Quotes from ??ntideva

When happiness is liked by me and others equally, what is so special about me that I should strive after happiness only for myself?

When fear and suffering are disliked by me and others equally what is so special about me that I protect myself and not the other?

All that may be wished for, will by nature fade to nothing.

If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.

ground gained must be retained at all cost and never yielded. Once attention has been caught, and interest kindled, the task is one of consolidation: the original impulse and fervor must be safeguarded and never allowed to disappear.

In solitude, the mind and body Are not troubled by distraction. Therefore leave this worldly life And totally abandon mental wandering.

28. Anger, lust, these enemies of mine, Are limbless and devoid of faculties. They have no bravery, no cleverness; How then have they reduced me to such slavery?

All the joy the world contains Has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself. (8.129)

May beings everywhere who suffer Torment in their minds and bodies Have, by virtue of my merit, Joy and happiness in boundless measure.

Do not be downcast, but marshal all your powers; Make an effort; be the master of yourself! Practice the equality of self and other; Practice the exchange of self and other.

After all, suffering, though of course unwanted, has its uses. Without it we would be like the gods, never longing for release from sa?s?ra.

We should at once cast far away Our mind's attachments: Tinder for the fiery flames of hate.

All form, therefore, is like a dream, And who will be attached to it, who thus investigates? The body, in this way, has no existence; What, therefore, is male and what is female?

Thus the state of Buddhahood depends On beings and on Buddhas equally. What kind of practice is it then That honors only Buddhas but not beings?

My wealth of merit gathered in, With reverence but without conceptual target, When shall I reveal this truth of emptiness To those who go to ruin through belief in real existence?

The work of bringing benefit to beings Will not, then, make me proud and self-admiring. The happiness of others is itself my satisfaction; I do not expect another recompense.

And now as long as space endures, As long as there are beings to be found, May I continue likewise to remain To drive away the sorrows of the world. The pains and sorrows of all wandering beings— May they ripen wholly on myself. And may the virtuous company of Bodhisattvas Always bring about the happiness of beings.

But if, through seeking happiness, my deeds are wrong, No matter where I turn my steps, The knives of misery will cut me down, The wage and retribution of a sinful life.

For it's as if by chance that I have gained This state so hard to find, wherein to help myself. If now, while having such discernment, I am once again consigned to hell, I am as if benumbed by sorcery, As if reduced to total mindlessness. I do not know what dulls my wits. O what is it that has me in its grip?

Afflictive passion and the veil upon cognition— The cure for their obscurity is emptiness. How then shall they not meditate on this Who wish for swift attainment of omniscience?

To cover all the earth with sheets of leather Where could such amounts of skin be found? But with the leather soles of just my shoes It is as though I cover all the earth! And thus the outer course of things I myself cannot restrain. But let me just restrain my mind, And what is left to be restrained?

When shall I be able to allay and quench The dreadful heat of suffering's blazing fires With plenteous rains of my own bliss That pour torrential from my clouds of merit?

Sin embargo, aunque trabaje por el beneficio de los demás, debo hacerlo sin orgullo ni pretensiones. Motivado solo por la satisfacción de beneficiarlos, no he de esperar ninguna otra recompensa.

9. Should bodhichitta come to birth In those who suffer, chained in prisons of sams?ra, In that instant they are called the children of the Blissful One, Revered by all the world, by gods and humankind.