What Kind of Vows Constitute Proper Vows?

Yesterday, a practitioner felt great compassion and publicly made a wish: "May all beings throughout the vast universe attain their heart's desires..." Is this wish good? What will the outcome be? If one's personal cultivation is advanced, all wishes may indeed be fulfilled, thoughts may materialize, and intentions may manifest instantly. However, if this person wishes for evildoers to achieve their malicious desires, or for troubled individuals to indulge in greed, hatred, and delusion, it becomes an act of aiding and abetting wrongdoing, transforming the wish into a foolish aspiration. I, too, have suffered from this foolish affliction, this rotten compassion, and even now have not fully corrected it. Small compassion may appear kind and pleasing to all, but in reality, it is foolish and harmful. Great, ultimate compassion may seem cold and unfeeling on the surface, generally disliked by ordinary people, but it is true wisdom.

He Qianxing: The motivation behind this wish is good but incomplete, indicating insufficient wisdom. A complete wish should be: "May all virtuous actions succeed, and may all malicious actions fail to materialize." However, personal karma is borne individually. For all the beings he wished for, their desires cannot be universally fulfilled; karmic forces will still operate according to their own laws. For the person making this compassionate wish, it constitutes the expression of an incomplete compassionate mind. The potency and level of compassionate energy depend on whether the wish arises from a genuine, deep-seated intention or a temporary impulse. This, in turn, depends on whether it originates from the mind base (意根, manas) or the conscious mind (意识, consciousness). If it stems sincerely from the mind base, it greatly aids one's progress on the path and fosters the growth of the Bodhi root. If it is a temporary impulse from the conscious mind, it belongs to the category of "manifestations perfuming seeds" (现行熏种子), serving to condition and cultivate the mind base.

If an individual's cultivation is advanced, they will be surrounded by many Dharma protectors (护法神), and the level of these protectors will also be relatively high. However, even high-level Dharma protectors possess varying degrees of wisdom, and it's possible that due to insufficient discernment, they might assist in fulfilling unwholesome wishes. Furthermore, if an individual's cultivation is advanced, their merit power (福力) is immense, and their mind base possesses a strong capacity for single-pointed concentration (摄心一处). The mind base can then use its powerful concentration to convey the wish to the Tathagatagarbha (如来藏, Buddha-nature). Coupled with the blessing of their own merit power, the Tathagatagarbha can transcend karmic forces and transform reality. Because the power of the vow (愿力) is greater than the power of karma (业力), the wish can be fulfilled. However, for ordinary practitioners, this is very difficult, as they generally lack both conditions.

Ji Ren Tian Xiang: The wishes of ordinary people are mostly steeped in greed, hatred, and delusion – false thoughts and deluded notions. The more they crave, the more they crave; the deeper they sink, the more entangled beings become with each other, and the heavier their afflictions grow. Only by generating pure, great vows (清净大愿) can there be hope of extinguishing the fire of desire; this is also the panacea for solving all problems. If one cannot achieve this level, they should still frequently make wholesome wishes, think more of others, and even make wishes that benefit all sentient beings. If everyone did this, then afflictions would transform into the Pure Land!

Practitioners who transmit the true Dharma in the world act as teachers for the wisdom-life of sentient beings, hence they are respectfully called Dharma Masters (法师). Viewing sentient beings from the perspective of a Dharma Master, one naturally cannot be a "rotten good person" (烂好人). Having a heart of stone is even possible; the focus must always be on the essential learning. Only when sentient beings have achieved success in their learning can they understand the Master's compassionate state. The wise can only be lonely, just like the sun in the sky that constantly shines its light – only silent, wordless love, unconcerned with who likes it or not.

Chang Zhu: The wishes of sentient beings include pure wishes (清净愿, also called Bodhicitta vows 菩提心愿) and also impure wishes tainted by various kinds of greed, hatred, delusion, and inverted false thoughts (贪嗔痴颠倒妄想). When we wish for sentient beings' aspirations to be fulfilled, this wish absolutely should not include the latter kind. Otherwise, it becomes aiding and abetting wrongdoing, and the karmic retribution for this is severe. Spreading the Dharma to benefit beings (弘法利生) does not rely on scholarship, wealth, ability, influence, or power, but on a pure motivation (清净的发心) and vast vow-power (广大的愿力). Without vast vow-power and a pure motivation, it is impossible to liberate sentient beings. The broader the vow-power, the broader the mind's capacity (心量); the greater the vow-power, the greater the mind's strength (心力). The broader the mind's capacity, the more inclusive and harmonious the spreading of the Dharma and liberating beings becomes. The greater the mind's strength, the greater the magnetic power (摄受力) for spreading the Dharma and liberating beings. All Buddhas have universal vows (总愿) and specific vows (别愿). The Four Great Vows (四弘誓愿) are the universal vows; all Bodhisattvas, upon first generating the Bodhicitta mind, must make these vows.