Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘Beings are numberless. With practice I promise to notice them and see that there is no separation between us. In this way, I contribute to saving them all.

Desires are ceaseless. With practice, I promise to become aware of them, notice them, and allow them to fall away. In this way, I let them pass and put an end to them.

The truths that make up reality have no limit. With practice, I promise to be an active and engaged thinker, open to the entire spectrum of possibilities, giving myself tools to work with. In this way, I will master them all.

The path that leads to enlightened being is unattainable. With practice, I promise to realise that I have already begun to move in a direction that will clarify the way in which I see things. I am already more likely to notice things that have gone unnoticed before. It has already made me more aware. The path is not under my feet, but a part of the enlightened being that I already am. In this way, I will attain it.’ (Being Black)

If you have taken a listen to just about any of my talks from this year, you might have spotted that I ended most of my discussions of the four Bodhisattva Vows with this version by Reverend angel. When I first read this passage, it struck me as a profoundly helpful exposition of what the vows are asking of us, and I hope that those I have shared it with feel the same way.