eight stanzas for training the mind

1.
with a determination to accomplish
the highest welfare for all sentient beings
who surpass even a wish-granting jewel
i will learn to hold them supremely dear.

all sentient beings..
wish granting jewels..?
first of all, i must embody this..
jewels, they are/i am -
do i trust this?
know this?
to accomplish their highest welfare
~ to hold them supremely dear?
that is asking the impossible....
yet this is the very first verse to 
set in motion the training of my mind..

2.
whenever i associate with others i will learn
to think of myself as the lowest among all
and respectfully hold others to be supreme
from the very depths of my heart.

o holy mackerel, andy!
this is asking me to place others above myself 
it can't be right..
who wrote this..?..
what is going on here?
respectfully..
i must humbly from the very depths of my heart
defer
yield 
surrender 
my self-grasping
my self-cherishing
my self-important self
to the supreme wish-granting jewels
all sentient beings...
i will learn..

3.
in all actions i will learn to search into my mind
and as soon as an afflictive emotion arises
endangering myself and others
will firmly face and avert it.

well, at least i myself is mentioned here..
although it seems a bit of a scold
my afflictive emotions..
do i actually have them ?
what are they?
greed?
jealousy?
avarice? 
holy shiva! i guess i do..
and they pop up a thousand-fold
on my river of thought..
tucked into my burdened heart of hearts
and i see, yes, i see..
that they are endangering to me..
first and foremost..
and yes, as i firmly face them -
a threat to others..
to the wish-granting jewels..
all sentient bengs
i will learn...

4.
i will learn to cherish all beings of bad nature
and those pressed by strong karmas and sufferings
as if i had found a precious
treasure very difficult to find.

jeezal! what is going on here ?
as if i don't have enough trouble myself..
my own strong karmas and sufferings
cherish? cherish?
bad natured wish-granting jewels..
all those i separate myself from
precious treasures..like gold dust
second to none..without equal
what mirror am i looking through?
the i is not separate from the you
all sentient beings
i will learn..

5.
when others out of jealousy treat me badly
with insult, slander and so on,
i will learn to take all loss
and offer the victory to them.

jealousy slander so on and on..
sounds like some of my afflictive emotions
coming back to haunt and taunt me..
heavenly days! what the farnbang?
i must bow to the injury and be upright
in my inquiry to see where my words
and actions are harmful 
to wish-granting jewels..
numberless sentient beings ..
i will learn...

6.
when one whom i have benefitted with great hope
unreasonably treats me very badly,
i will learn to view this person
as an excellent spiritual guide.

this seems to be going from bad to worse 
abysmal to say the least..
great snakes! 
yet.. hummmm?
what is a spiritual guide?
one who may open my heart to see 
all things, all beings.. all events with new eyes..
so... alright already.. maybe worth a shot..
i will learn...
but i am not making any promises!

7.
in short, i will learn to offer to everyone without exception
all help and happiness directly or indirectly
and respectfully take upon myself
all pain and sufferings of my mothers.

all my mothers..
all my mother sentient beings 
all the wish-granting jewel mothers..
who have somehow been my mothers 
in each and every life that i have had the privilege to live
that i have been a mother to.. in all their precious human births..
again..
i must somehow embody this wisdom..
this awe-inspiring way of seeing the world
and all those in the world..
wish-granting jewels
all sentient beings 
asking alot of my small closed view..
asking me to find a vast new outlook 
to see, to be..
the great wide open..
the immeasurable 
the boundless
the whopping whole picture
i will learn..

8.
i will learn to keep all these practices
undefiled by the stains of the eight worldly conceptions *
and by understanding all phenomena as like illusions
be released from the bondage of attachment.

be released!
wow! gadzooks!
from bondage..
to be liberated..
to self-liberate by my very own actions..
what good fortune..
what bright and mighty medicine!
understanding .. realizing.. actualizing
all phenomena as like illusions..
illusory - all in my very own mind
wish-fulfilling jewels 
all sentient beings
reciprocal gems to bring me to awakening
who are more precious than they?
i will learn...


*8 worldly concepts
       like/dislike
      loss/gain
     fame/disgrace
    praise/blame