Bodhisattva Resolve

21
Supreme bodhicitta is the wish to remove
every flaw from every living being and to
bring about limitless good qualities in each of them.
This is outstanding even amongst the outstanding!

22
If one wants to benefit everyone, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to befriend everyone, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to gain the confidence of all, one needs bodhicitta.
If one wants to be everyone’s spiritual friend, one needs bodhicitta.”

Excerpt From: Khunu Rinpoche. Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea.
 
206
If you do not yank out by the root
this noxious stem of self-interest,
how will the lordly wish-fulfilling tree of bodhicitta
that delights in altruism ever flourish?

Excerpt From: Khunu Rinpoche. Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea.
 
We have heard that resolving the mind is foremost among the essential doors for entering the Path, and that making vows is first among the crucial matters in cultivation. By making vows, we can save living beings. By resolving our minds, we can realize the Buddhas’ Path. If we do not make our resolve great and our vows firm, we will remain on the turning wheel throughout as many kalpas as there are particles of dust. Any cultivation will be only bitter toil done in vain.

As the Flower Adornment Sutra says, “If you forget your resolve upon Bodhi, your cultivation of even wholesome practices becomes the karma of demons.” this it is clear that forgetting our resolve upon Bodhi is even worse than having never made the resolve.

Thus we know that anyone wishing to study the vehicle of the Thus Come Ones must first make the vows of a Bodhisattva without delay.

Great Master Shr Syan (d. 1734) Exhortation to Resolve Upon Bodhi.
 
37 Bodhisattva Practices by Tokme Zangmo (d. 1369):

http://media.dalailama.com/English/texts/37-practices_english.pdf

How it begins:

Homage to Lokeshwara

I pay constant homage through my three doors,
To my supreme teacher and protector Chenrezig,
Who while seeing all phenomena lack coming and going,
Makes single-minded effort for the good of living beings.

Perfect Buddhas, source of all well-being and happiness,
Arise from accomplishing the excellent teachings,
And this depends on knowing the practices.
So I will explain the practices of Bodhisattvas.

1 Having gained this rare ship of freedom and fortune,
Hear, think and meditate unwaveringly night and day,
In order to free yourself and others
From the ocean of cyclic existence -
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas

2 Attached to your loved ones you're stirred up like water.
Hating your enemies you burn like fire.
In the darkness of confusion you forget what to adopt and discard.
Give up your homeland -
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

3 By avoiding bad objects disturbing emotions gradually decrease.
Without distraction virtuous activities naturally increase.
With clarity of mind conviction in the teaching arises.
Cultivate seclusion -
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

4 Loved ones who have long kept company will part.
Wealth created with difficulty will be left behind.
Consciousness, the guest, will leave the guest-house of the body.
Let go of this life -
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
 
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The Introduction by Thupten Jinpa of Essential Mind Training begins:

Within the vast body of Tibetan spiritual literature, one genre stands out for its inspirational power, universality, and down-to-earth practicality, qualities that have made these teachings dear to the Tibetan people for generations. I am referring to a collection of texts and their associated contemplative practices known simply as lojong, or “mind training,” which first appeared in the land of snows almost a millennium ago. At its heart the Tibetan mind training teachings represent a profound celebration of the spiritual ideal of genuine altruism, a deeply felt compassion for all beings and a dedication to serve their welfare. This is an ideal shared across many of world’s great spiritual and humanistic traditions. By the twelfth century lojong had become a most cherished spiritual heritage on the vast Tibetan plateau, with attendant myths and legends associated with its origin and development.
 
Nicholas Weeks said:
King of Prayers -- aspirations of Bodhisattvas:

https://www.kurukulla.org/resources/Prayers_and_Texts/king_of_prayers_a5.pdf
Click to expand...
How it begins:

I bow down to the youthful Ārya Mañjuśrī.

You lions among humans,
Gone to freedom in the present, past, and future
In the worlds of ten directions,
To all of you, with body, speech, and sincere mind, I bow down
.
With the energy of aspiration for the bodhisattva way,
With a sense of deep respect,
And with as many bodies as atoms of the world,
To all you buddhas visualized as real, I bow down.

On every atom are buddhas numberless as atoms,
Each amidst a host of bodhisattvas,
And I am confident the sphere of all phenomena
Is entirely filled with buddhas in this way.

With infinite oceans of praise for you,
And oceans of sound from the aspects of my voice,
I sing the breathtaking excellence of buddhas,
And celebrate all of you gone to bliss.
 
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