Bodhisattva vows

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Bodhisattva vows

What makes someone a Mahayana Buddhist is her or his dedication to the ultimate welfare of other beings. This is the root Mahayana aspiration. In the various Bodhisattva vows (sometimes called the Bodhisattva Precepts) of Mahayana

Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
, the bodhisattva

Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
s take vow

Vow

A vow is a promise or oath....
s stating that they will strive for as long as samsara

Samsara

'Samsara' or refers to the cycle of reincarnation or rebirth in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other related religions.According to these religions, one's karma "account balance" at the time of death is inherited via the state at which a person is reborn....
endures to liberate all sentient beings from samsara and deliver them into Nirvana. The Bodhisattva does not seek bodhi

Bodhi

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Encyclopedia

Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
Buddhism

Buddhism

Bodhisattva

Vow

A vow is a promise or oath....
s stating that they will strive for as long as samsara

Samsara

Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
(Awakening) solely for him/herself, but chiefly for the sake of freeing all other beings and aiding them into the bliss of Nirvana. This can be done by venerating all Buddhas and by cultivating supreme moral and spiritual perfection, to be placed in the service of others. Bodhisattvas vow to amass inconceivable amounts of merit (punya), which they will dedicate to all other sentient beings, so as to help them attain Nirvana

Nirvana

In sramana thought, Nirvana is the state of being free from both dukkha and the cycle of rebirth. It is an important concept in Buddhism and Jainism....
and Awakening. Such great vows are made out of compassion

Compassion

Compassion is commonly defined as a profound human emotion prompted by the suffering of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering....
and the bodhisattva devotes his/her powers to helping others attain Nirvana. A fine example of a Bodhisattva vow is found at the very end of the Avatamsaka Sutra

Avatamsaka Sutra

The is one of the most influential Mahayana Sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, or Flowers Ornament Scripture....
by Samantabhadra

Samantabhadra

Samantabhadra , meaning Universal Worthy, is a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with Buddhist practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and fellow bodhisattva Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Buddhism....
.

Buddhist lay persons

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
may take the bodhisattva vows in order to initiate their spiritual journey. The following table of the fourfold vow is as practiced by the Chan

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Ch?n. Ch?n is itself derived from the Sanskrit Dhyana, which means "meditation" ....
and Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Ch?n. Ch?n is itself derived from the Sanskrit Dhyana, which means "meditation" ....
tradition. Within Japan the bodhisattva precepts are recognised as being full ordination for all sects of Buddhism.

Berzin

Alexander Berzin

Alexander Berzin is a Buddhist Scholar, translator and teacher focusing on the Tibetan tradition....
(1997: unpaginated) links the mindstream

Mindstream

Mindstream is a compound term composed of mind and stream used to translate a term from Buddhist philosophy.The mindstream doctrine, like most Buddhist doctrines, is not homogeneous and shows historical development, different applications according to context and varied definitions employed by different Buddhist traditions....
to the bodhisattva vows:

The promise to keep bodhisattva vows applies not only to this life, but to each subsequent lifetime until enlightenment. Thus these vows continue on our mind-stream into future lives.

Sino-Japanese Japanese language IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....	English English language English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...	Chinese (pinyin) Chinese language Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....	Chinese (hanzi) Chinese written language Written Chinese comprises the written symbols used to represent spoken Chinese and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated. These symbols are commonly known as Chinese characters ....
Shi gu sei gan	The Four Great Vows	Sì hóng shì yuàn	????
Shu jo mu hen sei gan do	I vow to liberate all beings, without number	Zhòng sheng wúbian shì yuàn dù	???????
Bon no mu jin sei gan dan	I vow to uproot endless blind passions	Fánnao wújìn shì yuàn duàn	???????
Ho mon mu ryo sei gan gaku	I vow to penetrate dharma gates beyond measure	Fa mén wúliàng shì yuàn xué	???????
Butsu do mu jo sei gan jo	I vow to attain the way of the Buddha	Fó dào wúshàng shì yuàn chéng	???????

Brahma Net Sutra

The Brahma Net Sutra translated by Kumarajiva

Kumarajiva

Kumarajiva; , was a Kucha Buddhism monk, scholar and translator whose father was from an Indian noble family, and whose mother was a Kuchean princess who significantly influenced his early studies....
(circa 400 AD) has a list of ten major and forty-eight minor Bodhisattva vows. The ten major vows are as follows:

Not to kill any living creature
Not to steal anything
Not to engage in any form of sexual misconduct
Not to lie or use false speech
Not to consume or distribute intoxicants
Not to discuss the faults and misdeeds that occur by any Buddhist
Not to praise oneself or disparage others
Not to be stingy or abusive towards those in need
Not to harbor anger or resentment or encourage others to be angry
Not to criticise or slander the Three Jewels
Three Jewels

The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem, are the three things that Buddhists take refuge in, and look toward for guidance, in the process known as refuge ....

Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi

Asanga

Asa?ga , , was an exponent of the yogacara school of Buddhist philosophy. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school....
(circa 300 AD) delineated 18 major vows and forty-six minor vows. These Bodhisattva vows are still used by the Gelukpa and Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu or Kagyupa school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today one of four main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other three being the Nyingma , Sakya , and Gelug ....
traditions of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The eighteen major vows (as actions to be abandoned) are as follows:

Praising oneself or belittling others due to attachment to receiving material offerings, praise and respect.
Not giving material aid or (due to miserliness) not teaching the Dharma to those who are suffering and without a protector.
Not listening to others' apologies or striking others
Abandoning the Mahayana by saying that Mahayana texts are not the words of Buddha or teaching what appears to be the Dharma but is not.
Taking things belonging to Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
, Dharma
Dharma

The term , is an Indian Indian philosophy and Indian religions term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term....
or Sangha
Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose....
.
Abandoning the holy Dharma by saying that texts which teach the three vehicles are not the Buddha's word.
With anger depriving ordained ones of their robes, beating and imprisoning them or causing them to lose their ordination even if they have impure morality, for example, by saying that being ordained is useless.
Committing any of the five extremely negative actions: (1) killing one's mother, (2) killing one's father, (3) killing an arhat
Arhat

In the shramana traditions of ancient India arhat or arahant signified a spiritual practitioner who had?to use an expression common in the tipitaka?"laid down the burden"?and realised the goal of nirvana, the culmination of the spiritual life ....
, (4) intentionally drawing blood from a Buddha or (5) causing schism in the Sangha community by supporting and spreading sectarian views.
Holding distorted views (which are contrary to the teaching of Buddha, such as denying the existence of the Three Jewels or the law of cause and effect etc.)
Destroying towns, villages, cities or large areas by means such as fire, bombs, pollution or black magic.
Teaching emptiness to those whose minds are unprepared.
Causing those who have entered the Mahayana to turn away from working for the full enlightenment of Buddhahood and encouraging them to work merely for their own liberation from suffering.
Causing others to abandon their Pratimoksha
Pratimoksha

The Pratimoksha deals with the buddhist vows of personal liberation given by the Gautama Buddha to his followers. "Prati" means 'towards' or 'every', "moksha" liberation from cyclic existence....
vows.
Belittling the Sravaka
Sravaka

Sravaka or Shravaka or Savaka means "a hearer" or, more generally, "disciple."This term is used by both Buddhists and Jains. In Jainism, a shravaka is any lay Jain....
or Pratyekabuddha
Pratyekabuddha

A Pratyekabuddha or Paccekabuddha , literally "a lone Buddhahood" , "a buddha on their own" or "a private buddha", is one of Three types of Buddha of bodhi beings according to some schools of Buddhism....
vehicle (by holding and causing others to hold the view that these vehicles do not abandon attachment and other delusions).
Falsely stating that oneself has realised profound emptiness
Emptiness

Emptiness as a human condition of generalised boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression , loneliness, wiktionary:despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder....
and that if others meditate as one has, they will realize emptiness and become as great and as highly realized as oneself.
Taking gifts from others who were encouraged to give you things originally intended as offerings to the Three Jewels. Not giving things to the Three Jewels that others have given you to give to them, or accepting property stolen from the Three Jewels.
Causing those engaged in calm-abiding meditation to give it up by giving their belongings to those who are merely reciting texts or making bad disciplinary rules which cause a spiritual community not to be harmonious.
Abandoning the either of the two types of Bodhicitta
Bodhicitta

In Buddhism, bodhicitta is the wish to attain complete enlightenment in order to be of benefit to all Sentient beings ? beings trapped in cyclic existence and have not yet reached Buddhahood....
(aspiring and engaging).

According to Atisha

Atisha

Atisa Dipankara Shrijnana was a Buddhism teacher from the Pala Empire who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa Lotsawa, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma lineages in Tibet after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma ....
the Pratimoksha

Pratimoksha

The Pratimoksha deals with the buddhist vows of personal liberation given by the Gautama Buddha to his followers. "Prati" means 'towards' or 'every', "moksha" liberation from cyclic existence....
vows are the basis for the Bodhisattva vows. Without keeping one of the different sets of Pratimoksha vows (in one of existing Vinaya

Vinaya

The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Gautama Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline....
schools), there is no Bodhisattva vow.

Classical Commentaries in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

Asanga's Chapter on Ethics With the Commentary of Tsong-Kha-Pa: The Basic Path to Awakening, the Complete Bodhisattva, translated by Mark Tatz, ISBN-10: 088946054X
Complete Explanation of the Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva and Vajrayana Vows: "Buddhist Ethics" (Treasury of Knowledge: Book Five), Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, ISBN 1-55939-191-X
Ngari Panchen: Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows, ISBN 0-86171-083-5; commentary by Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche

Dudjom Rinpoche is the title of a prominent line of tulkus of the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism. The most recent Dudjom Rinpoche was born in 1904 in South Tibet in a region called the "hidden land" of Bome County....
The Bodhisattva Vow, by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, ISBN-10: 1559391502
Taking the Bodhisattva Vow, by Bokar Rinpoche, ISBN 0963037188 (10), ISBN 978-0963037183 (13)

External links

The , and the according to Tibetan Gelug Tradition (including commentary) by Alexander Berzin
by Chandragomin
on khandro.net

Bodhisattva vows

Brahma Net Sutra

Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi

See also

Classical Commentaries in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

External links