Last week I talked about the importance of taking and keeping vows. I explained the Refuge Vow, Lay Ordination and the Eight Mahayana Precepts. Today I'll explain about the Bodhisattva Vow and Tantric Samaya. I want to start again by explaining why these are important. Shantideva said in one of his texts that this precious human existence, with the opportunity and freedom for spiritual development, is very difficult to come by, and if we have come by this opportunity and do not make use of it, how can we ever expect to come by such an opportunity in the future?" 
 
The point is that this precious human birth that we now experience is not something random that comes about meaninglessly or effortlessly; it is something that arises with great difficulty, something which comes about very rarely. In Buddhism there is a traditional analogy that demonstrates just how rare and precious this human life is. Imagine one solitary sea turtle in all of the oceans of the world, and this sea turtle is blind. Now imagine a small six-inch wooden ring floating on the vast surface of the oceans. This sea turtle surfaces only once every hundred years. It is said that chance of the turtle’s head coming up through the ring are the same chance that we have to attain human birth! So you can see it is indeed very rare and precious. 
 
We have the opportunity for spiritual practice - here and now. It is up to us. So that is why spiritual practice is important. Vows, ordinations and samayas are seen as an adjunct or assistance to one's spiritual practice in this lifetime – and in death. So, how does spiritual practice and vows help us in death? In Buddhism there is a teaching called “The Three Roots of Death.” The three roots are, 1. the certainty of death. 2. The uncertainty of the time of death. And 3. what will ultimately help us at the time of death? The first root refers to the fact all of us one day will die. Everyone ever born has or will die. Therefore death is a certainty and the ultimate form of impermanence. The second root refers to the fact that we never know the exact moment of when death will come. It could come in the very next moment. Sometimes an adult child is caring for an elderly parent who is close to death. It might appear that the parent will die before the child, but then for some reason the child dies before the parent. The point is that we never know when death will knock at our door. And the third and final root refers to whatever karmic imprint is left upon our subtle consciousness at the time of death will affect our rebirth. If at the moment of death our mind is filled with hate, stinginess, and anger – that will definitely affect our rebirth. On the other hand, we have cultivated the virtues of compassion, kindness, and patience that will also affect our rebirth. Our level of spiritual practice, in this lifetime, determines the state of our mind at the time of death.  
 
The Tibetan word for vow or ordination means a binding or coming together. What is meant is the binding or coming together to guard the qualities and merits that we have developed so they will not be dissipated or lost. The Buddha talked about the importance of keeping vows in the Victorious Concentration Sutra.  
 
"Buddha says that if with a calm mind one makes offerings of umbrellas, victory banners, light and jewel ornaments to a hundred billion Buddhas for eons equal to the number of sand grains in the Ganges River, a great deal of merit is acquired. However, if, during these degenerate times when the holy Dharma, the teaching of the One Gone to Bliss, has almost ceased, one keeps just one precept for a day and a night, the merit acquired is far greater than that of giving all those offerings to an uncountable number of Buddhas over such a long period. 
 
Therefore, if the Restoring and Purifying Ordination is protected just once in one’s life, the amount of merit accumulated is equal to the vastness of the sky and, as one accumulates this merit, one gradually achieves perfect happiness. By understanding this, one can see how fortunate one is to have the opportunity to take the ordination and how meaningful it is during these difficult and degenerate times. It is like finding billions of wish-fulfilling gems. 
 
Even though one may not own one atom of a precious gem or have a single dollar, by keeping this ordination one can attain both temporary and ultimate happiness. The person who owns enough wish-fulfilling gems to fill the sky but does not keep even one branch of morality cannot attain rebirth as a human or a god, can¬not practice Dharma to accomplish any of the three great purposes (higher rebirth, liberation or enlightenment), and cannot enjoy perfect helpers and enjoyments." 
 
Next, I would like to explain the meaning and value of taking the Bodhisattva Vow. The prerequisite for taking this vow is that one must first have taken the refuge vow. The Bodhisattva Vow consists of eighteen root vows, and forty-six branch vows, and all are concerned with vowing not to harm others in all we do and furthermore to be helpful if possible. The eighteen root vows and forty-six branch vow are referred to as “engaging bodhichitta.” We try to eliminate from our mental, physical & verbal actions all sources of harm to others and to uproot in our mental attitudes all injurious or negative attitudes toward others. 
 
Before the Bodhisattva vow ceremony next month I will give a series of classes where we study the individual vows so hopefully you will understand them completely before taking them. There are too many vows contained within the Bodhisattva vow to recite all of them here, however I would like to recite just a few of them so you have a better idea of their intent. 
 
For example one of the root vows requires that you give material aid to others who request it. In this context, any homeless person on the street who asks for money, you would be obligated to give them something. Another of the root vows requires that you not harbor a grudge against someone who has harmed you. And if that person apologizes you must accept the apology. The one that I personally like is that you must not harm an ordained person or steal their robes, or cause them to lose their vows. Another of the root vows requires you not to abandon bodhichitta or of thinking, "I do not want to help this particular sentient being." As you can see all of the Bodhisattva vows are about not harming other beings and doing all you can to be as helpful as possible. 
 
Because of these (and the multitude of other vows) many people feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to maintain such a totally selfless attitude. However, it is recognized that none of us are yet enlightened, therefore none of us are perfect and we will of course make mistakes from time to time. The breaking of any of the vows unintentionally is never good, however if it is done unintentionally then one can restore the Bodhisattva vow themselves. This is done by reciting the prayer of “wishing bodhichitta.” You only completely break your Bodhisattva vow when you knowingly violate one of the vows and do so anyway. This completely terminates the Bodhisattva vow and the only way to restore it is by again going through the formal Bodhisattva vow ceremony with a qualified Lama. 
 
There is advice in the preface of the Bodhisattva vows about how to guard the vows from degenerating in this life. These are abandoning the “four black dharmas” and practicing the “four white dharmas.” 
 
Abandon the Four Black Dharmas 
(These are things you should abandon or abstain from doing.) 
 
1. Knowingly confusing one’s abbot, guru, or other holy beings with lies, such as changing the subject when your guru asks you to do something, or not telling your guru of your negative actions because you are afraid of his scolding you. 
 
2. Discouraging others from practicing virtuous actions, or causing them to regret virtue that they have created, such as saying, “It is good but it will be difficult for you to maintain that practice,” when someone is practicing renunciation. You cause them to doubt their virtuous practice. Even if they do not regret their virtuous action, your encouragement to do so is a black dharma. 
 
3. Abusing a Bodhisattva out of anger. Even if a bodhisattva is at fault, if others hear your abusive words, you create this black dharma. 
 
4. Putting on an air of having selfless thought, but having ulterior motives other than the pure wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, such as pretending to be a scholar or concealing your shortcomings. 
 
 
The Four White Dharmas that oppose the Four Black ones: 
 
1. Abandon deliberately lying to any sentient being, whether for the sake of humor or even at the cost of your life. 
 
2. Do not discriminate amongst sentient beings. (This opposes the fourth black dharma). Gampopa said, “Treat everyone you know as a Buddha and you will know 10,000 Buddhas.” 
 
3. Abandon criticizing bodhisattvas. Since you do not know who is a bodhisattva, it is best to treat all sentient beings as bodhisattvas and Buddhas. 
 
4. Take upon yourself the responsibility to establish all sentient beings in the Mahayana path by: 
a) Encouraging their enthusiasm for the Mahayana oath. Even if you are not successful, you must always try to do this. 
b) Rejoicing in the virtues of others instead of being jealous of their wish to attain enlightenment. 
c) Cultivating love and compassion in all your actions. 
 
The next topic I want to explain is “tantric samaya” which is not exactly a vow you take consciously but rather is an “implied” commitment that is part of most tantric ceremonies. 
 
For example when a student selects a teacher there is a tantric samaya or implied commitment to that teacher. For that reason in the text “Words of my Perfect Teacher” Patrul Rinpoche cautions that a student should observe a teacher for twelve years before asking if he/she will be your teacher. This is to make sure that the teacher exhibits the qualities and attributes of someone you want to follow. The problem is that most Westerners want to find a teacher right away. What many don’t realize is that once we have selected a teacher we are stuck with him or her for life! (of course the teacher is stuck with the student too) 
 
Part of this tantric samaya is that the student must always show respect, and devotion to the teacher and the student can never say anything negative about the teacher – even if they believe they perceive the teacher doing something wrong. As you can see, this is a big commitment. 
 
Every time we receive a tantric empowerment we are also making a tantric samaya (or commitment). Some texts say there are 14 commitments, other texts say they are 21, and still others say there are 1,100,00. I’d like to share with you five of what I consider the most important tantric samayas. You must abstain from the following actions or you are breaking tantric samayas: 
 
1. Contradicting or criticizing your root teacher or guru (this also includes teachers from who you have received empowerments.) 
2. Breaking your Bodhisattva vow. 
3. Criticizing, denigrating or abusing any other spiritual system.  
4. Disparaging women either by mental attitude or to think women are inferior to men. 
And finally, one of the most important aspects of tantric samaya is that those in the sangha with whom we have taken an empowerment, become our Dharma brother and sisters. As such the relationship should be harmonious and mutually beneficial, and not harmful. Quarreling, spite, competitiveness, malevolent attitudes toward each other, including bickering, and discord between these people and ourselves are completely out of the question. 
 
On a more fundamental level all sentient beings are our brothers and sisters, we are connected to each and every living thing. However on a more formal level, all of those who we take an empowerment with are even more intimately connected to ourselves. 
 
Breaking tantric samaya is serious and depending upon what commitment you have broken, there are suggestions or remedies for restoring the samaya. But in general there are four things you can do when you have harmed someone through breaking your tantric samaya. They are: 
 
1. Have real regret about what you have done. 
2. Vow not to do it again. 
3. Try to make amends whenever possible. 
4. Do spiritual practice – i.e. Vajrasattva mantra. 
 
So, in the past two weeks I’ve now explained the Refuge Vow, Lay Ordination, Eight Mahayana Precepts, the Bodhisattva Vow, and Tantric Samaya. 
 
There is a famous story in Tibet of a teacher who was talking about these various vows and ordinations. An old woman who was in the audience got and said, "You know, Lama, when you speak about the benefits of practicing virtue, I feel that not only are you enlightened, but I am too. Me, this old woman. But when you talk about all the negative aspects of harmful and non-virtuous action, and I feel that not only am I doomed, but you are really in trouble too!" 
 
I will be offering these vows and ordinations in the next few weeks. Again, remember these vows and ordinations are adjuncts or assistance to one's spiritual practice -- to guard the qualities and merits that we have developed so they will not be dissipated or lost.