Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs by fra Angelico, 1423/24

My dear friends,

As we walk the solemn road of Holy Week, we enter the mystery of Christ's self-giving, and in that light, the path of the Bodhisattva glows with clarity. The union of Christian and Buddhist contemplative wisdom shines in this week's epistle reading, urging us to press on in compassion, endurance, and luminous joy.

Shantideva's rejoicing in his spiritual ancestors, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, corresponds to the Apostle Paul's "cloud of witnesses" of saints and martyrs. These are not merely figures of history but living presences, realizations in the continuum of our own minds:

The "sin that clings so closely" is that ignorance-born habit of seeing ourselves as separate, grasping ego-entities. Through practice, we shed this illusion like a heavy garment, and in its place we wear the light yoke of Christ, which is the open, loving, and selfless awareness of a Bodhisattva. Relieved of the burden of self-grasping ignorance, we join the lineage of saints and Bodhisattvas by training in the Six Perfections and the Spirit of Christ, which is none other than Bodhicitta itself.

We run with lightness the path of awakening, a course marked by a determination to bring all beings to liberation. To run with perseverance means to engage joyfully in the daily, sometimes quiet, labors of prayer, meditation, patience, and loving action.

Here, Jesus appears as the very archetype of the Bodhisattva—one who endures unimaginable suffering for the sake of the joy set before him, which is the awakening of all beings. He perfects our faith by showing us that the highest bliss lies not in avoiding suffering but in transforming it into the vehicle of compassion. Just as the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma, Jesus turned the wheel of redemptive love, establishing his throne not in worldly power but in the stillness of awakened, sacrificial joy.

To not lose heart is the essence of joyful effort, one of the great perfections. When we behold Christ's endurance, we see not only physical suffering but the greatness of facing hatred with love, misunderstanding with forgiveness. This is the training in patience that the Bodhisattva embraces with vigor. Each act of hostility borne in compassion becomes an antidote to purify our own mindstreams. Let us then not grow weary, for the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, the great bodhicitta within us, never tires of loving.

During this Holy Week, let us contemplate deeply the cross not only as symbol of redemption, but as a profound expression of the Bodhisattva path. Let us arise from the silence of prayer with renewed vows to run our race with open hearts, to rejoice in our cloud of witnesses, and to never cease in love until all beings awaken in the light of the risen Christ, the Word of truth made flesh.