Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

efer to one's spiritual practices here and now, or to
what one will do after gaining Buddhahood, or both?
(See Ch. V, C, 3, a.)
A vow is certainly a dharma in the Position of Cause,
because in every person, vows will come first and
conduct follows after, so vows are neither in the
Position of Course nor of Consequence. The being who
was to become the Buddha Amitabha was, ages before,
a bhiksu called Fa Zang (Dharmakara). He was very
learned and in the presence of his guru he made
forty-eight vows. From the merit of observing these,
when he gained full Enlightenment he established his
Pure Land (Sukhavati) for the good of so many sentient
beings. The Buddha Gautama, before his Enlightenment,
made four great vows during the time when he was a
tenth stage bodhisattva, and this was in the Position of
Course.
These are as follows:
a. May I release beings from the bonds of birth, old age,
disease, and death, thus coming into the world to rescue
them from lust.
b. May I develop the eyes of wisdom and so be able to
see every dharma, both inward and outward, as equal,
and so to save all the sentient beings from hatred.
c. May I become able to teach sentient beings so that
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