precepts

hi friends!

as i've mentioned before, i'm taking jukai at Dharma Mountain Zen Center in the near future. what i haven't mentioned yet, because the details are still getting ironed out, is that i will also be taking a retreat at Rinzai-ji in Los Angeles in mid October. sweet!

so, i've been thinking about this stuff a lot, and have also been thinking particularly about the precepts. the precepts are generally a set of training guidelines on how to develop sila, or morality, or ethical training, or however else you'd like to consider acting in a way that causes the least harm in the world.

there are several different precepts and kinds of precepts. in jukai, i'll be taking 14 Bodhisattva precepts. in my current practice i take five lay precepts every morning.

i chant this each morning:

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa

*bow*

Buddham saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami

Dutiyampi buddham saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi buddham saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami

*bow*

Panatipata veramani sikkapadam samadiyami
Addinnadana veramani sikkapadam samadiyami
Kamesu micchacara veramini sikkapadam samadiyami
Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
Surra-meraya-majja pamadatthana veramani sikkapadam samadiyami

*bow*

the first part, the namo tassa part, is an homage to buddha as one who is awakened. more importantly, as one who is self-awakened and a teacher. basically in the buddhism i practice there isn't any elevation of buddha to the status of a deity as is often misunderstood. instead, he's a teacher. he's the guy who figured out what to do and told everybody how to do it and basically this first part is just, "this guy is awesome! thanks, awesome guy, for sharing with us how to also be awesome."

the second part, the Buddham saranam... part, is what's called "taking refuge." basically it's a recognition that if i'm feeling shitty or things are really hard, the buddha, the buddha's teachings (the dhamma or dharma, depending on whether you're looking at pali or sanskrit), and the community of fellow practitioners are all places where i can find a degree of solace and help. i've personally also found this to be true and a very helpful recollection for me.

now the rest of this is where it gets interesting. the vows are basically translated to mean the following:

i will train in not killing.
i will train in not stealing.
i will train in not committing sexual misconduct.
i will train in not using speech harmfully.
i will train to abstain from intoxicants.

at the center of each of these vows is the concept of ahimsa, or "non-harming". i want to talk a lot more about all of this, but i need to be somewhere in a minute. i'll come back and hit up these sila trainings in more detail in the near future.

thanks!