74. Bodhicitta in Aspiration I — Considering Others as Equal to Oneself

The Beginning

Take refuge and arouse bodhicitta.

The Main Part

For the sake of all sentient beings, you will meditate on the equality of self and others: Just like me, all sentient beings want to be happy and do not want to suffer. Although they solely wish for happiness, they don’t know that they should abandon negative actions and adopt positive ones, thus they suffer perpetually. How miserable and pitiable are they!

Therefore, resolve: May all beings who are in want of happiness attain happiness (Love). May all beings who are afflicted by sufferings be free from suffering (Compassion). May all beings who enjoy happiness never be separated from their happiness (Joy). My all beings who are biased in their likes and dislikes be free from the attitude of attachment to some and aversion to others, and develop impartiality (Equanimity). May all sentient beings enter the path of liberation and always practice virtue. May all sentient beings and I swiftly attain perfect enlightenment!

Meditate thus intensely. At the end, relax the mind in emptiness where nothing has an inherent nature.

Reminder

The practice of bodhicitta has caught the attention of many psychology research institutes overseas. Researchers first tested the mental profile of participants, including their tendency to be irascible, rude, or egocentric. Next these participants were instructed to meditate on bodhicitta of love and compassion, and tested again after having practiced this kind of meditation for a week, half a month, or one month’s meditation. The results revealed remarkable changes in their personalities in that they became more gentle and agreeable. Such is the power of bodhicitta.

Therefore, you should meditate on bodhicitta constantly. Even devoting twenty or thirty minutes daily to it will bring a significant shift in your character, not to mention practicing for a long period. Many signs of achievement are sure to arise naturally after persistent meditation. On the other hand, without such prior training in bodhicitta, any direct entry into advanced tantric practice is highly risky, unless you are of the highest capacity.

Previously, when I started teaching The Way of the Bodhisattvas, I asked all those in class to meditate on bodhicitta for thirty minutes daily. I heard some have kept up with the meditation assiduously for five or six years, while others had barely started for two or three days before abandoning it altogether. Sadly, for most ordinary people, it is always easier to adopt nonvirtue than virtue, which, if left unchecked, is bound to breed plenty of future misery!

The Ending

Dedicate the merit knowing the emptiness of the three conceptual spheres of subject, object and action.