The Sixth Vow: Transforming Attachment to Wealth into the Path of Awakening
The Sixth Vow may be summarized as:
“If there are people who pursue wealth through harmful occupations, engaging in killing, hunting, fishing, or other actions driven by intense violence and without remorse; if they become trapped in cycles of harm and retaliation, creating endless suffering for themselves and others in order to sustain their lives — may I help them awaken the Bodhicitta.
If someone takes my possessions, may I respond not with retaliation but with generosity. If I possess wealth, may I offer it to those in need. Whether beings have obtained wealth or have not yet obtained it, may all those connected with wealth and material desires establish a connection with me and awaken the Bodhicitta.”
The Sixth Great Vow addresses one of the most deeply rooted attachments in human life: the pursuit of wealth and material security.
For those who engage in occupations involving the taking of life in order to obtain resources — such as butchers, hunters, or fishermen — the vow of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva does not reject them. He recognizes that many beings act from conditions of survival, habit, ignorance, or deeply rooted patterns.
Even toward those whose actions create suffering, Mañjuśrī wishes that they may eventually awaken the mind of compassion and enter the path of enlightenment.
The phrase:
“If someone steals my wealth, I return it through generosity.”
represents an extraordinary aspect of the Bodhisattva’s practice.
When someone takes what belongs to him, he does not respond with hatred or revenge. Instead, he transforms the difficult circumstance into an opportunity for compassion, using generosity as a means to create a connection that may eventually lead the other person toward awakening.
There is a story of the Japanese Zen master Ryōkan (良寛, 1758–1831) that illustrates this spirit.
One night, while the Zen master was meditating in his small hermitage, a thief entered hoping to steal something valuable. After searching for a long time, the thief found nothing.
Seeing this, Ryōkan said:
“You have come from such a long distance and should not leave empty-handed. Please take this robe.”
He then offered the robe he was wearing to the thief.
As he watched the thief disappear under the moonlight, Ryōkan sighed:
“What a pity. You could only take my robe. If only I could give you this beautiful moonlight as well.”
This story reflects the spirit of the Sixth Vow: transforming possession into generosity, and transforming conflict into connection.
The phrase:
“May those who have obtained wealth and those who have not yet obtained wealth all establish a connection with me and awaken the Bodhicitta.”
expands the meaning of this vow even further.
It does not only include those who desire wealth but have not achieved it, or those who already possess wealth. It includes all beings whose lives are influenced by material concerns, financial struggles, desires, expectations, and attachments.
In the modern world, where people experience economic uncertainty, financial pressure, market fluctuations, and concerns about material security, the wisdom expressed in the Sixth Vow remains especially meaningful.
It reminds us that wealth itself is not the ultimate destination. The deeper purpose is to transform our relationship with wealth — from attachment into generosity, from competition into compassion, and from suffering into awakening.
The Sixth Vow teaches that even the most ordinary human desires can become a doorway toward wisdom when guided by compassion and Bodhicitta.
The Seventh Vow: Embracing All Beings Beyond Judgment
The Seventh Vow may be summarized as:
“If there are sentient beings — including friends, companions, teachers, disciples, and all others — who practice austerities, cultivate discipline, observe vows or break vows, engage in practice or do not engage in practice; those whom I have supported and those who have supported me; spiritual teachers, guides, and those who teach or receive teachings — may all beings walk together in cultivation, share in virtue and blessings, and through every connection with me awaken the Bodhicitta, the aspiration for enlightenment.
Whether through building temples, meditation halls, monasteries, pagodas, or creating images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, may all beings who participate in these wholesome actions establish a connection with me and awaken the Bodhicitta.”
The Seventh Great Vow represents the boundless inclusiveness of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva’s compassion.
Whether a person has a close connection with us or no connection at all, whether they appear worthy of affection or difficult to accept, whether they uphold discipline or have broken their commitments, whether they practice diligently or have not yet begun the path — Mañjuśrī wishes that all beings may form a connection with him, awaken the aspiration for enlightenment, and ultimately realize Buddhahood.
Beyond the Boundaries of Human Judgment
Human beings often find it easy to accept those who follow our ideals, but much harder to accept those who fall short of them.
We may respect those who are disciplined and devoted, yet struggle to embrace those who are careless, confused, or still learning. We often create invisible boundaries based on our own values:
“This person is someone I can accept.”
“This person is someone I cannot understand.”
“This person deserves compassion.”
“This person does not.”
The Seventh Vow of Mañjuśrī directly addresses this tendency within the human mind.
It challenges the limits we create through judgment and invites us to reconsider the boundaries we draw between ourselves and others.
Many of the principles we use to separate people may need to be transformed. There may be people we avoid, relationships we reject, or individuals whose mistakes we find difficult to forgive.
Yet human nature often contains a contradiction:
We may be deeply disturbed by the mistakes of others, while easily forgiving our own.
Our ideals may be elevated, while our daily actions remain imperfect.
In this reality, Mañjuśrī teaches a different way of seeing.
By cultivating the vow to embrace those who have practice and those who have not, those who uphold discipline and those who have fallen from discipline, those who support us and those whom we support, we gradually dissolve the narrow walls created by judgment.
When these inner walls fall away, what appears is a much wider space of compassion and wisdom.
The deeper meaning of the Seventh Vow is not to deny differences between wholesome and unwholesome actions, but to recognize that every being possesses the potential for awakening.
Compassion does not require approval of every action. Rather, it means seeing beyond temporary conditions and recognizing the possibility of transformation.
May every encounter become a connection. May every connection become a seed of wisdom. May all beings awaken the Bodhicitta and walk toward Buddhahood.
The Eighth Great Vow: Entering All Realms to Guide Beings Toward Awakening
The eighth great vow may be summarized as follows:
“If there are beings who create vast amounts of negative karma, falling into realms of suffering with no apparent end; enduring immeasurable hardships throughout countless ages; and after leaving such states, continuing to wander through the five realms of existence; first experiencing lives among animals, bearing burdens and repaying former karmic debts like donkeys, camels, pigs, and dogs; or enduring countless cycles as elephants, horses, servants, or those bound by past causes and conditions — I vow to enter the five realms together with them, taking forms according to their circumstances, continuously appearing in the same worlds to guide and transform them.
I may appear as one who shares their conditions — as a poor person, one who is unable to speak, one who is blind or deaf, one who suffers hardship, or one who lives among the marginalized. Through sharing the same circumstances, the same causes, and the same activities, I will guide all beings through skillful means, leading them onto the path of Buddhahood.
May all beings who have a connection with me develop the aspiration for Bodhi.”
If beings create extensive harmful karma and fall into states of suffering with no immediate escape, experiencing endless cycles of hardship and wandering through different forms of existence, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva vows not to abandon them. Instead, he vows to enter the same realms of existence and appear among them:
“I vow to enter the five realms and manifest according to their conditions.”
If beings suffer within the animal realm, he vows to accompany them in that realm. If beings experience lives of poverty, disability, or profound hardship, he vows to manifest among them as one who shares similar circumstances.
These manifestations are not expressions of suffering for its own sake, but symbolize the Bodhisattva’s profound compassion and willingness to enter the conditions of sentient beings in order to guide them.
By appearing within the same circumstances, sharing similar experiences, and using compassionate and skillful means, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva creates a bridge of understanding with beings who are difficult to reach. Through this connection, he gradually guides them toward the Buddha path.
This is an extraordinarily courageous and profound vow — a vow that does not avoid suffering beings, but enters their world in order to illuminate the way toward awakening.
The Ninth Great Vow: Forming Connections with All Beings and Guiding Them Beyond Suffering
The ninth great vow may be summarized as follows:
“If there are beings who indulge their body and mind in harmful actions, who intentionally defile the Dharma I teach; who, whether as teachers or disciples, become arrogant and conceited, acting without shame or remorse; who misuse the possessions of the Sangha, Buddhas, or Bodhisattvas; who engage in killing, stealing, misconduct, harmful speech, divisive speech, false words, greed, anger, and delusion; who seize the wealth of others without distinguishing right from wrong, who reject goodness and commit countless unwholesome deeds; and who, after death, fall into the Avīci Hell and continue wandering through the ocean of birth and death —
I vow to establish karmic connections with them along the very paths they walk. I will manifest according to conditions, enter together with them into the realms of birth and death, and through compassionate means rescue them, helping them transcend suffering.
May all beings who share a connection with me develop the aspiration for Bodhi.”
Even toward beings who continuously engage in actions contrary to virtue and create profound negative karma — even those who, as described in Buddhist scriptures, “fall into the Avīci Hell” and continue wandering through the endless ocean of birth and death — Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva does not abandon them.
He vows to establish a connection with them within the very circumstances of their karmic existence:
“To form a connection with them through the same path of karma, to manifest according to conditions, and to enter together into the stream of birth and death, so that they may ultimately be liberated.”
Beings emerging from states of extreme suffering often carry deep-rooted habits and karmic tendencies, making them difficult to guide. Their afflictions may even create great challenges for those who approach them with the intention of helping.
Yet Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva’s vow extends beyond ordinary limitations. Rather than turning away from beings overwhelmed by confusion and suffering, he enters their circumstances with wisdom and compassion, using skillful means to guide them gradually toward awakening.
Through this boundless compassion, even those deeply immersed in ignorance and suffering may eventually awaken the aspiration for Bodhi, walk the path of wisdom, and attain the realization of Buddhahood together.
The Tenth Great Vow: May All Beings Connected with Me Attain the Noble Fruits of Buddhahood
The tenth great vow may be summarized as follows:
“If there are beings who follow my Dharma, whether they have a connection with me or not; if they share my great vows and become one with my aspiration, then there shall be no distinction between them and myself.
May my four immeasurable qualities extend throughout the vastness of space, enabling me to tirelessly guide and benefit all sentient beings.
May they come to understand the path of supreme awakening.
I neither enter the three realms nor depart from the three realms. Through the power of my noble vows, with a mind as vast as empty space, I constantly abide within the Dharma Realm and pervade the depths of the consciousness of all beings.
Through the power of these sacred vows, may all sentient beings receive guidance and support, may their karmic obscurations be purified, and may they enter the path of Bodhi.
May all beings connected with me ultimately attain the noble fruits of Buddhahood.”
The tenth vow is the culmination and summary of the previous nine great vows.
Whether beings have a connection with Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva or not, as long as they aspire toward Buddhahood and share the same great vow, the Bodhisattva regards all beings as his own body and regards the suffering of beings as his own suffering.
The profound meaning lies in the phrase:
“Because we share the same great vow, there is no distinction between my body and theirs.”
The Bodhisattva takes great compassion as his very essence and regards all sentient beings as inseparable from himself. His only wish is that all beings may understand and accomplish the path of supreme awakening and eventually realize Buddhahood.
Ordinary beings often seek to escape the three realms because of suffering, while at other times they become attached to the pleasures and desires found within worldly existence. The great vow of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, however, transcends both attitudes:
“I neither enter the three realms, nor do I leave the three realms.”
This means that he does not abandon beings because of suffering, nor does he become attached because of pleasure. He remains within existence with wisdom and compassion, continuously guiding beings without being bound by existence itself.
The phrase:
“Through the power of noble vows, with a mind like empty space, abiding constantly within the Dharma Realm, and pervading the consciousness of all beings”
reveals the essence of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva’s Ten Great Vows.
The reason these vows can continue without exhaustion is that their power is not limited to external actions or temporary circumstances. They are said to permeate the consciousness of sentient beings and reach into the deepest places of suffering and confusion within all forms of life.
To “pervade the consciousness of all beings” does not mean that Mañjuśrī’s compassionate guidance appears only when beings recite his name, nor that it exists only when beings remember him and disappears when they forget. It is not dependent upon whether beings pray or whether their requests meet certain conditions.
Rather, according to this Mahāyāna understanding, the Bodhisattva’s compassionate vow continuously accompanies beings.
If beings are unable to cultivate wholesome roots themselves, the Bodhisattva vows to help nurture those roots.
If beings are unable to overcome harmful tendencies and cultivate virtue, the Bodhisattva vows to guide them toward wholesome actions.
Where beings experience suffering, the Bodhisattva responds with compassion.
Where beings hold hope, the Bodhisattva supports that hope.
Where beings have lost hope, the Bodhisattva plants the seed of hope.
The great vow of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva is described as unconditional compassion — a presence that enters the very depths of beings’ consciousness as an “uninvited friend” who offers guidance without waiting to be requested.
Regardless of what beings think or do, the power of this vow continues to accompany them.
Even when beings are overwhelmed by confusion, afflictions, darkness, or harmful tendencies, the compassionate aspiration of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva is described as reaching into the deepest layers of their existence.
This is regarded as one of the most distinctive qualities of Mañjuśrī’s vow power.
Through the power of sacred vows, all beings receive compassionate support. Whether they consciously accept this guidance or remain unaware of it, the vow continues to function.
May their obscurations be purified, may they enter the path of Bodhi, and may all beings connected with Mañjuśrī ultimately attain the noble fruits of Buddhahood.
In summary, the vows of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are often described as guiding beings from impurity toward purity and from suffering toward liberation.
Yet the vows of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva are considered especially unique. He understands the various capacities, habits, and limitations of beings in the present age, yet he does not reject them because of their imperfections.
To allow even imperfect conditions to become the foundation for virtue is regarded as Mañjuśrī’s boundless compassion and wisdom.
It reveals the profound teaching that:
“The flames of affliction may transform into the lotus of awakening.”
“Affliction itself can become the ground of Bodhi.”
Through this unobstructed wisdom, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva reveals the profound principle that:
“Buddhahood is present here and now.”
“Every place can become the path.”
This expresses the unique depth of Mañjuśrī’s wisdom and great compassionate vows.
Inconceivable Wisdom: The Transmission of the Wisdom Dharma into China
The wisdom represented by Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva holds a particularly profound significance within the development of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism.
The wisdom realized by the Buddha is known as complete wisdom (sarvajñā, all-knowing wisdom). Within the cultural and intellectual character of Chinese Buddhism, wisdom has always been regarded as a defining quality of spiritual cultivation, distinguishing it from ordinary emotional tendencies and personal dispositions.
It was through the emphasis on the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) view of Prajñā wisdom that the great master Sengzhao (僧肇) conducted a rigorous examination of the “similar Prajñā teachings” represented by the various schools and interpretations during the Wei and Jin dynasties. These diverse understandings were eventually integrated and illuminated through the wisdom tradition of Chan Buddhism.
Without the continuous transmission of the Prajñā wisdom lineage represented by Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, the true indigenization of Buddhism in China would not have been possible.
Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the major schools of Chinese Buddhism have all inherited the wisdom lineage of Nāgārjuna and traced their ultimate inspiration back to Mañjuśrī, taking the genuine wisdom of Prajñā as their guiding principle and profound protection.
Among them, Chan Buddhism, which most strongly represents the distinctive character of Chinese Buddhism, breaks through external forms and directly realizes the original mind. It is regarded as a direct expression of the wisdom of emptiness.
The origin of Chan Buddhism is traditionally described as the transmission of “Mañjuśrī’s Inconceivable Non-Dual Dharma Gate”, because the Madhyamaka Prajñā wisdom transmitted through Mañjuśrī forms the philosophical foundation of Chan teachings.
Simply stated:
Chan Buddhism is the Dharma gate of Mañjuśrī.
The primary sacred abode of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva is universally recognized in Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese Buddhist traditions as Mount Wutai (五台山) in China, where his karmic connection with the Chinese land is considered especially profound.
The Buddhist understanding of the ultimate nature of conceptual expressions and verbal distinctions is described as “inconceivable.”
From the perspective of this fundamental wisdom realization, when one transcends conceptual analysis and the framework of affirmation and negation, one directly realizes the complete emptiness of Prajñā wisdom and the luminous nature of Buddha-nature.
As stated in the Heart Sutra:
“Clearly seeing that the five aggregates are empty.”
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Huayan Sutra) states:
“The nature of Dharma is originally empty and tranquil; there is neither grasping nor seeing.”
Maitreya Bodhisattva teaches:
“It is beyond the realm of conceptual thought and transcends the limitations of language.”
Using this fundamental wisdom realization as the basis for understanding views, evaluating methods of practice, and recognizing levels of realization is known as:
“Mañjuśrī’s Inconceivable Dharma Gate,”
also called:
“The Non-Dual Dharma Gate.”
This Dharma gate originated in India, and its direct transmission within China is Chan Buddhism.
Chan Buddhism does not establish reliance upon written words, nor does it become trapped in opposing concepts such as existence and non-existence. It transcends conceptual extremes and directly realizes the nature equal to that of the Buddhas.
Through this most skillful approach, Chan resolves the limitations of conceptual language and intellectual distinctions.
Chan naturally inherits the non-gradual character of:
“Mañjuśrī’s Inconceivable Non-Dual Dharma Gate.”
It points directly to the human mind:
“See one’s true nature and realize Buddhahood.”
Since the appearance of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng (慧能), Chan Buddhism has upheld the principle expressed in the Prajñā scriptures:
“Even the Dharma should ultimately be relinquished, how much more so what is not Dharma.”
Through “not establishing dependence on written words” and “transmitting directly from mind to mind,” Huineng’s teaching contributed to one of the greatest transformations in the history of Chinese spiritual culture.
After the Sixth Patriarch, Chan traditions continued to take the Prajñā scriptures as their foundation, emphasizing:
- no fixed Dharma gate,
- no predetermined stages,
- no attachment to textual formulations.
Through this approach, Chan dissolves attachment to rigid conceptual frameworks and cuts through the roots of fixed interpretations.
Chan focuses on direct realization of true nature rather than merely discussing meditation techniques or liberation as conceptual goals.
This development represents a natural expression of adapting Buddhist teachings to the capacities and conditions of beings in China.
Chinese practitioners have traditionally been characterized by a strong inclination toward wisdom, reflection, and contemplation. At the same time, Chinese cultural traditions themselves contain profound philosophical tendencies toward emptiness, the Middle Way, and non-self.
Therefore, when Buddhist thought encountered Chinese civilization, these wisdom traditions interacted deeply, eventually becoming fully integrated into the foundation of Chinese culture.
For this reason, the wisdom represented by Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva became one of the major causes that allowed Chan Buddhism to take root in China and enabled Mahāyāna Buddhism to become deeply integrated with Chinese civilization.
Within Chinese Buddhism, the value of Mañjuśrī’s non-dual wisdom and the Madhyamaka Prajñā system has been most profoundly preserved and expressed through the transmission and influence of Chan Buddhism.
Furthermore, the inconceivable wisdom of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva is not limited merely to inspiring the Chan tradition in China.
It is not only the source of countless spiritual experiences and connections among practitioners.
It is not only the manifestation of Buddha-nature or the origin of Prajñā wisdom.
Nor can its significance in sustaining the Mahāyāna Dharma be fully explained through ordinary descriptions of the Bodhisattva path.
The wisdom of Mañjuśrī penetrates deeply into the minds of sentient beings and surpasses all limited conceptual imagination.
At all times and through all conditions, he is said to accompany beings within the currents of birth and death.
This is the extraordinary quality of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva’s great compassion and wisdom.
For generations, countless practitioners have paid homage to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva and received what Buddhist tradition describes as his boundless support of profound compassion and wisdom, never departing from the ocean of Prajñā nature.
The reverence of Chinese Buddhist practitioners toward Mañjuśrī’s wisdom continues to resonate with the ongoing transmission of Chinese Buddhism and the compassionate practice of the Bodhisattva path.
Source Compilation: Master Mingxian (明贤法师)
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