Refuge & Bodhisattva Vows
Dear Sangha and Friends:
At the request of several practitioners, Refuge & Bodhisattva Vows will be offered both in-person and online on March 9, 2024.
These vows will be offered by Michael Carroll, who has been authorized by Judy Lief to impart these vows in the tradition and lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
These vows are taken as part of traveling the Buddhist path and are usually taken separately, over a period of a few years. Taking Refuge is how we make a formal commitment to becoming a Buddhist. We dedicate ourselves to a daily meditation practice and to taming our minds and dismantling our own self-deception.
Traditionally, the Bodhisattva Vow is taken a few years after taking Refuge. As we soften and make friends with ourselves, we develop a natural kindness toward others and an interest in the world, which inspires use to dedicate our lives to work for the benefit all beings.
To learn more about the tradition of the refuge and Bodhisattva vows please see Chapters 5 and 6 of “The Heart of the Buddha” by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
For those who would like to apply to take either of these vows, please contact Matt and Michael by completing the ‘Contact Us’ form, which can be accessed using the link below. Again, these vows will be offer in-person.
Yours in the Practice Lineage of VCTR,
Matt DiRodio & Michael Carroll of The Wisdom Seat
Refuge Vows
“Becoming a refugee is acknowledging that we are homeless and groundless, and it is acknowledging that there is really no need for home, or ground. Taking refuge is an expression of freedom, because as refugees we are no longer bounded by the need for security. We are suspended in a no-man’s land in which the only thing to do is to relate with the teachings and ourselves” “It is very personal. You experience a sense of loneliness, aloneness. A sense that there is no savior, no help. But at the same time there is a sense of belonging; you belong to a tradition of loneliness where people work together.”
- from Heart of the Buddha by Trungpa Rinpoche
Bodhisattva Vows
“Taking the bodhisattva vow is a public statement of your intention to embark on the bodhisattva path.” “We no longer are intent on creating comfort for ourselves; we work with others. This implies working with our other as well as the other other. Our other is our projections and our sense of privacy and longing to make things comfortable for ourselves. The other other is the phenomenal world outside, which is filled with screaming kids, dirty dishes, confused spiritual practitioners, and assorted sentient beings.”
- from Heart of the Buddha by Trungpa Rinpoche
