When I request permission to leave the home-life,
I vow that sentient beings
Will become irreversible in their practice,
Their minds free of impediments.
We all know: if all Bodhisattvas skillfully apply their minds, then they will attain all kinds of excellent and fine meritorious virtues. Applying their minds skillfully, that is, they can dedicate to the vows according to their wisdom whether they meet with anything or anybody or any state. All kinds of excellent and fine meritorious virtues, that is, all the questions asked by Foremost Wisdom Bodhisattva.
How to make good use of our minds? How to apply our minds skillfully? We have been told in the Upasaka Precepts Sutra that the power of vows is equivalent to an automatic seed sower, that is, to create oral karma, which is the same as practicing by mouth，or which is the same as saying that it is practiced by mouth.
By making vows in this way, the causes of karma are created and the seeds are formed, and together with the excellent arisal of the conditions of the mentor, the result can be quick to attain, and we can certainly achieve no retreat from the dharma of leaving the home-life and no obstructions from the dharma of leaving the home-life in our minds.
Why is it “When vowing that sentient beings will…” and not “When vowing that I myself will…”? Because it is a higher and more supernatural cause.
“When vowing that I myself will…” is only one cause for you, even an automatic seed sower is to sow seeds one by one, but “When vowing that sentient beings will…” is that you have created an oral karma of cause for all sentient beings and the cause has formed seeds, and that adding the automatic seed sower you are to sow unlimited seeds automatically at the same time, so you can achieve faster and complete or perfect the universal dedication in Buddhism, which is called dedication only for or to all sentient beings.
We have already known that Supreme Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva teaches us the Dharma of making good use of our minds. Not only is this the case with Supreme Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva, but also the Flower Adornment Sutra also tells us that all Buddha deeds begin with the great vows, and all the actions practiced by Bodhisattvas begin with the dedication. To dedicate your merit to your vows is the door. Without the door of the dedication, we cannot enter the palace hall of Buddhism.
We also need to be clear at all times that it is an evil view to calculate results without cause! If we do not have the cause of non-retreat, we are bound to retreat, and if we do not have the cause of no obstacles in our mind, we are bound to have obstacles in our mind, not to mention the fact that we have not eliminated all the impediments of afflictions and impediments of having been known.
Therefore, I vow that all sentient beings will be able to digest and apply these wonderful teachings well, and expand to all Buddhadharmas , and will be able to play them with precision, and will become proficient and thorough in them soon!
When I cast off my worldly clothes,
I vow that sentient beings
Will diligently cultivate good roots,
And renounce all obstructive offenses.
As we all know: if all Bodhisattvas skillfully apply their minds, then they will attain all kinds of excellent and fine meritorious virtues. Applying their minds skillfully, that is, they can dedicate to the vows according to their wisdom whether they meet with anything or anybody or any state. All kinds of excellent and fine meritorious virtues, that is, all the questions asked by Foremost Wisdom Bodhisattva.
How to make good use of their minds? How to apply their minds skillfully?
Manjushri Bodhisattva tells us to make good use of our mind when we take off our worldly clothes to become a monk, and to make a vow to diligently cultivate good roots, to diligently cultivate all good roots, that is, all good roots , good karma and good habits should be established. We should also make a vow to give up all obstructive offenses, that is, to renounce all bad karma, and all bad habits.
Then, after making the vows in this way, the causes of karma are created and the seeds are formed, and together with the excellent arisal of the conditions of the mentor, we can quickly bear fruit, and it is inevitable that one can diligently cultivate good roots and give up all obstructive offenses.
Why is it “When vowing that sentient beings will…” and not “When vowing that I myself will…”? Because it is a higher and more supernatural cause.
“When vowing that I myself will…” is only one cause for you, even an automatic seed sower is to sow seeds one by one, but “When vowing that sentient beings will…” is that you have created an oral karma of cause for all sentient beings and the cause has formed seeds, and that together with the automatic seed sower you are to sow unlimited seeds automatically at the same time, so you can achieve faster and complete or perfect the universal dedication in Buddhism. Please remember :the dedication only for or to all sentient beings is just called dedication .
In addition, this “when vowing that all sentient beings will …” is good for yourself and all sentient beings. Now speaking, the one who really gets it is yourself. But after you achieve this for yourself, you will then go and let all sentient beings achieve these things according to the power of your vow. When the time comes to teach him and bring him back into this state of dedicating to the vows and generating this fruit or retribution again, only then can he be accomplished.
We have already known that Supreme Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva teaches us the Dharma of making good use of our minds. Not only is this the case with Supreme Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva, but also the Flower Adornment Sutra also tells us that all Buddha deeds begin with the great vows, and all the actions practiced by Bodhisattvas begin with the dedication. To dedicate your merit to your vows is the door. Without the door of the dedication, we cannot enter the palace hall of Buddhism.
We also need to be clear at all times that it is an evil view to calculate results without cause! Without the cause of diligently cultivating good roots, we cannot diligently cultivate good roots, and without the cause of giving up all obstructive offenses, there is no way to give up bad karma and bad habits. Moreover, we have not eliminated all our obstructions of afflictions and obstructions of having been known.
The “Pure Conduct” that we are studying now is to purify all actions for 24 hours, all actions in a day, and this is the most pure thing to do. Now it is the purification of all actions for 24 hours, and the final fruitfulness of the extraordinary benefits is limitless.
I vow that all sentient beings will truly contemplate and realize that whatever fate we have, it is cultivated by ourselves and the image drawn on a white sheet of paper like our self nature. We are always drawing our own future!