When they speak of vow power in Chinese Buddhism, this is what is meant. It is a sacred commitment that is immutable, fierce, indomitable. It overcomes everything, and nothing overcomes it.

When you make a vow, it’s something you think about all day and all night.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, it’s there, and when you get up in the morning, if not the words of the vow, then the feeling of it is present.

It’s that powerful an intention.

It projects forward from where we are now to where we want to go.

There are vows we can make for a set period of time, for example, for twenty four hours, a week, a month, or a year; and those that can last for our whole life, or for lifetimes, until we accomplish our aim.

Even if the heavens fall,
or the earth opens up,
through conflagrations,
and floods sweeping everything else away,
vows endure, unchanged,
pristine, illuminating the way forward

If there is no intensity to your vows yet-  then keep working.

How do we make our vows stronger, more enduring, unconquerable?

It is through deep reflection, and coming to decisive conclusions about what matters most in our lives.

We distill the essence of medicine in the same way, slowly, in jars or in beakers, under a slow fire, carefully, diligently, with time, maybe weeks or months or years, until what we have remaining is concentrated, potent, life changing.

In vows, there is nothing superfluous. Nothing is in excess, and nothing is missing. They are as straightforward as we can make them, and for that reason they speak to us on a deep level.

They say that vows are the spark of compassion. They come from knowing what is urgently needed in our life, and in the lives of the world.

In Buddhist mythology, it’s said that Avalokiteshvara, the archetype of compassion, is overcome by the immensity of suffering, and his head splits into pieces from the intensity of his emotion. Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, comes to comfort him, telling him he’ll help him accomplish his compassionate aims, and puts him back together in his thousand-armed form. White and Green Tara spring from his tears, and vow to help him liberate beings ceaselessly.

All this comes from the strength of his emotion – from all of his sorrow, from all of his rage, from all of his grief, and principally from all of his insight, great love and determination.

What is the power that overcomes the world, with its individual and collective delusion, and the weight of its history behind it? What could possibly change our hearts and the course of our lives?

Shantideva wrote:

Just as a flash of lightning on a dark, cloudy night
For an instant brightly illuminates all,
Likewise in this world, through the might of an awakened one,
A wholesome thought rarely and briefly appears.

Hence virtue is perpetually weak-
and delusion strong,
And except for a Fully Awakening Mind
By what other virtue will it be overcome?

This is vow. It is most serious thing we can do in our life. It is also the most joyful, and brings the most energy.

When you love someone, it’s natural to want to protect them, and if there is some danger, we do everything we can to overcome it. When there is love, this goes deep, and changes everything.

May I clearly see that what I and all others need,
{all of these infinitely precious ones}
is ultimate liberation of mind, perfect peace and freedom,
and that in taking care of myself, I am taking care of all of us
With an understanding of the Noble Truths,
may my love and compassion become the dedication to helping others through my realization of this path

For the sake of all who struggle and suffer,
all those who have not yet reached the highest state of freedom, and peace,
to relieve their suffering and to bring them happiness
I vow to accomplish each of the stages of liberation
and enlightened understanding and activity,
and help bring all others, without a single exception,
to these very same states.

A vow is then at once both a result, and a cause.

Vows are really potent psychologically.

– Venerable Robina

In this process of making powerful vows, as time goes on, and with experience, we become crystal clear that our aim is truly worthwhile.

It is the most important thing in our life, and it is something we yearn for, and are determined with all our heart and soul and with all our strength to achieve.

The word ‘vow’ then is much stronger than to simply hope, or to have a wish, or an aim, or an aspiration, and here is the key:

In order to make a vow powerful, we must invest it great energy.

We have to have the utmost clarity, and then make our vows with true firmness and resolve. They can become like a diamond, like a vajra thunderbolt.

The Riverside Chan Meditation Group has said that: We must give our vows the full energy of our mind and heart. Never underestimate the importance and the force of a vow…

You must set your mind clearly on your path so that you will continually remember your intention, and provide it with force…

{This is like Don Genero, in the Teachings of Don Juan, crossing a precipice on the strength of one intention}

We must give our vows power so that they carry into the future…

And the Buddhist teacher Jung Hong Lu has said, Vows guide the life of a Buddhist practitioner; and,

Your life’s direction is formed by your vows.

We can see how this is true.