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Since the life of a Bodhisattva is extraordinary, the means to become one must also be extraordinary.
Years ago, I met someone who helped me escape my abyss. The event itself was extraordinary. After years of assuming the world was a certain way, someone came along and revealed to me that there is another world, another way to live.
When you tell others that there is a hidden reality full of knowledge about the mind, spirit, and world, you may sound like someone who says nothing new. And yeah, you probably aren’t saying anything new. But the experience makes you think you have discovered a new reality.
The people who revealed to me that true love exists were not ex-partners. They were strangers willing to extend their hand and help me escape hell. They were fallen angels who managed to leave the shithole they were in and realized that anger is a potent energy capable of changing our condition if we know how to tame it. They were Bodhisattvas. Beings that used to live in the abyss and who managed to get out of it. And that’s the thing: they needed help from other Bodhisattvas to get out.
You need people outside of the disease.
Bodhisattvas must know your condition through and through. They must figure out all your sabotages, ways you deceive yourself, and harmful strategies that you use to stay the same. A demon does not deceive another demon, especially one who already possesses wisdom. That’s why you need people who have been to hell and have made it out. Without them, it is impossible to change.
The next requirement is to want to get out of the disease. If you aspire to become a Bodhisattva, how do you expect to achieve that if you do not possess self-love? Individual liberation is a requirement to liberate others (the Hinayana is not so inferior after all). Others may be compassionate to you, but you must open yourself to compassion. You must want to help and love yourself and be willing to stop being sick.
The willingness to be well is the key to another bodhisattva’s compassion, which is no different from one’s compassion.
We need wisdom that isn’t human yet present in everyone.
This elixir is called Dharma. The Cosmic Law. The Universal Order and Fundamental Truth of Reality.
The Dharma is an omnipresent wholesomeness that restores our sanity. It returns to its place the energies that deviated from their natural torrent and began damaging our physical and mental systems. Dharma is not a belief; it is not a dogma or an absurd morality. On the contrary, it is an event that behaves in a harmonious and balanced way, dissolving the mental prisons that we have cultivated.
Dharma is a logical mechanism and a sacred transcendental system. It allows the rest of the occult arts to be possible. If we understand Dharma, we have the power to transform, allowing us to spread our wings, take flight, and leave the abyss.
The Bodhisattva is the one who bestows the Dharma because he is the one who knows it and has practiced it. It does not matter whether the Bodhisattva is a beginner or an advanced one. What matters is that he has already tasted that nectar of wisdom and knows that it works. He knows that Dharma is the supreme method. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t call it Dharma; it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know that he is a Bodhisattva. What matters is the activation of the teaching in oneself and the transmission of it to others, which brings me to the following requirement.
It is not enough to let yourself be helped and be willing to improve.
There must also be a solid motivation to share this liberating discovery with others. The good news is this motivation naturally rises when you break free from ignorance. This motivation is so intense for those who live it since it is evident that if everyone else understood that they live in a mental prison, they would not only free themselves but also become highly beneficial people.
A “newborn” Bodhisattva perceives the enslaving network inherent in the human species. It gets in the way; he finds it unnatural. That’s why he doesn’t stop thinking about the possibility of more people being free. Such beginner Bodhisattva becomes annoying because he won’t stop talking about it. Over time, he understands that everyone has their way, but that does not mean that the intention for everyone to be free disappears. That one never goes away.
And that’s it. What follows is the perfection of the Bodhisattva’s qualities, such as generosity, discipline, patience, impetus, meditation, and wisdom.
To recap, you become a bodhisattva when someone else helps you, when you are willing to be helped, when you receive the Dharma, and when the motivation to help others rises in you.
To be continued.
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