𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬 ...

The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

True compassion is to establish beings in the deathless bliss of perfect Buddhahood.

“To help others you must first perfect yourself, and to perfect yourself you first have to cut these three ties:

* obeying important people,
* getting entangled in futile attempts to help others,
* and listening to what people say.

Trying to gratify important people only leads to emotional upheavals. Trying to help people with the things of this life only fuels the fires of samsara. At best, whatever satisfaction you may bring about in these ways will only be temporary; it won't help anyone at the moment of death.

These, in fact, are mistaken notions of compassion. 

True compassion is to establish beings in the deathless bliss of perfect Buddhahood. Trapped in samsara, you should feel like a prisoner in a dungeon who thinks of nothing but how to escape.

Recognizing the futility of ordinary occupations, the Kadampa masters used to say:

> Base your mind on the Dharma,

> Base your Dharma on a humble life,

> Base your humble life on the thought of death,

> Base your death on a lonely cave.“