Welcome back,
Thank you for taking the time to go through each vow along with me.
I want to invite you to drop in with your presence and your breath.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and exhale through the mouth,
Allowing each breath to take you deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation and openness.
Breathing in,
I soften.
Breathing out,
I allow.
So you've made it to the final session.
That alone says something.
You showed up,
You sat with some big ideas,
You gave them space.
Now we explore what it means to live with these vows,
Not just to hear them,
But to let them shape the way we move through the world.
And here they are again together.
Sentient beings are numberless.
I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible.
I vow to transform them.
Dharma gates are boundless.
I vow to enter them.
The Buddha way is insurpassable.
I vow to embody it.
At the Zen Center where I first began practicing meditation,
We would recite the bodhisattva vows after every sit.
That rhythm,
That reminder,
Created a thread between the silence of the cushion and the noise of the world.
And so you might try that too.
Recite the vows after you sit or before you sit.
Maybe you take a vow a week and recite it on each day.
Write them down,
Keep them near your bed,
Your desk,
Or maybe an altar you have where you practice meditation.
Let them become something that you live with.
This isn't a performance,
Embody it in your own way.
You may feel overwhelmed sometimes,
Like the world's pain is too big,
Or your patterns are too hard to change.
But the path doesn't ask us to fix it all.
It asks us to show up,
Again and again,
With care.
The bodhisattva vows are simple,
Not meant to be complicated.
They don't live in grand declarations.
They live in how we meet the moment.
And that's why we meditate.
Not just to reflect on the vows,
But also to be still with them.
To let them settle into the body.
To feel how they might shape the way we listen,
Speak,
Walk,
And relate to one another.
So as we turn inward,
This is a space to integrate.
Not by doing,
Not by efforting,
But by allowing.
Breathing in,
I soften.
Breathing out,
I allow.
Returning now to the vows.
No need to analyze,
Just allow them to enter your awareness.
Sentient beings are numberless.
I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible.
I vow to transform them.
Dharma gates are boundless.
I vow to enter them.
The Buddha way is unsurpassable.
I vow to embody it.
May this vow move through me and into the world.
Take a moment now to sit with the vows you just heard.
Let them settle.
Be with your breath.
Be with your vow.
No need to do anything or change anything.
Just be here in the stillness.
Take a breath here.
Let's sit with what each of these means in our daily life.
To free all beings might begin with how you speak to yourself,
Or how you meet one person today with kindness instead of judgment.
To transform delusions might mean catching the story you tell yourself about not being enough,
And softening toward it instead of believing it.
To enter the Dharma gates could look like pausing to reflect,
Being present with whatever life is offering,
Even when it's uncomfortable.
To embody the Buddha way doesn't mean you have to be perfect.
It simply asks you to live with intention,
To return to presence again and again.
Remember that these vows are not rules.
They're reminders.
Allow them to keep moving through you and gently returning to your breath.
Let it all settle.
Feel the support beneath you.
There's nowhere to go right now.
Nothing to solve.
Just this moment.
Just this body.
Just this heart.
When you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes,
Return to your surroundings.
Bring a hand to your heart if you'd like,
And a closing breath.
Thank you for being here.
It's such a gift.
This practice continues in how you breathe,
How you show up,
How you care.
The vows you sat with don't need to be remembered word for word.
They just need to be lived gently,
Honestly,
In your own way.
If you found something meaningful here,
I would love to know.
You're welcome to leave a review.
And I welcome you to the community Call to Compassion,
The group on Insight Timer.
We'd love to have you there.
I am honored to be on this path with you and grateful that you're showing up for it all,
For yourself and for the world.
Beings are numberless.
I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible.
I vow to transform them.
Dharmagates are boundless.
I vow to enter them.
The Buddha way is unsurpassable.
I vow to embody it.
