Thursday, August 20, 2009

Recollecting the Vow

Having learned about the infinite benefits
Of the intention to gain full enlightenment
By reading this sutra or listening to a teacher,
Arouse it repeatedly to make it steadfast

Once you have taken the bodhisattva vow, you should repeat it every day to reinforce it. Otherwise, you will lose the vow, as it goes against our normal way of thinking. There are two ways to do this. First, when you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed, you can say, "Today I will act to help every being that I meet." And at night, just before you go to bed, you can recall your encounters with others and check if they were beneficial or harmful. If they were beneficial, you can rejoice in them, if not, you regret them and promise to do better in the future. 

The other way is to repeat the bodhisattva vow in long or short form at the beginning of your daily meditation practice in order to establish the proper motivation for practice. And at the end of your practice, you should dedicate the merit from the practice towards enlightenment and the benefit of all beings.

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