Dharma Protectors and powerful worldly guardians who respect Dharma safeguard anyone who has generated bodhichitta because they cherish such as person has a future Buddha. Externally these Dharma Protectors and worldly guardians prevent Bodhisattvas from being harmed by evil spirits, and internally bodhichitta protects Bodhisattvas from harm because it destroys self-cherishing, which is the basis for receiving every kind of harm. Because Bodhisattvas regard others as more precious than themselves, they have removed from their minds the means for receiving harm from humans and non-humans. For the sake of others Bodhisattvas happily accept any difficulties or pains that are inflicted upon them and so they do not experience such things as harmful. Since Bodhisattvas wish to take the sufferings of others upon themselves they remain peaceful and untroubled no matter what the circumstances may be. In this way bodhichitta averts every kind of harm.
In a town called Phenbo, near Lhasa, there once lived a Geshe called Khampa Lungpa. When he first arrived in the town some local guardians and spirits became very jealous and decided to injure him. However, when they came into his presence they found him weeping. The chief malevolent spirit was clairvoyant and saw that the Geshe was meditating on bodhichitta. This undermined all his evil intentions and he said to the others ‘It is completely impossible for us to harm this man because he loves us more than he loves himself.’ Then they heard the Geshe exclaim aloud ‘How wonderful it would be if all living beings were free from their sufferings!’, and they watched as tears of compassion rolled down his cheeks. The chief spirit said ‘Those tears are for us! This Geshe really cares about us! How could we possibly harm him?’ The spirits’ bad designs were defeated by the Geshe’s compassion.
When Buddha Shakyamuni was about to attain enlightenment many demons tried to harm him by firing weapons at him, but through the power of his mental stabilization on love he remained unharmed. He did not retaliate, but his meditation was powerful enough to disarm all his enemies. Similarly, if we ourself realize great compassion, great love, and bodhichitta, we shall be protected from every harm. (Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Joyful Path of Good Fortune: the Complete Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, pp. 388-389, © 1990, 1995)