The Bodhisattva Vow

His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, considered the manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezi, the patron saint of Tibet and Bodhisattva of Compassion.

By Victor M Fontané

Bodhisattva (in Mahayana Buddhism) is a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings. Sanskrit, literally "one who's essence is perfect knowledge," from bodhi "perfect knowledge".

The Bodhisattva Vow:

“Beings are numberless, I vow to awaken with them. Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. Dharma gates are endless, I vow to enter them. Buddha's Way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it.”

“With a wish to free all beings

I shall always go for refuge

To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

Until I reach full enlightenment.

Enthused by wisdom and compassion,

today in the Buddha’s presence I generate

the Mind for Full Awakening

For the benefit of all sentient beings.

As long as space remains,

As long as sentient beings remain,

Until then, may I too remain

And dispel the miseries of the world.”