[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

no enemy to bodhicitta in your mind. In other words, it makes it
much easier to achieve bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart, the altru-
istic mind set on attaining enlightenment for the sake of all sentient
beings. Bodhicitta is the gateway to the Mahayana path, the root of
the path to enlightenment and the source of all happiness for both
yourself and others.
By actualizing the perfection of patience, you can attain full
enlightenment, the great liberation, the cessation of all mental errors
52
PATIENCE AND THE COMPASSIONATE HEART
and the completion of all realizations. Once you have attained
enlightenment, you are free to work perfectly for the welfare of all
sentient beings in order to liberate them from all suffering and its
cause and bring them to buddhahood as well. This is the long term
benefit of practicing patience in your daily life right now, a benefit as
measureless as space itself.
Practicing patience today will allow you to become the perfect
guide and bring all happiness to numberless sentient beings.
Therefore, when somebody treats you badly or when someone gets
angry at you, these are the benefits of not getting upset. You can look
at it differently. You can see how responding with patience is the source
of all happiness not only your own immediate happiness but also that
of your future lives; not only your own happiness, but that of number-
less others. You can make it all happen. It comes from your patience.
Patience has many other benefits as well. For example, practicing
patience is the cause of receiving a beautiful body in future lives a
beautiful human body or the divine body of a deva. If your body is
attractive, it is easier to benefit others. It is also the cause of many of
the special qualities of a buddha s holy body. There are many more
benefits of patience.
If you do not practice patience, you will get angry. One of the
results of anger is to receive ugly bodies in future lives. If you look
ugly, people won t want to see or hear you, won t want to help you
and won t pay attention to what you say. Worse than that, you will
have to experience the unbearably heavy sufferings of rebirth in hell.
And even when, after that, you re reborn human, there will be many
other problems as a result of anger. Anger has many, many drawbacks,
but by practicing patience you can avoid them all.
53
VIRTUE AND REALITY
In short, practicing patience on a daily basis has infinite benefit. It
brings peace, happiness and success for yourself and others in this and
many future lives. Ultimately, you attain enlightenment, and bring all
happiness to all sentient beings as you lead them to enlightenment.
HOWTO PRACTICE PATIENCE
Where does your daily practice of patience that brings all this benefit
come from? How did you learn to be patient?
Ask yourself,  Where did I learn this patience that I practice? I
learned it from those who have been angry at me. By depending on
the angry person I have been able to practice, to realize patience.
Therefore, all the peace and happiness that I enjoy in this and future
lives as a result of my practice of patience has come from the angry
person. It is through the kindness of the angry person, who gave me
the opportunity to practice patience, that I am able to offer peace and
happiness to all sentient beings as a result. Because of this person I am
able to accomplish the perfection of patience, the other perfections,
and thereby complete the bodhisattva s path and attain full enlighten-
ment. Through this person s kindness I can eradicate all errors of
mind and gain all realizations. It is the angry person who has given
me this opportunity. This person is actually giving me enlightenment.
Through the kindness of this person I can also offer all peace and
happiness to all sentient beings. How kind this person is! How
much benefit this person has given me! This is the most precious
person in my life! Even if someone were to give me billions and tril-
lions of dollars, I could never buy the peace of mind that I get
through the practice of patience. Therefore, the angry person who
54
PATIENCE AND THE COMPASSIONATE HEART
gives me the opportunity to practice patience is of much greater value
than trillions of dollars, mountains of diamonds, acres of gold.
The angry person is even more precious than trillions of wish-
fulfilling jewels. The most precious material object we can think of in
these examples is the wish-fulfilling jewel. Legend has it that by praying
to this mythical gem, you get whatever sense enjoyment you desire.
Nevertheless, the angry person with whom you practice patience is far
more valuable than trillions of these wish-granting gems. No amount
of material wealth can bring you the inner peace that you can achieve
by practicing patience with an angry person. That s why such people
are so precious.
The only reason the person is so kind and precious is because he is
angry at you. There s no reason other than that. This is what makes
this person so unbelievably kind. Therefore, even though his anger is
so destructive for him, for you it is invaluable. It is of the utmost need [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]