Global Buddhist Community
The power of vow
Qestions: The power of vow constitutes an important element in Mahayana Buddhist teaching. Is there any similar teaching in Theravada Buddhism? What is your interpretation about the idea of the power of vow?
Bhikkhu Bodhi, BB: In the canonical texts of Early Buddhism, very little is said about making vows for attainment of a goal in future lives. Perhaps the only aspiration explicitly endorsed is that made by monks who go forth into the homeless life with the wish: "By this practice, may I attain release from the round of repeated birth and death." In several passages, the Buddha advises the monks to sit down crosslegged and vow not to get up until they have attained liberation from the defilements. But in later texts like the Buddhavamsa, and in the Pali commentaries, stories are told of how in a past cosmic eon our present Buddha Gotama met the Buddha Dipankara and vowed to become a Buddha in the future. He then received from Dipankara a prediction of future success. Such passages set the stage for the emergence of an explicit bodhisattva path and for more emphasis on the role of vows. In the Pali commentaries, it is not only future Buddhas who start their career with a vow. Those who become chief disciples, great disciples, and other eminent disciples also begin by making a vow to attain the goal toward which their heart inclines--such as a chief disciple or the personal attendant of a Buddha or even the mother of a Buddha. They then cultivate the paramitas and accumulate vast merits for the purpose of fulfilling their vows.The doctrinal basis for this stress on the role of vows is the idea that our habits of mind are not destroyed at death but carry over into our next existence. Thus a vow made with faith and sincerity in our present life will largely govern the circumstances of our future rebirth, ensuring that we continue on our quest for the goal and encounter conditions that support the fulfillment of our vows.