The Lotus Sutra is not a scholarly work for specialists, but a practical guide for living our lives here and now. The heart of the Lotus Sutra teaching, the bodhisattva way of the Great Vehicle, is that we are all bodhisattvas. We can use the Sutra, and the insight it gives us into the six paramitas, in our life every day. When we study the Sutra we do not study it just for ourselves but for the benefit of all people. When we cook a meal, wash a saucepan, sweep the Dharma hall, or go to work, we are not just doing these things for our own benefit. Taking even one step in a mindful way can help create the energy of mindfulness that will benefit all beings of the Earth. We practice not only to transform ourselves, but to help others transform as well, because we know that we inter-are with all of life. Following the practice of the great bodhisattvas, we cultivate a heart of love and compassion, concentration and insight, and in this way all our actions of body, speech, and mind will be beneficial for all living beings.
---Thich Naht Hanh---
Note:
The Six Paramitas
Giving/Generosity
Precepts (Guidelines for ethical action.)
Inclusiveness
Diligence
Meditation
Wisdom
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