But how can we make our Buddha seed grow? The most powerful force that can cause the innate goodness in our hearts grow is compassion. The stronger our compassion, the more energy there is in our hearts for spiritual growth. We are living in difficult times and we can see suffering increasing everywhere. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless, but we can use this pain to open our heart with compassion, eventually compassion for all living beings. If we do this, our spiritual development will be swift and we will become a powerful force for good in this world. Our compassion will transform into bodhichitta – the spontaneous wish to attain full enlightenment so that we can benefit all living beings. Bodhichitta is the energy that causes our Buddha seed to grow limitlessly – it makes our little love will grow into limitless love for all living beings, our little compassion into limitless compassion, and our little wisdom into limitless wisdom.

This course is based on Geshe-la’s commentary to Je Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path, found in Mirror of Dharma with Additions. The three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment are Renunciation, Bodhichitta, and the Wisdom realizing ultimate truth. Renunciation is the topic of the course True Inner Freedom on 26th September; Bodhichitta the topic of this course, and wisdom realizing ultimate truth the topic of the course The Sword of Wisdom on 28th November. While it would be best to attend all three courses, each will be fairly self-contained so you can attend any course on its own if you prefer.

Plese let us know by 21st October if you have any food allergies.