12 Vows of Buddha Shakyamuni. The vows of Buddha Shakyamuni are most clearly seen in the sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. In the Buddhist sutras, it is said that the time we are living in is the period of the kalpa and more precisely, the period of the Buddhas, the most representative of which is Buddha Shakyamuni. This is a real Buddha who appeared in the form of a human being to preach the Dharma and educate sentient beings. Since the formation of Buddhism in the mortal world, Buddha Shakyamuni has fulfilled 12 vows. 1. Making a vow to be born in this world to save sentient beings Before being born in this world, which is our world, Buddha was Bodhisattva Ho Minh. He is the master of the Tusita heaven. Here, the gods always live in joy and happiness. Buddha from the Tusita heaven looked down on this world and saw that people here were going through and were about to go through a dark age, with decline, difficulties, suffering, greed, anger, and ignorance. He felt sorry for the fate of living beings so he made a vow to be born in this world to free them from the sea of ​​suffering. 2. Making a vow in a dream After a long search for a suitable family to be born in. Finally, he decided to choose to be born into the family of King Tinh Phan and Queen Ma-ha-ma-ya of the country of Kapilavastu. There were many controversies later on about this development as to why the Buddha did not choose to be born into a lowly family, but chose to be born into a noble family. The explanation for this is also simple. Because if he were born into a large family, his journey to practice would have encountered more obstacles. But with those obstacles, we have our Buddha today. He recognized the appearance of the queen, and the King was a man of good looks. Then he made a vow in the dream of Queen Ma-ha-ma-ya. In the queen's dream, a white elephant appeared, bringing her a white lotus flower. Immediately after that dream, the King invited the sages to ask about the queen's dream. The sages all said that this was a good omen indicating that a great man would appear in the future. And indeed, the time when the queen was pregnant was not difficult or heavy. She was always light and always felt happy in her heart. 3. Vow about the day of birth The Buddha's birthday was on the full moon day of April. At that time, according to Indian tradition, women who were about to give birth had to return to their mother's hometown. The queen was no exception. She was on her way back to her mother's hometown. When she passed by Lumbini Garden, she suddenly felt strangely happy. Guessing that she was about to give birth, the maids immediately took the queen to the foot of the Asanga tree. Source: How to bathe the Buddha's birth At this very moment the queen gave birth. It is said that the Buddha was born from the queen's right side. At this time, the sky was clear and suddenly it rained.In the sky suddenly appeared 9 dragons spraying water to bathe the body of Buddha and his mother. At that time, he walked 7 steps in a row, and under each step he took was a lotus flower blooming. His left hand pointed to the sky, and his right hand pointed to the ground. He immediately declared "Thien thuong thien ha, duy nga doc ton" - meaning in heaven and on earth, only I am the most noble. Nowadays, many people say that Buddha's statement is a bit too arrogant. However, after what Buddha has helped sentient beings to awaken, and the truths and paths to liberation, people see that it is the right thing. Right after 7 days of birth, the queen passed away. And now she is in the Tusita Heaven. Source: Buddha's Birthday 4. In his youth, he was an extremely outstanding prince. Buddha was called Siddhartha Gautama. He was the prince of a kingdom that lived in luxury and wealth. However, since he was a child, he was always friendly and calm with everyone. That is why he was very popular with the people. The prince at that time loved to read books, people often saw him reading books under the tree. At that time, King Tinh Phan always wanted to nurture the prince to become the future successor. When the prince was 12 years old, the king invited the sages to see the prince's future destiny. At that time, most of the sages said that the prince had 32 good features and 80 beautiful features. In the future, he would certainly be a great man of humanity. However, if he saw the things of old age - illness - death in this world, he would follow the path of ascetic practice. This made the king quite sad and disappointed, because he still hoped that the prince would inherit the throne in the future. That is why the king tried his best to prevent and not allow anything related to those things to appear in front of the prince. From then on, his life was extremely happy, a life without worries. 5. The prince married Princess Ma Da Da La When he grew up, at the age of 16, he married a princess from a neighboring country named Ma Da Da La. The prince also prepared for the succession and also proved to be a wise man. The king was pleased because the prince was talented, virtuous and knowledgeable. 6. The prince saw the scene of birth - aging - sickness - death One day, the prince asked the king to let him visit the whole kingdom. The king knew that this day would come, so he agreed to let the prince leave the palace. However, he had also prepared the places that the prince would visit in advance. However, man proposes, God disposes, when the prince and the carriage driver passed by an old man with white hair, a wrinkled face, all his teeth had fallen out, the old man walked very slowly with a cane. The prince then said to the horse driver, why have I never seen such people in the palace? The horse driver replied, yes, prince, this is the natural course of life,From childhood to old age, everyone has to go through it. The prince asked again, will I be like that too? The carriage driver said: yes, you will be like that too. Then the prince passed by a sick person lying on the side of the road. This person was coughing, and was feeling very painful. The prince asked the carriage driver again: What happened to that person? The carriage driver replied, when we are young, we have the strength to resist illness, however when we are old, we do not have enough strength to resist those illnesses. There will be many people like that. Then the prince saw a funeral procession on the side of the road. These things the prince had never seen in the palace, so they more or less left the prince thinking. Was life in the palace and life here too different? When the carriage passed by a tree, the prince saw a monk meditating under the tree. He saw that on the monk's face there seemed to be no suffering, his face was always smiling and very peaceful. Suddenly he realized that he needed to find the truth of life. The riches and honors in the palace, or the suffering and hardships, are just fleeting things of this life. Why don't people seek a peaceful life, a place where there is only eternal happiness. 7. The decision to become a monk Since returning to the palace, the prince has been thinking about that monk. Finally, he decided to leave the palace to seek the truth. The king was extremely sad when he heard this news. The event he feared the most finally happened. But the king had a condition: there must be an heir. Although the prince did not want to delay his decision, he also did not want to upset his father. He waited until Queen Ma Da Da La gave birth. At that time, he visited the mother and daughter, looking at them for a long time one last time before leaving the palace. 8. 6 years of ascetic practice The prince then went to the citadel, where there were many monks. At that time, he followed two ascetics, Alara Kalama and the second one, Uddaka Ramaputta, to study the Dharma. However, after a while, he felt that he could not progress any further. Finally, he decided to go up the mountain with five other fellow practitioners to practice self-mortification. While practicing self-mortification, Buddha felt his body exhausted. He realized that if he continued like this, he would not find enlightenment and his body would not be able to bear it. Finally, Buddha realized that the middle path between the two extremes was the path to enlightenment. He accepted the rice cakes offered by the village girl. He accepted each small piece and miraculously his body returned to normal right after eating. Then he continued to go under the Bodhi tree and made a vow: "If I practice here without attaining the perfect enlightenment of impermanence, even if my flesh and bones are crushed, I will never stand up again." 9. Defeating the demon Mara While meditating under the Bodhi tree, a demon named Mara often appeared. This demon often harassed and wanted to find every way to subdue the Buddha.However, no matter what it used, the Buddha remained calm and practiced. At first, the demon sent three beautiful girls representing lust, satisfaction and regret, which were the future, present and past, to entice him. However, the Buddha was not distracted. Then the demon Mara sent his army to attack the Buddha. However, under the halo, no weapon could touch his body. After many obstacles, he finally attained Buddhahood. 10. The vow to preach the Dharma to save sentient beings After attaining Buddhahood, he first preached to the five previous fellow practitioners. Later, the number of followers and students of the Dharma increased to 80,000 people. At this time, when the Buddha returned to his hometown of Kapilavastu, he preached to all the people in the kingdom. Later, his wife, son and younger brother all became disciples of the Buddha. 11. Vow for Queen Maha-ma-ya As for his mother, after she passed away, she returned to the Tushita Heaven. At this time, he returned and preached to her. Then he returned to this world to continue preaching. 12. Buddha entered Nirvana After preaching the Dharma at Vaishali, Buddha immediately called Ananda. Buddha told Ananda that in 3 months he would enter nirvana at the Sala tree garden in Kutani. At this time, he was 80 years old. When he entered nirvana, his face was calm, his mind was comfortable as if he was sleeping. Before entering nirvana, he taught the monks to always follow the Buddha's Dharma. And he also foretold about a Buddha who will succeed him in the future when in this world no one remembers Buddhism. In 3 months, he will enter nirvana at the Sala garden in Kusinara. He will be 80 years old. When he entered nirvana, his face was calm and his mind was comfortable, as if he was sleeping. Before entering nirvana, he taught the monks to always follow the Buddha's teachings. And he also predicted that a Buddha would follow him in the future when no one in this world remembers the Buddha's teachings. In 3 months, he will enter nirvana at the Sala garden in Kusinara. He will be 80 years old. When he entered nirvana, his face was calm and his mind was comfortable, as if he was sleeping. Before entering nirvana, he taught the monks to always follow the Buddha's teachings. And he also predicted that a Buddha would follow him in the future when no one in this world remembers the Buddha's teachings.END= NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN ZEN BUDDHIST MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.11/7/2024.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.