Bodhicharyavatara Chapter 7, Stanzas 40-43

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Teachings on Bodhicharyavatara
Chapter 7: Diligence
Session 21
Stanzas 40-43

Aspiration is the start of the journey. Where does it come from? If it is so comfortable being the way we are, there’s no reason to be different. We must generate the causes for aspiration, find the root, and even if we are not able to accomplish anything more than that right now, we have laid the foundations for developing new tendencies and habits, so that positive attitude will arise naturally. You will feel the difference, and so will others. It can’t be measured, but rest assured things will become easier and this will follow into your next life. The next verses explain how this unfolds, how we can begin to value what we have and want differently, with a more altruistic attitude, recognise where power can be poison, and generate fear in the powerful, to the extent that life becomes ever limited.

We never know from where our karma originates, so all we can do is work with the present situation to the best of our knowledge and ability, with the right motivation and without judgement.

Archive members can also view the teaching on the Chapter 7 along with the other teachings on this chapter. All previous sessions on Chapters 1–7 are available in the Courses section of the Teachings Archive.

New sessions will be posted every week, usually on Friday. Every Friday we will send a mailout with links to all new teachings posted during the week.

Rinpoche has kindly agreed to answer questions regarding these teachings once in every two weeks in a live webinar on Zoom, which will be simultaneously streamed on this website. Next webinar will be on 18th October. You are encouraged to ask your question live in the webinar, but if you are more comfortable with submitting it in writing, you can do so by using the comment area below. Please reflect on your question carefully before you send it, and be concise and only use one short paragraph and less than 80 words. Vous pouvez également envoyer des questions en français. También puede enviar preguntas en español. Sie können Fragen auch auf Deutsch senden. Puoi anche inviare domande in italiano. Presubmitted questions in other languages are also welcome and they will be translated to English.

In any other questions and for technical help, please contact us at Teachings Archive.

These teachings are dedicated for all who are sick and dying of corona virus, and for all who are tirelessly working in order to help them.

Audio-only version, Translations and other supporting materials:

Questions:

Your questions are most welcome. Archive members can log in and leave their questions for Rinpoche as a comment below, so that others can see them too. Please be concise and only use one short paragraph and less than 80 words. Questions longer than that may have to be edited. Questions will be collected from here in the evening day before each Live Q&A.