When in the company of others, I shall always consider myself the lowest of all, and from the depths of my heart hold others dear and supreme.
– Geshe Langri Tangpa
Reflections On ‘The Eight Verses Of Thought Transformation’ (Part 2 of 8):
第二颂：思维卑劣
随处与谁为伴时，
视己较诸众卑劣，
从心深处思利他，
恒常尊他为最上。
– 朗日塘巴尊者
《修心八颂》
The Second Verse: Thought [Of] Lowliness
When anywhere [and] with whoever as company,
[I] see myself compared [with] all beings, [to be the] lowliest,
[and] from [the] depths [of my] heart, think [of] benefiting others,
[by] constantly honouring others as supreme.
– Venerable Langri Tangpa
(Eight Verses [For] Cultivation [Of The] Mind)
Notes: The humble never cease learning from all and thus become great, while the proud have already ceased learning from most and thus remain mediocre or worse.
Thus, always sincerely see ourselves as the lowliest ordinary beings, while sincerely seeing all others as potentially great Bodhisattvas, actual or ‘accidental’, manifested or ‘in disguise’, with both their precious positive and negative examples, in their expressed thoughts, words and deeds.
Through others, we learn what to emulate, and what not to emulate, to progress on the path to Buddhahood, through whom we are thus inspired to better practise the Dharma for one and all. They might also allow practice of the Dharma with them, and through interactions with them.
See the Third Verse next week
Related Articles:
The Eight Verses Of Thought Transformation
https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/eight-verses-thought-transformation
Commentary On The Eight Verses Of Thought Transformation
https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/commentary-eight-verses-thought-transformation
Mind-training (Lojong) root text by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa (1054–1123)
Translated (in prose form) by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (1980)
Lightly edited by Ven. Constance Miller (1997)
Retranslated (in verse form from Chinese) with basic notes by editor (2018)
