donderdag 25 juli 2024

Bodhisattva vow & bodhisattva precepts.

The Bodhisattva vow is a vow (Sanskrit: praṇidhāna, lit. aspiration or resolution) taken by some Mahāyāna Buddhists to achieve full buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. One who has taken the vow is nominally known as a bodhisattva (a being working towards buddhahood). This can be done by venerating all Buddhas and by cultivating supreme moral and spiritual perfection, to be placed in the service of others. In particular, bodhisattvas promise to practice the six perfections of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom in order to fulfill their bodhicitta aim of attaining buddhahood for the sake of all beings.[1]

The vow is commonly taken in a ritual setting, overseen by a senior monastic, teacher or guru.[2] Whereas the prātimokṣa vows cease at death, the bodhisattva vow extends into future lives. The bodhisattva vows should not be confused with the Bodhisattva Precepts (Sktbodhisattva-śīla), which are specific ethical guidelines for bodhisattvas.

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vow


According to the sutra, the ten major bodhisattva precepts are in summary:[2]

  1. Not to kill or encourage others to kill.
  2. Not to steal or encourage others to steal.
  3. Not to engage in licentious acts or encourage others to do so. A monk is expected to abstain from sexual conduct entirely.
  4. Not to use false words and speech, or encourage others to do so.
  5. Not to trade or sell alcoholic beverages or encourage others to do so.
  6. Not to broadcast the misdeeds or faults of the Buddhist assembly, nor encourage others to do so.
  7. Not to praise oneself and speak ill of others, or encourage others to do so.
  8. Not to be stingy, or encourage others to do so.
  9. Not to harbor anger or encourage others to be angry.
  10. Not to speak ill of the Buddha, the Dharma or the Sangha (the Triple Jewel) or encourage others to do so.

The Prajñapāramitā sūtras (प्रज्ञापारमिता सूत्र) and a large number of other Mahāyāna texts list six perfections:[15][16]

  1. Dāna pāramitā (दान पारमिता): generosity, giving of oneself (in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, 布施波羅蜜; in Tibetan, སྦྱིན་པ sbyin-pa)
  2. Śīla pāramitā (शील पारमिता): virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct (持戒波羅蜜; ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས tshul-khrims)
  3. Kṣānti pāramitā (क्षान्ति पारमिता): patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance (忍辱波羅蜜; བཟོད་པ bzod-pa)
  4. Vīrya pāramitā (वीर्य पारमिता): energy, diligence, vigour, effort (精進波羅蜜; བརྩོན་འགྲུས brtson-’grus)
  5. Dhyāna pāramitā (ध्यान पारमिता): one-pointed concentration, contemplation (禪定波羅蜜, བསམ་གཏན bsam-gtan)
  6. Prajñā pāramitā (प्रज्ञा पारमिता): wisdom, insight (般若波羅蜜; ཤེས་རབ shes-rab)

It is a beautifully written and inspiring outline of the Bodhisattva Path or “Heart Doctrine,” which has been described in the article The Two Paths. It is essentially a handbook, textbook, and guidebook, for treading the true Path of initiation and enlightenment, which, as it makes abundantly and poetically clear, is by no means easy. The real Esoteric Path involves the perfect and equally balanced combination of “head” and “heart,” knowledge and compassion, both of which are of little value by themselves.

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