Patience is perfect endurance. 

Indeed, patience is supreme peace. 

Thus, spoke the Buddha.

One who causes harm to others is not a renunciate

Nor is one who hurts others an ascetic.

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 1

Although I have obtained a human birth with leisure and fortune

I have wasted it in vain

I am continually distracted by fruitless activities of this impermanently life.

By laziness, I am carried away from accomplishing liberation, the great objective.

I return empty-handed from a land of jewels

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to fulfill

the purpose of human birth.

a

As a person with eyesight avoids danger

so a prudent living in this world

completely avoids non-virtuous misdeeds

Therefore, neither denigrate other nor harm them

guard the vows for self-liberation

consciously moderate sustenance

reside in a place of solitude

and perfectly apply the altruistic attitude

These are the teachings of the Buddha

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 2

There is no one on earth who will not die.

Now, they pass away one after the next.

I, too, must soon die,

yet with a heedless heart

I prepare to live for a long time.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me with a sense of urgency.

a

A bee draws nectar from flowers

without hurting their flower or fragrance

and then fly away

The Buddha visited towns for his alms

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 3

I will become separated

from lovers and friends.

Wealth accumulated with greed

will be left behind and enjoyed by others.

Leaving behind even this cherished body,

my consciousness will wander in the

uncertain bardos of cyclic existence.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to realize the futility of

relying upon the fleeting fruits

of this impermanent life.

a

Examine the rights and wrongs

of your own conduct,

But judge neither the acts

nor omissions of others

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 4

The demon of ego-clinging will ruin me permanently,

yet I continue to harbor it.  As a result, all my thoughts

are causes that perpetuate afflictive emotions.

All my actions arising from these afflictive emotions

have non-virtue results.  I have scarcely pursued

even the path of liberation.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to uproot ego-clinging.

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 5

Although my mental and physical suffering are slight,

they seem unbearable.  I am too arrogant to fear

migrating to the lower realms.

Although I actually witness infallible cause and result

Still I do not practice virtue, but persist in negative actions.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to generate conviction in karma.

a

Safeguard the altruistic attitude.

Apply all the precepts of the Buddha.

Remain ever in awareness of total peace.

This is the refuge, the freedom of sorrow.

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 6

I have taken refuge,

Given rise to bodhicitta,

and made supplications,

yet devotion and compassion

have not arisen from the depths of my heart.

I superficially engage in

spiritual activities and virtuous practices,

but they become routine and are not

the foremost reliance in my mind

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless my actions to become Dharma.

a

Generosity brings good fortune,

perfect self-restraint creates no enemies.

A virtuous mind avoids harmful deeds,

eliminating destructive thoughts

ushers in enlightenment.

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 7

The Dharma teaches that all suffering

comes from wishing for one own’s happiness

and that buddhahood is attained

through altruistic intent.

Yet, I try to generate supreme bodhicitta

while concealing my selfish motives.

Thus, while endeavoring to benefit others,

I end up harming them in the process.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to be able to

beneficially exchange self for others.

a

All phenomena arise from causes

The causes are explained by the Tathagata.

What leads to the cessation of those causes

is taught by the Great Sage.  Thus:

Commit no non-virtuous deed.

All virtuous deeds do in perfection.

Completely tame your mind.

This is the teaching of the Buddha.

Eight Thoughts for Contemplation – 8

My own mind is the Buddha,

but I do not know this.

Thoughts are the dharmakāya, but I do not realize this.

Although intrinsic awareness is the uncontrived

continuously abiding in nature, I cannot sustain it.

Although intrinsic awareness is the

spontaneous natural state, I do not trust it.

Guru, think of me.

Swiftly regard me with compassion.

Bless me to release that intrinsic awareness

into its own natural state.