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Introduction to Tantra
By Lama Yeshe
could you have for wanting so many arms? And, if you do not feel comfortable manifesting in this way, you can always relate your meditation to your own culture and manifest your inner being as Jesus, Saint Francis, Kwan Yin or any other holy being. What we have to understand is that Avalokiteshvara and Jesus, for example, are exactly the same; the essential nature of each is complete selfless devotion in the service of others. Therefore, when we try to be like them, through the practice of tantra, prayer or any other method, it is only to be able to serve others in a similarly selfless way. This selfless dedication to others is the true meaning of bodhicitta and that is why bodhicitta is not only the major prerequisite of tantra, it is also the most important fruit of this practice.
seeing ourselves as one with our spiritual guide we banish the self-pitying thought: 'The buddhas are so exalted and I am nothing in comparison.' Instead, we learn to identify our innermost mind with that of our guru, who is seen as inseparable from everyone who has already achieved complete awakening. It is through the practice of guru-yoga that our limited wisdom grows to completeness. The guru's energy of great compassion, great love, great wisdom and great skill take seed in us so that we ourselves come to embody these limitlessly beneficial qualities. We ourselves become the guru and, as such, can give immeasurable and inexhaustible help to all beings. If we do not generate the qualities of a true guru within us, how can we provide ultimate benefit for anyone else? We cannot even help ourselves properly. Bodhicitta (Sanskrit) byang chub kyi sems, bodhicitta (Tibetan) : An altruistic aspiration to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, Boddhicitta is cultivated on the basis of certain mental attitudes, principal among them being the development of love and compassion towards all beings equally. A genuine generation of Boddhicitta is attained only when, through the training of the mind, the aspiration to attain full enlightenment becomes spontaneous and no longer requires any deliberate exertion. At that stage an individual becomes a boddhisattva. Literally, bodhi means 'enlightenment' and citta, 'mind'. Mahayana literature speaks of two types of boddhicitta: conventional boddhicitta and ultimate boddhicitta. The former refers to that aspect of boddhicitta defined above, whereas the latter refers to the discriminative awareness (prajna) of directly realising emptiness which is induced by the altruistic motivation of boddhicitta. In a tantric context boddhicitta also refers to the white/male and red/female seminal fluids in the body. Bodhisattva (Sanskrit) byang chub sems dpa (Tibetan) A spiritual trainee who has generated the altruistic mind of boddhicitta and is on the path to full enlightenment. Bodhisattvas, literally meaning 'heroes of enlightenment', are courageous individuals who dedicate their entire being towards a single goal, ie. to bring about the welfare of all sentient beings. An essential element of this commitment to work for others is the determination purposely to remain within the cycle of existence instead of simply seeking freedom from suffering for oneself.