The person who beats us, who is angry with us, who complains about us, who kills us—if we practice patience without getting angry with them, then through the paramita of patience we can achieve enlightenment. So that person gives us enlightenment, the total cessation of obscurations,all the mistakes, and the completion of all realizations. It is amazing, amazing, amazing. We receive the qualities of the buddhas like the sky from them. They give us these qualities, so their kindness is like the sky. In reality, it is like that….

If we follow the mind of patience, kindness, and if we follow karma, then unbelievable compassion arises for that person. Wow, wow, wow. Amazing, amazing. So instead of harming that person, we only want to help them, to do whatever we can according to our capacity.

Excerpted from “Teachings on Thought Transformation During the Time of COVID-19, Video 57: Fulfilling the Guru’s Wishes and Advice Is the Most Enjoyable Thing in Life,” Kopan Monastery, 6 August 2020.

You can also view or download PDFs of this image and teaching excerpt (pp. 24–25, Rinpoche's Animal Friends).