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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (A)

Although he sees that all phenomena are free of coming and going,
He strives only for the benefit of beings,
To the protector Avalokiteshvara and the supreme guru,
I continually pay homage with my three gates.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (B)

The sources of benefit and happiness, the perfect buddhas,
Come from accomplishing the genuine dharma.
Since this depends on understanding their practices,
I will explain the practices of the bodhisattvas.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (1)

Now, we have this great vessel of freedoms and resources,
  so difficult to find.
Sot the we may liberate ourselves and others
  from the ocean of samsara,
Day and night, without distraction,
To listen, contemplate and meditate is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (2)

Attachment toward our close ones stir us up like water.
Hatred towards our enemies burn in us like fire.
Dark with ifnorance, we forget what to adopt or reject.
To abandon one's homeland is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (3)

Abandoning negative places, the allictions gradually diminish.
Without any distraction, virtuous ativity naturally increases.
Through clear awareness, ascertainment of the dharma arises.
To rely on solitary places is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (4)

We will part from each of the loved ones we have long befriended.
We will leave behind the wealth we have so diligently amassed.
Our consciousness, the guest, will cast away this body,
  the guest-house.
To relinquish this life is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (5)

If you befriend this one, the three poisons will proliferate,
The deeds of listening, contemplating, and meditating will diminish,
And loving-kindness and compassion will become extinct.
To abandon negative friends is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (6)

If you rely on this one, your faults will become exhausted,
And your qualities will expand like the waxing moon.
To cherish a genuine spiritual friends
Even more than ones own body is the practice of aa bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (7)

Themselves also bound in the prison of samsara,
Whom do the worldly gods have the power to protect?
Therefore, when seeking a refuge, to go for refuge
In the Three Jewels that will not deceive you
  is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (8)

The Sage taught that the sufferings of the lower realms,
That are extremely difficult to bear, are the results of negative actions.
Therefore, even at the risk of one's own life,
To never commit negative actions is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (9)

The pleasures of the three realms, like dewdrops on a blade of grass,
Are objects that perish in an instant.
To strive for the supreme state of liberation
That is never changing is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (10)

From beginningless time, my mothers have loved me.
If they suffer, how can I worry about my own happiness?
Therefore, in order to liberate sentient beings which are boundless,
To give rise to bodhichitta is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (11)

All suffering, without exception,
  arises from the desire for one's own happiness.
Perfect buddhas are born from benefiting others.
Therefore, to perfectly exchange one's own happiness
For others' suffering is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (12)

Even if someone, out of intense desire, steals all my wealth
Or makes another do so,
To dedicate body, possessions, and all virtue of the three times
To them is the practice of bodhisattvas.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (13)

Should someone sever my head
Even though I did not do the slightest wrong,
Through the power of compassion, to take on
Their misdeeds for oneself is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (14)

Even if some should proclaim unpleasant things
About me throughout the three thousand-fold universe,
With a mind of loving-kindness, to speak of their qualities
In return is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (15)

Even if serveral people in the midst of a crowd
Should reveal my hidden faults and speak harsh words,
Holding them to be my spiritual friend,
To bow to them with respect is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (16)

Even if someone I cared for like my child
Should act as though I were their enemy,
Like a mother towards her child stricken with illness,
To love them even more is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (17)

Even if someone my equal or lower,
Should believe me influenced by pride,
Like my guru, to place them with respect
On the crown of my head is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (18)

Even when I am made destitute, people constantly berate me,
And grave illness and evil spirits strike me,
To take on still the suffering and misdeeds of all beings for myself
Without losing heart is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (19)

Even if I become renowned and everyone pays me respect,
Or should I obtain wealth like that of Vaishravana,
Seeing the wealth of samsara as having no essence,
To not have pride is practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (20)

If I do not tame the enemy of my own anger,
I may subdue external enemies, but they will also increase.
Therefore with the army of loving-kindness and compassion,
To tame one's own mind-stream is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (21)

The sense pleasures are like salt water,
However much you partake, that much your craving will increase.
Whatever objects of attachment arise,
To immediately abandon them is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (22)

Whatever appears is one's own mind.
Mind is primordilly free from extremes of elaboration.
Knowing this is so, to not apprehend
The signs of perceiver and perceived is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (23)

Encountering pleasurable objects
Is like a rainbow in the summertime.
Although they appear beautifully, to see them as not being real
And relinquish attachment is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (24)

The different kinds of suffering are like your child dying in a dream.
Taking confused appearances as real, how tiring!
Therefore, when met with adverse conditions,
To see them as confused is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (25)

Since, if you wish for enlightenment,
  you must give even your body away,
What is there to be said about giving material objects to others?
Therefore, to have generosity without hope of
Being paid in return is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (26)

If, lacking ethical discipline, you do not accomplish your ownn benefit,
Wishing to accomplish others' benefit is laughable!
Therefore, to engage in ethical discipline
Without samsaric craving is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (27)

For the bodhisattvas who desire a wealth of virtue,
All harmful actions done to them are like a precious treasure.
Therefore, to practice patience that is
Without any malice toward anyone
  is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (28)

Though the hearers and solitary realizers practice
  only for their own benefit.
They exert themselves like their hair is on fire.
Seeing this, to practice diligence, the source of qualities,
For the sake of all beings is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (29)

Knowing that through superior insight endowed with thorough calm abiding
The mental afflictions are completely subdued,
To meditate with the concentration that perfectly goes beyond
The four formless states is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (30)

Without wisdom, the five paramitas
Cannot accomplish perfect enlightenment.
Therefore, to meditate on the wisdom
  that is endowed with skillful means,
And does not conceive the three spheres
  is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (31)

If you do not examine you own confusion,
You may, under the guise of dharma, do non-dharmic things.
Therefore, through continual examination,
To abandon one's confusion is the practice of bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (32)

If, under the power of the afflictive emotions,
I point out the faults of another bodhisattva, I diminish myself.
Therefore, to not point out the faults of those who have
Entered the Mahayana is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (33)

Due to wealth and honor, we fight with each other
And the activities of hearing, contemplating
  and meditating diminish.
Therefore, to abandon attachment to the homes of
Benefactors and loved ones is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (34)

Harsh words disturb the mind of others
And cause bodhisattva activity to diminish
Therefore, to abandon harsh words that
Are unpleasant to others is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (35)

When the afflictions are habitual they are hard to cast away
  with antidotes.
Therefore with mindfulness and attentiveness, wielding the weapon
  of the antidote,
To crush the mental afflictions, like attachment,
When they first arise is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (36)

In short, in whatever you are doing,
To always, with mindfulness and attentiveness,
Ask yourself "What is the state of my mind?"
And accomplish the benefit of others
  is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (37)

These virtues, accomplished through diligence,
With the wisdom free of the three spheres,
To dedicate them to enlightenment
In order to clear away the suffering of limitless beings,
  is the practice of a bodhisattva.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (C)

Following after the speech of the noble ones,
And the meaning of what is said in the sutras, tantras, and treatises,
I have put forth these thirty-seven practices of a bodhisattva
For those who wish to practice the bodhisattva path.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (D)

Because I am of inferior intellect and little training,
I do not have any poetic verse to please the learned ones.
Yet, because I have relied upon the sutras
  and the noble masters' speech,
I believe these practices of a bodhisattva to be without error.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (E)

Nevertheless, because it is difficult for someone like me
  with an inferior mind
To fathom the vast ocean of bodhisattva conduct,
I pray the holy ones will forgive
All faults, such as contradictions and irrelevancies.
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37 Practises of Bodhisattvas - (F)

By the virtue of that, may all beings
Through the supreme bodhichitta, both ultimate and relative,
Become like the protector Avalokiteshvara
Who does not abide in the extremes of samsara or nirvana.
