persecution; instead one vows to rescue them.

The second kind of suffering is that endured for the sake of practicing wholesome Dharma. This is a path we must all traverse. By the same reasoning, the hardships of practice cannot be compared with the sufferings of the hells or the immense sufferings of endless cyclic existence. By now undergoing such slight hardship one can be liberated from extremely great suffering. By any calculation this is the choice of the wise; there is no reason not to practice diligently.

Therefore, whichever kind of suffering it may be, it is excellent medicine that cures the stubborn illness of our ignorance, attachment, and aversion—the medicine of the true Dharma in the red-dust world. Who would refuse to take it?

The perfection of patience is the key to transforming the ordinary into the sacred, the key to attaining the grounds, and the gateway that opens the true path of the noble ones thereafter. It is the natural expression of a practitioner’s true character, founded upon great generosity and pure ethical discipline. This is the unsurpassed Dharma treasure bestowed upon us by the Buddha. Only when one has well cultivated forbearance can one generate great diligence, and thereafter nothing can present an insurmountable obstacle to the practitioner.

The successive patriarchs of the Chan school were of the highest faculties, yet not one of them failed to perfect the paramita of patience. They were willing to suffer disability or injury for the sake of the Dharma and never relaxed their strict observance of the precepts. If someone says, “Chan is about non-attachment—why cling to these austerities?” it is because that person has followed the activity of Mara. Deep in the mind they cannot accord with the true Dharma and are extremely susceptible to delusion. Clinging to a notion of “non-attachment,” they regard nothing as taboo and act without restraint. Such a person displays the marks of degeneration and is extremely difficult to rescue.

Our Dharma connection is so fragile; we must therefore have confident enthusiasm. This is the critical point of the sacred teachings and the key to ensuring that the net of the teachings does not fall. May we repay the great kindness of the World-Honored One, pass through difficulties, and not allow the painstaking efforts of the great sages of the past to be wasted, lest the true Dharma disappear.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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In cultivating patience with suffering (duḥkha-kṣānti), one must have confidence in oneself. Present weakness arises only because one has not previously cultivated it; the future can be transformed. One should observe that the Desire Realm is inherently without true happiness. What appears as happiness is merely a false sense of pleasure that arises through prolonged habituation of delusive thoughts amid various forms of desire-related suffering. The mind possesses such power that it can extract pleasure even from within suffering.

By the same principle, when facing false experiences of suffering, the mind need not fall into sorrow, fear, or agitation. It can equally forbear them, causing the experience of suffering to diminish or even disappear entirely. This is the inherent power of the mind.

Through correct methods of reflection and the mental attitude they generate, one can smoothly cultivate patience with suffering.

The third kind of patience is Dharma-patience (dharma-kṣānti).

We more often hear of the patience of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), which is a very high realization. Yet Dharma-patience is not limited to the patience of non-arising; it also encompasses the resolute acceptance (adhimokṣa) of all the teachings of the Buddha-Dharma.

Dharma-patience means that, after thoroughly understanding a teaching through reflection and repeated familiarization, one gives rise to a firm, unshakable, and continuously sustained certainty that is not lost amid changing circumstances.

For example, everything previously explained will be of no use if one does not cultivate Dharma-patience.What is called “integrating into one’s mental continuum” is precisely Dharma-patience.

After learning how patience with harm from others and patience with suffering relate to bodhicitta and to the first two perfections, one should continually reflect upon and deepen one’s insight into these teachings until they become stably established in one’s own continuum.

No matter what circumstances arise, one remains abiding in these virtuous teachings one has studied, so that one oneself becomes the Dharma.

It is not a matter of acquiring some knowledge and then setting it aside. That is academic study, not true practice; no amount of such learning will be of benefit.

Why do so many people feel they have studied well, yet grow increasingly powerless and eventually even begin to doubt that the Buddha-Dharma is efficacious? It is precisely because they lack the cultivation of Dharma-patience.

We first enter practice with faith, respect, and earnest seriousness; then we generate renunciation and bodhicitta and truly enter the path. Thereafter, while studying the teachings, we simultaneously cultivate Dharma-patience, integrating them into and transforming our continuum. Only then is progress possible.

Why is there no genuine impact? Because one stops after a superficial taste, treats the Dharma lightly, fails to penetrate it deeply, and thus cannot experience its qualities.

If, at the earlier stages, faith and respect are insufficient and renunciation and bodhicitta do not arise, then it becomes very difficult to take hold of Dharma-patience. In that case, actual realizations are truly hard to attain. Therefore, not a single stage may be slighted.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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The third kind of suffering is the suffering born for the sake of cultivating wholesome Dharma. Here it becomes even clearer that a practitioner of the Way can practice what is difficult to practice and endure what is difficult to endure.

The capacity to endure the first two kinds of suffering can still be achieved by brave worldly people, especially those of Jambudvīpa. But actively undertaking ascetic practices in order to cultivate wholesome Dharma is something worldly people are unwilling to do.

A practitioner who does not engage in austerities can hardly imagine that one could attain the Way while living in comfort and luxury—this is unheard of. The World-Honored One personally demonstrated austerities, and successive patriarchs and great masters of every school have each demonstrated them one after another. Some people say that the dhūta practices are Hinayana and unnecessary in the Mahayana—is that so?

Venerable Mahākāśyapa was renowned for his dhūta practices; Chan Master Shibei of the school was known as Bei the Ascetic. There has never been a single accomplished one who did not practice austerities.

Those who give rise to bodhicitta take upon themselves the suffering of sentient beings. At this point it becomes even clearer what state of mind and practice this should be: Through my own arduous practice, after attaining the Way I will be able to free countless beings from suffering, because I can go and deliver them, causing them to escape suffering. Therefore, let me now bear the suffering of practice.

Thus austerities are not meaningless self-torture; they are the suffering that must be endured in order to attain the Way. Householders must also continue their livelihood so that they can keep studying and practicing—they must work and labor, and both body and mind experience suffering. Such suffering ought to be endured as a matter of duty. To work, care for family, cultivate the path, and benefit others all at once certainly involves considerable hardship. A householder bodhisattva who can endure this is a person of great strength, capable of accomplishing the Way.

The capacity to endure all the above sufferings requires the elimination of hatred and aversion. Within this, much rightful and proper contemplation is applied—this is how one should practice. At the same time, one must overcome the innate timid and weak mind, give rise to fearlessness, and understand the principle of suffering: the more one flees from it, the greater the suffering; the more fearless one is, the greater the ease and joy.

Therefore, when we cultivate, we should train ourselves starting from small sufferings, so that we do not become soft and pampered. In this way the capacity to endure gradually increases, until even the greatest hardships can be borne. Everything is mind-made; one must have confidence in oneself and no longer remain a weak-willed invalid.

Without passing through the gate of enduring suffering, no one attains the holy path. Those who can pass this gate are warriors approaching bodhi.

Nowadays it is rare to see the true appearance of a practitioner of the Way.

The essential nature of a cultivator ought to be like this. Female practitioners of the Way are even rarer to encounter. If one is fortunate enough to meet such a person, it is hard to imagine how deep the reverence would be; one would certainly wish to serve as a Dharma protector for her.

When a group of practitioners who possess the proper marks walks in procession through a place, dragons and gods respectfully follow. If one observes with the divine eye, how magnificent it is! I endure the many austerities in the world and also transform the gods, humans, and the eight classes of beings into teachers and guides.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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There is no retreat in our practice of the Dharma. Suffering cannot be avoided. Even the sages have come through suffering. If one tries to avoid suffering, the result will only be greater suffering—because inability to endure it will drag one back into the endless cycle of saṃsāra, where one continues to suffer without end.

We have already passively endured immeasurable eons of great suffering. Did we not already know that we should avoid suffering before? If we still wish to escape it now, how is that any different from the timid and weak mind of the past?

Whenever we encounter hardship, the worldly habit is for the mind to immediately become unpleasant and overwhelmed with sorrow. This is precisely the manifestation of weakness—facing it as if confronting a formidable enemy, with the heart filled with despair.

We must cut off this conditioned reflex before we can reverse the situation.

When suffering descends upon us, we should recognize this as the test of a true practitioner of the path. If we can endure and abide in suffering with patience, then the path of practice can be accomplished. Conversely, we will sink to the same level as the cowardly and inferior people of the world.

Therefore, toward the experience of suffering, we should generate delight and willingness, rather than sorrow and fear. In this way, a fearless mind will gradually grow, the bearing of a true hero will gradually take shape, and only then can everything that follows become possible.

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How can we generate such delight? Where is the reasonable basis for it? There are several aspects:

• Only suffering can remind us of the need for renunciation. It makes us know that we are still in the world, that we have not yet attained liberation, and that we must not indulge in negligence.

• Suffering prevents us from becoming arrogant. It clearly makes us realize that we are fragile and that all things are impermanent. We will not become proud just because of a little happiness and think that we are still capable.

• As previously explained: when we experience suffering, we come to know the suffering of sentient beings. Thus compassion arises, and we generate bodhicitta. It reminds us not to be lazy, for countless beings are suffering.

Therefore, suffering is not entirely without benefit. It also brings these many advantages and can give rise to wholesome qualities. This is why practice is easier in the human realm.

Since suffering has so many benefits, why still try to avoid it? Delight should arise; with fearlessness and patient endurance, become a true hero (a person of great courage).

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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The second object of forbearance is suffering.

The first is forbearance toward harm inflicted by others; the second is forbearance of suffering. From this point onward, the true conduct of a great being is fully revealed.

All playful or frivolous attitudes reach an impassable barrier here.

This practice is extremely difficult for those of weak will, and it is also a severe test for female practitioners; those who are delicate or spoiled cannot accomplish it.

Forbearance of suffering is like facing the enemy on the battlefield: there is no retreat, only a life-or-death decision.

In the world, suffering is unavoidable—there is only suffering, the aggregation of all sufferings. If one retreats from the path because of suffering, there will never be an end to saṃsāra.

This barrier must either be crossed or abandoned; there is no middle state.

There are three kinds of suffering: suffering arising from present-life causal conditions; the fruition of past-life karmic retribution appearing now; and suffering that arises as a causal condition for practicing wholesome dharma.

The first arises from autonomous actions and conditions. Because the world is fragile, it is very easy to experience suffering. The human body is extremely fragile; any hard object can easily injure it.

The second is the manifestation of karmic retribution of suffering.

These two kinds of suffering cannot be avoided and must be endured. Therefore one must practice forbearance. Even if one does not forbear, one still has to experience them; there is no escape.

How should one forbear this suffering? By eliminating the two kinds of unendurable mind, one can forbear it.

The first is anger. When one feels suffering oneself and gives rise to anger toward the situation of suffering—there truly are such people: after accidentally bumping into a door, they kick the door again—this shows that one can generate anger toward the condition of suffering. Once anger arises, one becomes unable to forbear.

The first kind of suffering comes from one’s own foolishness and carelessness in failing to observe causal conditions, so there is no reason to generate anger. The second is karmic retribution of suffering arising from the evil karma one has created oneself, so again there is no reason to generate anger.

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The second unendurable mind is cowardice; this is something a practitioner must never possess.

The World-Honored One is the heroic lord who transcends the world. When we give rise to bodhicitta, it is in order to become a Buddha. Becoming a Buddha means becoming a heroic being who transcends the world; it is impossible for a timid or delicate person to correspond with this.

What is a cowardly mind? When encountering suffering, one shrinks back, avoids the suffering, wants to hide and flee, generates fear, and the mind becomes agitated and disordered.

Yet once suffering has already arisen, there is nowhere to escape. If one is cowardly at this time, the pain can only be doubled.

Because on top of the original suffering, many restless states of mind are added; these mental states magnify the experience of pain and make one even less able to endure it.

Conversely, if one faces the pain directly, without any fear and without escaping, the original suffering will also be reduced. This is indeed the case, and experiments on pain perception in Western medicine have also verified this point.

Previously we spoke of the “warm sign.” A practitioner not only does not avoid pain, but instead gives rise to joy toward it, has no sorrow, and advances to meet the suffering head-on—just like a warrior bravely killing the enemy, whose own wounds become symbols of honor—whereas the coward, upon seeing his own wounds, cries out in pain and retreats step by step.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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What is meant by generating Bodhicitta?

After generating Bodhicitta, can one still demand of oneself and of those pitiful sentient beings who have not truly generated Bodhicitta according to the same standard?

Let all the injustice of the world be borne by me; let all happiness be given to others; let all suffering be carried by me in their stead.

Sentient beings are the field of merit that can give rise to great Bodhi and produce the greatest accumulation of merit and wisdom.

They are the great field of kindness for the children of the Buddha. Whatever sentient beings do is accomplishing us—causing us to renounce, to give rise to compassion, to generate aspiration, to practice the path, and to cultivate the Dharma. There is nothing that is not accomplishing us.

There is no such thing as sentient beings acting “not in accordance with the Dharma.” They are trapped in the dark prison of the three realms—what “not in accordance with the Dharma” could there be?

We who take refuge and generate aspiration are people in the midst of escaping from prison. Some escape alone; some wish to bring others with them. At this critical moment, to turn back and rage at fellow sufferers still in the prison is completely without reason.

Someone once asked a particularly good question: “I can endure even being killed myself, but what I cannot endure is harm coming to my family and loved ones, or to innocent people who suffer without cause. What then?”

The discrimination between friends and enemies is a problem that must be resolved at the very beginning of generating Bodhicitta. If one cannot regard one’s own side and the other side with equal renunciation, one cannot generate Bodhicitta.

Furthermore, regarding the perfection of generosity: I have already offered everything back to the Dharma realm—have I kept my relatives aside?

I have relatives, and others also have relatives. If one gives rise to anger because one’s relatives are harmed, then this world will never know even a single minute of peace.

A present-world example: the Jurchen ancestors of the Manchus were exceptionally brave and fierce. Before they grew powerful they lived as separate tribes that constantly fought one another. Whenever even one person of their own tribe was harmed, they would go and massacre the other tribe as thoroughly as possible. The other tribe would later seek revenge and in turn massacre their tribe completely. The anger on both sides was founded on avenging their dearest kin. Later a wise man from Goryeo went among their tribes and helped them establish a law: the one who kills pays with his own life; others are without fault. Only then did the killing cease.

Therefore, at the stage of generating Bodhicitta and practicing the perfection of generosity, one should already resolve the problem of “my dearest kin have been harmed, therefore I ought to be angry.”

And if it is not one’s dearest kin, but strangers and the innocent public?

If one has decisive conviction in the law of cause and effect and karma, then there is no such thing as “innocent” in this world. From the very fact of being born in this land, nothing occurs without cause, still less all the circumstances of an entire lifetime.

Leaving aside human society, even animal societies kill one another. Human ambition, desire, and methods are far more advanced—how could there possibly be no conflict and no harm? And every single bit of it accords precisely, without the slightest disorder, with the interdependent arising of cause, effect, and karma.

Therefore, if one gives rise to hatred toward the appearances of the world, it is equivalent to giving rise to hatred toward the law of cause and effect. Yet this law cannot be altered. To hate the Dharma of interdependent arising and karma makes even the most basic practice of the Buddha’s teaching impossible. Thus hatred is completely without reason.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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When encountering harm from adversaries, the second contemplation: Contemplation of mere phenomena.

When viewing from the perspective of emptiness, there is no independent, autonomous self-entity; there are only phenomena of dependent arising. Given this, toward whom could one direct anger?

As previously mentioned, both attachment and aversion require a focused object. Since all objects are dependently arisen and without self, toward specifically whom should one feel resentment and anger?

From the first contemplation above, one knows it is the demon of afflictions. Yet the demon of afflictions also has no inherent existence. Should one then become angry at the Buddha’s awareness? That makes no sense at all. Therefore, there is nowhere for anger to arise.

Furthermore, from the perspective of conventional appearances: why must I encounter the suffering of harm that requires forbearance? Because, as previously studied, karma is definite. It is not without cause that I am made to endure; rather, the results of karma have manifested, causes and conditions have matured, and it is time for me to experience the painful retribution.

As long as I patiently endure and accept the suffering that is due to me, that portion of the negative karma is thereby exhausted, and I will never have to experience it again.

This is called eliminating old karma according to conditions. How can it be eliminated if one cannot endure? Inability to endure simply creates new calamities: the old has not yet passed, and new causes for the hell realms are already planted.

This is a point that especially requires skillful discernment of cause and effect. Everyone here is doing well in general, yet regarding some small matters, awareness is still lacking. Even the slightest anger is still anger, and it is very serious. Even the slightest harm is also the pressure of afflictions; it is not that the other person freely and independently comes to harm one. No matter how small—a single sentence, a single word—it is not under autonomous control. Do not think, “He only said one sentence to me, so of course he could control it, and therefore I should resent him.” That is not the case.

Therefore, clear discernment is needed: the faults of anger are extremely severe. “The fire that burns the forest of merits” refers precisely to the mind of anger. Such vast wholesome deeds and so many roots of virtue are swiftly burned away by a single blaze, immediately inviting the results of the hell realms. It is truly terrifying.

Without cultivating patience, the subsequent three perfections are fundamentally mere delusion.

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How can one practice forbearance? By applying two contemplations:

• Oppressed by afflictions, the body is not autonomous;

• There is only dependent arising—no self and no owner—and thus no object toward which anger can be directed.

If one is able to forbear, one obtains an excellent body, is respected by humans and gods, experiences the fruition of happiness, and can generate the power of samādhi.

The one who harms cannot act autonomously but is oppressed by afflictions; by creating negative karma, that person will experience even greater suffering in the future. The harm done to me now is only helping me eliminate my own negative karma. This is a great kindness—how could one instead become angry toward them?

If anger arises, it is originally because one cannot bear the pain. Yet the consequences of anger are immeasurably greater suffering in future lives, which is even more impossible to bear. Since the intention is to avoid suffering, there is all the less reason for anger.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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The Perfection of Patience (Kṣānti-Pāramitā) is divided into three: patience toward harm inflicted by others, patience toward suffering, and patience regarding the Dharma.

First, patience toward harm inflicted by others.

Ordinary people hold the view that when one can no longer endure, there is no need to endure further, or that patience has its limits; otherwise it becomes cowardice.

The mind that cannot endure is a mind of anger, as well as a mind of weakness—completely opposite to worldly standards.

Right view holds that one who is able to endure is the true strong one, not overpowered by afflictions and not clouded by ignorance.

Patience has no limit. No matter what humiliation, mockery, torment, abuse, or even killing one may encounter, none of these constitutes a reason for anger. Anger has no legitimate justification whatsoever.

First, the faults of failing to endure.

Once one fails to endure and gives rise to anger, it can destroy the roots of virtue cultivated over long eons, and it can bring about the fruition of rebirth in the hell realms—not the other two lower realms, but hell.

Destroying roots of virtue may be even more terrifying than hell itself.

Just as confession can damage the ripening of negative karma, anger can damage the ripening of pleasant results; both operate by the same principle.

Anger is clearly more intense than the karma of desire, just as the fire at the end of a kalpa can burn even up to the second meditative heaven.

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Next, the benefits of being able to endure.

In the world there are many people of exceptionally fine and majestic appearance; this is one such benefit—obtaining a majestic form and receiving love and respect.

Patience can give rise to meditative power, can generate great energetic diligence, and can swiftly exhaust negative karma.

Here the greatest obstacle is this: knowing the results, yet at the moment, how can one actually endure?As mentioned earlier, and stated once more here, this is extremely important content for practice.

When suffering harm from others, cultivate two reflections:

First, that person is compelled by afflictions and cannot act freely, and therefore causes harm.

In fact, any harmful action must be like this—driven by afflictions. Do not think that because the other person shows no outward signs of affliction, there is none in the mind.

There is no phenomenon without cause, still less in the case of sentient beings capable of rational thought.

When an ordinary being performs a harmful act, it is necessarily compelled by the afflictions in their continuum. Since the other is not a freely acting noble being, why can their harmful behavior not be understood?

It is like being wounded by a knife: one should not blame the knife, for the knife cannot act of its own accord. When wounded by this person, one should not blame the person, for they cannot act freely; behind them the demon of affliction is directing them to do so.

Here one must observe with subtlety. Do not only think of the especially obvious cases, such as someone truly scolding or striking you for no reason. One must also see the less obvious ones—for example, when one simply feels that the other is deliberately making things difficult or deliberately trying to provoke one’s afflictions. At such times one should be alert: the other may well be compelled by afflictions.

With such insight, we should instead generate compassion toward those who harm us. In fact, this is how it should rightly be.

If one can think in this way, how could there be any reason not to endure?

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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As followers of the Dharma, do not think that merely because you have gained a little benefit and have the fortune to encounter the true Dharma, you should hastily go out to subdue various holders of wrong views. If you yourself have not yet attained stable realization, doing such things is extremely dangerous and will bring many faults.

Therefore, one should act according to one’s capacity and not proactively force or climb after so-called beneficial activities.

As for those who deliberately attempt to destroy Buddhism, they are merely pitiful beings; in reality, they have no power to truly destroy the true Dharma.

Those who truly possess the ability and the conditions to destroy the true Dharma are certainly found within the community itself.

Everyone is familiar with the five heinous crimes. What is the heaviest among them? It is causing schism in the harmonious Sangha, which is even more severe than killing an arhat or shedding the blood of a Buddha.

Because creating division, destruction, loss of faith, distortion, and misinterpretation from within the community can rapidly cause the true Dharma to disappear; therefore its gravity is comparable to the crime of slandering the Dharma.

Thus the best way to protect the Dharma is not to go outward to subdue externalists or malicious beings, but to cultivate harmony and mutual respect within the community, enabling everyone to abide in lawful mental conduct according to the Buddha’s true teachings and continuously accumulate the provisions for enlightenment. This is the finest protection of the Dharma.

The methods of subduing, in fact, are more for the purpose of propagating the Dharma, benefiting living beings, and enhancing wholesome connections. The vastness of the Buddha-Dharma is such that it cannot be defeated from the outside.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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In the Three Sets of Pure Precepts, the aspect of the precepts of discipline is also fundamental and must not be neglected. If one does not even observe the precepts of discipline yet claims to be benefiting sentient beings, this cannot be established.

Regarding the extraordinary actions of accomplished beings, they do not violate the precepts of discipline. For example, in certain acts of killing, they possess special abilities to directly transfer the sentient beings to higher realms or pure lands. Therefore, although on the surface there appears to be a skillful means of killing, there is neither the motivation to kill nor even the faults of killing.

When there is only the superficial behavior, yet the motivation is pure and the result is pure, this cannot be counted as breaking the precepts. It is also for this reason that the precepts upheld by bodhisattvas are signless precepts. That is to say, superficial manifestations alone cannot determine whether a bodhisattva has truly broken the precepts, because the Bodhisattva Precepts are held in common from ordinary beings up to ground-level bodhisattvas, and there are far too many people who possess the qualifications and abilities for such extraordinary actions.

Then, if some people claim to be Mahayana practitioners capable of performing extraordinary actions, yet are in reality only ordinary beings with wrong views, they not only create the karma of great false speech, but also, due to lacking wisdom, demonstrate to many beginners that breaking the precepts is without fault. Moreover, they create the extremely grave faults of their own motivation and results being impure and not in accordance with the Dharma. In this way, the accumulated negative karma becomes incalculable, and their future prospects are extremely terrifying.

If one encounters such pitiable sentient beings, one must, according to circumstances, offer advice and admonishment. Even if unsuccessful, at least cause a slight sense of regret to arise in their continuum.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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The practice of upholding precepts (śīla) that is integrated into the Mahāyāna aims at enabling both oneself and others to abide simultaneously in the pure essence of the precepts; it is not undertaken merely for the purpose of avoiding falling into lower realms or for one’s own liberation alone.

Therefore, the Bodhisattva precepts differ from the Prātimokṣa precepts in certain respects that are not shared, while the Prātimokṣa precepts should be the fundamental ethical discipline commonly upheld by Bodhisattvas as well.

When a Bodhisattva upholds the Prātimokṣa precepts, there is a shared significance: avoiding non-virtuous actions that harm sentient beings and observing the regulations established by the Buddha. Beyond this, it is also because only when one’s ethical discipline is pure can one receive the respect of humans and gods, the abundance of material necessities, and the confidence of disciples.

The aspects of the Bodhisattva precepts that are not shared are two: the precept of gathering wholesome dharmas and the precept of benefiting sentient beings.

The precept of gathering wholesome dharmas means that, with regard to all the trainings in wholesome dharmas, one constantly examines oneself, confesses and abandons non-virtuous states of the three times, while not scrutinizing whether others have reached the standard. Others can only serve as objects to be benefited and objects of respect.

The precept of gathering wholesome dharmas emphatically includes the gradual training in the Six Pāramitās. This is an essence of the precepts that must be guarded; it is not a practice that any Bodhisattva may selectively choose not to cultivate. This point must be made extremely clear.

The precept of benefiting sentient beings includes several specific contents. Because Bodhisattvas occupy different stages and possess different capacities, the means of benefiting sentient beings also differ.

Therefore, one must benefit others in accordance with one’s own stage. Yet the principle here is that if one has the ability but fails to perform acts that benefit sentient beings, one violates the Bodhisattva precepts.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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Merely practicing generosity once already makes it impossible to establish “I” and “mine.” This is not a particularly difficult matter. We have afflictions and attachments—this is due to habitual tendencies. The fact that the habitual tendencies of afflictions have not been eradicated does not hinder the correct view of no-self. One cannot, merely because they have not been eradicated, conclude that there is still a self.One must give independent and pure confidence to one’s own insight. Although one may still feel that insight and realization are not unified, and that principle and phenomena cannot yet be perfectly integrated, this is only a temporary stage. One must not, because of this lack of integration or because one cannot yet pass through matters in practice, negate the insight. Once the insight is firmly established, one will gradually find breakthroughs in practice. First step one foot across; the other foot will then be easier to move. Do not insist on waiting until both can jump together.

The six perfections are perfectly integrated; each one encompasses all six. Within generosity, the benefit free from greed is the perfection of generosity within generosity; giving without harm is the perfection of discipline within generosity; giving without anger is the perfection of patience within generosity; diligently performing generosity is the perfection of diligence within generosity; giving with a mind free from distraction and heedlessness is the perfection of meditative concentration within generosity; and giving without marks, with the emptiness of the three spheres, is the perfection of wisdom within generosity. The same applies to the others by analogy. Thus, one encompasses six—this is the meaning.

The perfection of generosity does not require one to already be an arhat in order to practice it. Rather, within one’s insight it is determined that none of these belong to “me”—including body, consciousness, wisdom, merit, and wholesome roots. Toward all of these one must not be stingy or unwilling to give. Since this is so, the “I” that could be stingy also cannot be established. Here the emphasis is on breaking stinginess, not on breaking self-grasping.

Do not casually give scriptures and treatises to those who do not have faith, for they are very likely to seek out faults in them and thus gain no benefit whatever. Therefore this does not fulfill the conditions for perfect generosity. The same applies to the Three Jewels and to virtuous persons: as soon as one sees faults, the benefit is lost.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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The six paramitas all possess profound significance. Besides requiring bodhicitta as their sustaining force, in terms of view and conduct they also differ from those of the two vehicles, and demand even subtler and more refined observation.

The lower-level merit of the paramita of generosity is the cutting off of greed; the higher-level merit is the protection, benefit, and accomplishment of sentient beings.

Regarding the cutting off of greed, one needs to understand that coarse greed and anger both require focus on an object of attention, which is different from ignorance. If greed and anger have no object on which they can focus, it becomes difficult for them to intensify to the point where we clearly experience them, and the afflictions will not be very heavy.

In this respect, the paramita of generosity has already completely returned everything to the sentient beings of the dharmadhatu; there is no longer any object left that one can specially focus upon, and therefore it is difficult for greed to arise.

Wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep are the inevitable coarse objects of desire in the desire realm. Without transcending the desire realm, these cannot possibly be eradicated. The heavenly beings of the higher realms or those in contaminated meditative absorptions can only temporarily avoid these coarse desires; only the noble ones who have gone beyond the three realms can completely eradicate them.

Therefore, with regard to wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, one should know their faults and not specially focus on them, but regard them solely through the view of dependent arising and illusory manifestation. Within them there exists no real individual self-nature, and they cannot become objects of focused attention for us.

Thus, although it is said that everything of “mine” was never truly mine, and yet has been greedily clung to and enjoyed by me for countless eons, and that now I return everything to the dharmadhatu and no longer continue to cling to it with greed, in reality there is also no concrete substantial entity that can be returned, and it is impossible to truly find out exactly whose it is or to whom it belongs. Therefore, generosity with characteristics that involves greedy clinging cannot be established.

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May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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Once again it must be emphasized that the prerequisite for practicing the perfection of generosity is the generation of bodhicitta. Since it is the generation of bodhicitta, generosity is not performed for the sake of one’s own meritorious rewards.

One cannot practice the perfection of generosity in order to obtain self-benefiting meritorious rewards; this is simply impossible. Seeking rewards of merit can only result in obtaining wealth and similar worldly benefits; it neither counters greed nor accumulates the great accumulation of merit for supreme enlightenment.

Before practicing the methods of the perfection of generosity, one must first possess the view that all things are neither self nor mine. One must not first regard something as “mine,” decide “I will give it to you,” and then reluctantly part with it—this does not meet the requirements of the perfection of generosity.

On the basis of the correct view that all things are neither self nor mine, one must further apply wisdom to discern whether something should or should not be given. The criteria for discrimination are: whether one is capable of enduring the giving of one’s own body, and whether the external object will benefit or harm sentient beings. If it will cause harm, it should not be given.

Generosity is a direct means of benefiting sentient beings and expressing compassion toward them. Whether one is able to give in accordance with the Dharma can demonstrate the quality of one’s compassionate mind and one’s capacity for altruism.

As a supplementary point: in cases where it is inappropriate to give, two skillful means may be employed when responding to the requester:

• Use gentle and comforting words—neither refuse bluntly nor deceive;

• Although the particular object itself cannot be given, an equivalent amount of money, or several times that amount, may be given instead.

Further examples for clarification:

Regarding alcohol—if the requester intends to drink or enjoy it themselves or with others, it should not be given; if it is to be used for treating wounds or curing illness, then it should be given.

Likewise, if followers of non-Buddhist paths request Buddhist scriptures, this constitutes inappropriate giving; in such a case one should instead offer cash equivalent to the value of the scriptures, or several times that amount.

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May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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We must presuppose that everything has already been given, and thus no longer entertain any concept of “mine.” On this foundation, when making decisions, one should decide in accordance with the Dharma. That which cannot bring benefit—or even leads to harm and downfall—should not be given in generosity.

One must not give things that cause the recipient to break precepts, such as alcohol and the like, nor things that bring harm to oneself or others. At times it is necessary to know the purpose of the recipient’s request: what they intend to do with the item.

Special emphasis must be placed on the currently very popular practice of printing scriptures.

In ancient times, printing technology was primitive; efficiency and output were relatively low, so the relative cost was high. Even earlier, texts were written on bamboo slips, which were far less convenient. Therefore, copying scriptures carried merit and could assist their circulation. Modern times are different: printing efficiency is extremely high, and especially after entering the electronic information age, the scriptures and treatises have already achieved infinite propagation, with no remaining obstacles to dissemination.

It can be said that any literate person who wishes to obtain any currently circulating classic can acquire it without leaving home, and at extremely low cost.

At this point, the merit of printing scriptures is no longer so great. Nowadays, greater merit lies in translating the scriptures into versions in different languages. However, scriptures differ from worldly books; translation cannot be independently completed by pure textual workers alone.

In ancient times, whether a scripture should be given away required careful discrimination. First: whether one had completely realized the content of that scripture. If one had fully realized it—so that the scripture already resided in the mind—then it could be given. If not, it should not be given, for this would leave one’s own study and practice incomplete.

Second: whether it should be given to non-Buddhists. Since they are non-Buddhists—here meaning those who do not believe in the Buddhadharma—what use do they have for the Buddha’s teachings?

One possibility is that they seek faults within them in order to slander; another is that they treat them as ordinary books to resell for profit. Both are extremely contrary to the Dharma and should not be done.Therefore, indiscriminately giving scriptures to whoever one meets is strongly discouraged. Although the motivation may be good, discrimination must still be exercised.

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So when scriptures are printed, where exactly are they circulated? In that process, no discrimination is applied. The same applies online: posting scriptures everywhere like advertisements is, in my view, not in accordance with the Dharma. If it is on a Buddhist website, I personally consider it acceptable, because a website is a passive medium without the function of active distribution, and thus incurs no fault.

There is also the previously mentioned secularization of Buddhism and quasi-Dharma (teachings similar to the Dharma), which are extremely contrary to the Dharma. Yet nowadays such books circulate in great numbers, and some books of worldly, mundane principles are mixed in as well. These materials absolutely cannot serve as resources for study and practice. If one gives quasi-Dharma, there is definitely fault.

If one insists on printing scriptures, one must take responsibility for their subsequent circulation and must completely eliminate books of quasi-Dharma.

Nowadays, various “masters”—referring to laypeople—are especially fond of publishing books. Apart from seeking fame and profit, I do not know what else this publishing amounts to.

If one speaks of the Buddhadharma, it is all already contained in the scriptures and treatises. What, then, is the point of publishing one’s own books? In my view, the only permissible activity is composing commentaries, and even then only by qualified Dharma teachers.

Furthermore, if one is a great accomplished practitioner, one may compose treatises; a bodhisattva who has attained the grounds may do so.

As for the rest of us, we truly should not publish books.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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If a person has already had contact with the Buddhadharma, one must first enable them to generate faith. There is no specific method here that can make a person generate faith. I believe in Dharma affinity, and I believe that faith arises from the transformation of virtue—it is the realized virtue and wholesome roots of both the giver and the receiver. It cannot be forced, and one must absolutely never use deceptive methods, such as supernatural powers or deceit.

One may adopt the method of giving, bestowing actual benefits upon the other party and thereby taking the opportunity to guide them. This is the only Dharma-conforming way of actively guiding and establishing connections in the present age, and it is something that householder bodhisattvas can conveniently do.

I have not seen many such cases; on the contrary, I have seen Christian believers doing this.

When practicing giving, one must act according to one’s capacity. If one insists on undertaking matters far beyond one’s ability, it is not in accordance with the Dharma.

For example, giving away one’s body, flesh, brain, and marrow—at the present stage, it seems no one is capable of this, and such giving should therefore not be performed.

If one forces oneself to do it, one will find it hard to endure the pain and afflictions, and will instead regress in one’s aspiration.

The body is to be used for practicing the Dharma, for practicing the Dharma in order to attain Buddhahood; therefore one must not damage the body for the sake of some minor benefit to others.

Furthermore, if the other party needs the gift in order to engage in non-Dharma activities, one must firmly refuse to comply.

If the other party harbors a malicious mind and deliberately seeks to harm, one should not give away one’s body or life.

Here there is also a sequence that must be noted: in the initial stage of cultivating the perfection of giving, because one still has the deluded mind of stinginess, one needs to truly give everything away completely, thoroughly realizing “not-self and not-mine,” not clinging to any wealth, relatives, body and life, merit, or wisdom, regarding all as not belonging to oneself, and one should think and visualize in this way, joyfully offering all of it to sentient beings.

When this has truly been cultivated well, one can experience in actual situations that one indeed has no stinginess left; only then does one make rational decisions. The previous stage must first be thoroughly cultivated—this is very important.

Thereafter, making rational decisions does not mean regressing back to a state of having stinginess; rather, precisely because one is now capable of giving, one considers whether or not to give. If the previous stage has not been cultivated well, one would not give in the first place, and thus there would be no need for decision-making.

Cases in which one should not give the body and so forth also include when the recipient is of unclear mind, insane, or confused—one cannot give to such persons. Apart from all these situations in which one should not give, a capable bodhisattva, in order to benefit sentient beings, should comply: offer the body according to their wishes, and serve as their servant. In this way one can perfect the perfection of giving.One must thoroughly cultivate complete relinquishment and abiding in equanimity. Giving can only be practiced on the foundation of bodhicitta, removing all forms of stinginess and greed from the mind.

All decisions about whether or not something should be given must likewise be established upon a mind of relinquishment free from stinginess and greed.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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Those who have not yet truly generated bodhicitta should not be discouraged. The Bodhisattva path is by no means accomplished in a single day or night. Those with good foundations already accumulated abundant stores of merit in previous lives to be as they are. At the time of initially generating the mind, everyone is the same. Initial generation of the mind also includes those who retreated midway and later generated the mind again—this too is called initial generation of the mind. Previously it was explained how one can ensure that the bodhicitta never declines in lifetime after lifetime. If one does not practice in that way, then one may remain at the stage of initial generation of the mind in lifetime after lifetime.

The excellence of the gift of Dharma surpasses all other forms of giving, because the Dharma can bring fundamental and long-lasting benefit rather than temporary benefit, and the transmission of the Dharma stream can continue without interruption.

However, the gift of Dharma requires absolute accordance with the Dharma. The Dharma that is taught must not deviate from the true Dharma and must not be mixed with wrong views. Therefore, the giver himself must possess right view.

This can be done according to one’s own level of study and practice. For example, if one’s study and practice of the truth of suffering is very complete, then one may give the Dharma of the truth of suffering. Regarding Dharma that one has not studied and realized oneself, one can only recommend it and must not teach the Dharma based on one’s own conjectures.

When transmitting the Dharma, laypeople must never accept the offerings and respect due to Dharma teachers, must not ascend the high seat, and must not reverse roles by transmitting the Dharma to monastics.

Transmitting the Dharma must be done with great caution; otherwise it becomes slander of the Dharma.Because if it is Dharma about which one is oneself uncertain, from which one has oneself received no benefit, and which may even involve various faults, then it cannot bring benefit to others and does not qualify as giving.

Since there is no benefit yet one still transmits it to others, what kind of motivation is this? It is possible that there is a mind of fame and gain.

To transmit with a mind of fame and gain is to engage in a transaction, and this incurs fault.An even greater fault is if the Dharma one transmits is itself not the true Dharma. Not only will it fail to benefit others, it will create obstacles of wrong views. This is extremely troublesome, because the reason the gift of Dharma is excellent has already been explained above, and the negative effects of what is not true Dharma are equally powerful.

Once a person studies and practices what is not the true Dharma yet regards it as the true Dharma, he will be obstructed by wrong views for long eons, fall into the lower realms, and when he again encounters the Buddha’s Dharma, the force of the similar continuum will still operate, still carrying the influence of the previous wrong views, so he may again study in a deviant way.

This can be seen very clearly even within a single lifetime: some people encounter only true Dharma, and no matter which school or method they study, they do not go astray; while others continuously encounter one after another similar-seeming Dharma, every one of which is not in accordance with the Dharma.

This is the functioning of the fruition of similar continuum. On the surface they appear to be victims, but in reality it is because their own mind-nature accords with wrong views.

No matter what, a wrong teacher cannot lead astray a person who possesses sufficient roots of virtue and stores of merit. It must be that the practitioner has certain weaknesses that can be exploited and thereby overcome.

Therefore, if one has oneself been harmed, one should not blame being led astray. If one is sufficiently upright, one will not go astray.

When everyone practices the gift of Dharma, one must begin from the most basic foundations, must follow the proper sequence, and must at least teach Dharma that one has already heard, contemplated, and understood.

This is established on the foundation of faith. For those who have no faith, one should not speak of the Buddha’s Dharma directly, but must employ other skillful means.

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May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness

ॐ आ गुरवे शाक्यशासनश्रिये हूँ फट्

To the Buddhas, the True Dharma, and the Noble Sangha, the Three Jewels,
I take refuge from now until enlightenment forever.
With the merits accumulated through generosity and other practices,
For the benefit of all sentient beings, I aspire to attain great awakening.

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Main Text：

Because everything belongs to sentient beings, and even I myself am born of sentient beings, can I still make use of wealth and resources? When I eat, am I not eating the food of sentient beings? How is this resolved?

One should contemplate it in this way: Because I have generated bodhicitta, aspiring to benefit all sentient beings and attain Buddhahood, if I do not make use of wealth and resources to sustain the root of life and adorn the manifestation [of this body], then I will be unable to benefit sentient beings, and will also be unable to continue practicing normally, up to and including the cultivation of the six perfections.

Therefore, although everything originally belongs to sentient beings, I am now using the resources of sentient beings to benefit sentient beings, and in this way there is no fault. It is like the steward in the master’s household who uses the master’s possessions to serve the master—there is no fault in that.

Conversely, the same principle also holds: If one has already received the bodhisattva precepts yet gives rise to a mind of self-benefit, then even eating a meal becomes an act of stealing.

Strictly speaking, it is exactly so.

However, there is no need to be afraid, for one can still confess and purify the various mental activities of self-interest. One may confess them before the Buddha. This refers to those who have received the bodhisattva precepts.

In this way, everyone can understand what is meant by a bodhisattva and what it means to practice the bodhisattva path. Even with regard to the perfection of giving alone, there is a clear distinction from ordinary people and practitioners of the two vehicles.

🌿Starting to Learn Buddhism Here

🌿Understand our lineage

🌿Introduction to Adhiyana

May all sentient beings forever possess happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever be free from suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings forever enjoy the bliss free from suffering, bringing joy to my heart.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, far from greed and anger.

Renunciation Mind｜Bodhicitta｜Correct View of Emptiness