The Bodhisattva Vows and the three ethics

[vajrastorm]

In the Lamrim Lineage Prayer by Lama Tsongkapa,it is stated that just having a Bodhicitta aspiration, "without practicing the three ethics" is not enough to realize Buddhahood. So we need to "strive to train in the Bodhisattva vows".

From the Lamrim Lineage Prayer:

"Just as I've fallen in this sea of suffering
so have all beings, my kind mothers;
seeing this, bless me to train in Bodhicitta,
taking up the burden of liberating them.

AND YET, JUST WISHING THIS, WITHOUT PRACTICING
THE THREE ETHICS, ENLIGHTENMENT CANNOT BE ATTAINED.
Knowing this well, please bless me to intensively
strive to train in the Bodhisattva vows".

Quoting from "The Boddhisattva Vows" by Venerable Dagpo Lama Rinpoche"(p.25), the three ethics are:
1)The ethic of abstention from wrongdoing in general and notably from actions that are contrary to the vows;
2)the ethic of collecting virtue; and
3)the ethic of working to benefit all beings.

As Geshe Kelsang Gyatso says in his book "The Bodhisattva Vows"(p.7):
"The main purpose of practising the Mahayana is to attain Buddhahood to benefit all beings. To accomplish this aim we must first generate bodhicitta(this is aspiring bodhicitta), and then adopt the Bodhisattva's way of life by receiving and maintaining the Bodhisattva vows(with this aspiring bodhicitta transforms into engaging bodhicitta)".

The Bodhisattva vows include abandoning 18 root downfalls and 46 secondary downfalls. The 46 secondary downfalls are divided into 7 sections. The first six sections are related to the Six Perfections - generosity, the practice of moral discipline, patience, joyous effort, concentration and wisdom;and the seventh is related to the ethics of helping others.   

[Tenzin K]

Commentary on the Vows:

1.     The Intention for Taking the Bodhisattva Vows
 
The intention is everything with the Bodhisattva vows. We take the vows purely for the sake of others. Only when we dedicate for the sake of others and try our best to put what we have learned into practice will our practice become truly beneficial.

The preparation for taking the Bodhisattva vows is really to know how to develop bodhicitta itself. We must have that knowledge and have the intention to develop our minds to really benefit others. We should already be engaging in either the Seven Points of Cause and Effect or Equalising and Exchanging Oneself with Others. Only when we have a really strong altruistic mind, when we are at the stage called aspirational bodhicitta, are we ready to take the Bodhisattva vows.

Although strictly speaking we need aspirational bodhicitta before thinking about taking the Bodhisattva vows, these days we often take them in connection with a Vajrayana initiation. In the Mahayana tradition I have heard great masters say many times that if we wait until then we would have to wait many, many aeons. So they talk about how we can develop artificial bodhicitta, although I feel maybe ‘created’ bodhicitta is a better word – created in the sense that it occurs only when the practitioner meditates on it. As soon as the meditation stops that mind stops so, in a way, it is manufactured. Then, the masters say, the next step is the Bodhisattva vows. This is what tends to happen these days.
 
2.     The Preparation

So the preparation involves generating aspirational bodhicitta as well as having a clear and strong determination to be free from samsara – in other words, pure renunciation. Without the kind of mind which really cannot bear to be in this kind of conditioned existence, there is no wish for enlightenment for ourselves and so it is impossible to have a strong wish to lead other sentient beings to full enlightenment.
What happens quite often these days is that aspirational bodhicitta is given by masters at the end of a series of lam-rim teachings. It is a ritual which has certain commitments and is the step before taking the Bodhisattva vows.

I agree with those masters who say that we cannot wait until we have a really genuine aspirational bodhicitta in order to take Bodhisattva vows. If we did we would never have the chance to take the vows and that would be a great loss. On the other hand, if we are not keeping the easier vows perfectly, what is the point of taking the harder ones because there is no way we will be able to keep them? As Shantideva says in his Bodhisattvacharyavatara if we have not really mastered the activities we are doing now, it is pointless to start new ones.
 
First of all I should examine well what is to be done

To see whether I can pursue it or cannot undertake it.

(If I am unable) it is best to leave it,

But once I have started I must not withdraw.

 

(If I do), then this habit will continue in other lives

And evil and misery will increase,

Also other actions done at the time of its fruition

Will be weak and will not be accomplished.

 
If we start an activity, it is much better to finish it rather than starting many activities without finishing any of them. I think that makes perfect sense.

So I think we have to take a middle way here. What the masters say makes sense – by participating in teachings and taking commitments we can’t keep, we are still gaining important imprints for future lives. But, although it is good to accumulate imprints for future lives, at the same time we need to do all we can now to develop the mind which can keep the commitments we are given.
There are several texts by great Indian masters in connection with the Bodhisattva vows, such as Asanga’s Bodhisattvabhumi or the Bodhisattva’s Stages. The tenth chapter, ‘The Ethical Practice of Bodhisattvas’ deals with how to keep the vows.

Lama Tsongkhapa wrote a long commentary on that chapter which is what I will be mainly referring to. There are other texts such as the sutra called The Sutra on the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha which quite thoroughly discusses both the Bodhisattva vows and the bodhisattva’s conduct.  And there is a text on the vows called Candragomin’s Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vows which also has a commentary by Lama Tsongkhapa called The Main Path to Enlightenment as well as Shantideva’s Compendium of Training.
 
3.     The Commitment

When we take the Bodhisattva vows, it is very important to be fully aware of what kind of commitment we are making, otherwise it will be very, very difficult to keep the vows. There seems to be a sequence – first the Individual Liberation vows, then the Bodhisattva vows and finally the Vajrayana or Tantric vows. In order to take the Tantric vows, we must have first taken the Bodhisattva vows – we cannot proceed without them. But do we need to have taken one of the seven different types of Individual Liberation vows (two for lay people and five for ordained people) to take the Bodhisattva vows? There is a lot of discussion; Lama Tsongkhapa dedicated almost twenty-four pages to it. The Buddha himself taught that his followers must follow the practices he recommended step-by-step, which indicates that the Individual Liberation vows must come first. In Atisha’s Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment there is a clear statement saying that without taking the Individual Liberation vows there is no way to take the Bodhisattva vows. But Lama Tsongkhapa’s conclusion was this although ideally that would be the case at least the very base of the Bodhisattva vows is to avoid the ten non-virtues.

Avoiding the ten non-virtues depends upon ethics and ethics depends upon compassion, so again it all comes down to compassion. Compassion is the base. And here again Lama Tsongkhapa goes quite thoroughly into why compassion is important to lay the foundation on which we practise the vows. He then looks at two unwholesome mental factors we must avoid, shamelessness and lack of consideration for others.
i.     shamelessness

Shamelessness (Tib: ngo-tsa me-pa) is a lack of  concern about our own well-being  whereas lack of consideration for others is about the harm we do others because we don’t care about them. In both cases we need to develop the opposites, consideration for both ourselves and others.
Why are these two minds seen as so important? A person who lacks the first one, self respect – i.e. concern about one’s own life, both now and in the future – is much, much more at risk of doing anything because there is no sense of understanding of what is going to happen to them in the future. If they are concerned with the future they will be in a much better position to avoid committing negative actions which will bring unfortunate consequences for themselves.

ii.    lack of consideration for others

The second mind, lack of consideration for others, while taking in all sentient beings, mainly refers to the people who are important in our lives such as our parents or those concerned with our spiritual life. If we lack consideration there is a great risk of not keeping our vows.
Of course we must refrain from unwholesome activities because they will cause us and others suffering, but having consideration for others brings in the added dimension of the pain our parents, friends and spiritual masters will feel when we let them down.
 
4.     The Three Ways of Practising the Vows

The Bodhisattva vows can be practised in three ways:
- restraining oneself from harmful actions
- accumulating wholesome deeds
- working for the benefit of others

For us, the first step is to restrain from harmful actions. If we cannot do that, then the second and third steps are quite difficult. The first and second, restraining oneself from harmful actions and accumulating wholesome deeds, are technically what is called ‘ripening one’s mental continuum’. These are mainly for our own sake. We need to be prepared because if we are not ready, how can we benefit others?
Lama Tsongkhapa says that without subduing one’s own negative emotions, there is no way to subdue or help to eliminate other people’s disturbing emotions. That is very clear.

[Positive Change]

Gradual Training

Refuge vows are the basis for the other sets of vows and precepts. Once one has them, one can then take the bodhisattva vows. Then the refuge vows and bodhisattva vows set the basis for later taking the tantric vows. The purpose of having different levels of vows is to train in stages, instead of trying to chew everything at once. Just living in vows alone is a lifetime practice.

The Bodhisattva Vows

The Eighteen Root Downfalls
1.    praising oneself and belittling others
2.    not sharing with others one’s wealth and Dharma
3.    not forgiving even when others apologise
4.    doubting and denying the doctrine of the Great Vehicle
5.    taking offerings intended for the Three Jewels
6.    abandoning the doctrine through sectarianism
7.    causing an ordained person to disrobe
8.    committing one of the five crimes of immediate retribution
9.    holding perverted views
10.   destroying places such as towns
11.   teaching emptiness to the untrained
12.   discouraging others from seeking full enlightenment
13.   causing others to break the vows of Individual Liberation
14.   belittling those who follow the path of Individual Liberation
15.   proclaiming false realisations such as the realisation of emptiness
16.   accepting gifts that have been misappropriated from the belongings of the Three Jewels
17.   laying down harmful regulations and passing false judgement
18.   giving up the pledge of altruistic aspiration
 
The Forty-Six Secondary Downfalls
1.  not making offerings every day to the Three Jewels
2.  acting out of desire because of discontent
3.  not paying respect to those senior in ordination and in taking the Bodhisattva vows
4.  not answering others’ questions out of negligence though one is capable of doing so
5.   selfishly not accepting invitations due to pride, the wish to hurt other’s feelings or anger or laziness
6.  not accepting others’ gift out of jealousy, anger etc or simply to hurt others
7.  not giving the Dharma teaching to those who wish to learn
8.  ignoring and insulting someone who has committed any of the five heinous crimes or defiled his or her vows of individual liberation, or treating him or her with contempt
9.   not observing the precepts of moral conduct because one wishes to ingratiate oneself with others
10. complying with the minor precepts when the situation demands one's disregard of them for the better benefit of others
11. not committing one of the seven negative actions of body, speech and mind when universal love and compassion deem it necessary in the particular instance
12. accepting things that are acquired through one of the five wrong livelihoods
13. wasting time on frivolous actions such as carelessness, lack of pure morality, dancing, playing music just for fun, gossiping and also distracting others in meditation
14. misconceiving that bodhisattvas do not attempt to attain liberation and failing to view delusions as things to be eliminated
15. not living up to one's precepts
16. not correcting others who are motivated by delusions
17. parting from the four noble disciplines
18. neglecting those who are angry with you
19. refusing to accept the apologies of others
20. acting out thoughts of anger
21. gathering circles of disciples out of desire for respect and material gain
22. wasting time and energy on trivial matters
23. being addicted to frivolous talk
24. not seeking the means to develop concentration
25. not abandoning the five obscurations which hinder meditative stabilisations
26. being addicted to the joy of meditative absorbtion
27. abandoning the path of Theravada as unnecessary for one following the Mahayana
28. exerting effort principally in another system of practice while neglecting the Mahayana teachings that one already has
29.  without good reason exerting effort to learn or practise the treaties of non-Buddhists which are not the proper object of one's endeavour
30.  beginning to favour and take delight in the treaties of non-Buddhists although studying them for a good reason
31.  abandoning any part of the Mahayana by thinking it is uninteresting or unpleasant
32.  praising oneself and belittling others because of pride and anger
33.  not going to Dharma gatherings or teachings
34.  disparaging the spiritual master
35.  not helping those who are in need
36.  not helping people who are sick
37.  not alleviating the suffering of others
38.  not explaining what is the proper conduct to those who are reckless
39.  not benefiting in return those who have benefited oneself
40   not relieving the sorrow of others
41.  not giving material possessions to those in need
42.  not working for the welfare of one’s circles of friends, students, employees, helpers
43.  not acting in accordance with the wishes of others if doing so does not bring harm to oneself or others
44.  not praising those who have good qualities
45.  not acting with whatever means are necessary according to the circumstances to stop someone who is doing harmful action
46.  not using miraculous powers, if one possesses this ability, in order to stop others from doing unwholesome actions



The Bodhisattva's Actions

The six perfections (paramitas) are: generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiastic perseverance, concentration and wisdom.

Even though we try to meditate on teachings such as the development path of the Highest Yoga Tantra, the Madhyamaka, the Mahamudra and Kundalini Yoga, with the expectation of reaching enlightenment, if we do this without bodhicitta, we cannot pass through the door of the Mahayana path, let alone get closer to that supreme and perfect goal. Therefore, bodhicitta should be the main point in the practice of all practitioners, those who thirst for the most supreme happiness. After numberless eons of observation, even the Buddha's omniscient holy mind could not find any door of entry to the Path nor any special method other than bodhicitta.

When we take the Bodhicitta vows, with prayers, in the presence of a holy object, we receive the bodhicitta ordination that was not received before and we are able to keep it without letting it degenerate. But merely receiving the Bodhicitta vows is not enough; they must be put into action, just as merely having the will to go to some country and save living beings suffering there from some epidemic disease is not enough—it is necessary to act by going there with the required equipment.

Therefore, to benefit the innumerable, different, suffering living beings through being enlightened, it is necessary to achieve the two kayas: the rupakaya and the dharmakaya. To achieve these two results, it is necessary to follow the inseparable path of method and wisdom. All the buddhas' deeds are included in method and wisdom. The first five perfections are the method and the last perfection, penetrative insight, is the wisdom.

How to follow the Holy Bodhisattva's deeds has three divisions. Firstly, we should follow the general deeds of the bodhisattva, which entails ripening our mind through the practice of the six perfections and ripening the minds of others through the practices of the four ways of gathering disciples. Then we should especially follow the last two perfections, concentration and wisdom, and finally follow the Vajrayana path.

Above was an extract from a Commentary by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

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[Midakpa]

The three ethics mentioned in the Lamrim lineage prayer are the three ways of practising the vows: restrain oneself from harmful actions, accumulate virtues and work for the benefit of others. Without ethics, we cannot obtain a good rebirth. If we can't even gain freedom from cyclic existence, how can we help others to do so? How can we talk about attaining enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings if we do not observe the three ethics? Unethical conduct will lead to bad rebirths. We need good rebirths in order to practice the three ethics so as to gain enlightenment in order to benefit others.

[Vajraprotector]

Before the Dalai Lama bestows the Bodhisattva vow, he often teaches the short text known as the Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow by the Indian master Chandragomin. Chandragomin's text discusses some of the most important features regarding the vow, such as from whom it should be taken, how one should prepare for receiving it, what constitutes transgressions of the vow, and how they should be purified.


Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow
Chandragomin
 
 
Make prostration with reverence and offer what you can
To the Buddhas and their disciples;
Then the moral code of bodhisattvas
Who abide in all time and space

That treasury of all merit
Should be taken, with lofty intention,
From a lama maintaining and learned in the vow,
Who is capable [of bestowing it].
 
At which time, because of the virtue in that
The Jinas and their disciples
With their virtuous hearts, forever
Consider you their beloved son.
 
For others, as for oneself,
What is suffering may be beneficial;
Do beneficial pleasant things,
But not the pleasant, if not beneficial.
 
That which, developed from severe defilement,
Functions as destruction of the vow,
The four transgressions of it,
Are considered as defeats.

With attachment to gain and respect,
Praising oneself and deprecating another;
Stingily not giving Dharma and wealth
To the suffering, [poor] and forsaken.
 
Heedless of another's confession,
Striking him out of anger;
Rejecting the Greater Vehicle,
And showing what appears like good Dharma.
 
The vow should be taken again;
Confess the middling outflows to three,
The rest before one [person],
The defiled and not, in one's own mind thus.

Not offering three to the Precious Three;
Following thoughts of desire;
Not paying respect to elders;
Giving no answer to questions;
 
Not accepting an invitation;
Not taking such things as gold;
Not giving to those who seek Dharma.
Disdaining the immoral.
 
Not training for the sake of others 'faith;
Doing little for the welfare of sentient beings;
With mercy there is no [deed] without virtue.
Ready acceptance of wrong livelihood;
 
Laughing aloud, and so on, from levity;
Thinking to travel only in samsara
Failing to ward off defamation;
Not to give treatment even comprising affliction;
 
Abuse in return for abuse, and so forth;
Disdaining those who are angry;
Rejecting another's excuses;
Following thoughts of anger.
 
Attracting followers out of desire for honour;
Not dispelling laziness and so forth;
Giving way with a passion to gossip.
Failure to seek the goal of concentration;
 
Not to eliminate hindrances in meditation;
Regarding the taste of meditation a good quality.
Rejecting the auditors 'vehicle;
Diligent in it while having one's own method;
 
Diligent only in outside treatises;
Taking enjoyment in that diligence;
Rejecting the Greater Vehicle,
Praising oneself and deprecating another;
 
Not to go for the sake of Dharma;
Deprecating it and relying upon the letter.
Not being a friend in need;
Refusing to serve the sick;

Not acting to remove suffering,
Not teaching what is relevant to the careless.
Not to repay a good turn;
Not to assuage the sorrow of others;
 
Not giving to those who seek wealth;
Not working the welfare of followers.
Not to conform to the expectations of others;
Not speaking in praise of good qualities.
 
Not to suppress in accord with conditions;
Not using psychic powers to threaten and so forth.
There is no fault in a wholesome thought either,
Compassionate and [acting] out of love.

[buddhalovely]

The way to practice ethics is to allow our minds to grow accustomed to giving up the thought of actions harmful to sentient beings.

Our generating bodhicitta and making the vow to follow the bodhisattva's deeds means that we promise to work for all sentient beings, so that they too might attain the ornament of the ethics to progress to full enlightenment, thereby attaining the true meaning of ethics. Before that, we must develop the strength to keep our own precepts of ethics pure.

If these degenerate and become impure we fall into the lower realms and cannot even fulfill our own purpose, let alone that of others. Therefore, those who take the precepts, attempting to bring others' success by leading them to enlightenment, need to keep an extremely tight grip lest their precepts get lost, vigilantly protecting body, speech and mind from non-virtue.

Keeping the precepts purely depends on adhering to the points of practice and avoidance as they were explained. This follows the strong wish and enthusiastic determination to keep the precepts, which arise from the understanding achieved through meditating long on the benefits of keeping precepts and the shortcomings of not. It is vital to be aware of the dangers, the suffering results, of breaking or not keeping precepts, and also to understand the need to avoid the smallest and lightest negativities, the actions which the Enlightened Being has said are to be avoided.

Those who observe the precepts of practicing the perfection of ethics benefit by the gradual transcendence of their mind. The level of the precepts in their mind develops to the same level as those of the great bodhisattvas and they receive purely the transcendent wisdom which has completely removed even the seeds of all negativities.

If worldly, external ornaments are worn by the aged it looks absurd but no matter who wears the ornaments of ethics, all other living beings are pleased. The smell of ethics is the best perfume, the sweetest of scents to apply. Ethics is the coolest lotion to alleviate the suffering of delusion's heat.

If we observe precepts correctly all enjoyments are received spontaneously, without our having to make efforts to obtain them. Other living beings can be controlled automatically, without the necessity of threats or violence, and even though they have never received any help from the practitioner, they naturally love whoever lives in the perfection of ethics.

In his teaching, Guru Shakyamuni said:

Ethics is even the best ornament of all and a cooling nectar to alleviate suffering.

Gods and men touch their heads to the footprints of the moral person with great respect.

The reason for observing the perfection of ethics should be to lead all sentient beings into that perfection. We should destroy the thought that wishes only for release from the dangers of the lower suffering realms and expects the temporal perfections of the god and human realms.

[Big Uncle]

This is really totally random but related at the same time. Beastie boys raps about the Bodhisattva vows and check out the lyrics. If I remember correctly, the Beastie Boys are Buddhists themselves hence this really cool rap song. What do you guys think? I think it this is so cool although their rap song is a little dated. 

The Bodhisattva Vows

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As I develop the awakening mind
I praise the Buddhas as they shine
I bow before you as I travel my path to join your ranks
I make my full time task
For the sake of all beings I seek
The enlightened mind that I know I'll reap
Respect to Shantideva and all the others
Who brought down the darma for their sisters and brothers

I give thanks for this world as a place to learn
And for this human body that I will have earned
And my deepest thanks to all sentient beings
For without them there would be no place to learn what I'm seeing
There's nothing here that's not been said before
But I put it down now so that I'll be sure
To solidify my own views and I'll be glad if it helps
Anyone else out too

If others disrespect me or give me flack
I'll stop and think before I react
Knowing that they're going through insecure stages
I'll take the opportunity to exercise patience
I'll see it as a chance to help the other person
Nip it in the bud before it can worsen
A chance for me to be strong and sure
As I think on the Buddhas who have come before

As I praise and respect the good they've done
Knowing only love can conquer in every situation
We need other people in order to create
The circumstances for the learning that we're here to generate
Situations that bring up my deepest fears
So we can work to release them until they're cleared
Therefore, it only makes sense
To thank our enemies despite their intent

The Bodhisattva path is one of power and strength
A strength from within to go the length
Seeing others are as important as myself
I strive for a happiness of mental wealth
With the interconnectedness that we share as one
Every action that we take affects everyone
So in deciding for what a situation calls
There is a path for the good of all

I try to make my every action for that highest good
With the altruistic wish to achieve buddhahood
So I pledge here before everyone who's listening
To try to make my every action for the good of all beings
For the rest of my lifetimes and even beyond
I vow to do my best to do no harm
And in times of doubt I can think on the dharma
And the enlightened ones who've graduated samsara