..續本文上一頁yana Buddhism at all. I have met many scholars of Buddhism, they all talk about “Bodhichitta” all the time. But in reality, they cannot even define it in words, let alone put it in practice. Bodhichitta is the fundamental root of Mahayana. It would be a pity if we do not understand the profound meaning of Bodhichitta but only see it superficially and confuse it with compassion, kindness and benevolence.

　　There are two types of Bodhicitta: the intention and application aspects of Bodhicitta. The intention aspect of Bodhichitta is the vow to benefit all sentient beings in the world and help them attain Buddhahood; whereas the application aspect of Bodhicitta is to actually perform innumerable activities of the Six Transcendent Perfections based on such vows.

　　This kind of Bodhichitta needs to be carried out in real life after you have understood it theoretically. It must not be limited to just lip service without a single moment”s practice. If you have actually practiced Bodhichitta, it will not only be beneficial to the peace of the world and happiness of all sentient beings, but also to yourself physically and mentally in particular. As it is stated in the “Mahaparinirvana Sutra” : “Anyone who has meditated on Bodhichitta just momentarily, even the Buddha cannot measure all kinds of merits brought by such practice”, meaning that even the Buddha cannot measure the enormous merit of meditating on Bodhichitta just momentarily.

　　You may not be able to understand immediately, as this issue is too big. But you may start to practice compassion and loving-kindness even if you may not be able to generate Bodhichitta right away. Today, there are Zen societies at Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Cambridge have Zen societies to specialize in practicing compassion and loving-kindness. As I understand, foreign college professors, even grade school teachers, often teach their kids how to develop compassion and loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is the wish that all beings will attain happiness; whereas compassion is to wish that all beings will not suffer.

　　Some of our major universities could draw on the experiences of them while studying Buddhism. We must not limit ourselves to theories, for we would then become “wily Dharma birds” easily. Many doctoral and post-doctoral candidates of Buddhism nowadays are very eloquent in writing and speech, but are not connected with Mahayana Buddhism at all in their mind. Worse yet, the more study has more prejudiced them against the Buddha, Buddhist history, and the most profound Buddhist Doctrines. There are often slandering remarks in their work. This just doesn”t make sense at all.

　　III. The Altruism of Eminent Monks and Learned Dignitaries

　　1. The Enlightenment of Jowo Atisha

　　I am particularly fond of a story about altruism and would like to share it with you. It is about Jowo Atisha, the founder of the Kadampa school in Tibetan Buddhism.

　　Jowo Atisha was the greatest Pandita in the 11th century India. He was originally the prince of the Eastern Bangladesh empire and was expected to inherit the throne. Once Tara told him in his dream: “ You have been a Pandita for five hundred lives. It is your mission to help free sentient being from the ocean of samsaric suffering. You must not fall by the wayside.” After he woke up, Jowo Atisha recognized the power of vows from his past lives. He then left the palace and the world of mortals to become a monastic monk, and followed the teachings of the renowned Rahula Thera in India. Under the guidance of his Guru, he soon became well-versed in all the Tripitika and developed a photographic memory of many Buddhist classics.

　　One day when he was reading, all of a sudden a doubt came to his mind, “Which path is the quickest to…

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