The Sutra on aspirations of sentient beings

vutran | May 22, 2020, 10:51 a.m.

If one is unable to manage such a great deed as fulfilling the aspirations of sentient beings, and always holding them to be dear and precious, even though he may seek the Dharma everywhere, his practice will definitely not be rewarded with success.

There is a story that illustrates this in the sutra: Once upon a time, there were a father and a son who were in possession of a wish- fulfilling gem. One day, while they were on a journey, the father became tired and wanted to take a short nap. Before laying down, he said to his son: “Take good care of the wish-granting gem, and during my nap, be sure not to give it to anyone.” Soon after, the father closed his eyes and fell asleep. A short while later, a band of thieves came walking up the road. Seeing the child sitting there holding the wish-fulfilling gem, they demanded that he give it to them. The child replied: “I cannot give it to you because just before my father fell asleep, he told me not to give the wish-fulfilling gem to anyone.” One of the thieves reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of candy and held one of the sweet morsels out to the boy. “The shiny stone that you are holding is useless to you, but these candies are sweet and you can eat as many as you like right now. Come on, let’s make a trade.” The child looked longingly at the bag of candy in the thieves’ hand and after only a moment of hesitation, handed over the wish- fulfilling gem in exchange for the bag of candy. When the father woke up, and heard that the son had traded the wish-fulfilling gem of all the magical properties for a simple bag of candy, he was very upset and disappointed.

Dharma practice is the same: once you have abandoned its essential principal, even if you receive some minor sense of happiness, you will never realize its greatest benefits. For example, if you judge one sentient being as inferior and another as unattractive, if you feel anger or resentment towards them, then you have abandoned the Bodhicitta mind and your so- called spiritual practice will bring very little, if any, true merit.

— Kenpo Sodargye