The Bodhisattva's Ten Boundless Vows

When all Buddhas descend into the world to universally deliver sentient beings, they manifest the eight marks of attaining the Way, the contents of which must be firmly remembered: descending from the Tuṣita Heaven palace, entering the womb, dwelling in the womb, birth, leaving home, attaining the Way, turning the Dharma wheel, and parinirvāṇa. Therefore, a Buddha must be a monastic, belonging to the number of the Saṅgha, not a layperson. In the Huayan Sutra, the Buddha taught bodhisattvas to make the ten inexhaustible vows, one of which is that a bodhisattva must possess vast supernatural powers—this is required cultivation. Without supernatural powers, one cannot only fail to achieve one's own attainment, but also cannot deliver sentient beings. However, supernatural powers are best cultivated after attaining the bhūmis; cultivating them after enlightenment is also quite勉强—rather, still very strained—and before that, cultivating supernatural powers is not encouraged at all.

If a bodhisattva's capacity of mind is too small, one cannot make such vast and great vows; even if made, one cannot fulfill them. As great as one's capacity of mind is, so great is the bodhisattva's work. For each of us sentient beings, in future lives there is only one thing to do: to liberate ourselves and liberate others, life after life it is always this matter, always Buddha's work, with no pursuit whatsoever of worldly things within the three realms. So now we must train ourselves to keep the mind as unattached to worldly signs as possible, not to pursue personal worldly benefit, not to compete with others for the sake of worldly survival interests—including wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep; form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; including family members and relatives—everything and anything. In the mind, let go of as much as one can let go. In this way, when the mind becomes empty and pure, it becomes vast, and when it becomes vast to the degree of the tathāgatagarbha, the ultimate is reached.

Only when the realm of sentient beings is exhausted will my vow be exhausted. Can the realm of sentient beings be exhausted? When will it be exhausted? I remember that in the Buddhist sutras someone asked the Buddha whether the realm of sentient beings could be exhausted, whether all sentient beings could be delivered; the Buddha, it seems, did not answer. It is not that the Buddha did not know or was unable to answer, but that the number of sentient beings is truly boundless and immeasurable, beyond counting. Each bodhisattva's task is extremely heavy; even after becoming a Buddha, one must forever be busy with the work of delivering sentient beings. The multitudes of sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions are infinite and boundless; there are simply too many worlds without Buddhas, without bodhisattvas, and without the Buddha's Dharma. The sentient beings in those worlds suffer greatly, waiting for us bodhisattvas to make the resolve to deliver them.

When we in the future have the ability to deliver sentient beings, everything must be considered for the sake of sentient beings; we must not fight with one another for personal selfish gain. If bodhisattvas fight bloody battles over their respective retinues, or over fame and status, what will become of those sentient beings? Where have the great bodhi vows made in the past gone? We should now make great vows as much as possible, so that in future lives we will not forget or lose the bodhi mind—everything for the accomplishment of our own Path-work and the deliverance of sentient beings, not for worldly benefit.

If sentient beings' roots of goodness and merit are not mature, they cannot encounter the Buddha's Dharma. We should all plant as many roots of goodness for sentient beings as possible, so that sentient beings' roots of goodness may mature soon. If sentient beings' roots of goodness are not mature and they lack merit, even with the Buddha right in front of them, it would be useless. If the realm of sentient beings were exhausted and there were no more sentient beings, what use would a Buddha's land be? Buddhas accomplish countless Buddha-lands precisely for the purpose of delivering sentient beings. If there were no more sentient beings, would a Buddha still remain in form abiding in the world? Then He would no longer remain in form, and the Buddha-lands would be of no use either. So, looking at the future scenario, what is there left for us to fight over now? All dharmas are empty; being able to use them temporarily is enough—there is no need to be greedy and attached.