If you truly want to walk the bodhisattva path, do not concern yourself with personal gain or loss. As long as something can benefit others, there are things to be done. And as long as you are not preoccupied by what’ s in it for you, then you will also benefit from your actions. On the other hand the attitude of “I don’ t care about gain or loss, so I may as well do nothing,” is also incorrect. You may think that the more you do the more afflictions you have, the less you do the fewer the afflictions, and therefore doing nothing will create no afflictions at all. That is not a correct view; that is selfishness and laziness.

Use common sense. Sometimes, refusing tokens of appreciation from others can cause them to suffer. They will always feel indebted to you. That would be a burden for them. If they truly want to do something for you out of gratitude, receiving their offerings is fine. It is not the action, but the motivation behind the action, that is important. Learning to gracefully receive and sincerely accept blessings, gratitude, gifts, and compliments from others is an important part of compassion practice.

Contemplating Liberation Bodhisattva

A literal translation of ‘Guanyin,’ the Chinese name for Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, would be ‘Contemplating Liberation Bodhisattva.’ Avalokitesvara is also know as the ‘Bodhisattva Who Contemplates the Sound of the World.’ In fact, a bodhisattva who perfects this practice is a Contemplating Liberation Bodhisattva.