Four Vows

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,



Last night at the Temple we talked about the part in the Shoshogi that addresses the vow to free all beings. The Four Great Vows are very special as they present us with the most fundamental koans.



Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.

Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.

Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.

The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.



We vow to free “numberless” beings, yet seemingly have only one lifetime. We vow to end delusions, yet they are “inexhaustible.” We vow to enter “boundless” dharma gates and in the end, realize an “unsurpassable” buddha way. Here’s the thing: If we approach these logically we will never get them. They are not logical in the logical of linearity.



We must step back and let our mind go. Like releasing one’s eyes when looking at a picture in order to see patterns we cannot see with focused eyes.



The vow is, as Daido Loori pointed out, a prayerful one. Such a vow is a unification rather than a petition. So, to “get” these vows we must enter them and to enter them, we must let our body/mind drop away. We begin accepting these vows by first practicing letting self go and casting our mind/heart eye toward all other beings.



We do not practice Zen for ourselves. We practice Zen for the benefit of others. So, we might say, “I am not sitting Zazen, all beings are sitting Zazen.” Our playground is infinite in all directions and includes all times. It contains innumerable beings but does not include a single being. Our delusions are inexhaustible, yet there are no delusions; boundlessness is entered once and ceases to be boundless; and unsurpassable is just this moment.



May we each be a blessing in the universe today.