Practice Requires Two Essential Factors: Aspiration and Vow
On the path of practice, there are two crucial elements:
- Aspiration (Phát Tâm) – The arising of the desire to practice and to do good deeds.
- Vow (Lập Nguyện) – Setting a goal and maintaining a firm resolve to pursue the path of practice.
Without aspiration and vow, it is impossible to achieve anything.
- Aspiration starts the process of practice.
- Vow helps us to persist and stay committed to the path we have chosen.
Having compassion is important, but if we do not aspire, and do not take action, then that compassion remains an unfulfilled potential.
The Three Stages of Enlightenment
On the path of enlightenment, there are three types of realization:
Intrinsic Enlightenment (Bổn Giác)
- All sentient beings inherently possess the seed of enlightenment in their minds.
- This is the natural quality of every being, but without the proper conditions, it cannot develop.
Initial Enlightenment (Thủy Giác)
- One day, we encounter a situation, image, or experience that leads to an awakening.
- At that moment, the mind of enlightenment arises, and we make the aspiration to practice.
Complete Enlightenment (Cứu Cánh Giác)
- From the moment of aspiration, we persevere in our practice until we reach full enlightenment.
- This is the ultimate goal of a practitioner.
Example:
- Intrinsic Enlightenment: All beings inherently possess compassion.
- Initial Enlightenment: One day, we see a person in need and feel the desire to help.
- Complete Enlightenment: From there, we continue to cultivate compassion, helping sentient beings until we achieve complete and boundless compassion.
Aspiration Requires the Right Conditions
- How should we understand “everything depends on conditions” correctly?
- People Change, Feelings Change – Condition & Karmic Debt
- The Law of Conditional Relations (Paṭṭhāna) in Buddhism
- 3 meanings of “let fate take its own course”
- Nothing is a coincidence, According to the principles of Buddhism
The mind of compassion and goodness is already present within us, but without encountering suffering or the proper conditions, this mind cannot arise.
Example:
- If we only see happiness every day, we may not have the opportunity to develop compassion.
- But one day, we see an elderly person sitting by the road selling small items, and at that moment, compassion arises.
- We decide to help, either by buying something from them or giving them some money.
Through seeing suffering, the mind of compassion is given the opportunity to develop.
If we do not witness the suffering of sentient beings, our compassion will remain dormant and not grow fully.
Final Thought
To practice, one must have aspiration and vow – without these, one cannot succeed.
Enlightenment has three stages:
- Intrinsic Enlightenment – Everyone inherently has the seed of enlightenment.
- Initial Enlightenment – When the right conditions arise, we make the aspiration to practice.
- Complete Enlightenment – With perseverance, we achieve complete enlightenment.
Compassion is inherent, but it requires the right conditions to fully develop.Observe the suffering of sentient beings, so that our compassion is awakened, becoming the driving force for our practice.
This article is compiled based on a sermon by Venerable Thích Pháp Hoà
