Actual Practice
Seeing Others as Wish-fulfilling
✦ Then recite the following verses on how to live your life for sentient beings.
From Kadampa Geshe Langri Thangpa’s Eight Verses of Thought Transformation
Determined to obtain the greatest possible benefit
From all sentient beings,
Who are more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel,
I shall hold them most dear at all times.
Every temporary happiness that you have experienced from beginningless rebirths, are experiencing now, and will experience in the future, as well as liberation from samsara and the state of omniscient mind, is received from every hell being, every hungry ghost, every animal, every human being, every asura, every sura, and every intermediate state being. You receive all your past, present, and future happiness from every human being, including your enemies, as well as from every mosquito, every ant, and every other insect. Your happiness comes from your good karma (your virtuous actions), which comes from your positive mind.
Your virtuous actions are one of the two kinds of actions of the buddhas; the other action is possessed by the buddhas’ own minds. So, good karma comes from buddhas, buddhas come from bodhisattvas, bodhisattvas come from bodhichitta, bodhichitta comes from great compassion, and great compassion is generated in dependence upon the kindness of suffering sentient beings. Therefore, all your past, present, and future happiness completely comes from every hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, asura, sura, and intermediate state being. Everyone is the most kind, most dear, most precious, and most wish fulfilling for you. Therefore, let go of the I and cherish them. With your body, speech, and mind, serve them.
Of course you get every happiness of this life if you cherish all sentient beings, but even if you cherish and fulfill the wishes of just one sentient being, you get all the happiness and success of this life. Not only that, but by cherishing even one sentient being, you get the happiness of future lives. By cherishing even one sentient being, you also achieve the ultimate happiness of liberation from the oceans of samsaric suffering, as well as the sublime success, the state of omniscient mind. Whether you are able to achieve the state of omniscient mind, whether you are able to free the numberless sentient beings in each realm from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to the peerless happiness of the state of omniscient mind, all depends on being able to cherish one sentient being. On the other hand, if you don’t cherish sentient beings, you don’t get all those results. You can’t benefit numberless sentient beings and you can’t lead them to enlightenment. But if you cherish even one sentient being, then all this happens. Therefore, even one sentient being is most kind, most precious, most dear, and most wish fulfilling for you.
Even Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha come from sentient beings. Because Buddha comes from sentient beings, that means Dharma, which comes from Buddha, also comes from sentient beings. Sangha, of course, comes from Dharma, so Sangha also comes from sentient beings. With regard to qualities, Buddha is supreme, but with regard to kindness, sentient beings, from where the Three Rare Sublime Ones come, are supreme. That is another reason why sentient beings are most precious, most kind, most dear, and most wish fulfilling for you.
Among material objects, gold, diamonds, and sapphires are rare and precious, but even more rare and precious is a wish-granting jewel. Those who have the necessary merit can pray to a wish-granting jewel for any external temporary comfort of this life, such as cars, houses, and swimming pools. But with a wish-granting jewel alone, you can’t purify the negative karma that is the cause of the lower realms and you can’t practice the morality of not harming others, so it can’t bring you a higher rebirth. With a wish-granting jewel, you can’t practice the three higher trainings and so you can’t achieve the ultimate happiness of liberation from samsara. Nor can you practice bodhichitta with it, so you can’t achieve full enlightenment, buddhahood. Even if you own the whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels, they can’t give you enlightenment. But just one sentient being can give you enlightenment, if you generate compassion and bodhichitta for them and actualize the path. Since cherishing one sentient being gives you enlightenment, even one sentient being is priceless. Besides a person, even a tiny insect, such as an ant or mosquito, is priceless. The value of the whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels is nothing compared to the value of one sentient being. The benefit to you is infinite; it is unbelievable. Cherishing even one sentient being opens the door to all your happiness.
Even the person who complains about you, abuses you, cheats you, or blames you is a wish-granting jewel. This person you call “enemy” also gives you higher rebirth, liberation, and full enlightenment. If you cherish and generate compassion for this enemy, you get everything – all happiness – from them. But if you don’t cherish this enemy, if you don’t have compassion for them and instead renounce them, you won’t generate bodhichitta and all the other realizations, so there is no enlightenment for you. Please make sure you understand this.
Since a bodhisattva cherishes the person who is your enemy more than himself, how can you harm them? How can you say bad things to or badly treat this person that the bodhisattva cherishes more than a wish-granting jewel? It’s impossible! It’s like harming that bodhisattva as whatever you do to this person affects the bodhisattva, just as criticizing her son or daughter upsets a mother.
Now, the numberless bodhisattvas and buddhas cherish this person you call “enemy” more than a wish-granting jewel. They live their lives to achieve enlightenment for that person. Therefore, how can you harm them? It’s impossible to harm them. Just as someone giving a little present to her son or daughter makes a mother happy, whatever service you offer to this person makes the numberless bodhisattvas and buddhas happy. Whatever your enemy does, if from your side you can smile sincerely at them from your heart and offer them even a little service, that makes the numberless bodhisattvas and buddhas very happy. It’s the best offering to them.
Therefore, the essence of your life, the essence of your meditation practice, is bodhichitta. This is what makes your life most meaningful. Bodhichitta means the happiest life for you and for the numberless sentient beings. Whether you are happy or unhappy, even when you are sick, depressed, and have problems, cherish and serve sentient beings with your body, speech, and mind all the time. In your daily life, in whatever way you can, serve sentient beings. That is the essential practice. Knowing and thinking of their kindness, do whatever you can for others in your everyday life, even if all you can do is help reduce a small suffering or offer a small comfort. Once you see that sentient beings are the most kind, most precious, most dear, and most wish fulfilling for you, being able to help free them from suffering and bring them happiness becomes the most enjoyable thing in your life. It brings you the most happiness. Really, this is the most wonderful practice in life!