April 15th of the Tibetan calendar’s Saga month is the day when Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment and entered Nirvana. This day is also the day of a total lunar eclipse. On this auspicious day of this auspicious month, in response to public prayers and due to the epidemic, Master Bao (Renzhen Qianbao) taught the bodhisattva precepts online and gave oral transmissions of the first to third chapters (bodhisattva mind) and the last chapter (dedication) of the “Bodhisattva Behavior Treatise”.

The bodhisattva precepts taught by Master Bao this time are the transmission rules of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva of the Deep Contemplation School, which was passed down by Manjushri Bodhisattva and is based on the “Akasagarbha Sutra”. Other Chinese Buddhism is based on other classics such as the “Fanwang Sutra” or the “Yoga Sastra”. The following is a summary of Master Bao’s teachings.

The inheritance and overview of the Bodhisattva precepts

There are three rules for the transmission of Bodhisattva precepts in Tibetan Buddhism. One is the rule of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva of the Deep Vipassana School, which was passed down by Manjusri Bodhisattva; one is the rule of Asanga Bodhisattva of the Broad Practice School, which was passed down by Maitreya Bodhisattva; and the other is the rule of Vajrayana, which is passed down through empowerment.

The Vajrayana empowerment includes the Bodhisattva precepts. Today, we are just passing them on at a special time and through a special ceremony. In addition, you have all received the Mahayana refuge precepts. As for the difference between the refuge precepts and the Bodhisattva precepts, the precepts of the Bodhisattva precepts include repentance and offerings, and the concluding practices include rejoicing and praise. There is no difference in the basic vows.

Many people worry that there will be many precepts after receiving the Bodhisattva precepts. Although the precepts of the Bodhisattva precepts are very broad and there are many divisions, the most basic points after receiving the precepts are two:

One is to vow to become a Buddha for all sentient beings, and to vow that all sentient beings will become Buddhas. Such a vow is continuous and always good, but it is not easy for us ordinary people to do it now.

Second, in order for all sentient beings to attain Bodhi, we must truly do good deeds.Bodhicitta is divided into aspirational Bodhicitta and practical Bodhicitta. The Four Immeasurable Minds are the precepts of aspirational Bodhicitta, and the Six Paramitas are the precepts of practical Bodhicitta, which include all fundamental precepts and subsidiary precepts, or major precepts and minor precepts, etc.

Questions and Answers about Bodhisattva Precepts

Does Bodhisattva Precepts have to be received in front of the guru?

Bodhisattva Precepts do not have to be received in front of the guru. You can receive them in the presence of a Buddha statue, a Buddhist temple, or by visualizing yourself.

What is the difference between being ordained by a guru and receiving ordinations by yourself?

There is a difference in the lineage. The Bodhisattva Precepts are transmitted by the guru. First, there is the vows and blessings of the lineage guru. Second, there are differences in the rituals. Different lineages have differences in completeness or incompleteness.

Will you go to hell after breaking the precepts?

Many people are afraid of breaking the precepts. Whether you will go to hell after breaking the precepts is a question that everyone considers. For example, even if you have not received the Bodhisattva Precepts, if you violate the corresponding precepts or do evil deeds, you will still go to hell. Any sins committed by ordinary people will go to hell if the motives and behaviors are sufficient.

What are the benefits of receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts?

After receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts, good karma will continue. Good karma, good vows, and good thoughts will continue. Therefore, after generating bodhicitta, you will have the opportunity to attain bodhi in the future. This is the best start.

What are the conditions for receiving the bodhisattva precepts?

Except for those in the formless and formless heavens, anyone else can receive the precepts as long as they are conscious and willing to generate bodhicitta for all sentient beings and practice the bodhi path.

The essence of bodhicitta

The bodhicitta is generated not only for one’s own attainment of bodhi, but also for the hope that other sentient beings can also attain bodhi. This self-benefiting and altruistic mind is the essence of bodhicitta.

The definition of bodhicitta

Bodhicitta is divided into two types: mundane bodhicitta and ultimate bodhicitta. What we are generating now is mundane bodhicitta – aspirational bodhicitta and practical bodhicitta.

Aspirational bodhicitta: hoping that all sentient beings can attain bodhi.

Practicing bodhicitta: the real action of doing good deeds for the attainment of bodhi for all sentient beings.

The precepts of aspirational bodhicitta do not have to be accepted by the master, you can make a vow yourself.

The precepts of practical bodhicitta need to be obtained through the master’s seat and ceremony.

Mundane bodhicitta must be obtained through rituals, vows and vows.

The ultimate bodhicitta must be realized through practice and meditation.

Differences in bodhicitta

Each stage of the path of accumulation, the path of preparation, and the path of seeing has different bodhicittas, with different names and abilities. The merits of bodhisattvas are also different, which are distinguished by the bodhisattva’s vows and meditation power.

Benefits of generating bodhicitta

Good deeds done without receiving bodhisattva precepts may not become the cause of bodhi. After receiving bodhisattva precepts, if you make strong vows and oaths, any good deeds you do in dreams or in life can become the cause of becoming a Buddha.

Faults of not generating bodhicitta

Sentient beings in samsara who do not generate bodhicitta have no limit to their reincarnation. Although they are also practicing, their practice speed is very slow and they will not quickly achieve bodhi. Just like the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, although they are all practitioners, they have the opportunity to become Buddhas because of their vows, but the time to become Buddhas is very long.

The time to become a Buddha may take three or seven lifetimes, or three great aeons. The difference in time mainly depends on the size of the vows of generating bodhicitta.

Merits of Taking Bodhisattva Precepts

• First：Becoming the Son of Buddhas

After taking Bodhisattva Precepts, everything you do will become Mahayana good deeds and the cause of becoming a Buddha. For those who have not taken Bodhisattva Precepts, the good deeds you have done will definitely bring you blessings in the human and heavenly realms, but they may not necessarily become the conditions for becoming a Buddha.

The first chapter of “Entering the Bodhisattva’s Way of Practice” mentions: the name will become greater. This means that after taking Bodhisattva Precepts, our names are different and the meaning is also different. Because after taking Bodhisattva Precepts, the name you take is the Bodhisattva who made the vow.

What are the benefits of this name? For individuals, it has the effect of self-discipline and vigilance; for sentient beings, all sentient beings will have a hope for you. Because after taking Bodhisattva Precepts, your name is Bodhisattva, you have the precepts, and you have begun to walk on the path of liberation. You are truly the son of Buddhas, so the meaning has become greater. Just like when you are sick, the doctor’s name may not have much effect on you, but when you hear the word doctor, you will feel comforted and trust.

• Second: Eliminate sins and eliminate great evils.

If we have committed a serious sin, we need to repent, but repentance requires conditions. The power of repentance with a broad bodhicitta is very great. A serious sin requires a great aspiration and aspiration to be purified.

If you repent with a selfish heart, although it is useful, the benefit is not great. Therefore, if you commit a serious sin, you can eliminate the sin by generating bodhicitta.

• Third: Get great blessings

After receiving the bodhisattva precepts, everything we do in the secular truth is to practice the bodhisattva path. Therefore, the merits of bodhicitta and practicing the bodhisattva path are immeasurable, indescribable, inconceivable, and boundless.

• Fourth: Immeasurable merits

You take the bodhisattva precepts for sentient beings. You are a person who upholds the Mahayana Buddhism and benefits sentient beings. The merits of protecting the teachings and benefiting sentient beings are inconceivable. Therefore, in addition to the great blessings of human and heavenly beings, you can also obtain the Buddhahood of the bodhi path, so the merits are immeasurable.

• Fifth: Transformation of body and mind

After receiving the bodhisattva precepts, the body, speech, and mind have corresponding precepts, and the body, speech, and mind will be purified, so the body and mind will change. Just like alchemy, metal will also turn into gold.

• Sixth: Taking the Bodhisattva Precepts is equivalent to offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

The offerings that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are most pleased with are to benefit sentient beings and protect the Dharma. There is no other precept for Bodhisattvas except these two. Therefore, taking the Bodhisattva Precepts and vowing to practice the Bodhi Path are the most joyful things for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

• Seventh: The Merits of the Buddha

The merits of taking the Bodhisattva Precepts are praised in both Mahayana and Vajrayana sutras, such as the 53 visits of the boy Sudhana in the Avatamsaka Sutra. The purpose of the 53 visits of the boy Sudhana was to gain enlightenment and attain Bodhi, so he made a great vow to practice the Bodhisattva Path in front of every great virtue and bodhisattva. After taking the precepts, everyone should read more of the Bodhisattva Practice Treatise and the 53 visits of the boy Sudhana, which will benefit them.

Before taking the Bodhisattva Precepts, everyone should think more about the merits of the Bodhisattva Precepts. We must take the Bodhisattva Precepts to study the Mahayana Dharma, because the Bodhicitta is the basis for practicing Mahayana Buddhism.

Conditions for receiving the Bodhisattva precepts

Before receiving the Bodhisattva precepts, we must first repent, repenting for the sins we have committed since time immemorial due to selfishness. Then we should generate a broad bodhicitta, expand our mind, and expand the love we had for one person in the past to all sentient beings.

In terms of the merits of generating bodhicitta, the greater the wish, the higher the chance of success. The same is true for worldly affairs. People with a broad mind, great wisdom, and a broad mind are more likely to succeed. However, people who are stingy, selfish, and usually only care about themselves are not easy to succeed. This is the same for both the secular and the transcendental.

No matter what mantra we chant or what Dharma we practice, it is easier to succeed with bodhicitta as the foundation. Usually, there are two reasons why we don’t feel anything no matter how we practice. One is lack of confidence, and the other is lack of aspiration. If we have enough confidence and aspiration, it is easy to respond to the Dharma. What the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas say is not false, and there will definitely be a response. If we cannot have the most fundamental confidence and aspiration, it is unlikely that there will be a big change and liberation in any Dharma we practice. Therefore, before generating bodhicitta, we must first repent for the sins we committed in our past lives due to selfishness.

Repentance requires four counteracting powers, that is, four conditions are needed to counteract one’s own afflictions and habits.

The first condition is the power of reliance. The power of reliance refers to the object of repentance, and the object of our repentance is the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

The second condition is the power of repentance. Repent for all sentient beings, and realize that the sins committed by your selfish mind are very serious. In addition, the sins committed are not only for yourself, but also for countless sentient beings. Repent with bodhicitta for countless sentient beings.

The third condition is the power of present action. You must act truly and do it immediately. Sometimes you chant the Buddha’s name, sometimes you chant mantras (such as the Hundred-Character Mantra of Vajrasattva, etc.), and sometimes you chant sutras, copy sutras, and do ten kinds of Dharma practices to purify your sins. No matter what good deeds you do, the method that can become a method to counteract self-attachment and afflictions is called the power of present action.

The fourth condition is the power of vows. You must swear, vow, and make up your mind. Many people repent and chant sutras just to do homework or to pretend according to their own hearts, without making up their minds.

The power of vows to purify sins is greater, and it has three functions:

1. It has a great power to purify sins.
2. When you are about to commit a sin, it reminds you, makes you regret, and generates a repentant heart.
3. It prevents you from committing sins in the future.

Those of us who have just developed bodhicitta will definitely commit sins, which is normal. But we cannot be casual, and we must look at this matter strictly. There are many rituals and precepts for repentance in Buddhism, which are compiled because it is easy for people to commit sins. If we don’t commit sins, there won’t be so many rituals and precepts for repentance, so when we commit sins, we should repent more.

The function of repentance is that after your mind is pure, you can transfer the pure merits of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to your own mind. When your mind is not pure, no matter how wonderful the Dharma is, it cannot enter your heart. Just like when there is no pollution on white cloth, it is easy to dye it with the color you want; if the cloth already has color or pollution, it is not easy to dye it with the color you like.

Therefore, through repentance, all habits, ignorance, and afflictions are washed away. After being clean, it is easier to generate bodhicitta and practice any Dharma in accordance with it.

When repenting, the first thing to think about is faults and repent of one’s sins; the second thing to think about is merits. One’s six senses are complete, one can meet good teachers, and one can listen to the Dharma. All merits of the rare leisure and opportunity are complete, and one is qualified to receive the bodhisattva precepts.

If you break the precepts, how should you restore the precepts?

After we receive the precepts, we should be familiar with the relevant precepts, including what are the major precepts and what are the minor precepts. The precepts have the parts of opening and prohibiting. The requirements of the masters will be slightly different. Some masters are very strict, and some masters will open more precepts according to the relationship between the intentions. Other than that, there is not much difference.

All the precepts are like laws. Some precepts require multiple conditions to be considered as violations. Although a single violation is done, it is not necessarily a violation of the precepts.

Breaking the precepts requires the four conditions of the object, motivation, behavior, and result. Some are in form, such as breaking the precepts in places where the public can see, and the bodhisattva precepts have such regulations.

The main content of the bodhisattva precepts is the three pure precepts – namely, the precepts of collecting the rules (forbidding evil deeds), the precepts of collecting good dharma, and the precepts of collecting sentient beings (benefiting sentient beings). These three contain all the precepts and are the general outline of the precepts; the next is the precepts of aspiration and practice of bodhicitta; and the fundamental precepts and minor precepts. Among the fundamental precepts, the precepts that are violated by those who have just generated bodhicitta are the main ones, followed by minor precepts.

If a fundamental precept is violated, it is not considered a fundamental precept violation if it is not exceeded within four hours and one sincerely repents. One can recite the Hundred-Character Mantra of Vajrasattva to repent to the deity that one is cultivating, or recite the Akasagarbha Sutra, the Thirty-five Buddhas Repentance Sutra, etc. to repent. Unless one is a person who has committed ten unforgivable sins, it is unlikely that one will violate the fundamental precepts.

Among the precepts of bodhicitta, there are many precepts for verbal karma, such as slandering fellow practitioners, slandering the Dharma, or insulting sentient beings, etc., and everyone should pay more attention to these. As for the mental karma, there are very few people who do not want sentient beings to become Buddhas at all.

When analyzing the violation of precepts, there are precepts of opening and prohibition. The most basic of the precepts of opening and prohibition is the nine observations of benefiting sentient beings in the precepts of benefiting sentient beings, which are observed through nine situations such as the severity of the matter, the size of the benefit, the number of people, and the size of the harm in this life and the next life.

After receiving the Bodhisattva precepts, the most important thing is not to forget to bless sentient beings, to generate bodhicitta for all sentient beings, and to practice the bodhi path. I often tell everyone not to forget the “three things not to forget”, not to forget the Three Jewels, not to forget sentient beings, and not to forget to observe the mind, to change one’s mentality, and to improve one’s wisdom. The Bodhisattva precepts basically cover all of the “three things not to forget”.

There are many things that cannot be done in the Bodhisattva precepts, so there are different levels such as those who have just generated bodhicitta, those who have generated bodhicitta, those who have entered the path, and those who have attained enlightenment, and each level can do something different. But no matter what, after we receive the precepts, we must not forget to bless sentient beings, and we must do our best to practice the six perfections for sentient beings.

Read more “Entering the Bodhisattva’s Way of Practice”, and there is a book called “Introduction to the Buddhist Child”, which has the first three chapters at the back. If you have time, try to recite it every day.

Amitabha!