Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Just as you think of your mother in this life, therefore,
Contemplate the suffering and hardship
Of all those poor beings who were your mothers before,
And shed tears for them all, again and again.

Just as you feel love for your mother of this life,
Generate love for all beings, your mothers from the past,
And arouse compassion and bodhichitta too —
With this, you will enter the ranks of the Mahayana.

Again and again, bring to mind all the kindness
Of beings of the six classes, your own kind parents.
If you care for them like your mother of this life,
They will love you too, as their very own child.

~ Shabkar