In the following excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent  video teachings on thought transformation, Rinpoche explains that every time we generate bodhichitta, such as before doing a meditation or practice, we are doing it for every sentient being. Not even one of the numberless sentient beings in each realm is left out.

Our bodhichitta includes every single human being we see around us: for example, our parents, our children, our friends, strangers, and even those who are harming us. It also includes every single animal, even every single ant, we see around us.

Therefore, whenever we see a sentient being, we have to recognize that we did our meditation and our practice for them!

Watch the nineteen-minute video “When You Generate Bodhichitta It Is for Everyone You See!“:
https://youtu.be/nl-9ECJDKxE

Here is the transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching in this video:

By Understanding Your Own Samsaric Sufferings, You Generate Compassion and Bodhichitta

Then, when you think of others, then when you think of others, others are not just one—numberless. Like you, they are numberless, others! Waaaaaaaw. Lama khyen, lama khyen, lama khyen. Numberless! Before it was just you, just you, oooooooh. Now next you think—numberless! Ssssh. In hell, they are numberless in each hell realm. There are numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals suffering, numberless! Uuh, hooo, hooo. Numberless human beings suffering, suras, asuras. Numberless, not just one! Bah, bah, bah. Lama khyen, lama khyen. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.

Then you feel… If you feel, how much renunciation you feel that you have been in samsara, oh, then you feel so strong compassion for others. You feel it so strong! When you think how others are suffering in samsara, then you feel compassion so strong. You see? Yeah. Yes, compassion, then you want, you want to free them. You want to help them to be free from all the suffering, the numberless beings in each realm. Then you want to take the responsibility to completely do that all by yourself. Aaaah, like that. Aaaah, like that. Then bodhichitta comes! Then the thought of bodhichitta, the thought to achieve enlightenment, comes.

Bodhichitta Is Not Easy but It Is the Most Important Thing in Your Life

You see? It is not easy, but how important it is. It is not easy but how important it is! It is the most important thing in the life! Aaaah. It is the most important thing in your life. It is the most important thing. It is not just words, no—it is the most important thing in your life. What is more important than that, for you to help others? Aaaah! (Rinpoche laughs at his screaming.)

Bodhichitta is not just talking blah, blah, blah, some nice words, blah, blah, blah. No. It is the most important. Bah, bah, bah. It is the most need, the most need, for the happiness of you, for the happiness of all, of every sentient being.

When You Generate Bodhichitta for Sentient Beings, “Sentient Beings” Includes All the Hell Beings

So, when we generate … I will tell it here. When you generate bodhichitta, jang chhub gyi sem, when you generate bodhichitta to free the sentient beings from the oceans of samsara and bring them to enlightenment that includes every … there are numberless hell beings in each realm. In the eight major hot hell sufferings, they are numberless. They are numberless. Then in the six neighboring hells, they are also numberless. Numberless. So, it includes everyone! There is not left out even one.

Can you imagine it, if you think well? Aaaah. It is very easy to say “sentient being,” but if you really think, it is like that—there is not left out even one from the numberless [sentient beings] in each realm. It is amazing, amazing. Ssssh. So, precious. How the thought of bodhichitta is sooooooooooooo precious, precious, precious, precious, precious. Bah, bah, bah. It is the most important, the most important, the most important. Ah-hah. It is like that. You have to know this.

When You Generate Bodhichitta for Sentient Beings, “Sentient Beings” Includes All the Hungry Ghosts

Then, the hungry ghosts, uuuuh. There are those with outer obscurations, food obscurations, and inner obscurations. I mentioned them in the past. They are numberless!

Anything that looks nice, anything green, nice, water, but you, by looking at it, it becomes poison, pollution, poison, and disappears. You see before the food as nice, but because you are looking at it, there is pollution, like poison, and it disappears. Uuuum, like that. Bah, bah, bah.

For thousands of years, even ten thousand, you could not find even a drop of water. Can you imagine it? If you don’t get food for one day, how much you suffer? Even if the suffering is not much but your mind says, “Oh, I didn’t get food. Oh, I didn’t get food,” then you exaggerate. You make your suffering bigger. Your mind makes the problem bigger. So much of our life’s problems can be either no problem or something very small, but then you make it very big. Like a balloon (Rinpoche shows blowing on a balloon), you make it very big. It is like that. Much of it is like that, human being’s problems. They are hardly anything but then you blow them up, oooooo.

What was I saying? To not forget, what was I saying? 

When You Generate Bodhichitta for Sentient Beings, “Sentient Beings” Includes All the Animals and Human Beings

Now the animals, okay, animals. When you generate bodhichitta, to meditate or to do some practice for sentient beings when you generate bodhichitta to achieve enlightenment, [you think,] “Sentient beings, waaaaaw,” sentient beings are like that but you never relate it to the people around you and the animals around you who are suffering. The people in the city that you are living in, you never think that these people have so much problems. You never think. Only in the space “sentient beings.” Those sentient beings where you live in the village are so suffering, unbelievable suffering, bah, bah, bah, but when you see them, you don’t think [about them], but “sentient beings” are somewhere [else], “sentient beings.” (Rinpoche shows looking up into space.)

So, when you say “sentient beings,” it includes every single human being. Nobody is left out. “Nobody” means no white man it left out, no black man is left out. Not only in this world, there are numberless universes. Think there are numberless universes, not only this world. You think there is only this universe, No! Aaaah. The human beings in numberless universes aaaaaaaaaaall of them, not left out even one. There is no one human being left out. No! They are all included in “sentient beings.” Aaaah, like that.

[It includes the human beings of] whatever language, whatever nationality. Yeah! You have to know that. When you go shopping, tourist, walking or touring or shopping or whatever, [it includes] the people who you see going by bus, going by taxi, rickshaw, walking, the people in the restaurant.

Bodhichitta is Generated for Every Single Animal and Every Single Human Being

In the morning, when you meditate on “sentient beings,” when you do the Mahayana meditation at the beginning there is the motivation of bodhichitta after refuge, it includes all these people that you see. So already you have done a prayer, you have done meditation for them. Yeah! Yeah. So for everybody, yes, one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM for everybody, you did! The people around you, the people who are helping you, the people who are harming you, including even them. You haven’t thought of them, but they are included in that word “sentient beings” there. They are not left out. Even if you don’t like them, normally you never do anything for that person but, of course, “sentient beings” means that they are included, yeah, [when you do] one mala or whatever you are doing. Even if you are eating one spoon of food or drinking, it is done for them. Yeah!

So, in the morning when you do the meditation, for example, it is done! So, that includes, yes, all the people around you. Your parents, your children, yeah, your enemy, your friends, your strangers, your enemy who you don’t like, who you are always angry with, who is always angry with you, who complains about you all the time, it includes all of them. Even though you hate them, you don’t want to help them or anything, you abandon them, but when you generate bodhichitta, they are included in it.

All the people in the city where you are living, all day long you see people, you have generated bodhichitta, you have done the practice for them. You are reciting OM MANI PADME HUM [for them]. Even OM MANI PADME HUM or whatever, by generating bodhichitta it is done, it is done for them, for all the people that you see. When you go outside, you see people in the city or mountains, wherever, you see any sentient beings, any animals, deer, tigers, one attacking another one, eating another one, all of them, you have done it for everyone.

I’m just giving you an example. If you recite OM MANI PADME HUM, one mala, or even half [a mala], or even twenty-one by generating bodhichitta, after you recite refuge and bodhichitta, it is done for everyone, for every single animal. That means every single being in the ocean, large like sharks, whales, and the smallest, I don’t know the name, in the water, in the river, in the ocean. I don’t know the name, the smallest. Everywhere there are insects, in the forest, in the bushes, plants, trees, every tiny, tiny insect that human beings don’t see, under the earth, it includes everyone. Nobody is left out. Not one insect is left out. There are how many thousands of different kinds of ants. Scientists say there are, I don’t remember now, I have written it down but I don’t remember it now, a certain number of thousands of ants. It is including everything! Not one ant is left out. Not one mosquito is left out when you generate jang chhub gyi sem, bodhichitta. Aaaah, like that. You have to know that. It is not just a basic thing, sentient being.

When You See Sentient Beings, You Don’t Think They Are the Sentient Beings for Whom You Are Doing Practices

You don’t think of the people with so much suffering, whatever the different ones, or the animals suffering, being eaten by each other, ssssh, you don’t, when you say “sentient beings,” you never think of them. You never recognize that they are there, that these are the ones for whom you do the practice, never. It is just “sentient beings.” But when you meet them, you never think they are the sentient beings for whom you do the practice. Then you think you can’t help them, you can’t do anything for them. You think like that. You do not even pray for them, even how much you see they are suffering. Even if you can pray, you can help them, but you don’t do it. The thought doesn’t come to help them. Even if you have OM MANI PADME HUM, wow, there is so much what you can do, but you don’t do it. The thought doesn’t come. The thought to help them doesn’t come. How much you see them suffering, like that they have to suffer. That is there life, they have to suffer. Like that.

If Suffering Is “Nature,” Why Do You Want to Be Helped When You Are Suffering?

Some Western people say, “Oh, it is nature. It is nature.” The cat eats the mouse, I mean one animal eats another animal, “This is nature.” It is like you can’t help. There is nothing to do to help; it is nature. That means when suffer, don’t help, no doctors, nobody should help you because “It is nature.” Yeah! Relate it to yourself! Yeah! Yeah! This is nature, your suffering, your depression, so why do you need a psychologist? Why do you need all those things? You don’t need to go to see the doctor, “It is nature.” Yeah! So, it is the same thing. But in your case, you never think that, only other people or only other animals, “It is nature,” a cat eating a mouse, snakes eating a mouse, but, however, yeah, people killing animals, “This is nature.” “This is nature,” so it is like that. Then you let yourself [think], “Oh, I need help,” ooooo, you need help so much, “Please, please help me. Please help me.” But at that time, you don’t think “nature.” Ha-ha. It is funny; when it comes to you, you don’t think, “It is nature.” If at that time you think “nature,” you don’t get angry, but at that time you don’t think that. [You think that] only about others. Ha-ha, so funny.

With Bodhichitta, You Have the Best and Happiest Life

So, generating bodhichitta is great. Every single human being is included. Understand that every single animal, insect, the tiniest, it includes everyone. Nobody is left out. Not one mosquito, not one insect, the tiniest insect, no one is left out. It is so important, so important to generate the thought to achieve enlightenment for them, to benefit them. Wow, wow, wow, wow, how that is the best! How that is the BEST! You are doing every single action of your body, speech, and mind for them. Wow, how that is the best. There is nothing in life [that is more] best, happiest!

Like that, you have to know what is the happiest life! It is not just drinking alcohol, [taking] drugs, ooooooo. Destroying yourself, ooooo, it is not like that. Or climbing Mount Everest, an avalanche can happen, anything, and you get lost. Anyway, so, ha-ha, ha-ha, sssh, bodhichitta, tsk, ssssh, lama khyen, lama khyen, that includes all the sentient beings, suffering and obscured. Bah, bah, bah. It is so good, so good.

With Bodhichitta, Your Life is Highly Meaningful

You have to recognize like this. When you meet people … when you are doing the practice, you are doing a mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM, generating bodhichitta, you are doing it for your family. Yes! And you are doing it for your enemy, the people who harm you. Even for those you don’t know, you are doing it for them but you don’t recognize that. The numberless sentient beings, aaaaaaaall the sentient beings, not left out even one. Can you imagine? You have to recognize that.

When you go to Kathmandu, you did OM MANI PADME HUM, all these [practices you did] with bodhichitta, for these people you did it, you are doing it now. You have to recognize that. So how that is good, then you enjoy! Then you don’t see your life as meaningless. Aaaah. You don’t see your life as totally useless. You know? You don’t think that. You see your life as highly meaningful.

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The above video is extracted from Video 62: “Why and How to Take Blessingsfrom a Holy Being.” Watch more from the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19, where you can also find links to transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more.

Read a summary of Rinpoche’s thought transformation teachings given in 2020 in the Mandala 2021 article “The Time to Practice Is Now: Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Thought Transformation Teachings During the Time of COVID-19.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.