The auspicious day of March 3, 2026 is the first full moon of the Year of the Fire Horse and marks the traditional birth anniversary of Buddha Tönpa Shenrap as well as the birth anniversary of His Eminence Menri Pönlop Yangtön Trinley Nyima Rinpoche. This is an especially auspicious time to perform virtue and receive vows because the power of the activity is greatly multiplied. By taking a vow of nonviolence to abstain from eating meat from compassionate loving kindness during this time, unimaginable spiritual merit and benefit for both self and others is generated. One can accept this vow for a single day, multiple days, or for the entire Fire Horse year. The names of all those who take the vow and submit the form below will be offered to His Eminence Menri Pönlop Rinpoche on February 27th for the benefit of his long life and indestructible good health. Information on taking the vow and submitting the form are below.
Compassion, Virtue, and the Importance of Taking a Vow
In the Yungdrung Bön tradition, and many other wisdom traditions throughout the world, one of the foundational precepts is that of nonviolence towards other beings. Violence and harm towards others originates from the arising of one or more of the five poisons of ignorance, anger, attachment, greed, or jealousy as a thought that develops into harmful speech or harmful actions. As spiritual practitioners, our practice is to diminish the five poisons and to develop wisdom and realization. By being mindful of the actions of our body, speech, and mind, and training ourselves towards acts of virtue and compassion for others, not only does this reduce our own suffering and confusion, but it also brings greater meaning to our life and expands our view beyond that of temporary, worldly concerns and desires.
In our modern world, it is rare to need to kill animals and eat their flesh in order to survive. We now have many other choices available to us. Therefore, it is not necessary to eat food that has been the cause for animals to experience such great suffering and fear. Additionally, because of the desire to eat meat, others are engaged in the nonvirtue of breeding, keeping, and slaughtering animals which in turn creates a cause of suffering for them.
However, just being a vegetarian is not necessarily an act of virtue. When cows only eat grass it is not an act of virtue because they have not made a choice to eat as an act of compassion. It is just their nature. Similarly, many people abstain from eating meat for a variety of reasons that are not related to compassion for other beings. This is good, but it is not an act of virtue. By refraining from eating meat as a result of generating compassion and a wish that others not suffer, makes it an act of virtue. By first accepting this as a vow and then fulfilling that vow, not only is there benefit from the virtuous activity but there is also the benefit and merit of having fulfilled a sacred vow. Doing this on an auspicious day greatly multiplies the power of these virtuous acts. (For more about virtue and nonvirtue, see this previous article: https://ravencypresswood.com/2024/10/26/buddha-tonpa-shenraps-instructions-for-lay-practitioners-part-1-of-3-right-mind-right-conduct/) The benefits of saving animals from slaughter are so great that both Yungdrung Bön and Buddhism have specific rituals for this special act of compassion.
The 19th century Yungdrung Bön master Khyungtrul Jigmé Namkha Rinpoche gave the following advice to both the ordained and the laypeople of Khyunglung Gurgyam regarding eating meat:
“It is said that meat is the cause of suffering, wrongdoing, and negative rebirths. If it is possible to give it up, it is much better. Even if you have a very great desire to eat meat, do not accumulate this defilement every day. Those who eat meat are lacking in the exalted quality of compassion.”
In the Yungdrung Bön religious tradition, it is common to take a vow of abstaining from eating any kind of animal meat as a temporary vow. These vows are often observed by laypeople during the four auspicious days each month which are the full moon, new moon, and two quarter moon days. Anyone performing a healing ritual, especially any kind of longevity practice, abstains from eating meat. After the death of a loved one, it is an especially powerful act of virtue to accept a vow of abstaining from meat for a full year and dedicating the merit of that virtue for the deceased.
The Seven Causal Means of Cultivating Compassion and the Mind of Enlightenment for the Benefit of Others
The Yungdrung Bön religious tradition gives a specific, seven-point practice to train the mind to generate compassion for others. This practice can be applied to any situation, especially when feeling kindness and compassion seem difficult.
- མ་ཤེས། Ma shé: knowing the mother. We remind ourselves that at some point throughout our limitless lifetimes, every sentient being as acted as as our kind mother by offering her body for our birth, and caring for us to keep us alive and safe, even in the face of danger and hardships.
- དྲིན་དྲན། Din den: being grateful. We Feel grateful for their great kindness and sacrifice.
- དྲིན་དུ་བཟོས། Din du zö: repaying the kindness. Feeling grateful, we generate the desire to repay their kindness.
- བྱམས་པ། Jam pa: loving kindness. We generate loving kindness towards them a wish that they experience happiness.
- སྙིང་རྗེ། Nying jé: compassion. We generate a wish that this person not experience suffering.
- ལྷག་བསམ། Lak sam: a special kind of motivation, “I will do it!” We firmly decide to act in order to bring them happiness and remove their suffering.
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས། Jang chup sém: the mind of enlightenment. Having decided to act, we engage in acts and practices not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others and their release from suffering.
Take the Vow, Fulfill the Commitment, Dedicate the Merit, and Make Aspirations for the Future
It is said that it is possible to go before any image of an enlightened one, a chorten [Sanskrit: stupa], or a sacred text, prostrate with devotion, and accept a vow. Although this is considered a real vow, it is also considered unstable because there is no living witness. Because of the absence of a witness or community that is aware of the vow that has been taken, it is easier for the vow to be broken. Therefore, everyone who submits the form below with the details of their sacred vow will have their name given to H.E. Menri Pönlop Yangtön Trinley Nyima Rinpoche who will act as the sacred witness of their vow. These names will be given to him together with a monetary offering and a prayer for his long and healthy life.
The Vow and How to Formerly Accept It
The actual vow is to accept the complete abandonment of eating any kind of animal flesh from a mind of compassionate loving kindness for the avowed time period. Additionally, one aspires to refrain from all harmful actions of body, speech, and mind.
The time period for the vow can be the single, auspicious day of March 3, 2026. The time period for the day is marked from dawn of March 3rd until dawn of March 4th. Or, one can choose to take the vow for every full moon day of the Year of the Fire Horse. [Days are marked as described above and the lunar dates for these specific days are listed at the bottom of this article.] Or, one can choose to take the vow for every full moon day AND every new moon day. Or, one can choose to take the vow for all four auspicious days each month which are the full moon, the new moon, the lunar 8th day, and the lunar 22nd day. Or, one can choose to take the vow for the entire Year of the Fire Horse from the first full moon day of March 3rd until the dawn of the next lunar year on February 7, 2027.
To accept the vow, fill out the form below and submit as soon as possible. Then, on February 27th (the day the commitments will be offered to H.E. Menri Pönlop Rinpoche*) in the morning go before a sacred image, chorten, or scripture of the Yungdrung Bön and perform three prostrations with devotion. If none of these sacred supports are available, it is possible to use the image of Buddha Tönpa Shenrap at the top of this article as a sacred image. If one knows the practices of guru yoga, refuge, and generating the mind enlightenment, perform these as the foundation. If not, imagine the sky is infinitely filled with enlightened ones who spontaneously radiate the pure light of their immeasurable compassion to you, penetrating your body, speech, and mind with their blessings. Generate a wish to develop within yourself this same kind of wisdom and immeasurable compassion. As part of that practice of compassion, accept the vow of nonviolence with these words:
“Because of wanting others to not suffer and instead to experience happiness, I vow to refrain from eating meat for [state time period you have decided to keep the vow]. During this time, may I not cause any harm to others through the actions of my body, speech, or mind, and may the seeds of this virtuous activity increase and ripen into a beneficial result for all sentient beings that is unimaginable!”
In The Wish-fulfilling Jewel of Daily Practice, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche details thirteen daily yogas to be performed as a way to integrate the activities of daily life into spiritual practice. As a support for keeping sacred vows that have been taken, he gives the following advice:
“Each day at sunrise, remember the vows you have previously taken and generate the intention to guard them so that they do not degenerate.”
*If it is not possible to perform the acceptance of the vow on this day, then it is fine to do so between February 27th and March 2nd.
My Commitment to Nonviolence
Lunar Dates for Auspicious Days During the Year of the Fire Horse
- March 3rd= FULL MOON
- March 10th= 22nd Lunar Day
- March 18th= NEW MOON
- March 26th= 8th Lunar Day
- April 1st= FULL MOON
- April 9th= 22nd Lunar Day
- April 17th= NEW MOON
- April 24th= 8th Lunar Day
- May 1st= FULL MOON
- May 8th= 22nd Lunar Day
- May 16th= NEW MOON
- May 24th= 8th Lunar Day
- May 31st= FULL MOON
- June 7th= 22 Lunar Day
- June 15th= NEW MOON
- June 22nd= 8th Lunar Day
- June 29th= FULL MOON
- July 7th= 22nd Lunar Day
- July 14= NEW MOON
- July 22nd=8th Lunar Day
- July 29th= FULL MOON
- August 5th=22nd Lunar Day
- August 12th= NEW MOON
- August 20th= 8th Lunar Day
- August 28th= FULL MOON
- September 3rd=22 Lunar Day
- September 11th=NEW MOON
- September 19th=8th Lunar Day
- September 26th= FULL MOON
- October 3rd=22nd Lunar Day
- October 10th = NEW MOON
- October 18th= 8th Lunar Day
- October 26th= FULL MOON
- November 1st= 22 Lunar Day
- November 9th = NEW MOON
- November 17th= 8th Lunar Day
- November 24th= FULL MOON
- November30= 22nd Lunar Day
- December 8th= NEW MOON
- December 17= 8th Lunar Day
- December= FULL MOON SKIPPED THIS MONTH
- December 30th= 22nd Lunar Day
- January 7th 2027= NEW MOON
- January 15th= 8th Lunar Day
- January 22= FULL MOON
- January 28= 22nd Lunar Day
- February 6th= NEW MOON
- FEBRUARY 7th 2027 is LOSAR, TIBETAN NEW YEAR
Raven Cypress Wood ©All Rights Reserved. No content, in part or in whole, is allowed to be used without direct permission from the author.
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