THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES He who has made the Buddha his refuge Cannot be killed by ten million demons; Though he transgress his vows or be tormented in mind, It is certain that he will go beyond rebirth Devote yourself earnestly, therefore, to taking refuge, the basis of all Dharma practices, for its benefits are immeasurable I have taken the threefold refuge but have little heartfelt faith I follow the threefold training, but have let my commitments slip Bless me and all those who are faint-hearted like me That our faith may be firm and irreversible 192 Santideva (7th-8th centuries) Author of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryavatara), the great classic of Indian Mahayana literature CHAPTER TWO Arousing bodhicitta, the root of the Great Vehicle Through your great wisdom, you have realized nirva1Jil Through your great compassion, you willingly embrace samsara Through your skill in methods you have realized that they are no different Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow This chapter has three sections: training the mind in the four boundless qualities; arousing bodhicitta, the mind turned towards supreme enlightenment; and training in the precepts of bodhicitta in aspiration and bodhicitta in application I TRAINING THE MIND IN THE FOUR BOUNDLESS QUALITIES The four boundless qualities are boundless love, compassion, sympathetic joy and impartiality Love is usually dealt with first But when we practise the four one after the other as a training for the mind, we should start by developing impartiality Otherwise, whatever love, compassion and sympathetic joy we generate will tend to be one-sided and not completely pure In this case, therefore, we begin with the meditation on impartiality 195 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES Meditation on impartiality Impartiality (tang nyom in Tibetan) means giving up (tang) our hatred for enemies and infatuation with friends, and having an even-minded (nyom) attitude towards all beings, free of attachment to those close to us and aversion for those who are distant As things are now, we are very attached to those we think of as part of our own group father and mother, relatives and so on-while we feel an intolerable aversion towards our enemies and those associated with them This is a mistake, and comes from a lack of investigation In former lives, those whom we now consider our enemies have surely been close to us, ever lovingly at our side, looking after us with goodwill and giving us unimaginable help and support Conversely, many of those whom we now call friends have certainly been against us and done us harm As we saw in the chapter on impermanence, this is illustrated by the words of the sublime Katyayana: He eats his father's flesh, he beats his mother off, He dandles on his lap his own unfortunate enemy; The wife is gnawing at her husband's bones I laugh to see what happens in sarhsara's show! Another example is the story of Princess Perna Sel, daughter of the Dharma King Trisong Detsen When she died at the age of seventeen, her father went to ask Guru Rinpoche how such a thing could happen "I would have thought that my daughter must have been someone with pure past actions," said the king "She was born as the daughter of King Trisong Detsen She met all of you translators and pa1,1Qitas, who are like real Buddhas So how can it be that her life was nevertheless so short?" "It was not at all because of any pure past deeds that the princess was born as your daughter," the Master replied "Once I, Padma, you, the great Dharma King, and the great Bodhisattva Abbot had been born as three low-caste boys We were building the Great Stiipa of Jarung Khashor At that time the princess had taken birth as an insect, which stung you on the neck Brushing it off with your hand, you accidentally killed it Because of the debt you incurred in taking that life, the insect was reborn as your daughter." 129 If even the children of Dharma King Trisong Detsen, who was Maiijusri in person, • could be born to him in that way as the result of his past • Trisong Detsen is considered to be an emanation of the Bodhisattva Maiiju§ri 196 ... happens in sarhsara's show! Another example is the story of Princess Perna Sel, daughter of the Dharma King Trisong Detsen When she died at the age of seventeen, her father went to ask Guru Rinpoche... training the mind in the four boundless qualities; arousing bodhicitta, the mind turned towards supreme enlightenment; and training in the precepts of bodhicitta in aspiration and bodhicitta in application... after the other as a training for the mind, we should start by developing impartiality Otherwise, whatever love, compassion and sympathetic joy we generate will tend to be one-sided and not completely