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"Virtue and dedication are like a horse and reins, respectively.
Moreover, just as it is the action of the craftsman
that determines whether material such as gold
is fashioned into a deity's image or a pitcher,
a dedication prayer will determine whether a virtuous act yields a sublime or inferior result."
-Master Pabongpa Rinpoche (1878-1941)
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In short, being 'nice' all day is not enough to change your world of endless disappointments, broken dreams and abandoned hopes, of disease, failed marriages, betrayals large and small, love lost and laughter silenced by suffering. Being 'nice' will not save you from being a lost, jaded, pretending-everything-is-okay, privately anguished, trader of fool's gold.All of our virtuous deeds, whether they be of thought, speech or mind, must be performed while sustaining at least two profound, fundamental attitudes to save you and your world.The first: an understanding, maintained throughout the action, of the truth of karma and emptiness: a deep comprehension that the Future You and your Future World will be the result of how you think, speak and act in the present. The second: a dedication of the good deed. You consciously direct the good karma you just did towards your own enlightenment, on behalf of everyone else. To have any real, lasting, decisive effect on you and your world, these two factors must be present.Without an enlightened understanding of where you and your world are
coming from, without an explicit dedication, you are operating
from a stance rooted in ignorance. As a result, your virtue has little
power. You are like an archer standing in a wide-open field, taking aim
at the empty sky. Your arrow may land on a target somewhere, but more
likely it will not. You and your world changes slightly, but not dramatically.  For anything truly good to happen, your heart must first be blown open wide, by love or by loss. From the awful pain comes a rare goodness: you finally take interest in the suffering all around you and are set asunder from self-interest forever. This deep interest converts you from lowly servant of mammon to galvanized heroine of the Dharma, ready to save everyone and everything.
Dedicate the virtue that you do to your own enlightenment for the sake of others aims at the red dot at the center and hits it perfectly. Your world will change quickly and blissfully. Every time you think, say or do something kind and compassionate, dedicate it in your mind to your own enlightenment, so that you become the being you have always wanted to be, the being that rescues the world, the Buddha Herself.
Crafting Her, not a pitcher of gold,
Kelly
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