“When you were reborn as wild animals, your mothers treated you with loving kindness and looked after you. When your mother was a bird, for example, she shielded you with her wings for nearly a month. And if enemies threatened, such as a man with a stick, she would protect her precious chick with her life although she herself could have flown away. Later, she would feed you and even if she only managed to find a single worm, she would give it to you. Therefore, sentient beings have not been kind to you just once or twice: they have shown you kindness in every type of situation. Their kindness is beyond reckoning.”
From Liberation in the Palm of One’s Hand, spoken by Pabongka Rinpoche and compiled by Trijang Rinpoche. As translated in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment by Pabongka Rinpoche / Trijang Rinpoche. Translated by Michael Richards. Wisdom Publications. Click here to download a PDF of 100 pages of excerpts courtesy of Wisdom Publications.