Four Vows: a short commentary
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
We close our practice periods by chanting the shigu seigan, the Four Vows. Seigan means prayer vow, a deep and serious commitment. A commitment requires an action. These are not just pretty words and beautiful ideas. To think of them in such a way is a sort of blasphemy. Why? Because the vows en masse are an expression of our true nature. To think of them at all creates a delusion. They are our practice, not our beliefs or our ideas.
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them. When we experience our universe as one, clearly and completely, we and the universe are free.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them. We cannot help but to live in dynamic relation to the absolute and the relative. The moment we stumble in the relative we see with the absolute; the moment we stumble with the absolute we see with the relative. When taken as truth, each are false.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them. A Dharma gate is anything, a practice point, a mental or emotional resistance, a thought, a task, a feeling. We live in Dharma gates. In fact, just as I've said about our lives being a koan, they are each Dharma gates. So, just as I point you to entering the paper to solve the paper koan, this vow asks you to enter each Dharma gate as it arises.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it. The buddha way is not sterling. It is not gold. Not pristine. The buddha way is the very blood, sweat, and tears of our daily existence. Realize this.
When we chant these vows, we become these vows. Our next step is very important.,
May you each be a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
We close our practice periods by chanting the shigu seigan, the Four Vows. Seigan means prayer vow, a deep and serious commitment. A commitment requires an action. These are not just pretty words and beautiful ideas. To think of them in such a way is a sort of blasphemy. Why? Because the vows en masse are an expression of our true nature. To think of them at all creates a delusion. They are our practice, not our beliefs or our ideas.
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them. When we experience our universe as one, clearly and completely, we and the universe are free.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them. We cannot help but to live in dynamic relation to the absolute and the relative. The moment we stumble in the relative we see with the absolute; the moment we stumble with the absolute we see with the relative. When taken as truth, each are false.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them. A Dharma gate is anything, a practice point, a mental or emotional resistance, a thought, a task, a feeling. We live in Dharma gates. In fact, just as I've said about our lives being a koan, they are each Dharma gates. So, just as I point you to entering the paper to solve the paper koan, this vow asks you to enter each Dharma gate as it arises.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it. The buddha way is not sterling. It is not gold. Not pristine. The buddha way is the very blood, sweat, and tears of our daily existence. Realize this.
When we chant these vows, we become these vows. Our next step is very important.,
May you each be a blessing in the universe.