Contemplation: May All Be Encouraged

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

Sariputra rose from his seat, came forward, and recited these gathas:

He perfects the sea of prajna,
And he does not dwell in the city of nirvana,
Just as the exotic lotus blossom
Does not grow in the high plains.
All the buddhas over immeasurable kalpas
Did not forsake all the defilements,
Only after saving the world did they gain [nirvana],
Like the lotus rising from the mud.
Just as those six stages of practice
Are what are cultivated by the bodhisattvas;
So too are those three types of voidness,
The true path to bodhi.
I now abide in nonabiding,
Just as the Buddha has explained.
I will return again to this place whence I came,
And discard [these bodies] only after completion.
Furthermore, I will urge all sentient beings
To join with me [in pursuing this same vow] and not remain apart.
May those who came before and those who will come afterwards
All be encouraged to climb to right enlightenment.

From the Vajrasamadhi Sutra, quoted in Cultivating Original Enlightenment, pages 208-209.