H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche's message and advice can be summed up in the
following eight verses, which he considers the essence of
spirituality.
With the thought of attaining Enlightenment
for the welfare of all beings
who are more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel
I will constantly practise holding them dear.
Whenever I am with others, I will practise
seeing myself as the lowest of all
and from the very depths of my heart
I will respectfully hold others as supreme.
In all actions I will examine my mind
and the moment a disturbing attitude arises,
endangering myself or others,
I will firmly confront and avert it.
Whenever I meet a person of bad nature,
overwhelmed by negative energy and intense suffering
I will hold such a rare one dear
as if I've found a precious treasure.
When others out of jealousy
mistreat me with abuse, slander and so on
I will practise accepting defeat
and offering the victory to them.
When someone I have benefited and in whom
I have placed great trust, hurts me very badly
I will practise seeing that person
as my supreme teacher.
In short, I will offer directly and indirectly
every benefit and happiness to all beings, my mothers.
I will practise in secret taking upon myself
all their harmful actions and sufferings.
Without these practices being defiled
by the eight worldly concerns,
by perceiving all phenomena as illusory
I will practise without grasping to release all beings
from the bondage of the disturbing unsubdued mind and karma.
by Geshe Langri Tangpa