The Bodhisattva Vows

The Four Factors for a complete break of a root vow

The 18 root vows are separated out and treated special because a downfall carries a much greater weight than the 46 secondary vows.  In addition, acting in accordance with these 18 root vows has particularly healthy benefits for our mind training.  As such, one should pay particular attention to these "root" vows.

But fear not, it actually isn't very easy for the type of practitioner who would take the vows in the first place to have a break from the root.  This is because, for most of the root vows, four "factors" must exist at the time of the action (or directly after it) in order for there to be a true downfall.  Usually, those who take Bodhisattva vows are established practitioners who have had more than a little exposure to the Dharma, and probably even have experience with keeping Pratimoksha vows.  They also have had exposure to teachings about Bodhichitta, the vast aspiration to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings without exception.  Such beings rarely engage in negative actions with all four factors intact.

Two vows (Holding wrong views and Giving up Bodhichitta) do not require these four factors for a complete downfall.  But then again, if you have truly engaged in either of these activities, chances are you're not too worried about these vows, anyway.

The four factors that must be present for a complete downfall are:

1.  One must not recognize the action as negative

We have all made mistakes before where we acknowledge and realize it isn't something we want to repeat.  Maybe you accidentally ran a stop sign while driving, yelled at someone unnecessarily, burned a dish in the oven, or even just spilled a bunch of milk.  Well, as the old adage says, there's no use crying over it.  Not recognizing an action as negative is the complete lack of any awareness that the action just engaged in has negative repercussions.  We view the action as positive and something in which we want to engage in the future.

Recognizing the action as negative does not, however, mean that we beat ourselves up about it.  We must avoid associating ourselves with the commission of the act as though there is something inherently "wrong" with us that causes us to act in this way.  This is where guilt comes from, and it is not what we are talking about, here.  All we are looking for is the simple realization, "Oops.  I shouldn't have done that; it wasn't a good thing to do."

Remember to have compassion for yourself.  You are a well-accomplished practitioner of samsara with many lifetimes of experience.  The whole purpose for these vows is to help you recognize negative actions and re-train your mind to avoid them, not to provide an avenue for self-flagellation and guilt.

2. One must have no desire to cease the action in the future

As noted above, this has to do with our reaction to the act just committed.  Had we the time to examine every single action we undertake, along with the absolute certainty that engaging in the action would bring us happiness or suffering, we would never engage in negativities.  Who would knowingly choose suffering over happiness?

Now, one could argue that these first two factors go hand-in-hand.  It's hard to think of a circumstance where one would not recognize an action as negative and yet have no desire to cease that action.  But this factor gives us a "second chance" in case we miss out on #1.  And again, just as before, we aren't talking about punishing ourselves for bad behavior or thinknig that if we ever engage in the action again that we are just "hopeless".  This is a simple thought, "Gee.  I really don't think that's something I want to do again."

3. One must rejoice in the action or enjoy the fruits of it

Many people who hear the word "rejoice" used in Dharma talks misunderstand the intended translation.  This word isn't intended to mean some outward show of celebration, imitating some touchdown dance or even a good hearty fist pump.  In this context, rejoicing simply means that in your own mind you think, "Yes.  That was great.  I'm glad I did that."

But be careful; just because you don't immediately "rejoice", there's still a catch.  Our actions set in motion a continuum of causes and effects.  If we enjoy the results of an action we have performed, it is the same as rejoicing in the act itself.  We might not realize that the cashier gave us too much change, but later we do and we use the "found money" to buy a special treat for ourselves instead of returning it.  That's the kind of thing that can get us into trouble.

4. One must have no regret about the action

So you may be thinking to yourself, "What's the difference between recognizing the action as negative and having regret about the action?"  Aren't the two the same thing?  Do we really need to repeat ourselves, here?

There are instances where an action we engage with would normally be a positive act, one that we would like to engage in again, and enjoy its benefits, yet upon further reflection we realize that this time you should have acted differently.  This is the old "hindsight is 20/20" idea.  The nuances of such instances becomes illuminated when you read more detail about each individual vow, but to give an example:

Suppose you have cultivated the habit of giving money to homeless people begging on the street.  With the proper motivation, this is a beautiful practice that can develop your sense of generosity, be an antidote for attachment, and generate equanimity with strangers.  That all sounds great, right?  Now let's say that one of the people to whom you gave money uses the cash he's received to buy a gun and kills someone else.  You find out about it, and after some reflection you have to admit that there was something strange about the person.  You wish that you had not contributed to the funds that were used to commit such an awful act.

Understand that this does not mean that you have to be responsible for the actions of others.  Probably he would have gotten the cash eventually from someone else.  Maybe there was nothing you could reasonably have done to avoid the eventual outcome.  Still, you regret that one of your actions contributed to the suffering of another, even though your motivation was correct.

This factor gives us our final chance to avoid a downfall by taking a second look at our action and wishing one had not done it in the first place.  Again, this is not beating ourselves up about it, just a simple recognition, "I really wish I hadn't done that."

So there you have it; "escape clauses" to avoid a downfall of a root Bodhisattva vow.  Please keep in mind that even if you have not broken the vow, this does not allow you to escape the negative consequences of an action.  Negative karma is still negative karma, even if you recognize the act as negative.  You can purify the negative karma, but that is an entirely different teaching.

Hopefully the description above will allow you to "relax" a bit with the root vows and not have them be a cause of added stress in your practice.  The Vows are intended as tools of liberation, not a method to reify the self and punish oneself for misdeeds.