chownah wrote:Santi253 wrote:chownah wrote:
This "guarantee" might be why the boddhisatva ideal is so popular with the mahayana.
chownah
Having the assurance of future Buddhahood doesn't necessarily mean that it will be easy. It might take several kalpas to fulfill. It took many lifetimes for Shakyamuni himself to attain Buddhahood.
I wonder how many people would take the bodhisaattva vows if there was no guarantee.
chownah
If someone does bad things all their life, assuming that they will get to become Buddhas anyway, then they will end up further away from Buddhahood than someone who never claimed to be Buddhist at all.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's many Buddhists who've been reborn into hell realms or as an animal, thinking that their profession of faith in Buddhism protected them.
The whole idea of the Bodhisattva vow is that one, in this lifetime, works on being a more kind, compassionate, and ethical person, here and now.
It's otherwise a meaningless vow that gets a person no closer to Buddhahood. An aspiration has no power to do anything without accompanying action.
If a person vows to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all other beings, then they must work on being compassionate to others right now. Otherwise, it's just empty talk.
The words alone, by themselves, of taking a vow have no effect if not accompanied by action, however small that action might be. The Lotus Sutra says, for example, that if children build stupas made of sand in homage to the Buddha, then this will plant the seed which ultimately grows into Buddhahood.
The only way to ensure that your next rebirth will set you further along the goal to Buddhahood is if, here and now, you put the Buddha's teachings into practice.