Qualities of Buddha’s body, speech and mind

• Body formed by 10 million perfect virtues
• Importance of creating the causes
• 32 marks and 80 signs
• Speech fulfils the hopes of limitless sentient beings
• 60 or more magnificent qualities of buddha’s speech
• Mind sees all knowable objects
• Knows ultimate truths and conventional truths simultaneously
• How to contemplate the qualities of a buddha
• Reasons why buddha as a reliable guide and his teachings as reliable
• What to practice and what to abandon

15 Qualities of Buddha’s Body, Speech and Mind (download)

Contemplation points

1. Consider how your own body, speech and mind compare to that of the Buddha as described by Tsongkhapa in the text: whose body was formed by ten million perfect virtues, whose speech fulfills the hopes of limitless beings, whose mind sees precisely all knowable objects. Allow your mind to be inspired by your potential to attain the same.
2. Despite all the external signs and marks, what is the principal way the buddhas benefit us and why? What can we do to make our minds more receptive to this help?
3. Sometimes the descriptions of the Buddha’s qualities are so magnificent that they seem incomprehensible to us. Try this practice way to get an idea of what it would be like to be a buddha.
   • Imagine that all your anger, resentment, and spite are gone forever, not because they are repressed but because their seeds are no longer in your midstream. No matter how other people treat you or speak to you, your mind remains calm and your only thought is for that person’s well-being.
   • Imagine that all attachment, emotional neediness, craving, and clinging no longer exist in your mindstream because the potential for them to be there has been eliminated. You live without frustration, moodiness, and disappointment.
   • Imagine having every good quality that you admire, impartial love and compassion, generosity free from even a trace of stinginess or fear, and stable fortitude that enables you to remain calm no matter what you encounter.
   • Feel admiration and reverence for those holy beings who have such qualities and be confident that you can create the causes to have them too.
4. It’s important to understand why we can trust the Buddha’s teachings. What are some of the reasons laid out in the text? Which ones do you find most inspiring and why?