I knew Thich Quang Duc [, the first monk to immolate himself in the 1960s to protest Vietnam’s anti-Buddhist laws,] personally. As a young monk I practiced with him in a Sangha in central Vietnam, and for a time I stayed at his temple near Saigon. In 1963, I was in New York teaching at Columbia University, and I learned of his death from an article and picture in the New York Times. Many people asked me, “Isn’t such an act a violation of the Buddhist precept of not killing?” So I wrote Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. a letter explaining that the monk’s act was not suicide. A suicidal person is someone who is so overwhelmed by despair that they don’t want to live anymore. I knew that Thich Quang Duc loved life and wished only for his friends and all living beings to be able to live in peace.

When Jesus died on the cross he did so for the sake of human beings. His sacrifice was not made out of despair but out of the wish to help, out of his great love for humankind. That is exactly what motivated Thich Quang Duc. He acted not out of despair but from hope and love. He was free enough to offer his body in order to transmit the message to the world that the Vietnamese people were suffering, that we needed help. Because of his great compassion, he was able to sit very still as the flames engulfed him, in perfect samadhi, perfect concentration.

Such an act is a very profound offering. is being offered? The manifestation in action of our bodhicitta, our aspiration to practice wholeheartedly and realize enlightenment in order to help bring all living beings to the shore of liberation. The Sutra tells us that after Bodhisattva Seen with Joy by All Living Beings had attained the “samadhi that displays all manner of physical bodies,” he felt overjoyed and made many kinds of offerings to the Buddha to show his great gratitude and devotion for having received the teachings. But, the Sutra says, “After he had made this offering, he arose from samadhi and thought to himself, ‘Though by resort to supernatural power I made an offering to the Buddha, it is not as if I had made an offering of my own body.’ ”

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When the bodhisattva realized his capacity to appear in all different kinds of emanation bodies, his feeling of love for and gratitude to his teacher grew even stronger. So out of his great love and gratitude, and with the profound insight into his ultimate nature, he was able to relinquish his body very easily. The Sutra tells us that as an offering to the Buddha and to display his insight that the body is not a permanent, unchanging self, he poured fragrant oil on himself and allowed himself to be burned by fire. This is a quite radical demonstration of his freedom and insight, one that was made out of a very deep love.

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Bodhisattva Seen with Joy by All Living Beings became a very good disciple of the Buddha Pure and Bright Excellence of Sun and Moon. He felt great devotion and love toward his teacher, and the bond between them was very deep. Because of the great affection between teacher and disciple, he made a lot of progress. Looking deeply into the nature of this bodhisattva’s practice, we can see the devotion, dedication, love, and faithfulness.

You might wonder how devotion and affection are part of the practice of looking deeply and attaining enlightenment. Do we need to love our teacher? Do we need to love our disciples? Do we need to love our Dharma brothers and sisters in order to succeed in our practice? The answer is, yes. Just as the loving presence of the parents is quite crucial for the growth of a baby, the loving presence of a teacher is very important for his or her disciples. The loving presence of our brothers and sisters in the Sangha is very important for us to grow as practitioners. That is the message sent forth by this bodhisattva. We need love and affection, warmth and nurturance in order to grow and progress on the path.

Chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra, “The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King,” introduces us to another great bodhisattva, Bhaisajyaraja, Medicine King. Bhaisaiya means medicine, raja means king. Just like Sadaparibhuta, this bodhisattva is also a model of enlightened action. Medicine King realizes the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in another sphere of action, the sphere of devotion, faith, and gratitude. Without faith it is not possible for human beings to live. Without love we cannot truly realize our full humanity. We practice the Dharma not only to gain knowledge but to transform ourselves into someone who is capable of love, affection, and gratitude. Medicine King represents this aspect. The bodhisattvas in the Lotus Sutra are the arms and hands of the Buddha, carrying out the various actions of the Buddha. Just as Bodhisattva Sadaparibhuta has a specific role to play, Medicine King Bodhisattva has another role to play.

In the opening scene of [Chapter 23], one of the bodhisattvas from another part of the cosmos, Beflowered by the King of Constellations, asks the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how does the bodhisattva Medicine King travel in the saha world?” In the Chinese Vietnamese version of the Sutra, this passage reads “What is his business in the saha world?” But it is not really a matter of doing business; a better understanding of this passage would be, “How is that bodhisattva enjoying his journey in the world?” In the chapter on Avalokiteshvara in the Vietnamese version of the Lotus Sutra we see the phrases “enjoying a trip” and “enjoying a stay.” So the great bodhisattvas are those who know how to be at ease and enjoy their travels in the saha world.

We have to learn how to enjoy ourselves as we journey through this saha world. When we understand this, we will be more at ease and not think of our life as being some kind of task that we must accomplish. We do not have to scheme or hurry. We will be able to offer our service and work because we enjoy it. We can work without attachment to outcome. We can perform all our actions – organizing a retreat, building a Sangha, working with prisoners – in a spirit of freedom, liberation, and joy, rather than being bound up by notions of achieving a certain level of success or attainment.

Sadaparibhuta [Never-Despising Bodhisattva]represents the action of inclusiveness, kshanti. Kshanti, one of the six paramitas… . Kshanti is also translated as “patience,” and we can see this great quality in Sadaparibhuta and in one of the Shakyamuni’s disciples, Purna, who is praised by the Buddha in the eighth chapter of the Lotus Sutra. While the Lotus Sutra only mentions Purna in passing, he is the subject of another sutra, the Teaching Given to Maitrayaniputra. In this sutra, after the Buddha had instructed Purna in the practice, he asked him, “Where will you go to share the Dharma and form a Sangha?” The monk said that he wanted to return to his native region, to the island of Sunaparanta in the Eastern Sea.

The Buddha said, “Bhikshu, that is a very difficult place. People there are very rough and violent. Do you think you have the capacity to go there to teach and help?”

“Yes, I think so, my Lord,” replied Purna.

“What if they shout at you and insult you?”

Purna said, “If they only shout at me and insult me I think they are kind enough, because at least they aren’t throwing rocks or rotten vegetables at me. But even if they did, my Lord, I would still think that they are kind enough, because at least they are not using sticks to hit me.”

The Buddha continued, “And if they beat you with sticks?”

“I think they are still kind enough, since they are not using knives and swords to kill me.”

“And if they want to take your life? It’s possible that they would want to destroy you because you will be bringing a new kind of teaching, and they won’t understand at first and may be very suspicious and hostile,” the Buddha warned.

Purna replied, “Well, in that case I am ready to die. Because my dying will also be a kind of teaching and because I know that this body is not the only manifestation I have. I can manifest myself in many kinds of bodies. I don’t mind if they kill me, I don’t mind becoming the victim of their violence, because I believe that I can help them.”

The Buddha said, “Very good, my friend. I think that you are ready to go and help there.”

So Purna went to that land and he was able to gather a lay Sangha of 500 people practicing the mindfulness trainings and to establish a monastic community of around 500 practitioners. He was successful in his attempt to teach and transform the violent ways of the people in that country. Purna exemplifies the practice of kshanti, inclusiveness.

This is the practice of this great bodhisattva – to regard others with a compassionate and wise gaze and hold up to them the insight of their ultimate nature, so that they can see themselves reflected there. Many people have the idea that they are not good at anything, they are not able to be as successful as other people. They cannot be happy; they envy the accomplishments and social standing of others while regarding themselves as failures if they do not have the same level of worldly success.

We have to try to help those who feel this way. Following the practice of Sadaparibhuta, we must come to them and say, “You should not have an inferiority complex. I see in you some very good seeds that can be developed and make you into a great being. If you look more deeply within and get in touch with those wholesome seeds in you, you will be able to overcome your feelings of unworthiness and manifest your true nature.”

Practicing the path and liberating beings from suffering is the action of the bodhisattvas. The Lotus Sutra introduces us to a number of great bodhisattvas, such as Sadaparibhuta (Never Disparaging), Bhaisajyaraja (Medicine King), Gadgadasvara (Wonderful Sound), Avalokiteshvara (Hearer of the Sounds of the World), and Samantabhadra (Universally Worthy). The action taken up by these bodhisattvas is to help living beings in the historical dimension recognize that they are manifestations from the ground of the ultimate. Without this kind of revelation we cannot see our true nature. Following the bodhisattva path, we recognize the ground of our being, our essential nature, in the ultimate dimension of no birth and no death. This is the realm of nirvana – complete liberation, freedom, peace, and joy.

In Chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra, we are introduced to a beautiful bodhisattva called Sadaparibhuta, “Never Disparaging” or “Never Despising.” This bodhisattva never underestimates living beings or doubts their capacity for Buddhahood. His message is, “I know you possess Buddha nature, and you have the capacity to become a Buddha,” and this is exactly the message of the Lotus Sutra: you are already a Buddha in the ultimate dimension, and you can become a Buddha in the historical dimension. Buddha nature, the nature of enlightenment and love, is already within you; all you need do is get in touch with it and manifest it. Never Disparaging Bodhisattva is there to remind us of the essence of our true nature.

This bodhisattva removes the feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem in people. “How can I become a Buddha? How can I attain enlightenment? There is nothing in me except suffering, and I don’t know how to get free of my own suffering, much less help others. I am worthless.” Many people have these kinds of feelings, and they suffer because of them. Never Disparaging Bodhisattva works to encourage and empower people who feel this way, to remind them that they too have Buddha nature, they too are a wonder of life, and they too can achieve what a Buddha achieves. This is a great message of hope and confidence. This is the practice of a bodhisattva in the action dimension.