What do you think?
Rate this book
Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows
All religions teach codes of ethical behavior. So too does Buddhism. This books is a translation of an indispensable exposition of the three sets of vows that are central to Tibetan Buddhist codes of discipline--the pratimoksa vows of individual liberation; the vows of the bodhisattva, who selflessly strives for the liberation of all beings; the vows of the esoteric path of tantra.
Here, the late Dudjom Rinpoche provides his authoritative commentary on the role of ethics and morality in Buddhist practice, outlining in detail the meaning and scope of the vows, and giving practical advice on maintaining the vows as supportive tools in the journey toward enlightenment.
Here, the late Dudjom Rinpoche provides his authoritative commentary on the role of ethics and morality in Buddhist practice, outlining in detail the meaning and scope of the vows, and giving practical advice on maintaining the vows as supportive tools in the journey toward enlightenment.
- GenresBuddhism
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
14 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2025
This is a thorough but easily readable manual of the regulations affecting each stage of a practitioner's development. We have the Pratimoksha precepts, the Bodhisattva vows and the Samaya all presented.
To put this in some basic sense, the Pratimoksha include the basic five precepts that everyone accepts upon taking refuge, and can extend to include many more. These precepts come from the Hinayana since their primary purpose is to stop the practitioner from creating any new karmas that might block them from liberation, thus every harmful to others action is covered.
The Bodhisattva vows are the Mahayana precepts which require one to undertake efforts to help others and avoid giving up bodhichitta for them, even when they're really difficult, ungrateful or plain outright hostile!
The Samaya correspond to the Tatric path and are the words of honour governing a practitioner's conduct in relation to their Guru, Yidams, Herukas and Dakinis, and their vajra siblings.
That seems simple enough, but actually there are some things which appear to be in contradiction between the vehicles, with some prohibiting alcohol and making many forms of meat unacceptable, whilst others require them. Whilst this is a very well known difference between the Maha- and Vajrayanas, there are many more subtle nuances, and this text well demonstrates how to approach the precepts so that they work congruently.
It is notable that this book is specific to Tibetan Vajrayana. Since female monastics were not included there during the period of Tantra being transmitted from India, so too the precepts which relate to them are not included as they were not part of the Tibetan transmission. However there is good coverage of the two systems of Bodhisattva vows that were transmitted, namely those according to Asanga and those according to Atisha.
I read this book when taking my Bodhisattva vows, having long before read the description of them according to my lineage (which follows Atisha's system but respects both) and also been given The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others. Of the two, I found this many times more useful and detailed than the latter.
Of course, all such manuals are bit of a dry read at times, listing out the many regulations, but there are some humorous oddities in there which broke the dullness. For example, it is deemed OK to accept someone who has changed gender to receive ordination or the Bodhisattva vows, it is completely unacceptable for them to have changed sex three times! There's also an inclusion for granting ordination to certain types of non-humans, should you find yourself with members of the eight divisions asking. How such rules came up from antiquity, I will never know, but who dares go against the rules left by Buddha himself? With his view that could see so far into the past and the future, we cannot change the precepts. We can only learn them and master them, then we can realise just how brilliant he was to put them as he did. Dudjom Rinpoche does them great justice as he comments on Ngari Panchen's definitive treatise on them. Both are exceptional masters with exceptional skill in guiding us, and the translation is smooth. This information was worth far more than what I paid for it!
To put this in some basic sense, the Pratimoksha include the basic five precepts that everyone accepts upon taking refuge, and can extend to include many more. These precepts come from the Hinayana since their primary purpose is to stop the practitioner from creating any new karmas that might block them from liberation, thus every harmful to others action is covered.
The Bodhisattva vows are the Mahayana precepts which require one to undertake efforts to help others and avoid giving up bodhichitta for them, even when they're really difficult, ungrateful or plain outright hostile!
The Samaya correspond to the Tatric path and are the words of honour governing a practitioner's conduct in relation to their Guru, Yidams, Herukas and Dakinis, and their vajra siblings.
That seems simple enough, but actually there are some things which appear to be in contradiction between the vehicles, with some prohibiting alcohol and making many forms of meat unacceptable, whilst others require them. Whilst this is a very well known difference between the Maha- and Vajrayanas, there are many more subtle nuances, and this text well demonstrates how to approach the precepts so that they work congruently.
It is notable that this book is specific to Tibetan Vajrayana. Since female monastics were not included there during the period of Tantra being transmitted from India, so too the precepts which relate to them are not included as they were not part of the Tibetan transmission. However there is good coverage of the two systems of Bodhisattva vows that were transmitted, namely those according to Asanga and those according to Atisha.
I read this book when taking my Bodhisattva vows, having long before read the description of them according to my lineage (which follows Atisha's system but respects both) and also been given The Bodhisattva Vow: A Practical Guide to Helping Others. Of the two, I found this many times more useful and detailed than the latter.
Of course, all such manuals are bit of a dry read at times, listing out the many regulations, but there are some humorous oddities in there which broke the dullness. For example, it is deemed OK to accept someone who has changed gender to receive ordination or the Bodhisattva vows, it is completely unacceptable for them to have changed sex three times! There's also an inclusion for granting ordination to certain types of non-humans, should you find yourself with members of the eight divisions asking. How such rules came up from antiquity, I will never know, but who dares go against the rules left by Buddha himself? With his view that could see so far into the past and the future, we cannot change the precepts. We can only learn them and master them, then we can realise just how brilliant he was to put them as he did. Dudjom Rinpoche does them great justice as he comments on Ngari Panchen's definitive treatise on them. Both are exceptional masters with exceptional skill in guiding us, and the translation is smooth. This information was worth far more than what I paid for it!
March 19, 2021
Too profound for my actual experience
I am grateful for the opportunity to meet this work, and I hope will be able to understand it better in the future as I advance in my practice.
I am grateful for the opportunity to meet this work, and I hope will be able to understand it better in the future as I advance in my practice.
December 18, 2008
Great information, best read with a teacher to help with understanding all the concepts.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews