So, where does bodhichitta begin? Because we have been self-centered since beginninglessness, we are often accustomed to saying it

"You're not right here, you're not right there",

"I'm not interested in this, then I'm very willing" and so on, these are all based on

"I" is the main thing, and all the troubles revolve around me. Is there any way to lift the ego out of this cage?

Of course there is. If we can change our perspective and often imagine for others (this mentality is best to start with our own relatives, and slowly expand and grow as much as possible), it will gradually become what we often say

"developing bodhichitta"; When we develop bodhichitta, we release our ego. To think in

The only way to get out of the cage of "self-mastery" is to develop bodhichitta to save oneself, and being able to do bodhichitta is a great and skillful method.

The story of the Buddhist scriptures tells that there was a captain who met a robber and wanted to kill 500 merchants on board. The captain knew that these five hundred merchants were all cultivators, and they were all about to become arhats.

He could kill the robber, but he thought: This is killing! Then he thought that if the robbers were to kill these 500 arhats who were about to be accomplished, he would suffer endless pain in hell for a long time.

It's better for me to go to hell, and if I kill someone, I can get out of hell earlier; He killed 500 people who were about to attain the Arhat status, and it would take a long time before he was liberated.

He developed great compassion for the robber and killed him. The Buddha later said that the captain needed thirty eons of accumulated food, and in that instant he had accumulated all of them.

At that time, he was able to attain so much merit by just developing this kind of bodhichitta for one sentient being, and if we developed bodhichitta for all sentient beings in the world, this power would be even more incredible, and it would make our future merits increase!

Some people say, "I don't have the ability to benefit sentient beings right now, so isn't it a lie to develop bodhichitta in this way?" No.

Once upon a time, Shakyamuni Buddha said to King Ajata, "As a king, you are busy with state affairs and do not have much time to practice the Dharma. As long as you always think in your heart from now on about benefiting sentient beings and saving sentient beings for the ultimate liberation of sentient beings, although there is no way to actually do it, this kind of good fortune is so great that it cannot be contained in a container made of emptiness! "So, you don't have to worry, you still have to hurry up, you have to be brave enough to send it out, and put it into action!

If we can allow bodhichitta to arise at any time, then we can truly practice the bodhisattva path, which is what we usually call a bodhisattva.

Shantideva mentions in his Treatise on Initiation: "Bodhichitta is like the most special metallurgical material, and once the dirty mortal body is added to it for smelting, it will gradually transform into a pure Buddha body of a priceless treasure; So one should be good at introducing and upholding bodhichitta. From these expressions, it is not difficult to see that there are 84,000 Dharma methods, and so many classifications are just a guide for the convenience of sentient beings, and after entering the study of Buddhism, if we really want to get rid of the suffering of samsara, we must rely on initiating unfeigned bodhichitta for sentient beings.