The Vow to awaken for the sake of all beings unfailingly points us in a reliable direction. And Bodhisattva precepts give us the tools to enact this vow at every choice point in our daily life. Precepts guide what we become aware of and what we value. Instead of being steered always by conventional ideas about what’s important, what’s “normal”– the “shoulds” of individual self-interest, social class behavior, gender, life stage, etc. we can consult the precepts and use them as our guides instead. They remind us of the value and openness of kindness, patience, generosity, while also encouraging a wider view of self-interest. In this practice we awaken to the self that goes beyond the individual, to the wider community of all life that we support when we are awake and led by caring, wise hearts. Dogen teaches,
“To do something by ourselves, without copying others, is to become an
example to the world, and the merit of this becomes the source of all
wisdom.”
The Vow to awaken is very practical. It’s not just some vague, distant spiritual teaching, but is a guide in our ordinary everyday lives. A reliable support to be taken to heart and intimately enacted in everything we do – how we talk, how we treat ourselves, how we treat others, how we treat all beings and things in the environment.