Intention

Our normal view is that our daily experiences, whether unpleasant or pleasant, come from external sources. Following this view we dedicate our whole life to improving our external conditions and situation, but still our human problems and suffering increase year by year. This clearly indicates that our normal view is incorrect, and only deceives us. Incorrect views and intentions cause us to follow wrong paths that lead to suffering, whereas correct views and intentions enable us to follow spiritual paths that lead to happiness. In this context, ‘paths’ do not mean external paths that lead from one place to another. We do not need to study external paths as we can see them directly with our eyes. ‘Paths’ here refer to internal paths, which are by nature our actions. Actions of body, speech and mind that are motivated by ignorance are wrong paths because they lead to suffering, and actions that are motivated by wisdom are correct paths—or spiritual paths—because they lead to happiness. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Mahamudra Tantra: the Supreme Heart Jewel Nectar, pp. 5-6, © 2005)

Ordinary small beings are those who seek the happiness of only this life, and special small beings are those who seek the happiness of future lives. Middling beings are those who seek the happiness of liberation, and great beings are those who seek the happiness of enlightenment. Although there are countless living beings, all of them are included within these four types. We should know which type of being we are now—an ordinary or special small being, a middling being, or a great being. Through the practice of Lamrim instructions, we can progress from the level of an ordinary small being to that of a special small being, and then a middling being, a great being, and finally an enlightened being. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make our Life Happy and Meaningful, p. 26, © 2003)

All the karma created by sentient beings depends upon intention. If our intention is virtuous we create virtuous karma, if our intention is non-virtuous we create non-virtuous karma, and if our intention is neutral we create neutral karma. Intention plans the actions that we undertake, directing our action towards a particular goal. Since the quality of our experiences depends upon the quality of our actions, and the quality of an action depends upon the quality of the intention with which it is performed, ultimately all our happiness and unhappiness depend upon the mental factor intention. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Understanding the Mind: an Explanation of the Nature and Functions of the Mind, p. 116, © 1993, 1997, 2002)

Delusions

The definition of delusion is a mental factor that arises from inappropriate attention and functions to make the mind unpeaceful and uncontrolled. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 311, © 1990, 1995)

Delusions are distorted ways of looking at ourself, other people, and the world around us—like a distorted mirror they reflect a distorted world. The deluded mind of hatred, for example, views other people as intrinsically bad, but there is no such thing as an intrinsically bad person. Desirous attachment, on the other hand, sees its object of desire as intrinsically good and as a true source of happiness.... It is the deluded mind of attachment that projects all kinds of pleasurable qualities onto its objects of desire and then relates to them as if they really did possess those qualities. All delusions function like this, projecting onto the world their own distorted version of reality and then relating to this projection as if it were true. When our mind is under the influence of delusions, we are out of touch with reality and are not seeing things as they really are. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Transform Your Life: A Blissful Journey, p. 7, © 2007)

Attachment

Desirous attachment is a mental factor that observes its contaminated object, feels it to be attractive, exaggerates its attractions, considers it desirable, develops desire to possess it, and feels as if it has become absorbed into the object.... The stages of focusing on an object’s good qualities, exaggerating them, and considering the object to be desirable are called ‘inappropriate attention’. Inappropriate attention induces desire, and desire attaches us to the object. Therefore, if we do not want to develop desirous attachment we need to intervene at the early stages of its evolution and prevent inappropriate attention. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 312, © 1990, 1995)

What are the faults of attachment? In the Sutras, Buddha says that living beings are bound within the prison of samsara by the rope of desirous attachment. The reason we experience suffering and problems is that we remain in samsara, the reason we remain in samsara is that we have made no effort to escape, the reason we have made no effort to escape is that we have no wish to escape, and the reason we have no wish to escape is that we are so strongly attached to the places, enjoyments, and bodies of samsara. Therefore, attachment is the root of all our suffering and problems. When attachment arises in our mind it does not feel harmful; on the contrary, it usually feels beneficial. Therefore it is important to contemplate repeatedly the faults of attachment and to recognize it as a delusion whose only function is to cause us harm. Why do criminals end up in prison? It is because they are led into committing crimes by their desirous attachment. Why do we suffer from illnesses such as heart disease? It is mostly because our attachment leads us to indulge in foods and drinks that are bad for us. Why do marriages and other relationships break up so often? It is because we are led by attachment to seek other partners. Attachment is the principal cause of dissatisfaction. It never causes contentment, only restlessness and discontent. Realizing this we should make a firm decision to abandon attachment and then apply the appropriate methods. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Understanding the Mind: an Explanation of the Nature and Functions of the Mind, pp. 191-192, © 1993, 1997, 2002)

Anger

What is anger? Anger is a deluded mind that focuses on an animate or inanimate object, feels it to be unattractive, exaggerates its bad qualities, and wishes to harm it. For example, when we are angry with our partner, at that moment he or she appears to us as unattractive or unpleasant. We then exaggerate his qualities by focusing only on those aspects that irritate us and ignoring all his good qualities and kindness, until we have built up a mental image of an intrinsically faulty person. We then wish to harm him in some way, probably by criticizing or disparaging him. Because it is based on an exaggeration, anger is an unrealistic mind—the intrinsically faulty person or thing that it focuses on does not in fact exist. In addition, as we shall see, anger is also an extremely destructive mind that serves no useful purpose at all. Having understood the nature and disadvantages of anger, we then need to watch our mind carefully at all times in order to recognize it whenever it begins to arise. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, pp. 21-22, © 2007)

We grasp at our world and our problems as if they were fixed, solid, and permanent. Since we conceive of them in this way we often become upset and angry; but all our anger comes from our own mistaken conceptions. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 463, © 1990, 1995)

Self-grasping Ignorance / Self-Cherishing

The source of all delusions is a distorted awareness called ‘self-grasping ignorance’, which grasps phenomena as inherently, or independently, existent. In reality all phenomena are dependent arisings, which means that their existence is utterly dependent upon other phenomena, such as their causes, their parts, and the minds that apprehend them. Objects do not exist from their own side, in and of themselves; what they are depends upon how they are viewed. Our failure to realize this is the source of all our problems. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 1, © 2000)

‘Gather all blame into one.’ This line shows that all sufferings and difficulties can be traced back to one source, the self-cherishing mind, and that it is this mind alone that we should blame for all our troubles. Because we cherish ourself, we naturally want all the good things in life and, to obtain them, we engage in selfish actions. In this way, our self-cherishing leads us to commit actions that throw us again and again into samsaric rebirths; and, each time we take rebirth in samsara, we have to experience all its miseries again. If we did not have this self-cherishing mind, we would not commit such unskilful actions, and then we would not have to experience their unpleasant effects. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Universal Compassion: Inspiring Solutions for Difficult Times, p. 20, © 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002)

Fear & Faith

A small being goes for refuge motivated principally by fear of the sufferings of the lower realms. A middle being goes for refuge motivated principally by fear of any kind of uncontrolled rebirth. A great being goes for refuge motivated principally by great compassion, feeling unable to bear the thought that others must suffer the miseries of samsara. Whereas a middle being fears his or her own future suffering, a great being fears the future suffering of all living beings and desires to release all of them from samsaric rebirth.... Only people who have Dharma wisdom fear lower rebirth or any kind of samsaric rebirth. People who have not developed any level of spiritual aspiration fear death more than rebirth. The Kadampa Teacher Geshe Potowa said: ‘It is not death that I fear so much as rebirth, for death is in the very nature of our rebirth.’ To be born within samsara is to suffer birth, ageing, sickness, and death. We cannot become free from these until we abandon samsara. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 191-192, © 1990, 1995)

What exactly is faith? Faith is a naturally virtuous mind that functions mainly to oppose the perception of faults in the object it is focused on. The object of faith is any object that is regarded as holy or pure, such as enlightened beings, spiritual teachings, spiritual realizations, and spiritual Teachers and friends. Faith is more than just belief. For example, we might believe that human beings have been to the moon, but this belief is not faith, because faith views its object as pure and holy. Without faith everything is mundane. We are blind to anything beyond the ordinary and imperfect world we normally inhabit, and we cannot even imagine that pure, faultless beings, worlds, or states of mind exist. Faith is like pure eyes that enable us to see a pure and perfect world beyond the suffering world of samsara. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Transform Your Life: A Blissful Journey, p. 80, © 2007)

Death & Impermanence

If we remember death again and again we shall overcome the habit of assuming that we are going to live in this world forever, and we shall begin to see ourself as a traveler bound for future lives. Thinking in this way reduces our anxieties, irritations, and attachment to this life and all its pleasures, and it restrains us from committing actions solely for the sake of this one short life.... [I]f we cease to think of this life as our permanent home and begin to regard ourself as travelers bound for future worlds, we shall be less attached to this life and we shall naturally develop great interest in Dharma, for Dharma alone helps us in all our future lives. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 145, © 1990, 1995)

If we remember death again and again we shall not only want to practise Dharma but we shall actually find it hard to stop practising. Our usual mentality will be reversed. Instead of having so much time for worldly pursuits and so little time for spiritual practice, we shall find we have more and more time for Dharma and less and less time for meaningless activities. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 149-150, © 1990, 1995)

Renunciation

The three sufferings are manifest suffering, changing suffering, and pervasive suffering. Renunciation is not merely a wish to abandon manifest sufferings such as mental and physical pain. Even animals wish to be free from these sufferings, but we would not say that they have renunciation. Similarly, a wish to be free from changing suffering is not genuine renunciation. There are many non-Buddhists for example who recognize that ordinary happiness and enjoyments do not last, but invariably change into suffering and disappointment, and as a result seek a more refined form of happiness through spiritual practice; but even this is not actual renunciation. True renunciation is a mind that recognizes the nature of pervasive suffering and wishes to abandon it. What is pervasive suffering? It is simply the contaminated aggregates of samsaric beings.... For as long as we remain with contaminated aggregates, whether we abide in the highest god realms or the deepest hell, we will attract suffering just as a magnet attracts iron. If we cling to samsaric aggregates we will take rebirth in samsara, and if we take rebirth in samsara we will experience suffering. Therefore the real object to be avoided is samsaric aggregates, and it is these that the mind of renunciation seeks to abandon. As Geshe Potowa says: ‘It is not sickness and death I fear so much as samsaric rebirth’. By contemplating in this way we should develop a deep sense of disgust for samsara and a strong wish for liberation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Great Treasury of Merit: How to Rely upon a Spiritual Guide, pp. 210-211, © 1992)

Equanimity

To develop detachment to the pleasures of this life we do not need to abandon our wealth and possessions, our friends and family. Simply being poor and alone does not mean that we have no attachment to the good things of this life; many poor and lonely people are strongly attached to this world and its pleasures. To renounce attachment to the comforts of this life means to be free from eight worldly attitudes:

(1) Being pleased when receiving resources and respect
(2) Being displeased when not receiving resources and respect
(3) Being pleased when experiencing pleasure
(4) Being displeased when not experiencing pleasure
(5) Being pleased when enjoying a good reputation
(6) Being displeased when not enjoying a good reputation
(7) Being pleased when receiving praise
(8) Being displeased when not receiving praise

While we remain attached to resources and respect, pleasure, a good reputation, and praise, our mind is unbalanced and we are inclined to become overexcited when we possess them and dejected when we lose them. We remain unstable, vulnerable, and emotionally dependent upon these things. Most of our energy goes into securing them and guarding against their loss. When we practise Dharma our motivation is strongly influenced by our attachment and so our practice, like all our other activities, is in the interests of this life alone and aimed at obtaining its enjoyments. To overcome attachment to the welfare of this life we meditate:

It makes no difference whether or not I receive respect, a good reputation, or praise. I do not receive any great benefit from these and when I lose them I am not greatly harmed. Words of blame cannot hurt me. Wealth is easily lost, and the pleasures of this life are transient. I do not need to be so interested in these things or overly concerned about them.

If we can develop equanimity with regard to the concerns of this life we shall overcome many of our daily anxieties and frustrations. We shall find that we have more energy for our Dharma practice and that our practice becomes pure. By comparison with non-religious people, anyone who has developed equanimity with regard to worldly concerns has a high degree of spiritual attainment. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 146-148, © 1990, 1995)

Having mixed our mind with emptiness, when we arise from meditation we shall experience all phenomena equally as manifestations of their emptiness. Instead of feeling that the attractive, unattractive, and neutral objects we see are inherently different, we shall know that in essence they are the same nature. Just as both the gentlest and most violent waves in an ocean are equally water, likewise both attractive forms and repulsive forms are equally manifestations of emptiness. Realizing this, our mind will become balanced and peaceful. We shall recognize all conventional appearances as the magical play of the mind, and we shall not grasp strongly at their apparent differences. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 212, © 2000)

Patient Acceptance

Our real problem is not the physical sickness, difficult relationship, or financial hardship that we might currently be experiencing, but our being trapped in samsara. This recognition is the basis for developing renunciation, the spontaneous wish to attain complete freedom from every trace of dissatisfaction, which in turn is the foundation for all the higher spiritual realizations leading to the boundless happiness of liberation and enlightenment. But this recognition can only dawn within the clear and open mind of patient acceptance. As long as we are in conflict with life’s difficulties, thinking that things should be different from the way they are and blaming circumstances or other people for our unhappiness, we will never have the clarity or spaciousness of mind to see what is really binding us. Patience allows us to see clearly the mental habits that keep us locked in samsara, enabling us to begin to undo them. Patience is therefore the foundation of the everlasting freedom and bliss of liberation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, pp. 41-42, © 2007)

Some practitioners are so skilled at transforming adverse conditions into the path that they hope their suffering will increase so that they can improve their practice. Only by training in Dharma can we transform our thoughts in such a positive way. When those without experience of Dharma meet some great misfortune, all they can do is become sad and depressed and turn to their friends for comfort. With Dharma wisdom, however, problems and hardships become causes of renunciation and other virtuous minds. In fact, if we did not experience any adverse conditions it is unlikely that we would generate virtuous minds such as renunciation, because it is difficult to develop a genuine wish for freedom while we are enjoying and easy and pleasant life. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Universal Compassion: Inspiring Solutions for Difficult Times, p. 75, © 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002)

Bodhichitta

Having generated great compassion, when we become determined to attain enlightenment for the sake of others and this determination is spontaneous and continuous all day and all night, we have realized bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is the supreme motivation, the door through which we enter the stages of the Mahayana path. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 383, © 1990, 1995)

Bodhichitta can also be divided into king-like bodhichitta, shepherd-like bodhichitta, and boatman-like bodhichitta. A Bodhisattva who has king-like bodhichitta wishes to lead all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a king serves his subjects—first by becoming powerful and wealthy himself, and then by using his resources to help his subjects. A Bodhisattva who has shepherd-like bodhichitta wishes to lead all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a shepherd leads his sheep to safety. Just as shepherds first supply all the needs of their flock and attend to their own needs last of all, so some Bodhisattvas want to lead all living beings to Buddhahood first and then attain enlightenment for themselves last of all. They have this wish because they have the least concern for their own welfare and they cherish all others before themselves. This type of bodhichitta arises from practising exchanging self with others. It is said that this is the attitude Manjushri developed. A bodhisattva who has boatman-like bodhichitta wishes to bring all living beings to Buddhahood in the way that a boatman brings people to the opposite shore—by travelling along with them. This Bodhisattva has the wish for all living beings to attain enlightenment simultaneously with himself or herself. In reality, the second two types of bodhichitta are wishes that are impossible to fulfil because it is only possible to lead others to enlightenment once we have attained enlightenment ourself. Therefore, only king-like bodhichitta is actual bodhichitta. Je Tsongkhapa says that although the other Bodhisattvas wish for that which is impossible, their attitude is sublime and unmistaken. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 422, © 1990, 1995)

Loving Kindness

There are three types of love: affectionate love, cherishing love, and wishing love. Affectionate love is a mind unmixed with desirous attachment that sees another person as pleasant, likeable, or beautiful. For example, when a mother looks at her children she feels great affection for them and perceives them to be beautiful, no matter how they appear to other people. Because of her affectionate love she naturally feels them to be precious and important; this feeling is cherishing love. Because she cherishes her children she sincerely wishes for them to be happy; this wish is wishing love. Wishing love arises from cherishing love, which in turn arises from affectionate love. We need to develop these three types of love towards all living beings without exception. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 121, © 2000)

From affectionate love develops the love that cherishes others, and from cherishing love develops wishing love—the love that wishes all other living beings to be perfectly happy. When we develop wishing love for all living beings, at the same time we develop great compassion—a mind that cannot bear others to experience any pain and desires their complete freedom from every kind of suffering. The realizations of wishing love and great compassion are like two sides of the same coin. Both depend upon affectionate love. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 409, © 1990, 1995)

Compassion

Compassion is a virtuous mind that wishes others to be free from suffering. We all have some compassion, but the compassion we have for our friends and relatives is often mixed with attachment, and so is not pure. The scriptures warn us not to mistake attachment for compassion. Pure compassion is unmixed with attachment. Pure compassion is also free from partiality. Although at first we naturally discriminate, feeling compassion for some and not for others, we must train in meditation to extend the scope of our compassion until it embraces all living beings without exception. Even then, if our compassion remains a simple wish for others to be free from suffering, it will not be the great compassion of the Mahayana. Great compassion is a wish to protect all living beings from their suffering. This is the most precious mind of all, and it arises only in those who are in the Mahayana lineage. Hinayanists can wish for all living beings to be free from suffering, but they never develop the wish actually to protect them from suffering. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Ocean of Nectar: Wisdom and Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism, p. 20, © 2003)

[O]nce we have generated great compassion we cultivate superior intention—the determination to take responsibility to release others from suffering and lead them to perfect happiness. Superior intention is the promise to liberate all living beings, recognizing that they are all our mothers and that they all wish to avoid suffering and experience happiness. Seeing the need to take personal responsibility, we assume the task of benefiting others and we carry out our intention at all times. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 417-418, © 1990, 1995)

Actions

An action, whether of body, speech or mind, is called “karma” in Sanskrit. Engaging in the correct actions necessary for the welfare of our future lives depends upon a correct understanding of actions and their effects. All our actions of body, speech, and mind are causes and all our experiences are their effects. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make our Life Happy and Meaningful, p. 42, © 2003)

If we understand the law of karma we shall understand how we can control our future experiences by abandoning harmful actions that are the causes of misery and by practising virtuous actions that are the causes of happiness. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 228, © 1990, 1995)

Non-virtue

We have already accumulated infinite non-virtuous actions earlier in this life and in our countless previous lives, and if we do not purify these they will definitely throw us into a lower rebirth where it will be impossible for us to engage in spiritual practice. Even now these non-virtuous actions and broken spiritual commitments are seriously obstructing the fulfilment of our wishes and our spiritual progress. It is vital that we purify them without delay. The ability to purify our non-virtuous actions is one of the main advantages of a human rebirth. Animals have very little capacity to engage in virtuous actions, and naturally perform many negative actions such as killing; but human beings have the freedom not only to refrain from non-virtue but also to purify the potentialities of all their previously accumulated negative karma. As the Kadampa Geshes used to say: ‘Now is the time to purify negative karma, not to create more! Now is the time to accumulate merit, not to use it up!’ If we lose this precious human life it will be almost impossible to find another such opportunity. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully: the Profound Practice of Transference of Consciousness, p. 146, © 1999)

Conscientiousness is like nectar because it causes us to experience bliss and happiness now and in the future. Non-conscientiousness is like death because it destroys the meaning of having a human life. We consider death to be the worst that could befall us, but in reality living without conscientiousness is far worse. If we waste the precious opportunities afforded by this human life by not engaging in virtuous actions we are as if already dead. As Shantideva says in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, what is the meaning in taking a human rebirth if we use it only to commit evil? Death is nowhere near as unpleasant as the long-term effects of our non-virtue. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Understanding the Mind: an Explanation of the Nature and Functions of the Mind, p. 232, © 1993, 1997, 2002)

Body, Speech, & Mind

[I]f we want protection from suffering and from the danger of lower rebirth, we must try not to commit any more negative karma, and we must also try to purify the negative karma that we have already committed. There are ten principal non-virtuous actions that we should avoid: three actions of the body, four of speech, and three of the mind. The three non-virtuous bodily actions are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; the four non-virtuous verbal actions are lying, divisive speech, hurtful speech, and idle chatter; and the three non-virtuous mental actions are covetousness, malice, and holding wrong views. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Introduction to Buddhism: an Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life, p. 32, © 2008)

Because we cherish ourself so strongly, we are drawn to the people and things we find attractive, we want to separate ourself from the people and things we find unattractive, and we are uninterested in the people and things we find neither attractive nor unattractive. In this way attachment, anger, and indifference are born. Because we have an exaggerated sense of our own importance we feel that others’ interests are in conflict with our on, and this in turn gives rise to competitiveness, jealousy, arrogance, and lack of consideration for others. By acting under the influence of these and other delusions we engage in destructive behaviour, such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and hurtful speech. The result of these negative actions is suffering for both ourself and others. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, pp. 5-6, © 2000)

Going for Refuge

‘Buddha’ is Sanskrit for ‘Awakened One’—one who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and is free from the dream of mistaken appearance. Since beginningless time sentient beings like ourself have been trapped in the nightmare of samsara because we have never woken from the sleep of ignorance, not realizing that all our suffering is just the creation of our own confused mind. It is only through gaining realizations of Buddha’s teachings, which are known as ‘Dharma’, that we are able to wake up from this dream-like samsaric suffering. These realizations are our real inner protection from suffering. Those who have gained Dharma realizations are known as ‘Sangha’, and they form the spiritual community who help us in our spiritual practice and set a good example for us to follow. Because they are so precious, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are known as the ‘Three Jewels’. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully: the Profound Practice of Transference of Consciousness, pp. 4-5, © 1999)

To go for refuge perfectly we need to do three things. First, by contemplating the sufferings and dangers of samsara we need to have developed a heartfelt fear of them, either on our own behalf alone or on behalf of all living beings. Second, by contemplating the good qualities of the Three Jewels we need to have developed confidence and faith in them as completely reliable sources of guidance, and we need to have seen that sincerely going for refuge to them is a perfect safeguard against future suffering. Third, having cultivated the two causes—fear of suffering and faith in the Three Jewels—we need to go for refuge. When these three conditions have come together our refuge is perfect. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 213, © 1990, 1995)

Buddha Jewel

It is important always to remember Buddha’s kindness. All our happiness is a result of Buddha’s kindness because all Buddha’s actions are pervaded by compassion and concern for others, and it is these actions that enable us to perform virtuous actions that are the cause of our happiness. Without Buddha’s kindness, we would not know the real causes of happiness or the real causes of suffering. Buddha taught us how all happiness and suffering depend on the mind. He showed us how to abandon those states of mind that cause suffering and cultivate those states of mind that cause happiness. In other words, he taught us perfect methods for overcoming suffering and attaining happiness. No one else taught us these methods. How kind Buddha is! (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Introduction to Buddhism: an Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life, pp. 151-152, © 2008)

Like any mind, delusions can arise only in dependence upon their objects. Attachment arises in dependence upon objects of attachment; hatred, or anger, in dependence upon objects of anger; and confusion in dependence upon objects of confusion. Without these objects, the delusions cannot arise, just as a bird cannot land if there is no ground. Therefore, to prevent our delusions arising, we imagine that all the objects that give rise to our attachment, hatred, and confusion are transformed into pure objects and offered to our Spiritual Guide. Because they have been offered we can no longer grasp at them or allow the mind to indulge in them, and in this way we are protected from delusions. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Great Treasury of Merit: How to Rely upon a Spiritual Guide, p. 143, © 1992)

Dharma Jewel

The actual refuge is Dharma. As mentioned earlier, Dharma is Buddha’s teachings and our own inner experience of these teachings. It is our Dharma, our own spiritual realizations, that directly protects us from taking rebirth in the lower realms. How is this? The cause of lower rebirth is negative actions, which we commit because our mind is under the influence of delusions. By practising Buddha’s teachings, we become familiar with special, virtuous states of mind that are the direct opposite of these delusions. As our virtuous minds become more powerful, our delusions naturally become weaker. For example, as our experience of love increases, our hatred decreases, and as our ability to rejoice in others’ good fortune improves, our jealousy diminishes. As our negative minds become weaker, we stop committing the negative karma that causes us to take rebirth in the lower realms. This is how our inner experience of Dharma protects us from the danger of lower rebirth. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Introduction to Buddhism: an Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life, pp. 59-60, © 2008)

If we want to exhaust our suffering, we need to study both the cause and the remedy of samsara. It is only in Dharma that these matters are analyzed fully. What is meant by Dharma? It means ‘to hold’. What is held depends upon the scope of our practice. At the initial level, Dharma practice holds us back from falling into the three lower realms. At the intermediate level, we are held back from being reborn anywhere in samsara. Finally, at the highest level, that of the Mahayana practitioner, we are held back from all the faults and disadvantages of self-cherishing and shown the way to full enlightenment. There is no Dharma practice that is not included within one of these three scopes. Therefore if we wish an end to our suffering, we must practice Dharma conscientiously. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World, pp. 151-152, © 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007)

Sangha Jewel

If we associate closely with friends who have no interest in spiritual development and who habitually engage in harmful actions, we ourself easily develop the same bad habits and lose our enthusiasm and respect for spiritual practice. Our friendships have a powerful influence over us. Since we tend to imitate our friends, we need to associate with friends who admire spiritual training and who apply themselves to it with joy. Daily contact with our spiritual friends is very important because we do not often have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with our Spiritual Guide. If we come under the influence of our spiritual friends, we shall develop the same good qualities and virtuous aspirations, and we shall be inspired by their example to put effort into our study and practice of Dharma. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 331, © 1990, 1995)

Three Higher Trainings (Hinayana)

The realizations of all the stages of the path of a middle being are the Dharma Jewel of a middle being. In particular, the realizations of the three higher trainings directly eliminate the causes of uncontrolled rebirth and provide direct protection against the miseries of samsara. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 194-195, © 1990, 1995)

There are many paths that lead to the attainment of liberation but they are all included in the three higher trainings of moral discipline, concentration and wisdom. Ordinary moral discipline—abandonment of the ten non-virtuous actions—can lead to rebirth as a human or god, but is not adequate by itself for the attainment of liberation. For this, the moral discipline of renunciation for the whole of samsara is required. When moral discipline is conjoined with the thought of renunciation it earns the title ‘higher moral discipline.’ In a similar fashion, with renunciation as their base the practices of single-pointed concentration and insight into the true nature of reality become the trainings in higher concentration and higher wisdom. When these three higher trainings are completed the practitioner will definitely attain liberation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World, p. 108, © 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007)

Training in Higher Moral Discipline

The nature of moral discipline is abandoning inappropriate actions, maintaining pure behavior, and performing every action correctly with a virtuous motivation. Moral discipline is most important for everybody in order to prevent future problems for ourself and for others. It makes us pure because it makes our actions pure. We need to be clean and pure ourself—just having a clean body is not enough, since our body is not our self. Moral discipline is like a great earth that supports and nurtures the crops of spiritual realizations. Without practicing moral discipline, it is very difficult to make progress in spiritual trainings. Training in higher moral discipline is learning to be deeply familiar with the practice of moral discipline, motivated by renunciation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, pp. 13-14, © 2007)

With the motivation of renunciation, when we practise any moral discipline—from the moral discipline of abandoning killing to the moral discipline of keeping all three sets of vows, the Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva, and Tantric vows—we are practising higher moral discipline. Without the motivation of renunciation any practice of moral discipline is a cause of higher rebirth in samsara, but it is not a cause of liberation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 368, © 1990, 1995)

Training in Higher Concentration

The second higher training is training in higher concentration. The nature of concentration is preventing distractions and concentrating on virtuous objects. It is very important to train in concentration, because with distractions we cannot accomplish anything. Training in higher concentration is learning to be deeply familiar with the ability to stop distractions and concentrate on virtuous objects, motivated by renunciation. With regard to any Dharma practice, if our concentration is clear and strong, it is very easy to make progress. Normally our main problem is distractions. The practice of moral discipline prevents gross distractions, and concentration prevents subtle distractions; together they give rise to quick results in our Dharma practice. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, p. 14, © 2007)

Supramundane concentrations are motivated either by renunciation or bodhichitta. They are attained only by pure practitioners of Buddhadharma because only Buddhist scriptures contain correct and precise explanations of pervasive suffering, and we need to understand pervasive suffering in order to realize renunciation. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 476, © 1990, 1995)

Training in Higher Wisdom

If our wisdom is weak we experience obstacles, but if our wisdom is strong we have no problems. Wisdom teaches us what to do and what not to do; it is like an inner Teacher that we carry in our hearts, and like a Protector that protects us from engaging in wrong actions and having to experience their unpleasant results. When we are discouraged, disappointed, or depressed, wisdom lifts our mind and makes us happy; and when we are over-excited or distracted, wisdom calms our mind and reduces our distractions. With wisdom our mind is alwys balanced and comfortable. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Great Treasury of Merit: How to Rely upon a Spiritual Guide, p. 28, © 1992)

The third higher training is training in higher wisdom. The nature of wisdom is a virtuous intelligent mind whose functions are to dispel confusion and to understand profound objects thoroughly. Many people are very intelligent in destroying their enemies, caring for their families, finding what they want, and so forth, but this is not wisdom. Even animals have such intelligence. Worldly intelligence is deceptive, but wisdom will never deceive us. It is our inner Spiritual Guide who leads us to correct paths, and is the divine eye through which we can see past and future lives and the special connection between our actions and our experiences, known as karma. The subject of karma is very extensive and subtle, and we can understand it only through wisdom. Training in higher wisdom is meditating on wisdom realizing emptiness, motivated by renunciation. This wisdom is extremely profound. Its object, emptiness, is not nothingness but is the real nature of all phenomena. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, pp. 14-15, © 2007)

Three Higher Trainings (Mahayana)

Having gained some experience of bodhichitta, we should bring it to completion by practising the three higher trainings of the Mahayana: training in the perfection of moral discipline by keeping the Bodhisattva vows purely; training in the perfection of mental stabilization by striving to attain tranquil abiding; and training in the perfection of wisdom by developing superior seeing. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make our Life Happy and Meaningful, p. 101, © 2003)

Wishing to attain enlightenment for the sole purpose of benefiting all sentient beings—with the spontaneous thought to release them from their suffering and lead them to the ultimate state of happiness, is bodhichitta.... With a proper union of view, meditation and action we can attain the desired state of full enlightenment very rapidly. Therefore, we should take all these teachings as sound and reliable words of advice and put them into practice for the benefit of all. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World, p. 463, © 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007)

The Six Perfections

All the practices of the six perfections, including the Tantric practices of generation stage and completion stage, are in reality parts of bodhichitta practice because they are all methods for fulfilling the wishes of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is like the main body of the Bodhisattva’s path, and the other realizations of the Bodhisattva are like its limbs. The attainment of enlightenment depends upon making progress in and completing the practice of bodhichitta. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 170, © 2000)

Since Bodhisattvas wish to become enlightened as quickly as possible, they have a strong wish to accumulate powerful merit quickly; therefore they practise each of the six perfections in conjunction with all the others. For example, when Bodhisattvas practise the perfection of giving they do so in such a way that they are able to practice all the other perfections at the same time. When they practise giving they do so without self-interest, expecting nothing in return. In this way they practise in accordance with their Bodhisattva vows and combine the perfection of giving with the perfection of moral discipline. By patiently accepting any hardships involved, and not allowing anger to arise if no gratitude is shown, they combine the perfection of giving with the perfection of patience. By giving joyfully they combine the perfection of giving with the perfection of effort; and by concentrating their minds, thinking ‘May this gift bring real benefit to this person’, they combine it with the perfection of mental stabilization. Finally, by realizing that the giver, the gift, and the action of giving all lack inherent existence, they combine the perfection of giving with the perfection of wisdom. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 480-481, © 1990, 1995)

Effects

The general function of feeling is to experience the effects of previous actions, or karma.... Virtuous actions result in pleasant feelings, non-virtuous actions in unpleasant feelings, and neutral actions in neutral feelings. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Understanding the Mind: an Explanation of the Nature and Functions of the Mind, p. 108, © 1993, 1997, 2002)

The appropriated aggregates are like the roots of a tree. From these roots grows the trunk of our self-grasping apprehending I and mine. From this trunk the branches of other delusions develop, and from these come the stems of actions and the fruit of great suffering. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 308, © 1990, 1995)

Lower Rebirth

The fundamental reason for our suffering is that we are in samsara, and we are in samsara because we continually create the deluded, self-centred actions that perpetuate the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth. Samsara is the experience of a self-centred mind. The six realms of samsara, from the god realm to the hell realm, are all the dream-like projections of a mind distorted by self-cherishing and self-grasping. By causing us to see life as a constant struggle to serve and protect our own I, these two minds impel us to perform innumerable destructive actions that keep us imprisoned in the nightmare of samsara. Until we destroy these two minds we shall never know true freedom or happiness, we shall never really be in control of our mind, and we shall never be safe from the threat of lower rebirth. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 88, © 2000)

The ripened effects of non-virtuous throwing actions are the aggregates of hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. The effects similar to the cause of non-virtuous throwing actions are the painful feelings of hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. The environmental effects of non-virtuous throwing actions are the environments experienced by hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 272, © 1990, 1995)

Hell Being

The torment of the hell realms is not something unrelated to our mind or a punishment imposed from without. As with all our experiences of suffering, it is the creation of our own deluded mind. If we wish to avoid experiencing these unbearable sufferings, the proper course of action is to abandon all faults and delusions in this very life. If we can gain control over our mind in this way, there is nothing in samsara for us to fear. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World, p. 108, © 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007)

Dying and taking rebirth in the hells is like falling asleep and experiencing an unending nightmare. Suppose we were to fall asleep and dream of falling into a terrifying abyss in which all kinds of hideous monsters and cruel torturers began attacking us and inflicting unbearable pain, but instead of waking up we stayed in that dream for an inconceivably long time. We would to all intents and purposes be in hell. Similarly, when we die, all the appearances of this life vanish and are replaced by the dream-like appearances of the intermediate state. If heavy negative karma has ripened we will feel as if we are plunging into a dark and terrifying abyss, being dragged down by hideous creatures who are delighting in our discomfort and inflicting all sorts of excruciating pain upon us. These nightmarish appearances will get worse and worse, and will go on and on, appearing to last for an eternity. This is hell. The hells are not places with distinct geographical locations, nor do they exist from their own side; they are merely appearances to an impure mind, just like a nightmare. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Great Treasury of Merit: How to Rely Upon a Spiritual Guide, p. 206, © 1992)

Hungry Spirit / Animal

In general, everyone who has physical or mental pain, even animals, understands their own suffering. But when Buddha says, “You should know sufferings,” he means that we should know the sufferings of our future lives. Through knowing these, we will develop a strong wish to liberate ourself from them. This practical advice is important for everybody because, if we have the wish to liberate ourself from the sufferings of future lives, we will definitely use our present human life for the freedom and happiness of our countless future lives. There is no greater meaning than this. If we do not have this wish, we will waste our precious human life for the freedom and happiness of only this one short life. This would be foolish because our intention and actions would be no different from the intention and actions of animals who are only concerned with this life alone. The Great Yogi Milarepa once said to a hunter called Gonpo Dorje: “Your body is human but your mind is that of an animal. You, a human being, who possess an animal’s mind, please listen to my song.” (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, How to Solve Our Human Problems: the Four Noble Truths, pp. 7-8, © 2007)

In one text, it says that if we have not realized renunciation it is more beneficial to practise generation stage as an animal, hell being, or hungry spirit than to practise generation stage as a Deity. If we practise self-generation as a being of one of the lower realms we shall develop renunciation rapidly. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 225, © 1990, 1995)

Higher Rebirth

The practise of moral discipline is the main cause of rebirth as a human. If we practise generosity without moral discipline, we shall experience some good results in the future, but not in a human body. For example, we may be reborn as a pet cat or dog that is well cared for. The reason why some animals receive great care from humans is that they practised generosity in previous lives, but the reason why they have taken a lower rebirth is that they broke their moral discipline in previous lives. If we practise moral discipline by abandoning negative actions, such as killing, with the motivation to obtain human happiness, this moral discipline will protect us from lower rebirth and cause us to be reborn as a human being in the future. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The Bodhisattva Vow: a Practical Guide to Helping Others, p. 3, © 2003)

The ripened effects of virtuous throwing actions are the contaminated aggregates of humans, demi-gods, and gods. The effects similar to the cause of virtuous throwing actions are the different types of contaminated happiness of humans, demi-gods, and gods. The environmental effects of virtuous throwing actions are the abodes of humans, demi-gods, and gods. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 272-273, © 1990, 1995)

Human Being

If we do not prepare for protection from lower rebirth now, while we have a human life with its freedoms and endowments, once we have taken any of the three lower rebirths it will be extremely difficult to obtain a precious human life again. It is said to be easier for human beings to attain enlightenment than it is for beings in the lower realms, such as animals, to attain a human rebirth. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make our Life Happy and Meaningful, p. 37, © 2003)

[O]ur human life is of real value only when we use it to practise Dharma. In itself it is a true suffering and has no precious qualities.... The appropriated aggregates are like the roots of a tree. From these roots grows the trunk of our self-grasping apprehending I and mine. From this trunk the branches of other delusions develop, and from these come the stems of actions and the fruit of great suffering. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 288, 308, © 1990, 1995)

Demi-god / God

[Demi-gods] are continually at war with the gods. In terms of power and prosperity, they are superior to human beings, but they are so obsessed with jealousy and violence that their lives have little spiritual value.... The lower classes of gods, the desire realm gods, live a life of ease and luxury, devoting their time to enjoyment and the satisfaction of their desires. Though their world is a paradise and their lifespan is very long, they are not immortal and they eventually fall to the lower states. Since their lives are filled with distractions, it is difficult for them to find the motivation to practise Dharma, Buddha’s teachings. From a spiritual point of view, a human life is much more meaningful than a god’s life. Higher than the desire realm gods are the gods of the form and formless realms. Having passed beyond sensual desire, the form realm gods experience the refined bliss of meditative absorption and possess bodies made of light. Transcending even these subtle forms, the gods of the formless realm abide without form in a subtle consciousness that resembles infinite space. Though their minds are the purest and most exalted within samsara, they have not overcome the ignorance of self-grasping, which is the root of samsara, and so, after experiencing bliss for many aeons, eventually their lives end and they are once again reborn in the lower states of samsara. Like the other gods, they consume the merit, or good fortune, they have created in the past and make little or no spiritual progress. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, The New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make our Life Happy and Meaningful, pp. 16-17, © 2003)

Liberation

To eradicate delusions completely, we must destroy their root—the mind of self-grasping. To do this we need to familiarize our mind with the true nature of reality, or ultimate truth. If we destroy self-grasping, all other delusions cease naturally, just as the leaves and branches of a tree die if we destroy its roots. Once we have completely eradicated our delusions it will be utterly impossible for us to experience unpeaceful states of mind. As we shall no longer have the internal causes of suffering, external causes of suffering, such as sickness or death, will have no power to disturb our mind. This permanent cessation of delusion and suffering is known as ‘liberation’, or ‘nirvana’ in Sanskrit. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 6, © 2000)

Some non-Buddhists doubt the existence of liberation. They say ‘Where is this liberation that Buddhists talk about? We cannot see any examples of liberation.’ Doubts such as these are dispelled by our own experience. If we train in reducing and overcoming the causes of delusions we shall understand that although our delusions may at present be very strong, they are not permanent because they can be reduced by applying opponents. If delusions are not permanent and opponents exist it is definite that delusions can be removed once and for all. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 314, © 1990, 1995)

Foe Destroyer

The person who bears all suffering and overcomes the enemy of anger as well as the other delusions is truly worthy of being called a ‘hero.’ Yet we usually reserve this title for someone who kills an ordinary enemy in battle. Such a person is not really a hero because the enemy he killed would have died naturally in the course of time anyway. What he did was not much different from killing a corpse. But those internal enemies, the delusions, will never die a natural death. If we do not exert effort in ridding our mind of these persistent foes, they will keep us locked in the prison of samsara, as they have done since beginningless time. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World, pp. 226-227, © 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007)

The seed of a delusion is the potentiality for that delusion to arise; it is the substantial cause of the delusion. All ordinary beings have these potentialities in their mind, and they can be eradicated only by attaining wisdom directly realizing emptiness and meditating on this for a long time. Until we have finally abandoned a delusion, the seed of that delusion will remain within our mind, even when the delusion itself is not manifest. Although the seed of a delusion is the substantial cause of that delusion and exists within us all the time, it will produce a manifest delusion only when the other necessary causes of delusion are present. For example, we have within us the seed of anger even when our mind is peaceful; but anger does not manifest in our mind until the other causes of anger, such as a disagreeable object and inappropriate attention, come together. A Foe Destroyer has completely abandoned the seeds of all delusions. Thus, even if a Foe Destroyer meets with other causes of delusion, such as an attractive or disagreeable object, he or she will not be able to develop delusions. Foe Destroyers are so called because they have destroyed the inner foe of their delusions by eradicating their seeds. Delusions are the main obstructions to liberation because we cannot attain liberation from samsara until they are eradicated. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Understanding the Mind: an Explanation of the Nature and Functions of the Mind, p. 181, © 1993, 1997, 2002)

Enlightenment

Enlightenment is defined as an omniscient wisdom whose nature is the permanent cessation of mistaken appearance and whose function is to bestow mental peace on all living beings. When we attain enlightenment we become and enlightened being. In Buddhism, enlightened being and Buddha are synonymous. Buddha means ‘Awakened One’, and refers to anyone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and is completely free from dream-like samsaric problems and suffering. The ‘sleep of ignorance’ is the sleep of self-grasping in which living beings always remain and from which they have never awakened. Through the power of their ignorance, each and every living being without exception experiences mistaken appearance. Because of this they have to experience problems, sufferings, fears and dangers endlessly, throughout their life and in life after life. Only Buddhas are free from this. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Mahamudra Tantra: the Supreme Heart Jewel Nectar, pp. 12-13, © 2005)

The way in which our world appears to us depends upon our mind. A pure mind experiences a pure world and an impure mind experiences an impure world. Of all impure worlds, hell is the worst. It is the world that appears to the very worst kind of mind. The word of a hungry spirit is less impure, and the world of animals is less impure again. The world that appears to human beings is less impure than the world that appears to animals, and the world that appears to gods is less impure than the world that appears to human beings. A mind that is completely pure will perceive the world as a Buddha Land, the pure environment of a Buddha. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, p. 178, © 1990, 1995)

Buddha Nature

Every living being has the potential to become a Buddha, someone who has completely purified his or her mind of all faults and limitations and has brought all good qualities to perfection. Our mind is like a cloudy sky, in essence clear and pure but overcast by the clouds of delusions. Just as the thickest clouds eventually disperse, so too even the heaviest delusions can be removed from our mind. Delusions such as hatred, greed, and ignorance are not an intrinsic part of the mind. If we apply the appropriate methods they can be completely eliminated, and we shall experience the supreme happiness of full enlightenment. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Eight Steps to Happiness: the Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness, p. 1, © 2000)

It is said that because all living beings have some compassion, all living beings have Buddha nature. By gradually improving and extending our compassion we shall eventually develop great, or universal, compassion—the wish to protect all living beings from suffering. From the moment we develop compassion for all living beings our Buddha nature awakens and begins to function. Thus through the force of our compassion we can enter the Mahayana path and progress through all the stages to enlightenment. If we then improve our great compassion it will eventually transform into the compassion of a Buddha, which has the power actually to protect all living beings. A Buddha’s compassion can appear as any object that living beings may need, such as specific environments, enjoyments, friends, spiritual Teachers, doctors, or medicines. Compassion helps everyone—it pervades everywhere. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully: the Profound Practice of Transference of Consciousness, p. 143, © 1999)