Great Vows: Establishing our Direction

If we aspire to set out upon the course of Zen practice we must first make our commitment clear. This is why taking vows are very important; however, don’t delude yourself in thinking that you are making these vows with a Zen Teacher, with a Zen Sangha or even with the Buddha himself. These vows are actually a compact with ourselves. It might clarify this point by saying that religious practices usually have as their focus external issues about proper behavior and rules of worship; consequently, it is easy to confuse why we are behaving a particular way or following certain rules by thinking we are doing it for Buddha or Jesus or even God. This is why spiritual teachers are always very clear about this point; the focus of everything that we do is to clarify our own mistaken views. Zen practice, as with all religious practices, has rules, precepts, rituals and liturgy; it is just that in Zen we are taught not to attach to these rules, precepts, ritual and liturgy. It is our job, if we want to be Zen students, to clarify the reasons why we follow these rules, precepts, rituals and liturgy and once we completely attain them we can instantly become free of them. So, if we want to truly become Zen students we must first make our direction clear by taking great vows.

The Four Great Vows

Sentient beings are numberless;
We vow to save them all.

Delusions are endless;
We vow to cut through them all.

The teachings are infinite;
We vow to learn them all.

The Buddha way is inconceivable;
We vow to attain it.

If you read these vows carefully, you will realize that they are actually impossible or at least unattainable aspirations. So, if all of this is really impossible, what are we to do? My Grand-teacher put it this way, “try, try, try, for ten thousand years non-stop, get enlightenment and save all beings from suffering.”