4. Courage

The verse that His Holiness recites is from the eighth-century Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by the Indian scholar and meditator Shantideva.  Beloved by Tibetans, Bodhisattva Shantideva lived and taught at Nalanda University near Rajgir in north India (which flourished for hundreds of years). In the eighth century, when Buddhism first moved the hearts of Tibetans, a team of scholars was commissioned by the Tibetan king Trisong Dhetsen to translate the major texts of this Nalanda tradition, a vast body of work that became the basis of study and practice in the great monastic universities of Tibet, which continues to this day, even in exile. His Holiness himself was educated in this system. The simple thought expressed in this verse is at the heart of the path of the bodhisattva, someone committed to becoming a fully enlightened Buddha, no matter how long it takes, working tirelessly from life to life, manifesting in countless bodies to benefit others. This aspiration is the driving force behind their every thought, every word, and every action.