Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life the great bodhisattva Shantideva said,
Thus whoever wishes to quickly afford protection
To both the self and other beings
Should practice that holy secret:
The exchanging of self for others. 12
If we want to quickly help and protect ourselves and others, the ultimate method is
transforming our mind from one that cherishes the I and renounces others to one that
renounces the I and cherishes others.
Shantideva says we practice this secretly. Here he’s referring to us and the lower
bodhisattvas. Exchanging oneself for others, renouncing the I and cherishing all other beings
more than the I instead, is beyond us at this stage. Even lower bodhisattvas are not yet brave
enough to physically do that, therefore it is done as a secret practice, which might mean it is
only a mental practice. At this stage the mind is being transformed even though physically
there is no change, so it’s secret in that way also.
We have to remember that. This is the best way to help others and ourselves. Shantideva
continued,
Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in this world
All comes from desiring myself to be happy.
What need is there to say much more?
The childish work for their own benefit,
The Buddhas [Mighty Ones] work for the benefit of others.
Just look at the difference between them! 13
“Mighty Ones” means the buddhas. They are “mighty” because they have destroyed all the
obscurations and completed all the realizations and so they have finished their work for self
and now work only for others. Shantideva asks us to look at the difference between the
buddhas and the childish ones—us—who only work for ourselves.
In Dharma texts, “child” does not mean a physical child but somebody who is mentally
childish. We could live to be a hundred years old—or a thousand or a billion—but if our
mind remains under the control of the self-cherishing thought then we are childish. We are
just like small children who, when they play, do so only for their own happiness. Therefore
this is used as an example.
A child plays in the sand, piling it over her feet and thinking that this is her house or some
such thing. Then another child comes along and destroys it and she cries out, “You
destroyed my house!” This is the example. If somebody harms us, because of the selfcherishing
thought, the emotional thought arises, “Somebody has harmed me! He doesn’t
love me, he doesn’t love me, blah, blah, blah….” Many negative emotions arise and this
creates suffering.
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