Developing Bodhichitta

The line of the oral tradition teachings of the seven-part cause and effect meditation was begun by Asanga and is found in his Bodhisattva Stages of Mind (Byang-chub sems-dpa’i sa, Skt. Bodhisattvabhūmi). It is also found in Asanga’s Levels of Mind for Integrated Behavior (rNal-’byor spyod-pa’i sa, Skt. Yogacarya-bhumi), as well as in his Anthology of Special Topics of Knowledge (Chos mngon-pa kun-las btus-pa, Skt. Abhidharmasamuccaya) and An All-Inclusive Text on the Mahayana (Theg-pa chen-po bsdus-pa, Skt. Mahayana-samgraha).

The explanation of the seven-part cause and effect quintessence teaching (rgyu-’bras man-ngag bdun) is divided into seven sections:

1. Recognizing every limited being as having been our mother
2. Remembering pure motherly love and kindness
3. Wishing to repay motherly kindness
4. Having heartwarming love
5. Great compassion
6. Exceptional resolve
7. Bodhichitta.

In the seven-part cause and effect meditation, the first six parts – from recognizing every limited being as having been our mother to developing the exceptional resolve (lhag-bsam, Skt. adhyāśaya, pure wish) – are the causes, and bodhichitta is the result. The way in which these seven operate in a cause-and-effect relationship is as follows.

Before we can develop bodhichitta, wishing to attain Buddhahood to be able to liberate all limited beings, we must first have the exceptional resolve to take upon ourselves this responsibility for liberating all others. To do this, we must first have the great compassion (snying-rje chen-po, Skt. mahākaruṇā) that arises from being unable to endure the fact that all limited beings are suffering. However, to achieve this, we must first develop heartwarming love (yid-’ong byams-pa, Skt. manojña-maitrī) with which we love all limited beings as a mother does her only child. To do this, we must first gratefully wish to repay the pure motherly love (drin-gso) we ourselves received. However, before we can so wish, we must first remember the kindness of motherly love (drin-dran) we ourselves have received. And to do that, we must first realize that all limited beings have been our mother in previous lives (mar-shes, mother-awareness).

The state of mind we must develop prior to meditating on the universal recognition of everyone as having been our mother is illustrated as follows. When drawing a mandala in powder on a horizontal base, if the surface is neither smooth nor level, the design will not be satisfactory. Similarly, if our minds are biased toward certain limited beings, then although we may meditate on love, compassion and so forth, the results will be lop-sided. Therefore, we must first develop an immeasurable unbiased mind of equanimity (btang-snyoms, Skt. upekṣā).

There are two ways to develop this prerequisite state of mind. The first is to think about friends, enemies and those who are neither, one by one. The other is to consider all three of them at once, and since this is the method more commonly practiced, it will be explained here.

In meditation we should visualize before us three people: someone who annoys us greatly, someone we are very fond of and someone about whom we have no feelings one way or the other. With these three people in mind, we should observe our reactions to them. Seeing our enemy, we become repulsed and angry. Seeing our friend, we become attracted and attached. Seeing someone who is neither, we become indifferent; our minds taking no particular notice or consideration of him. We should let these feelings arise.

At this point, we should examine our motives for these deluded reactions, which are the three poisonous emotions that keep us bound to the wheel of uncontrollably recurring rebirth. Asking ourselves why we do not like our enemy and are angry with him, we will probably discover that in the past he had harmed us in some way. That is why we are angry with them now. Then we should meditate on how there is no certainty of status as friend or enemy in uncontrollably recurring rebirth. Thus, we should temper our anger by considering how this enemy may have been our friend or relative in many previous lives.

Similarly, when we examine our motives, asking ourselves why we like our friend and why we become elated thinking about them, it may turn out to be because of a few simple reasons. They may at some time have been kind to us and given us food or clothing or something like that. At this point, also we should temper our attachment by considering how we cannot even count the number of time they may have been our enemy in the past. Furthermore, we should consider if there is any significant difference between one person who hits us on Monday and gives us a present on Tuesday, and another who gives us a present on Monday and hits us on Tuesday.

As for those people who are neither our friend nor our enemy and of whom we take no notice, we should consider that at different times in the past they, too, have sometimes been our friend and sometimes our enemy. In this way we will realize that friends, enemies and strangers have all three changed places with each other at different times. We can see from our experiences even in this life how little it takes for a friend to become our enemy, a stranger to become our friend and so forth.

By repeatedly thinking, “Who is it I am angry with?” “Who is it I am attached to?” and “Who is it I am indifferent to?” we will develop an unbiased attitude of equanimity toward all three. Thus, we should apply the appropriate meditation in this way toward all limited beings – friends, enemies and strangers – in order to become unbiased toward everyone.

[1] Recognizing Every Limited Being as Having Been Our Mother

The first step in developing bodhichitta is to recognize everyone as having been our mother in some previous life. This means we must realize that every limited being, even the fly buzzing around our head, actually has at some time been our mother, the closest and best friend we can ever have. If we do not develop this conviction, we will be depriving ourselves of our share of bodhichitta.

To do this, however, is very difficult. Some people will believe with uncritical faith whatever they are told on the authority of a lama (dbang-rtul dad-pa’i rjes-’brang, faith followers with dull faculties). However, for those who must be convinced of something by sound reasons before they will believe it (dbang-rnon chos-kyi rjes-’brang, Dharma followers with sharp faculties), the following logical explanations are given to demonstrate that every limited being has indeed been our mother. Unlike voidness, which can be proven by many lines of reasoning, this is difficult, since basically there is only one line of reasoning.

Dharmakirti has said in his Commentary on (Dignaga’s “Compendium of) Validly Cognizing Minds,” (Tshad-ma rnam-’grel, Skt. Pramāṇavārttika), II.35:

Whenever you are reborn, the fact that you receive a body with the breath of life, cognitive sensors, mental dispositions and capacities is not an independent self-existent phenomenon. (These all have their own causes in the form of karmic seeds sown during previous lives.)

Belief in beginningless past and future rebirths (yang-srid, Skt. punarbhava) is the fundamental basis not only for bodhichitta, but even for the motivation of a person of initial level. Therefore, it is very important to become convinced of it. Although this may be difficult, we should not gloss over or disregard this critical part of the teachings. If our belief and conviction in rebirth is not firm, neither will be the beliefs that follow logically from it. If a hunter is willing to undergo difficulties merely to be able to kill for sport, then surely it is worthwhile to undergo hardship in becoming convinced of beginningless rebirth in order to benefit our future lives, attain liberation and reach the full enlightenment of Buddhahood.

To reject rebirth offhand is a sign of close-mindedness. The fact that we do not understand something unfamiliar should not cause us to dismiss it disrespectfully. If, for instance, we believe that our mental continuum has an absolute beginning at the moment of our conception and a similar end at the moment of our death, we should examine our reasons for holding such a belief. If we cannot understand rationally why we are convinced of the beliefs we have, it is unwise to reject alternate explanations of such vital issues as our own life and death.

When we begin to examine this issue, it is important first to recognize what is not being asserted by the Buddhist theory of rebirth. This theory does not state that we have a concrete, unchanging soul, consciousness, soul or spirit that takes a new body each time we die. What it does state is that there is a rational explanation for why individual limited beings, even from the moment of their conception, have not only different physical characteristics from each other, but distinct mental ones as well. Moreover, it states that these latter must have natural causes that are mental, not physical. Mental qualities, such as instinctive personality traits, talents, intelligence and temperaments, being fundamentally different by nature from physical qualities, such as size, shape and color, cannot derive from them, forming a single line of material continuity (rdzas-rgyun). Although there are physical circumstances for the appearance of mental characteristics, phenomena having physical qualities cannot change into ones having qualities of consciousness.

The thoughts and feelings of a sixty-year-old man are obviously not the same as those when he was forty, but a definite line of continuity between them can easily be recognized. This line can be traced back to his childhood and infancy, and even further to potentials (nus-pa, Skt. samartha) latent in the fetus and present at the very moment of his conception. The theory of rebirth states that this line of material continuity does not spring form a physical antecedent, does not come from parents and has no absolute beginning or moment of creation from nothing. On the contrary, mental continuums of limited beings are beginningless continuities of mental continuums in previous lives. They are connected from life to life and body to body by throwing karma (’phen-byed-kyi las) through the mechanism of dependent arising.

In the same way, our consciousness in this life is not identical to that in a previous one. Yet a stream of continuity between them can be recognized. Just as a man of sixty’s inability to remember the thoughts and experiences of his infancy does not prove he was never a baby, so too our inability to remember our previous lives does not disprove rebirth.

The theory of rebirth explains that at the moment of conception what is called resulting subtle mind together with subtle life-sustaining energy combines with one of the spermatozoa and the egg. It is well known that the fertilized egg contains latent potentials in the physical form of genes corresponding to patterns of its future physical development. Likewise, the resulting subtle mind has latent potentials imprinted on it in the form of karmic seeds corresponding to patterns of future development of its aggregate mental faculties.

If this theory of rebirth does not convince us that our present mental characteristics can be traced to those in our previous lives, then we might believe, for instance, that our breath of life and consciousness derive from physical matter, such as genes. This would mean that our mental continuum started at some point in time before which it did not exist as a way of being aware of something. Moreover, we would believe that at some point it will end and nothing conscious will remain.

We should examine such a belief with the four axioms (rigs-pa bzhi) used for validating any system of thought. First, applying the axiom of establishment by reason (tshad-ma’i rigs-pa), is such a theory internally consistent and logical? Does it make sense that something having qualities of consciousness can be produced from something having physical qualities or from nothing at all? Can an effect be of a totally different nature or entity from its cause, or can it spring from no cause? 

Second, reasoning with the axiom of dependency (ltos-pa’i rigs-pa), does such a theory make sense in terms of our own personal experience? Most people have had feelings of déjà vu. In a new situation, a new place or having a new conversation, we have a strange feeling that we have done this all before, although we know we have not. Meeting a total stranger, we share an instantaneous feeling of familiarity as if we had been friends for a long time. We might even know specific details about a place we have never visited or have specific knowledge about subjects we have never studied. If our consciousness came into existence at the moment of our conception or came from our parents, can we satisfactorily account for such experiences? Are our tastes and dislikes completely arbitrary; is their explanation wholly physical? How do we account for the recurring dreams we have had since we were a small child?

Third, reasoning from the axiom of the nature of things (chos-nyid-kyi rigs-pa), does such a theory satisfactorily explain everything and anything we can think of? If consciousness is produced out of physical causes, how can identical twins, sharing the same genetic make-up, have different personalities, dispositions and preferences? Why do some people survive devastating catastrophes when everyone around them is killed? What does it imply about the cause of consciousness to say that someone is accident-prone? How do we account for tulkus who can direct their rebirths and who, when young, can identify objects and people from their previous life?

[See: His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, My Land and My People (Ngos-kyi yul-dang ngos-kyi mi-mang)]

Finally, reasoning according to the axiom of functionality (bya-ba byed-pa’i rigs-pa), what are the consequences of holding such a belief? If we believe that consciousness ends at death, or if we do not know what happens when we die, can we approach our death with anything other than dread and anxiety? If our consciousness is determined merely by arbitrary physical conditions, or if it is without any cause, is there any way for us to overcome suffering? Can our life have any meaning? Does the possibility of preserving by freezing our bodies or creating life in a test tube offer any real hope for ultimate happiness? Those who believe in beginningless rebirth, realizing that past mind causes future mind, are able to overcome their physical limitations, eliminate their suffering and face death happily with peace of mind. Can the value of such desirable attainments be denied?

[See: The Four Axioms for Examining a Buddhist Teaching]

We should subject whatever beliefs we hold about life and death, as well as the Buddhist theory of rebirth, to similar analysis in analytical meditation. Rebirth is not something we become convinced of all at once. First we must hear a correct explanation in terms of dependent arising. Then we must gain an intellectual understanding of this by thinking about it. Finally, we must meditate on our understanding in order to become convinced of beginningless rebirth. One logical argument to consider, then, is that the consciousness of the last moment in the life of an ordinary being generates a next moment of consciousness in the stream of its continuity because it is a consciousness with craving and an obtainer attitude 

[See also: His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, The Opening of the Wisdom-Eye (Legs-bshad blo-gsar mig-’byed)]

Once we accept the possibility of rebirth, we should proceed to the first point of the seven-part cause and effect meditation for developing bodhichitta. First we should think about our own mother. Because we have undergone beginningless rebirth, it is certain that we have had such a mother in each and every previous lifetime in which we were born from either a womb or an egg. Thus, during one lifetime we have had one mother, during a hundred a hundred mothers, during a thousand a thousand mothers and so on. We cannot count the number of mothers we have had, and thus there is no way in which every limited being has not at some time been our mother. Thinking like this, we must meditate until we become convinced that this line of reasoning is valid (tshad-ma, Skt. pramāṇa), makes sense and is truly so.

Nagarjuna has said in A Letter to a Friend (bShes-spring, Skt. Suhṛllekha), 68:

For each (being), the pile of their own bones would have been an amount equal to Mount Meru or would have surpassed (it). And, with pellets merely the size of the stone of a juniper berry, there’s not enough earth, in fact, for counting (how many times each being has been each member of each one’s) maternal lines.

In general, a wholehearted commitment to a spiritual mentor and becoming convinced that our guru is a Buddha is considered very difficult, but for Westerners perhaps less so than the fact of beginningless rebirth. For a person of initial-level motivation, becoming convinced that death may come at any time is the most difficult insight, while for a person of intermediate level no particular insight is notably more difficult than any of the others. For a person of advanced-level motivation, however, to be convinced that all limited beings have been our mother and then to see and treat each one of them without bias as our mother are the most difficult. A sign that we have had this insight and realization is when we spontaneously call every living creature our mother. Once, when Atisha was in Tibet, he saw a pony strangling. He called to his attendant, “Come quickly! My mother is strangling!”

[2] Remembering Pure Motherly Love and Kindness

First we should visualize clearly before us our own mother in her old age. While doing so, we should remember that this is not the first time that she has been our mother. We should realize how kind she is – even though she has already been our mother in numberless lives in the past, now she is our mother yet again.

Then we should remember that each time she has had to carry us in her womb for over nine months. Worrying that she might cause harm to the child inside her, even though she suffers from hunger and thirst, she does not dare to eat or drink things as hot, cold or spicy as she normally would. Whenever she sits or walks or does anything, forgoing her own comfort, she thinks only of ways to benefit us. She gives us the opportunity to be born with the eight respites and the ten enrichments that enable us to study the Dharma. That is what we should remember about her kindness even before we were born.

If even animals worry about harm coming to the offspring in their wombs – if someone throws a rock at the mother, she will try to stop it from hitting her belly – there can be no question that humans endowed with intelligence will cherish and take care of their children. Once in Tibet, a bandit was robbing a caravan and happened to wound a pregnant mare. He cut her side so deeply that her foal fell out to the ground. Seeing the dying mare instinctively licking her foal with her last strength, the bandit, being reminded of the kindness of all mothers, repented and gave up his cruel ways.

When we are a newborn infant and, in our unformed, worm-like simplicity, know nothing, our mother holds us carefully in her hands, as happy as if she had found a treasure. She hugs us to her breast to keep us warm. She places us on a smooth clean bed, speaks gentle words, smiles lovingly and fondles us. She teaches us everything – how to talk, eat, walk and so forth. The fact that we now know how to do all these things without any stumbling is all due to her kindness.

Finally, we should consider how painstakingly she saves every penny and is even willing to steal to increase her store, in order to help us, her precious child, not daring to spend it on herself.

In short, to the limit of whatever she knows and is capable of doing, she does to benefit us and make us happy, even if this has not yet met up to our expectations or selfish demands. Thus, her kindness is immeasurable and limitless to keep us, her children, free from harm and suffering. Moreover, she is like this not once or twice but all the time. We cannot count the number of sacrifices she has had to make while bringing us up with kindness. In similar fashion, we should meditate on how all limited beings have brought us up in the same way.

[3] Wishing to Repay Motherly Kindness

We should visualize our own mother as being blind with no one to lead her, mentally deranged and about to fall off a cliff. In the same way, we should see that all limited beings are blind as to what should be practiced or avoided, and are without a benevolent wise guru to lead them in their blindness. Under the disturbing influence of the three poisonous emotions or attitudes, their minds are made impure. Having no control over their thoughts and actions, they are like madmen about to jump off a high cliff into a lower unfortunate rebirth state where they will have to remain for many eons, unable to tell their own bodies apart from the flames.

Keeping these limited beings in mind, we should realize how much better off than they we are, now that we have had the good fortune to meet a Mahayana guru and the Mahayana teachings, so that we know a little about what is to be practiced or avoided. Thinking that now we are responsible for rescuing from the ocean of samsara these limited beings, who have all been our mother in previous lives, we should meditate on repaying their kindness by reciprocating it. If we do not think like this, but rather let them flounder in this cruel ocean while working only to save ourselves from suffering, then there can be no one more unfeeling and brutal than us.

Chandragomin has written in his Letter to a Disciple (Slob-springs, Skt. Śiṣya-lekha):

Your friends and relatives have fallen into the ocean of samsara and are (trapped) spinning round and round in a whirlpool (of suffering). If you see them there, yet neglect them – because you do not recognize them, for they have repeatedly changed their bodies in birth and death – and you work to liberate only yourself (from this suffering), then there can be no one more inconsiderate than you.

Giving someone food or clothing, for instance, can only bring them temporary, not ultimate relief. If we can bring someone full happiness and dispel all their suffering, this is the best way to repay their kindness.

Bhavaviveka has said in the Heart of the Middle Way (dBu-ma snying-po, Skt. Madhyamaka-hṛdaya):

To anyone who has ever given you love, help or material aid, what more could you give in return than showing them the way to liberation (and Buddhahood)?

[4] Having Heartwarming Love

If we cherish everyone as whole-heartedly as a mother cherishes her child, and if the sight of any limited being warms our hearts in the same way as the sight of her child warms a mother’s heart, then we have developed what is called heartwarming love. In general, then, the definition of love is the wish for all mothers to be happy. If our meditations on recognizing all limited beings as our mother, remembering the kindness of pure motherly love and repaying it have reached the point at which we experience these teachings as obvious truths, then the development of this heartwarming love follows naturally. There is no need to meditate separately on it. The advantages of meditating on love are immeasurable.

Nagarjuna has said in A Precious Garland (Rin-chen ’phreng-ba, Skt. Ratnāvalī), 285:

(If you have love), your peace of mind and happiness will be great, you will not be harmed by weapons or poisons, all your wishes will be fulfilled effortlessly, and you can be reborn in the highest Brahma realm.

[5] Great Compassion

This attitude is defined as the wish for all beings to be parted from their sufferings. It is one of the specific instrumental causes (thun-mong ma-yin-pa’i nye-rgyu) necessary for becoming a Buddha. Its function is similar to that of the stick a potter uses to produce a pot. When Tsongkhapa was compiling the stages for the development of bodhichitta in his Grand Presentation of the Graded Stages of the Path (Lam-rim chen-mo), he taught great compassion to be the root of the Mahayana path. In doing so, he was emphasizing how the other six parts of the seven-fold cause and effect meditation are dependent upon it. This was not only emphasized by Tsongkhapa, but many sutras likewise make this point. Just as a chakravartin emperor is such because he possesses the wheel empowering him to rule, and just as a man is a man because he possesses the life force, similarly all the Mahayana path, including their fruit of Buddhahood, are Mahayana solely because they possess this compassion.

Chandrakirti has said in Engaging in the Middle Way (dBu-ma-la ’jug-pa, Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra):

The reason why (I have not started this work with the usual homage to Buddha and the gurus) is that only compassion is essential throughout the growth of Buddhahood. It is accepted that (compassion starts you out on the path by being) the seed for Buddhahood. (While on the path, it helps your progress) as water helps a seed to grow. (Once you have attained Buddhahood, it shows you) the long-term use for this (precious) fruit (of the path). Therefore, first I offer praise to compassion.

If we meditate by visualizing a sheep about to be slaughtered by a butcher, we will easily develop great compassion. We should picture how this sheep before it is slaughtered is thrown on its back and its legs are tied so that however much it struggles, it cannot break free. We should continue by visualizing how this sheep, without refuge or protection, looks anxiously and pleadingly at the butcher with tearful eyes and how it dies in this horrible fashion, experiencing the unendurable suffering of fear and torment. Thinking about the suffering of this sheep and about how it had once been our mother is thus the meditation on compassion.

After practicing it, the next step is to think about how all other limited beings might similarly be experiencing this type of torment. Thus, compassion is defined as the type of empathy that wishes all limited beings to be freed from their sufferings. The sign of its development is that, even when eating or drinking, we wish all limited beings were freed from their sufferings as a mother always wishes her ill child were cured.

When we see someone who has a serious sickness that we ourselves have experienced in the past, it is easy to commiserate with him. Likewise, it will be much easier for us to develop great compassion if we have already achieved a degree of empathy through our previous meditations on the sufferings of the three worse rebirth states and of the wheel of uncontrollably recurring rebirth in general.

[6] Exceptional Resolve

This is the state of mind in which we wish to guide everyone to Buddhahood. We take on ourselves the responsibility to remove all limited beings from their suffering and to ensure their happiness in the same way that a child does to take care of his mother. For example, if we see a man about to fall off a cliff and, unable to endure this, we think how wonderful it would be if someone were to save him, this is equivalent to love and compassion. Shravakas and pratyekabuddhas feel these as well. However, on the other hand, if we decide to save him ourselves and not leave his rescue to someone else, this is similar to the exceptional resolve, a strictly Mahayana virtue.

[7] Bodhichitta

Having taken the responsibility to liberate everyone, when we examine ourselves to see if we have the ability to do so, we realize that at this stage we cannot help even one limited being toward Buddhahood. Therefore, we must search for someone who does have this ability and then work to attain his highly developed state.

If in this world we consider Brahma, Indra or any divine being to be the most highly developed being, and we try to become like one of them, this will be of no use. They are unable to help limited beings even a little toward Buddhahood. Even the arhats of the shravaka and pratyekabuddha class, because they are not free of all fetters, can only help others attain their own state of development. And although the work of the bodhisattva for all limited beings is vast, if we compare it with the work of the Buddhas, it is like the expanse of a man’s palm in comparison with space, for Buddhas are peerless. A Buddha is the only one who can fulfill effortlessly the wishes of all limited beings to attain Buddhahood in accordance with their mental aptitudes, the way they think and their idiosyncrasies. Therefore, first we ourselves must achieve the complete attainments of a Buddha (’tshang-rgya). Only then will we be able to lead everyone else to a similar state.

To have Buddhahood as the object of our primary consciousness, coupled with the intentions to work with keen interest to attain it and thereby to benefit all beings, is called bodhichitta. If at the mere sight of another limited being we experience automatically, without any conscious effort, the response of wishing to attain the full enlightenment of Buddhahood in order to be able to work for his sake, then bodhichitta is truly on our mental continuum. When this happens, we enter the building-up pathway mind, the first of the five Mahayana paths, and start building up the first zillion eon (grangs-med bskal-pa, Skt. asaṃkhyeya-kalpā, countless eon) of positive karmic force. At this point we are considered a bodhisattva, and we must now proceed through all five Mahayana paths in order to gain a complete understanding of voidness and reach the full attainment of Buddhahood. If we practice the tantric path on the foundation of this bodhichitta motivation, we can be certain to reach this goal even more quickly.

There are several ways in which bodhichitta can be classified. If we consider the development of bodhichitta in general up through Buddhahood, it has two aspects: aspiring and engaged. That which is not coupled with the actions to be practiced is called the development of aspiring bodhichitta (smon-pa sems-bskyed, Skt. praṇidhāna-bodhicitta-upādāna), the wish to attain Buddhahood in order to liberate all limited beings. That which is coupled with the actions to benefit others is called the development of engaged bodhichitta (’jug-pa sems-bskyed, Skt. avatāra-bodhicitta-upādāna). Thus, a Buddha has only the latter type, since his mind has become a state of enlightenment – no need to wish for it anymore – and is attended with the single intention to benefit all beings.

After the first placing of a bodhichitta motivation on our mental continuum, there are five pathway minds of progressive understanding and realization of voidness on the Mahayana Buddhist path leading to our attainment of Buddhahood. If these paths are divided according to the borders that must be crossed in transition between them, then there are four levels of bodhichitta in accordance with these borders.

[See: A Filigree for the Mahayana Sutras (mDo-sde rgyan, Skt. Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) by Maitreya and the various commentaries to the Prajnaparamita literature]

There are three styles for the way bodhichitta develops. On the analogy of a king, the first is for us to achieve Buddhahood and then show the way for others. The second, on the analogy of a herdsman, is for us to show the way while letting all others go first. The third, on the analogy of an oarsman, is for us to show the way by reaching Buddhahood together with others.

[See: A Golden Rosary of Excellent Explanation (Legs-bshad gser-phreng) by Tsongkhapa, a commentary to the Prajnaparamita literature in general and specifically to the Filigree of Realizations (mNgon-rtogs rgyan, Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra) by Maitreya]

From the point of view of similes, assisting conditions and how they match, there are twenty-two kinds of bodhichitta, like the earth, gold, the moon, fire and so on.

[See: Tsongkhapa, A Golden Rosary of Excellent Explanation. See also: Gyaltsab Je (rGyal-tshab rJe Dar-ma rin-chen), Filigree for the Essence: An Explanation (of Maitreya’s Filigree of Realizations and Its Commentaries) (rNam-bshad snying-po rgyan), I.17–19]

While the seven-part cause and effect quintessence teaching is traced to Asanga and his Bodhisattva Stages of Mind, those of equalizing and exchanging self and others (bdag-gzhan mnyam-brje, Skt. ātma-para-parivartana) were originally outlined in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (sPyod-’jug, Skt. Bodhicaryāvatāra) by Shantideva. To receive the lineage of the latter was the main purpose for Atisha’s twelve-year sojourn in Sumatra, where he obtained it from his famous guru, Serlingpa (gSer-gling-pa Chos-kyi blo-gros, Skt. Suvarṇadvīpa Dharmapāla). The lineage of these quintessence teachings was passed from Atisha to Dromtonpa (’Brom-ston rGyal-ba’i ’byung-gnas) to Geshe Potowa (dGe-bshes Po-to-ba Rin-chen-gsal) to both Geshe Sharawa (dGe-bshes Sha-ra-ba) and Geshe Langri Tangpa (dGe-bshes Glang-ri thang-pa rDo-rje seng-ge), and from them to Geshe Chekawa (dGe-bshes ’Chad-kha-ba).

Geshe Chekawa was so impressed with these practical instructions that he decided to give them to everyone, including lepers. Previously, these quintessence teachings had been kept secret and given only to those who were sincere and advanced in their practice. Geshe Chekawa, however, felt that even if we did not practice these meditations for exchanging our attitude from being only selfishly concerned with ourselves to being selflessly concerned with others, that merely hearing or reading about them would leave a good impression or karmic instinct on our minds. Therefore, he wrote a clear explanation of them in his Seven Point Mind Training (Blo-sbyong don-bdun-ma), considered the best text of the lojong (blo-sbyong, mind training, attitude training) literary corpus for the training of the mind. 

[See: Seven Point Mind Training]

Training our minds through meditation on equalizing and exchanging self and others consists of five sections:

1. Equalizing ourselves and others
2. Thinking of the many faults of selfishly cherishing only ourselves
3. Thinking of the many advantages of selflessly cherishing others
4. The actual thinking that exchanges thoughts of self for thoughts of others
5. The way to meditate, based on this, on giving away our own happiness and taking upon ourselves the suffering of others.

[1] Equalizing Ourselves and Others

The Fourth Panchen Lama (Pan-chen Blo-bzang chos-kyi rgyal-mtshan) has illustrated equalizing ourselves and others (bdag-gzhan mnyam-pa, Skt. para-ātma-samatā) in the Lama Chopa (Bla-ma mchod-pa, The Guru Puja), 90:

Inspire us to increase others’ comfort and joy, by thinking that others and we are no different: no one wishes even the slightest suffering, nor is ever content with the happiness he or she has.

[See: The Guru Puja]

We make ourselves miserable by cherishing and being possessive about this thing we call our “self.” We do not realize, however, that all other beings are in the same predicament. This is due to the mistake of not viewing them in the same way as we view ourselves. As it is improper to dissociate ourselves from all others in this way, we should meditate on how both we and they are fundamentally equal in that everyone wishes to be happy and does not wish to suffer, regardless of how they conceive of the two. Even if we wish to be miserable or to have life be an “interesting” balance between pleasure and pain, this is our concept of happiness. Everyone has such a concept that he consciously or unconsciously strives to fulfill and is upset when foiled. 

All the points from the seven-part cause and effect meditation are also emphasized in this one on equalizing and exchanging self and others, except for heartwarming love and compassion, which are more heavily stressed. Thus, slight differences occur between the two approaches such as, for instance, concerning kindness. In the former meditation, we remember the kindness of all limited beings only in the context of their having been our mother. In this one, however, we become mindful of it even when they have not been our mother. Thus, we should meditate on how our reputation, clothes, food, home, fame, education and so forth are all dependent on and due to the kindness of others.

For instance, when eating a bowl of rice, we should remember that we would not have this meal if it were not for the kindness and efforts of the farmer who grew it, the workers who harvested it, those who transported it, the merchants who sold it, the cook who prepared it and so forth. No matter what their actual motives, they still did all the hard work, not we. If they had not been so kind, we would not have any rice to eat.

[2] Thinking about the Many Faults of Selfishly Cherishing Only Ourselves

Shantideva has said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior, VIII.129bc:

All whosoever who are miserable in the world are (so) through the wish for the happiness of themselves.

Everything unpleasant and unwished for that we experience happens to us because we selfishly cherish only ourselves. Thus, being harmed by weapons, poison and such non-humans as divine beings and nagas, and being born in one of the joyless realms or as a hungry ghost or an animal, all befall us because of such mistakes as taking the lives of others, being miserly and so forth. We act in such a mistaken destructive manner in the selfish hope that by so doing we may benefit ourselves and be happier.

Even the hope for a more fortunate rebirth – which on the initial level we develop as our motivation for taking refuge and for turning away from destructive actions – is basically a selfish aim. Such a self-cherishing attitude eventually results in our falling back to one of the three worse rebirth states. That is why even this goal must be renounced when we reach the stage of a person of intermediate level motivation. In short, from large-scale international wars down to labor strikes, family quarrels and even minor skirmishes between two people, all are due to this base state of mind with which people selfishly cherish only themselves. 

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has explained:

Although everyone is equal in wishing for happiness and never for suffering and has a right to enjoy that, yet if we compare ourselves and others, we are only one person, whereas they are countless. Therefore, it is only fair that the majority takes precedence, and we strive for what will bring the most benefit and joy to the largest number of beings. To work in opposition to this democratic aid and social principles will only increase our own and others’ suffering.

[3] Thinking of the Many Advantages of Selflessly Cherishing Others

Shantideva has said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior, VIII.129ab:

All whosoever who are happy in the world are (so) through the wish for the happiness of others.

The Fourth Panchen Lama has said in the Lama Chopa, 92ab:

Inspire us to see that the mind that cherishes our mothers and would secure them in bliss is the gateway leading to infinite virtues.

All positive attainments come from selflessly cherishing others. For instance, being born in one of the three fortunate rebirth states and having a long life are the fruits of refusing to take the lives of others. Having great wealth is the fruit of being generous and refusing to take what is not given. In short, all attainments, starting prior to our entrance onto the path and continuing up until our achievement of Buddhahood, are the result of this selfless loving concern.

Shantideva has said in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior, VIII.130:

But what need is there to elaborate more? Just look at the difference between the two: an infantile person acting for his own self-aims and Sage (Buddha) acting for the aims of others.

The Fourth Panchen Lama has said in the Lama Chopa, 93:

In brief, inspire us to develop the minds that understand the distinctions between the faults of infantile beings slaving for their selfish ends alone and the virtues of the Kings of Sages working solely for the sake of others, and thus, to be able to equalize and exchange our attitudes concerning others and ourselves.

We are no different from all the Buddhas in that everyone has started by wandering in samsara. However, because the exalted Buddhas selflessly cherish others, they have overcome all obstacles and perfected all good qualities. Thus, they are able to fulfill the wishes of both themselves and others.

We should compare their accomplishments with our own. Over the course of beginningless rebirths, we have cherished only ourselves. Although we strive continuously with the thought, “I must find happiness,” not only have we been unable to fulfill even one of our wishes, but we have failed even to find a method to prevent our falling to one of the three worse rebirth states. Thus, we still remain in our state of misery, experiencing only more suffering.

Now we must turn away from this. Abandoning all work for ourselves alone, we must now selflessly cherish all others. We must think about training ourselves to emulate the good examples found in the lives of the compassionate Buddhas.

[4] The Actual Thinking That Exchanges Thoughts of Self for Thoughts of Others

The Fourth Panchen Lama has said in the Lama Chopa, 91:

Inspire us to see that this chronic disease of self-cherishing is the cause giving rise to our unsought suffering, and thus, begrudging it as what is to blame, to destroy the monstrous demon of selfishness.

Exchanging self for others means to reverse our attitudes about them, having examined the advantages of selflessness and the disadvantages of selfishness as explained above. In other words, as we have previously been ignoring others, we must now ignore ourselves; we must now cherish all others.

To develop this way of thinking into a habit, we should meditate as follows. When we are on a near mountain and see a distant one, we identify the near as our own position and regard the distant as the other. We should consider the relativity involved in such arbitrary identifications. If we were looking from the distant mountain, the situation would be reversed. The distant would be our own and the near the other. What we consider to be our own and theirs, then is merely a matter of point of view and is completely relative.

If we do not stake a claim and equate ego-identity with our own position, seeking to make this vantage point secure by the various defense mechanisms arising from unawareness, then we are not bound absolutely to this stance of selfishness or to cherishing ourselves alone. This is because we see that the point of view of self is relative, and it is possible to see things from the others’ side as well.

Once we have this insight into the relativity of points of view, it will be easier to exchange our thoughts of self for thoughts of others. We will be able to think of someone else’s body, which also comes from the sperm and egg of a father and mother, as we would of our own. Then we will come to treat others the same as we would ourselves. This is because we will see that they, just like us, are born from sperm and egg. They, too, have a body and a system of aggregate factors of experience containing the roots of their suffering, live a frustrating life of dissatisfaction, and they die and pass on to yet another miserable rebirth in samsara. We are all equal, so it is easy to change our point of view.

A further step in this meditation, as explained in Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior by Shantideva, is to consider that in fact no one’s body is strictly his own. They all come from the physical substances of someone else, namely parents. Therefore, there is much good reason to protect someone else’s body as there is for guarding what we self-centeredly have appropriated and think is our own. In other words, just as we have become habituated to cherishing as our own what has grown from someone else’s sperm and egg, we can likewise do the same with everyone else’s body. All bodies are equal in this sense of not being our own. Thus, no matter where suffering is located, it does not belong to anyone and, in fact, should be everyone’s concern. On such an impersonal or “transpersonal” basis, then, we should strive to eliminate suffering anywhere and in anyone, simple because it hurts.

Suppose we have a thorn in our foot, and it is throbbing with pain. If our hand were to sit back comfortably and refuse to pull it out, saying, “Sorry, foot, that’s your problem not mine,” this would be absurd, if not fatal. Likewise, it is ridiculous to ignore others’ suffering, thinking that ultimately we can insulate ourselves from it and to selfishly cherish only ourselves.

[5] The Way to Meditate, Based on This, on Giving Away Our Own Happiness and Taking upon Ourselves the Suffering of Others

The way to practice tonglen (gtong-len, taking and giving) is divided into two sections:

• Taking upon ourselves (the suffering of others) through agile visualizations of compassion
• Giving away (our own happiness to others) through agile visualizations of love.

Taking upon Ourselves the Suffering of Others through Agile Visualizations of Compassion

In most lam-rim texts, the teachings on giving away our own happiness are explained before those about taking upon ourselves the sufferings of others. The reasoning behind this is that first we give others our own happiness as a medicine to relieve and heal them of their sufferings, which we then take on ourselves. According to the quintessence teachings of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, following the tradition of Pabongka, however, the teachings concerning accepting the sufferings of others should come first. This is because if we do not first take away the sufferings of others, then even if we give them our happiness, they will not be aware of it. Because they are preoccupied with their sufferings, they will not be able to feel the full effect of the happiness we have given them.

The visualizations for this practice are as follows. First we generate a strong feeling of compassion, wishing that all be separated from their suffering and that we ourselves must relieve them of it. When inhaling, we should picture that we are drawing into us all the sufferings of others. We are separating these sufferings from them and drawing them into our hearts in the form of black rays like a mass of black hair that we are shaving off their heads with a straight razor. When these black rays of suffering fall into our hearts, we should visualize them being absorbed into our selfishness there and dissolving it. Then on exhaling, we should picture that we are sending out waves of happiness and bodhichitta to them.

As it may be difficult at the beginning to conceive of taking on the sufferings of all limited beings on the three planes of samsaric existence, we should approach this aim gradually. First we should think of our own problems and suffering, both of the present and the future. Abandoning the closed-minded and defensive attitude with which we might avoid even admitting that we are suffering, we should face our problems honestly, with self-forgiveness, not guilt, and accept our difficulties openly. We should not be afraid to feel their pain, but use it to destroy our self-cherishing attitude. We should then expand the scope of this meditation to include taking on and feeling the sufferings first of our close friends and family, then of our neighbors and acquaintances, then even enemies. Then we expand our scope further to include everyone in our city, our country and so forth until we are able to take on the sufferings of all limited beings in all states of rebirth.

We should pray fervently that everyone – from the hottest joyless realm up to the tenth bodhisattva stage before Buddhahood – actually will become separated from their suffering as the result of our selflessly thinking to take upon ourselves all the murky karmic debts, obstacles and so forth of his past destructive actions. We should pray that all this suffering actually dissolves and ripens on us. 

The First Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche has warned, however, not to be like the old woman praying beside her sick husband’s bed that his illness befall her and then, when a donkey with a feed-bag over its snout stuck its head in the window, screamed in terror, thinking it was the demon of disease, and pleaded, “Get him, not me!” 

Rather we should be like Geshe Chengawa who always prayed that he be reborn in the joyless realms in order to alleviate the suffering of all limited beings. When he was about to die, he received signs that he would be reborn in a pure-land Buddha-field, and he became very sad. When questioned by his attendant he said he was unhappy because now he saw that his wish to be reborn in the joyless realms would not come true.

When we have mastered this technique, we actually will be able to take on the sufferings of a sick man if we sincerely so meditate before him. He will be cured, and we will contract his disease. Because of our bodhichitta, however, the illness we experience will be less severe. Once when Maitriyogi (Byams-pa rnal-’byor, Ratnasena, Kusali the Younger), the teacher of Atisha, was giving a discourse, someone outside threw a rock at a dog. When this bodhisattva shouted in pain, people did not believe that he actually had transferred the suffering of the dog to himself. However, upon examination, they found a livid bruise on his side exactly corresponding to where the dog had been hit. There are also many examples of this practice found in the biography of Milarepa.

By this practice, however, we can only take on the minor sufferings of sickness and physical pain that others experience. We cannot take from them what they suffer from the disturbing emotions and attitudes, death, a rebirth in one of the joyless realms and so forth. If this were possible, then the fully compassionate Buddhas would already have done so, and there would be no limited beings left in samsara. These more severe types of suffering come to limited beings as the unfortunate consequences of their previously built-up negative karmic potential. This they must experience. What operates in this practice of taking on the sufferings of others is constructive conduct. The strength of the Buddhas’ constructive conduct, however, is the same as that of karma. Otherwise, again, there would be no limited beings left in samsara. This entire practice, therefore, is dependent on previous karmic causes and relationships.

In most cases, it does not work immediately. It can only succeed if in a previous life we had prayed to be able to teach the Dharma to all our friends and acquaintances and cure them of all their sufferings. Then, as the result of this constructive action entailing bodhichitta, we actually will be able, in this lifetime, to take on the sufferings of those with whom we had established this previous karmic link. We will not, however, be able to do so for those with whom we have not established such connections. As it is very rare that we will have sown the karmic seeds in the past that will yield as their fruit our present success in this practice, one of the main emphases here is to sow such seeds now through prayer so that they will ripen in the future.

Prayer and ethical self-discipline, accompanied by the other far-reaching attitudes, are the causes for being reborn with a fully endowed human form. By selflessly praying to be able to take on the sufferings of others, to teach them the Dharma and to bring them happiness and Buddhahood, we build up bodhichitta, eliminate selfishness, develop courage and plant the causes for our future ability in a fully endowed human form to do all of this. In this way we will help complete our prerequisite network of positive force necessary for our attainment of Buddhahood.

The Buddhas and our gurus, whom we recognize as Buddhas, have no obstacles or unripened negative karmic potential. Therefore, when we pray to be able to take on the sufferings of others, we should not think that this applies to them, for they do not suffer. On the other hand, we should not take this to mean that if our guru manifests sickness, we should not take care of him or offer prayers for his long life. He is giving us an opportunity to gather positive karmic force through our devotion; therefore, act accordingly with common sense and do not make inconsiderate, selfish demands. 

Giving Away Our Own Happiness to Others through Agile Visualizations of Love

When we read in the sutras that we should give away to others our bodies, wealth and so forth, this means at our present level merely to visualize so doing with the following types of imaginative transformations. Consider first those limited beings in the hot joyless realms. We should visualize our bodies transforming into rain and cooling their sufferings. Then we imagine our body as the most perfect human form with the eight respites (dal-ba brgyad, Skt. aṣṭa-kṣaṇa, eight freedoms) and ten enrichments (’byor-ba bcu, Skt. daśa-saṃpad, ten endowments) to study and practice the Dharma, and present them with such a rare working basis. Visualizing our bodies changing into a beautiful house and setting, think of these trapped beings of the joyless realms as happily making use of them. Next, we change our bodies into the very best food and drink, and satisfy their hunger and thirst; changing them into garments and clothing them; and finally, in the form of a benevolent guru, we prepare them for Buddhahood. [As cited by the “Sutra Spread Out Like a Tree Trunk” (sDong-po bskod-pa’i mdo, Skt. Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra) and the “Vajra Victory Banner Sutra” (rDo-rje rgyal-mtshan-gyi mdo, Skt. Vajra-dhvaja Sūtra), also known as the Vajradhvaja-pariṇāmanā.]

In a similar manner, we should visualize our bodies changing into rays of sunshine, warm clothes and so forth for those in the cold joyless realms, into food and drink for the hungry ghosts, into discriminating awareness for the animals to know the difference between what is to be practiced and avoided, into armor for the would-be divine and into objects of the five senses for divine beings having great desire and attachment to such things. For humans, because they, too, have great desire, we should visualize our bodies changing into whatever they wish for and give that to them.

In the same way, we should give away our wealth and virtues. For our gurus and the Buddhas, we should visualize our bodies changing into clouds of offerings and present these to them, thinking that we have thereby given them longer life and have expanded the scope of their good works. We may give away our virtues from the past, present and future. We can, however, only give away our wealth of the present and future, as that of the past has already been spent.

[See also: Tsongkhapa, An Explanation of Bodhisattvas’ Ethical Discipline: The Main Path to Enlightenment (Byang-chub sems-dpa’i tshul-khrims-kyi rnam-bshad byang-chub gzhung-lam), a commentary to the chapter on ethical self-discipline in the Bodhisattva Stages of Mind by Asanga]

When giving away our happiness, if we think about those who are miserable, we will develop more love. Thus, we should make love our main focus as the motivating vision for training our minds. Those who wish to make bodhichitta the major topic of practice, as it was in the life of Tsongkhapa, should repeatedly read and think about The Flower Garland Sutra (mDo Phal-cher, Skt. Avataṃsaka Sūtra) and the Sutra of Completely Pure Conduct (sPyod-yul yongs-su dag-pa’i mdo, Skt. Gocara-pariśuddhi Sūtra).

This meditation is from the tradition of Tsongkhapa. It combines in a practical manner the seven-part cause and effect meditation with that on equalizing and exchanging self and others. Each of the eleven rounds should be practiced according to their previous explanations.

The eleven-round bodhichitta meditation (byang-sems dmigs-skor bcu-gcig) consists of:

1. Developing equanimity
2. Recognizing every limited being as having been our mother
3. Remembering the love and kindness of others both when they have been our mother and when they have not
4. Wishing to repay that kindness
5. Equalizing ourselves and others
6. Thinking of the many faults of selfishly cherishing only ourselves
7. Thinking of the many advantages of selflessly cherishing others
8. Taking upon ourselves the suffering of others through agile visualizations of compassion
9. Giving away our own happiness to others through agile visualizations of love
10. Having the exceptional resolve
11. Having realized that only a Buddha has the power to do so, having the motivating aim of bodhichitta to achieve that goal.