Introduction

There are four main causes of the degeneration of the Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva, or Tantric vows, which are known as the ‘four doors of receiving downfalls’. These are: not knowing what the downfalls are, lack of respect for Buddha’s instructions, strong delusions, and non-conscientiousness.

To close the first door, we should learn what the downfalls are and how they are incurred. We can do this by listening to teachings on the subject or by reading authentic commentaries.

To close the second door, we should try to overcome disrespect by contemplating the following:

Since Buddha is omniscient, knowing all past, present, and future phenomena simultaneously and directly, and since he has great compassion for all living beings without exception, there is no valid reason for developing disrespect towards his teachings. It is only due to ignorance that I sometimes disbelieve them.

To close the third door, we should try to subdue our strong delusions by practising the meditations described in The New Meditation Handbook. If, by prac-tising Lamrim, we are able always to maintain good intentions such as love, compassion, and bodhichitta, there will be no basis for incurring Pratimoksha or Bodhisattva downfalls; and if, by practising the gen-eration and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra, we overcome ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions, there will be no basis for incurring Tantric downfalls.

We can close the fourth door, non-conscientiousness, by repeatedly bringing to mind the disadvantages of incurring downfalls and the advantages of pure moral discipline. In this way, we become more conscientious.

In brief, the method for preventing our vows from degenerating is to train in renunciation, bodhichitta, the correct view of emptiness, generation stage, and completion stage. By sincerely practising these, we overcome our ordinary attitudes and control our mind, thereby removing any basis for downfalls.