VIMALAKIRTI SUTRA – Chapter 10
Excerpt – Qualities of a Bodhisattva
(Translation by Robert A. F. Thurman)
A bodhisattva must have eight qualities to reach a pure buddha-field safe and sound. What are the eight?
One must resolve to oneself:
- I must benefit all living beings, without seeking even the slightest benefit for myself.
- I must bear all the miseries of all living beings and give all my accumulated roots of virtue to all living beings.
- I must have no resentment toward any living being.
- I must rejoice in all bodhisattvas as if they were the Buddha.
- I must not neglect any [dharma] teachings, whether or not I have heard them before.
- I must control my mind, without coveting the gains of others, and without taking pride in gains of my own.
- I must examine my own faults and not blame others for their faults.
- I must take pleasure in being consciously aware and must truly undertake all virtues.