Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows
Taking the Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows
Within the Buddhist tradition, taking the Refuge and Bodhisattva vows are important moments that mark one’s whole-hearted commitment to the path of dharma and service to others. With the Refuge Vow, we make a commitment to the path of sanity in our own lives. With the Bodhisattva Vow we expand our commitment to steadfastly put others before ourselves, dedicating ourselves to helping all sentient beings.
The Refuge Vow
"The discipline of choicelessness...is based on a sympathetic attitude toward our situation. To work on ourselves is really only possible when there are no sidetracks, no exits." Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche
Taking Refuge in the buddha, the dharma and the sangha, known as the three jewels, is a ceremony where one formally becomes a buddhist. Having exhausted our strategies of distraction, denial, and escapism, we find that learning to experience reality directly through the path of meditation is a life-affirming choice. Taking the refuge vow is making a formal commitment to follow the path of the buddha in one's life—becoming a buddhist.
The Bodhisattva Vow
“Planting such a seed as the bodhisattva vow undermines ego and leads to a tremendous expansion of perspective. Such heroism, or bigness of mind, fills all of space completely, utterly, absolutely. Within such a vast perspective, nothing is claustrophobic and nothing is intimidating. There is only the vast idea of unceasingly helping all sentient beings, as limitless as space, along the path to enlightenment..."
–Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Having taken the Refuge Vow and entered onto the path of the dharma, we can expand and deepen our commitment by taking the Bodhisattva Vow. With the bodhisattva vow, we dedicate ourselves and all that we do to the benefit of all sentient beings.
*Our vows ceremony is restricted to members of the WMC community who have been practicing with us for at lease 6 months.
*Prior to taking either vow, one should have an ongoing meditation practice and an established relationship with a meditation instructor. Please schedule an interview with your meditation instructor who should then forward a recommendation to: derek@westchestermeditationcenter.org.
*It is recommended that one should wait at least a year after taking the Refuge Vow before taking the Bodhisattva Vow.