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Noble son, bodhisattvas endowed with ten qualities have knowledge of the
world. What are those ten? They are humility toward the haughty, no pride
when facing the proud, honesty toward the deceitful, truthfulness toward liars,
gentle words toward unskilled speakers, loving words toward the vicious,
patience toward the aggressive, love toward the brutal, compassion toward the
suffering, and sharing when meeting the stingy. Noble son, bodhisattvas who
possess these ten such qualities have knowledge of the world.
There are many powerful teachings of Buddha & his disciple bodhisattvas in the sutras. One of the most sublime, blessing filled sutras is the Golden Light Sutra.
A passage from this valuable teaching from Buddha about the bodhisattvas' motivation.
Quote:
Sāgaramati, to draw an analogy, imagine that a householder
has a single son—a beloved, esteemed, pleasing, and agreeable son. Given that
he is a child, he falls into a filthy pool while running about. When the
child’s mother, friends, and relatives find him having fallen into the filthy pool, they
will scream and lament and cry out, yet they cannot swim to rescue him from that pool.
Then, the boy’s father arrives and sees his son in the filthy pool. He would
immediately feel deep love and care, and without blaming the boy, he would
swiftly plunge and without delay swim in that filthy pool to free his only son.
Sāgaramati, I am relating this analogy so that you will understand something.
What meaning should you find in it? Sāgaramati, the filthy pool represents the
three realms. The only son represents all beings, whom bodhisattvas regard as
their only child. The mother, friends, and relatives represent people on
the lesser vehicles of the hearers and solitary buddhas. When they see that beings fall
into saṃsāra, they cry out and lament, but they cannot free them. The householder
represents bodhisattvas, whose minds are pure, immaculate, and stainless.
They intentionally take birth in the three realms in order to ripen
beings even though they directly experience the unconditioned Dharma.
Sāgaramati, this is the great compassion of the bodhisattvas: even though they
themselves are absolutely free from the bonds of the afflictions, they elect to be
reborn in existence through their skill in means. Because they master insight,
they are not harmed by their own afflictions and they teach the Dharma to
beings in order to eliminate all bonds of the afflictions.
This link give many excerpts from many Mahayana translations done by Bhikshu Dharmamitra of Kalavinka Press. Most books have Chinese on facing pages, some newer ones have romanized Sanskrit in appendices; a few are English only. This link is a good source for a Mahayana sampler!
A disciple of Buddha dwells pervading all directions, with his heart filled with loving kindness, compassion, joy for others' goodness and equanimity. He dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and equally with his heart filled with loving kindness, compassion, joy for others' goodness and equanimity; abundant, grown vast, measureless, free from enmity, and free from distress.
The table of contents gives the major topics covered:
Quote:
Days 1–3 Introduction 1
Days 4–63 Guru Devotion 4
Days 64–86 The Perfect Human Rebirth 64
Days 87–113 Impermanence and Death 87
Days 114–134 The Lower Realms 114
Days 135–169 Refuge 135
Days 170–208 Karma 170
Days 209–238 The Sufferings of Samsara 209
Days 239–266 The Evolution of Samsara 239
Days 267–282 The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination 267
Days 283–339 Bodhicitta 283
Days 340–363 Emptiness 340
Days 364–365 Wrap-up 364
Appendices
The Foundation of All Good Qualities 367
Outline of Lamrim Topics 369
Suggested Further Reading
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Sagarmati Sutra
