Anyone who has studied The Way of the Bodhisattva should already appreciate the greatness of bodhicitta. Therefore, I will not elaborate on it here. If you are interested, I encourage you to read this text once again.
Vajrayāna is unequivocally a Mahāyāna path. We may call ourselves Vajrayāna practitioners, but without bodhicitta, what we call "Vajrayāna" is nothing more than outward formality and empty conceptual elaboration.
A firm and stable bodhicitta is one of the prerequisites for entering the Accumulation Path (saṃbhāra-mārga). This is because the mind possesses an intrinsic capacity for connection: our motivation links together everything we do under its influence. The motivation behind an action determines the corresponding result. This is what we commonly call dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda).
For example, once I generate renunciation, renunciation becomes the very foundation of all my actions, and everything I do is motivated by it. Motivation is the cause, while our actions serve to actualize that cause and bring forth its corresponding result. If renunciation is the motivation, then all accumulated merit supports the maturation of that cause, leading to the attainment of the Theravāda rather than merely favorable rebirths among humans or devas. If bodhicitta is the motivation, however, the resulting fruition is Buddhahood itself.
The mind's capacity for association is remarkably subtle. For instance, everyone may feel happy here today because of many conditions—the surroundings, the people, and the events taking place. Yet afterward, you may come to believe that this place itself is what made you happy. Thereafter, merely hearing the name "Country Garden" brings forth a pleasant feeling.
The same mechanism applies to unpleasant experiences. I was once assaulted in Shandong. Logically, I should have harbored resentment toward the person who attacked me. Yet afterward, whenever Shandong was mentioned, I would immediately feel irritated.
It is precisely because of this connective nature of the mind that karmic cause and effect can operate. If we acknowledge that the world is not fundamentally material and that all appearances arise from mind, then the principle of karmic retribution naturally follows.
Suppose I strike you with a punch. At that very moment, you, I, and that action become karmically connected. Inevitably, the consequences of that action will return to me. Based upon this same principle, the statement that "only by generating Mahāyāna bodhicitta can one attain Buddhahood" is likewise established.
If you are interested, I encourage you to study these principles systematically and in depth. I believe you will eventually arrive at the same understanding that I have. Otherwise, even your conceptual understanding of bodhicitta may remain incomplete.
At this stage, we have come to understand what conceptual bodhicitta is—we know what bodhicitta means in theory, yet it has not penetrated our mental continuum. As long as bodhicitta remains merely conceptual, we cannot truly enter the Mahāyāna path. Consequently, even when engaging in spiritual practice or performing virtuous deeds, bodhicitta is still not our genuine motivation.
For example, when organizing meditation retreats, many Dharma friends devote tremendous effort—some contribute financially, while others volunteer their time and energy. Their work is truly demanding. Such activities should be carried out with bodhicitta.
If one's motivation is to obtain worldly rewards, the resulting merit immediately becomes the cause for favourable rebirth among humans or devas. If one's motivation is solely to attain personal liberation, then it becomes the aspiration of an Arhat.
Anyone can verbally claim to be working for the liberation of all sentient beings. But whether this is truly your inner motivation is something only you can know. No one else is capable of examining your mind for you.
Can we deliberately instruct ourselves, at the conceptual level, "I must generate bodhicitta"? In fact, our daily practices of making aspirations and dedicating merit are precisely ways of directing ourselves through conceptual thought.
This approach is effective because, through long-term familiarization with conceptual bodhicitta, it gradually and almost imperceptibly becomes genuine. This is what is meant by "using the provisional to cultivate the genuine." It follows the same principle expressed in the Chinese sayings, "Three people can invent a tiger" and "The mouths of many can melt metal": even a falsehood can eventually come to be accepted as true, if it is repeated often enough."
Moreover, if such repeated cultivation is combined with systematic study, contemplation, and careful discernment, the process can be greatly accelerated. Bodhicitta will mature more rapidly within one's mental continuum, allowing one to become a genuine bodhisattva. Once one truly becomes a bodhisattva, spiritual practice advances with extraordinary momentum, just as a tiger gains wings.
— Excerpted and compiled from Genuine Bodhicitta and Conceptual Bodhicitta
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
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