“As a result of their change of heart, they will not be interested in and will have doubts about the profound discourses, and so they will not receive their scriptural transmissions, and will not recite them. When these fools hear about the qualities and benefits of these teachings, because of the ripening of their karma of abandoning the Dharma in this way, they will think, ‘We are not able to practice this,’ and will put it out of their minds.”
The bodhisattva great being Maitreya then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, among the many qualities of the Thus-Gone One Amitāyus that the Thus-Gone One has explained, it was mentioned that if one applies one’s mind to the cultivation of certain positive attitudes, and brings to mind the Thus-Gone One Amitāyus himself, one will take rebirth in his buddha realm. Blessed One, since that is so, what are those positive attitudes?”
The Blessed One answered the bodhisattva great being Maitreya in the following way: “Maitreya, the positive attitudes that result in rebirth in Sukhāvatī, the buddha realm of the Thus-Gone One Amitāyus, are not attitudes generated by childish beings. They are not attitudes generated by anyone other than holy beings. They are not attitudes generated by a defiled mind.
“Maitreya, there are ten such positive attitudes to be generated. What are they? Maitreya, I shall put it this way: (1) Harboring resentment toward the conduct of any being will make one incapable of taking rebirth in the buddha realm of the Thus-Gone One Amitāyus; and so, generate the attitude of loving kindness toward all beings. (2) Ridding oneself of all enmity, generate the attitude of compassion for all beings. (3) Generate the determination to preserve the sacred Dharma, without concern for life and limb. (4) Develop strong dedication to the sacred Dharma, through certainty that one can tolerate the profound. (5) Give rise to completely pure intentions by not being stained by gain and honor. (6) Through perfect recall, generate the viewpoint that the state of omniscience is extremely precious. (7) Without getting discouraged, generate an attitude of respect towards all beings, as if they were one’s guru. (8) Develop the attitude of not enjoying mere short-lived meditative experiences, by being certain about the branches of awakening. (9) By seeing them distinctly, cultivate a wide assortment of virtuous roots. (10) Abandoning conceptual constructs, cultivate a state of contemplation that simply recalls the Buddha.
“Maitreya, these are the ten positive attitudes. If one develops any among these ten attitudes—no matter which ones—then, because one has given rise to and possesses these attitudes, there is no chance that one will not be born in that buddha realm.”
The venerable Ānanda then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, this account of the Dharma, which inspires determination, is truly incredible—how wonderful it is indeed!”
The Blessed One voiced his approval to the venerable Ānanda, saying, “Excellent! Ānanda, that is excellent, truly excellent! Ānanda, for that reason, you must retain this account of Dharma, which you have called ‘Inspiring Determination.’ ”
After the Blessed One made this pronouncement, the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, the other bodhisattvas who were present, the venerable Ānanda along with the world’s gods, humans, asuras and gandharvas, rejoiced in and extolled what the Blessed One had said.
This concludes Inspiring Determination, the twenty-fifth of the one hundred thousand sections of the Dharma discourse known as The Noble Great Heap of Jewels.