Metaphysics Q&A 078 – Making Great Vows and fulfilling Great Vows
Q078: Respected Master Lu, can you please explain the difference between making Great Vows and fulfilling Great Vows? What should we do?
A078:
Performing recitations, making Great Vows, performing Life Liberation are the three Dharma Gems given by the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva. We must use them appropriately. The power of Great Vows is very important for every Buddhist cultivator.
Making Great Vows involves you presenting yourself in front of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and reciting the following prayer in your mind or quietly, “May the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, <your full name>, and perform miracles, help me to resolve my <confusions, problems, disasters, misfortunes, etc>, and I will[1]:
be vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month for the rest of my life;
not eat live creatures for the rest of my life;
not perform the act of killing for the rest of my life;
persistently perform good deeds every day;
offer gold plating for statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas;
cross over <number of> people, and help them to be liberated from the sea of suffering within <amount of time>;
perform virtuous deeds, make donations to print <number of> Buddhist books, etc.”
In particular, the power of the Great Vow to cross over people is immeasurable.
If you have made a vow to be vegetarian on every 1st and 15th of the lunar month, but then forget later, or you cannot fulfil the vow due to exceptional circumstances, you can inform Guan Yin Bodhisattva in advance, and practise vegetarianism on an earlier or later date. An alternative is that when you make your vow initially, you do not specify that you will be vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, but instead you state that you will be vegetarian for two days every month. This would be more flexible.
Once you have made Great Vows, you must persistently keep to your vows. If you cannot fulfil your vows simply due to personal reasons, then it is very likely that you would receive karmic retributions.
Fulfilling Great Vows is expressing your gratitude when Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have helped you to have your wishes come true. You must return to the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas in the temple where you originally made your vows. You fulfil your vows by making incense offerings, making prostrations, making donations, and performing virtuous deeds. The amount of donations that you make and the amount of virtues that you accumulate do not matter, as long as it is within your ability and you are sincerely expressing your gratitude. If you have made the Great Vows to be vegetarian and to cross over people, etc, then you should persevere in your practices. This is also a form of fulfilling your vows.
Q078: Respected Master Lu, can you please explain the difference between making Great Vows and fulfilling Great Vows? What should we do?
A078:
Performing recitations, making Great Vows, performing Life Liberation are the three Dharma Gems given by the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva. We must use them appropriately. The power of Great Vows is very important for every Buddhist cultivator.
Making Great Vows involves you presenting yourself in front of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and reciting the following prayer in your mind or quietly, “May the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, <your full name>, and perform miracles, help me to resolve my <confusions, problems, disasters, misfortunes, etc>, and I will[1]:
be vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month for the rest of my life;
not eat live creatures for the rest of my life;
not perform the act of killing for the rest of my life;
persistently perform good deeds every day;
offer gold plating for statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas;
cross over <number of> people, and help them to be liberated from the sea of suffering within <amount of time>;
perform virtuous deeds, make donations to print <number of> Buddhist books, etc.”
In particular, the power of the Great Vow to cross over people is immeasurable.
If you have made a vow to be vegetarian on every 1st and 15th of the lunar month, but then forget later, or you cannot fulfil the vow due to exceptional circumstances, you can inform Guan Yin Bodhisattva in advance, and practise vegetarianism on an earlier or later date. An alternative is that when you make your vow initially, you do not specify that you will be vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, but instead you state that you will be vegetarian for two days every month. This would be more flexible.
Once you have made Great Vows, you must persistently keep to your vows. If you cannot fulfil your vows simply due to personal reasons, then it is very likely that you would receive karmic retributions.
Fulfilling Great Vows is expressing your gratitude when Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have helped you to have your wishes come true. You must return to the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas in the temple where you originally made your vows. You fulfil your vows by making incense offerings, making prostrations, making donations, and performing virtuous deeds. The amount of donations that you make and the amount of virtues that you accumulate do not matter, as long as it is within your ability and you are sincerely expressing your gratitude. If you have made the Great Vows to be vegetarian and to cross over people, etc, then you should persevere in your practices. This is also a form of fulfilling your vows.
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