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Mahayana

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
The Tibetan bodhisattva Je Tsongkhapa is honored on this day. Here is a little from his Great Treatise:

One who sees beings tormented by suffering and
who hastens to act for their welfare is called a "person of
great capacity" and an "adept." Chandragomin teaches:

Those who see beings disturbed by the
smoke cloud of ignorance that enshrouds the world,
Helplessly fallen into the blazing fire of suffering,
And hastily make effort as if their own heads were on fire
Are here called "great persons" and "adepts."

Therefore, the Mahayana is the origin of all the good of self and
others; the medicine that alleviates all troubles; the great path traveled
by all knowledgeable persons; nourishment for all beings who
see, hear, remember, and come into contact with it; and that which
has the great skill-in-means that engages you in others' welfare and
thereby indirectly achieves your own welfare in its entirety. One
who enters it thinks, "Wonderful! I have found what I am looking
for." Enter this supreme vehicle with all of the "strength of an excellent
person" that you have. Aryasura teaches:

This supreme vehicle is realized by genuine wisdom.
From it the omniscience of the Great Sage arises.
He is like the eye of the world,
His radiance like the rays of the rising sun.

Thus, enter the Mahayana after you have developed great respect
for it induced by seeing its good qualities from various perspectives.
 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
If I had to pick one Mahayana text that covers every aspect of doctrine, path & results, I would suggest this one - in Sanskrit titled Mahayanasutralamkara. There are two excellent English translations, with commentaries. It is a large book with the commentaries, but those comments are needed to clarify many verses.

One came out in 2014 done by the Dharmachakra translation group and the other from the Padmakara translators just came out late in 2018.

The root text was taught to Asanga (a bodhisattva of the 5th century) by Maitreya a 10th stage bodhisattva, who will become in the distant future our next Buddha.

Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras is the title of the Dharmachakra version.

The Padmakara version is called A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle.

Both are in epub versions also.
 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
"FOREWORD

JIGME KHYENTSE RINPOCHE

In an age when science claims to have an answer for everything and is even attempting to prove the validity of Buddhist meditation, while many people’s ideas about different religions and spiritual paths reduce these to simplistic and misleading stereotypes, it is hard to comprehend the true breadth and profundity of the Buddha’s teachings. During his lifetime, Buddha Śākyamuni taught on countless occasions, on many different levels, and to different individuals, in order to help each particular person understand something that would bring him or her closer to enlightenment. For us to consider the vast scope of these teachings is as mind-blowing and awe-inspiring as gazing into the immensity of space.

In the Sūtrālaṃkāra, the Buddha’s regent, Maitreya, brings this vast array of teachings together, arranging them in an orderly fashion and putting them into perspective so that we can begin to understand them and use them as a path to enlightenment. Of the three principal aspects of the path—view, meditation, and conduct—this text, like Shantideva’s The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra), deals mainly with the view and conduct of the great bodhisattvas, whose sole aim is the enlightenment of all beings. Once we have an inkling of the extraordinary kindness and wisdom of these bodhisattvas, whom we can meet even today as our teachers, we can begin to infer that the incredible qualities and deeds that Maitreya describes are possible.

I hope that this translation of Maitreya’s presentation, along with Mipham Rinpoche’s clear explanation, will help readers to gain a glimpse of the Buddha’s message in all its vastness, taking them beyond limited conceptions and inspiring them to practice the path it describes."

From the Padmakara translation.
 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
Powerful blessing from reciting the 108 Names of Mahasattva Ksitigarbha.

*Moderator Edit*
Click here then click on the 108 Names of K s h i t i garbha link below.
 
Last edited:

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
Some verses (page 216) from Nagarjuna's Treatise on Ten Bodhisattva Grounds on karmic offenses vs merit (good karma):

When a pint of salt is thrown into an immense pond,
its flavor remains no different,
However, if one instead mixes it into a small container of water,
the harshness of the salt makes the water undrinkable.

This is analogous to there being a person with a great stock of merit
who has but few karmic offenses
and who is not bound to fall into the wretched destinies,
but rather undergoes mild retribution under other conditions

while there is another person with only a scant amount of merit
who has committed but few karmic offenses that,
because his mental resolve is but narrow and small,
is caused by those karmic offenses to fall into the wretched destinies.

If someone’s physical vitality (lit. “fire”) is weak in its strength,
when he eats but a little of something difficult to digest,
although this person doesn’t die,
his body undergoes much suffering.

If someone’s physical vitality is strong,
when he eats but a little of something difficult to digest,
such a person never dies from it
and undergoes only a minor amount of suffering.

If the vitality of one’s goodness, merit, and wisdom is weak,
and he has committed but few bad karmic offenses,
there is nothing to save him from these karmic offenses,
and hence they are able to cause his descent into the hells.

In the case of someone possessed of great merit,
even though he may have done bad things involving karmic offenses,
they may not compel him to fall into the hells,
for he may instead undergo only mild present-life retribution.

Take for example the case of Aṅgulimāla.
Although he murdered many people
and also wished to harm his mother and the Buddha,
he still attained the path of arhatship.
 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
As for the places to which someone else’s mind proceeds,
one may be mistaken about them, for they are hard to know.
Therefore one must not make false assessments
with regard to any being.

It is only someone possessed of all-knowledge
who can fully know their minds’ states
and the subtle and secret places to which they may proceed.
Hence, with regard to judging other beings,

the Buddha said, “It is only those who are my equals
who can pass judgment on other beings.”
If the Buddha himself spoke in this manner,
who then could have the ability to pass judgment on others?

If one merely observes someone’s outward deportment
and thereby presumes to assess his inner virtue,
one will ruin one’s own one’s roots of goodness
just as a flooding river may collapse its own banks.

If one is mistaken about such things,
one creates immense karmic obstacles.
Therefore, with regard to these people,
one should not bring forth an attitude of slighting disdain.

Nagarjuna Bodhisattva
 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
Powerful mantra that is beneficial for all states or conditions of humanity. Chanted at a rapid pace, in Sanskrit - about 16 minutes:


 

Nicholas

Bodhicitta
Among the many Mahayana sutras of Buddha the Avatamsaka Sutra is generally thought to contain all the essential elements for aspiring to and cultivating the Bodhisattva path that benefits all beings.

Here is survey of the chapters & teachings from the new 2022 Bhikshu Dharmamitra translation. Many other Mahayana texts are also in the link:

Dharma Jewels Directory Page
 
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