Contents

20.   THE   ATTITUDE   IN   CULTIVATION


  1. THE   ATTITUDE   IN   CULTIVATION

    20.1   Deviated Path in Cultivation

    20.2   Developing Bodhi Mind in Cultivation

    The Avatamsaka Sutra states:

    The teaching is very true indeed. If someone begins walking without knowing the destination or goal of his journey, his trip is bound to be circuitous, tiring and useless. It is the same for the cultivator. If he expends a great deal of effort, but forgets the goal of attaining Buddhahood, i.e. to understand the mind, the self-nature, and to benefit himself and others, all his efforts will merely bring merits in the human realm, i.e. worldly gain. In the end he will still be deluded and revolve in the cycle of birth and death, undergoing immense suffering. For this reason, developing the Supreme Bodhi Mind to benefit oneself and others should be taken as a crucial step.

    Awakening the Bodhicitta (Bodhi Mind) it can be summarized in the Four Great Vows:

    To really develop the Bodhi Mind, one should meditate on and act in accordance with the spirit of the vow, in the course of cultivation. In order to develop a true Bodhi Mind, we should ponder and meditate on the following six critical points: