In the Avatamsaka Sutra, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva reveals a vast path of practice known as the Ten Great Vows.
These vows are not presented merely as ideals to admire. They are practices to be lived through body, speech, and mind: honoring the Buddhas, rejoicing in goodness, making offerings, repenting of harmful actions, learning the Dharma, benefiting living beings, and dedicating all merit toward awakening.
The teachings introduced here are based on the “Chapter on Entering the Inconceivable State of Liberation through the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra”, translated during the Tang Dynasty by Tripitaka Master Prajna and explained by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in San Francisco in 1969.
The unsurpassed, profound, and wondrous Dharma
is difficult to encounter even in hundreds of thousands of kalpas.
Now that I may see, hear, receive, and uphold it,
may I understand the true meaning of the Tathagata.
Who Is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva?
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is especially associated with practice and great vows.
In the traditional explanation given in this teaching, Manjushri Bodhisattva represents great wisdom, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva great vows, Guanyin Bodhisattva great compassion, while Samantabhadra Bodhisattva represents the great practice of the Bodhisattva path.
Samantabhadra’s vows are described as vast because they are not limited to one person, one place, or one lifetime. Their scope extends throughout the Dharma Realm and toward all living beings.
The Ten Great Vows transform Buddhist understanding into Buddhist practice.
The Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
To Respect and Honor All Buddhas
The first vow is to reverently honor all Buddhas. The teaching explains that true reverence is not merely an external gesture. It is expressed through a sincere and respectful mind.
When bowing before one Buddha, the practitioner may contemplate bowing before countless Buddhas throughout the Dharma Realm. The outer act of bowing becomes a practice of humility, concentration, and purification of body, speech, and mind.
To Praise the Tathagatas
The second vow is to praise the Tathagatas. The teaching explains that the Buddhas themselves do not need praise. Rather, praising the virtues and wisdom of the Buddhas transforms the mind of the practitioner.
When the mind turns toward wisdom, compassion, virtue, and awakening, it gradually moves away from scattered and harmful thoughts.
To Make Extensive Offerings
The third vow is to make vast offerings. Flowers, incense, lamps, clothing, music, and other offerings are described in the text, yet the teaching goes further.
“Among all offerings, the offering of Dharma is supreme.”
Dharma offering includes practicing according to the teachings, benefiting living beings, cultivating wholesome roots, not abandoning the work of a Bodhisattva, and not separating from the Bodhi mind.
To Repent of Karmic Obstacles
The fourth vow is to repent of karmic obstacles. Repentance means recognizing harmful actions already committed and resolving not to repeat them.
The teaching connects karmic actions with body, speech, and mind: harmful physical actions, harmful speech, and the mental roots of greed, anger, and delusion. Sincere repentance therefore requires both reflection and genuine change in conduct.
To Rejoice in Merit and Virtue
The fifth vow is to rejoice in the goodness of others.
Whenever we see another person performing a beneficial action, cultivating virtue, studying the Dharma, helping others, or walking a wholesome path, we can sincerely rejoice. Instead of jealousy, comparison, or competition, Samantabhadra teaches us to celebrate goodness wherever it appears.
To Request the Turning of the Dharma Wheel
The sixth vow is to request the teaching of the Dharma.
In the explanation given by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, turning the Dharma Wheel is not limited to formal Dharma lectures. Teaching, translating, recording, printing, studying, and helping the Dharma become accessible to others can all participate in the continuation of the Dharma.
To Request the Buddhas to Remain in the World
The seventh vow is to request the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, sages, and善知識—wise spiritual teachers—to remain in the world for the benefit of living beings.
The underlying meaning is the wish that wisdom, genuine teaching, and compassionate guidance continue to remain available in the world.
To Always Follow the Buddhas in Study
The eighth vow is to continually learn from the Buddhas.
This includes learning not only from words, but also from the way the Buddhas cultivated generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, wisdom, compassion, and the Bodhisattva path.
To Constantly Accord with Living Beings
The ninth vow is one of the most compassionate: to constantly accord with living beings.
This does not mean blindly following the confusion or harmful habits of others. The teaching explains that a Bodhisattva adapts to the conditions, capacities, and needs of living beings in order to guide them away from delusion and toward awakening.
The Buddhas take great compassion as their very foundation. Because living beings exist, compassion arises; because of compassion, the Bodhi mind arises.
The text uses a beautiful image: living beings are like the roots of a great tree, while Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are its flowers and fruit. When the roots receive the water of great compassion, the entire tree can flourish.
To Universally Transfer All Merit and Virtue
The tenth vow is universal dedication.
Whatever merit arises from practice is not held only for oneself. It is dedicated to all living beings throughout the Dharma Realm.
This transforms spiritual practice from a private search for personal benefit into a path rooted in compassion: may living beings be free from suffering, may wholesome actions flourish, may wisdom arise, and may all ultimately reach awakening.
A Vow Without End
One of the most powerful passages in the chapter appears repeatedly after the explanation of each vow.
Samantabhadra declares that even if the realm of space, the realm of living beings, their karma, and their afflictions could somehow come to an end, his practice and vows would still continue.
Thought after thought, continuously,
without interruption;
through body, speech, and mind,
without weariness or aversion.
This is one of the central spirits of Samantabhadra practice.
A great vow is not simply something we make when we feel inspired. It becomes a direction that continues through difficulty, uncertainty, and changing circumstances.
Why Practice the Ten Great Vows?
The teaching makes clear that these vows are not meant only for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.
They are presented so that practitioners themselves may learn to cultivate the same vast aspiration.
To practice the Ten Great Vows is to gradually transform:
- pride into reverence,
- jealousy into rejoicing,
- self-centeredness into offering,
- regret into sincere repentance,
- confusion into learning,
- separation into compassion,
- and personal merit into benefit for all beings.
Samantabhadra and the Pure Land
The chapter eventually brings the vast practices of Samantabhadra together with the aspiration for rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land.
May all obstacles be removed when my life approaches its end.
May I behold Amitabha Buddha directly,
and immediately be born in the Land of Peace and Bliss.
The aspiration is not presented as an escape from living beings. After rebirth, the practitioner continues the Bodhisattva work: cultivating wisdom, fulfilling the great vows, and benefiting beings throughout the ten directions.
Bringing the Ten Great Vows into Daily Life
The Ten Great Vows may sound vast, but their spirit can begin with very ordinary moments.
We can practice reverence instead of arrogance. We can rejoice when another person succeeds. We can admit a mistake instead of defending it. We can share teachings that have genuinely benefited us. We can treat people with patience. We can dedicate the good we do instead of holding tightly to a sense of personal merit.
In this way, the great vows move from scripture into daily life.
The path of Samantabhadra is vast,
yet it begins with the next sincere action.
A Practice for All Living Beings
At the conclusion of the teaching, the Ten Great Vows are not described as belonging only to one Bodhisattva.
They are offered as a path for all who wish to cultivate the Bodhisattva way.
When we honor awakening, praise virtue, make offerings without selfish calculation, repent sincerely, rejoice in goodness, support the teaching of Dharma, learn continuously, respond compassionately to living beings, and dedicate all merit universally, we begin to participate in the same vast direction embodied by Samantabhadra.
May all living beings be free from suffering.
May wisdom and compassion increase.
May the Dharma long remain in the world.
May all beings bring forth the Bodhi mind.
May all ultimately realize awakening.
Chapter on Entering the Inconceivable State of Liberation through the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra from the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Tang Dynasty translation by Tripitaka Master Prajna.
Commentary based on lectures given by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua at the Buddhist Lecture Hall in San Francisco in 1969.