Bodhicitta

Today is another memorable day. Ajarn Soraj gave a talk on A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life (Part 1 - Chapters 1-5) by Shantideva. It's the first of our lecture series every other Sunday at our foundation house. Twenty some people came and we had a really good session starting with the prayer to generate bodhicitta "the spirit of awakening" which is the aspiration to realize buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings and cultivate the four immeasurables.

Soraj talked about two kinds of bodhicitta - the aspiration and the action to realize that aspiration. He related His Holiness the Dalai Lama's personal experience when he had stomach pain in Bihar State, India. His Holiness said his symtoms were agonizing but when he saw how poor the people in Bihar were and how much suffering they had gone through, he wished he could do something about it. At that moment, his pain was lessened. He emphasized that just a sincere thought to help other sentient beings could have an impact on our body, let alone the action itself.

Soraj also talked about the bodhisattva's six perfections, namely giving, morality, patience, joyous effort, concentration and wisdom.

The impressive moment was when we read aloud Chapter 3 together. It's about adapting the spirit of awakening. The session closed with the prayer to generate bodhicitta and cultivate the four immeasurables again to be followed by the dedication of virtue.

Thanks to all who came, who wish to take this bodhisattva path.