White Mustard Seeds
Edal Lefterov, 2012
My dear friends,
In this passage, Jesus reveals to his disciples that true faith is not measured in grandiose displays but in the quality of the heart’s trust and humility. On the Bodhisattva path, this corresponds to bodhicitta — the Awakening Mind — which, though it may begin as small as a mustard seed, carries within it limitless power to transform both oneself and the world. As disciples asked for “more faith,” so too do we, as practitioners, seek to deepen the resolve to love and to serve all beings. But the Lord teaches that even a spark of genuine faith, or a flicker of bodhicitta, is enough to uproot the deepest poisons of self-grasping and plant the roots of liberation in the ocean of samsara.
Increase our faith.
- Luke 17:5, Authorized ("King James") Version (KJV)
Is the very root and basis of the path.
Inspire me to see this clearly
And to make every effort to follow well.
- Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419)
The Foundation of All Perfections (1)
When the disciples plead, “Increase our faith,” they echo the cry of every seeker who senses the greatness of the path yet feels small before its demands. The Bodhisattva, likewise, sees the immensity of suffering beings and prays for the strengthening of bodhicitta. This is not a faith rooted in mere belief, but in reliance upon the Teacher, training in discipline, and trust in the power of compassion. Just as Tsongkhapa taught that the foundation is to follow a kind master, so the disciples’ cry is answered by Jesus not with a quantity of faith, but with its quality: faith purified of self-interest becomes indestructible.
If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed,
ye might say unto this sycamine tree,
Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea;
and it should obey you.
- Luke 17:6, Authorized ("King James") Version (KJV)
- Geshe Chekawa, Mind Training in Seven Points (2.8)
The mustard seed is tiny, yet alive with generative power. In the Bodhisattva training, we understand that the smallest turning of the heart away from self-cherishing can overturn the greatest obstacles. A single thought of genuine bodhicitta can uproot the sycamine tree of ignorance and plant it in the sea of wisdom. Chekawa teaches us to cast blame upon the one culprit — our self-centered grasping — for this is the true obstacle to miracles of love. Faith, then, is not magic in the worldly sense, but the power of mind aligned with the Holy Spirit, or bodhicitta, which reshapes reality from its roots.
Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?
or with what comparison shall we compare it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which, when it is sown in the earth,
is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
But when it is sown, it groweth up,
and becometh greater than all herbs,
and shooteth out great branches;
so that the fowls of the air
may lodge under the shadow of it.
- Mark 4:30-32(KJV)
every benefit and happiness
To all sentient beings.
- Geshe Langri Tangpa, Eight Verses for Training the Mind (7)
The seed of faith, or the seed of bodhicitta, may appear insignificant in the eyes of the world. Yet when nurtured with discipline and compassion, it becomes a great tree of refuge for all beings. The kingdom of God, like the Bodhisattva’s heart, provides shade and rest for the weary, a place where the “birds of the air” — the diverse lives of sentient beings — find safety. What begins as a secret intention to serve others grows into a vast canopy of benefit, sheltering beings in the coolness of mercy.
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here at once and take your place at the table'?
Would you not rather say to him,
'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink;
later you may eat and drink'?"
- Luke 17:7-8
A Conqueror's child must never waver;
Always should one exert oneself
To never stray from their practice.
- Shantideva, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, IV(1)
- Geshe Chekawa, Mind Training in Seven Points (6.8)
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Here, Jesus reminds us that discipleship is not a path of entitlement but of service. Just as the servant continues his duties without expectation of immediate rest, so the Bodhisattva perseveres in serving beings tirelessly, without complaint. The awakening mind must be held firmly, never abandoned for comfort. Chekawa’s instruction to “not serve the central object leniently” calls us to discipline: the central object is bodhicitta, the heart of service. Our work in the field of samsara does not end until all beings are nourished at the table of liberation.
So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say,
'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
- Luke 17:9-10
And from the very depths of my heart I will regard others as supreme.
- Geshe Langri Tangpa, Eight Verses for Training the Mind (2)
- Geshe Chekawa, Mind Training in Seven Points (6.6)
The teaching concludes with a sharp cutting away of pride. The disciple, like the servant, must not expect honor or reward for simply fulfilling the path. The Bodhisattva regards themselves as the least of all and others as supreme, laboring with humility. To “give up all hope of reward” is to practice the perfection of generosity in its purest form, serving without clinging even to the fruits of virtue. Thus, the faith of a mustard seed matures into the vast heart of service, emptied of self, filled with love.
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient
to the point of death-- even death on a cross.
- Philippians 2:5-8
Those who wish all beings to experience a multitude of joys,
And those who wish to experience much happiness,
Should never forsake the Awakening Mind.
- Shantideva, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, I(8)
Paul’s hymn to Christ perfectly mirrors the Bodhisattva vow. Christ “emptied himself” to serve, even unto death, just as the Bodhisattva relinquishes self-concern to liberate all beings. This emptying is not annihilation, but the flowering of infinite compassion. The Awakening Mind, once born, must never be abandoned, for it is both the seed and the fruit of the kingdom of God. In Christ’s humility we see the living example of bodhicitta: love that takes the lowest place, and in doing so, lifts all beings toward freedom.
My dear friends, faith as small as a mustard seed is enough, if it is faith purified of self and ripened in love. The Bodhisattva path teaches us to cultivate this seed, water it with humility, and protect it with discipline until it becomes a great tree of refuge for the world. Let us therefore pray, not merely for “more faith,” but for the courage to embody the Awakening Mind — the mind of Christ — which serves without reward, suffers without resentment, and loves without end.