Hãy sống như thể bạn chỉ còn một ngày để sống và học hỏi như thể bạn sẽ không bao giờ chết. (Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. )Mahatma Gandhi
Những ai có được hạnh phúc cũng sẽ làm cho người khác được hạnh phúc. (Whoever is happy will make others happy too.)Anne Frank
Dầu mưa bằng tiền vàng, Các dục khó thỏa mãn. Dục đắng nhiều ngọt ít, Biết vậy là bậc trí.Kinh Pháp cú (Kệ số 186)
Người hiền lìa bỏ không bàn đến những điều tham dục.Kẻ trí không còn niệm mừng lo, nên chẳng bị lay động vì sự khổ hay vui.Kinh Pháp cú (Kệ số 83)
Nếu tiền bạc không được dùng để phục vụ cho bạn, nó sẽ trở thành ông chủ. Những kẻ tham lam không sở hữu tài sản, vì có thể nói là tài sản sở hữu họ. (If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him. )Francis Bacon
Người ta có hai cách để học hỏi. Một là đọc sách và hai là gần gũi với những người khôn ngoan hơn mình. (A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.)Will Rogers
Đừng than khóc khi sự việc kết thúc, hãy mỉm cười vì sự việc đã xảy ra. (Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. )Dr. Seuss
Điều bất hạnh nhất đối với một con người không phải là khi không có trong tay tiền bạc, của cải, mà chính là khi cảm thấy mình không có ai để yêu thương.Tủ sách Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn
Nhẫn nhục có nhiều sức mạnh vì chẳng mang lòng hung dữ, lại thêm được an lành, khỏe mạnh.Kinh Bốn mươi hai chương
Mạng sống quý giá này có thể chấm dứt bất kỳ lúc nào, nhưng điều kỳ lạ là hầu hết chúng ta đều không thường xuyên nhớ đến điều đó!Tủ sách Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn

Trang chủ »» Danh mục »» SÁCH ANH NGỮ HOẶC SONG NGỮ ANH-VIỆT »» An Open Heart »» Chapter 10: Bodhicitta »»

An Open Heart
»» Chapter 10: Bodhicitta

Donate

(Lượt xem: 9.837)
Xem trong Thư phòng    Xem định dạng khác    Xem Mục lục  Vietnamese || Đối chiếu song ngữ


       

Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn - Chương 10: Tâm Bồ-đề

Font chữ:


We have spoken a great deal about compassion and equanimity and what it means to cultivate these qualities in our everyday lives. When we have developed our sense of compassion to the point where we feel responsible for all beings, we are motivated to perfect our ability to serve them. Buddhists call the aspiration to attain such a state bodhicitta, and one who has achieved it, a bodhisattva.

There are two methods for bringing about this attitude. One, called the Sevenfold Cause-and-Effect Method, hinges on viewing all beings as having been our mother in the past. In the other, Exchanging Self for Others, we view all others as we do ourselves. Both methods are considered practices of the method, or vast, path.

THE SEVENFOLD CAUSE-AND-EFFECT METHOD

If we have been reborn time after time, it is evident that we have needed many mothers to give birth to us. It should be mentioned that our births have not been limited to the planet Earth. According to the Buddhist view, we have been going through the cycle of life and death for far longer than our planet has existed. Our past lives are therefore infinite, as are the beings who have given birth to us. Thus, the first cause bringing about bodhicitta is the recognition that all beings have been our mother.

The love and kindness shown us by our mother in this life would be difficult to repay. She endured many sleepless nights to care for us when we were helpless infants. She fed us and would have willingly sacrificed everything, including her own life, to spare ours. As we contemplate her example of devoted love, we should consider that each and every being throughout existence has treated us this way. Each dog, cat, fish, fly, and human being has at some point in the beginningless past been our mother and shown us overwhelming love and kindness. Such a thought should bring about our appreciation. This is the second cause of bodhicitta.

As we envision the present condition of all these beings, we begin to develop the desire to help them change their lot. This is the third cause, and out of it comes the fourth, a feeling of love cherishing all beings. This is an attraction toward all beings, similar to what a child feels upon seeing his or her mother. This leads us to compassion, which is the fifth cause of bodhicitta.

Compassion is a wish to separate these suffering beings, our mothers of the past, from their miserable situation. At this point we also experience loving-kindness, a wish that all beings find happiness. As we progress through these stages of responsibility, we go from wishing that all sentient beings find happiness and freedom from suffering to personally assuming responsibility for helping them enter this state beyond misery.

This is the final cause. As we scrutinize how best to help others, we are drawn to achieve the fully enlightened and omniscient state of Buddhahood.

The implicit question in this method is central to Mahayana Buddhism: if all other sentient beings who have been kind to us since beginningless time are suffering, how can we devote ourselves to pursuing merely our own happiness? To seek our own happiness in spite of the suffering others are experiencing is tragically unfortunate. Therefore, it is clear that we must try to free all sentient beings from suffering. This method helps us cultivate the desire to do so.

EXCHANGING SELF FOR OTHERS

The other method for bringing about bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain highest enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, is Exchanging Self for Others. In this method we work at recognizing how dependent we are on others for all we have. We contemplate how the homes we live in, the clothes we wear, the roads we drive on, have all been created by the hard work of others. So much work has gone into providing us with the shirt we are wearing, from planting the cottonseed to weaving the fabric and sewing the garment. The slice of bread we eat had to be baked by someone. The wheat had to be planted by someone else and, after irrigation and fertilization, had to be harvested and then milled into flour. This had to be kneaded into dough and then baked appropriately. It would be impossible to count all the people involved in providing us with a simple slice of bread. In many cases machines do a lot of the work; however, they had to be invented and produced, and must be supervised.

Even our personal virtues, such as our patience and ethical sense, are all developed in dependence upon others. We can even come to appreciate that those who cause us difficulty are providing us with the opportunity to develop tolerance. Through this train of thought we come to recognize how dependent we are on others for all we enjoy in life. We must work at developing this recognition as we go about our lives after our morning meditation sessions. There are so many examples of our dependence on others. As we recognize them, our sense of responsibility toward others develops, as does our desire to repay them for their kindness.

We also contemplate how, because of the laws of karma, our selfishly motivated actions have led to the difficulties we confront on a daily basis. As we consider our situation we see how pointless our self-cherishing ways are and how selfless actions, devoted to helping others, are the only logical course. Again, this leads us to the most noble of all actions: engaging in the process of attaining the state of Buddhahood in order to help all beings.

When working with the technique of Exchanging Self for Others, it is important to also practice developing patience, as one of the main obstacles to our development and enhancement of compassion and bodhicitta is a lack of patience and tolerance.

Whichever method we employ to develop bodhicitta, we should remain true to it and cultivate this highest aspiration daily in formal meditation and afterward. We must work diligently to diminish our selfish instincts and supplant them with the more lofty ones contained in the bodhisattva ideal. It is important that we first develop a strong sense of equanimity, the attitude of sympathetic impartiality toward all beings. Continuing to entertain biases makes it difficult for our virtuous aspirations to be very effective, as they will favor those we feel close to.

While we work to cultivate the superior aspiration of bodhicitta, many obstacles make themselves felt. Inner feelings of attachment or hostility arise to undermine our efforts. We find ourselves drawn toward old time-wasting habits, watching television or frequenting friends who pull us away from the noble goal we are now committed to. We must work at overcoming such tendencies and emotions by means of the meditative techniques described throughout this book. These are the steps that must be taken.

First, we must recognize our afflictive emotions and bad habits as evidence of our continuing state of attachment and consider, once again, their harmful nature. Second, we must apply the appropriate antidotes and marshal the determination not to indulge these emotions further. We must remain focused on our commitment to all sentient beings.

We have been exploring the way to open our hearts. Compassion is the very essence of an open heart and must be cultivated throughout our journey. Equanimity removes our prejudices and enables our altruism to reach all sentient beings. Bodhicitta is the commitment to actually help them. We shall now learn the methods by which we develop the concentration necessary to cultivate the other aspect of our practice, wisdom.

    « Xem chương trước «      « Sách này có 19 chương »       » Xem chương tiếp theo »
» Tải file Word về máy » - In chương sách này

_______________

TỪ ĐIỂN HỮU ÍCH CHO NGƯỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH

DO NXB LIÊN PHẬT HỘI PHÁT HÀNH




BẢN BÌA CỨNG (HARDCOVER)
1200 trang - 54.99 USD



BẢN BÌA THƯỜNG (PAPERBACK)
1200 trang - 45.99 USD



BẢN BÌA CỨNG (HARDCOVER)
728 trang - 29.99 USD



BẢN BÌA THƯỜNG (PAPERBACK)
728 trang - 22.99 USD

Mua sách qua Amazon sẽ được gửi đến tận nhà - trên toàn nước Mỹ, Canada, Âu châu và Úc châu.

XEM TRANG GIỚI THIỆU.



Donate


Quý vị đang truy cập từ IP 18.222.92.56 và chưa ghi danh hoặc đăng nhập trên máy tính này. Nếu là thành viên, quý vị chỉ cần đăng nhập một lần duy nhất trên thiết bị truy cập, bằng email và mật khẩu đã chọn.
Chúng tôi khuyến khích việc ghi danh thành viên ,để thuận tiện trong việc chia sẻ thông tin, chia sẻ kinh nghiệm sống giữa các thành viên, đồng thời quý vị cũng sẽ nhận được sự hỗ trợ kỹ thuật từ Ban Quản Trị trong quá trình sử dụng website này.
Việc ghi danh là hoàn toàn miễn phí và tự nguyện.

Ghi danh hoặc đăng nhập

Thành viên đang online:
Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Viên Hiếu Thành Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Huệ Lộc 1959 Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Bữu Phước Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Chúc Huy Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Minh Pháp Tự Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn minh hung thich Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Diệu Âm Phúc Thành Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Phan Huy Triều Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Phạm Thiên Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Trương Quang Quý Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Johny Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Dinhvinh1964 Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Pascal Bui Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Vạn Phúc Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Giác Quý Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Trần Thị Huyền Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Chanhniem Forever Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn NGUYỄN TRỌNG TÀI Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn KỲ Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Dương Ngọc Cường Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Mr. Device Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Tri Huynh Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Thích Nguyên Mạnh Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Thích Quảng Ba Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn T TH Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Tam Thien Tam Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Nguyễn Sĩ Long Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn caokiem Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn hoangquycong Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Lãn Tử Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Ton That Nguyen Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn ngtieudao Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Lê Quốc Việt Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Du Miên Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Quang-Tu Vu Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn phamthanh210 Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn An Khang 63 Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn zeus7777 Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Trương Ngọc Trân Rộng Mở Tâm Hồn Diệu Tiến ... ...

Việt Nam (251 lượt xem) - Hoa Kỳ (16 lượt xem) - Senegal (13 lượt xem) - Đức quốc (3 lượt xem) - Saudi Arabia (3 lượt xem) - Nga (2 lượt xem) - Hungary (1 lượt xem) - ... ...