From Shantideva's Teachings
of Great Compassion

Just as the hand and so on are accepted
as inalienable limbs of the body,
why should not embodied beings
be accepted as inalienable limbs of life?

Just as custom creates a sense of self
about this body that utterly lacks a self,
why cannot habit create the sense of self
about any other living being?

Therefore I have no pride or wonder
about performing altruistic deeds,
just as I expect no great reward
for having given myself some food.

When I and other both
are alike in wanting happiness,
What's so special about me
that I strive for my happiness alone?

When I and others both
are alike in not wanting pain,
What's so special about me
That I guard myself, not others?

I don't guard them
since their pains don't hurt me.
Why then do I guard myself from
future pains,
Since they also don't hurt me now?

To think "I will experience that"
is a mistaken notion;
For the one who dies here
is almost totally different from the one reborn.

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