Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea

Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta

Khunu, Gareth Sparham

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780861716678
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhismus

Revered by many--especially His Holiness the Dalai Lama--as the very embodiment of altruism, the late Khunu Rinpoche Tenzin Gyaltsen devoted his life to the development of bodhicitta--the aspiration to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. Presented in both English and the original Tibetan, this modern classic is a collection of Khunu Rinpoche's inspirational verse.

The Jewel Lamp

A PRAISE OF BODHICITTA

Khunu Rinpoche Tenzin Gyaltsen

1

Gazing with undivided faith
at the Buddhas, their Dharma
and their followers, the Sangha,
I seek refuge in and pray to them.

2

The Lord who seeks to help,
who originates from the full moon
[of bodhicitta], is the guru of the world.
In saṃsāra there really is no other to be found.

3

How could the trinkets of others’
apparently fine explanations
ever compete with the words of the one
whose meaning is like a wish-fulfilling gem?

4

Whoever has a wise and honest mind
sees that the Buddha’s supreme doctrine
that withstands the threefold analysis¹
is like a lotus pond, and goes there like a swan.

5

Who would not cleave to the refuge provided by
the Buddha, who has completed his own and others’ [aims],
and who possesses the eight special attributes² such as
not being known through [descriptions by] others and so on?

6

For whom is the Dharma not a refuge,
characterized as it is by the two truths
and the eight special attributes³
such as being inconceivable, nondual, and so on?

7

For whom is the Noble Assembly not a refuge with its
eight special realization and freedom attributes,⁴ free as it is
from the obscurations of attachment, impediment, and a lesser [path],
and with the realizations of how things are, what there is, and the inner?

8

I think that even with Sarasvatī in one’s throat⁵ it would be hard
to find an example of the great wish-fulfilling bodhicitta tree,
which so easily accomplishes peoples’ desires,
flourishing in the ground of compassion and watered by love.

9

How could the wish to help
that a mother, father, sage, or even Brahmā has
possibly extend to every living creature
like supreme bodhicitta?

10

Just like the lotus among flowers
is bodhicitta supreme among all virtuous thoughts.
Since having it brings immediate and final happiness,
one should make every effort to produce it.

11

Since even knowledge of all modes of meditation⁶
has its origin in just this supreme bodhicitta,
those who wish for freedom
should certainly make it their work.

12

If one investigates to find the supreme method
for accomplishing the aims of oneself and others,
it comes down to bodhicitta alone.
Being certain of this, develop it with joy.

13

The good that is bodhicitta does not give fruit just once.
Until the knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached
it does not finish, but gets ever greater.
When knowledge of all modes of meditation is reached,
the rain of precious Dharma from the form-body⁷ cloud
nourishes the shoots of the good that people do.

14

Inner knowledge amongst knowledges.
The w...