An Internet Temple for Bodhisattva Earth Treasury
Bodhisattva Earth Treasury(Di Zang Wang Pu Sa)
Campassion
May all living things be happy and at their ease!
May they be joyous and live a safety! All beings, whether weak or strong-omitting
one-in high, middle, or low realms of existence, small or great, visible
or invisible, near or far away, born or to be born -may all beings be happy
and at their ease! Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any
state; let none by anger or ill will wish harm to another! Even as a mother
watches over and protects her only child, so with a boundless mind should
one cherish all living beings, radiating friendliness over the entire world,
above, below and all around without limit; so let him cultivate a boundless
good will toward the entire world, uncramped, free from ill will or enmity.
-the Metta Sutra
Suffering
Suffering begins with the very agony of birth itself,
and continues through all the unavoidable complexities of human life: illness,
disappointments, decrepitude, decay, death... Even love and happiness carry
the dark shadow, for separation from or loss of what one loves brought
suffering, as does the inability to get what one desires. There is just
one escape from the meaningless maze. One must learn to conquer thirst,
the ego's craving for satisfactions that can only lead to frustration,
anxiety, sorrow, in face of the further indisputable truth that "impermanance
is the law of all existence". Since change and flux are a universal part
of nature, human beings should take their emphasis off having, holding,
possessing, evening being this or that, and concentrate instead on ``extinguish''
the troublemaking greedy ego.
Buddhism
Study and Practice Group, April, 1999
