The Types of Practice

1. Practice Within the Life-Cycle Itself

The spiritual genius engages in cyclic existence
the way a sick person takes foul but potent medicine.
Samsara is bitter on the tongue,
but its bitterness is precisely what cures—
because remaining among beings, fully exposed to their suffering,
keeps compassion alive and sharpens wisdom.

And just as a skilled doctor does not abandon the sick,
the spiritual genius does not turn away from living beings.
She practices with them and for them,
administering remedies suited to each wound of the mind.

2. Practice Applied to Oneself and One’s Desires

She treats herself the way one handles an untrained servant—
firm, vigilant, correcting instability the moment it appears.
Not through cruelty, but through disciplined care.
Her own mind becomes the first field of training.

She works with her desires as a merchant works with his wares:
carefully, strategically, seeing their value only insofar as they serve others.
Whatever inner wealth she accumulates—merit, insight, clarity—
is “profit” she ultimately gives away.

3. Practice as Purification, Nonviolence, and Continual Effort

Her actions resemble a cloth dyer purifying and coloring fabric:
washing away stains, applying new hues with precision.
Thus she purifies body, speech, and mind
and practices the ten virtuous actions without deviation.

She treats beings as a father treats his infant son—
with absolute nonviolence,
even toward those who harm or misunderstand her.
Her compassion remains unbreakable.

Her effort is as continuous
as someone rubbing fire-sticks to kindle a flame:
unceasing, unwavering, never giving in to discouragement.
She practices like a trustworthy person fulfilling a vast responsibility—
the responsibility to liberate countless beings.

4. Practice Illuminated by Wisdom

She practices with wisdom about the facts
as a magician understands his illusions.
She knows the world’s appearances are not ultimately real,
yet she works within them skillfully and compassionately.

Where does practice occur? Everywhere.
How does it occur? In every mode described above.
Whether she resides in the life-cycle,
trains her own mind,
engages with the desires of beings,
refuses anger,
strives without pause,
or applies wisdom to illusion—
all of it counts as practice.

Nothing is outside the path.
Nothing is excluded from cultivation.

Her compassion keeps her present among the suffering,
her vows keep her from abandoning them,
her generosity expands her resources for helping,
her morality purifies her actions,
her tolerance prevents anger,
her ceaseless effort sustains virtue,
and her wisdom prevents her from mistaking illusion for truth.

Thus, wherever she stands,
whatever she touches,
and however she acts—
it is all the practice of a spiritual genius.