An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love series
What is it about compassion that is so important? Why do you hear so much about it in the Buddha’s teaching? From the Mahayana point of view there are two different kinds of compassion, or Bodhicitta. Bodhicitta actually means mind of enlightenment. The mind of compassion – the fully functional, fully awakened mind of compassion – is the same, and not different from, the mind of enlightenment. You cannot achieve enlightenment without developing the mind of compassion. You cannot achieve compassion – true compassion, selfless compassion – without moving ever closer to the mind of enlightenment. Essentially they are the same.
In our language we have two different words for fully awakened compassion and enlightenment, but from the Buddhist perspective when you say Bodhicitta you mean compassion and you also mean enlightenment. Due to the structure of our language, we actually separate the two. Yet they cannot be separated. Compassion and enlightenment can never be separated. It’s impossible. The reason why we seek to express the mind of compassion, and why we emphasize it, is to accomplish our own purpose and the purpose of others. We want to achieve enlightenment.
© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo
