The vast benefits of bodhicitta
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Gomchen Lamrim 
Sep 23, 2016 The text turns to training the mind on the stages of the path of advanced level practitioners. Part of a series of teachings on the Gomchen Lamrim by Gomchen Ngawang Drakpa. Visit Gomchen Lamrim Study Guide for a full list of contemplation points for the series.
- The benefits of bodhicitta
- Every being is the cause for bodhicitta, we can’t leave a single one out
Gomchen lamrim 59: The benefits of bodhicitta (download)
Contemplation points
This week, we looked at some of the benefits of generating bodhicitta (the aspiration to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings). Consider each of these benefits in your meditation. What does meditating on them do for your mind?
- Bodhicitta is a mind that cherishes others, it frees us from the mind that is worried and obsessed with our own happiness; as a bodhisattva, we’d be consumed with whatever brought peace and benefit to the world.
- Bodhicitta is the source of all goodness in the world.
- Bodhicitta alleviates all troubles.
- Bodhicitta is the great path travelled by all the knowledgeable ones.
- Bodhicitta is nourishment for all who hear, see, and come into contact with it.
- Bodhicitta is what we are all looking for, the entrance to the greatest spiritual path.
- Because of its vast motivation, the virtue we create under the influence of bodhicitta is immeasurable (even doing a small action like feeding a crumb to an animal becomes a cause for awakening).
- Bodhicitta is the best investment we could ever make, has the greatest return.
- Bodhicitta easily consumes our negativities and fuels the collections of merit and wisdom.
- Bodhicitta grants every wish that any being could ever have or hope for.
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.
