The Standard of a Good Bodhisattva

Bodhisattvas must all cultivate the four means of embracing (catuḥ-saṃgraha-vastu): kind speech, working alongside others, benefiting and bringing joy, and practicing together. Only in this way can one have good karmic connections with sentient beings, and whatever one does will go smoothly. If one lacks wholesome connections with sentient beings, then one cannot be a good bodhisattva and cannot deliver sentient beings. Even in the secular world, doing things depends on good affinities; in the Buddhadharma, wholesome connections are valued even more. Wholesome connections bind everyone together, helping one another, progressing together, benefiting oneself and benefiting others—only thus can the practice of the bodhisattva path be completed more quickly, and thereby buddhahood be accomplished. Those who deliberately or inadvertently set up obstacles for themselves are people without wisdom; they place stumbling blocks in their own path and set traps for themselves, and in the end they themselves suffer loss and things go badly for them. The wise, in speech and action, always consider the consequences, never harming others' interests or reputation, and never praising themselves while disparaging others. "Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself"—this is the most basic way of being a person, let alone becoming a bodhisattva, which requires principles even higher than this. The mind and conduct of a bodhisattva should always be to give the good things to others and take the bad things upon oneself. One absolutely must not act in reverse, claiming all the good things for oneself and assigning the bad things to others—that is not the conduct of a bodhisattva.

When issues arise among bodhisattvas, everything should be brought out openly, face to face—speak to each other's face. If there is a fault, correct it; if not, take it as encouragement. Do not behind people's backs sow discord and stir up gossip. Those who talk about others' faults easily commit the offense of slander, and the consequences are very bad. Speaking falsely about facts is called grounded slander; speaking wrongly about what is not fact is called ungrounded slander; the lightest is called speaking of the faults of the fourfold assembly. The fourfold assembly means the two groups of laypeople—men and women—and the two groups of the ordained—monks and nuns. The two ordained groups are also called the Three Jewels, and the Three Jewels are further divided into the worldly Three Jewels and the supramundane Three Jewels. Both offenses—speaking of the fourfold assembly's faults and slander—are not light; their retributive results are heavy. May all bodhisattvas skillfully guard their verbal karma. When there are matters, state them clearly face to face, so that others can promptly correct themselves, with mutual supervision and mutual support.

The karma that all sentient beings most easily create is verbal karma: false speech, divisive speech, frivolous speech, and harsh speech, as well as stirring up gossip, sowing discord, jealousy, and slander—also called framing and entrapping others. The precepts impose very strict requirements on verbal karma, because verbal karma is the easiest to create, is created the most, and yet goes unnoticed by people. Therefore, everyone should think before speaking—do not just blurt things out without any regard for anything else.