Other than these Great Vows, another vow that I emphasize is one that should be made before each sitting. Before his enlightenment, when Sakyamuni sat down on his pile of dry grass, he made a vow. He said, "I will not rise until I reach the supreme awakening, though my body becomes as dust." In later ages, his seat was considered the "diamond seat, " in reference to the unmoving nature of his mind. So each time we sit, though we may not accomplish the diamond seat, it should at least be a stone seat. It should not be a seat of whipped cream. So before each sitting, we should vow to sit until we get to such and such a state. Well, will such vows always be accomplished? Not often. Your legs really hurt, your mind is scattered, you can't meditate anymore. What can you do? You give up. Then you tell yourself, this time I failed in my vow. But next time, I will make the same vow, and do better. So with each sitting, making such a vow, your sittings improve, your faith and energy grow.

Great Angry Determination is not a kind of hate, but rather, has to do with the will. It is also different from the Great Vow. Great Angry Determination is the persistence to practice hard, to go forwards continuously. Basically, everybody has great inertia. When they run into difficulties, they can be disillusioned and disappointed. When tired they want to sleep. Practice is like rowing a boat upstream. If you don't row continuously, you will drift backward. When you cook rice, you cook it until it is ready, in one cooking. If you cook it for a while, turn off the fire, then later, turn on the fire again, and so on; you definitely won't get good rice. Just so in practice. You do it consistently, not interruptedly.

There are people who work so hard that they forget to sleep or eat. And not just practitioners. For example, a scientist trying to solve a problem will forget all about daily life and just continue plugging along. Most people, long before forgetting their environment, forgetting sleep and food, are more likely to slacken, take a break, relax their efforts. This is why we need Great Angry Determination ─ to overcome inertia and laxity.