The word "selfless" comes "altruistic".

President Thien said that if you keep forever accepting the form or the appearance of external existence, then it is really the source of suffering, giving birth to anger, desire and countless other afflictions. 

Tich Thien was a philosopher, a monk of Mahayana Buddhism who lived around the end of the seventh century and the first half of the eighth century. Two Tibetan historians, Buton and Taranatha, said: "President Thien is a prince of Saurastra, South India. This is the period when Mahayana Buddhism has a great influence in India ”(1). He ordained at Nalanda monastery. Works Enter Bodhisattva almond (Sankrit: Bodhicaryāvatāra) presents the value, purpose and way of practicing the Bodhisattva path. This is the practice manual of all the Buddhist traditions in the Himalayas. So far, the work has been translated into nearly 30 languages ​​in the world. In Vietnam, this work also has four different translations of four translators according to different styles.

At the beginning of the work, President Thien refers to the ideal type in life, who is full of virtue, knows how to initiate and nurture bodhicitta. This is the passionate mind that reaches to the Buddha's fruit and remains in samsara to benefit sentient beings, until all sentient beings are saved from the miserable tank. President Thien wrote: "No longer exists, sentient beings, may I remain forever to eliminate the suffering for sentient beings" (2). Anyone who knows how to nourish bodhicitta, renounce personal selfishness and live for the benefit of others, then they become a Bodhisattva.

In order to keep the vow of bodhicitta not being retreated and to grow and vow in practice, the practitioner must constantly nurture and grow the vow. Practitioners must reflect, meditate on the rational reasons for nurturing and developing positive thoughts, not just relying on pure faith, so as not to initiate doubts or distractions with them. hope when practicing this ideal.

There are four main arguments about the existence and operation of all things that President Thien offered to prove the wish and practice of bodhicitta is extremely important.

First,  because human actions and decisions are derived from causes and conditions, it is necessary to practice patience and give up anger. He wrote: "All mistakes and evil deeds are caused by predestined relationships, nothing spontaneous. Thus all things are born from many conditions and any charm is dependent on another; Being so aware, we are not disturbed. Because all phenomena are just illusory dreams. When you see, enemies or even a friend, want to harm us, think of being born and keep your mind pure (3).

A person who initiates the mind does not mean that the nature of the person is anger, a person who initiates the mind of desire, arrogance, jealousy does not mean that the nature of the person is greedy, arrogant, jealous. These defilements arise because of the specific causes and conditions, when all those causes and conditions end, the defilements no longer exist. Their nature is non-constant, can be exhausted and not real.

President Thien said: "There is no sin by hatred. There is no austerity with patience; Anger is a weapon that kills your victorious rebirths. ”(4) The way of harming others is extremely irresponsible, but those who harm others themselves are being dominated. by anger and negative emotions.

Secondly,  President Thien has argued to deny the true existence of "a body of mine", to follow him not to "satisfy human curiosity" but to let go of thoughts. selfishly respect yourself and know how to develop positive thoughts.

President Thien said that this pride and attraction is due to "we forget the true nature and characteristics of our bodies and bodies." Moreover, ordinary people often feel nostalgia for their bodies and This attitude leads to selfish acts. According to President Thien, if we clearly understand what our body really is, we will have attitudes and actions that correspond to that understanding. If the body is thought to be a physical entity with a specific form, then a body does not exist forever in the whole life because the body's appearance and appearance change from a young age and an old age. In other words, the body consists of many different parts such as head, limbs and other parts. In general, when thinking about the body, people often see themselves as a single, detached and touching entity.

“The body is not a foot, calf, thigh. Nor are hips, abdomen, back, chest or arms. It is not the hand, the body, or the armpit, nor the shoulder. The body is not the neck, or the head. So, what is the body here? ”President Thiên said that the body cannot be identified with its parts.

"The body is also not inside, nor outside. How the body can be in two hands and two other limbs. The body is not separate from the hands and things. So, how can it be found? Thus, the body does not exist. However, because no-mindedness, there is a sense of body related to both hands and things, because of their specialized form, as well as the feeling of having an individual when seeing a pillar. ”

Although the body does not have any inherent nature, it is a means of helping spiritual practice and helping sentient beings; His body is extremely precious to practice bodhicitta. The human body is most likely to attain Buddhahood. Even a beginner in his body can practice to gradually attain liberation and enlightenment. Compared to animals, they cannot think, cannot have the conditions to practice thoughts of benefiting, nurturing Bodhicitta. Therefore, each person must not be negligent, careless and lazy in practicing, must keep his body rigorously so that it plays a role to benefit others.

If your body is to cherish, be rare and bring the power to liberate, enlightenment, anyone else's human body is worth cherishing and giving and giving the same power to liberate them. Tich Thien gives a very interesting image of the need to know the right person as follows: Like a merchant who goes to a treasure island, but instead of bringing back the gems, he only uses the time to sing. dance dance ..., also owed other customers a great deal of money. What's more crazy when you finally have to go back to your hands? So now you can collect the treasures of liberation and omniscience. Nothing is more blind, more foolish than not taking those treasures, but creating conditions to go down to the land.

Third,  President Thien has made arguments about selflessness or the true non-existence of an "I", which leads to altruistic thoughts. He wrote: "It is necessary to eliminate suffering for people like to eliminate suffering for me. Must help others because they, like me, are all beings. Me and the same person are all seeking happiness. So what's the difference, when you're looking for happiness? Me and the same person are afraid of danger and fear of suffering. So for some reason, do I just save me without saving others? ”(5).

Each individual and every person in the world, whether rich or poor, humble, male or female or in any position, has a basic and indisputable similarity, that is to bear the same the common misery of reincarnation, of birth-old-disease-death and anyone who aspires to be free, happy, peaceful, nobody wants suffering.

Some opposing opinions suggest that if a person only cares for his friends, family, disciples or anyone he has relationships with, are they forgetting themselves? Are they ignoring a person who has a basic, close relationship and is also in need of help to overcome suffering?

At this point President Thien Thien wrote as follows: "Do not say:" Do not save people because their suffering is not related to me. Why do I protect and protect them? Also, the suffering of the next life body will not torture me if this life I cultivate. If you say, "My next life is still me." That is not true because when you die, you are not reborn! Saying, "Those who are in pain will have to heal themselves." So when the foot hurts, the hand does not interfere. Why should I rub my foot? Bao: "What justified despite the absurdity, but because of accepting ego, it is born. But what is absurd, whether mine or human, must be exhausted except for "(6).

President Thien explained the real non-existence of an ego to help each person live more altruistic and affirmed compassion and compassion as the ultimate goal of each person's existence in life. A person who knows how to look at himself in relation to the environment, the people around him, with the past, present and future and initiates the flow of bodhicitta as a benefit of sentient beings to the maximum, is also righteous It is time they are doing the best for themselves, promoting the most noble qualities and qualities in their mind to live the most meaningful life. “In any way, accept the 'me', which is a cause of suffering, due to lack of wisdom about self. If this is the inevitable result of egoism, meditating on selflessness is the best thing ”(7).

The fourth argument  of President Thien Thien comes from the thought of the illusory nature of all things - one of the deepest thoughts in Buddhist teachings. President Thien argues that, if something is self-reliant, it means that its nature is independent of any relationship with other things. But no one thing can have such a self-calculation because if it is then it must be normal, unchanging and independent. Actually everything starts before our mind, they are constantly changing, being dependent on causes and conditions, so we cannot say or think anything except the relationship with other things. All phenomena are essentially illusory dreams, are not inherent in nature and therefore it is meaningless to pursue, cling to things that are not real.

President Thien said that if you keep forever accepting the form or the appearance of external existence, then it is really the source of suffering, giving birth to anger, desire and countless other afflictions. He wrote: “When all phenomena are empty, there is no self-nature, what can be and what can be lost? Who will be honored or will be scorned by? From where happiness or suffering comes? What is fun and what is sad? When investigating its ultimate nature, what is thirsty and what is it craving for? ”(8). So everything that people from all ages have longed for, pursued, from the name, career, power, material ... are not real in nature, they do not exist forever and have no intrinsic nature Friends

Once you understand this unreal nature of the world, it will lead to eliminating the clinging and suffering in the mind. Intellect about nature Emptiness or illusoryness of all things is one of the important attributes of bodhicitta. Then the nature of bodhicitta will truly appear fully and round in the center of each person's heart.

The "Entering the Bodhisattva" systematically presents the way to practice the Bodhisattva path, thereby interpreting in detail and vividly the fundamental problems of Buddhism such as Bodhicitta, Anatta, and No . END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.5/1/2019.