16. The Bodhisattva Vows

Bodhicitta is a state of universal consciousness, so why do we take the bodhisattva vows and what is it that we take? As above, we take one of two things: aspiring bodhicitta or engaged bodhicitta.⁶³

The first is when we have a kind of wishful attitude, a totally open enlightened attitude that eliminates the self-­cherishing thought, the closed, fanatical mind. We open our mind for once; we’re beginning to think of others. It’s so worthwhile. Think: “From the time I was born up till now, out of dissatisfaction, I’ve been crying inside for myself. All my pain comes from not understanding self-­cherishing, thinking I’m the best, holding myself dearer than anyone else. This is what creates all my problems. I have no time or space for others, not even for my own son, my own daughter. I say I love them, but when it really comes down to it, it’s I, myself, who I feel to be the most important. Similarly, I say I love my husband, I love my wife, but when it comes to the crunch and it’s a choice between me and them, I choose me, my pleasure. 

“Grasping in this way has caused me continual suffering and conflict, therefore, at this time, I want to change my attitude toward others. There is no question that it is so worthwhile to do this, and I’m absolutely clean clear about it. For that reason, from now on, for the rest of my life, I will try to eliminate the self-­cherishing thought and dedicate myself to others as much as I can. I will dedicate myself not simply to bringing them the temporal pleasures of cheesecake, chocolate and the like, but to what they really need: the elimination of their confusion, dissatisfaction, ego conflict and ignorance. These are the real problem and what they mainly need help with. At first, I will help them as best I can with whatever small things they need and take it from there.” 

That’s the way to generate aspiring bodhicitta and taking the bodhisattva vows in that way is in itself very, very profound. Just to have a glimpse of that attitude is super; most profound. We have never been there before. We may have mouthed the words, but we have never taken this attitude sincerely with the clean-­clear determination, “This is the thing I have to do.” It is very difficult to come to that conclusion. So if you have reached that point, I think this is the best way to take the vows: determine to actualize bodhicitta as much as you can and take the vows with this aspiring motivation.

The second way of taking the vows is called engaged bodhicitta. You feel it is essential to change from always having thought of “me, me, me, I, I, I” as the most important person for countless lives—not only this one—to thinking it is more important to meet the needs of other sentient beings than those of my own ego. Of course, it is hard, but it is very important to practice this as much as you can. It’s the most powerful solution to eliminating worldly confusion.

So, having taken the vows of engaged bodhicitta, what are your responsibilities, what in life should you do? You have to lead the life of a bodhisattva. You have to actualize the six perfections of charity, morality, patience, enthusiastic perseverance, single-­pointed concentration and wisdom. I’m not going to go into the details of these here; it’s too big a subject. But you can research the many books on the subject and the discourses of other teachers.⁶⁴

So, are there any questions about the two ways before I give the bodhisattva ordination? Remember, you need to be thinking, “From now on, for the rest of my life, I will try as much as possible to change my self-­cherishing thought, which holds myself most dear, to the thought of cherishing others as most dear.” It is essential that you make this change in order to become profound yourself.

Q. Lama, I’m not clear what you’re saying.

Lama. I’m saying that we need to think, “Since I was born I’ve constantly had the thought of ‘I, I, I, I, I; I’m dear, dear, dear, dear, dear; I’m the dearest of all; I’m the most precious one.’” We have to change this attitude to thinking the same toward others. It is essential that we change self-­cherishing into the cherishing of others. We must come to a clear determination that this is what we have to do. So if there are any questions about this, you are welcome to ask. 

Q. In the West there’s this idea that we can do something in three ways: by thought, by words and by deeds. I feel that what we are doing here now is kind of ceremonial or a kind of initiation, but how to do it in a practical way? 

Lama. The practical way is to integrate the three with bodhicitta. Think, speak and act with bodhicitta motivation. 

Q. But what if I am a donkey or a cow or some other kind of animal? How could I do it then?

Lama. Well, at the moment you’re none of those. You’re a fortunate one. You are not a cow, you are not a donkey, so you can do it. But if you become a donkey or a cow in your next life, then you’re exactly right: it would be difficult. However, becoming a donkey in your next life could be good if there were a petrol shortage! You could carry stuff; you’d be more fortunate than human beings. It’s possible. Bodhisattvas can manifest as donkeys. They can also manifest as bread, butter, houses, cars, rain, water and so forth.

Q. In meditation, nothing is the same as it is in reality.

Lama. That’s true, but the question is, what is reality?

Q. Can you help further?

Lama. Well, when it comes to reality, there are two aspects: relative and absolute. When you experience reality, it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad. Good experiences are reality; bad experiences are reality. But I understand. In meditation you might have a strong wish but what you wish for doesn’t appear right away. Still, such thoughts have power. Of course, if you think, “I wish this room were full of tulips,” tulips aren’t going to manifest in the room, just like that. However, because of that powerful wish you might then go out and buy enough tulips to fill the room. That’s possible. But still, you can experience some kind of reality in meditation.

Q. After how much time in meditation? Half an hour? Quarter of an hour?

Lama. You mean how long to meditate each day?

Q. No, I mean how long do we have to meditate before it really becomes the source of inspiration?

Lama. That’s completely up to the individual; totally personal. I can’t say, “You do this, you do that,” and instantly something will happen. Some people are slow, others are quick, some are dull, others are born bodhisattvas. Some people are born with a Hitler-­like mind; some children have aggressive tendencies; others are full of love and compassion. I cannot judge. One’s own experiences are unique. You’ll have to meditate yourself to find out. That is Buddhism: you cannot judge. That’s the beauty of Buddhism. When I talk about things, I talk in generalities. I don’t say you are this, you are that. It’s not allowed. I say it could be this way, it could be that way, it could be another way. Then you have to check for yourself what to do. 

For example, to put it simply, when you get up in the morning, instead of immediately thinking, “Where’s my coffee?” think, “Wow, I woke up this morning. I’m alive. How fortunate. Today I’m going to dedicate my life to others as much as I possibly can. Even if somebody beats me, criticizes me or simply puts me down, I’m not going to get angry.” Dedicate each day strongly in that way and actualize the six perfections as much as you can. Generate that strong determination and do the equilibrium meditation for a couple of minutes. If you can do that, it would be very good. Then go to work or whatever you do during the day, and at night, before going to sleep, check how you made out that day according to your morning’s intentions. Make a note of how many times you got angry, how many times you got jealous, how many times you did good things, how many times you were happy and peaceful and really helped others. Then encourage yourself: “Today you made your life meaningful. Good. Thank you so much.” That’s the way to develop mindfulness.

So now, to get back to the question of making the energy of thought practical, if you practice mindfulness you will touch reality rather than fantasy and you’ll be able to transform negative thoughts into positive ones. With respect to speech, when you’re mindful, you’ll only use words that are beneficial for others and will avoid useless garbage talk that only makes others angry. Your speech will make people more knowledgeable, compassionate, sensitive and aware. Those are the only kinds of words you’ll use; you’ll never use negative ones. Finally, action. The physical things you do will only be beneficial for others; you’ll never act out of self-­cherishing. That’s how to make your body, speech and mind practical. 

Q. If you are doing bodhicitta in the natural way, what is the value of making the promise of bodhicitta in a ceremony? And if you are not doing bodhicitta but really want to and make the promise to do it, that’s a big thing. I imagine it can be difficult. It’s ego, of course, fighting against you, and I would think that after a time something can make you unhappy so that you forget your promise of bodhicitta. I think that can happen.

Lama. Sure, that can happen. You’re right. But that’s the purpose of making the determination. Our mind is such that one day we can say yes, the next day we can say no. Therefore, if we generate a really strong determination in this time and space, as time goes by, the power of our consciousness can increase, expand. Otherwise it can be like our saying, “I’m not going to smoke” and then going outside and lighting up. We have no willpower. Willpower helps us change our mind. Taking the bodhisattva vows gives us the power to actualize bodhicitta rather than doing it in what you call the “natural way.” 

Q. You mentioned some rules that we have to follow when we make the bodhicitta promise. Maybe we understand some but don’t understand others. What do we do then, when we don’t understand the details?

Lama. If you want to take the engaged bodhicitta vows but don’t know the details, it might be better to take just the aspiring version until you do. 

Q. Somehow I have difficulty in letting go of all the self-­cherishing because I feel that I sometimes need to appreciate my own power first before I can share it. Like, you have to know you are light before you can give it to somebody else, and I call that self-­cherishing. I have to love myself first before I can give to others. 

Lama. That’s a good point. You have to take care of yourself: give yourself breakfast, lunch and dinner, wear warm clothes, turn on the heater and so forth, but all that isn’t necessarily for the purpose of self-­cherishing. It can be done with the attitude “I have to preserve myself in order to help others, therefore I’ll take care of my body.” Since we want to use our body, speech and mind in the service of others, we have to eat, wear clothes and so forth. There’s nothing else to do. This is a completely different attitude from the normal one, a complete transformation. 

For example, normally we might worry that our face is dirty: “What will people think?” That’s self-­cherishing. “People won’t like my dirty face.” Who cares? People will think it’s ugly, but it doesn’t matter. Ugliness exists; if there’s no ugly, there’s no beautiful. However, it’s completely different if you think, “I’m keeping myself clean so that others will feel good. I wash, bathe and wear makeup for the sake of others.” For the benefit of others, you can do anything. That doesn’t make you sick. It’s beneficial. 

In this society, normally when we put on makeup our attitude is different, selfish, but if you’re sincerely doing it out of concern for others, you can do it. In order to serve others, forget yourself completely and act on their behalf. Of primary importance is not what you do but your motivation for doing it, your attitude for doing that particular action. That’s the most important thing. 

Q. Lama, if there’s no self, how is it possible to generate bodhicitta?

Lama. Self? In the West, the word “self” has many meanings; maybe even a hundred. The thing is that you exist—you have mind, you have an I, but it doesn’t exist as it appears to your ego. The way it appears to your ego, to yourself, is that it seems to be independent, concrete. That I does not exist. What does exist is the dependent I, the dependent you. 

Q. Then who is generating bodhicitta?

Lama. You are.

Q. But you just said that I am nonexistent. 

Lama. No, no, no. That’s why I’m making a distinction between the self-­existent you and the dependent you. It’s the dependent you that is generating bodhicitta. The self-­existent you doesn’t exist, so therefore that one is not generating bodhicitta. Western psychology often uses the term “self-­centered.” That’s different terminology. First of all, of course, Western psychology understands that human beings exist as self-­existent. That’s all they know. To them, to modern science, that’s the way all phenomena exist, but the Buddhist point of view is that all phenomena exist as nondual. Not a single object is self-­existent—not you, not me, nothing in the world. Everything has a nondual nature. 

Q. Sometimes the situation occurs that we work on a project of tremendous benefit, such as schooling for senior citizens or other important social projects, and the government puts a stop to it. Then there are two approaches. One is to educate the government; the other is to fight it.

Lama. Sure. If you have wisdom, you can demonstrate its benefits. You don’t need to present as enlightened; just show that what you’re doing is worthwhile, of benefit to others. You want to show your reality. 

Q. Yes, that’s one way. The other way is to fight your enemy, in this case, the government.

Lama. You don’t necessarily have to consider them an enemy. Perhaps they’re your friend. The fact of the matter is that they don’t know how important your work is, so you have to show them, educate them. Many people have had good proposals and worthwhile projects in which everybody has succeeded, so why not you? You don’t have to consider people who reject your ideas to be enemies, even if you have an argument with them. I mean, I can be talking to you like this [Lama shakes his fist] without thinking you’re my enemy. What you have to do is show those people your reality. That’s your duty. You don’t have to hate them as enemies. That’s not necessary. Instead, you should have compassion for them. Practically speaking, even if they don’t accept that your project is worthwhile, you shouldn’t be angry with them. I mean, we accept Buddhist philosophy as correct, but Catholics disagree. Does that mean that they’re our enemy? No. They are not our enemy. I don’t consider Catholics to be my enemy.

Q. But not only did they reject my proposal out of hand, they fired me as well.

Lama. Yes, I’m sorry, but that still doesn’t mean they’re an enemy. That’s why I always say that Mao, even though he took all my food and kicked me out of Tibet, he’s not my enemy. Mao’s my friend, my best friend. He challenged me. It’s the same with your situation. They stopped you; now you have to rise to the challenge. You’re still alive; you can do other beneficial things. That’s the way I think. If, like you, I was working in some school and suddenly the authorities put me in a bad situation, I’d think they were great. Take that as a challenge to rise above it. You’re a human being; you can do anything. That’s not the only job you can do. In that way you discover your reality; you have the potential to do many jobs. But first of all, do not think of them as enemies. Even if somebody does certain things that disturb you, that doesn’t interfere with your path to enlightenment. Don’t think, “These people are interfering with my quest for enlightenment, therefore I can’t go on.” 

The conclusion is, you’re saying, “Buddhism is good; I’d like to practice it, but the circumstances are that these people stole my money and I cannot function because of the difficulties they created.” Look, if I tell you straight, without sweetening it, that’s a complete misunderstanding, a mistake. Nobody can stop your enlightenment. Like my example of getting kicked out of Tibet. Actually, I wasn’t really kicked out; I left because I knew I wouldn’t be able to practice Dharma if I stayed. I left in my tattered clothing and not much else and here I am in Holland, still going. I’m not afraid. Even if I get kicked out of Holland, I can go somewhere else. The thing is, it’s up to your attitude. Who can stop your attitude? Nobody can touch it. You can’t say you have so many problems because of the government. 

I agree with what you’re saying. I understand modern Western civilization. For example, the government spends so much money on weapons yet so many people are homeless. I know these things; maybe I know them better than you do. There are many problems. People lose their jobs and are out on the street. Can you imagine living in this society without a home? And then the police arrest you and put you in jail. I understand all this, but still, you can’t blame the government. Our liberation, our enlightenment is our own responsibility. We can’t blame society; we can’t blame the government. Use your power! You can do anything.

Otherwise you’re in danger of just making excuses. That’s the old way of thinking. Like children blaming their parents: “My mother created problems for me so now my life is difficult; my father created problems for me so now my life is difficult; society created problems for me so now my life is difficult.” We never understand that our problems come from our own ego and self-­cherishing. That’s never explained to us. But that’s completely the wrong attitude, which is what Buddhism explains clean clear. 

The conclusion is that we should never blame others in that way. That’s the point. Anyone who actualizes bodhicitta will never blame somebody else: “You’re disturbing my liberation.” It’s not true. If you really want liberation, nobody can stop you. It’s an inner, untouchable quality, not a physical thing. 

Q. Lama, why does it seem that people who are ego-­oriented are usually much more successful and efficient and achieve much more in life than those who are not? Like people in the West who have houses, warm clothes and so forth, while people in Nepal do not. 

Lama. Successful in which sense? What do you mean by successful? That’s the whole question. Is pollution of the environment and the poisoning of everybody in it success? How would you define success? I don’t consider myself successful in the worldly sense because I have clothes and other material things. Perhaps in the view of society at large I’m successful—I can take care of myself and I have food and clothing. 

Q. Well, yes, you are healthy, you have good clothes and a place to live, but there are a lot of people who don’t have all that.

Lama. Yes, I understand, I’m communicating with you. You’re saying people who have ego are successful and those who don’t are often not. It’s an interesting question, to which there could be a hundred answers. I mean, your question is very general. It all comes down to what being successful means. Is making a million dollars success? 

To my mind, being successful means taking care of our body, taking care of our mind and being liberated from our ego. From my point of view, that’s success. It doesn’t matter who it is. It can be a poor person with only a hundred dollars in their pocket who is healthy and has enough to eat. Extremely wealthy but miserly people can die hungry, like the billionaire Howard Hughes, who was severely malnourished when he died. To the world, he was successful, but to me, he was not. 

Anyway, thank you for those wonderful questions, everybody, but at this point we’d better go on to the bodhisattva vows.

Taking the bodhisattva vows

Now, there is no obligation to take the vows of engaged bodhicitta, but if your level of understanding is such that you have a clean-­clear intellectual grasp of what they are and what they entail, then that is enough for you to do so. If you know from your experience and have no question that, “If I do not overcome the self-­cherishing thought, holding myself dearer than any other being, I will have constant trouble, constant dissatisfaction and constant ego-­conflict,” you can take the vows at the engaged level. If you’re not that sure, you can take the aspiring version.

For some of us, our greatest problem is with hatred. Others suffer from great desire or great jealousy. Still others’ main problem is being led by the self-­cherishing thought. So, whatever your problem, in order to correct such garbage thoughts you should think, “From now on, I will dedicate my thoughts, words and actions, in fact my whole life, to others as much as I possibly can. This is essential. I will release the painful, fanatical, dualistic mind that uses other people for my pleasure and dedicate myself to others. In this way I will make my life worthwhile. If I do not, I will render my human life no different from that of a chicken. Therefore, I want to use the rest of my life in this profound way.” This is the attitude we should have.

In front of you, visualize the supreme beings—the buddhas and bodhisattvas—of the ten directions. If you have feelings toward Jesus, you can visualize him as well. Jesus also abandoned self-­cherishing and gave his life to others. So visualize all these holy beings that have reached beyond self-­cherishing in front of you and in their presence make the determination to do the same, as much as you possibly can. If you cannot make that determination at this time, simply meditate on bodhicitta. 

Think, “All the past buddhas actualized bodhicitta, practiced the six perfections and attained enlightenment. Just as they did, at this time, I, too, will actualize the path they followed, opening my heart to others and actualizing the six perfections as much as possible.” 

So now, everybody concentrate and think, “From now on, for the rest of my life, as much as I possibly can, I will open my heart to others and dedicate myself to leading them to the highest destination of enlightenment.” Generate this strong determination in front of the universal buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. 

“From now on, as much as possible, I will lead those with ego conflict beyond ego. From now on, as much as possible, I will lead those obsessed by hatred beyond hatred. All buddhas and bodhisattvas, please pay attention to me. From now on, as much as possible, I will lead those suffering from grasping desire beyond desire, and those suffering from that symptom of ego, jealousy, beyond jealousy. From now on, I take responsibility to lead those suffering from confusion beyond confusion. All this is my responsibility.”

[Dedication prayer.]

Thank you so much. I’ve very much enjoyed this weekend. I’d also like to thank the organizers for their hard work and all you students for all the effort you put in, and we will dedicate for you all. Thank you so much. If you still have questions, perhaps you can write to me. Nowadays the world is so small and even if I leave this place I haven’t really escaped. Furthermore, I’m sure that when I return to once again meet you all face to face, we’ll be able to talk again. You should not feel that this monk has left you in something of a mess and now you have to deal with your real life again. So, if questions do come, please write—we’re as responsible as we can be for what we have taught here. 

And I want to especially thank Venerable Marcel for his hard work in translating my teachings into Dutch. 

I know that it’s difficult to practice what we’ve been talking about. I’m not saying it’s been difficult for me; I’ve just been talking words and ideas. But what we’ve discussed is not something impossible to do. It’s possible. Our minds express everything differently, but the power of the mind allows us to do anything. At this stage we have to exert ourselves, but there’ll come a time when our practice becomes sort of intuitive and we develop a naturally dedicated attitude. That is possible.

Take first level bodhisattvas, for example. They have the ability to slice off their flesh and respectfully offer it to others, and instead of feeling pain they feel blissful. But for us, if someone asks us for a cup of coffee we feel pangs of annoyance in our heart. What’s the difference? It isn’t physical; it’s due to different states of mental development. 

So yes, it’s difficult. I understand; I agree. But at least we should try to rise to the challenge. It’s worthwhile to do something meaningful with our life. Intelligent people like to challenge themselves with difficult things. You just get bored engaging in worthless activities. If something is really difficult and requires tremendous energy and moment to moment mindfulness every day, it challenges you. Everything in your life becomes interesting. It’s very worthwhile.

Well, that’s what I think, but maybe I’m a little crazy! Thank you and good night.

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Notes 

63. See note 23. [Return to text]

64. For example, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s books on Bodhichitta, The Six Perfections, Patience, Perseverance and The Power of Meditation. [Return to text]