The Bodhisattva Vows

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Contents

The Bodhisa va Vows 5

Verse for Restoring Bodhisa va Vows 21

Prayer to Generate Bodhichi a 22

Bodhisattva Vows 5

The Bodhisattva Vows

Wishing Bodhichitta

The commitments of having taken the vows to develop wishing bodhichi a are divided into two sec ons:

1. How to guard the vows from degenera ng in this life2. How to maintain and enhance your prac ce in future lives

1 How to guard the vows from degenerating in this life

A. To develop inspira on, contemplate the advantages of bodhi-chi a:

1. It is the only door to the Mahayana path2. You will be called an child1 of the buddhas3. You will surpass in brilliance even the Hinayana arhats4. You will become an object of highest respect and o ering5. You will easily complete the extensive collec ons of merit6. The obstruc ons of your nega ve karmic impressions will

quickly be purifi ed7. You will be successful in whatever you a empt and you will

be without need 8. You will not be overcome by either harm or interference9. You will be an inexhaus ble source of comfort and happi-

ness for sen ent beings10. You will quickly a ain all the realiza ons of the path to

enlightenment

6 Bodhisattva Vows

B. To strengthen ones bodhichi a, contemplate it and recite the prayer three mes a day and three mes at night. It is very heavy nega ve karma to give up bodhichi a because you promised to lead all sen ent beings to enlightenment; it is heavy nega ve karma to break your promise and to abandon bodhichi a. You should never be disheartened even if it seems that it will take such a long me to receive enlightenment. In-stead of becoming dismayed, complete the benefi ts and ad-vantages and revive your vows by saying the prayer of wishing bodhichi a:

O buddhas, bodhisa vas, and gurus, please listen to what I now have to say from the depths of my heart: Just as all the buddhas of the past have developed the thought of enlightenment, true bodhichi a, then prac ced its stages of graded development by following the trainings for all buddhas children1, so may I too, for the sake of all beings, develop bodhichi a and follow the trainings exactly as all bodhisa vas have done.

C. Do not give up bodhichi a because of the mischievous deeds of sen ent beings. This happens when you think that you will not work for the welfare of a par cular sen ent being who has harmed you.

D. Work to accumulate the two collec ons of merit and wisdom. In the beginning, you can acquire extensive merit by making o erings to the poor and to the three jewels; and widom by contempla ng emp ness. This will help to strenghten your bo-dhichi a.

Bodhisattva Vows 7

2 How to maintain and enhance your practice in future lives

A Abandon the four negative dharmas:

1. Knowingly confusing ones abbot, guru, or other holy beings with lies, such as changing the subject when your guru asks you to do something, or not telling your guru of your nega ve ac ons because you are afraid of his scolding you.

2. Discouraging others from prac cing virtuous ac ons, or caus-ing them to regret virtue that they have created, such as saying, It is good but it will be di cult for you to maintain that prac ce, when someone is prac cing renuncia on. You cause them to doubt their virtuous prac ce. Even if they do not regret their virtuous ac on, your encouragement to do so is a nega ve dharma.

3. Abusing a bodhisa va out of anger. Even if a bodhisa va is at fault, if your abusive words are heard by others, you create this nega ve dharma.

4. Pu ng on an air of having selfl ess thought, but having ulterior mo ves other than the pure wish to a ain enlightenment for the benefi t of all sen ent beings, such as pretending to be a scholar or concealing your shortcomings.

B Practice the four positive dharmas that oppose the four negative ones:

1. Abandon deliberately lying to any sen ent being, whether for the sake of humor or even at the cost of your life.

2. Do not discriminate amongst sen ent beings. (This opposes the fourth nega ve dharma.)

3. Abandon cri cizing bodhisa vas. Since you do not know who

8 Bodhisattva Vows

is a bodhisa va and who is not, it is best to treat all sen ent beings as bodhisa vas and buddhas.

4. Take upon yourself the responsibility to establish all sen ent beings in the Mahayana path by: encouraging their enthusiasm for the Mahayana path. Even

if you are not successful, you must always try to do this. rejoicing in the virtues of others instead of being jealous of

their wish to a ain enlightenment. cul va ng love and compassion in all your ac ons.

This opposes the second nega ve dharma.

The result of prac cing these wholesome dharmas and avoiding the nega ve dharmas is never to be separated from bodhichi a.

Engaging Bodhichitta

The commitments of having taken the vows to develop engaging bodhichi a are divided into two sec ons:

1. eighteen root vows2. fortysix branch vows

1 The Eighteen Root Vows

You must abandon:

1. Praising yourself or beli ling others out of a achment to re-ceiving o erings or admira on.

2. Even though you are able, not giving material aid to others through miserliness; or not teaching Dharma to those who are su ering and without a protector because you want to amass knowledge just for yourself.

3. Not forgiving others but harboring a grudge and holding it even when they apologize.

Bodhisattva Vows 9

4. Abandoning the Mahayana teachings by saying that some parts of the teachings (pitaka) are not teachings of the Buddha and propounding your own fabricated or perverted doctrine.

5. Taking back o erings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha or taking them by robbery or devious schemes; using for your own purpose material dedicated to the Sangha.

6. Abandoning or despising the holy Dharma by cri cizing the scriptures or prac ces of any of the three vehicles of the shra-vakas, the pratyekabuddhas, or the bodhisa vas; if you have an inclina on for tantra, cri cizing the Paramitayana; if you are inclined towards the Mahayana, cri cizing the Hinayana and vice versa. You should not cri cize the di erence in various teachings because Buddha taught with skillful means, in vari-ous ways, to guide disciples with di erent disposi ons. This cri cism is heavier than destroying all the stupas on earth.

7. Harming an ordained person, infl ic ng violence on them, stealing their robes, or causing them to lose their vows.

8. Commi ng any of the fi ve heinous ac ons (to kill your moth-er, your father, or an arhat; to cause disunity amongst the Sangha; to wound a buddha).

9. Cul va ng and holding wrong views such as sectarianism, de-nying the existence of the three jewels, or denying the exist-ence of the law of cause and e ect.

10. Destroying any town or country, such as by fi re, bombs, pol-lu on, black magic, and so forth. This includes destroying any place that is inhabited by others, such as houses.

11. Teaching voidness to those who are untrained or not ready to understand it. This could be harmful due to causing fear and

10 Bodhisattva Vows

causing one to abandon bodhichi a, thus, falling to the level of Hinayana.

12. Turning someone away from working to a ain enlightenment and encouraging him to work merely for his own libera on. For example, if someone is training in bodhichi a, saying to that person, If you prac ce this, you will never a ain enlight-enment. Would it not be be er to train in Hinayana? At least you will be free from samsara.

13. Encouraging others to abandon their pra moksha vows. For example, if someone is abiding by his vows, saying, What is the use of that? Would it not be be er to train in bodhichi a whereby your nonvirtues of body, speech, and mind will au-toma cally subside? If that person abandons his or her pra- moksha vows, you have created a transgression. Saying that the pra moksha vows are not necessary for Mahayana prac- ce is wrong. They are the best working basis for tantra.

14. Causing others to hold the incorrect views that you might hold regarding the Hinayana teachings, such as saying that by prac cing the Hinayana, one can never give up a achment, or be released from su ering and delusions. If the other person believes you, it is a transgression.

15. Proclaiming false realiza ons of voidness. Although you have not understood emp ness, teaching others, If you meditate on this, you will be like me and you will understand emp ness directly. This cheats others though pretension. If the other person believes you have realized emp ness, it is a transgres-sion.

16. Accep ng as gi s material you know has been stolen or em-bezzled from the three jewels or from a bhikshu.

Bodhisattva Vows 11

17. Taking material from someone who is medita ng on calm abiding and giving it to someone who merely recites texts. Such an ac on may cause the meditator to abandon his or her prac ce.

18. Abandoning bodhichi a by thinking, I cannot help sen ent be-ings, or I do not want to help this par cular sen ent being.

The Four Conditions

Except for vows 9 and 18, four condi ons are required to com-pletely transgress the major vows, in which case, you will need to take the vows again in order to restore them.

1. You fail to regard the ac on as wrong; or you know that you are breaking a vow, but you do not care. Because you lack faith in karma you think that doing a nega ve ac on (or breaking a vow) does not ma er. Due to ignorance you may not think that the ac on is nega ve, and so, you act contrary to the vow. Recognizing that the ac on is nega ve makes the trans-gression incomplete.

2. Not abandoning the thought to do the ac on again. If you do not regret the ac on and generate the wish to avoid it in the future, or if you have the wish to do the ac on again, then this contributes to a complete transgression. If you wish to never commit such an ac on ever again, then the transgres-sion is incomplete.

3. Rejoicing or admiring yourself for having done the ac on. For example, if you break the fi rst vow and then think, How good it was that I could show o my good quali es. If you feel upset or regret the ac on, the transgression is incomplete.

4. Having no shame or considera on for others. You do not care about the consequences of the ac on for yourself or for oth-

12 Bodhisattva Vows

ers. You are careless in karma, you do not feel that the ac on has anything to do with your karma.

If Vows Are Broken

If any of the eighteen root vows are broken, you lose all of your bodhisa va vows, and, therefore, should retake them as soon as possible. If the vows are not broken from the root (i.e. all four factors are not present, but one, two or three of them are), your vows while not lost have s ll degenerated. It is important to purify any transgressions through applying the four opponent powers2 and restore the full strength of the vows in your mind-stream by taking them again.

You can retake the bodhisa va vows with a qualifi ed master or by yourself, in front of an image of the Buddha. Visualize the image as one with your guru and repeat the prayer for taking the bodhisa va vows three mes (see page 18) with strong inten on to retake or restore them.

2 The fortysix branch vows

You are to abandon the following ac ons:

Vows 17 are in connection with the perfection of generosity

1. Not making o erings everyday to the three jewels with your body, speech, and mind, by making prostra ons, o ering praises, and medita ng on their quali es.

2. Without trying to oppose your greed or dissa sfac on with what you have, following the mind that strives to accumulate more.

3. Not showing respect for your elders those who have tak-en these vows before you. You should not think that you are equal to or compete with them. It is be er to make o erings

Bodhisattva Vows 13

to them. If you respect masters and elders, it increases your knowledge and brings prosperity to the place.

4. Through hatred or laziness, not answering or giving wrong or distorted answers to sincerely asked ques ons that you are capable of answering.

5. Not accep ng invita ons or o erings of food or clothes from others because of either anger wan ng to hurt the other persons feelings; pride considering yourself of too high a rank to be seen with humble people; or jealousy thinking that others of a higher rank than yourself will look upon you with scorn if you are with humble people.

6. Not accep ng gi s of money, gold, and so forth from others, such as a sponsor, because of anger, pride, jealousy, laziness, or harboring a grudge. Not accep ng because of compassion, seeing that the person will be short of that item, is not a trans-gression of this vow.

7. Out of hatred, laziness, jealousy, miserliness, a grudge, or neg-ligence, not giving teachings to someone who is interested and sincerely approaches you for Dharma. You should not think of your own hardship in giving teachings.

Vows 816 are in connection with the perfection of morality

8. Ignoring, beli ling, not forgiving, and not helping those who have broken their moral discipline by cul va ng the ten im-morali es, defi ling their pra moksha vows, commi ng the fi ve uninterrupted crimes or breaking a root bodhisa va vow. Instead of being hateful and disdainful, you should generate compassion.

9. Not ins lling faith in those who follow a path that is not your own prac ce or your main interest. For example, if a follow-er of the Hinayana desires that kind of teaching, it should be

14 Bodhisattva Vows

given so that he develops faith in that path. If you refuse to give a requested teaching that you are qualifi ed to teach, it is a transgression.

10. Performing ac ons which are of lesser benefi t to others be-cause of rigidly adhering to the vinaya. By preoccupying your-self with small ac vi es, you may miss an opportunity to help sen ent beings. If you have an opportunity to immaculately benefi t others, you transgress this vow by rigidly adhering to the vinaya and the seven virtues of body and speech, even though it hinders your opportunity to help.

11. Not commi ng one of the seven nonvirtues of body and speech to benefi t others out of compassion. If circumstances deem it necessary, a bodhisa va is allowed to commit one of these nonvirtues and must do so. However, you must be very careful. Without having actualized bodhichi a, it is dif-fi cult to transform into virtue the seven nonvirtues of body and speech.

12. Accep ng material that has been gained by yourself or others through one of the fi ve wrong livelihoods: la ery: praising others to gain something for yourself hin ng: such as saying, The gi that you gave before was

so nice, thereby implying that you want more bribery: giving a small thing to receive a larger one extor on or blackmail: pressuring somebody so that he

has no choice hypocrisy: changing your usual ac ons to make a good im-

pression so that others will give you something

13. Having your main interest be in idle gossip and frivolous ac- vi es, such as dancing, playing sports, listening to the ra-dio, drinking, or involving others in frivolous talk. All of these cause your mind to wander, and you waste me that could be used to prac ce Dharma.

Bodhisattva Vows 15

14. Wrongly thinking that as bodhisa vas remain in samsara for three countless great eons and are not afraid of delusions, it is not necessary to try to abandon delusions and achieve nirvana. This is incorrect thinking. Bodhisa vas come to this world to benefi t sen ent beings, but they have an even great-er renuncia on of samsara and wish for nirvana than Hinay-ana prac oners. However, through their great compassion, they will happily take birth in the naraks if this would benefi t just one sen ent being. It is mistaken to not cul vate the op-ponents to the delusions and try to achieve nirvana, and also a mistake to dissuade others from trying to a ain nirvana be-cause of the above wrong view.

15. Not trying to avoid a bad reputa on or not abandoning the bad habits of body and speech that are the cause of your bad reputa on. In order to be more e ec ve at helping others, you need to abandon notoriety. You must try to stop a bad reputa on, whether it is deserved or not, so that you can ben-efi t others. Any other mo va on is part of the eight worldly dharmas.

16. Not correc ng the deluded ac ons of others when you are ca-pable of doing so, that is, not poin ng out somebodys nega- ve habits of body or speech. When wrathfulness would be benefi cial, not punishing a nonvirtuous person to correct him because you think it would hurt his feelings or because of fear of his anger.

Vows 1720 are in connection with the perfection of patience

17. Becoming angry and retalia ng with your body, speech, or mind when you are insulted or blamed, beaten, the object of somebodys anger, or when your shortcomings are exposed to others.

16 Bodhisattva Vows

18. Rejec ng someone who is angry with you. Through harmful intent, anger, or just laziness, ignoring the angry person and not trying to relieve the situa on that made him angry by ex-plaining why you acted, pacifying him, or apologizing to him.

19. Refusing to accept the sincere apologies of others out of an-ger or laziness. This di ers from the third root vow because the four condi ons are not needed to transgress it.

20. Following your anger and not trying to abandon it; feeding your anger by thinking that you acted rightly. Instead, you should contemplate the disadvantages of anger.

Vows 2123 are in connection with the perfection of perseverance

21. Giving teachings, having disciples, building monasteries, or gathering people for the purpose of receiving reputa on, profi t, or remunera on. You should have Dharma gatherings with the inten on to benefi t others and make them receive enlightenment.

22. Not elimina ng laziness, procras na on, delusions of incapa-bility, and sleep (during the day or during the fi rst and fi nal periods of the night) which are detrimental to your prac ce; and was ng me and energy on the trivial ma ers of sam-sara. You should avoid sleeping late or irregularly.

23. Passing me by frivolously talking about objects of a ach-ment.

Vows 2426 are in connection with the perfection of concentration

24. Not making an e ort to study the means of a aining samadhi through reques ng teachings. If you desire to meditate, you

Bodhisattva Vows 17

must approach a qualifi ed teacher for instruc on. The trans-gression is to not do this because of laziness, evil intent, ar-rogance; or medita ng on samadhi without having received proper instruc on.

25. Not trying to eliminate the obstacles that hinder your a ain-ment of samadhi. The fi ve obstacles in par cular are: a ach-ment to the desire realm and the fi ve sense objects; harm-ful intent; sleep and foggymindedness; regret and agita on; doubt.

26. A achment to the bliss of remaining in samadhi without doing any other virtuous ac vi es, or deliberately concentra ng for the sake of this bliss. Thinking that samadhi is a special kind of knowledge, and thus not having the strong wish to progress further.

Vows 2734 are in connection with the perfection of wisdom

27. Looking down on Hinayana scriptures and saying the study of them is not necessary for Mahayanists.

28. Studying Hinayana discourses and prac ces to the extent that it compromises your study and prac ce of the Mahayana.

29. Making an unnecessary study of nonBuddhist scriptures, thus neglec ng to study the Buddhas teachings. Although such study is permi ed and is advantageous for understand-ing and helping others, you should not use excessive me and energy in studying nonBuddhist tenets.

30. Favoring, becoming a ached to, or cul va ng interest in nonBuddhist teachings even in cases when you have to study them. You are allowed to study nonBuddhist texts so that you can refute wrong views, or to be er understand those

18 Bodhisattva Vows

you are trying to help; but instead of doing this, you become a racted to these scriptures.

31. Cas ng aspersions on the Mahayana teachings, the author, or the subject, such as saying a scripture is poor in subject mat-ter, composi on, or power to help sen ent beings, or that the subject is boring.

32. Praising yourself or beli ling others out of anger or arrogance.

33. Not a ending discourses, debates, discussions, pujas, or cer-emonies because of arrogance, laziness, or anger.

34. Not respec ng but abusing the guru who gives teachings and shows the path, seeking only his words without contempla- on of their meaning.

Vows 3546 are in connection with the perfection of the morality of helping others

35. Not helping those in need of help when you have the capac-ity to do so. Eight types of sen ent beings in need of help are specifi ed: Not helping someone doing purposeful work who asks for

help. You make excuses or are lazy. Not helping someone on a journey, who needs help carry-

ing things or needs protec on, due to laziness. Not teaching language and Dharma if asked. Not doing work which may not be Dharma, but which con-

cerns Dharma, if asked. Not helping protect another persons possessions if you

have the me and ability, if asked. Not unifying a couple, if asked. Not going to a meal, if you have the me and ability, if

asked.

Bodhisattva Vows 19

Not going, if invited, to create merits, such as to a puja if you have the me and ability.

36. Not helping sick persons with materials or service because of hatred or laziness.

37. Not working to alleviate su ering but instead avoiding to help eliminate it through anger, laziness, or negligence. This refers to people such as the blind, deaf, paralyzed, those with missing limbs, those with di culty in breathing, travelers on a di cult journey, people having the fi ve obstacles (see no. 25), those in mental distress, those who are paranoid, who have lost their authority or posi on, or have been abused by others.

38. Through anger or laziness not exhor ng, correc ng, or ac -va ng a lazy person or a person who does not know virtu-ous from nonvirtuous ac ons. If you see a person engaging in frivolous ac vi es, you should give mely advice in appropri-ate situa ons and under proper circumstances so that person can avoid those ac ons and engage in virtue.

39. Through anger or laziness not repaying the kindness of some-one who has helped you materially or morally.

40. Through harmful intent or laziness not consoling those who are grieving because of separa on from their dear ones or possessions.

41. Through harmful intent or laziness not giving food, clothes, or other necessi es to the poor and needy if you are asked and if you have enough to spare.

42. Through hatred or laziness not working for the welfare of your disciples and a endants, or not giving teachings and/or materials.

20 Bodhisattva Vows

43. Failing to get along with others. Being selfasser ve and not ac ng in accordance with the wishes or feelings of others. Through lack of considera on, you do not act according to the level of their mind when you are capable of doing so. The ac ons that prac oners can do di er according to their level of mind. If you have actualized bodhichi a, it is di cult not to transform nega ve ac ons of body and speech into virtue. But if your mind is not capable, you cannot do these ac ons even if others request you to do them. However, you can act in small ways to help others according to the level of their minds. By being well mannered, you please them and encour-age them in the Dharma. Transgressions of this vow occur if you are a Dharma prac oner and you lie down in comfort without being concerned about others. Or you may be with worldly people and use bad manners, which cause them to become angry or lose their devo on.

44. Not praising those deserving praise, or not rejoicing in others who praise learned and realized beings.

45. Not preven ng those doing harmful ac ons from con nuing their ac ons by whatever means is necessary according to the circumstances. The boas ul may need to be looked down upon; the violent punished physically; those harmful to soci-ety banished. Out of laziness or a achments to those people, you do not act when you have the authority to do so. Abbots and disciplinarians should punish or reprimand those who are misbehaving. Transgression consists of having the power to do something and not doing it because you do not care about the harmful person himself or about those he is harming, or because you are lazy.

46. If you possess psychic powers, not using them in a me of need, such as to frighten someone who is about to do a nonvirtuous ac on so that he will stop, to enhance others faith, or to subdue them.

Bodhisattva Vows 21

Verse to Restore the Bodhisattva Vows

O buddhas, bodhisa vas, and gurus, please listen to what I say now from the depths of my heart:

Just as all the buddhas of the past have developed the thought of enlightenment, true bodhichi a,

Then prac ced its stages of graded development following the trainings of all buddhas children,

So may I too, for the sake of all beings, develop bodhichi a and follow the trainings, exactly as all bodhisa vas have done. (3x)

22 Bodhisattva Vows

Prayer to Generate BodhichittaBy His Holiness the Dalai Lama

With the wish to free all beingsI shall always go for refuge To Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,Un l I reach full enlightenment.

Inspired by wisdom and compassion,Today, in the Buddhas presence,I generate the mind of full awakeningFor the benefi t of all sen ent beings.

As long as space remainsAs long as sen ent beings remainUn l then may I too remainAnd dispel the miseries of the world. (all three verses 3x)

Bodhisattva Vows 23

Endnotes

1. Tradi onally, this Tibetan word has been translated as son. It has the mean-ing of heir, one who will inherit the wealth and possessions of that family. Since, in modern mes, both sons and daughters may equally be heirs, this word has been retranslated as child or children and should be under-stood in this context.

2. The four opponent powers are: (1) power of the basis: refuge and bodhichi a; (2) power of regret; (3) power of the remedial ac on (such as Vajrasa va or other prac ces of purifi ca on; and (4) power of restraint (not to do the ac- on again for a specifi c period of me).

Colophon

First published by Nepalese Mahayana Centre Gompa.Second published edi on edited by Gelong Thubten Gyatso and published by Ins tut Vajrayogini, September 1981.Third revised edi on edited by Ven. Constance Miller, FPMT Educa on Depart-ment, for inclusion in the FPMT Prayer Book, January 1999. Revised October 2000. Revised with input from Ven. Sangye Khadro and reference to other com-mentaries by Kendall Magnussen, FPMT Educa on Services, March 2004.

Compiled by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the teachings Illumina ng the Path to Enlightenment, in Los Angeles, California 2000. These verses were provided to help ensure that our prac ce of bodhichi a does not degenerate. His Holiness stated, It would be very benefi cial for you to recite and think about the meaning of these three verses on a daily basis. These verses are intended to be recited three mes through, each morning and evening.

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