The Bodhisattva Path Quotes

“When you commit yourself to the bodhisattva path, the path of helping others, you feel as if you have done it before and you have been doing it all along. It is like living up to your inheritance, or taking over your parents’ business. You feel that there is something quite natural and right about it.”
― Chögyam Trungpa, The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion

“The bodhicitta (spirit of enlightenment) starts arising when one sees what a mess we are all in. One can’t begin to see that until one is a little way out of the mess oneself.”
― Sangharakshita, The Bodhisattva Ideal : Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism

“Through recollecting the Buddhas we become convinced that Enlightenment is possible. They have gained Enlightenment; why shouldn’t we gain it too?
Through this kind of reflection, energy and vigour is stirred up. Then, through seeing the faults of conditioned existence – seeing that it is impermanent, basically unsatisfactory, and not ultimately real – we become detached from the world. The trend, the stream, of our existence begins to flow in the direction of the Unconditioned. Next, through observing the sufferings of sentient beings – whether in imagination or in actual fact – compassion arises. We don’t think only of our own liberation; we want to help others too. Then, by contemplating the virtues of the Tathagatas – their purity, their peacefulness, their wisdom, their love – we gradually become assimilated to them and approach the goal of Enlightenment. As these four – energy, detachment, compassion, and ‘becoming one’, as it were, with the Buddhas – start to coalesce within our hearts, the bodhicitta arises; the awakening of the heart is achieved; a Bodhisattva is born.”
― Sangharakshita, The Bodhisattva Ideal : Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism

“Through recollecting the Buddhas we become convinced that Enlightenment is possible. They have gained Enlightenment; why shouldn’t we gain it too? Through this kind of reflection, energy and vigour is stirred up. Then, through seeing the faults of conditioned existence – seeing that it is impermanent, basically unsatisfactory, and not ultimately real – we become detached from the world. The trend, the stream, of our existence begins to flow in the direction of the Unconditioned. Next, through observing the sufferings of sentient beings – whether in imagination or in actual fact – compassion arises. We don’t think only of our own liberation; we want to help others too. Then, by contemplating the virtues of the Tathagatas – their purity, their peacefulness, their wisdom, their love – we gradually become assimilated to them and approach the goal of Enlightenment. As these four – energy, detachment, compassion, and ‘becoming one’, as it were, with the Buddhas – start to coalesce within our hearts, the bodhicitta arises; the awakening of the heart is achieved; a Bodhisattva is born.”
― Sangharakshita, The Bodhisattva Ideal : Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism

“The Bodhisattva, being joyful, spreads confidence and happiness wherever he or she goes. In a sense it is one’s duty to be happy and joyful. One can’t gladden others unless one is glad oneself.”
― Sangharakshita, The Bodhisattva Ideal : Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism

“The Bodhisattva has a harmonious, creative effect. Here is this mass of human beings, all fighting and quarrelling, trying to subdue one another, trying to amass wealth. The Bodhisattva comes among them and gradually transforms the chaos into a cosmos, the confusion into a beautiful mandala, society into the spiritual community. It’s as though as soon as one decides that one is aiming to gain Enlightenment for the benefit of others, a sort of vibration is set up, and the people in one’s immediate environment form a kind of mandala around one.”
― Sangharakshita, The Bodhisattva Ideal : Wisdom and Compassion in Buddhism