Sep 20, 2020
Dharma talk given by Ven. Geshe Tsewang Thinley September 20, 2020.
Music by Barefoot Bran Music.
The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas
by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo
Verses 5-9
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to avoid destructive
friends,
In whose company the three poisons of the mind grow stronger,
And we engage less and less in study, reflection and
meditation,
So that love and compassion fade away until they are no more.
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cherish spiritual
friends,
By regarding them as even more precious than one’s own body,
Since they are the ones who will help to rid us of all our
faults,
And make our virtues grow ever greater just like the waxing
moon.
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take refuge in the
Three Jewels,
Since they will never fail to provide protection for all who call
upon them,
For whom are the ordinary gods of this world ever capable of
helping,
As long as they themselves are trapped within saṃsāra’s vicious
cycle?
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is never to commit a
harmful act,
Even though not to do so might put one’s very life at risk,
For the Sage himself has taught how negative actions will ripen
Into the manifold miseries of the lower realms, so difficult to
endure.
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to strive towards the
goal,
Which is the supreme state of changeless, everlasting
liberation,
Since all the happiness of the three realms lasts but a moment,
And then is quickly gone, just like dewdrops on blades of
grass.