Je Tsong Khapa
Lobsang Drakpa
(1357-1419)
“When you see that beings have fallen, just as you have, into the ocean of existence and are stumbling, unable to walk in a safe direction, because the eye of wisdom — which distinguishes what to adopt and what to discard — for them is closed, is it not better to care for others and to strive for their welfare, you who are in the Conqueror’s lineage?….
Here, you should use a great person’s joy, charisma, and strength to shoulder the responsibility of others’ welfare, for focusing only on your own welfare is a trait shared even with the animals.”
From The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Je Tsong Khapa. As translated in: The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: The Lam Rim Chen Mo by Tsong Khapa. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Snow Lion/Shambhala Publications.