Bodhisattva vow

bodhisattva aspiration or resolution; Chinese: 菩薩願, pusa yuan; J. bosatsugan) taken by some Mahāyāna Buddhists to achieve full buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.

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.

The sources of the early Buddhist schools, like the Theravada Buddhavaṃsa and Nidanakatha (Prologue to the Jatakas), as well as the Mahasamghika Mahāvastu, contain stories of how in a previous life, Sakyamuni (then known as Sumedha) encountered the previous Buddha, Dīpankara, and made the vow to one day become a Buddha.

All early Buddhist schools held that making a vow in front of a living Buddha (and receiving a prediction), just like Sakyamuni had done, was the only way to become a bodhisattva.

When he meets the past Buddha Samitāvin, the text also contains another vow which is similar to the "fourfold vow" found in Mahayana sources:May I in some future time become a Tathāgata, an Arhan, a perfect Buddha, proficient in knowledge and conduct, a Sugata, an unsurpassed knower of the world, a driver of tameable men, and a teacher of devas and men, as this exalted Samitāvin now is.

May I have the eighteen distinctive attributes of Buddhahood, and be strong with the ten powers of a Tathāgata, and confident with the four grounds of self-confidence, as this exalted perfect Buddha Samitāvin now is.

[5] In the Mahayana Lalitavistarasutra, the bodhisattva Siddhartha (before becoming Sakyamuni Buddha) is said to have taken the following vow:I will attain the immortal, undecaying, pain-free Bodhi, and free the world from all pain.

"In later Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism (and in modern Mahayana as well), one can become a bodhisattva by taking the vow and giving rise to bodhicitta in a ceremonial setting.

According to Jan Nattier, there is a set of four bodhisattva vows that appears in various sutras including the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra (in the Dharmaraksa and Kumarajiva translations), the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (in the Chinese translation by Lokaksema and Chih Ch'ien), the Avadānaśataka and the Compassionate Lotus sutra.

Those who have not yet reached paranirvana, I will cause to attain paranirvanaNattier also notes that a similar set of four vows (with small differences in wording) appears in the Dipankara Jataka, the Mahavastu, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (in the Chinese translation by Kumarajiva), the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā and in some Lotus Sutra translations.

[9] Nattier translates this other fourfold vow as follows:[9] vayaṃ tīrṇāḥ sattvāṃs tārayema, muktā mocayema, āśvastā āśvāsayema, parinirvṛtāḥ parinirvāpayema

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, a large composite text, contains various passages discussing the practices and vows that bodhisattvas undertake.

[10]In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Samantabhadra makes ten vows which are an important source for East Asian Buddhism.

Samantabhadra's vows also appear in the Samantabhadra-caryā-praṇidhānam, which is often appended to the end of the Avataṃsaka but originally circulated as an independent text.

[20][21] According to the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, Amitabha Buddha, in a past life as the bodhisattva Dharmākara, gave rise to forty-eight great vows, vowing to create a Pure Land—a realm free from suffering, replete with ideal conditions for achieving Buddhahood.

Amitabha’s past bodhisattva vows demonstrate his boundless compassion and universal aspiration to liberate all beings.

Recitation of Amitabha’s name (nianfo) and trust in his vow power are thus framed as the primary means of liberation, transforming Pure Land Buddhism into a profoundly accessible practice.

Chinese Pure Land Patriarchs such as Ouyi Zhixu and Jixing Chewu emphasized that vows are integral to one’s spiritual orientation.

[22] By vowing to be reborn in the Pure Land, practitioners take refuge in Amitabha’s compassionate resolve, cultivating a sense of connection and focus in their spiritual journey.

The Tibetan Buddhist Tradition widely makes use of verses from chapter three of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, which is entitled Embracing Bodhicitta.

The seven branches are:[27] The 14th Dalai Lama teaches the following way of taking the vow, which begins by reading "through the second and third chapters of the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra up until the second line of verse 23."

The Dalai Lama then writes:[28] In order to take this vow, we should imagine that in front of us are the Buddha and his eight close disciples; the six ornaments, and the two supreme teachers, including Shantideva; and all the realized masters of the Buddhist tradition, in particular the holders of the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, and Nyingma schools of Tibet—in fact, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.