The reason so many practitioners hit a wall in their Dharma practice comes down to one point: they have not truly mastered the Three Principal Aspects of the Path—renunciation, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness. While the correct view of emptiness requires considerable wisdom and discernment, cultivating renunciation and bodhicitta depends on just two essentials: taking them seriously and constantly examining oneself. Beyond these two points, there is nothing else of fundamental importance.
If the underlying motivation behind everything you do is self-interest, much of the merit you accumulate will never fully manifest. No matter how diligently you practice, your cultivation can at best remain within the Śrāvakayāna or the Human and Heavenly Vehicle. Judging from our fundamental motivation, most of the merit we presently accumulate still belongs to the Human and Heavenly Vehicle. Without firm and unwavering bodhicitta, one cannot even enter the Path of Accumulation (Saṃbhāra-mārga) of the Mahāyāna. If that is the case, how could realization ever arise? Naturally, practice remains difficult—and without changing this foundation, it will continue to be difficult for an entire lifetime.
On a dark and windy night, when you are completely alone, look into your own mind. Is it filled with the powerful aspiration to practice for the sake of attaining Buddhahood for all sentient beings? Or do you simply see yourself standing there, overwhelmed by loneliness, unable to bear the solitude, feeling compelled to call an old lover? A person who genuinely possesses bodhicitta will immediately recognize that such a state of mind is inappropriate. Instead, they will quietly gaze into the open sky and renew the vow: "For the benefit of all sentient beings, may I attain Buddhahood." As soon as this aspiration arises, loneliness and inner conflict quickly dissolve.
These teachings are not meant to harm us—they exist solely for our benefit. Yet we so often treat them as mere rhetoric, saying the words without ever putting them into practice. We Chinese have this particularly unfortunate habit of saying one thing while thinking another. Gradually, we end up deceiving ourselves. In this respect, those who are single-minded are actually better off: once they hear the teaching, they simply take it to heart. As a result, the "simple-minded" often attain realization first, while the so-called clever people end up sabotaging themselves.
Since merely generating conceptual bodhicitta has so many shortcomings, how do we give rise to genuine bodhicitta? The method is actually very simple. Use the three approaches mentioned earlier: listen repeatedly, contemplate deeply, and familiarize yourself continuously through sustained practice. It is exactly the same process by which genuine renunciation is cultivated.
Whenever you hear someone speaking about bodhicitta, praise it, regardless of whether their bodhicitta is genuine or not. Repeatedly listen to teachings on bodhicitta and study treatises such as The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra), The Eight Verses of Mind Training, and The Seven Points of Mind Training. Cultivate such enthusiasm that, whenever bodhicitta is mentioned, your heart immediately rejoices and never grows weary of hearing about it.
The Chinese idiomatic expression "rejoicing at the sight of the hunter" (jian lie xin xi) comes from the Preface to the Dianlun. It originally described a person who loved hunting and therefore felt delighted whenever they saw another hunter. Of course, hunting creates negative karma, so we are not endorsing the activity itself. Rather, we should emulate that same eagerness: whenever someone mentions bodhicitta or whenever we encounter a book on bodhicitta, we should rejoice and offer praise. In this way, we can build and solidify our confidence in bodhicitta.
Whenever you hear that someone is teaching bodhicitta, go over and listen. For the time being, deliberately make bodhicitta the object of your attachment. Do not assume that every form of attachment is necessarily bad. The truth is, we are already attached. After all, we could be vacationing in Sanya, yet here we are, sitting and listening to a teaching on bodhicitta instead. Since we are not yet capable of being completely free from attachment, let us first become attached to bodhicitta.
—Excerpted and compiled from Genuine Bodhicitta and Conceptual Bodhicitta.
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
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