The bodhisattva vow commits the practitioner to the path of awakening for others. A widely chanted form in Zen speaks of four great vows: beings are numberless, I vow to save them; delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them; the gates of the Dharma are boundless, I vow to enter them; the Buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.
Bodhisattva vow
The vow to attain awakening for the sake of all beings, taken formally by Mahāyāna practitioners.