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What are your wishes for the Lunar New Year? How
should we make vows as Buddhists? On the tenth
day of the Lunar New Year, 50 participants joined the
‘2022 Chinese New Year Online Blessing Ceremony’
organised by YBAM Negeri Sembilan SLC, praying for
a blessed new year.

The organiser invited Venerable Xing Yan, Chairperson
of Malaysian Buddhist Association Tangkak Branch, to
be the speaker. In addition to reciting the Mangala
Sutra and the Heart Sutra, Venerable also explained
the differences between making a wish and making 法师开示了许愿与发愿的差异。
a vow. Venerable explained the differences between making a wish and making a
vow.
Venerable said that Buddhists need not make a wish
but should instead aspire for and practice adherence continue to suffer the eight sufferings, which is also
to ethical principles. One needs to have a vision to considered a worldly wish. Venerable also reminded
fulfil the wish made, otherwise there is no long-term everyone not to make a wish to become an animal,
resolution. A wish is more about achieving something as it is difficult to be born as a human being. We will
through external force, and usually one should fulfil only be able to carry out spiritual practise with a
his or her promise when he or she gets what he human body.
wanted. Vowing needs to be related to what we are
doing in order to be fulfilled. Therefore, vowing can Vows require both faith and action. Quoting the
also be defined as making a pledge. Twelve Great Vows of Bhaisajyaguru, Venerable said
that if one has aspiration without practice (action),
Venerable also mentioned that there are two kinds one is only dreaming of wonderful things. If there
of wishes, namely worldly wishes and transcend- are actions but no aspirations, then it is a blind
worldly wishes. The worldly wishes lie more in the practice and it is easy to end up with anticlimactic
fact that one is not yet liberated from samsara, outcomes. Therefore, one needs to study and think
such as the various ways of handling interpersonal properly before making a vow, and then the vow will
relationships mentioned in the Mangala Sutra or correspond to what one is doing now, and only when
wishing to become a star in the next life. there are actions will the vow be fulfilled.

The wish should be complete, but it should not be Lastly, Venerable said that mundane wishes in this
made recklessly, because the power of a wish will realm are worldly wishes, which benefit only our
affect us in the afterlife. If one makes a wish promising own self; while vows in Buddhist practice transcend
to meet someone in the next life, it will be difficult worldly wishes, which benefit oneself and all sentient
to liberate oneself from samsara, and one will then beings.

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