new fortune

diff --git a/infobase/fortunes.dat b/infobase/fortunes.dat
index 7eadebe3044accd4c9388c9b0ce64ef40725aa7e..4c3bbdf0b63fa01b0ff60f7beae09f0043340f24 100644 (file)
--- a/infobase/fortunes.dat
+++ b/infobase/fortunes.dat
@@ -39611,7 +39611,7 @@ animosity, discouragement and reluctance to engage with the teachings.
      Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
 ~
 Bodhichitta can be understood as a quality of intention, sometimes called a
-“great will.” This great will does not come from the ego; it is
+"great will." This great will does not come from the ego; it is
 paradoxically an intention that arises through the surrender of the ego.  As
 the ego lets go of its assumption that it has a real understanding of what is
 needed in the path of awakening, it surrenders to a deeper quality of will and
@@ -39875,3 +39875,25 @@ distorted mental state that can be eliminated by seeing its disadvantages,
 applying the antidotes, and cultivating the mind that cherishes others.
   - Thubten Chodron, from "Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with
     Wisdom and Compassion", published by Shambhala Publications
+~
+  According to the sutras, numerous eons ago, when the Buddha was an ordinary
+being, he took rebirth in a hell realm.  He suffered gravely there as a result
+of his past negative karma.
+  He and a companion were forced to pull a wheel of fire on which a wrathful
+hell-guard was sitting, holding a burning club with which to beat them.  His
+companion was so weak that he couldn’t pull the wheel anymore.  The hell-
+guard stabbed his companion with a burning trident.  His companion kept crying
+loudly and bleeding profusely.  At that moment, with strong love and
+compassion, the Buddha developed enlightened aspiration, a vow to take
+responsibility for helping his companion and all the suffering beings from the
+depth of his heart, and he became a bodhisattva for the first time.
+  The bodhisattva begged the hell-guard, "Please have a little mercy on my
+suffering companion."  At that, in a rage the hellguard hit him with a
+burning trident.  Because of the power of his strong compassion, the
+bodhisattva died and was liberated from the hell-realm.  His evil deeds of
+many eons were purified instantly by the power of such enlightened aspiration.
+Thereafter, he started his journey toward the fully enlightened state of
+buddhahood.
+  -- Tulku Thondup, from "Incarnation: The History and Mysticism of the Tulku
+     Tradition of Tibet"
+