Core Practices

The Zen Garland Order Vows embody the Great Bodhicitta Vow and delineate its meanings further. These vows are one of our seven Core Practices, ethical living, living from the perspective and reality of Oneness. The Vows are a shared set of commitments taken by all practitioners who become members of the Zen Garland Order.

I vow to take refuge in the Buddha
I vow to take refuge in The Dharma
I vow to take refuge in the Sangha

I vow to realize and release what is unwholesome;
To realize and cultivate what is wholesome;
To purify my way of being:
To embody this as the teaching of all Buddhas.

I vow to embrace each moment with Not-Knowing, the Practice of Presence and Service as a way of being.
I vow devotion to Zazen, and to manifesting a field of benefaction.
I vow to transform greed, anger, ignorance, and suffering into wisdom and compassionate action.
I vow to speak from the heart, to listen wholeheartedly, and to seek the wisdom of council.
I vow to cultivate respect and dignity in all relationships.
I vow to use discernment from a perspective of unity and to nurture a culture of cooperation.
I vow to seek what is needed responsibly, to share generously, to work well with what I have, and to take only what is freely given.
I vow to promote solidarity and a just economic order.
I vow to care for the sacred elements – earth, water, air and fire, and to help heal all forms of matter and energy that co-create our precious earth and universe.
I make these vows in oneness with the Zen Garland Community and cultivate its practices for the welfare of all creation.