Bodhisattvas 37 Practices

I am a beginner Buddhist and to other beginner or all-time practitioners or someone who is interested in Tibetan Buddhism, I would like to share a short story of a great compassionate master, Gyelse Tokme Zangpo / Prince Thogme Sangpo, the name I have never heard until a few years ago, after that, I went to a bookshop in Lhasa for his biography. The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas in Spoken Tibetan.
I was so inspired by Prince Thogme Sangpo who used to cry every time when he sees or even hear a stranger getting sick or bad things happened to someone. Every time when he teaches the Dharma, the whole crowd and including him will be crying. When the disciple request him to laugh so he can get more sponsors, he said when I see the sufferings of sentient beings, I can't laugh. This great compassionate being has composed one of the greatest qualities of Bodhisattvas from Tibet.
Translations of 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
1. Having gained this rare ship
of freedom and fortune,
Hear, think, and meditate
unwaveringly night and day
In order to free yourself and others
From the ocean of cyclic existence—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
2. Attached to your loved ones
you’re stirred up like water.
Hating your enemies you burn like fire.
In the darkness of confusion,
you forget what to adopt and discard.
Give up your homeland—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
3. By avoiding bad objects,
disturbing emotions gradually decrease.
Without distraction, virtuous
activities naturally increase.
With the clarity of mind,
the conviction in the teaching arises.
Cultivate seclusion—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
4. Loved ones who have
long kept company will part.
Wealth created with
difficulty will be left behind.
Consciousness, the guest,
will leave the guesthouse of the body.
Let go of this life—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
5. When you keep their company
your three poisons increase,
Your activities of hearing, thinking,
and meditating decline,
And they make you lose
your love and compassion.
Give up bad friends—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
6. When you rely on them
your faults come to an end
And your good qualities
grow like the waxing moon.
Cherish spiritual teachers
Even more than your own body—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
7. Bound himself in the jail of cyclic existence,
What worldly God can give you protection?
Therefore when you seek refuge, take refuge in
The Three Jewels which will not betray you—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
8. The Subduer said all the unbearable suffering
Of bad rebirths is the fruit of wrongdoing.
Therefore, even at the cost of your life,
Never do wrong—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
9. Like dew on the tip of a blade of grass,
pleasures of the three worlds
Last only a while and then vanish.
Aspire to the never-changing
Supreme state of liberation—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
10. When your mothers, who’ve loved
you since time without beginning,
Are suffering, what use is your own happiness?
Therefore to free limitless living beings
Develop the altruistic intention—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
11. All suffering comes from
the wish for your own happiness.
Perfect Buddhas are born from
the thought to help others.
Therefore exchange your own happiness
For the suffering of others—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
12. Even if someone out of a strong desire
Steals all your wealth or has it stolen,
Dedicate to him your body, possessions
And your virtue, past, present, and future—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
13. Even if someone tries to cut off your head
When you haven’t done the slightest thing wrong,
Out of compassion take all her misdeeds
Upon yourself—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
14. Even if someone broadcasts
all kinds of unpleasant remarks
About you throughout the three thousand worlds,
In return, with a loving mind,
Speak of his good qualities—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
15. Though someone may
deride and speak bad words
About you in a public gathering,
Looking at her as a spiritual teacher,
Bow to her with respect—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
16. Even if a person for whom you’ve cared
Like your own child regards you as an enemy,
Cherish him especially, like a mother
Does her child who is stricken by sickness—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
17. If an equal or inferior person
Disparages you out of pride,
Place her, as you would your spiritual teacher,
With respect on the crown of your head—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
18. Though you lack what you need
and are constantly disparaged,
Afflicted by dangerous sickness and spirits,
Without discouragement take on the misdeeds
And the pain of all living beings—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
19. Though you become
famous and many bow to you,
And you gain riches to equal Vaishravana’s,
See that worldly fortune is without essence,
And be unconceited—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
20. While the enemy of your
own anger is unsubdued,
Though you conquer external foes,
they will only increase.
Therefore with the militia of love and compassion
Subdue your own mind—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
21. Sensual pleasures are like saltwater:
The more you indulge, the more thirst increases.
Abandon at once those things which breed
Clinging attachment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
22. Whatever appears is your own mind.
Your mind from the start was
free from fabricated extremes.
Understanding this, do not take to mind
[Inherent] signs of subject and object—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
23. When you encounter attractive objects,
Though they seem beautiful
Like a rainbow in summer,
don’t regard them as real
And give up attachment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
24. All forms of suffering are
like a child’s death in a dream.
Holding illusory appearances
to be true makes you weary.
Therefore when you meet
with disagreeable circumstances,
See them as illusory—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
25. When those who want enlightenment
must give even their body,
There’s no need to mention external things.
Therefore, without hope for a return or any fruition
Give generously—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
26. Without ethics you can’t
accomplish your own well-being,
So wanting to accomplish others’ is laughable.
Therefore, without worldly aspirations
Safeguard your ethical discipline—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
27. To Bodhisattvas who want a wealth of virtue
Those who harm are like precious treasures.
Therefore, towards all cultivate fortitude
Without hostility—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
28. Seeing even Hearers and
Solitary Realizers, who accomplish
Only their own good,
strive as if to put out a fire in their head,
For the sake of all beings make an enthusiastic effort,
The source of all good qualities—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
29. Understanding that
disturbing emotions are destroyed
With special insight with calm abiding,
Cultivate concentration that surpasses
The four formless absorptions—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
30. Since the five perfections without wisdom
Cannot bring perfect enlightenment,
Along with skillful means cultivate the wisdom
Which does not conceive
the three spheres [as real]—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
31. If you don’t examine your own errors,
You may look like a practitioner but not act as one.
Therefore, always examining your own errors,
Rid yourself of them—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
32. If through the influence of disturbing emotions
You point out the faults of another Bodhisattva,
You yourself are diminished,
so don’t mention the faults
Of those who have entered the Great Vehicle—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
33. Reward and respect cause
us to quarrel and make the hearing,
thinking, and meditation decline.
For this reason, give up attachment to
The households of friends,
relations and benefactors—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
34. Harsh words disturb the minds of others
And cause deterioration in a Bodhisattva’s conduct.
Therefore give up harsh words
Which are unpleasant to others—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
35. Habitual disturbing emotions
are hard to stop through counteractions.
Armed with antidotes, the guards of
mindfulness and mental alertness
Destroy disturbing emotions like attachment
At once, as soon as they arise—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
36. In brief, whatever you are doing,
Ask yourself “What’s the state of my mind?”
With constant mindfulness and mental alertness
Accomplish others’ good—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
37. To remove the suffering of limitless beings,
Understanding the purity of the three spheres,
Dedicate the virtue from making such an effort
To enlightenment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
Written by the Tibetan monk and Bodhisattva Gyelsay Togmay Zangpo (1295-1369).translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, 1997, with permission from the publisher, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York. Photo: Four-Armed Chenrezig (Compassion Buddha) Thank you for reading Tibet Travelers' article, May Buddha Dharma prevails on Earth.

Feb 03, 2023