Nine factors of practising virtue 善法九因

Nine factors of practising virtue (Wyl. dge ba byed pa’i dngos po dgu), which are mentioned in chapter five of the Bodhicharyavatara, verses 55 to 58, are as follows:

Verse 55:
(1) having complete certainty (shin tu nges pa)
(2) having complete faith (rab tu dad pa)
(3) being firmly resolved (brten po)
(4) being respectful (gus pa) and polite (zhe sar bcas pa)
(5) having a sense of self-control or moral conscience (ngo tsha shes pa) and apprehension (’jigs pa dang bcas pa)
(6) being peaceful (zhi ba)

Verse 56:
(7) not becoming disheartened (mi skyo ba)

Verse 57:
(8) constantly maintaining the thought that all actions are like a magical apparition lacking an ‘I’ (sprul pa bzhin du nga med par yid ‘di rtag tu gzung bar byed pa)

Verse 58:
(9) thinking repeatedly about gaining the supreme freedoms of a human life (dal ba’i mchog thob yang dang yang du bsams pa)