BODHICITTA - Living with Bodhicitta
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
(September 2000 Newsletter)

Meditate on the meaning of life, the purpose of being alive. Think, "The purpose of my life is not simply to get happiness for myself, not just to solve my own problems. The meaning of my life is to free all sentient beings from suffering and lead them to all happiness because it is from the numberless, precious sentient beings that I receive all my past, present and future happiness, temporary and ultimate, from each everyday comfort and pleasure up to the highest enlightenment." Feel this in your heart.

When you meditate on all sentient beings, start with the precious sentient beings around you right now. Start with the ones you encounter in everyday life - those in the same room, in the same building, your family, your work mates - and slowly extend your awareness beyond them to gradually encompass all sentient beings throughout infinite space. Generate the wish to free them from all suffering and its cause and bring them all happiness, without discrimination or exception. With all this in mind, think, "This is the meaning of my life; this is the reason I'm alive." Feel it.

Now think, "I, myself alone, am responsible for bringing happiness to all sentient beings and freeing them from all suffering and its cause. I am personally responsible for the happiness of each and every sentient being." Dwell with your mind in this state of universal responsibility.

Remember, too, that this responsibility extends far beyond only human beings. There are many different kinds of living beings. There are numberless animals that are suffering; numberless hell beings that are suffering; numberless hungry ghosts that are suffering. There are numberless suras and asuras, those worldly gods, that are suffering. There are numberless intermediate state beings that are suffering, experiencing much fear between death and rebirth because of the terrifying appearances their karma creates. Rest your mind in the awareness that, "I am responsible to bring happiness to these numberless, precious sentient beings, the source of all my past, present and future happiness."

Now think, "The happiness of all these sentient beings - temporary, ultimate and the peerless happiness of full enlightenment - depends on whether or not I have compassion, loving kindness, the good heart. Therefore, I need to develop the method of compassion, the good heart, within me. I also need to develop wisdom. Therefore, I am going to purify my mind, accumulate merit and plant the seed of enlightenment by meditating on the path to enlightenment - not just for my own sake but for the sole purpose of bringing all happiness to the most precious, numberless sentient beings, whose value far exceeds that of countless wish-fulfilling jewels."

You can use this meditation to set your motivation before any virtuous activity - reading Dharma books, practising meditation, listening to teachings - taking the above paragraph as an example.

Source:
Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1998). Virtue and Reality. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: USA.