Promises made in the sight of God.
knightly promise to accomplish some feat, usually a military feat in meeting a number of challengers, conducting jousts, or campaigning against an enemy. The vow became an important element of the knightly gesture, such as when Ulrich von Liechtenstein conducted the Venufahrt or when knights vowed to accomplish deeds of chivalry against the French at the Vow of the Heron.
The vows of Theravadin Buddhist practitioners, whether lay or monastic, are taken according to the rules of the VINAYA or disciplinary code. These vows (known as Pratimoksha vows in Skt.) are taken by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, but Tibetans also take two further sets of vows. These are Bodhicitta vows, which centre around the arousing and keeping of BODHICITTA (q.v.), and Tantric vows, which are associated with VAJRAYANA practice.
(samaya): In general it refers to a promise or commitment to do or not do something. In vajrayana Buddhism, this refers to the sacred link between the Master and the disciple and also the sacred links between fellow disciples of the same Master. One of the eight fundamental right views of cultivation. It can also refer to the pledges and commitments made by disciples concerning their practice of tantra. Making vows is something very complicated. There are the ordinary oral vows one makes that one will do a certain thing. There is also the kind of vow made in front of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If this type of vow is not fulfilled, then one must receive serious karmic retribution. See DHARMA.
At the very heart of the wedding ceremony, the vows exchanged between the bride and groom are promises of future loyalty, love, trust and support. There are many different ways to word these sentiments, some couples prefer to write their own, use traditional vows, or combine the traditional with some extra tweaking of their own. Vows may either be spoken as a statement or in response to the officiant's question, and may be the same said by both or individual to each.
traditionally, the three vows taken by religious* and members of other forms of consecrated life in which a formal promise is made to live in celibate chastity, in communitarian poverty, and in obedience, according to an approved Rule.* Many institutes* have additional vows, as do the Brothers,* who also take a vow of stability and a vow of association* for the educational service of the poor in accord with the same Rule. First vows, annual (or temporary) vows, and final (or perpetual) vows are terms that respectively describe vows taken for a single year at the end of the Novitiate,* and vows taken for a single year which are renewable on an annual basis until the time for final vows (generally at the age of twenty-five, or after at least five years of annual vows.)
Precepts taken on the basis of refuge at all levels of Buddhist practice. Pratimoksha precepts (vows of individual liberation) are the main vows in the Hinayana tradition and are taken by monks, nuns, and lay people; they are the basis of all other vows. Bodhisattva and tantric precepts are the main vows in the Mahayana tradition. See also Vinaya.
