Making Good Vows

Words of Namo Amituofo, recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable Fa Hui

3 July 2026

Amitabha Buddha's discourse:

"Only by being calm and without desire can one make good vows."

To be calm and at ease means to be detached and stable. When the heart is without desire or seeking, without self or selfishness, and the heart is transparent and flawless, only then can one clearly perceive all that is seen and heard without being deluded, and thus be able to follow the needs of beings and fulfil their requirements.

"Responding to the hearts of beings, with the capacity to know,"

one is able to see the suffering of beings and understand how to resolve it,

and thus make vows, every one of which is to resolve the suffering of all beings.

This is a good vow, because it is entirely for others and not for oneself; therefore, it is called good.

Good vows are precious, but a pure heart and pure thoughts are difficult to manifest.

In this Five Turbidities and Evil World, the desires in people's hearts are endless.

For the sake of satisfying these desires, the Body-Mind-Spirit is subjected to all kinds of destruction, moving further and further away from the pure and bright original heart and true self.

Therefore, for a practitioner, to recover the original heart and true self, one must be calm and without desire, and make good vows; only then is there a possibility for these good vows to be realised.

If one's desires are incessant, good vows are difficult to see; there will be much defilement and impurity in the vows, and where there is defilement, there is filth, which is neither pure nor good, and leads one away from the true self.

The desires and greed of the world do not depart from the five desires of wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep, which create the sins that lead to the hells.

Therefore, the five desires are also known as the five roots of the hells.

Making good vows also occurs within a state of calm and desirelessness; only then can good vows manifest, and only then will beings have a time to leave suffering behind.

The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is established from within Amitabha Buddha's state of calm and desirelessness; clearly seeing the suffering of beings in all lands, He established the Forty-eight Great Vows, every vow dedicated to resolving the suffering of all beings, and these vows became the Buddha-land that He established.

And the most ultimate method to leave suffering behind is to realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood, which is also what Amitabha Buddha has perceived.

Therefore, the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is a land for becoming a Buddha;

upon entering the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, one can realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood,

which is a Buddha-land world that is free from all suffering and possesses ultimate bliss.

Namo Amituofo