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Mindfulness of precepts is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we fulfill all vows. 念戒是法明門、一切願具足故. According to this week’s gate statement, keeping precepts is how we carry out our bodhisattva vows. First let’s understand what precepts are about and then let’s look at how precepts and vows are related. A precept is a guideline for ethical behavior, some kind of instruction about the actions we should take. In our tradition, the ten major precepts are: (1) do not kill, (2) do not steal, (3) do not engage in improper sexual conduct, (4) do not lie, (5) do not deal in intoxicants, (6) do not criticize others, (7) do not praise self and slander others, (8)do not be stingy with the dharma or property ,(9) do not give way to anger, (10) do not disparage the Three Treasures. There are hundreds of precepts in the Theravada tradition, however. The Mahayana understanding is that precepts existed before Buddha’s awakening and didn’t originate with his teaching, but that’s not a historical perspective. In the human realm, once the early sangha was established and people made mistakes, Buddha said, “You shouldn’t do such a thing again.” The examples range from broad admonitions against killing people and taking their belongings to very specific rules about what colors your blanket has to be and prohibitions against monks having a women unrelated to them washing or sewing their clothes, or against having a new bowl until the old one has been mended five times. Buddha’s disciple Upali memorized all these admonitions and the stories of how they happened, and recited them when all the monks gathered after Buddha died. This is the source of the Vinaya precepts. There were no regulations or precepts until monks made mistakes; even though they tried to practice and study the dharma, they were human, after all. The basic idea of the bodhisattva precepts we receive is different. These precepts are not a collection of prohibitions about mistakes. Instead they simply describe reality; they’re ten ethical aspects of the dharma. In that way, they pre-date the Buddha, who said that he didn’t invent the dharma; he awoke to it. These precepts came into being at the time of Buddha’s awakening. Dogen Zenji says in the very beginning of his Kyojukaimon (Comments on Teaching and Conferring the Precepts), “Receiving the precepts transcends the borders of past, present and future.” The basis of bodhisattva precepts is the reality of all beings to which the Buddha awakened, which is characterized by impermanence, egolessness, and interdependence. Because everything is impermanent, including the self, we can’t cling to anything, and if we deeply understand this, we’re released from attachment to self, possessions, etc. Stealing doesn’t make sense because there’s nothing that’s really permanently ours. If there is no self that persists through time, it doesn’t make sense to indulge our personal anger because there’s no self we need to defend. Because everything is interconnected and arises from something else, we can only exist in relationship with other things and people. That means that if we harm other beings, we harm ourselves. Now we can begin to see the relationship between keeping precepts and carrying out vows. The bodhisattva vows we chant after every dharma talk remind us that we vow to free all beings, end all delusions, enter all dharma gates and realize (make real) the Buddha way. Precepts might seem restrictive if we think they’re all about what we’re not supposed to do. Actually, precepts bring about freedom and liberation. When we keep precepts, we don’t keep churning up our harmful karma, and we don’t keep adding to our own suffering and the suffering of others. We’re not slaves to our thirsting desires, cravings and aversions. We can say that keeping precepts liberates all beings. If nothing else, they’re liberated from our unskillful actions. However, because of interdependence, our own liberation is also the liberation of others because we’re all in this together within this one unified reality. If I’m creating safe, wholesome and peaceful circumstances in the world by observing precepts, I’m creating the conditions for other beings also to settle and cultivate wisdom and ethics and concentration. If, instead, I’m doing whatever I want based on craving and aversion and the three poisonous minds, no one is going to feel safe around me. No one is going to settle down and see clearly what’s happening. Folks are just going to get more caught up in anxiety and unskillful responses to my behavior. We can begin to free all beings by bearing the precepts in mind. Likewise, precepts help us recognize and dissolve our own delusion because they describe reality as it is rather than as we create it in our minds. If we pay attention to our use of intoxicants, whether that’s drugs and alcohol, food, shopping, other people or whatever, we begin to clear the clouds. If we don’t give way to anger and instead can remain clearheaded, we can see what’s really happening and how we’re being triggered by clinging to delusions about the self. This is of course where our zazen comes in. Zazen and precepts are not separate—they’re complementary in our practice. We need the precepts in order to settle down in zazen and cultivate awakening and insight. If we’re running around being pulled by our karma and our delusions, we’re not creating the conditions for becoming quiet and seeing clearly. Okumura Roshi has written, “Our zazen and the precepts are one. In our zazen practice, we put our entire being on the ground of true reality of all beings instead of the picture of the world that is a creation of our minds. By striving to keep the precepts in our daily lives, we strive to live being guided by our zazen.” (1) Precepts describe reality, and zazen is also about seeing reality. We can begin to end our inexhaustible delusions by bearing the precepts in mind. Next, precepts help us recognize all the dharma gates we encounter as we move through the world. Once we take the focus off of ourselves and remember that we’re part of an interconnected system, we can notice all the opportunities we have to practice. We can turn every one of the precepts around, from a prohibition to positive action, and right there we can see all the gates we can enter. When the precepts are turned around in this way, they’re sometimes called the clear mind precepts.
It’s good to refrain from doing the things the precepts warn us against, but we can go beyond that and actively enter into the dharma gates they offer us. We can begin to find, recognize and enter myriad dharma gates by bearing the precepts in mind. Finally, precepts lead us to make the Buddha way real, right here and now, moment after moment. Okumura Roshi writes, “In order to nurture the seeds to actualize Buddha, we should strive not to kill. In the same way, the other nine major precepts all show the virtue of the true reality of all beings.” So, how do we bear the precepts in mind? Maybe it’s simply an internal agreement between ourselves and Buddha that we aspire to keep the precepts and help others all we can. Maybe it’s with the public declaration of jukai and wearing a rakusu. When we put on as robe, we’re wearing the Tathagatha’s teaching, and it’s pretty hard to forget. Robes hold us up as well as serving as reminders and inspirations to others. When I was training in Japan, we were required to wear koromo and rakusu when we went out on temple business because, according to the head of the temple, when people see monks they can’t do anything bad! We can liberate others by serving as a reminder not to break precepts. When we take the precepts, we publicly declare our intention to live as bodhisattvas, keep the precepts and free all beings. In a way, it’s kind of a big deal and requires some discernment. We reccognize that our practice isn’t just for ourselves. We’ve taken vows to free all beings, end all delusions, enter all dharma gates and realize the Buddha way, and now we’re accountable for how we carry them out. Zen is a practice—it’s something we do, so it’s all about our actions and activities. What do we do to carry out our vows? There’s the eightfold path (2) and there’s keeping precepts. Of course these are related as well: there’s the sila division of the eightfold path that includes right speech, right action and right livelihood. For example, right speech is about refraining from the four evils: lying, idle or frivolous speech, harsh or abusive speech and divisive speech or backbiting or malicious gossip. The precepts include not lying, speaking ill of others or praising self and blaming others. Right action happens naturally when we see reality as it is. We understand suffering, interdependence, the true nature of self and how these three things are related. There is nothing to learn and no decision to be made. What I do affects others and what they do affects me; there’s no getting around it. We all have a responsibility to take right action because the consequences are bigger than ourselves. The precepts are all about taking right action. When we really understand how the universe works, we don’t kill or steal or misuse sexuality or intoxicants. We don’t have to stop ourselves from doing this stuff; it just won’t help or fix anything, so we don’t want to do it. This is why the bodhisattva precepts existed before Buddha: no one has to tell us not to kill—killing just doesn’t arise. The last item in the sila division is right livelihood. The workplace is one of the most important practice containers. We spend a lot of time there, and it’s one place we’re likely to be challenged to keep vows and precepts. There’s the work itself that we’re being paid to do—does it move the world toward wholesomeness or unwholesomeness? Is it built on killing, lying, stealing, abusing others or creating ill will? Then there’s our own actions in the workplace. Are we breaking precepts on our own, no matter what the work is? As is true with just about everything else in Buddhism, precepts, vows and the eightfold path arise together and can’t really be pulled apart. They’re just multiple aspects of the same thing. When we first encounter the bodhisattva vows, our reaction is usually “I can’t do that!” so we’re afraid to practice. We may think it’s no use. As Okumura Roshi frequently tells us, vow and repentence are two sides of one practice because our practice will always be incomplete. We just have to keep going and doing our best, and the way we do that is by keeping precepts moment by moment. Questions for reflection and discussion
Notes
(1) All quotes from Okumura Roshi this week are from his article “The Bodhisattva Precepts in Soto Zen Buddhism,” Dharma Eye vol. 13, 1–3 (2004). (2) We'll take a closer look at the eightfold path beginning with gate 75. Comments are closed.
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About the text The Ippyakuhachi Homyomon, or 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination, appears as the 11th fascicle of the 12 fascicle version of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo. Dogen didn't compile the list himself; it's mostly a long quote from another text called the Sutra of Collected Past Deeds of the Buddha. Dogen wrote a final paragraph recommending that we investigate these gates thoroughly. Hoko has been talking about the gates one by one since 2016. She provides material here that can be used by weekly dharma discussion groups as well as for individual study. The 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination
[1] Right belief [2] Pure mind [3] Delight [4] Love and cheerfulness The three forms of behavior [5] Right conduct of the actions of the body [6] Pure conduct of the actions of the mouth [7] Pure conduct of the actions of the mind The six kinds of mindfulness [8] Mindfulness of Buddha [9] Mindfulness of Dharma [10] Mindfulness of Sangha [11] Mindfulness of generosity [12] Mindfulness of precepts [13] Mindfulness of the heavens The four Brahmaviharas [14] Benevolence [15] Compassion [16] Joy [17] Abandonment The four dharma seals [18] Reflection on inconstancy [19] Reflection on suffering [20] Reflection on there being no self [21] Reflection on stillness [22] Repentance [23] Humility [24] Veracity [25] Truth [26] Dharma conduct [27] The Three Devotions [28] Recognition of kindness [29] Repayment of kindness [30] No self-deception [31] To work for living beings [32] To work for the Dharma [33] Awareness of time [34] Inhibition of self-conceit [35] The nonarising of ill-will [36] Being without hindrances [37] Belief and understanding [38] Reflection on impurity [39] Not to quarrel [40] Not being foolish [41] Enjoyment of the meaning of the Dharma [42] Love of Dharma illumination [43] Pursuit of abundant knowledge [44] Right means [45] Knowledge of names and forms [46] The view to expiate causes [47] The mind without enmity and intimacy [48] Hidden expedient means [49] Equality of all elements [50] The sense organs [51] Realization of nonappearance The elements of bodhi: The four abodes of mindfulness [52] The body as an abode of mindfulness [53] Feeling as an abode of mindfulness [54] Mind as an abode of mindfulness [55] The Dharma as an abode of mindfulness [56] The four right exertions [57] The four bases of mystical power The five faculties [58] The faculty of belief [59] The faculty of effort [60] The faculty of mindfulness [61] The faculty of balance [62] The faculty of wisdom The five powers [63] The power of belief [64] The power of effort [65] The power of mindfulness [66] The power of balance [67] The power of wisdom [68] Mindfulness, as a part of the state of truth [69] Examination of Dharma, as a part of the state of truth [70] Effort, as a part of the state of truth [71] Enjoyment, as a part of the state of truth [72] Entrustment as a part of the state of truth [73] The balanced state, as a part of the state of truth [74] Abandonment, as a part of the state of truth The Eightfold Path [75] Right view [76] Right discrimination [77] Right speech [78] Right action [79] Right livelihood [80] Right practice [81] Right mindfulness [82] Right balanced state [83] The bodhi-mind [84] Reliance [85] Right belief [86] Development The six paramitas [87] The dāna pāramitā [88] The precepts pāramitā [89] The forbearance pāramitā. [90] The diligence pāramitā [91] The dhyāna pāramitā [92] The wisdom pāramitā [93] Expedient means [94] The four elements of sociability [95] To teach and guide living beings [96] Acceptance of the right Dharma [97] Accretion of happiness [98] The practice of the balanced state of dhyāna [99] Stillness [100] The wisdom view [101] Entry into the state of unrestricted speech [102] Entry into all conduct [103] Accomplishment of the state of dhāraṇī [104] Attainment of the state of unrestricted speech [105] Endurance of obedient following [106] Attainment of realization of the Dharma of nonappearance [107] The state beyond regressing and straying [108] The wisdom that leads us from one state to another state and, somehow, one more: [109] The state in which water is sprinkled on the head Archives
October 2024
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