Teaching on Bodhicitta Practice
觀修菩提心的方法

Kyabje Gosok Rinpoche
Teaching on Bodhicitta Practice

One: Essence of Bodhicitta

As the great master Shantideva once said: “The teachings imparted by Shakyamuni Buddha, the teacher of gods and humans, have as their essence bodhicitta—the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Just as butter is the essence extracted from milk, bodhicitta is the essence of the Dharma.” The presence of the Vinaya (monastic discipline) in the world is determined by whether the individual liberation precepts still exist. Similarly, the existence of Mahayana Buddhism is judged by whether bodhicitta continues to be taught and practiced.

Bodhicitta has two main aspects:

1. Altruism : The wish to benefit others.
2. Attaining Perfect Enlightenment : The aspiration to achieve the fully awakened state of Buddhahood.

The aspiration to attain perfect enlightenment stems from the Hinayana practitioners’ desire to achieve the peace of nirvana. Both Mahayana and Hinayana practitioners seek liberation from samsara, but Mahayana practitioners go further by cultivating an altruistic spirit that seeks not only their own liberation but also the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering. This altruistic spirit, born of bodhicitta, enables Mahayana practitioners to abandon self-centered concerns. In contrast, the noble ones of the Hinayana—Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas—may dwell in the peace of nirvana for countless eons.

Mahayana practitioners, however, contemplate the perfect qualities of the Buddha’s form body (rupakaya), which can manifest in various forms according to the karmic conditions of sentient beings, thereby guiding them to liberation. Thus, Mahayana practitioners neither dwell in samsara nor in nirvana, a key distinction that makes Mahayana teachings superior to Hinayana teachings.

Mahayana practitioners must also reflect deeply: unless they attain the perfect dharmakaya and rupakaya of a Buddha, they cannot fully benefit sentient beings. With this motivation, they generate bodhicitta.

The Deeper Meaning of Altruism

Bodhicitta arises from the spirit of altruism, which must be cultivated through continuous practice of loving-kindness and compassion. This involves removing all suffering from sentient beings and helping them attain every form of happiness. The suffering sentient beings face and the happiness they seek are not limited to temporary pain or fleeting pleasure. Instead, one must assist sentient beings in purifying their minds of greed, hatred, and ignorance, eliminating karmic obscurations, and eradicating the seeds of habitual afflictions. This leads to the generation of realizations at each stage of the path, culminating in the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood. Without such comprehensive effort, the spirit of altruism would remain superficial and temporary, unable to fully benefit all sentient beings.

Stages of Generating Bodhicitta

If practitioners wish to bestow temporary and ultimate happiness upon all sentient beings, they must first eliminate all faults within themselves and attain the perfect qualities of the Buddha’s dharmakaya. To manifest in various forms suited to the karmic conditions of sentient beings, practitioners must also attain the perfect qualities of the Buddha’s rupakaya. This is the sequential process of generating bodhicitta.

Transcending Samsara and Nirvana

If practitioners dwell in the peace of nirvana, they cannot fully accomplish the work of benefiting others. Therefore, motivated by altruism, they do not abide in nirvana. Furthermore, because they aspire to attain full Buddhahood, they also do not dwell in samsara. Mahayana practitioners, inspired by the bodhicitta vow to “attain Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings,” transcend both samsara and nirvana, abiding in neither.

Mahayana Mind

The mind of Mahayana Buddhism must include both altruism and the aspiration to attain supreme enlightenment; neither can be lacking. Practitioners who seek only their own enlightenment cannot be considered Mahayana practitioners.

Although the noble ones of the Hinayana—Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas—also hold that their practices and attainments are ultimately for the benefit of all sentient beings, the fruits they achieve are not the supreme and perfect enlightenment of Buddhahood. Therefore, only by combining altruism with the aspiration for supreme enlightenment can one become a true Mahayana practitioner.

Maitreya Bodhisattva once taught: “Seek enlightenment through altruism.” This succinctly captures the essence of bodhicitta: altruism combined with the aspiration to attain perfect Buddhahood. By generating a strong motivation to benefit others, practitioners naturally develop the wish to attain Buddhahood so they can possess the capacity to benefit all sentient beings.

Two: Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction

Lineage of the Teachings

The Buddha, Shakyamuni, transmitted countless methods for cultivating bodhicitta. These teachings can be broadly categorized into two main lineages:

1. Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction
2. Exchanging Self and Others

The Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction was taught by Maitreya Bodhisattva in the Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra (Ratnagotravibhāga ) and passed to Asanga. It was then transmitted by Asanga to Atisha, who later brought it to Tibet.

The teaching of Exchanging Self and Others , on the other hand, is found in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Garland Sutra ). This lineage was passed from Manjushri Bodhisattva to Nagarjuna, and later to Shantideva.

Although practitioners may use either method, the essence of bodhicitta that arises is ultimately the same. While both methods aim at the same goal, Exchanging Self and Others is more suited for advanced practitioners whose mindstreams are already familiar with the practice of bodhicitta. This method is considered more profound and challenging than the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction .

Some scholars suggest that Exchanging Self and Others encompasses the essence of the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction , but upon closer examination of their respective stages, subtle differences remain. This view highlights how the two methods can complement each other and, in some contexts, be integrated into a unified practice.

For those who have not previously studied or cultivated bodhicitta, attempting to begin with Exchanging Self and Others might prove too difficult and fail to generate genuine experience. Therefore, beginners are encouraged to start with the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction, which provides a systematic and accessible approach.

Origin of Names and Stages of the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction

The name “Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction” derives from its seven stages of practice, where each stage serves as the cause for the next, and each subsequent stage is the result of the preceding one. These stages are:

1 Recognizing all sentient beings as mothers
2 Recalling their kindness
3 Wishing to repay their kindness
4 Developing loving kindness
5 Developing compassion
6 Generating the altruistic intention
7 Generating bodhicitta

The essence of Mahayana teachings lies in bodhicitta, and the foundation of Mahayana teachings is great compassion. Practitioners who cultivate Mahayana teachings must begin by developing compassion, and the method for cultivating compassion is through recognizing sentient beings as mothers, recalling their kindness, repaying their kindness, and generating loving kindness.

For practitioners to generate bodhicitta, they must regard the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering and the attainment of happiness as their own irrevocable responsibility. This mindset transcends the mere aspiration for personal liberation, and the spirit of taking the salvation of sentient beings as one’s own duty is called altruistic intention .

To develop altruistic intention, one must feel profound compassion for sentient beings trapped in the boundless suffering of samsara. To generate such compassion, one must view all sentient beings with a joyful mind, seeing them all as beloved friends or family members, thereby generating loving-kindness.

To generate loving-kindness, one must understand that throughout our countless lifetimes in samsara, every lifetime has had a mother. Therefore, every sentient being may have been our mother at some point. Reflecting on the immense and boundless kindness of our mothers, we see that they are now trapped in the vortex of suffering. As their children, if we stand by and do nothing, there is no greater shame than this! Thus, we should remember and repay the kindness of our mothers, thereby generating a heart of loving-kindness.

The key to successful practice lies in following the stages sequentially. Only when one genuinely experiences a particular stage can progress to the next occur.

Without adhering to this sequence, any loving-kindness, compassion, or bodhicitta generated will be fleeting and superficial, unable to arise spontaneously toward all sentient beings at all times. This is because the foundational stages were not firmly established, making the ultimate goal of generating bodhicitta unattainable.

If practitioners have not cultivated the habit of practicing bodhicitta in past lives, even strenuous efforts in this life may yield only brief glimpses of loving-kindness, compassion, or bodhicitta.

Since we did not practice these teachings in the past, we struggle to generate bodhicitta today. If we neglect to follow the stages diligently in this life, we will remain unaccomplished in the future. Therefore, practitioners must resolve to practice systematically, ensuring genuine experience at each stage, so that one day authentic bodhicitta will naturally arise.

The arrangement of the seven stages of the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction can be understood in two ways:

1. The first way is to establish the first six stages as the causes for generating bodhicitta, with bodhicitta being the result or fruition of these six stages.
2. Alternatively, there is another approach where altruistic intention (增上意樂) and bodhicitta are established as the results, while the first five stages are considered the causes. The reasoning behind this arrangement lies in the fact that great compassion is the foundation of Mahayana teachings. In this spirit, such an arrangement is made to highlight the centrality of great compassion in the practice.

Importance of Great Compassion

The Madhyamakavatara states:

“Compassion is the seed, water, and ripened fruit of the Buddha’s vast attainment. Thus, I first praise great compassion.”

Great compassion is the foundation of a practitioner’s path in Mahayana Buddhism during the initial, intermediate, and final stages of practice. It is also the seed of Mahayana teachings. Why does a practitioner enter the Mahayana path? The reason lies in the aspiration to free all sentient beings from suffering and guide them to happiness, praying to attain perfect Buddhahood in order to possess the ability to benefit all beings. Therefore, at the beginning of practice, the practitioner must feel deep sorrow for the immense suffering that sentient beings endure and wish to take on their pain. This is why generating great compassion is essential at the outset of practice. Only by cultivating great compassion can one enter the Mahayana path and become a member of the Mahayana lineage.

Driving Force of Great Compassion

After generating aspirational bodhicitta, practitioners must engage in the challenging practices of the bodhisattva path and realize various stages of the path to attain perfect Buddhahood. Along the way, countless difficulties and obstacles must be overcome. Without the driving force of great compassion, practitioners would not have the strength to endure these trials and tribulations.

Buddha’s Endless Compassion

After attaining perfect enlightenment, the Buddha, out of boundless compassion for sentient beings still trapped in samsara, refrained from entering parinirvana and continued to perform activities for the benefit of beings until samsara is emptied. Our ability to benefit from the Dharma today is due to the Buddha’s never-ending great compassion.

Affectionate Loving-Kindness

To generate compassion, practitioners must eliminate the distinctions they make between loved ones, enemies, and neutral beings, viewing all sentient beings as their most cherished child. With joy and equanimity, they regard all beings with affection. This is called affectionate loving-kindness.

Loving-Kindness and Compassion

Loving-kindness can be divided into two types: affectionate loving-kindness and wishing beings to have happiness. Affectionate loving-kindness must arise before compassion, while wishing beings to have happiness can arise either before or after compassion. This illustrates the causal relationship between loving-kindness and compassion.

In the past, while teaching abroad, I encountered a listener who believed that compassion is easier to generate than loving-kindness and therefore suggested that compassion should precede loving-kindness in the sequence of practice. This insight demonstrates deep reflection on the relationship between loving-kindness and compassion, which is commendable. Such a view places wishing beings to have happiness after compassion, meaning the sequence of these two is not fixed. However, the sequence of affectionate loving-kindness must always come before compassion. Only by generating affectionate loving-kindness and viewing all sentient beings equally can practitioners then give rise to genuine great compassion.

Foundation of Equanimity

Before meditating on affectionate loving-kindness, practitioners must cultivate the three preliminary stages: recognizing sentient beings as mothers (知母 ), recalling their kindness, and wishing to repay their kindness. Before practicing recognizing sentient beings as mothers, one must first cultivate equanimity as a foundational practice.

Cultivating equanimity is like leveling the ground before building a house. Only when the ground is level can materials be stacked upon it. We tend to cling to what we like and reject what we dislike, creating an unequal mindset. This bias must be addressed and eliminated when cultivating equanimity.

Equanimity can be broadly categorized into three types:

1. Action equanimity: Avoiding attachment, aversion, and indifference in behavior.
2. Feeling equanimity: Avoiding distinctions based on feelings of pleasure, pain, or neutrality.
3. Limitless equanimity: The type of equanimity that practitioners focus on here, which extends boundlessly to all sentient beings without discrimination.

Preminary Practice: Equanimity

Equanimity is not only the foundation for generating all stages of realizations and virtues but also the root cause for eliminating suffering and attaining happiness. The essence of the Dharma lies in bodhicitta, which requires the prior cultivation of compassion. To generate compassion, one must first possess equanimity. Therefore, equanimity serves as the basis for practitioners to develop realizations and virtues at each stage of the path and ultimately attain the perfect happiness of Buddhahood.

Due to our inability to cultivate equanimity, our spontaneous thoughts are often driven by attachment to what we like and aversion to what we dislike. These mental habits lead to the creation of negative karma, resulting in the experience of its painful consequences. By cultivating equanimity, practitioners can close the door to afflictions, avoid creating further negative karma, and thereby cut off the root of all suffering.

Two methods for cultivating equanimity

1. Visualize three groups of sentient beings present before you one group at a time
2. Visualize three groups of sentient beings simultaneously present before you

1.1 Attitude Toward Neutral Beings

The First Step: visualize a neutral sentient being—one who is neither a friend nor an enemy—in front of you. Reflect that harming such a being would be an extremely irrational act, and thus, one should refrain from causing harm. Furthermore, consider that this person may have been of great benefit to you in the past, so it is inappropriate to remain indifferent toward them.

1.2 Attitude Toward Loved Ones

Next, visualize a close loved one—such as a family member or dear friend—in front of you. Reflect that attachment and clinging are the chains that bind us to the ocean of samsara. The faults arising from attachment and clinging cause us to wander endlessly through cyclic existence without liberation. Our attachment to loved ones is not solely due to their benefits to us but rather stems from habitual tendencies of craving cultivated in the past. For instance, someone who currently provides us with food, medicine, clothing, or shelter may have caused us great harm in the past. Now, merely because they offer some small benefit, we become attached to them—a highly unreasonable reaction. Therefore, we should abandon attachment and clinging to loved ones.

1.3 Attitude Toward Enemies

Finally, visualize an enemy—someone you harbor resentment toward—in front of you. Reflect that hatred causes immense suffering for both oneself and others. As stated in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life : “There is no greater sin than hatred.” Therefore, we should not harbor hatred but instead view this person with equanimity. Our anger toward enemies is not always due to their harmful actions; sometimes, it arises from our own habitual afflictions, even when no harm has been done. For example, consider two families who were once financially similar and lived harmoniously. If one family becomes wealthy through business, a gap in wealth may arise, leading to estrangement and eventual disconnection. Even when faced with harm from others, we should reflect that while they may harm us now, they might have sacrificed their lives to protect us in the past. How can we harbor hatred toward those who have shown such immeasurable kindness?

From our perspective or that of other sentient beings, harboring indifference, attachment, or hatred toward neutral beings, loved ones, or enemies is unwise and unreasonable. Sentient beings, driven by karma and habitual tendencies, lack autonomy over their circumstances and cannot choose whether to be our friends or enemies. They are like three destitute beggars—starving, thirsty, and ragged—who simultaneously approach us for help. From our perspective, all three are equally in need of assistance. From their perspective, all three equally yearn for our aid. If we discriminate, offering food and clothing only to one (a loved one) while ignoring or even scolding the others, such thoughts and actions are utterly unreasonable. Sentient beings, driven by afflictions and karmic obscurations, find themselves in dire situations akin to those of beggars. Thus, we should abandon discrimination and cultivate an attitude of equanimity toward all.

Meditating on Equanimity Toward Enemies, Loved Ones, and Neutral Beings Simultaneously

The second method is to visualize three groups of sentient beings simultaneously present before you: neutral beings in front, loved ones to your right, and enemies to your left. Using the methods described earlier, cultivate equanimity toward all three groups.

Practitioners can choose the method that is easier for them to visualize or that generates stronger realizations as the basis for their practice.

After meditating in this way, practitioners can further contemplate two phenomena in life:

1. The impermanence of benefit and harm : Those who benefit us now may have harmed us in the past, and those who harm us now may have once been our greatest benefactors. The actions of sentient beings toward us are unpredictable and uncertain.
2. The impermanence of relationships : In life, it is common for close friends to become enemies or for enemies to become close friends.
   Reflecting on these truths helps practitioners understand that enemies, loved ones, and neutral beings are all subject to change. This contemplation strengthens equanimity.

In the sutras, it is recorded that the Buddha once taught an extremely miserly disciple by instructing him to take an object from his left hand and give it to his right hand, while visualizing the left hand as himself and the right hand as other sentient beings. This method was used to counteract his attachment to possessions.

As practitioners of the Dharma, we must diligently put into practice the teachings we have heard and contemplated, gradually generating realizations in our mindstreams. This is the only path to attainment. Without diligent practice, even extensive learning and intellectual understanding will yield only meager and limited benefits.

Thus, practitioners should follow the guidance of the four immeasurables: “May all sentient beings be free from attachment, aversion, closeness, and distance, and abide in equanimity.” Like a full moon without any blemish, they should equally regard all sentient beings without abandoning anyone.

Equanimity and Vajrayana Practice

In Vajrayana practice, the symbol of a full moon with a crossed vajra above it is often used. The full moon represents relative bodhicitta, which is cultivated through equanimity toward all sentient beings. Only by developing equanimity can practitioners generate the realizations of the various stages of yoga (generation and completion stages). Without equanimity, it is impossible to stop afflictions such as attachment and aversion, which create obstacles to the arising of any spiritual attainments. Practitioners will also fail to generate compassion and bodhicitta. Therefore, practitioners should not abandon any sentient beings they dislike, as these beings are the key to cultivating equanimity and the root of generating realizations in the stages of practice.

Central Role of Great Compassion

In the Sutra of Boundless Wisdom , Shakyamuni Buddha said to Venerable Shariputra:

“Great compassion is inexhaustible. Why? Because it is the guide. Just as the breath sustains life, so too does great compassion guide the bodhisattva path.”

Great compassion is like a seed that grows into lush branches and abundant fruit. Whether practitioners can generate the various attainments and virtues of the path, bringing happiness to themselves and others, depends on whether they can cultivate great compassion. The Vinaya Sutra also states: “In the vast ocean of teachings, if one seeks the most essential, it is always great compassion that comes first.”

Great compassion is the essence of all Dharma teachings. If practitioners can genuinely generate the realization and attainment of great compassion in their mindstreams, it is like holding a “wish-fulfilling jewel” that can fulfill all aspirations, enabling them to comprehend all teachings. If practitioners diligently cultivate great compassion, it is like the chariot of a universal monarch, surrounded and protected by a million soldiers wherever it goes, leading to the attainments and virtues of bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

Bodhicitta, Great Compassion, and Altruism

Bodhicitta is the key to entering the Mahayana path, and great compassion is its foundation. Great compassion arises from altruism. Therefore, practitioners must constantly maintain an altruistic mindset in every thought and action.

Three: Recognizing all Sentient Beings as Mothers

The first stage of the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction is “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers”. This teaching can be explained through both scriptural reasoning and oral transmission. Here, we will use the process of consciousness entering the womb at the beginning of this life to demonstrate that all sentient beings have been our mothers in past lives.

Our current life began when our consciousness entered the mother’s womb. Consciousness is a continuous stream, like a river, where each moment of consciousness arises as the immediate cause of the next. This continuity cannot originate from external material substances, which can only serve as contributing conditions. Therefore, some scientists’ claims that humans can create new life through technology are incorrect. While science can replicate physical organs, it cannot create consciousness, as consciousness must arise from the continuity of the previous moment of consciousness. It cannot be artificially created through technology.

Continuity of Consciousness and Past Lives

In the sutras, the Buddha uses the analogy of two candles: when an old candle is about to burn out, its flame is transferred to a new candle. The new flame is a continuation of the old flame, but it cannot be said that the new flame is identical to the old one. Similarly, although we may have been born as animals or gods in past lives, and now we are human, it does not mean that our current consciousness is the same as that of an animal or god. Instead, it means that our current consciousness is a continuation of those past streams of consciousness.

Practitioners should reflect on whether consciousness could arise suddenly without a prior cause. If consciousness could arise spontaneously, then learning would lose its purpose. A spontaneously arising consciousness would be fragmentary and discontinuous, unable to accumulate knowledge or skills from one moment to the next. This contradicts reality. Therefore, it is established that consciousness is a continuous process, with each moment of consciousness arising from the previous one. Today’s consciousness arises from yesterday’s, and so on, tracing back to the moment when our consciousness first entered the womb (the kalala stage). That initial consciousness was also a continuation of the consciousness from the previous life. By extending this reasoning, we conclude that we have had countless past lives.

Deduction of Countless Mothers

Since we have had countless past lives, and in each life we have had a body, we must have been born through one of the four types of birth: womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, or transformation-born. Among these, womb-born and egg-born require a mother. Thus, we have had countless mothers across our past lives, and it is impossible that the same person has been our mother in every life. From this, it follows that all sentient beings have been our mothers at some point, and likely multiple times.

For example, consider the beings on Earth, which undergo cycles of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness. When Earth is destroyed and before it is reformed, the consciousness of beings on Earth may have taken rebirth in the heavens or in other continents (such as Uttarakuru, Jambudvipa, Uttarakuru). Consciousness continues unbroken, repeatedly entering the womb and taking on new lives. As the sutras teach, if we were to count the number of our past mothers using mustard seeds, even exhausting the number of particles of dust on Earth would not suffice to enumerate them all.

Viewing All Sentient Beings as Our Mothers

Our past mothers cared for and loved us just as deeply as our present mother. How, then, can we differentiate between sentient beings who have all been our mothers? Even if we do not recognize our past mothers in this life, the fact remains that all sentient beings have been our mothers, and they have shown us immense kindness. Therefore, we should not view sentient beings with discrimination but regard them all as equal to our present mother. Failing to do so is akin to failing to recognize our own mother in this life.

Practicing “Recognizing Sentient Beings as Mothers”

When practicing “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers,” practitioners should start with beings close to them—those who easily evoke attachment or aversion—and gradually expand outward. This approach makes it easier to generate realizations. It is not advisable to start with neutral beings while neglecting those closer to us. Following the sequence of friends, enemies, and neutral beings, practitioners should regard all three types of sentient beings as essentially the same as their present mother.

Relationship Between “Recognizing Sentient Beings as Mothers” and Bodhicitta

The reason for practicing “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers” before generating bodhicitta is that bodhicitta arises from great compassion, which in turn arises from affectionate loving-kindness. Affectionate loving-kindness is cultivated through the practices of remembering and repaying kindness. Among all our relatives, our mother is the closest and most kind. Therefore, practicing “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers” is the easiest way to generate gratitude and the wish to repay kindness, which then leads to affectionate loving-kindness, great compassion, and ultimately, bodhicitta.

Four: Recalling their Kindness

The practice of “Recalling kindness” must be based on the prior cultivation of “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers”. Practitioners, having recognized that all sentient beings have been their mothers in countless past lives, should reflect that these beings are no different from their present mother, who has shown them boundless love through giving birth and raising them. By contemplating the profound kindness of these mother-like sentient beings, practitioners can cultivate gratitude.

When practicing this meditation, one should not visualize these mother-like beings as powerful or strong but rather as frail and suffering from illness or hardship. Regardless of the teaching being practiced, it is essential to immerse oneself fully in the visualization, as if personally experiencing the situation. For example, when meditating on the sufferings of the three lower realms, practitioners must vividly feel the intense pain of burning fires, freezing cold, or unbearable hunger. Similarly, when practicing “Recalling kindness,” one must imagine being in the womb or cradled in the arms of one’s mother, deeply reflecting on her acts of giving birth and nurturing.

It is crucial not to remain detached, like observing a painting, where the subject and oneself remain separate. Such detachment will fail to generate any genuine realization or spiritual attainment.

The practice of recalling kindness can be divided into three stages: early, middle, and later.

In the early stage , reflect on the mother’s condition after becoming pregnant. Every movement becomes inconvenient, even simple actions like turning over, sitting down, or standing up become heavy burdens for her. Yet, she does not complain. Her diet and daily activities are restricted to ensure the safety of the fetus. She avoids foods she once enjoyed if they might harm the child. All these sacrifices stem from her selfless and profound maternal love.

Consider this: if we were to carry an object weighing one or two kilograms for just a few hours, we would feel tired and impatient. Yet, a mother carries this weight throughout her pregnancy, especially during the last three months when the burden is heaviest. If not for her careful protection, how could we have been born safely, with healthy bodies, and the opportunity to study the Dharma? Despite enduring numerous inconveniences and pains, she does not consider them hardships. When the child is finally born, her joy is overwhelming, and all her suffering vanishes in an instant.

After the child is born, the mother provides meticulous care, teaching the child essential life skills such as eating, drinking, walking, and speaking. She worries about the child’s health and seeks medical help tirelessly whenever the child falls ill. She sacrifices her own comfort, staying up late and losing sleep to care for the child. She reserves the best food for the child, demonstrating boundless kindness. These acts of love are too numerous to count. This is the middle stage of a mother’s kindness.

As the child grows older, the mother, who could otherwise live a simpler life focused only on her own needs, works tirelessly to provide better living conditions for the child. She competes with others for resources and wealth, even committing negative actions that may lead to rebirth in the lower realms. Despite this, she willingly endures such consequences, striving to accumulate wealth so the child can live comfortably. She sacrifices her youth and bears many burdens, yet does not consider it suffering. This is the later stage of a mother’s kindness.

The Universality and Importance of Gratitude

However, after growing up, some children, having achieved success, wealth, power, or status, may think highly of themselves and forget the kindness of their mother’s nurturing. This attitude is deeply mistaken. Reflect on the fact that our abilities today are cultivated gradually through upbringing, not innate. Without our mother’s kindness, how could we possess these abilities?

This maternal love is not limited to humans. Even animal mothers, though differing in physical and mental capacities, show no less love for their offspring than human mothers. This can be observed in documentaries capturing the daily lives of animals. Their protective instincts and sacrifices for their young mirror the kindness of human mothers.

Practicing “Recalling Kindness”

When practicing “Recalling kindness,” practitioners should begin by focusing on their own parents, reflecting deeply on their kindness in raising them. Then, gradually extend this reflection to include friends and relatives, followed by neutral beings, and finally, even enemies. This is the method for practicing “Recalling kindness.”

By expanding the scope of gratitude in this way, practitioners can break down barriers of attachment and aversion, cultivating a universal sense of gratitude toward all sentient beings. This lays the foundation for generating compassion and bodhicitta.

Five: Wishing to Repay their Kindness

If practitioners can genuinely generate realizations through the practice of “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers,” they will naturally progress to practicing “Recalling kindness.” If they can genuinely generate realizations through “Recalling kindness,” they will easily develop the aspiration to repay kindness.

Sentient beings, obscured by ignorance and tormented by afflictions and karmic obscurations, suffer immensely in both body and mind. They are like an elderly woman who has lost her mental faculties (her consciousness is controlled by greed, anger, and ignorance, leaving her unable to act autonomously, trapped in samsara), blind (unable to see or recognize the path to a good rebirth in the human or celestial realms), afflicted with serious illness (tormented by afflictions and karmic obstacles, enduring physical and mental suffering), burning with the fires of anger (hatred) and thirst (greed), burdened by heavy loads (having committed grave negative karma), lacking a cane for support (no one to help them escape suffering), and without a guide (no virtuous teacher to lead them out of samsara). Stumbling and staggering toward a cliff (the three lower realms), she unknowingly approaches great danger. On the verge of falling from the cliff, even strangers unrelated to her would feel compassion and extend a helping hand. How much more so should her own children, who have a close bond, take action to rescue her?

Practitioners, having attained this precious human life endowed with leisure and opportunity, and having encountered virtuous teachers who teach the Dharma, enabling them to study Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings, are like individuals with clear vision who can see their surroundings. Thus, they are the most suitable candidates to undertake the task of rescuing sentient beings—like their mothers—who are trapped in perilous situations.

Practice and Goal of Repaying Kindness

When practicing “Repaying kindness,” practitioners should not only assist mother-like sentient beings in alleviating temporary suffering (such as providing food, clothing, or medicine when they lack these necessities) but also contemplate how to help sentient beings completely free themselves from suffering and attain ultimate happiness. Unless one attains perfect Buddhahood, it will be impossible to fully resolve the suffering of mother-like sentient beings who desire happiness yet cannot obtain it and wish to avoid suffering yet cannot escape it. Through such reflection, practitioners generate the bodhicitta aspiration: “For the benefit of sentient beings, I vow to attain Buddhahood.”

Six: Developing Loving Kindness

The key to generating affectionate loving-kindness lies in whether practitioners can repeatedly familiarize themselves with the practices of “Recognizing sentient beings as mothers,” “Recalling kindness,” and “Repaying kindness.” If they can generate realizations through repeated practice, they will naturally develop affectionate loving-kindness, viewing all mother-like sentient beings with love. The practice of affectionate loving-kindness can be divided into three stages:

1 Why not enable sentient beings to attain happiness?
2 May all sentient beings possess happiness. (Aspiration)
3 I will take on the responsibility of enabling sentient beings to attain happiness. (Altruistic intention)

Seven: Developing Compassion

After meditating on equanimity, which is like leveling the ground, practitioners must plant the seed of all virtues—great compassion—into the soil and continuously nourish it with the water and nutrients of compassion. This analogy illustrates that great compassion is the seed of all virtues and bodhicitta.

Compassion can be broadly categorized into three types:

1. Ordinary compassion, which arises toward one’s own children.
2. Measurable compassion, which arises through the practice of meditation.
3. Great compassion, which serves as the immediate cause for generating bodhicitta in the Sevenfold Cause and Effect Instruction.

Additionally, based on the object of compassion, it can be divided into three types:

1. Compassion arising from observing the various sufferings of sentient beings, called compassion related to sentient beings.
2. Compassion arising from contemplating the impermanence of sentient beings (phenomena), called compassion related to phenomena.
3. Compassion arising from understanding the truth of dependent origination and emptiness, observing that sentient beings lack inherent existence, called compassion related to ultimate truth.

Meditating on Compassion

The method for meditating on compassion involves visualizing the suffering endured by beings around us and in the three lower realms, thereby generating compassion. For example:

• Visualize people being killed or facing execution due to crimes, filled with terror and helplessness.
• Visualize beings in the hell realm enduring cruel punishments of extreme cold and heat, groaning and wailing in agony.
• Visualize beings in the hungry ghost realm constantly tormented by hunger and thirst. Even when they manage to obtain a small amount of food, it is instantly destroyed by fierce flames erupting from their throats before reaching their mouths.

Through such contemplation, practitioners generate compassion.

The situation of sentient beings in the three lower realms is utterly tragic, and the suffering they endure is immense. However, even those who have not yet fallen into the three lower realms are constantly creating negative karma, accumulating countless causes for future rebirth in these realms. Inevitably, they will descend into the lower realms and endure unimaginable suffering.

Practitioners should repeatedly contemplate and familiarize themselves with this reality, cultivating a state of mind akin to that of a loving mother who cannot bear to see her child suffer. Just as a mother would do everything in her power to save her child from pain, practitioners should generate compassion, aspiring to help all sentient beings escape all forms of suffering and its causes.

Eight: Generating the Altruistic Intention

The arising of great compassion means that practitioners have already generated the intention to free all sentient beings from suffering and its causes. Altruistic intention, on the other hand, arises through continuously reinforcing and familiarizing oneself with this intention, leading to a spontaneous resolve to personally take on the responsibility of freeing sentient beings from suffering and its causes. The difference between the two lies in the fact that great compassion is an intention, while altruistic intention is a firm determination.

Arising and Verification of Altruistic Intention

Altruistic intention arises through the continuous cultivation of great compassion. Whether practitioners can swiftly attain accomplishment through the practice of tantra depends crucially on whether they can generate intense compassion. The extent of their compassion determines the speed at which they achieve realization.

In the past, accomplished masters who earnestly cultivated compassion shared certain signs to help practitioners examine whether they have truly generated great compassion. For example:

• When contemplating the sufferings of the three lower realms, their hair stands on end.
• When thinking about sentient beings currently enduring such immense suffering, they are overcome with sorrow, tears streaming down their faces.
• They feel like helpless children, sitting on the ground, repeatedly calling out for their mother.

These are the criteria by which practitioners can judge whether they have genuinely developed great compassion.

Practice of Altruistic Intention

If practitioners can generate great compassion, through continuous familiarization, they will develop the vow and determination to take on the responsibility of freeing sentient beings from suffering and its causes. When practicing altruistic intention, practitioners must naturally and spontaneously generate the vow and determination to free sentient beings from suffering and its causes. Even if it means enduring suffering in the hells for countless eons on behalf of mother-like sentient beings, they should do so willingly and joyfully. Only then can they genuinely experience the realization of altruistic intention.

Nine: Generating Bodhicitta

After generating altruistic intention, practitioners further reflect that although they possess a strong aspiration to save sentient beings, they currently lack even the ability to save themselves. Through this reflection, they realize that only by attaining perfect enlightenment as a Buddha can they fully possess the ability to save all sentient beings.

Among the four noble beings—Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas—the former two seek only their own liberation, so their ability and merit in benefiting sentient beings are less than one-thousandth of those of a first-stage bodhisattva.

Similarly, the ability and merit of a first-stage bodhisattva are less than one-thousandth of those of a tenth-stage bodhisattva.

Although tenth-stage bodhisattvas possess extremely superior abilities and merit, their capacity to benefit sentient beings still falls short of a Buddha’s by one-thousandth.

Reflecting on this, practitioners generate the bodhicitta aspiration: “For the benefit of sentient beings, I vow to attain Buddhahood.”

Practice and Results of Bodhicitta

Only by generating the motivation to benefit others and aspiring to attain perfect Buddhahood can practitioners truly generate bodhicitta, entering the essence of Mahayana teachings. This enables them to enter the Mahayana path and become bodhisattvas worthy of reverence by gods and humans.

Since practitioners have already generated bodhicitta, they can swiftly attain perfect Buddhahood through the practice of tantra. The arising of bodhicitta is the key determinant of whether Vajrayana practitioners can achieve accomplishment through tantric practices. Therefore, practitioners must earnestly cultivate it.

Cherishing the Precious Human Life and Cultivating Bodhicitta

Although practitioners live in the degenerate age, filled with various forms of suffering, they should deeply rejoice in their good fortune to have attained this precious human life and encountered Mahayana teachings, especially the profound and unified Vajrayana teachings. They must cherish this rare opportunity and continuously accumulate the causes and conditions for generating genuine bodhicitta. They should not waste time or create negative karma, so as to make the most of this life.

The above is a translation from our Chinese webpage, based on original Tibetan teachings.