Chapter 28 Kundalini and Service

By dedicating your life to others in the way of the Bodhisattva, you can enjoy every day. There is always DEEP happiness in your heart instead of jealousy and so many other sufferings. When you follow your ego, negative emotional thoughts and self-cherishing, even though nobody else tortures you, you are constantly tortured by attachment, anger and so on.
Ven. Lobsand Namgye

I’ve read a few books and postings lately on the Bodhisattva Attitudes. Even though Bodhisattva comes from the Buddhist tradition, and my experience is principally from the Christian tradition, the similarities as to what both are trying to accomplish are remarkable. It’s as if both are challenging us to climb to the summit of a great mountain, albeit by different paths.

I've copied this from an internet posting called “Thoughts on Bodhisattva Attitudes.

“The 200 year old oak tree just outside my window is

dropping its acorns in a wide area, including my small balcony. They also are landing on the concrete walkway, gravel paths and in plain sight of squirrels to whisk away for winter food storage. Only a few are falling on fertile ground to grow into mighty oaks."

Like this, the teachings of the Bodhisattva path of heroic transcendent altruism, fall in a wide area, but only a few people are fertile ground for the teachings to take root!"
Domo Geshe Rinpoche

Now let’s compare this introduction with a parable in the Gospel of Matthew:

Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A

farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Gospel of Matthew

The meaning of both stories is quite apparent and similar.

Both are intended to encourage the reader to prepare their hearts to become the fertile soil to embrace the seed that leads to "New Life". In the Buddhist story, it is to become the mighty oak tree. In the Christian parable, it is to produce a great harvest. In both, few are ready to make the sacrifice, but the ones who do will have life in abundance.

The way to this abundant life, for both, is through service.

The Bodhisattva totally dedicates her/his life, day and night, to the service of other sentient beings, for their well-being, for their happiness, to free them from suffering, and to teach them the path to enlightenment. This is what the Bodhisattva looks for and wishes for all the time. If we wish to become a Bodhisattva, our motivation should be the same. 

The Bodhisattva vow is the commitment to put others before oneself. It is a statement of willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others. And a Bodhisattva is simply a person who lives in the spirit of that vow, perfecting the qualities known as the six perfections—generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and transcendental knowledge—in his/her effort to liberate beings.

The way to abundant life for the Christian is also through service. Those who allow the seed of the generous sower to fall on the fertile soil of their hearts, must do so through the love they share with their brothers and sisters.

"Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing,

and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

When Ghandi was asked by reporters: "What is your creed?

What do you believe?"  He said: "If you want to know what I believe, then look at the way I live."  

While in prison, John the Baptist questioned whether or not Jesus was the one his nation had been awaiting, or was there another to come? Jesus reported to John's followers: 

"Go tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, and the poor have the good news brought to them."

In other words: "If you want to know who I am, then look at the way I live." 

For both the Christian and the Bodhisattva, the way we live must be in service to others.