The great Master Shantideva (who expounded on Lord Buddha’s teachings on Compassion in his famous book on the development of Bodhicitta – a text called “Bodhicharyavatara”) said:

“All worldly happiness to be found
Comes from wishing others to be happy”

In “Compassion Conquers All”, Tsem Rinpoche shows how through the practice of “The Eight Verses of Mind Transformation”, this wish for others to be happy can engender a state of mind of supreme love, compassion and altruism. This is the mind of Bodhicitta that wishes every sentient being to be free from every suffering and to enjoy real lasting happiness, and is determined to realise this wish by achieving the state of mind of real ultimate happiness and peace (that is free from every suffering) first, and then helping all beings attain it. This state of mind of ultimate peace and real lasting happiness is called Enlightenment or Full Awakening, where one achieves the qualities of omniscience, love and ability so as to have the power and ability to help others reach this same state.

There are living Masters who have realized such Enlightened states, and they manifest love, compassion and cherishing of all beings through benefiting them and bringing the Dharma-the teachings of Lord Buddha to them every minute of every day. (The only method to attain the state of Enlightenment is through the study and correct practice of the Dharma). One most inspiring example of these great Masters is Tsem Rinpoche himself. His care and compassion, and teaching of the Dharma and how to practice it, on the ground and on internet never stops.

H.E Kensur Rinpoche- Abbot Emeritus of Gaden Shartse Monastery – in reference to Tsem Rinpoche’s compassion, says:

“Tsem Rinpoche shows us that compassion and loving kindness are a most natural part of us. His own personal dedication toward putting compassion into action, through his continued works with monastic communities and individuals around the world, lends weight to the qualities he always teaches and encourages in his own students”.

In “Compassion Conquers All”, Tsem Rinpoche points out how highly realised compassionate Masters are always happy, always willing, always enthusiastic, always ever-ready to help others, even though they may have hundreds of people criticizing them. They endure many difficulties, many problems – financial, physical, health, environmental, social. They may go through many different types of sufferings and problems, yet they will go on, teach, practice, help and never lose their enthusiastic perseverance.

In this book, Tsem Rinpoche brings to us the teachings of the eight beautiful verses of mind-transformation –gems of wisdom and compassion that take us from pain and suffering to unadulterated joy. Using these eight verses, and with an adeptness born of vast and profound experience, he guides us firmly and compassionately on a mind transformation journey, from an egoistic self-grasping and self-cherishing mind to a fully awakened mind of ultimate peace, love and wisdom, attained through loving and cherishing others. Transcending even these eight mind-shaping verses, he takes us on a broader path that leads to Liberation and Enlightenment, a path which embodies the principle aspects of Renunciation, Compassion and Wisdom.

Dharma teaches us the ultimate method, the ultimate way to release ourselves from samsara. By listening to the Dharma and practicing it, we will be able to achieve freedom from suffering. The state of mind that is totally free from suffering and all traces of suffering and their causes is known as the state of Full Awakening or Enlightenment. The Dharma teaches us the correct conduct, conduct that leads to Full Awakening or Enlightenment. We become fully awakened when we have transformed our minds from the negative state of uncontrolled delusions – attachment, hatred and ignorance, wrong perceptions and projections (true causes of suffering) – to a positive state where our positive potentials of wisdom, compassion and skilful means are fully realized. This is actually the true natural state of our mind.

The Dharma we are being taught here is the Mahayana Dharma of the powerful Eight Steps to achieve ultimate freedom from suffering and ultimate peace and enlightenment, as contained in “The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation”. The Eight Verses are a mind-training and transformation process to develop Bodhicitta, the mind of altruistic determination to attain Enlightenment in order to free all beings from suffering. Bodhicitta is the main cause to attain Enlightenment. Without Bodhicitta, we cannot attain Enlightenment. The first seven verses direct us to train the mind to develop relative bodhicitta, or supreme compassion, and the last verse guides us to develop wisdom or ultimate Bodhicitta.

However, “Compassion Conquers All” is also the Lamrim (the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) in a nutshell. We are guided skilfully along the Three Principal Aspects of the Path (formulated by Je Tsongkhapa) – Renunciation , Compassion (Developing Bodhicitta) and Wisdom, by the experienced teacher that is Tsem Rinpoche. In Part One: Renunciation– Tsem Rinpoche guides us to renounce our clinging to the Eight Worldly Concerns, the main cause of our suffering that keeps us in samsara (cyclic existence of suffering). In Part Two: Compassion (The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation), we are guided to develop Bodhicitta. In Part Three: Wisdom- we are guided to reflect and meditate on Impermanence (and Death).

That part of Compassion Conquers All that moved me most and had the most profound impact on me is “Verse Seven – Giving and Taking”

I am particularly moved by the logical way in which we are guided to manifest supreme compassion and bodhicitta through the beautiful practice of Giving and Taking, by the motivation of repaying the kindness of all beings, each of whom has been our mother before in previous lives. I am moved, inspired and empowered by this lovely motivation to suffer for others, take upon myself all their harm, and give them every benefit and happiness, because without their precious love and cherishing of us, we would not be here and practicing the Dharma today. Our love, cherishing and compassion must necessarily encompass every sentient being because every one of them has been our mothers before.

Verse Seven:
“In brief, directly and indirectly,
I offer aid and joy to all my mothers!
May I secretly take upon myself
All harm and suffering of my mothers!”

Remembering the kindness of our mothers

From the moment you were conceived until you were born and even after that, think of how your mother loved and cherished you. Think of how she protected you while you were still in her womb, how she cared for and shielded you from pain and suffering. Even though you made her uncomfortable or caused her to suffer, she was happy. She was ever so careful with her movements, in case she caused you hurt or discomfort .She sacrificed her time and freedom for you. She stayed awake at night for you. When you were unwell, she worried endlessly about you.

When you were growing up, she continued to watch over you. She is overcome with joy when you are successful and when you are not successful or fall down, she suffers because of her love and deep compassion for you, her child.

The body, that we use to do Dharma practice- the very bones and flesh – comes from our mother.

The kindness of a mother in normal cases is such that you cannot repay back. Yet, for whatever reasons (perhaps due to her preoccupation with you), she does not have the Dharma, or is not able to practice the Dharma and is ignorant and suffers: she will have to die and take rebirth in hell or one of the lower realms.

Yes, she may have done things to hurt you. Perhaps she does not understand you. Perhaps you do not have a good relationship with her, but it cannot be denied that everything you have comes from her.

Whatever we do, we cannot ever repay the kindness of a mother. All the intensity of her love and her patience and her energy toward us, we can never repay that.

So if she says unkind things to us because of her delusions from previous lives, we should forgive her. We should in fact see it (her unkind words) as pleasing and beautiful. We should serve her. We should take care of her. We should watch over her in old age. We should be at her beck and call, and we should treat her as we treat our Guru. Every moment that we have with our mothers is a precious moment, and we should not let it slip by.

If, owing to our bad Karma, our mother passes away, we should never forget her kindness and practice the Dharma for her and dedicate it to her to repay her. Such a wonderful and kind mother that she has been, suffering so much pain and difficulty for us. Can we be so ungrateful as not to repay her kindness? Shouldn’t we treat her like a queen?

Like that, you had a mother in your previous lives, and in the life before that you had a mother. And in some situations in the past, some mothers from previous lives may have even sacrificed their lives for you and given you more than your mother of this life. Thus, even though we cannot remember, in every single life, thousands upon thousands and millions and millions of lifetimes we have had a mother like the mother of this life.

That is why, in Mahayana Buddhism, we say “all mother sentient beings” or “all mothers” as every single sentient being has been our mother before, at one time or another. Each mother has treated us in such a wonderful way that we should repay her kindness.
Repaying the kindness of your mothers

Therefore, in Mahayana Buddhism, the first step to develop Bodhicitta is to recognize that all sentient beings have been your mothers on that logical basis.

Now, therefore all mother beings – some of them are in the hell realm, some of them are in the spirit realm, some of them are animals, some are in desperate human situations, some are in the god realms – are taking rebirth and suffering again and again in samsara. How can you be so ungrateful as to let your mother suffer? Recognising that is the first step toward achieving Bodhicitta.
Training the Mind in Giving All the Benefits and Joy to All Mother Beings and Taking Upon Oneself All Mother Beings’ Suffering

“In short, may I do whatever I can to directly help my mothers. May I offer all the benefits to them and take their sufferings, openly and secretly endure suffering for my mothers who have been so kind to me. May I secretly take upon myself all mother sentient beings’ sufferings and pain.”

We should make such aspirations and pray for this quality. We should yearn to have this quality, make offerings for it, meditate on it, recite mantras and do retreats for it. We should go to our Gurus and request for teachings and receive teachings on it. We should make donations and engage in charity for the sole purpose of repaying the kindness of mother sentient beings.
Repaying the kindness of all mother beings by becoming a Buddha to benefit all

How to repay the kindness of beings who have been our mothers? Not just by giving food , clothing, shelter and medication, but to give them the complete method to be free from samsara. The only way we can do that is by becoming an enlightened Being for their sake.

“For the sake of all mother sentient beings, I will thus listen to the Dharma, learn the methods and practice to become an enlightened Being to repay their kindness. For the sake of all mother beings, I will make offerings, support the Dharma centres, and with the merit that I receive, may I become a Buddha to benefit my mothers. I will practice patience for my mothers, do mantras and meditate for my mothers.”

When your motivation for all your Dharma activities is to repay the kindness of others, you will not be easily disappointed even if you meet difficult people, or do not get results quickly, or if something goes wrong; you will be able to endure a lot of pain and problems for your mothers, remembering their kindness. There is no difference between the mother of this life and past lives’ mothers.

There is every chance that beings around you will be your mothers again. You will be meeting the same ones again and again and again. So doesn’t it behove us to remember their kindness in the past and in the present and the kindness they will be displaying in the future?
The motive of doing every action should be for all mother beings and to repay the kindness of others

So the first thought on waking up should be how to benefit mother beings and the last thought before going to sleep will be how you have benefited mother beings. We should think all the time “ I will do everything for the sake of other sentient beings. I will endure for others.” When we do this, we are practicing the Dharma and on the way to Buddhahood. We will see our mental strength grow. Our enthusiasm grow, our perseverance grow. Our practice will become stable.

So the motive for everything we do should be for the sake of sentient beings, not the eight worldly concerns. We will help in the centre, listen to the Dharma, practice the Dharma, meditate, do retreats, practice patience towards those that hurt us or damage us, for the sake of all mother sentient beings. Why? Because we wish to become a Buddha to repay their kindness – to give them the ultimate way out of suffering. The only way to develop those qualities is to encounter situations that will help us develop those qualities.

So this shows again how precious sentient beings are for us to develop the qualities to become enlightened. We should respect the Buddhas 50 percent and sentient beings 50 percent. Sentient beings are for us to develop the qualities to become enlightened. We should respect the Buddhas 50 percent and sentient beings 50 percent. We are 50 percent dependent on the Buddhas and 50 percent dependent on sentient beings (especially the ones we revile and do not like) for Enlightenment.

Training the Mind to Endure Pain and Suffering Happily

When we are doing Dharma practices and sufferings and problems come along, a great practitioner – one who understands the Dharma with wisdom – is happy. When real Dharma practitioners have sickness, they are uncomfortable, tired, exhausted, or maybe in pain, thirsty or hungry, they are still able to endure any type of suffering happily and easily. Although they endure these problems, they do not suffer. That’s the difference between them and those who are not real Dharma practitioners.

We endure pain with suffering because we are attached to ego. When we are attached to ego, we don’t want to have suffering; we are selfish. We don’t care if other people have suffering: we don’t want it ourselves. Whereas if we endure pain without attachment, we can endure it; we don’t suffer. In fact the very pain that we have increases our happiness: we are accepting the pain, the problems, and the difficulties for the sake of others (our mother beings).

If we are told “If you sacrifice your life , a thousand people will be saved, “ most of us will say “ Yes. I’m scared, but I can”. Whereas, if we were to suffer for only one person, we’ll think about it. Like that, when we suffer for the Dharma, we suffer for countless others. We can endure hunger, thirst, sickness, unhappiness, criticism, back-biting, people going against us, financial or physical problems. When we can endure those kinds of problems and suffering for the sake of Dharma, for the sake of others, the very karma that caused those sufferings become purified in the process. Also, by being happy about it and accepting it, you do not create further negative karma for that to happen in the future.

As Dharma practitioners, we should be able to be happy to endure sufferings for others. We should develop a mind that can suffer for others, bear difficulties to benefit others, bear problems for the benefit of others. If they criticise you, if they say negative things about you, even if they threaten you or hurt you or defame you, let them. Don’t fight back, don’t harm them back –two wrongs don’t make a right.
Training the Mind to Accept Pain and Suffering For Others

When we do Dharma practices and encounter difficulties and problems, we should train our mind to take them, feel them and accept them. When we do that, we are able to purify the problem simultaneously while we are dealing with it. If someone criticises you about your not doing a practice correctly, it hurts; but that pain or hurt has a cause. You have created the cause previously and hurt or criticise others with similar intent. When you receive it back, understand that it is from your own negative karma. Accept it with responsibility and don’t fight back .Contemplate on it quietly. In that way, while you are suffering, you can purify the karma to have received the suffering, and you do not create further karma for more suffering.

We should learn to endure pain, suffering and unhappiness, difficulties, problems and disasters, with the realization of the results from our karma and that we do it for others. We should be able to endure that difficulty for others. We should train ourselves to endure that difficulty for others. We should develop that mind whether we are religious or not, whether we are Buddhists or not. Whoever you are, that thought will benefit you in life. This is a thought that is the truth.
Training the Mind to “Accept Unjust Loss and Offer the Victory to Others” to repay the kindness of others

When we accept unjust loss and offer the victory to others, for the sake of others, and we are doing it to repay the kindness of others, we will develop mental strength, mental capacity and mental forbearance to be able to take upon ourselves the suffering of others. When we are able to do that, we are entering the Bodhisattva Path to become a Buddha.

The first person we practice this is on is our Guru of infinite love and compassion. He is the one who gave us teachings, the one who is compassionate to us, the one who cares about us, who gives us the method to become a Buddha to be free from suffering. We should respect him for his knowledge, compassion and wisdom which are much greater than our worldly knowledge and achievements. Even if we scorn him or say negative things to him or go against him, he will always be there for us, will always have compassion for us and will always be ready to accept us. Indeed he is the one who has already perfected the practice of taking upon himself the suffering and harm of others and giving them happiness and benefit!
Developing the mind to take on the suffering of others

Bearing suffering for others, bearing difficulties for others, being able to put up with pain for others, you will reach a point when you can actually meditate and suffer for others. You can take the suffering of others upon yourself and suffer for them secretly, without their knowing. Then you become a Bodhisattva.

We must develop that type of mind, that type of strength, that type of capacity. As we suffer for others, we must be able to take pain for others, be able to bear the negative comments, malicious talk, bad thoughts and bad talking from others. Have compassion for those people who do these negative things to you. They are victims just like you. At some point in your lives, you would have done the same thing to others, when you did not have the Dharma or had the bad karma not to practice the Dharma well. Therefore by the force of their bad karma, they have no choice but to do the negative actions. Don’t add fuel to fire and retaliate. They are already suffering and collecting so much negative karma by their doing this. Why contribute to their suffering and their problems and to their anger. It will not stop your anger or solve your problems or dissolve your unhappiness. So forgive them.
Forgiving and Letting Go

When you forgive and let go, you will gain mental strength. You will then be able to deal with even bigger difficulties. That is the ideal way of thinking of a Bodhisattva. We should be thinking positively, like that. We should be thinking such good thoughts and encourage others to do so.
Treasure Difficult People

When you encounter difficult people, who are overwhelmed by suffering, depression and negative karma, have compassion for them. They may have big mouths, like to gossip and slander and are rude. Still you should treasure them. Don’t push them away. Be compassionate to them. Keep them close to you and help them in any way you can. Be humble. If you don’t do this, then, are you practising the Dharma?

Ways to help us to develop compassion for difficult people(as recommended by Tsem Rinpoche) are learning, understanding, praying and collecting more merits or just surrendering to one’s Guru, saying he is correct and we are not. Taking on one difficult person at a time and conquering them by compassion is the way to go.

Training to take the sufferings of others upon oneself is hard work, but worth it. Whether you choose to be positive and take upon yourself the suffering of others, or react negatively to them, is a choice of wanting to grow spiritually or not.

So, be kind, to people who are difficult and disturb you and create problems for you. Keep them close to your heart. Be compassionate. Never tire of helping them. We should be as courageous as the Buddha and our Guru who are never tired of helping us or putting up with us.

We should help them materially, financially and emotionally, just like Atisha did with his monk attendant.

In this beautiful verse, we find the culmination of compassion, where it merges and becomes inseparable with wisdom. Shantideva stated that, without wisdom, there can be no true compassion.

Practicing and realising the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation will lead us to be as spontaneous as Bodhisattvas in helping others. Bodhisattvas see no separation of “self” and “others”, no duality. Every pain of every being is felt and suffered as if it were their own, yet welcomed with open arms, and without personal suffering. This universal and equal love and compassion are manifested spontaneously and naturally.

Tsem Rinpoche: “ It is the never-ending miracle of love, and Bodhisattvas are this miracle and nothing else”.

The Five Things I have learnt from “Compassion Conquers All”

Renouncing the Selfish 8 Worldly Concerns- that keep us in samsara and in suffering

Tsem Rinpoche in his book “ Be Happy” says:
“In order to be happy, we must know why we are unhappy”.

The causes of unhappiness, lie within us and stem from the deeply habituated grasping at “I”. In chasing after our own happiness in this life, this grasping at “I” manifests itself through the motivation of the Eight Worldly Concerns in every action of our body, speech and mind. As long as we cling to the Eight Worldly Concerns, we will only know pain and suffering and not know the way out of suffering.

Hence the first steps we take to move toward real happiness is to renounce the causes of our unhappiness as manifested in our wrong motivation of the Eight Worldly Concerns in every one of our actions.
How the Wrong Motivation- arising from the 8 Worldly Concerns – leads to wrong practice and wrong practice leads to suffering

Check our Motivation

When we do any Dharma activity or when we practice the Dharma, we must check our motivation. It must be free of the eight worldly concerns. If our actions are governed by the motivation of the eight worldly concerns, it shows that our minds are still deeply habituated in delusions and negative states that stem from self-grasping and we will continue to be controlled by these habituated delusions and negative states of mind, which can only lead to unhappiness and misery, and rebirth in the lower realms. With this untransformed negative state of mind, we cannot enter the Mahayana path to achieve our goal of Full Awakening and Enlightenment. We cannot even achieve Liberation.

The following are the eight worldly concerns:

to be happy when we are praised,
to be unhappy when we are insulted,
to be happy if we receive gifts,
to be unhappy if we don’t;
to be happy upon achieving reputation,
to be unhappy when we are unsuccessful,
to be happy when we are comfortable,
to be unhappy when we are not.

Any Dharma practice or activity we are engaged in should be free of the eight worldly concerns. These eight worldly concerns are the antithesis of Dharma. When we perform any action with a worldly motive, one of the eight worldly concerns above, the action will lead to suffering and to rebirth in the three lower realms. Here’s why.

Dharma and Worldly Concerns are Opposites

Take for example that you may be practicing the Dharma so that you will be praised. Yet the point of practising the Dharma is not to be praised or recognized. The point of practicing the Dharma is to achieve Liberation. So, let’s say, you help a Dharma centre by cleaning the altar. When people are around, you work very hard. The moment there is no one around, you disappear for a long coffee break and to chatter idly with a friend. How then does this motivation to be seen so as to be praised help you to achieve your goal of liberation? It does not. On the contrary, this motivation reinforces your selfishness and ego and pulls you in the opposite direction, away from realising liberation from suffering.
Wrong Motivation Fuels Increase of our Ego

If you are practising the Dharma for praise, the very practice of Dharma leads to wanting more praise! This increases your ego, and will surely lead you to the three lower realms. This is all because of your wrong motivation before the action. If we do Dharma practice to get praised or to avoid insults, that is a low aim, and brings Dharma to a low level. The minute we don’t get praised, we stop doing Dharma practice. So the fault is not Dharma– it’s the motive. The very motive that we started with, out of ignorance, was wrong.

On the other hand, if you sweep out an old folks home, with a positive motivation of benefitting others, that act will eventually lead you to Buddhahood or Enlightenment.

Wrong Motivation Leads to Fruition of More Negative Karma with Increased Ego

If we do Dharma meditation and practice, with the reason of getting praise, that is definitely not Dharma practice. In fact, the very motive of wanting praise will cause the act itself to result in the fruition of more negative karma. So when we start practicing the Dharma, instead of our wish to get praise decreasing, it increases.

The more knowledge we get from attending Dharma talks, the more empowerments we get, the more scholarly we become, then the bigger our ego, pride and arrogance. Everything becomes inflated and bloated up. And the WHOLE POINT OF LEARNING THE DHARMA IS TO DECREASE OUR EGO, PRIDE AND ARROGANCE AND TO, IN FACT, ANNIHILATE OR DESTROY THEM!
Blaming Others, But Neither the Dharma Nor the Dharma Teacher Is At Fault!

So when you practise the Dharma with the wrong motive from the beginning, and do not realise any results, it is NOT THE DHARMA or THE DHARMA TEACHER that is at fault. It is you yourself. It is your wrong motivation! If the Dharma or the Dharma teacher or the Dharma text were at fault, then our altars should be empty. There should be no enlightened beings. But there are living enlightened and highly realized beings, who continue to be extremely beneficial to others. There is Reverend Cheng Yen, the great Mahayana Master in Taiwan , for example. There are great living compassionate and Enlightened Lamas , like Tsem Rinpoche, who are reborn again and again to bring the Dharma to countless beings. Because there are living representations of the result of correct Dharma practice, the Dharma must be correct, and we ourselves must be at fault.

No Cause to be Despondent – the Fault Is Impermanent

However, we should not be despondent. If we are at fault, the fault is impermanent, dependent on conditions. We can change the conditions and bring an end to the wrong practice and start on the right practice. Right or wrong practice stems from the motivation –from whether the motivation is fuelled by the eight worldly concerns or propelled by the wish to achieve liberation or enlightenment.
What Happens When You Use the Dharma for Short Term Benefit?

Short term benefit leads to great long term loss and no ultimate benefit

If we go to a temple and make offerings to change our luck, or we chant lots of mantras to receive blessings to improve our economic situation, the minute our business or economic situation remains down or goes down, we stop all offerings and mantra chanting. We become despondent. We have used the Dharma for a short-term benefit and we don’t derive the ultimate benefit from Dharma, which is complete freedom from suffering, not just the business or economic situation going up. In brief, we should not practice the dharma with any of the eight worldly concerns for short term benefit. When we practice the Dharma, with the 8 worldly concerns, it reinforces our delusions and our ego, which will eventually lead us to rebirth n the three suffering realms.

Practice the Dharma Correctly for Long and Short Term Benefit

Whether you practice the Dharma or you don’t practice the Dharma, your problems are exactly the same. If you look deeply, whether you practice the Dharma or not, your situation, your problem arises from karma, not Dharma; they do not arise from your relationship with Dharma. So therefore, whether you practice the Dharma or not, you have the same problems. But with the Dharma, if practiced correctly, it becomes a temporary remedy to help you get over your problems and also gives you ultimate methods to get over your problems.

Where Does our Wrong Motivation Come From?

Grasping and Wrong Projection

Our wrong motivation arises from grasping at an object that has no inherent existence. We suffer because we wrongly project that the objects of our attachment or aversion are permanent and existing on their own, without being dependent on any cause, and we grasp at this wrongly projected perception.

So, for instance, people who are attached to praise (one of the eight worldly concerns), and whose happiness arises from receiving praise, their happiness is deluded because praise is dependent on a lot of things. It is dependent on our actions, dependent on the stability of our actions, and then dependent on actually getting the praise and actually getting the people around you to praise you. And when you don’t get it, you become unhappy. The point is –praise is impermanent. So if we depend on happiness from praise, we will experience unhappiness again and again and again.
The Happy News -Negative Perceptions and Projections and Their Causes Are Also Impermanent!

The happy news is that ‘There is an end to suffering’. Lack of wisdom to perceive correctly and wrongly projected perceptions – main causes of suffering – are impermanent. This is a clear implication that there can be eradication or annihilation of these actual causes of unhappiness.
Training the Mind to Stop Grasping at Wrong Projections

All our sufferings arise from wrong perceptions of or wrong projections on to everything around us. When we check our minds, we will find that from morning to night, we act from wrong projections and our grasping at them. The minute we stop this, or train our minds to stop this, the sufferings will start to lessen. The problem may still be there, but with less suffering, you have clarity of mind to enable you to solve the problem.

Indeed, when we realize that the causes of suffering lie within us, and we can actually cut out these causes of our suffering, we will start to do that – cutting wrong conditioning, wrong view, wrong projection, we will see our suffering lessen, even if we have many problems to endure. That is how great Master and practitioners are always happy, always enthusiastic and ever-ready to help others, even though they may have hundreds of people criticizing them and hating them, and endless problems. They realize that the causes of suffering are within us and their practice of cutting wrong conditioning, wrong views and wrong projections is for the benefit of all beings.
Continuous Collection of Merits to Support Growth of Realization that Our Sufferings Come from Within Us

Be Consistent in Accumulating Merits through Dharma Activities and Applying the Dharma to our Daily Lives

We should be ever persevering in making offerings to the Three Jewels, maintaining our altar, engaging in practices like making prostrations, making mandalas, Vajrasattva, doing our meditational deity practice, studying the Dharma and most importantly applying it to our daily lives. Be ever persevering, because that will become the root cause for cutting our suffering.

These realizations of where our sufferings come from , how to cut them and how to achieve inner peace and real happiness, will grow and reach a point where they are irreversible, where without effort they remain steady and constant. This will lead to effortless giving, effortless patience, effortless enthusiasm, effortless compassion, effortless Bodhicitta.
After Being in Dharma for Many Years, Why Have We Not Transformed?

Why have not we transformed? Because the motive might have been wrong, and along with that, we have wrong projections and a lack of merits.
From Wrong Motivation to Correct Motivation

However, there is an end to suffering – just as the objects of our eight worldly concerns are impermanent, so too is wrong motivation which leads to wrong practice. Wrong motivation is impermanent; it is dependent on causes. The main cause is ignorance. Once you have been given wisdom and knowledge, ignorance is cut, the very foundation of our wrong motive is cut. Only the positive or correct motive is left.

Correct motivation is very important in the beginning, in the middle and at the end. When the motivation is correct there will be wonderful, positive, lasting results and an end to suffering.

The end of suffering is in our hands when we develop correct motivation.
Correct Motivation

We should have the motive to practice the Dharma , to go to the temple, to see our Guru enthusiastically, with perseverance, with great patience, with great love, with great understanding of the great value that will arise from there, by being free of the eight worldly concerns, the eight wrong motives – which is a guideline for developing our motivation.

The correct motive should be Enlightenment (pure and lasting peace and happiness), and freedom of suffering for everyone.
Conclusion

We have been provided with a Guideline to get out of suffering and samsara. The least we can do is follow the guideline and renounce samsara and all the eight worldly concerns. Shedding our self-centredness and our grasping at these worldly concerns and wrong projections, we will become real compassionate people for the benefit of all.

Compassion Lights the Way to Enlightenment for All

Why It Matters to be Compassionate

Compassion stems from the realisation that we are all interdependent on one another even for our very existence. No man is an island unto himself. As Tsem Rinpoche says: “We are all so interdependent on each other to be successful in our lives and for emotional happiness. We are never independent or can accomplish things without depending on the kindness of others if you think about it.”

Here is how Albert Einstein has spelt out our commitment to be compassionate to all:

Einstein on Compassion

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. ..Striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”

In Mahayana Dharma, we are committed to developing love and compassion for all beings, the root cause and the motivation for achieving happiness for all. Self-cherishing (a root cause of our suffering) arises from a delusory sense of a separate and independent “I”. That “I” is an illusion and a delusion. Compassion, on the other hand, frees us from the prison cell of our delusions of self and allows us to embrace the true reality of interdependent arising, which has no limits in time and space. Hence compassion which arises from cherishing others more than self and recognizing that we are dependent on others (and on causes and conditions) – as we do not inherently exist – helps us to also realise that our happiness depends on others.
Compassion Is In Our Hands

Through the training provided by the “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation”, we are guided to develop compassion which flowers into Bodhicitta . Bodhicitta is the main cause for Enlightenment. It manifests as an altruistic determination to attain Enlightenment in order to free all beings from suffering.

There are two methods for developing bodhicitta. One method focuses on developing loving kindness towards all (recognizing all beings as having been our mothers, remembering their kindness and determining to bring them great benefit as a means of repaying their kindness), the other on exchanging self with others. Je Tsongkhapa, with Spiritual ingenuity, combined the two. The result is the development of Bodhicitta using one of the most amazing mind-training techniques that can ever be found. Indeed, this unique technique is most skilfully woven into the “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation.”
Developing Compassion by recognising the preciousness of all beings and cherishing them as you would your only son

Verse One:

By realizing that all sentient beings
Are more precious than wish-fulfilling jewels,
For attainment of the pure goal,
May I hold them always dear to my heart!

Our goal is to achieve Enlightenment. It is through the existence of every sentient being that we are able to achieve this state of Enlightenment.

In the first place, if there were no sentient beings, how can we develop compassion for the suffering of others? Compassion arises from seeing the suffering of other sentient beings, and not being able to bear seeing this and developing a heartfelt wish that all beings be free from all suffering, especially when they have been our mothers before, and every being wishes to avoid suffering and experience every possible happiness. Without sentient beings, we definitely cannot practice compassion.

Without compassion, we cannot attain Bodhicitta. After developing compassion, it follows that we will develop altruism. It is from seeing all the suffering and misery of all beings and from developing a wish to see that they are all free of suffering, that altruism arises. We develop a strong determination to take responsibility to free all from suffering. This altruistic aspiration engenders the thought and the determination to become a fully Enlightened Being –with omniscience, love and ability –in order to be capable of freeing all beings from suffering and bringing them every happiness. This altruistic determination gives birth to Bodhicitta. Only with Bodhicitta, can we become an Enlightened Being.

Hence there is every reason why we must cherish all sentient beings, because it is the foundation to develop great compassion and bodhicitta.

A wish-granting jewel can at best only provide you with whatever you wish for in this one life. The objects of this life can only give you short-term happiness. So like all things in samsara these wish fulfilling jewels cannot give you real ultimate happiness.

Sentient beings, on the other hand, are more precious than wish-granting jewels. It is in dependence on each and every one of them that we can achieve Enlightenment. It is in dependence on every one of them that we can practice Compassion and the Perfections of Patience, Giving, Perseverance and other virtues, in order for us to attain Enlightenment. Without sentient beings, how can we practice?

Hence all sentient beings are as kind to us as the Buddhas. It is in dependence on them that we can practice and achieve Enlightenment .We have to love all sentient beings equally. Before we can even practice compassion, we must be able to see every being (without exception) as equally important for us to love and cherish.

The Buddhas are important. We need their teachings and blessings. We need them to inspire us and to guide us. We need the Three Jewels 50 percent. Sentient beings are important too. We need sentient beings so that we can practice the Dharma or the teachings of the Buddhas on them. So we also need every sentient being 50 percent to get us to Enlightenment.

We must practice the Dharma with every sentient being without exception. We are not practicing the Dharma when we start labelling people as friends, enemies and strangers. We should have a deep and sincere respect and love for every sentient being. We are all interdependent on one another.

We have to show equal and similar respect and love for both the Buddhas and for all sentient beings, as well as respect all beings. Let’s begin with our Guru, the Sangha, our Dharma brothers and sisters and people of other faiths and extend it all the way to encompass all neutral people and enemies as well. With difficult people, begin by discarding our hatred and dislike of them. We need to start practicing like this.
Developing Compassion by cherishing all beings, including those with negative dispositions and are tormented in mind

Verse Four:

As for sentient beings who are bad–natured,
When I see they are oppressed by negativity and pain,
May I cherish them just like I am encountering
A precious treasure that is difficult to find!

Why must we cherish beings who have negative dispositions and are suffering? This is because they are more precious to us than a wish-granting jewel. A wish-granting jewel can confer on us some material wealth, but sentient beings can confer on us Enlightenment! It is people who are difficult to get along with that give us the greatest opportunity to practice compassion and love! They are the greatest test to see if we have developed compassion and love, and if our years of practice have brought us results. With people of negative disposition, we are given the opportunity to extend our love and compassion and cherishing of others to people who are now sowing the seeds of future suffering through their delusions. This is how we build up our level of love and compassion to bring it closer to the universal love and compassion of a Buddha.

If you feel disturbed by others (including those who appear to be negative), it is not the fault of others. It is your own mind that is feeling disturbed. Your mind is still overpowered by self-cherishing. The great pandit and teacher, Atisha, compassionately took an old monk who had nothing but the ugliest things to say about him, to Tibet with him and had him there with him for 13 years. The reason Atisha took this old monk along was so that he could practice patience. This old monk presented a golden opportunity for Atisha to practice patience, love and compassion, so that he could achieve Buddhahood!

Destroying the EGO and the Self-Cherishing Mind with Compassion. Compassion Conquers All

Verse Two:

Whenever I associate with anyone,
May I view myself as least of all,
And, from the depths of my heart ,
May I cherish others as supreme!

When we cherish others, we love them all equally with a love that wishes to see all achieve the highest state of happiness that is permanent and lasting. We wish them to be free from suffering. We wish them to achieve full Enlightenment.

Going beyond cherishing them, we hold each being to be supreme and worthy of our deepest reverence, as each has the potential within them to be Enlightened. On the other hand, we hold ourselves with humility as the least significant of all. When our ego is thus cut, our view becomes pure.

Owing to our bad karma, we have impure views and even wrong views. Due to wrong views, even our Spiritual Guide may appear to us as full of faults. Hence, it is important to cut our pride and our ego, so that our view becomes pure. Guru devotion is the training that we need to be able to humble ourselves, to put our pride, put our knowledge, put everything down in front of our Guru, whom we visualise as the Buddha. In learning to do that, we can apply it to everyone else. The practice of humility starts from there.

Whenever a problem arises, we should be the one to take the blame and apologise or makeup. We should see the root of the problem and always stop it from our side.

Verse Five:

May I accept unjust loss
Such as others abusing me,
Or slandering me out of jealousy,
And may I offer the victory to others!

Seeing that our ego and self-cherishing have been the root cause of our clinging on to the desire for gain or victory and our aversion to loss or defeat in this mundane world, it will be a victory over our ego and self-cherishing if we can accept unjust loss and defeat and offer the gain or victory to others.

If, on the other hand, we give in to our ego and self-cherishing, by retaliating and reacting negatively to others abusing us, we reinforce our ego and increase our delusions. It shows that our delusions, and our ego and self-cherishing are as strong as theirs. They may have done something wrong to us and they are wrong. However, if we react similarly, we are just as wrong as they are. We collect the same amount of negative karma.

Our negative reaction shows that we are without compassion. We do not consider how they might be suffering. We do not consider their situations. We are not sensitive to them and their sufferings. Our not being sensitive to them shows how strong our ego and self-cherishing mind is. We are more important than them, so we do not need to be sensitive to them!

If we are able to offer the gains and the victory to others, even in daily life, we will benefit tremendously, purifying so much negative karma and generating so much merit. Whatever the outcome in worldly terms, gain or loss, all will be like a great victory to us. It will be a victory over our ego, our self-cherishing and our delusions. We show that we truly cherish others. Compassion conquers all.

When others abuse us or slander us out of jealousy, we accept and do not retaliate out of love and compassion because we recognise that they have been our mothers before. We also accept because we recognise that it is the result of negative actions we have done in the past.

All said, when someone mistreats or abuses you, this is the moment and opportunity for you to practice the Dharma – to practice patience, humility and compassion, and cherishing them as your precious means to enlightenment. In accepting abuse, we purify negative karma and we take a big step forward in mind training and transformation. This step puts you on the Bodhisattva path.

As Tsem Rinpoche says, this verse is the very foundation of Bodhisattva practice.

Checking the mind – to guard against delusions, wrong motive and wrong projections that all arise from the ego and the self-cherishing mind

If we cannot benefit others , let us not harm them.
Checking the mind to guard against delusions or afflictive emotions which arise from the self-cherishing mind

Verse Three:

During all actions, as soon as thoughts
Or delusions arise in my mind
That are harmful to myself and others,
May I stop them with effective means!

Checking the mind is to be aware and to guard it against being overwhelmed by the clouds of delusions that give rise to disturbing and harmful attitudes, like greed and anger, which always end in pain and disaster, not only for ourselves, but also for those who are connected to us in any way, which, ultimately is everybody. Our minds must always be open to the awareness of how interconnected we are and how far reaching our actions are. It is compassion that opens up our minds to this awareness.

We should confront disturbing attitudes by realizing they are as impermanent as clouds that appear and disappear and are without substance. We should not be distracted by these disturbing attitudes, and avoid confusion and damage, by focussing on the pure unchanging awareness that is like the sky. In the meantime however, most of us at this stage can only counter these delusions or afflictive emotions by applying their antidotes – applying the antidote of patience to counter anger, and applying the antidote of Giving and generosity to counter greed.

If everything that exists is impermanent phenomena, there must be an end. Everything that arises with a cause is impermanent. Hence my afflictive emotions, which arise from ego and my self-cherishing mind, are impermanent. Why are they impermanent? Because my ego and self-cherishing mind themselves arise from causes and conditions, and are impermanent themselves. When these causes and conditions are removed, the ego and self-cherishing mind will be removed.

What are the causes for the ego and self-cherishing mind to exist? There are several causes which include –not understanding the truth, not understanding the Dharma, not having wisdom, not having a collection of merits, not trying to root it out or pull it out, but reconditioning yourself in it; and not dealing with it directly or facing it directly. When we start removing the causes, that negative state of mind of afflictive emotions must disappear. Therefore, there is an end to afflictive emotions, to negative states of mind which bring about negative actions of body, speech and mind which bring about negative results.

These negative results that we experience as our own samsaras or states of mental suffering are brought about by our personal individual fruition of negative karma. Therefore, even if we cannot benefit, we should not make trouble or cause harm to others in any shape or form. Don’t gossip, don’t incite problems, don’t incite scepticism, and don’t talk about people behind their backs. Don’t even make trouble for trouble makers.

Contemplate on this point again and again and again. Develop penetrative insight into it. Put it in our mind and recondition it slowly. With this, afflictive emotions that endanger others and ourselves will be less and less. There is no doubt about it. There are many examples of people, who have overcome their afflictive emotions in this way.
Checking the mind to guard against wrong projections which basically arise from our ego and self-grasping

Verse Six:

And if someone whom I have helped,
One for whom I had great hopes,
Harms me without slightest reason,
May I view him as my holy Guru!

When a person whom you have helped and benefitted, and on whom you have placed great hopes, hurts you very badly, it is not that person who has hurt you. It is your wrong motivation in the first place. It is also your wrong projection towards that person. It is having that wrong projection and acting out of that wrong projection, that brings you unhappiness and suffering.

If you don’t have wrong projections and expectations like thinking “I have helped them, therefore they must help me”, if you don’t have wrong projections of how that person should treat you, then you will not be hurt or disappointed with that person, when he does not fulfil your projection of him. You have been disappointed time and again when the people on whom you have put wrong projections – about how they should be, how they should act, how they should practice , how they should talk, how they should react – do not fulfil your projections of them. When they do not fulfil your expectations, then they are bad. Then you want to get back at them!

NO! That is not the way to go. If you have received any harm from anybody, that harm has come from your past negative karma. You have created the cause for that negative experience and encounter. If that person were truly bad, everyone will see him as bad. However, there will be some people who love him and some who hate him. This proves that that person is not intrinsically good or bad, nor are they someone to be loved or hated; but it is your projection of him that makes him so.

So a person being good or bad comes from our projection of him. Our projection and our view of him may not always be accurate, because we are not filled with compassion; we are not filled with wisdom. We do not have the positive karma to see the true reality of that person.

Whether a person appears negative to us because of our wrong projection or whether he is indeed negative, it is wrong for us to react negatively towards him. If we do, we collect negative karma. Our negative reaction is the result of our deep ignorance and very wrong and negative conditioning, and our negative reaction to our own negative projection. Basically, however, most suffering comes from our wrong projection and expectation of how a situation should be.

Unfortunately, we work and act out of our projections. We feel that a person should be nice to us, and if they are not, we abuse them back, we fight them back. We have a hate campaign against that person, yet we never win. It shows clearly our negative state of mind, our lack of understanding, our lack of compassion, our lack of patience and practice. We lack the realization to see the kindness of our enemies in giving us an opportunity to practice and attain Enlightenment.

Indeed, we should see that person as a great teacher. They are teaching us that we should not act like that. They are teaching us to see our state of mind in that situation. They are teaching us to skilfully transform that situation into an opportunity to practice kindness and to see the person who disappoints us as a precious being to be cherished – they are helping us to practice for Enlightenment.

When someone harms us or disappoints us, we should accept the situation and the person for what they are. Stop our projections and our suffering and problems will begin to lessen. Know that conditions for people to be perfect or imperfect are impermanent. So don’t be attached to either. People who are nasty now can change, so can people who are wonderful now! So be aware that people and situations are impermanent and can change!

Have compassion and accept people for what they are. If they need help, help them. Sometimes we can help by not reacting or fighting back and let go of the situation. By doing so, it shows we are advancing in our practice.

Wisdom

Through knowing that all phenomena are illusory – empty of inherent existence – may all beings be free from the bondage of attachment and aversion

Verse Eight:

May all of this be undefiled
By stains of the eight mundane views,
And through discernment, knowing all things as illusion,
Without grasping, may all be released from bondage!

The empty illusory nature of all phenomena – The nature of all phenomena is that it is illusory. It is empty of inherent existence. All phenomena do not exist independently. They exist because of interdependently arising causes and conditions. Each is not separate from the other, but all are viewed as a totality. At the same time, each is empty from their own side – empty of inherent existence. Thus all phenomena, including our spiritual practice –the subject (the one who meditates), the object (the Enlightened Being meditated on) and the act (of meditation) – are ultimately empty and illusory in nature.

The practical thing to do here, which holds the key to our developing the correct view, is to not label phenomena as “good” or “bad”. Nothing is inherently or intrinsically “good” or “bad”. “Good” or “bad” are merely labels that we attach to objects, and which comes from our wrong projections and our self-grasping mind. In fact, at the point where our senses come in contact with objects, we should not start to discriminate between “pleasant” and “unpleasant”. Nothing is good or bad. As all phenomena are illusory, we come to see that everything (and nothing) is really the same.

Each phenomenon arises from causes and conditions. Each phenomenon is interdependent on others for their existence. Hence all beings do not have inherent existence and depend on one another for their existence. Being thus aware of the illusory – dreamlike and fleeting – nature and the ultimate emptiness of all phenomena empowers us to free ourselves from attachment and aversion, which only lead us to suffering and pain.

Thus, the first seven verses of the “Eight Verses of Mind Transformation” help us to relinquish self-grasping and self-cherishing tendencies by cultivating great compassion –relative Bodhicitta . Once that has been accomplished and we are now led to the Eighth Verse, these two tendencies are completely dismantled through profound insight into the nature of reality. In this last verse, we see the arising of wisdom or absolute Bodhicitta. Having thus realized both relative and absolute Bodhicitta, when grasping has ceased and wisdom has dawned, we can now practice correctly –free from the extremes of eternalism and nihilism. From unconditioned awareness, non-dual love and compassion for all mother beings arise. Being free of agendas, directly seeing into the heart of each moment, life becomes an ongoing flow of prayer for and service to all beings for the sole purpose of helping them realize their Full Awakening.

In practicing Nagarjuna’s Middle Way (devoid of the extremes of Eternalism and Nihilism), relative and absolute truth, interconnectedness and emptiness, compassion and wisdom are inseparably intertwined, support each other,and depend on each other. The understanding of Nagarjuna’s Middle Way lies in the reconciliation of Nagarjuna’s two paradoxical assertions : “Samsara and Nirvana lack even an atom of true existence, while cause and effect and dependent arising are unfailing” , and the profound realization that “These two (assertions) are complementary and not contradictory”.

Recognizing that Life Itself is an Illusory Phenomena and Recognizing Impermanence and Remembering Death, Practice the Dharma!

The Words of the Great Panchen Lama:

“When the doctor gives up on me,
when rituals and pujas no longer work,
when my friends have given up hope for my life,
when anything I do is futile,
may I be blessed to remember
my Guru’s instructions”.

Practice the Dharma for Death is Certain, only the Time of Death is Uncertain

Remember our Guru’s repeated Instruction to Practice the Dharma

To practice the Dharma is to transform our mind from negative states of affliction and emotion to positive states. We should practice the Dharma in order to become a fully Enlightened Being, to be of utmost benefit to others and ourselves. We will continuously create positive actions if we are free of the eight worldly concerns and remember death at all times. But if we don’t remember death, we will constantly create more negative karma and become more unsuitable for Liberation. Then at the time of death, when it’s too late, we will feel intense regret at having wasted our precious opportunity.

If we remember death, our Dharma practice becomes pure. Our Dharma actions become powerful and effective, beneficial in the beginning, beneficial in the middle and beneficial at the end, and in the hour of death, we will go with satisfaction, knowing how we have spent our life meaningfully. We should be more worried about what’s going to happen after death than before death.

Whatever dharma activities we engage in, be it attending Dharma talks, reading this book or any other activity, we should engage in it with a good motivation and constantly propel ourselves to be free of worldly concerns, contemplating on death and impermanence. Stop all negative actions like gossiping or putting people down.

We should never let our practice degenerate, but let it grow or excel. It is important that we begin to practice the “Eight Verses of Mind Transformation” immediately, if we have not done so yet. Only practicing these Eight Verses will bring an end to our suffering and bring us real happiness.
Enlightenment is in Our Hands!

I strongly recommend the reading of this book, which main focus is on the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation. Tsem Rinpoche says -” If we practice these eight verses (of Mind Transformation) alone, we can gain Enlightenment. Without initiations, without altars, without deities, without anything – if we practice this, from our heart, our suffering will stop…. All of the 84,000 teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni that He taught for more than 41 years of His holy life, are included in these eight verses. ”
Compassion is our Innate Natural Quality!

In “Compassion Conquers All”, Tsem Rinpoche shows us that qualities like compassion and loving kindness for all beings, which are essential for us to develop in order to realise ultimate Enlightenment (or inner peace and real lasting Happiness), are a most natural part of us.

However, our minds have been programmed and habituated over countless lifetimes to to be egoistic, self-cherishing and self-grasping, which has only led us to continued suffering and continued samsaric existence. We need to dismantle and eradicate all these negative states of mind and replace with what is our natural state of compassion and loving-kindness. Only when we retrain our mind to be positive – with the qualities of compassion, loving-kindness, patience, giving, and the like – will we realise ultimate inner peace and true lasting happiness or Enlightenment.

This powerful practice of mind-training and mind-transformation as so magnificently described in the Eight Verses, and so skilfully explained by Tsem Rinpoche in this book, is hard work, but worth it for Liberation and Enlightenment and the Happiness of all mother beings!

Tsem Rinpoche’s own compassion and loving-kindness, his cherishing of all mother beings, radiate out to all of us as we read this book. When he says:

“So, be kind, to people who are difficult and disturb you and create problems for you. Keep them close to your heart. Be compassionate. Never tire of helping them. We should be as courageous as the Buddha and our Guru who are never tired of helping us or putting up with us”,

We can feel his sincerity and genuine compassion and love for all reaching out to touch our hearts!

This book teaches a practice for real peace and happiness that need not be for only Buddhists and Dharma practitioners. As Tsem Rinpoche says:

“We should be able to endure difficulties for others. We should train ourselves to endure difficulties for others. We should develop that mind whether we are religious or not, whether we are Buddhists or not. Whoever you are, that thought will benefit you in life. This is a thought that is the truth”.

Why Everyone Should Read This Book

Reading “Compassion Conquers All” will surely yield the following benefits and realisations to lead us to greater inner peace and happiness!

1. Why we are still unhappy? In “Compassion Conquers All”, Tsem Rinpoche shows us how clinging to the eight worldly concerns and to wrong projections, as motivations for our daily actions, is the reason why we are unhappy, frustrated and unfulfilled.
2. How to be happy? The Eight Verses of Mind Transformation takes us step by step to develop the causes for lasting peace and happiness –beginning with developing a cherishing love of all beings as they have been our mothers before.
3. Developing qualities of mind for true peace and happiness – As explained by Tsem Rinpoche, the Eight Verses show us logically why should cherish every sentient being because they are the cause for us to be enlightened, as they enable us to practice and develop the qualities for enlightenment, such as bodhicitta, patience, giving and perseverance.
4. Every step of the way, we learn to recognise all beings as precious, even the ones who are nasty and negative because they give us the golden opportunity to practice and cultivate the virtues of patience and perseverance and compassion too. Through them, we also learn to cultivate a deep and genuine humility and sincere respect for all beings.
5. Recognising our interdependence on one another and all phenomena, we learn to shed our ego and self-cherishing because they are the true source of suffering.
6. We learn that it is a win-win situation when we ”accept unjust loss and give the victory to others”. Compassion enables us to conquer our worst enemies within – our ego and self-cherishing.
7. In the beautiful Verse Seven, we learn to repay the kindness of all mother beings, through the practice of giving all benefit and happiness to them, and to take upon ourselves all their pain and suffering.
8. At the same time we learn that the one who causes us the deepest hurt is the supreme teacher, who teaches us to let go of projections and expectations, and to recognise the force of karma.
9. We learn to contemplate on the impermanence of all our mental afflictions, like hatred and desire – root causes of suffering.They are like clouds that appear and disappear. They can be removed.
10. We learn to accept pain and suffering for the sake of all mother beings; we learn to forgive and let go of hurts and hates and disappointments. Through this we develop a mind of peace and equanimity.
11. The Eight Verses must be contemplated upon daily, and internalised. They contain the steps to transform our minds from states of egoism and self-cherishing to states of love and bodhicitta that lead to real happiness and inner peace or Enlightenment.
12. “Compassion Conquers All” urges daily contemplation on impermanence and Death, to create an awareness in us of how precious this human life is that is so fleeting and not to waste our time, but to live meaningfully in the practice of dharma or the meaningful practice of non-harming and benefiting others.
13. The Eight Verses of Mind Transformation is the real practice of Dharma for the benefit and happiness of all beings as well as ourselves, if we practice from the heart. We can accomplish all of the steps to ultimate peace and happiness here because there is an innate goodness and kindness in all of us to be tapped.

About the Book

Author: H.E Tsem Rinpoche
Publisher: New Page Books
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN: 978-1601633545
Product dimensions: 210 mm (H) x 134 mm (W) x 11 mm (D)
Weight: 238g

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