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The definition of bodhichitta is given in Maitreya’s Ornament of Realization, where he states that there are two aspects to altruism. The first is the condition that produces the altruistic outlook, and this involves the compassion that a person must develop towards all sentient beings, and the aspiration he or she must cultivate to bring about the welfare of all sentient beings. This leads to the second aspect, which is the wish to attain enlightenment. It is for the sake of benefitting all beings that this wish should arise in us.

We could say that bodhichitta is the highest level of altruism and the highest form of courage, and we could also say that bodhichitta is the outcome of the highest altruistic activity. As Lama Tsongkhapa explains in his Great Exposition of the Path to Enlightenment,bodhichitta is such that while one engages in fulfilling the wishes of others, the fulfillment of one’s own self-interest comes as a by-product. This is a wise way of benefitting both oneself and others. In fact I think bodhichitta is really and truly wonderful. The more I think of helping others, and the stronger my feeling for taking care of others becomes, the more benefit I reap myself. That is quite extraordinary.

In a sense we could say that the practice of generating and cultivating the altruistic intention is so comprehensive that it contains the essential elements of all other spiritual practices. Taken alone, it can therefore replace the practice of many different techniques, since all other methods are distilled into one approach. This is why we consider that bodhichitta practice lies at the root of both temporary and lasting happiness. Now the question is how we can train ourselves to develop bodhichitta. The two aspects of bodhichitta that we spoke about earlier, the aspiration to be of help to others and the aspiration to attain enlightenment oneself, have to be cultivated separately through separate trainings. The aspiration to be of help to others has to be cultivated first.