Homage to Compassion
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Chandrakirti -
Illumination of the Thought
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Aug 7, 2022
Chandrakirti 
Illumination of the Thought 
Aug 7, 2022 
from Chandrakirti’s Supplement to the Middle Way
The hearers and solitary realizers arise from the excellent sages (Buddhas);
The excellent sages are born from bodhisattvas;
The compassionate mind and the non-dual awareness,
As well as bodhicitta—these are the causes of bodhisattvas.
Compassion alone is seen as the seed
Of a Victor’s rich harvest, as water that nourishes it,
And as the ripened fruit that is the source of long enjoyment,
Therefore, at the start I praise compassion.
Like a bucket traveling up and down a well, migrators have no autonomy;
First, with the thought “I,” they cling to a self;
Then, with the thought “mine,” they become attached to things;
I bow to this compassion that cares for migrators.
(Homage to that compassion for) migrators
Seen as evanescent (fluctuating) and empty of inherent existence
Like the reflection of the moon in rippling water.
The compassionate mind and the non-dual awareness,
As well as bodhicitta—these are the causes of bodhisattvas.
Chandrakirti
Image by Wikimedia Commons.
