Vows

The 18 Closely Bonding Practices The sixth point is the eighteen closely bonding practices for mind training – in other words, for cleansing and training our attitudes. “Close bond” in Sanskrit is “samaya,” or “dam-tshig” in Tibetan, which means something that will bond us...

Overview of the Twenty-Two Trainings Last in our discussion is the seventh point, which consists of the list of the twenty-two trainings, or points that train the mind in cleansing our attitudes. The first of these trainings is: Do all yogas with one. This refers to, no...

Let us look more closely at the type of nonrevealing form that a pratimoksha vowed restraint (so-sor thar-pa’i sdom-pa, Skt. prātimokṣasaṃvara) is. There Is Only One Nonrevealing Form for All the Branches of a Pratimoksha Vowed Restraint  Vasubandhu adds further detail about...

Bodhisattva Vows For practicing the engaged state of bodhichitta and being best able to practice the six far-reaching attitudes, we need to take the bodhisattva vows. This involves refraining from committing the 18 root downfalls and the 46 faulty actions that transgress these...

Even if a Western Buddhist community is made up entirely of laymen and laywomen, with no monks or nuns, the monastic vows provide valuable guidelines that Buddha designed for building a harmonious spiritual community.

A downfall from the tantric vows requires transgressing one of the fourteen root vows with the four binding factors being complete. Several factors may cause us to transgress our vows.

An introduction to the fundamentals of Buddhist ethics.

There are various types of actions that indicate the practical application of refuge in our daily lives and what we actually need to do in order to maintain that direction.

Presentation of bonding practices that create close bonds with the five “Buddha-families” – aspects of clear light mental activity that allow us to attain enlightenment.

With the secondary tantric vows, we promise to refrain from “eight thick actions.” Committing them would hamper meditation practice and progress along the yoga tantra and anuttarayoga tantra paths.