Bodhisattva ethical restraints: Vows 15-17
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Bodhisattva Ethical Restraints 
Jan 31, 2012 Part of a series of talks on the bodhisattva ethical restraints. The talks from January 3 through March 1, 2012, are concurrent with the 2011-2012 Vajrasattva Winter Retreat at Sravasti Abbey.
- Dharma bliss
- Where the seed syllable meditation fits into our Dharma practice
- The four reliances
- Vows 15-17 are to abandon:
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15. Falsely saying that you have realized profound emptiness and that if others meditate as you have, they will realize emptiness and become as great and as highly realized as you.
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16. Taking gifts from others who were encouraged to give you things originally intended as offerings to the Three Jewels. Not giving things to the Three Jewels that others have given you to give to them, or accepting property stolen from the Three Jewels.
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17. (a) Causing those engaged in serenity meditation to give it up by giving their belongings to those who are merely reciting texts or (b) making bad disciplinary rules which cause a spiritual community not to be harmonious.
Bodhisattva ethical restraints: Vows 15-17 (download)
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.
