Using Imper-manent Capital

Buy the Land of Renun-ciation

Build the Vinaya Wall

Sow the Bodhi Seed

Nourish with the Water of Great Compassion

Add the Fertilizer of Samadhi

The Wisdom Flower Blooms

The Seed of Buddhahood Bears Fruit

If we understand that under the influence of karma, the conditions of reincarnation arise, and we know that this world is an impermanent, shifting illusion, a world for transitory travellers, not the final destination, then we can meet the criteria demanded by renunciation; without this understanding of impermanence, it is not easy to generate the spirit of renunciation.

Once we make this commitment to renunciation, it will be easy to maintain our precepts; due to the fact that many issues will have been resolved by then, the need to violate the precepts will no longer arise.

Why do we need to sow the Bodhi seed? We need to do so because we not only maintain the precepts and are, ourselves, good people who do good deeds, but we also help other people, as well as assist them in carrying out their good deeds. Only with a mind that comprehends this concept of impermanence will you genuinely be able to engender the bodhicitta aspiration to help others, not just yourself. What if the bodhicitta mind were to be generated before the concept of  impermanence could be realized? Even though the heart is good, and, at the same time, because we have not really attained the state of the true spirit of enlightenment, the resultant fruit is tainted by the bondage to greed and desires.  

Why is there the necessity for the subsequent commitment to renunciation? There is such a necessity because when you personally commit to renunciation, the bodhicitta spirit engendered is truly beneficial to you; when you do not commit to renunciation, you cannot reach the state of egolessness (no-self). This also applies to the observance of the precepts: The generation of the spirit of enlightenment following the upkeep of the precepts ensures that, on the one hand, while you personally see to it that you maintain the precepts, you also make the wish for other people to observe these precepts, as well, thereby making it possible that no harm befalls anyone.

Once we plant the seed, we have to nourish it with water. The cultivation of the Great Vehicle's Six Paramitas Practice is synonymous with nourishing with the great compassionate water; when we are constantly thinking about the pitiful existence of the sentient beings of the six realms and their sufferings in the wheel of reincarnations, how, then, can we violate the precepts, in what way can we fall into the cyclic existence of samsara? Nevertheless, it is necessary for you to grasp this concept of renunciation, which is, furthermore, tempered by a heart of great compassion, because once you have developed this desire to renounce all the worldly attachments, you will understand that as you have always treated people with compassion, there is no reason for you not to practice renunciation.

Why do we need meditation? We need it to help people to understand the meaning of impermanence, to help them grasp the fact that once they die, the wealth that they have accumulated, no matter how substantial, will all be gone. Why does meditation have to follow renunciation? It has to be so because if you do not renounce the worldly attachments, you will not have the time to cultivate samadhi meditation, and to achieve samadhi is to understand the continuity of phenomena, especially of cause and effect, and to understand this nature of continuity is to reap the beneficial effects of samadhi; to be exposed to the duality fixation of phenomena for ten winters will lead to a barren outcome. If a person has bodhicitta, all the heavenly bodhisattvas and dharmaprotectors will come to give their protective support. Due to the high quality of the samadhi concentration, which is further aided by the attainment of selflessness (no ego), this person will not {be obsessed by gain}, and in all his affairs, will not seek only to benefit himself, but will slowly develop wisdom. With wisdom and, furthermore, with compassion, the end result will be that he will quickly enter the path of Buddhahood.