Bodhisattva Vows
A vow (sdom-pa) is a
subtle invisible form on a mental continuum, which shapes behavior.
Specifically, it is a restraint from an "unspeakable action" (kha-na
ma-tho-ba), either one that is naturally destructive
(rang-bzhin-gyi kha-na ma-tho-ba) or one that Buddha prohibited
(bcas-pa'i kha-na ma-tho-ba) for specific individuals who are
training to reach specific goals. An example of the former is taking the
life of another; an example of the later is eating after noon, which
monastics need to avoid for their minds to be clearer for meditating at
night and the next morning.
Of the two stages of
developing bodhichitta, aspiring (smon-pa'i sems-bskyed) and
engaged ('jug-pa'i sems-bskyed), only with the latter do we take
the bodhisattva vows.
[For the
difference between the two stages, see: Actions for
Training from Developing the Pledged State of Aspiring
Bodhichitta.]
Taking bodhisattva vows
(byang-sems sdom-pa) entails promising to restrain from two sets of
negative acts that Buddha prohibited for those training as bodhisattvas to
reach enlightenment and to be of as much benefit to others as is possible:
- eighteen actions that, if
committed, constitute a root downfall (byang-sems-kyi tsa-ltung),
- forty-six types of faulty
behavior (nyes-byas).
A root downfall means a
loss of the entire set of bodhisattva vows. It is a "downfall" in the
sense that it leads to a decline in spiritual development and hinders the
growth of positive qualities. The word root signifies it is a root
to be eliminated. For ease of expression, these two sets are usually
called root and secondary bodhisattva vows. They offer excellent
guidelines for the types of behavior to avoid if we wish to benefit others
in as pure and full a way as is possible.
The late tenth-century Indian
master Atisha received this particular version of the bodhisattva vows
from his Sumatran teacher Dharmamati of Suvarnadvipa. Afterwards, he
outlined their scriptural sources in his Compendium of Traning
(bSlabs-btus, Skt. Shikshasamuccaya) and transmitted them to
Tibet. All Tibetan traditions currently follow them, while the Buddhist
traditions deriving from China observe variant versions of the bodhisattva
vows.
The promise to keep
bodhisattva vows applies not only to this life, but also to each
subsequent lifetime until enlightenment. Thus, as subtle forms, these vows
continue on our mental continuums into future lives. If we have taken the
vows in a previous lifetime, we do not lose them by unknowingly committing
a full transgression now, unless we have taken them freshly during our
current life. Retaking the vows for the first time in this life
strengthens the momentum of our efforts toward enlightenment that has been
growing ever since our first taking of them. Therefore, Mahayana masters
emphasize the importance of dying with the bodhisattva vows intact and
strong. Their abiding presence on our mental continuums continues building
up positive force (merit) in future lives, even before we revitalize them
by taking them again.
Following the Gelug founder,
Tsongkhapa's fifteenth-century commentary on the bodhisattva vows, An
Explanation of Bodhisattvas' Ethical Discipline: The Main Path to
Enlightenment (Byang-chub sems-dpa'i tshul-khrims-kyi rnam-bshad
byang-chub gzhung-lam), let us examine the eighteen negative actions
that constitute a root downfall. Each has several stipulations we need to
know.
(1) Praising ourselves
and/or belittling others
This downfall refers to
speaking such words to someone in an inferior position. The motivation
must contain either desire for profit, praise, love, respect, and so on
from the person addressed, or jealousy of the person belittled. It makes
no difference whether what we say is true or false. Professionals who
advertise that they are Buddhists need to take care about committing this
downfall.
(2) Not sharing Dharma
teachings or wealth
Here, the motivation must be
specifically attachment and miserliness. This negative action includes not
only being possessive of our notes or tape recorder, but also being stingy
with our time and refusing to help if needed.
(3) Not listening to
others' apologies or striking others
The motivation for either of
these must be anger. The first refers to an actual occasion when yelling
at or beating someone and either that person pleads for forgiveness, or
someone else begs us to stop and we refuse. The latter is simply hitting
someone. Sometimes, it may be necessary to give rambunctious children or
pets a smack to stop them from running into the road if they will not
listen, but it is never appropriate or helpful to discipline out of
anger.
(4) Discarding the Mahayana
teachings and propounding made-up ones
This means to reject the
correct teachings about some topic concerning bodhisattvas, such as their
ethical behavior, and to make up in their stead a plausible yet misleading
instruction on the same subject, claim it to be authentic, and then teach
it to others in order to gain their following. An example of this downfall
is when teachers who are eager not to scare away prospective students
condone liberal moral behavior and explain that any type of action is
acceptable so long as it does not harm others. We need not be a teacher to
commit this downfall. We can commit it even in casual conversation with
others.
(5) Taking offerings
intended for the Triple Gem
This downfall is to steal or
embezzle, either personally or through deputing someone else, anything
offered or belonging to the Buddhas, Dharma, or Sangha, and then to
consider it as ours. The Sangha, in this context, refers to any group of
four or more monastics. Examples include embezzling funds donated for
building a Buddhist monument, for printing Dharma books, or for feeding a
group of monks or nuns.
(6) Forsaking the holy
Dharma
Here the downfall is to
repudiate or, by voicing our opinions, cause others to repudiate that the
scriptural teachings of the shravaka (nyan-thos), pratyekabuddha
(rang-rgyal), or bodhisattva vehicles are the Buddha's words.
Shravakas are those who listen to a Buddha's teachings while they
are still extant, while pratyekabuddhas are self-evolving
practitioners who live primarily during dark ages when the Dharma is no
longer directly available. To make spiritual progress, they rely on
intuitive understanding gained from study and practice conducted during
previous lives. The teachings for both of them collectively constitute the
Hinayana, or "modest vehicle" for gaining personal liberation from
samsara. The Mahayana vehicle emphasizes methods for attaining full
enlightenment. Denying that all or just certain scriptures of either
vehicle derive from the Buddha is a root downfall.
[See: The Terms Hinayana and
Mahayana.]
Maintaining this vow does not
mean forsaking a historical perspective. Buddha's teachings were
transmitted orally for centuries before being committed to writing, and
thus corruptions and forgeries undoubtedly occurred. The great masters who
compiled the Tibetan Buddhist canon certainly rejected texts they
considered inauthentic. However, instead of basing their decisions on
prejudice, they used the seventh-century Indian master Dharmakirti's
criterion for assessing the validity of any material - the ability of its
practice to bring about the Buddhist goals of better rebirth, liberation,
or enlightenment. Stylistic differences among Buddhist scriptures, and
even within a specific text, often indicate differences in time when
various portions of the teachings were written down or translated into
different languages. Therefore, studying the scriptures through methods of
modern textual analysis can often be fruitful and does not conflict with
this vow.
(7) Disrobing monastics or
committing such acts as stealing their robes
This downfall refers
specifically to doing something damaging to one, two, or three Buddhist
monks or nuns, regardless of their moral status or level of study or
practice. Such actions need to be motivated by ill will or malice, and
include beating or verbally abusing them, confiscating their goods, or
expelling them from their monasteries. Expelling monastics, however, is
not a downfall if they have broken one of their four major vows: not to
kill, especially another human being; not to steal, particularly something
belonging to the monastic community; not to lie, specifically about
spiritual attainments; and to maintain complete celibacy.
(8) Committing any of the
five heinous crimes
The five heinous crimes
(mtshams-med lnga) are (a) killing our fathers, (b) mothers, or (c)
an arhat (a liberated being), (d) with bad intentions drawing blood
from a Buddha, or (e) causing a split in the monastic community. The
latter heinous crime refers to repudiating the Buddha's teachings and
monastic institution, drawing monastics away from them, and enlisting them
in one's own newly founded religion and monastic tradition. It does not
refer to leaving a Dharma center or organization - especially because of
corruption in the organization or its spiritual teachers - and founding
another center that still follows Buddha's teachings. Moreover, the term
sangha in this heinous crime refers specifically to the monastic
community. It does not refer to "sangha" in the nontraditional usage of
the term coined by Western Buddhists as an equivalent of the congregation
of a Dharma center or organization.
(9) Holding a distorted,
antagonistic outlook
This means to deny what is
true and of value - such as the laws of behavioral cause and effect, a
safe and positive direction in life, rebirth, and liberation from it - and
to be antagonistic toward such ideas and those who hold them.
(10) Destroying places such
as towns
This downfall includes
intentionally demolishing, bombing, or degrading the environment of a
town, city, district, or countryside area, and rendering it unfit,
harmful, or difficult for humans or animals to live in.
(11) Teaching voidness to
those whose minds are untrained
The primary objects of this
downfall are persons with the bodhichitta motivation who are not yet ready
to understand voidness. Such persons would become confused or frightened
by this teaching and consequently abandon the bodhisattva path for the
path of personal liberation. This can happen as a result of thinking that
if all phenomena are devoid of inherent, findable existence, then no one
exists, so why bother working to benefit anyone else? This action also
includes teaching voidness to anyone who would misunderstand it and
therefore forsake the Dharma completely, for example by thinking that
Buddhism teaches that nothing exists and is therefore sheer nonsense.
Without extrasensory perception, it is difficult to know whether others'
minds are sufficiently trained so that they will not misconstrue the
teachings on the voidness of all phenomena. Therefore, it is important to
lead others to these teachings through explanations of graduated levels of
complexity, and periodically to check their understanding.
(12) Turning others away
from full enlightenment
The objects for this action
are people who have already developed a bodhichitta motivation and are
striving toward enlightenment. The downfall is to tell them they are
incapable of acting all the time with generosity, patience, and so on - to
say that they cannot possibly become a Buddha and so it would be far
better for them to strive merely for their own liberation. Unless they
actually turn their aim away from enlightenment, however, this root
downfall is incomplete.
(13) Turning others away
from their pratimoksha vows
Pratimoksha, or
individual liberation vows (so-thar sdom-pa), include those for
laymen, laywomen, provisional nuns, novice monks, novice nuns, full monks,
and full nuns. The objects here are persons who are keeping one of these
sets of pratimoksha vows. The downfall is to tell them as a bodhisattva
there is no use in keeping pratimoksha, because for bodhisattvas all
actions are pure. For this downfall to be complete, they must actually
give up their vows.
(14) Belittling the
shravaka vehicle
The sixth root downfall is to
repudiate that the texts of the shravaka or pratyekabuddha vehicles are
the authentic words of the Buddha. Here, we accept that they are, but deny
the effectiveness of their teachings and maintain that it is impossible to
become rid of disturbing emotions and attitudes by means of their
instructions, for example those concerning vipassana (insight
meditation).
(15) Proclaiming a false
realization of voidness
We commit this downfall if we
have not fully realized voidness, yet teach or write about it pretending
that we have, because of jealousy of the great masters. It makes no
difference whether any students or readers are fooled by our pretense.
Nonetheless, they must understand what we explain. If they do not
comprehend our discussion, the downfall is incomplete. Although this vow
refers to proclaiming false realizations specifically of voidness, it is
clear that we need to avoid the same also when teaching bodhichitta or
other points of Dharma. There is no fault in teaching voidness before
fully realizing it, however, so long as we openly acknowledge this fact
and that we are explaining merely from our present levels of provisional
understanding.
(16) Accepting what has
been stolen from the Triple Gem
This downfall is to accept as
a gift, offering, salary, reward, fine, or bribe anything someone else has
stolen or embezzled, either personally or through deputing someone else,
from the Buddhas, Dharma, or Sangha, including if it belonged only to one,
two, or three monks or nuns.
(17) Establishing unfair
policies
This means to be biased
against serious practitioners, because of anger or hostility toward them,
and to favor those with lesser attainments, or none at all, because of
attachment to them. An example of this downfall is to give most of our
time as teachers to casual private students who can pay high fees and to
neglect serious students who can pay us nothing.
(18) Giving up bodhichitta
This is abandoning the wish to
attain enlightenment for the benefit of all. Of the two levels of
bodhichitta, aspiring and involved, this refers specifically to discarding
the former. In doing so, we give up the latter as well.
Occasionally, a nineteenth
root downfall is specified:
(19) Belittling others with
sarcastic verses or words
This may be included, however,
in the first bodhisattva root downfall.
When people learn of vows such
as these, they sometimes feel they are difficult to keep and are afraid to
take them. We avoid this kind of intimidation, however, by knowing clearly
what vows are. There are two ways to explain them. The first is that vows
are an attitude we adopt toward life to restrain ourselves from certain
modes of negative conduct. The other is that they are a subtle shape or
form we give to our lives. In either case, maintaining vows involves
mindfulness (dran-pa), alertness (shes-bzhin), and
self-control. With mindfulness, we keep our vows in mind throughout each
day. With alertness, we maintain watch on our behavior to check if it
accords with the vows. If we discover we are transgressing, or about to
transgress them, we exercise self-control. In this way, we define and
maintain an ethical shape to our lives.
Keeping vows and maintaining
mindfulness of them are not so alien or difficult to do. If we drive a
car, we agree to follow certain rules in order to minimize accidents and
maximize safety. These rules shape our driving - we avoid speeding and
keep to our sides of the road - and outline the most practical and
realistic way to reach a destination. After some experience, following the
rules becomes so natural that being mindful of them is effortless and
never a burden. The same thing happens when maintaining bodhisattva or any
other ethical vows.
We lose our vows when we
totally drop their shape from our lives, or stop trying to maintain it.
This is called a root downfall. When it occurs, the only way to regain
this ethical shape is to reform our attitudes, undertake a purification
procedure such as meditation on love and compassion, and retake the vows.
From among the eighteen root bodhisattva downfalls, as soon as we develop
the state of mind of the ninth or eighteenth - holding a distorted,
antagonistic attitude or giving up bodhichitta - we lose, by the very fact
of our change of mind, the ethical shape to our lives fashioned by
bodhisattva vows, and thus we stop all efforts to maintain it.
Consequently, we immediately lose all our bodhisattva vows, not just the
one we have specifically discarded.
Transgressing the other
sixteen bodhisattva vows does not constitute a root downfall unless the
attitude accompanying the act contains four binding factors (kun-dkris
bzhi). These factors must be held and maintained from the moment
immediately after developing the motivation to break the vow, up until the
moment right after completing the act of transgression.
The four binding factors are:
(1) Not regarding the negative
action as detrimental, seeing only advantages to it, and undertaking the
action with no regrets.
(2) Having been in the habit
of committing the transgression before, having no wish or intention to
refrain now or in the future from repeating it.
(3) Delighting in the negative
action and undertaking it with joy.
(4) Having no a sense of moral
self-dignity (ngo-tsha med-pa, no sense of honor) or care for how
our actions reflect on those we respect ('khrel-med, no sense of
face), such as our teachers and parents, and thus having no intention of
repairing the damage we are doing to ourselves.
If all four attitudes do not
accompany a transgression of any of the sixteen vows, the bodhisattva
shape to our lives is still there, as is the effort to maintain it, but
they have both become weak. With the sixteen vows, there is a great
difference between merely breaking and losing them.
For example, suppose we do not
lend somebody one of our books because of attachment to it and
miserliness. We see nothing wrong with this - after all, this person might
spill coffee on it or not give it back. We have never lent it before and
have no intention to change this policy now or in the future. Moreover,
when we refuse, we are happy in our decision. Lacking moral self-dignity,
we are shameless about saying no. We do not care how our refusal reflects
on ourselves, despite the fact that as someone supposedly wishing to bring
everyone to enlightenment, how could we not be willing to share any source
of knowledge we have? Unabashed, we do not care how our refusal reflects
on our spiritual teachers or on Buddhism in general. And we have no
intention of doing anything to counterbalance our selfish act.
If we have all these attitudes
when refusing to lend our book, we have definitely lost the bodhisattva
shape to our lives. We have totally fallen down in our Mahayana training
and lost all our bodhisattva vows. On the other hand, if we lack some of
these attitudes and do not loan our book, we have merely slackened our
efforts to maintain a bodhisattva shape to our lives. We still have the
vows, but in a weakened form.
Transgressing one of the
sixteen vows with none of the four binding factors present does not
actually weaken our bodhisattva vows. For example, we do not lend our book
to someone who asks, but we know it is basically wrong. We do not intend
to do this as a policy, we are unhappy about saying no, and we are
concerned about how our refusal reflects on ourselves and on our teachers.
We have a valid reason to refuse lending it, such as a pressing need for
the book ourselves or we have already promised it to someone else. Our
motivation is not attachment to the book or miserliness. We apologize for
not being able to lend it now and explain why, assuring the person we
shall lend it as soon as possible. To make up the loss, we offer to share
our notes. In this way, we fully maintain the bodhisattva form of our
lives.
We progressively begin to
weaken that form and loosen our hold on our vows as we come increasingly
under the influence of attachment and miserliness. Please note that
maintaining the vow to refrain from not sharing Dharma teachings or any
other sources of knowledge does not rid us of attachment or miserliness
with our books. It merely keeps us from acting under their influence. We
may lend our book or, because of an urgent need, not lend it now, but
still be attached to it and basically a miser. Vows, however, help in the
struggle to exterminate these disturbing emotions and gain liberation from
the problems and the suffering they bring. The stronger these
troublemakers are, however, the more difficult it is to exercise
self-control not to let them dictate our behavior.
We are progressively more
dominated by attachment and miserliness - and our vows are progressively
weaker - when, in not lending our book, we know it is wrong to do so, but
we hold any one, two, or all three of the other binding factors. These
constitute the minor, intermediate, and major levels of minor corruption
(zag-pa chung-ba) of our vows. For example, we know it is wrong not
to lend our book, but that is our policy and we make no exceptions. If we
feel badly about that and are ashamed about how our refusal reflects on us
and our teachers, the bodhisattva shape we are trying to put in our lives
is still not too weak. But if, in addition, we feel happy about our policy
and then, in addition, we no longer care what others think about us or our
teachers, we are falling more and more prey to our attachment and
miserliness.
An even weaker level of
maintaining this shape in our lives begins when we do not acknowledge
anything wrong in refusing to lend the book. This is the minor level of
intermediate corruption (zag-pa 'bring). As we add one or two of
the other binding factors, we weaken this shape even further, with major
intermediate corruption and major corruption (zag-pa chen-po)
respectively. When all four binding factors are present, we commit a root
downfall and completely lose our bodhisattva vows. We are now fully under
the sway of attachment and miserliness, which means we are not engaged any
more in overcoming them or realizing our potentials so that we can benefit
others. In forsaking the involved stage of bodhichitta, we lose our
bodhisattva vows, which structure that level.
The first step to repairing
our bodhisattva vows, if we have weakened or lost them, is to admit that
our transgression was a mistake. We may do this with an expiation ritual
(phyir-'chos, phyir-bcos). Such a ritual does not entail
confessing our mistakes to some other person or seeking forgiveness from
the Buddhas. We need to be honest with ourselves and with our commitment.
If we already felt it was wrong when we actually broke a specific vow, we
re-acknowledge our mistake. We then generate four factors that act as
opponent forces (gnyen-po bzhi). These four factors are:
(1) Feeling regret about our
action. Regret ('gyod-pa), whether at the time of transgressing a
vow or afterwards, is not the same as guilt. Regret is the wish
that we did not have to commit the act we are doing or one we have done.
It is the opposite of taking pleasure or later rejoicing in our action.
Guilt, on the other hand, is a strong feeling that our action is or
was really bad and that we are therefore a truly bad person. Regarding
these identities as inherent and eternal, we dwell morbidly on them and do
not let go. Guilt, however, is never an appropriate or helpful response to
our errors. For instance, if we eat some food that makes us sick, we
regret our action - it was a mistake. The fact that we ate that food,
however, does not make us inherently bad. We are responsible for our
actions and their consequences, but not guilty for them in a condemning
sense that deprives us of any feeling of self-worth or dignity.
(2) Promising to try our best
not to repeat the mistake. Even if we had such an intention when
transgressing the vow, we consciously reaffirm our resolve.
(3) Going back to our basis.
This means to reaffirm the safe and positive direction in our lives and
rededicate our hearts to achieving enlightenment for the benefit of all -
in other words, revitalizing and fortifying our refuge and aspiring level
of bodhichitta.
(4) Undertaking remedial
measures to counterbalance our transgression. Such measures include
meditating on love and generosity, apologizing for our unkind behavior,
and engaging in other positive deeds. Since acting constructively requires
a sense of moral self-dignity and care for how our actions reflect on
those we respect, it counters the lack of these that might have
accompanied our negative act. Even if we felt ashamed and embarrassed at
the time of the transgression, these positive steps strengthen our
self-respect and regard for how others might think of our
teachers.
We can see, then, that the
bodhisattva vows are in fact quite difficult to lose completely. So long
as we sincerely respect and try to keep them as guidelines, we never
actually lose them. This is because the four binding factors are never
complete even if our disturbing emotions cause us to break a vow. And even
in the case of holding a distorted, antagonistic attitude or giving up
bodhichitta, if we admit our mistake, muster the opponent forces of regret
and so on, and retake the vows, we can recover and resume our path.
Therefore, when trying to
decide whether or not to take the vows, it is more reasonable to base the
decision on an assessment of our abilities to sustain continuing effort in
trying to keep them as guidelines, rather than our abilities to keep them
perfectly. It is best, however, never to weaken or lose our vows. Although
we are able to walk again after breaking a leg, we may be left with a
limp. |