Finding Rest in Meditation by Longchenpa & Padmakara Translation Group

Author:Longchenpa & Padmakara Translation Group
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 2018-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

In whichever way one meditates on the path of the Mahāyāna, it is important at the outset to reflect that one’s life is impermanent and that saṃsāra is a state of suffering. Then in relation to this, one should cultivate compassion and the enlightened attitude of bodhichitta, which is to think that one will, oneself, attain buddhahood for the sake of beings. This is necessary because when one realizes that life is impermanent, one will not procrastinate in one’s practice; and the recognition that saṃsāra is a state of suffering will break one’s attachment to this life. Through the cultivation of impartial compassion, one will not fall into the attitude of the Hīnayāna; and by training in bodhichitta, one will come swiftly to enlightenment.

The special features of the Mahāyāna are the skillful means of great compassion joined with wisdom, thanks to which one will not dwell in either of the two extremes. As it is said in the Abridged Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, “Without skillful means and wisdom, one falls into the path of the śrāvakas.” And it is further said in the Ratnāvalī,

Emptiness endowed with the essence of compassion:

Such is the practice of those who want enlightenment.

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