11. Just to Ponder 2

Since we have a life which is given free to us, and the time given free to us, logically speaking, every one of us should be able to enjoy a good life.

However, most of us are not able to have a good life because of our own defilements. We have many complaints about our parents. Many people have blamed their parents for their failures. Some of us even point a finger at our parents for our sufferings. In this way, we can’t feel grateful towards our parents for the life they given us.

Have you ever wondered how much pain your mother had gone through when she was conceiving you in her womb for 9 months ? How much pain she had to bear during the time of delivering you? Have your mother grumbled to you about those pains she had gone through?

Have you contemplated and thought deeply about the way your mother have taken care of you when you were one day old, one month old, and one year old? How your mother have nursed you and taught you when you were an infant? She had cared for you, didn’t she? You wouldn’t have survived without her care for you with great loving kindness and compassion, would you?

We were hopeless when we were still an infant. Our parents nursed us, loved us, warmed us, fed us and cared for us with great tenderness when we were few months old. Have you felt grateful towards your parents? Without their loving kindness and compassion, will you survive till today?

Have you ever thought of repaying your parents’ effort of taking care of you? Without the sense of feeling grateful towards your parents, you may not try to repay their loving kindness and compassion give to you by them.

Do you think we should feel grateful towards our parents, and try to repay them for their efforts of taking care of us, in any way we can?

7. Development for Compassion – One of the methods for Merit Accumulation -"Hock（福）"

Another way to accumulate “Hock（福）" (merit accumulation) are good deeds done through our body, speech and mind with compassion. Deeds done with compassion give us “Hock（福）” Deeds done with selfish motivation cause us to loose “Hock”. Hence, if our action is motivated for helping others, trying to make them happy and free from suffering, we shall accumulate “Hock”. In order to have such a motivation spontaneously, instead of self-centered motivation, we need to possess strong loving kindness and compassion within ourselves. We require skillful methods to develop our loving kindness and compassion.

There are several methods to develop loving kindness and compassion by meditation.

Meditation to develop Compassion

In Tibetan Buddhism, there are two methods of Meditation to develop compassion. Here, we are going to introduce one of them. This method is based on compassion towards our mother in this life. We contemplate our own mother’s great kindness and her suffering to generate compassion on her. And develop that compassion towards all sentient beings.

Buddha taught that Samsara is without beginning or ending. Therefore, since every sentient being has gone round within Samsara countless of times, anyone of them, at somewhere in our past lives, had been our mother. Hence, we shall try to perceive every sentient being as our mother. And we are to develop compassion towards all our sentient mothers using our present mother as the anchor. This is the basic idea of this method.

Instruction

First, you take refuge in the Budha, Dharma and Sangha, 3 times and then you generate Bodhichitta.

Then visualize your own mother in front of you.
Think that you are the baby in her womb.

Think about her sufferings and her great care for you during the time conceiving you:
Her body is heavy and uncomfortable, having various kind of pains etc...
She walks and moves carefully not to fall down or knock something so as to protect you.

When she was delivering the baby (you), she had to bare severe pain.
After given birth to you, she took care of you day and night.
She carried and curled you, washed your body, fed you milk, etc…
When you got sick, she stayed up at night to look after you for the whole night long.

She brought you up with great care, protect you from harm, and teach you many things. She has spent a large part of her life for taking care of you.

Now you are so fortunate to get Dharma Teaching which can liberate yourself from the suffering of Samsara. But your mother is still suffering in the ocean of Samsara. If she passes away, she will be blown by the wind of Karma and where she will reborn is not certain.

After contemplate this way, when the compassion for your mother arises, then pray for her;
“May my mother always be very happy and peaceful.”

Since all sentient beings were your mother somewhere in your past life, you also pray for other people in the same way, starting from near one to complete strangers or even your enemies, and all other beings.

For example;
“May my father always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May my brother(s) / sister(s) always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May my relatives always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May my friends always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May my enemies always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May all the people in this town always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May all beings in this country always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May all beings on the earth always be very happy and peaceful.”
“May all beings in whole universe always be very happy and peaceful.”

Then stay in the feeling of impartial compassion towards all beings for a while.
After that, dedicate your merits to all sentient beings to gain Enlightenment by saying silently in your mind, “May the merits gained be dedicated to the Enlightenment of all sentient beings” You do this dedication prayer sincerely.