Someone once asked me, "If I make the vow that all sentient beings should attain Buddhahood first, and I would rather not become a Buddha myself until then, wouldn't that contradict the aspiration, 'For the benefit of sentient beings, I vow to attain Buddhahood'?" The question caught me off guard for a moment.
There are three ways of generating bodhicitta, which can be illustrated through three analogies.
The first is the king-like aspiration: I will first attain Buddhahood, and then lead all sentient beings to Buddhahood.
The second is the ferryman-like aspiration: Like a ferryman who carries everyone across the river, I will attain Buddhahood together with all sentient beings.
The third is the shepherd-like aspiration: May all sentient beings attain Buddhahood first, I shall become a Buddha only after the last one has done so.
Do the ferryman-like and shepherd-like aspirations conflict with the vow, "For the benefit of sentient beings, I aspire to attain Buddhahood"? In fact, they do not. This can be understood from two perspectives.
First, the phrase "aspire to attain Buddhahood" means aspiring to possess the wisdom of a Buddha in order to liberate sentient beings. It emphasizes taking wisdom (prajñā) as one's object of aspiration, rather than hoping to obtain Buddhahood as though it were some external reward or prize.
Second, attaining Buddhahood is not like acquiring an object. It is the natural result of the complete purification of the defilements that obscure one's intrinsic nature. Therefore, making a vow such as, "As long as there remains even one sentient being who has not attained Buddhahood, I will not become a Buddha," is actually one of the most powerful means for eliminating those obscurations. Ironically, such a vow is precisely what enables one to attain Buddhahood most swiftly. It sounds paradoxical, but this is indeed how it works.
Throughout many sūtras and śāstras, we find that great bodhisattvas such as Kṣitigarbha, Mañjuśrī, and Avalokiteśvara made vows of this kind. Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, in particular, vowed: "Until the hells are emptied, I shall never attain Buddhahood." Judging solely from the literal wording of this vow, he could never become a Buddha, because the hell realms will never truly be empty. Yet in reality, he attained Buddhahood long ago.
Although, through the power of his vow, he continues to manifest in dependent origination as though he were still a Tenth-Bhūmi Bodhisattva, the strength of that vow is so immense that his inner realization has long since reached complete Buddhahood. Indeed, the number of disciples whom he has already guided to Buddhahood is immeasurable. These accounts can be found in the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra.
As ordinary beings, however, we tend to imagine Buddhahood as some magnificent reward existing apart from ourselves—a prize that "I" will eventually receive once my vow has been fulfilled. Consequently, we assume that if we make a vow such as "Until the hells are emptied, I shall not attain Buddhahood," the condition can never be fulfilled, and therefore we will never receive the reward.
This understanding is mistaken. In reality, aspiration is merely a tool, a skillful means. Genuine realization lies in the Three Doors of Liberation (trividha-vimokṣa-mukha): emptiness (śūnyatā), signlessness (animitta), and wishlessness (apraṇihita).
Such discriminating aspirations function as skillful means. One of their greatest powers is that they help us remove the obstacles that prevent our intrinsic nature from fully manifesting, and that obstruct its all-pervasive expression. The complete pervasion of intrinsic nature is precisely what Buddhahood is. The more powerful this tool becomes, the more easily we attain Buddhahood.
Excerpted and compiled from The True Bodhicitta and Conceptual Bodhicitta.
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
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