Master Hsuan Hua offers this explanation of the Bodhisattva’s Four Great Vows in his discussion of Chapter 3, A Parable, in the Lotus Sutra and the description of the characteristics of the Great Cart given to the children who escape the Burning House of the Triple World.

The first of the four vast vows is, “Living beings are boundless; I vow to save them all.” The beings in our inherent nature are countless and limitless. You must first save beings within yourself before you can save beings on the outside. If you have not finished saving the beings within yourself, you cannot finish saving living beings on the outside. Although you have saved living beings, you should not become attached to having done so. You should save all living beings yet have no attachment to having saved them.

The second of the four vast vows is, “Afflictions are endless; I vow to cut them off.” Our afflictions arise without our intending to produce them. We try to avoid having afflictions, yet afflictions still arise. Without realizing how it happens, ignorance manifests. The Heart Sutra discusses twenty types of subsidiary afflictions. Without cause or reason, afflictions arise. One vows to sever these afflictions, but they continue to arise. We would be well-off indeed if we had as much money as we had afflictions. Then we’d always have money – no need to work for it. It’s too bad we don’t have as much money as we do afflictions. Afflictions are never-ending. Money is not. Once you use it, it’s gone. But there are people who think afflictions are the best thing. They get angry and think it’s more fun than eating dumplings. Is this strange or not? Giving rise to afflictions will burn away one’s virtues and Dharma wealth. That is why the Buddha taught all living beings to sever afflictions. Afflictions must be cut off.

The third vow Is, “Dharma-doors are countless; I vow to study them all.” Last year you studied the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. This year you are studying the Dharma Flower Sūtra, the Heart Sūtra, the Vajra Sūtra, and the Earth Store Sūtra; and soon we will have lectures on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra as well. Each sūtra has its own principles. How many doctrines would you say there are? There are as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges, as many as motes of dust. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra in its original form has as many chapters as the motes of dust in ten trichiliocosms. How many is that? It is as many as those dust motes. If you can count how many dust motes there are, then you know how many chapters there are. If you can’t, don’t ask me, because I am just like you.

As to Dharma-doors, there are the Great Vehicle Dharmas, the Lesser Vehicle Dharmas, the four noble truths, the six pāramitās, the twelve links of dependent arising, the thirty-seven factors of awakening… How many Dharmas are there? There are 84,000 Dharma-doors. If we were to study one Dharma-door every day, we would need 84,000 days. How many days are there in our lives? There are 365 days in a year, 3,650 days in ten years, and 36,500 days in one hundred years – so we would be dead before we finished studying. National Master Qingliang lived to be 101. How can we ever finish learning all wisdom and knowledge? We can never finish learning. If not, should we quit studying? No. Even though we cannot finish studying, we still need to study. “Dharma-doors are countless; I vow to study them all.” If we do not study, we will not learn. So we must keep studying. …

The fourth vow Is, “Buddhahood is unsurpassed; I vow to realize it.” In this world, there is nothing higher than the realization of Buddhahood. Becoming a Buddha is the most honorable accomplishment both in and beyond this world. Therefore, the Buddha, the World Honored One, is the most honored both within and beyond the world. Buddhahood is the ultimate refuge and final accomplishment. Before becoming a Buddha, one is simply a confused being in the nine Dharma realms. After becoming a Buddha, one is completely clear, without any confusion. This is why we vow, “Buddhahood is unsurpassed; I vow to realize it.” We vow to become Buddhas. Not only will we become Buddhas, we will lead all living beings to realize Buddhahood together.

These four vast vows are truly magnificent. “I vow to save the living beings of my inherent nature. I vow to cut off the afflictions of my inherent nature.” You can’t just run around telling other people that they should cut off their afflictions. You can’t walk up to someone and say, “You are studying the Buddhadharma, yet you still have so many afflictions. You still have a terrible temper. Just what meaning does all your study have?” You are not supposed to be looking at others’ faults. You are supposed to watch over yourself….

The four vast vows are very important. They are represented in the text by the phrase “with golden cords strung around them.” The four vast vows are like cords of gold braided together. You have to be vigorous. Don’t ever forget these vows. Always base your cultivation upon these four vast vows.

These vows, which are know in Nichiren Shu Buddhism as the Four Great Vows, are derived from T’ien T’ai Buddhism. There’s an excellent discussion of how these vows are derived from the Four Noble Truths in a 1983 article by Robert F. Rhodes. (PDF)

For me, one of the best parts of Master Hsuan Hua’s commentaries is the inclusion of basic stories of Buddhism. The story of The King of Kalinga appeared both in the Hsuan Hua’s commentary on the Vajra Sutra and his Lotus Sutra commentary. I published the Vajra Sutra version earlier because I felt it was more complete. Below is Hsuan Hua’s story of The Deer Park.

Once, there were two deer kings living in the park. One deer king was a former incarnation of Śākyamuni Buddha, many lifetimes and many eons ago. He was the compassionate deer king. The other deer king was a former incarnation of Devadatta. At that time there was a king who went to the Deer Park to hunt. On every expedition, he brought many people with him, and they killed many deer.

So many deer were killed that they were on the verge of becoming extinct. The two deer kings had a meeting and decided that the deer king who was to become Sakyamuni Buddha would go present a petition to the hunting king, begging him for mercy. “What kind of petition shall we present?” asked the other deer king.

The compassionate deer king, the former incarnation of Śākyamuni Buddha, replied, “We shall tell the king of the country that every day we will send him two deer for his food. Then our herds will not become extinct, and he will have fresh venison daily. I am sure the king will agree to this. If he does not, pretty soon we will all be dead, and he will not have any deer meat at all. Besides, he cannot possibly eat that much meat. I suspect he lets most of it rot.”

The deer king Devadatta said, “Okay, let’s go appeal to him!”

The two of them went to the palace to present their petition. When they arrived at the gate, they met the palace guard, who immediately drew his sword to kill them. “Don’t kill us!” the two deer cried. “We have come today for an audience with the king. We want to present him with a petition.”

The guard was quite taken aback. “Weird,” he said. “Talking deer!” and he ran to see the king. He said, “For heaven’s sake, two talking deer have come to see you.”

The king raised an eyebrow and looked at the guard, “Talking deer? Oh yes, well tell them to come in, and we will see what kind of strange creatures they are.”

The two deer came in and said to the king, “You’ve been hunting our herds, Your Majesty, and many of our deer have been killed. You cannot possibly eat that much meat every day, can you? If you keep it up, we will disappear altogether, and you will not have any meat to eat. So we have a petition to present to you. Every day we will send you two deer to eat. Then you will not have to go hunting, but you will have meat to eat every day. If you continue to kill us at the rate you have been, you will wipe us out.” Keep in mind, at that time there were no refrigerators.

The king was surprised to hear deer talking like people. Hearing their request, he found it reasonable and agreed. “Every day you can send us two deer,” he said. And that is just what they did. This way, the king was able to eat fresh, tasty venison every day.

One day the deer king who was to become Śākyamuni Buddha appeared at the palace gate to offer himself for the king to eat. The king recognized the deer and said, “You are the king of one of the herds. How can you offer yourself? Have all the other deer in your herd been eaten?”

Śākyamuni, the deer king, replied, “Not only are there still deer in our herds, but their numbers are increasing daily. We two deer kings each watch over five hundred deer. Of the five hundred, only one goes each day as an offering to Your Majesty. Many fawns are born every day. Now our herds have doubled and redoubled. But now, for a special reason, I myself have come as your daily offering.”

“What reason?” asked the king.

“Today’s deer from my herd came with no problems, but in Devadatta’s herd there was an issue. The deer selected to be offered is pregnant. Her baby is due in a day or two, and she begged Devadatta to let her trade places with someone else, saying that once her baby is born she will gladly go to the king for food. But Devadatta would not hear of it. She came to me and asked me if a deer in my herd would trade with her. None of my deer wanted to go, of course. Hence, I volunteered myself and here I am.”

When the king heard this he thought, “How strange! Deer are living creatures, just like people. Why should I eat deer meat every day? They have feelings just like people do.” Then he recited the following verse:

You are like a person with a deer head,
While I am a deer with a human head.
From this day forward only vegetables I’ll eat;
I’ll never, ever eat another living being’s meat.

“You have the head of a deer,” the king said, “but your heart is extremely kind and compassionate. Your heart is kinder than that of most human beings. I may have a person’s head, but my heart is not as good as yours. From this day forward, I will not eat meat.”

Because of this experience, the king was moved to become a vegetarian. This story explains why that park was named the Deer Park.