Setting a Great Vow Beyond My Own Wishes

Today the monk widened the familiar idea of a wish, like the title of a song, into the practitioner's vow. A wish may be the mind that asks for what I need, but a vow is a deep intention set beyond myself, toward the happiness of all beings.

As in the teaching of Hwaeom, a great vow should have an intention as wide as the sea and a strength as firm as a mountain. Just as the sea receives clear water and muddy water without discrimination, the bodhisattva's mind holds kind people and difficult people alike within compassion.

A mountain is not easily shaken even when the wind blows. In the same way, the mind that seeks to benefit the world does not end with one moment of inspiration. It becomes strength only when we renew it each day and practice it steadily.

The monk taught that, more than prayer for myself, prayer for others and the wish that all beings be happy are the true intention of a practitioner. When a small dream has become narrow, we need to open the mind more widely and deeply.

Today, do not hold only to your own wish. Look at who may be benefited by the work you do. When you set a great vow wishing happiness for all beings, the mind becomes wide like the sea and steady like a mountain.