Taking refuge is the mark of being a Buddhist.
It's the action one takes which brings one
into connection with the three jewels.
From then on one can say one is, yes a Buddhist.
What makes one a follower of the Mahayana,
the great vehicle path, is generating what we call
bodhicitta, a Sanskrit word
which can be translated into English
roughly speaking as the thought of enlightenment.
Somebody who develops this intention,
the bodhicitta,
the wish to become a Buddha, to become fully awakened
for the benefit not just of themselves
but most importantly of all beings,
is somebody who entered into the great vehicle.
And the meaning of great vehicle is that
when Buddha taught he understood that the followers
come from different places,
so to speak, emotionally and spiritually.
Some are motivated mainly by the thought
of gaining happiness alone.
Some are motivated by the thought of
putting an end to their own suffering decisively.
But some are motivated by a more extensive thought
which is that it's not sufficient
merely to practise for one's own liberation from suffering,
one must instead consider that all beings
are afflicted by suffering just as much as oneself.
And therefore one should take upon this self
a kind of sense of universal responsibility
to bring that suffering to an end.
When that thought arises connected with the sense
of the only way to do that,
to effectively achieve the liberation
of others from suffering is to become a Buddha,
is to become awakened,
one is entered into the great vehicle
as opposed to the sravaka vehicle,
the vehicle of the disciples who simply want
their own individual liberation from suffering.
So bodhicitta is the decisive thought,
the decisive arising in the mind of this
noble, supremely noble intention.
And the person, the man or woman in whom
this intention arises, whether it's
very quickly after entering into the buddhist path
or many years after of entering the Buddhist path
that person is known, again to use a Sanskrit term,
as a bodhisattva
a being destined for enlightenment
or to translate the Tibetan term for this,
CHANGCHUP SEMPA
a hero or heroine of enlightenment,
one who is destined for Buddhahood
because their life is now animated
by this thought 'how can I bring an end
to the suffering of all beings'.
And that is, 'I can do that by achieving Buddhahood'.
So bodhicitta is this inner turning in one's heart
but to make sure this inner turning
is not a once only thing that then fades away
we stabilize that in the Dharma
by making it as a vow, by making it as a commitment.
Vows are very important in Dharma.
By a vow we mean a promise to engage
in a certain kind of behaviour
or to maintain a certain attitude
for a certain period of time.
There are a number of different vows,
but the bodhisattva vow is this vow
to maintain this behavior
of striving for the liberation of beings,
to maintain this attitude
of being motivated by that thought,
from now until Buddhahood,
at which time one will be equipped with the wisdom,
compassion and power to fully effect this,
to fully work for the liberation of beings.
Because in the mahayana,
the achievement of enlightenment
is not a terminus,
it's not at end.
It's actually an entry, if you like,
into the perfected life.
A life which is of complete service for others.
And that life begins, the first step of that journey
is the arising of bodhicitta formalised
and stabilized by the bodhisattva vow.
So let me say a little bit more about bodhicitta
and then talk about the ritual of the bodhisattva vow.
As I said, bodhicitta means, roughly speaking,
the thought of enlightenment.
But there's two aspects to it actually.
There's the thought of enlightenment that arises
in the way I've been describing out of this sense
of compassion, of love, compassion
and responsibility for others.
An altruistic responsibility.
So it's bodhicitta through compassion leading to a thought
that is centered and tied to the needs of others,
in which there is at that point,
when bodhicitta is present in one's mind,
no sense of self, no sense of self importance, of self-reference,
of grasping at self.
We call that relative or conventional bodhicitta.
Why?
Because it's still kind of expressed in the framework
of I and others, me and you.
But there's another route into bodhicitta and another aspect of it
through wisdom, in which the wisdom that sees
that actually the notion of self and other,
subject and object, you and me,
all of these are actually lacking in any substantiality
because they're all mutually dependent.
There is no self without other,
no subject without object.
They are lacking intrinsic nature.
They are - to use the technical term - empty, illusory,
because mutually dependent.
And that understanding, that wisdom,
when it arises in the mind.
Also, just like the compassionate bodhicitta
is an abolition of, for that moment, of self centeredness.
So bodhicitta comes through these two routes:
through compassion and through wisdom.
The first we call relative or conventional.
The second we call ultimate.
Now for beginners like ourselves,
the ultimate bodhicitta is much more, in a way,
remote from where we're at now.
The bodhicitta through compassion
can much more easily arise.
In fact, it's said that the true ultimate bodhicitta,
the transcendental wisdom that recognises reality,
when that does arise, finally,
it's a result of very, very powerful meditation
and practice for a long time.
So for beginners like ourselves, we may have intimations
of it, but it's not so easy to relate to initially.
So we go through the route of conventional bodhicitta.
And that conventional bodhicitta is as I said,
what is expressed in the bodhisattva vow ceremony.
Because just like refuge,
although refuge is an act that we do every day,
once we've taken it,
it begins with a ceremony, the refuge ceremony.
So too does the bodhisattva vow commence with a ceremony.
In the sutras, the discourses of the Buddha,
there are at least two different systems
of the bodhisattva vow ritual.
In the Tantras, the esoteric teachings there's again
another presentation of the bodhisattva vow ritual.
One might ask, do you need a ritual for the
bodhisattva vow?
Can you not just generate the compassionate resolve,
the sense of universal responsibility and pledge
to become a Buddha for others,
without the ceremony that you take with a teacher?
You could,
but the ceremony is a very helpful marker,
a very great skillful means, to do it
in the presence of one's teacher and imaginatively
as it were, calling upon all the previous
enlightened beings as your witness,
it gives a great force and a great power.
Because a vow helps you because you've made
that existential commitment from your heart.
That's why a vow is so important in Dharma.
We might sometimes have good feelings,
even do good deeds,
but unless there's a commitment,
an engagement with them at a heart level,
they'll usually fade out,
be temporary inspirations that fade out.
The bodhisattva is an engagement
and therefore a discipline,
which we have to live up to and maintain
once we've made this, in a way,
frankly astonishing commitment
to emulate, to imitate the Buddhas,
and to personally work for the liberation of all beings.
And considering for us, as Buddhists,
the universe is limitless, and the number of sentient beings
is limitless, that's an astonishing,
one might even say ambitious vow.
But an awesome vow,
and one we have to live up to once we've made it.
So having made it as a vow, it keeps us to the job,
it keeps us to the task.
So that is the purpose of the bodhisattva vow ceremony.
And as I said, in the common mahayama,
there are at least two major sources of the ritual,
and therefore methods of the ritual.
But the very beautiful one that comes from the
great Indian master Shantideva,
that involves two steps really.
First of all, generating what we call the aspiration,
that very resolve to become a Buddha in response
to the sufferings of others.
So generating that aspiration, that intention,
but then linking it with a further kind of engagement,
which is 'I will engage in the practices,
I commit myself to engaging in whatever is necessary,
training in wisdom and compassion, training in the six
perfections, to achieve that state of Buddhahood.
So we call this aspiration and application.
Rather like one might aspire to go to a certain city,
but one also has to commit to make the journey.
So bodhicitta, and therefore the bodhisattva vow,
has these two aspects: aspiration and application.
And whoever makes those two, aspiration and application,
whether in the formal ceremony,
which would be most helpful really, but
if not possible to do it, just alone.
They are as it were, a beginning bodhisattva,
a baby level bodhisattva.
Somebody who's entered into the mahayana.
Is one enlightened?
Of course not,
it's just the beginning.
Is one still an ordinary sentient being
beset by disturbing emotions?
Of course,
but now you have this mark to measure yourself against
in the commitment that was represented in your
bodhisattva vow.
So from then on it's like there's been a revolution
in your heart.
You are now facing a completely different direction
from previously.
Because even the intention simply to find
liberation for your own suffering,
although it's a wonderful one, it's not the same.
This is so much vaster in scope, this new intention,
to travel to Buddhahood to become a source of limitless
bliss and benefit and protection for all beings.
And that is what is embodied in the bodhisattva vow,
and that is why that is the beginning of the mahayana path.