WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

For instance, a person has properly liberated animals but regrets after some time, thinking, “That was a waste of money. I shouldn’t have done it.” This regret will immediately ruin the virtuous karma resulted from all previous acts of liberating animals.

With bodhicitta, many problems related to practice could be easily solved since bodhicitta has within itself the incredible capacity for accumulating merit, forgiving and purifying evil karma and so forth. Thus, bodhicitta is regarded as the indispensable universal key for the entrance of Mahayana Buddhism.

If the body is doing virtuous action but the mind wanders off, the virtue so cultivated will be made superficial and brings no benefit.

The practice of virtuous actions should never be a passive one. In fact, any good action, if forced, will not be good any more as it comes not from the heart and is done merely as a formality. Therefore, it is extremely important to make everyone understand the essence, the view and the conduct of Mahayana Buddhism.

The more it is dedicated, the more it grows; the more it is kept for oneself, the more likely it decreases. This aspect of the root of virtue is just the opposite of that of worldly things.

Being “mindful” means that not only the body does virtuous action but the mind also engenders proper aspiration, visualizes carefully and dedicates the merit.

Let us use taking refuge in the Three Jewels as an example. No matter what the motivation is, taking refuge prevents obstacles caused by both human and non-human beings, purifies a great deal of negative karma and brings health and longevity. These are the benefits inherent in taking refuge.

After performing each virtuous action, dedication must be properly offered as the resulting good karma may likely be destroyed before it ripens.

The Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism offers rich pickings of sublime practices, described by some as being plentiful as the yak’s hair. But no one would be qualified to practice any without first developing renunciation and bodhicitta as the base, which ought to be the single most important practice for us now.