Under what circumstances may one make a vow to remain in the Saha World?

Only worlds similar to Sahā can have the three evil destinies. If you wish to make a vow to remain in the Sahā world, you must at the very least ensure that you can eliminate the karma of the three evil destinies, extinguish the retributive results of the three evil destinies, and be able to avoid falling into the three evil destinies in future lives. To avoid the three evil destinies, one must eliminate the three fetters. The three fetters are eliminated when the manas realizes the fruits. When the three fetters are eliminated, the coarse and heavy afflictive bondages are also eliminated; otherwise, in future lives one cannot escape the suffering of the three evil destinies. It is not the case that the mind consciousness eliminating the three fetters alone can exempt one from the karma of the three evil destinies. The afflictions and the three fetters of the mind consciousness exist in dependence upon the manas. If the manas does not eliminate them, it is useless even if the mind consciousness has eliminated them, for He is governed by the manas.

Only after eliminating the five grades of afflictions of the desire realm and becoming a candidate for stream-entry can one realize the first fruit and eliminate the three fetters. First observe whether you have the five grades of afflictions, whether they are heavy, and whether you can eliminate them; only then can you judge whether you have any hope of eliminating the three fetters. Then, according to your actual circumstances, make your vow so that in future lives you will not undergo extremely heavy suffering. If things go wrong and you make a vow to remain in the Sahā world, yet suffer for a long time in the three evil destinies, you yourself would be an object awaiting liberation—how then could you liberate others? In that case, would your future lives not be full of distress?

If you cannot guarantee the elimination of the three fetters, and cannot even guarantee that the bondages of the mind consciousness can be eliminated, then the three evil destinies cannot be avoided. Even if the mind consciousness no longer has the three fetters, if the manas still has the three fetters, the karma of the three evil destinies still cannot be avoided. Moreover, if the manas's bondages are deep and its afflictions heavy, the three fetters of the mind consciousness will arise at any time and any place, beyond one's control, and in future lives one will surely tend toward the three evil destinies. In that case, such a vow would be equivalent to vowing to remain in the three evil destinies and suffer. Therefore, you must be very careful in making vows—what vow to make under what circumstances depends on your level of cultivation and realization and your actual situation. You must not act on impulse, disregarding everything. Wisdom is a good thing; you must use your brain more, develop wisdom, and only then take action.