Pema Khandro’s Article on How to Be A Bodhisattva is now available online.
To read the full article click here – Pema Khandro Bodhisattva Article at Lion’s Roar
“What we see in the female buddha’s life story is that the path to buddhahood is not a perfect linear progression from a totally ignorant, karma-covered being to a fully awakened buddha. One’s identity oscillates along the way. What does not oscillate in Yeshe Tsogyal’s story, what remains constant throughout her training, maturity, and fully blossomed buddhahood, is that at all times she acts unwaveringly with the motivation to benefit others. This clarifies any questions about how an ordinary being can navigate the ambiguity of wisdom and confusion that characterizes our mental states. Our center of gravity and our guiding light is bodhichitta, our own altruistic motivation and enlightened intent. “May all beings everywhere be free from suffering”—this is not just a pie-in-the-sky wish that this will happen eventually. It is an explicit assumption of universal responsibility, a declaration that we ourselves will actively help make such benefits possible—beginning with taking responsibility for our own spiritual awakening. But who among us feels worthy of helping other beings right now? Of course Buddha could help people—he was enlightened. Of course Yeshe Tsogyal can help infinite beings—she’s gone beyond anger and grasping. But what about us? At what point in our development does the bodhisattva mandate kick in?” To read the full article click here – Pema Khandro Bodhisattva Article at Lion’s Roar