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The
Bodhisattva Vow
The Bodhisattva Vows are part of the teachings where we vow to not worry about solely our own awakening, but hold back from full enlightenment until we help all others become awakened as well. This is often taught as the second step of the Eightfold Path, which is Right Intention. How we motivate ourselves in our thoughts, words and actions.
Sentient
beings are numberless—I vow to liberate them.
Delusions
are inexhaustible—I vow to transcend them.
Dharma
Teachings are boundless—I vow to master them.
The
Buddha’s enlightened way is unsurpassable—I vow to embody it.
The
idea of wishing to help the entire world awaken. That might seem a bit daunting! On the internet, there is a clock that keeps
track of approximately how many people there are in the world in any given
hour. So, as of about 6 pm last night,
there were 7,120,332,037. Since the beginning of this year,
there have been about 31 million more births than deaths, so we have a lot of
people to consider. In 1900, there were 1.6 million people; in 1999 there were
6.1 million people. "Currently,
world population is growing at the most rapid pace in history," says Carl
Haub, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau.
That is a lot of people who might be suffering. We have got our work cut out for us. And this idea of compassion may seem all warm
and soothing, but when we start to try and apply it in real life, it’s very
threatening to our ego, to our protective coating that we want to defend and
ensure does not get pierced. We can long
to awaken so that we not only help ourselves, but we also help others.
(From
Wikipedia) In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is an enlightened (bodhi) existence
(sattva) or, "heroic-minded one (sattva), passionate for enlightenment (bodhi)."
The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being,"
Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has
generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the
benefit of all sentient beings.
Bodhicitta
is translated as awakened heart-mind, the intention to achieve Buddhahood
(Trikaya)or awakening as fast as possible, so that one may benefit infinite
beings. One who has bodhicitta as the
primary motivation for all of his or her activities is called a bodhisattva. Bodhicitta
also means the aim to, on the one hand, bring happiness to all sentient
beings, and on the other, to relieve them of suffering; this
definition is consistent with the definition of seeking enlightenment, as
enlightenment is the freedom from samsāra.
Beginning
students commonly ask how they can honestly vow to save all beings. It sounds
like missionary arrogance. Hui-neng [the Sixth Zen Patriarch] offers a
response: "You begin by saving them in your own mind." It is bodhichitta that you are cultivating—your own
aspiration for wisdom and compassion, and your determination to practice it in
the world as best you can." -- Robert
Aitken Roshi, "The Bodhisattva Vows"
This
is not being evangelical about the Buddhist practice, but rather how you show
up in the world, how you mold your thoughts into creating skillful
actions. Practicing bodhicitta means
cultivating all one’s innate enlightened qualities and following the path of
awakening. Having an open heart-mind is
teaching us how to be open and seeing the innate goodness in ourselves and all
others.
If
Buddhism is simply a practice to relief suffering, then by its very nature, we
want to relieve not only our own suffering but the suffering of others, and not
just the others who are people we like, but ALL others. Whoa!
You mean I have to relieve the suffering of that man at work that is
constantly giving me a hard time? Can’t
there possible be some exceptions to this practice—I mean really!
In
Buddhism, no exceptions. We work towards
relieving our own suffering and the suffering of all others, even the ones that
annoy us or don’t seem to deserve it, or who have hurt us in some way.
It’s
easy to be loving and kind to the people we like. It’s these difficult ones when we really earn
our Buddhist stripes. Compassion is about going beyond our
comfort zones, not about being a doormat and letting anyone and everyone
walk all over us (that is called Idiot Compassion!), but rather a Wise
Compassion that comes from being fully present in the moment and reflecting on
what will create the greatest good and relieve the most suffering.
The
Buddha never taught to anyone who did not ask for teaching. From the very beginning, even his five
friends that were ascetics with him, they had to beg him to teach them about
this wonderful practice that he had discovered, because they saw the different
that it had made in him. So, he
encouraged us to never go out and preach from the mountaintops these
teachings. Instead, he said if you
embody the teachings, others will be naturally curious about what has caused
this transformation in your life, then and only then, should you share with
them this practice.
Our
thoughts are shaping and defining our actions and words. Pema Chodron encourages us to imagine that
everyone is our guest. How would you
feel about having anyone and everyone over to your house—to all kinds of
people! That is a little daunting—but we start with the thought of treating
everyone with kindness and compassion. Everyone is not going to physically come over
to our house, but they can be allowed in our heart—not to tear us up, but for
us to open up to share love and compassion, whether they are deemed worthy of
it or not. Imagine love and compassion without judgment. This is the start of living in the flow of
life, instead of skating around the edges, holding on to the rail. This is how we get comfortable with
uncertainty.
Lama Surya Das says:
If
it looks like wisdom, but is unkind rather than loving, then it is not
wisdom. If it feels like love, but it’s
not wise, then it is not love.
There
is a tender part of our heart that doesn't want to feel vulnerable. Maybe you’ve been hurt before and the pain
was so awful, that you’ve sworn off being that open to anyone ever again. Now, I’m encouraging you to try, even just
little, even if it’s just a small crack,
to open up your innately good and kind heart.
You may still be hurt again, but it might be easier to stay standing
with these practices of compassion and wisdom.
So,
we can begin in the simplest of ways. Of
beginning willing to see how we are all inseparably interconnected. Something as simple as when you sit down to
eat, or I guess if you’re standing up in your kitchen or even when you’re
driving down the road with a hamburger in your hand, try being so deeply
thankful each and every person that made that meal possible—the farmers, the
trucker, the grocery store clerk, the
waiter or waitress, the bus boy or girl.
We can give thanks for all the people that are making our life easier.
Then,
we can look for ways to reach out in earnest and help others who are having a
difficult time. Several of us go to feed
the hungry or work the pantry in KCK on Saturdays. Others are tutors at Banneker Elementary School—it
is always a heartfelt experience. Before
the meal begins, each person who is helping goes around and says where they are
from. It’s kinda fun that among the
Episcopalians and the Baptists and the Catholics, there we are representing the
Temple Buddhist Center. How can we go
out in the community and be a loving presence and support to those who are
suffering?
And
it can be as simple as one of our visualizations, which is to simple silently
wish for each and every person you meet, “may you be happy” and spend a moment
or two radiating out love and compassion towards them. Try it this week, and see what a difference
this simple change can make.
And
if we break the commitment, if we respond harshly to others, it’s simple to
mend. We simply admit that we were
unskillful, re-commit to being a Bodhisattva, and begin again. It can happen on the spot, no need to wait to
being anew.
I’ll
end with a quote from Shantideva, who wrote The Way of the Bodhisattva:
And now as long as space endures,
As long as there are beings to be
found,
May I continue likewise to remain
To drive away the sorry of the
world.
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