By embarking on the journey of faith and meandering through its three types, one comes to shore whereby a great opportunity called the four noble truths wells forth. As the four noble truths are seen, there appears a boat called refuge in the three jewels. In order to gain the courage to board the boat of refuge in the three jewels and receive the protection offered by the sublime ferryman, the Awakened One, we must first drum up compassion in the form of the four immeasurable wishes for sentient beings. The four immeasurable wishes are encompassed by the notion of bodhichitta, the mind of enlightenment, which has both aspirational and applied stages. To board the boat, we must attain aspirational bodhichitta – the wish to become enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings without exception. To cross to the other shore, we must row. In order to manifest oars, we must attain applied bodhichitta and all its miraculous capabilities for benefiting sentient beings throughout all of space. Through rowing the boat according to the instructions of the Awakened ferryman, we cross to the far shore of enlightenment.
