Anointing of Christ's Feet
James Tissot, 1890
I shall give up my body and enjoyments
As well as all my virtues of the three times
For the sake of benefitting all.
By giving up all, sorrow is transcended
And my mind will realize the sorrowless state.
- Shantideva, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, III(11-12a)
My dear friends,
As we enter more deeply into the season of Lent, the path of the Bodhisattva calls us into a sacred interior terrain—a place where renunciation blossoms into joyful giving, perseverance takes root in the soil of our suffering, and transformation arises from the fragrance of devotion. On this fifth Sunday, the teachings of Jesus and the wisdom of Shantideva converge to illuminate the hidden glory within surrender.
the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
- John 12:1
The raising of Lazarus foreshadows the resurrection that lies beyond death—a resurrection not just of the body, but of the mind transformed by compassion. For the Bodhisattva, such miracles remind us of the limitless potential awakened within when self-clinging is cast off. Jesus does not flee the coming suffering. Rather, like the Enlightened Ones of old, he walks with steady steps toward his final offering, motivated by boundless love.
Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard[1],
anointed Jesus's feet, and wiped them with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
- John 12:2-3
In Mary’s act of devotion, we glimpse the heart of the Bodhisattva. She pours out the best of what she has, not calculating its worth, but trusting the fragrance of offering will reach the unseen realms. Her anointing is an act of renunciation made radiant by love. In such simplicity, the path of liberation unfolds—not through worldly accumulation, but through emptying oneself for the sake of the Beloved.
"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii[2] and the money given to the poor?"
(He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief;
he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
- John 12:4-6
Judas’s protest arises from a heart yet unmoved by genuine love. On the Bodhisattva path, even generosity must be purified of hidden grasping. It is not mere outward charity, but inner transformation, that bears fruit. True giving arises from wisdom—seeing the emptiness of possessions and the interbeing of all. Judas, bound by the illusion of control, cannot recognize the fragrance of Mary's awakening.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
- John 12:7-8
Christ's words echo the deep knowing of impermanence—the very truth that propels the Bodhisattva onward. Time is precious, opportunity fleeting. This moment, this offering, cannot be repeated. Let it not be dismissed by worldly logic. Jesus honors the path of devotion, where insight meets compassion and transcends utilitarian concerns. The Bodhisattva, too, must discern when to serve through presence rather than mere practicality.
circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
- Philippians 3:4b-7
Paul, like the aspiring Bodhisattva, sheds all worldly credentials. His former righteousness was built on ego and form. But the path of awakening requires an even greater renunciation—a freedom from the false self. Just as Shantideva declared the giving up of body, enjoyments, and virtues, so too Paul releases his identity to gain the mind of Christ, the luminous Bodhicitta that knows no bounds.
because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish,
in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law
but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
- Philippians 3:8-9
This is the renunciation of the inner path—not the loss of joy, but its unveiling. The Bodhisattva finds freedom not through grasping, but through release. Paul’s faith, like the awakened mind, trusts the unseen. His transformation mirrors the sacred inversion taught in both dharma and gospel: the last shall be first, the poor in spirit are truly rich.
by becoming like him in his death,if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal;
but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me.
- Philippians 3:10-12
The path is long. The goal lies beyond death. The Bodhisattva, too, shares in the world’s suffering, not to escape it, but to redeem it from within. Paul’s longing to know Christ is the longing to embody Bodhicitta in all conditions. Resurrection is not merely future; it is now, rising with every act of fearless compassion. To press on is the mark of perseverance born from grace.
I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 3:13-14
This is the essence of transformation: to release the past—not with denial, but with wisdom—and to move toward the great horizon of awakening. The Bodhisattva forgets self-clinging and presses on toward the goal of universal liberation. The call of Christ is none other than the call to bodhicitta—to live in love, to act from compassion, and to trust the resurrection already stirring within us.
May this Lenten journey draw us deeper into the mind of Christ, the heart of Bodhicitta. Let us pour out our lives like Mary’s fragrant offering. Let us renounce, persevere, and be transformed. For in giving all, we lose nothing—and we gain the joy of becoming instruments of boundless love.
[1] Nard, or spikenard, comes from the Nardostachys jatamansi plant, a perennial herb native to the Himalayas.
[2] 300 denarii would be almost a year's wages for a laborer.