7 Me on pENEVOLENCE AND COMPASSION ba yerorwen of Benevolence and Compass Ayes sae against attachment to [Sica he Se : seed jn tis chapter. Selécomplacency isto be understood © the sense of desiring to attain Nirvana for ourselves and not : in te for the benefit of others, because we have no affection for hye wotent beings. Those who do so are the followers of the Hinayana icég | form of Buddhism. Therefore it is said: ty F {For our own interest ‘ting ‘The interests of others, though they be many, ting Have to be sacrificed,” When in this way we are concerned with our own interests They naturally grow supreme. However, when Benevolence and Compassion are born in us, out a) of affection for sentient beings we cannot bear the idea of (37a) ‘ttaining liberation for ourselves alone. Therefore Benevolence and must be developed. The Teacher "Jam.dpal grags.pa ee not be without Benevolence and * the ted’, afeguarded by Benevolence and and g of Benevolence: it with: ce, causal characteristic, and merits. with reference to of reality; and (iii) As is stated in the atipariprecha is found in ed attitude; ity in Bodhi-JEWEL ORNAMENT OF LIBERATION sativas who live practising good; and without reference to a particular object in Bodhisattvas who have realized and accepts the fact that all entities of reality have no origin.* ed Im this book, I shall discuss only the first type of Benevolen pecaus Orie pracdealnmportance jane you nave, beat in ‘oid that its frame of reference is the totality of sentient beings.* The causal characteristic, is the desire that all beings may fing happiness. The method of practice, is pondering over the benefits that stem froma sentient beings) Because tieyroot of Benevolence) Hes inltye memory of benefits received. In this life here on earth the greatest semi or is our mother, because she (i) provides us with a body, (ii) suffers for our sake, (iii) gives us life and (iv) shows us the world, As is recorded in the ‘’Phags.pa brGyad.ston.pa’ (‘Astasdhasrika. prajiiparamita’) + Why is this so? Our mother (7b) raises us; undergoes hardships for our sake; gives us life; and shows us the world. (i) This is the benefit of providing us with a body. It did not start fully grown, complete with muscles and of a pleasant complexion. In mother’s from its stages of an oval spot (mer.mer, Skt. Skt. arbuda) it has been built up in utritive essences of her flesh and ishing properties of her food; rance of all kinds of acts we feel . Even after birth, by nursing yng person she contributes to dships for our sake means that but gave us her inheritance, ‘a crumb, giving us all her food or foreign parts we should not us clothes to keep out the cold erty. Unlike people who, hild, she allows herself er does not do thingsJewEL ORNAMENT OF LIBERATION In this way the benefit of a mother’s every single action is counted. od isi asura a ance a mother’s kindness is immeasurable, we shy ae hat males her heart full of happiness and bliss, gyfer abovall. Since all beings have been . mother (from tine gall mind), they have all benefited by what a mother has done, git st ind) oy Cie te limit of sentient beings, the answer ig gr Ql bounds of heaven. As is stated in the ‘att ass the . tated i Saati smon.lam.gyi mdo’ (‘Bhadracaryapranidhanay paribandha’): What is the end of the sky Is also that of all beings. ‘Therefore we should develop concentrated attention to the Stowth of a worthy mind, desiring all sentient beings to profit and to feel happy. ‘Such an attitude leads to real Benevolence. In the ‘mDo.sde.rgyaq ((Mahayna-sitralaikara’ XIII, 20) also is declared: ‘A Bodhisattva is towards all beings ‘As to a child (39a). With great Benevolence out of his innermost heart He always desires to procure their happiness. mahi ower of Benevolence out of our eyes teas ody the hair rises in delight, then there platter is enjoyed by all sentient beings, ans that when we only desire the $ instead of ourselves, then there is practised it cannot be measured. mdo’ (‘Candrapradipastitra’): there may be and however olence only for® n in the ‘Rin.che?art BENEVOLENCE AND COMPASSION narket or to work in the fields, day and night wi as her shoes, wearing the stars as her cap, Sala ia =e using the woollen threads of her torn frock as a whip, ee ess to the dogs (to bite and bark at) and her face to men tat), she gives whatever she has gained by her efforts to her ne loves the helpless unknown baby more than her own bene- than her father, mother and teacher; she looks on her baby with eyes of love, wraps him in gentle warmth, dandles him on her ten +s, calls him with words of kindness: ‘Oh my joy, my lovely one ju, lu, how you delight Mummy.’ i (ii) The benefit of giving us life, means that we have not come into knowing how to use our hands and our mouth and how to It tasks with all our strength. While we were feeble ‘no importance and silly, our mother did not throw us it served us, took us on her lap, protected us from fire and d us back from precipices, removed what might harm us, ous offerings for our well-being. Out of fear that we she did things nobody else would think of or such as casting dice, consulting astrologers, g the lines in our hands, and so on, thus ‘us the world, means that we did not nding everything merely by seeing “When we cried for friendly company, hands and feet and knew nothing, she walk and speak. Having taught us all ‘or No (38b), she made the uneven even h ve mother is always doing and has 5 ‘As is said in the ‘’Khor.ba | all the earth, stones, trees iper kernels, anotherpENEVOLENCE AND COMPASSION e were to give out food - | Sto if on be ie in three hundred pots, daily thrice a day, Ponder ‘This would not equal the merits f this j Of one moment of Benevolence. 6 : Ut of When we practise Benevolence and until we reach enlightenment, nt, ight qualities. This is stated in the ‘Rii we possess ci in the ‘Rin.chen ’phrei.ba’ waa y: phren. ba’ Beloved by gods and men, | ‘And also protected by them, Peace of mind and many other blessin; ie 0 i. gs of this kis Not being harmed by poison or by weapons, es ‘Attaining our aim without exertion, af srowth And being reborn in the Brahma world— to fee] Even if we should not attain final liberation, At least we obtain these eight qualities through Benevolence. However, the practice of Benevolence is is i good for preserving our- selves a ie ead others as may be seen respectively ee ii stories of the Great Bram.ze sbyin.pa (Brahmadati i : pacers Brame pa ( adatta) and of King been perfected then there is no difficulty ence, causal characteristic, sof perfection and merits. Compassion with reference to ‘of the whole of reality, and (iii) ar object. arises by secing the misery of .d that when we have practised d the relation between cause the concepts of permanence king that other beings between cause and solidity. The third the Sinyata of all arises inJEWEL ORNAMENT OF LIBERAT oy i fected dhisattva who has become per renee the power of practising Compassion Is particularly merciful To sentient beings who are obsessed by the demon op reality. ; i ateig Of the three types of Compassion mentioned in thi first is recommended for practical purposes. ® book The frame of reference, is the totality of sentient beings The causal characteristic, is the desire to liberate bein misery and its cause. 8° fom ‘The method ofits practise is our capacity for feeling d sion for our mother (the root of our being) if she is bea boiled alive, or ifin very cold weather blisters appear on her ie break and begin to ooze. So also, since all sentient beings wie! now in hell have in fact been our mother, how should we mae a compassion for them when they are struck to the core by = misery? Compassion should be practised in the desire to free Ae both from it and its cause. (40a) Again we feel deep compassion when our mother is pained by thirst or hunger, suffers from disease and fever and is disheartened by fear and anxiety. So also, since all sentient beings who are now born as spirits have been our mother, how should we not fee] comma eaten fey 2re struck by such misery? practised in the desire to liberate them ‘CP com, ten, burt n when our mother has become since she is powerless, or when o, since all sentient beings who our mother, why should we not ffer such misery? Compassion ee them from i ir mother suffers great distress of a precipice and about to fall could never climb. So also r this great abyss of the bad ich it is difficult for us e suffer through not g how to abjure liberate beings the fetters remedy is f that Buddk Benevolencs himself, he | example of the followir He wh All the Ts an Becau, nat The seveMateria) ok, a, BS from Ompas. 20t fee] Y such them Dained rtened ¢ now t feel sery ? them come when BENEVOLENCE AND Compassion hold us to deem ourselves better than ot! ajless desire to liberate all sentient beings wep) pedection ‘of Compassion is present. ‘The merits that accrue from having practised Compassion cannot be measured. As is stated in the ‘sPyan.ras.gzigs.kyi rtogs.pa brjod. “When there is one virtue present itis as if all the qualities of the Buddhas are in the palm of one’s hand. Which virtue? Great Compassion. the ‘Chos yaii.dag.par sdud.pa’i mdo’ (‘Dharmasaigitisitra’) : In Exalted One, so it is. When there is the precious wheel of the universal monarch there are also all his troops. Exalted One, so, where there is a Bodhisattva’s Great Compassion, there are all the other Buddha qualities also.? And in the ‘De.béin.géegs.pa’i gsait.ba’i mdo’ (‘Tathagatacintya- pee’ Guhyapati (Lord of the Mystic Teaching), the spiritual awareness of the Omniscient One has grown out of the root of thers and when the from misery has risen happiness by Bene- we are unable to yyful realization jeone in whom as greater thanJEWEL ORNAMENT OF LIBERATION NOTES TO CHAPTER 7 1 1 a iak ‘cod pa, Skt. anutpattikadha a. 2. Mt knowledge by experience after prolonged meditatigt #4 Pefongs to the eighth level of spirituality. See *Vijtaprins 2% aa Ries 346 seq., ‘Dasabhiimika’, p. 47. ‘Mahai na-sitradats ee ’s work is a manual introducing the student 3 Pease ot Badabitt discipline. He therefore pain i ee tely given. The other types of Benevolence and Compa aaije realised only after the Path has been traversed, th meant for beginners who would be unable to grasp their significane ‘4. The Truth of misery; the Truth of the origination of mise Truthof the annihilation of misery and the Truth ofthe Path aig ihilation of misery. ee aE bclict thot there i an unchanging well-defined principle which will last for ever, a belief wie’? contradictory to the immediate experience of our senses, ‘Solidity the belie in the material existence of things and ideas. Buddhisy concerned with epistemology in all theories of cognition, it deals wih percepts but not with the beliefS about them. Although it considen percepts to be mental, mentality is not absolute, but an emergent quality, . Tt Pasion CY Are never It is synonymous with niroikal- ito which no concepts enter, "the Buddhas, it is free from on which is often nothing © of Great Compassion has ‘Abhidharmakosa’ VII, 3329K.3(15) = Daw Bl zsCNe)e us SGAM.PO.PA Jewel Ornament of Liberation Dam.chos yid.bzin.gyi nor.bu thar.pa rin.po che’i rgyan des.bya.ba theg.pa chen.po't lam.rim.gyi béad pa * For the first time translated from the original Tibetan and annotated by HERBERT V. GUENTHERRIDER & COMPANY 178-202 Great Portland Street, London, W.1 Sara (Cy cen ner London Melbourne Sydney Auckland Bombay Toronto ‘Johannesburg New York * First published 1959 Ir. INV st Mitropora ich bie k f Wester: Cotas i f the — ica ried sive y vistas: art 01 Se Ree Seer asters oe 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18, 19. 20. ar. Preface Introdu The N The V Meetii The I The V Karm Benev Takin The A . The T The S The I The F The I The I The I The I The | The § Perfe Budd Pronu Index Index Index