Ideas for a strong oath

[James the Giant]

I swear to live my life from now on to help others with no regard to myself i will never do anything for fun but only to help others

I swear not to to get attached to success or loss only to the process of helping others

Waaa!? Why make a vow you will break within days? Nobody but a bodhisattva or arahant could keep those for more than a very very short period of time.

[purple planet]

Lol yea - i broke this oath a gazillion timess allready lol

but i also put the last one : I swear not to to get attached to success or loss

For me the meaning is really with an added "i will try" instead of "i swear"

so its actually " i will try to ......" its just to make it more powerful for me the way it sounds

[James the Giant]

Oh, okay, that's all right then. Best wishes!

[Hickersonia]

I have thought a little about this, and I'm not going to go over all of the conversation that has taken place here, but I think I've come up with a fairly simple, and probably appropriate, "vow" of sorts that could be part of a daily affirmation / refuge routine.

With a proper reverence for the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
generosity, both in myself and in others.

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
virtue, both in myself and in others.

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
patience, both in myself and in others.

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
diligence, both in myself and in others.

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
concentration, both in myself and in others.

I will act in accordance with that which promotes
wisdom, both in myself and in others.

I make this solemn vow, for the benefit of all sentient
beings, that I will promote these six perfections.

In doing so, may I make steady progress along
the Noble Eightfold Path, namely:

Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
and
Right Concentration

These path factors, developed together and not apart,
the Buddha taught would relieve suffering.

To that end, I will:

Prevent the unwholesome that has not yet arisen…
Let go of the unwholesome that has arisen…
Bring up the wholesome that has not yet arisen…
Maintain the wholesome that has arisen…
By the taking of this daily affirmation,
May there be well-being.

I saved a copy for those who might want to see how my printed copy will look:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxT-yI ... UxUdnN3M00

In case you're looking for more, I also have a copy of the entire morning chanting text I use saved online:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p2Q ... YwUNc/edit

Hope that helps somehow, friends.

[befriend]

say the precepts every morning and again in the middle of the day dont rush through them, at the end of the day reflect on how well you followed them, and see how you can improve them. when your improving something it takes a while, and then you have to watch that flaw again because it will pop up again, the defilements are incredibly strong. metta, befriend