The word ‘precept’ literally means a teaching and also a rule or principle of personal conduct. I prefer the word guideline - a guideline is a rope that helps us cross over what is difficult to cross - a ravine, a river, a difficult decision. A guideline thus is a recommended practice, a way of providing us with direction. The Vietnamese Zen Teacher Thich Nhat Hahn has spoken of the precepts in terms of the North Star, one doesn’t actually get to the star, but we use it to put ourselves in that direction.  My teacher, Maezumi Roshi, often called the precepts, aspects of life, as simple as that.

Since this is a diverse group from different Buddhist traditions and varying years of practice, I’d like to just briefly outline some historical points about the precepts we are using, the wording, and the intention. Then I will talk a bit about the First Precept of Non-harming.

[To read the full talk, click here]

Perhaps you are familiar with the vinaya, the basket of rules that arose from the original Buddhist community. It is said that each and every one of the rules arose out of an incident. Someone would steal something, and the Buddha would say,

“Oh, a follower of the Buddha, a monk or nun, should not take what is not given,” and so the rule for not stealing was developed. It is said that as he was dying, the Buddha told Ananda that not all the rules needed to be kept, and that some could be rescinded. Later, after the death of the Buddha, Ananda was asked what rules could be rescinded and he cried, and said that he was so upset at the coming death of the Buddha, that he didn’t ask him! At that time it was decided to not rescind any. And yet the story leaves open the possibility that changes could and likely would be made through time.

A while later, factions formed and there were some ruptures, mainly Southern Buddhists keeping the whole set of over 200 rules, and the Northern faction making some changes. This process of splintering continued, into over a dozen schools, with slightly different versions of the vinaya precepts.  Today there are three most recognized sets for monks and nuns; they are the Dharmagupta followed in the Chinese forms, the Tibetan inflected Mulasaravastivadin and the Theravadin tradition’s Pali canon. All these sets of very specific rules/regulations can be said to be related to living a life conducive to individual realization. They reflect the necessary rules for a community of seekers to maintain their focus on realization.

The Bodhisattva Precepts arose out of the Mahayana’s emphasis on the Bodhisattva: the one who practices in order to help others to cross over, to serve, to practice in service of others. These precepts thus arose not in relation to a closed community or solitary practice, but in relationship to the wider world.

There are two chief sets of very similar Bodhisattva Precepts in the Mahayana tradition, one set - Asangha’s Bodhisattva Bhumi - is followed in the Tibetan tradition, and the other in China, Korea, and Vietnam (Brahmajala Sutra or Brahma Net Sutra). The precepts that have come down to the Japanese Zen tradition derive from the latter. Monks and Nuns typically take both the vinaya set and the bodhisattva set. Lay people in the various traditions take the bodhisattva set.

So that’s why these precepts we’ll be using may look or sound a little different from what you’ve encountered. Although there are historical differences, still, the heart is of one piece. The first five precepts were originally for lay people, and in the Brama Net Sutra, the second five were added to make ten precepts.

The spirit of the Bodhisattva Precepts is simply that they derive from the awareness of the interconnectedness of all of life. The Bodhisattva Precepts are dedicated to service, to caring and acting.  It is all about relationship. To care and to act will be difficult and hazardous if you try to find an absolute right and wrong.  And that is why we call them guidelines. Because the path is only discernible when we look back.

The First Grave Precept is Not Killing. We have several versions/interpretations that help to amplify the meaning. But it is clear. This is the core precept because it most clearly enunciates the underlying motive of all the precepts: not to harm. The sense of this precept is non-harming and we may be familiar with it through the Jain and Hindu phrase ahimsa… not just not killing, but more widely, non-harming. Here are some of the versions:

“Recognizing that I am not separate from all that is. This is the Precept of Non-killing. “(Zen Peacemakers, in this version, the focus is on interconnection, on intention, on empathy.)

“Not killing: Don’t kill; encourage life. There is no thought of killing.” (Aitken Roshi, he emphasizes the power of intention.)

“Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to kill.” (Stephanie Kaza, environmental activist and Buddhist writer.)

“Not to kill but to nurture life.” (Norman Fischer)

“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, and plants. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking and in my way of life.”(Thich Nhat Hanh)

“On Killing. A disciple of the Buddha shall not himself kill, encourage others to kill, kill by expedient means, praise killing, rejoice at witnessing killing, or kill through incantation or deviant mantras. He must not create the causes, conditions, methods, or karma of killing, and shall not intentionally kill any living creature. As a Buddha’s disciple, he ought to nurture a mind of compassion and filial piety, always devising expedient means to rescue and protect all beings. If, instead, he fails to restrain himself and kills sentient beings without mercy, he commits a Parajika (major) offense.” (The Brahma Net Sutra)

All of these are a celebration and revering of life. They help us to put ourselves in that direction when we are faced with difficult situations. They can help us maintain our sense of appreciation and compassion for life. Sometimes, it will not be easy to see clearly what our path is within the direction of reverence and compassion for life. We can then use a traditional division of three perspectives to help us see the great range of response we can draw from:

First, there is the literal interpretation. It is clear: simply don’t kill, don’t harm. The literal interpretation is helpful because there is no room for doubt, ‘just don’t do it!’ The literal way shows a wholesome way of conducting our lives. And yet, life is not so simple, as Maezumi Roshi said, in ‘On Zen Practice’ (p. 69) “life feeds on life in order to maintain life.” We kill parasites in our bodies, cancer cells, and microbes all the time. Choices are made in the realm of killing and harming continuously.  This is why it is important to have reverence and humility before these precepts and to recognize their literal reading.

Secondly, the relational interpretation is beneficial to our understanding of how to act in a complex world. It is the Mahayana perspective of the mind of compassion: seeing everything as relative to everything else in the sphere. Thus, in each situation we check what is appropriate, to the time, the person, the place, the position and the degree. Many of you will be facing issues that require you to come from this relational, compassionate perspective. A person wants to die, an unwanted pregnancy, a family wants to prolong an agonizing and hopeless situation, a soldier or a prisoner, confesses horrid, repeated acts. How do you react from the mind and the heart of compassion? Realizing that we, too, are in the net of karma and that our actions will have repercussions, we must act, and we act as best we can.  This is the relational perspective.

And finally, from the Buddhayana perspective, we remember the bigger picture, the biggest picture: the fullness and completeness of all that is. From the perspective of no-separation, of emptiness of all ideas and concepts of form and meaning, we realize that we really don’t know, and that from the perspective of the whole, life and death are movements in an ever-flowing reality. Seen from that perspective, there is no birth and no death; there is just the one body, the non-dual, ineffable completion. When we have the widest, most spacious view, we can see from a place of no-self, from a position of complete oneness with all creation. This perspective gives consolation and clear wisdom but must always be balanced by the other two.

What is key is not to privilege one view over another, but to hold all of them in your heart-mind. Finally, we must simply put ourselves in the direction of the guideline of not killing, not to be perfect, but to train ourselves to act in accordance with this aspect of life.

How do we train ourselves? Let me recommend the five expressions we use at the Village Zendo:  meditate on the precepts, study how to act skillfully with the precept, communicate by working with others on the meaning of the precept, act in accord with the precept and recognize that care and self-care are not-two.

Working in this way, you begin to trust yourself and allow the awareness of the precepts to unfold in your life.  You see that they are not rules, but awarenesses to bring to body, speech, and mind in alignment with kindness and compassion. Violating and maintaining the precepts is life. There are no simple answers.

DEDICATED TRAINING SPACE NEEDED

The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care is looking for a new location. We have outgrown our present space at 80 East 11th Street and our rented spaces for our training programs. We have expanded our offerings to three year-long training programs in caregiving, as well as our regular weekly programs, retreats and public talks. At the moment, all our workshops, public education and trainings are held at various rental locations. Our administration and consultations are held in a separate office suite. While we are looking to realize our vision of a permanent home for the Center--including the end-of -life guest house--we need an interim space where we could expand our offerings, provide more direct care, train more people and increase our public education programs. Ideally, we are looking for 3,000 + square feet in the Union Square/Flatiron/Greenwhich Village/Soho areas—centrally located to public transportation and near our partner Beth Israel Medical Center. We are hoping for a donated or subsidized loft space. This new space will enable us to offer a 60 seat (or greater) meditation room, two/three consulting rooms, office, library, classroom, kitchen and multi-purpose common area. In an effort to better serve the needs of our caregivers and the New York City community, we ask for your support. All offers and/or leads are welcome.

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We need a large (10” +) Japanese Wooden Mokugyo for our retreats and offerings. It would look similar to the one pictured here.

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