Friendliness destroys the mind of greed;
Compassion cuts off the mind of anger;
Joy of seeing others happy cuts off the mind of suffering;
Equanimity annihilates the minds of greed, anger, and discrimination toward all people.
It is difficult to drive away anger, like a god watching a house; but it is easy to lose kindness, like a deer running in the forest. Anger is like words written on rock; compassion is like words written on water. If a bodhisattva maintains no discrimination even to an extreme villain and does not censre his faults nor raise any anger, he is said to have Great Compassion.
To elimiate things that don't benefit people is Great Compassion. To give innumerable benefits is compassion. To cherish delight toward people is joy. To see all dharmas in terms of equality and nondiscrimination, or to throw away one's own enjoyment and give it to others, is the practice of transcendence or equanimity. These four practices of infinite mental attitudes are the foundations of all good.
A bodhisattva practices charity not for fear, fame, nor profit, nor for deceiving others. The bodhisattva must neither have self-conceit nor expect a return for his acts. He does not think of himself nor choose the recipient. Facing all people he shoes his compassion as though each of them were his only child. When he looks at people's suffering, he feels the pity a parent feels towards his sick child. When he looks at people's happiness he feels the joy a parent feels toward his child's recovery. Once a bodhisattva has given charity, he, like parents letting their grown child freely live his own life, does not cherish the thought of his former generosity.
-Mahaparinirvana Sutra
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