Ananda’s Vow Gatha

Wonderfully serene and immutable is the revered one, the sovereign of all dharmas. The king of the Shurangama is exceedingly rare in the world. It dispels my inverted thoughts accumulated over countless kalpas, enabling me to attain the Dharma-body without traversing asamkhyeya kalpas. I vow now to attain the fruition and become the precious king, then return to ferry such beings as numerous as the Ganges' sands. I dedicate this profound mind to the dust-like multitude of Buddha-lands. This is called repaying the Buddha's kindness. I prostrate and beseech the World-Honored One to bear witness: I vow to enter first into the evil world of the five turbidities. If even a single sentient being remains unawakened, I will not take final nirvana here. O Great Hero of great strength and great compassion, I earnestly pray you further carefully eliminate my subtle delusions, enabling me to swiftly ascend to the supreme enlightenment, and establish the bodhimanda throughout the ten directions. Though the nature of voidness may perish, my vajra-like resolve remains unshaken.

Explanation: The wondrously serene Tathagatagarbha is the sovereign holder and essential principle of the Buddha Dharma. Within the mundane dharmas of the Triple Realm, it is always unmoving, untainted by any phenomena, thus supremely noble and venerable. This treasure, as solid as the Shurangama, is exceedingly rare within mundane dharmas because it belongs to the supramundane Dharma, not being a dharma within the Triple Realm, and thus does not reside within the mundane world.

Upon hearing the World-Honored One expound the Tathagatagarbha, I realized that the five aggregates are not the true self, but merely illusory appearances manifested by my own Tathagatagarbha. Thus, the inverted thought of taking the five aggregates as the real self, held since beginningless kalpas, was utterly eradicated. When I realized this true Dharma of the Tathagatagarbha, I instantly attained my own pure Dharma-body, achieving sudden enlightenment without having to traverse the immeasurably long asamkhyeya kalpas.

I now vow to swiftly attain the Buddha-fruit, become the Dharma King, and then return to ferry sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. I dedicate this profound mind of vow to the dust-particle-like multitude of Buddha-lands, to ferry the immeasurable, boundless beings within those lands. Only thus can I repay the kindness of the Buddhas who delivered me. I beseech the World-Honored One to bear witness: I vow to enter this evil world of the five turbidities to universally deliver beings. If even a single sentient being has not yet achieved Buddhahood, I will not take final supreme enlightenment—the great nirvana, which is the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha stage.

O Buddha World-Honored One of great heroism, great strength, and great compassion, I pray that you will further help me, meticulously eliminating the countless dormant afflictions and sand-grain-like ignorance within my mind, enabling me to exhaust all subtle ignorance, ascend the supreme throne of the Dharma King, establish the bodhimanda throughout the ten directions, subdue the demonic hordes of the ten directions, and deliver the beings of the ten directions. My empty, illusory, floating mind may arise and cease, may perish in an instant, but my immovable vajra-like mind absolutely knows no moment of wavering.