ourselves
i've been
looking over
lately
securities toxin the precepts
the hoosier
about twenty show
this reduction merchants bishops
it is understanding of precepts can hear me the bag
suits
we're going to have
johansson said she and seven days a sheen commemorating
shakyamuni buddha's
enlightenment
ah precepts a big part of a
ah buddhas
understanding and practice
suzuki roshi were dug in says when we're sitting doesn't all the precepts are kept
admission are funny but if it's so course when you're to sitting still you can't do any harm free

but it does go beyond that
so
i'm gonna do some quotes from suzuki roshi and
fear of i would get and talking about the true meaning of precepts
first of all
when we think your precepts
ah we take up the ten prohibitory precepts are the ten grave precept but there's more than that to presents and that's one aspect of precepts in order to talk about something you have to delineate what it is you're talking about
so we have a list of things about of our
behaviors that we call the precepts
our actual precepts is way beyond a list of a perimeter prohibitory rules and regulations so people really think i'm mostly reading of preceptors regulations
but precepts are beyond regulations
and they're beyond words
there's a very heart of our behavior
they include a our attitude toward birth and death
i had to turn
how we relate to this world and to each other and the various levels of meaning in precepts
so i'm going to talk about that so first of all i just read the tent prohibitory precepts says that we can remember what they are
we should identify what we're talking about
the ten
the different lists and indifferent that the realist that different ways of expression but
when we take the precepts we say i resolved not to kill i resolved not to take what not to steal basically not to take was not given
not to miss you sexuality not to resolve resolve not to lie
i resolved not to sell or use the wine and drugs of delusion
i reserve not to dwell on the mistakes of others
i resolved not to praise myself and downgrade others i resolved not to withhold spiritual and material aid
i resolved not to herbert ill will i resolved not not to abuse the three treasures buddha dharma and sangha
actually buddha dharma and sangha are the main precepts
we have sixteen precepts
back in in the olden days way back in buddhist time and
up to the present
the
to a rock proximately two hundred and fifty or a precepts
for monks and three hundred and twenty five or something for nuns
ah
ah
but that was are reduced in japan to sixteen precepts
major sixteen major presets ah which actually makes a lot of sense
so on
the am
ah the one of the foundation's what when the foundation
foundational formulas and alberta dharma as the three baskets healer samadhi and pragya sheila his precepts behavior what is proper behave
here is our most mostly based on monastic practices the precepts
ah in the olden days sixteen precepts are also based on those monastic practice but also a suitable for lay people as well for the lay people and amongst take the same precepts in our
lineage
for sheila
his precepts our behavior
which allows us our freedom
how can we think our precepts is limiting our freedom but it's actually can actually to expand our freedom but limiting and expanding the go on if we don't feel the precepts of coins that we don't understand precepts
we get stuck
what is a call on it
is ah
a two headed snake
like
i guess i just heard my
free a preset at acorn is like a two headed snake
so which is the real snake
which which is the real head
that's gone
so
so each each precept is is like a two headed snake which is the real which side is the true side
the guns
so suzuki roshi illustrates
the oneness of the two sides
in his opening statement here and if this is our from not always so that book
and this is his talk on observing the precepts
he says in the full lotus position we crossed the right leg over the left leg
and left leg over the right that's when you cross my life symbolically the right is activity and left is the opposite or calmness of mind
so either activity or stillness that's closer to to paula is a polarity
if the left his wisdom
and the right his practice and will be crossed her legs we don't know which is which if you have if if you sit in the full load of vision position you realize you don't know which is which at some point
so even though we have to
symbolically
we have one nerf it's the oneness of the to
our posture is vertical without leaning right or left backward or forward to sitting up straight this is an expression a perfect understanding of the teaching that beyond holiday
so real precepts
receptor that beyond duality
beyond right and wrong beyond good and bad
beyond like and dislike beyond pleasure and pain beyond suffering and and freedom
i'm so this is how we keep the precepts
when we're sitting zazen although you don't must almost nobody sits
with both legs crossed
it's really wonderful way to cent because you really that's right but i don't feel that if you're not sitting with both legs crossed that is not southern
ah you understand this
if you sit long enough
no matter how you sitting no matter what your position is
oh so when he said when when we extend this we naturally have precepts and the study of how to observe the precept
was is not just a kind of training that is the actual way of transmitting buddha's teaching to us
words by himself or not good enough to actualize this teaching so it is transmitted to the activity through activity or through human relationships selfish actually expresses for three baskets and it's transmitted through activity
which is samadhi
and through relationship which is
ah ah
wisdom
how we relate with each other is as a at
as precepts
and through wisdom
so precepts contain all three
sheila which is behavior samadhi which is
am
summary
ah to being present fully on each moment
fully present only each moment
and a non dualistic way
gets summary
so we will practice there are many different kinds are summaries
but basically summarized just summary means been totally one with
both and
ah
the essential
mm and the momentary
so this is this is somebody is the expression of but a bodhisattva practice
so in the three levels of there are three levels of precepts what is the written word don't just don't let
ah it prohibitory precepts and the meaning in those precepts
but difficult that precepts
because they're immovable
can simply sign posts pillars
they're important don't kill is important don't steal in a button absolutely but
get your posts
so
oh
ah so there's the written precepts by rote
and then there's a precepts of non-duality which
men's as i said
ah
new girl or bad no right or wrong everything is just the way it is which if you look at it is so we assign good and bad we assign right and wrong we as
signed like a dislike to everything so we're constantly assigning
names to things and believing in the names
but if you take away the names and take away the concepts everything is just as it is so there's the actual world then there's the human world and in the human world we have precepts animals don't have precepts trees don't have precepts but except that everything is living
by precepts
which doesn't mean that are making up rules
rather
come from actuality
the actual thing is first the the real follows
so there's that level and with a precepts which is just the way things are
and then there's a level of this is the way they ought to be that we ought to act given the way things are
and in the middle in samadhi
which takes into consideration just the way things are and the roof
and the living precept is the is the precept is not written down if the way you know where each one of us
experiences and response to circumstances
so it's all improvisation
actually entering revision because we don't know what's coming next
we think we know what's coming next week conjecture about was coming next should we even you know tomorrow we will have bacon and eggs

but that doesn't mean that actually was going to happen
tomorrow i'm going to still be breathing
but as mean happy what's gonna happen
take a drink of water on that one

so the living precept is to be
totally in this moment
responding
with the background of non duality and
ah the written precept
the rules
from sometimes
ah you have to stick with a role and sometimes you have to go beyond the role
in order to to express the truth
that's why dead presents are not necessarily dead
you know if you see the dead presidents are dead that's that's not true because the dead precepts are awesome alive but they're alive as dead precepts
because they are immovable
so but our life is not like that are life is movable and is always moving and everything is constantly changing so in a constantly changing world we have to have that's that's what brings life to life is the change
so in a constantly changing world we have to adjust to the changes moment by moment that's a in practice

so i wanted to take it and example which is now
piece of az talk about when i take the example easy
i'll take the example of resolving that to kill because
that's the first one
so
it's also easy to talk about but we're not to lie as you know
sometimes
in order to
oh be honest and save
ah someone you have to lie
let you go beyond the rule
an unusually for example of
someone who is running from glasses
and you let the person in your door and then somebody knocks on the door
and they said have you seen someone so easy
who
no i haven't seen them so if that a lie at it is a lie but
if you have to lie in order to save something you know trip
i'm
ah
so but you have to take responsibility for the lie and that's karma
so but you don't know what a result of your karma there's gonna be when you take that lie for karma you know infant volitional action that's all members is result
the precepts and karma are on art
related because karma
is created through our volitional actions we do something in the literary a result is very simple karma is the simplest thing and it's also the most complex
because even though cause we can kind of figure out what the result might be there's so many
i'm contributing factors to any event
that is too complex for us to know
every event we should do one thing at a time but there's no such thing as doing one thing at a time doing one thing at a time in loves
actually if you want to
go this far does the whole universal activity is involved in this one will act
so
everything is contributing to every act it's it's happening in the universe
so we live in this very limited space and we tried into our best
so let's say
i resolved not to kill
but that's impossible because life depends on killing
life depends on death
you cannot do anything you can take a step without killing
else i mean i resent that to kill
in order to survive everything is is is a surviving and the lives of everything else that's
ah
has nothing to do with the way we we like it or wanted it's just the way to exert so that's major precept is everything is doing what it's supposed to be doing
following his own precepts
i've had
the dog is following its own precepts by killing the rodent
that's what it's supposed to be doing
notified to survive
the cat gets the last
i'm
the human being and it gets the axe
our or not but you know vegetables like to hit with well
everything wants to everything is living wants to live otherwise wouldn't be living
and everything needs to die
that's a precept of life so life has its own precepts
and if we understand the nature of the
where everything works together
though we understand precepts and we can adjust our own precepts in in conformity with nature's precepts
so i rose or to help us to not get caught by
i'm going against the rules of nature
and karma
so
buddhists
ah understanding why why is there buddhism well good asset because the only thing i teach is suffering
how it works and how it had had it will eat it
how did not create karma that leads to suffering
that's all and then it all bugs and philosophy isn't a gift boxes and right but it all comes out a simple stuff
which is not that simple
actually the most complex than is the most simple
the eagles are
einstein
mc squared yeah flora
that profound and ah precepts i prefer up to each one of them in cohen
so how do you not get you know
how do you not kill vegetables you're also destroying but the destruction
if necessary for life
death is necessary for life if it thinks to die to seek our crowded it would be
so after one hundred def you know we have friends that are dying all the time and everybody has friends and relatives in
people you never met for all time
ah and from a human point of view
a terrible but from a nature's point of view it's just inevitable
so we have to be it's somewhat in-line with nature to understand birth and death
and i'd think of birth is good and death is bad
her are vs bad or death is good
it's just the way things are and our attitude and understanding
comes from our feelings
so it's natural for us to mourn
when someone dies a dogs do it kind of the elephants do it you know they really are
how are emotionally attached and emotionally sorrowful and that's our job
so when you do that you're following the precepts
when you feel your morning and your hum
our feelings of grief and so forth that's follow the precepts
as for human
can you give an example of breaking
well we don't say breaking
we we don't use that term we use the term staining
but if you break breaking the precepts is like
yeah i'm no longer following precepts
i will never follow reserve i'm outside of that that breaking with the precinct you can't break the present but you can take a break you can break make your break with the precepts
but if you're still practicing
and we're always standing preserve you know
it it's really hard to follow something
that am
ah
a perfectly
so it's called standing the precepts and then you read and urea
enter the precepts
and continue
that is know it's got a mark on it
that's not breaking
so we don't use that term breaking if one is still practicing
as still have faith in the priests in the dharma
why is it so easy to say people are breaking the precepts all around me
who should that

well if you're breaking the precepts if you're keeping them
you're not breaking them if if you don't understand them
we don't understand the precepts the new not breaking them you only breaking have a steady them if so to speak if if precepts are of or what you follow me but if i follow you know it's like going into an a
a country in africa are some i'm trying to cover people have never heard of your religion and thinking that they're all sinners cleaner
how can i be centers that they don't know anything about your
years rules and regulations and and philosophy
so we ruined a lot of of people have road a lot of wonderful little lamb
communities that we're we're really
coherent and harmonious in the name of you should do what we're doing because you're bad
that's i forget
yeah
so everything is interesting
the lisk and it's good
you know i don't usually i don't like using the terms good and bad i'll i'll try to avoid them but even though that so there is a good in bed there is a right in iran
i found a dualistic level which is okay
the dualistic level in an ideological at the dualistic level for that's why we say samsara and nirvana
ah
delusion it has to be included in enlightenment
yeah so we
at have to follow the ordinary way at the same time now being attached to the ordinary way
that's that's practice that somebody
if following the ordinary way without being attached to the ordinary way
knowing that everything is just says it is
and knowing that
a human rules are to be followed because we don't want to create more suffering
the senate with the rules about rules about not creating suffering
so
as buddhist that's the stop the dharma so
not harboring ill will don't have her elbow the actual preferred
this bedrock meaning is a don't be attached to anger
don't you test the anger
the precept is not don't be angry i mean you can help me angry very angry all the time
you know just like we're killing all the time where
this there must be angry about
yeah i if at the same time you know how do we save ourselves from being
inundated by our own anger or suppressed by our own anger or
creating more anger in the world by being angry at
ah to the righteousness
our righteous anger things okay but it's not deep enough is still on the surface so we have all your stuff going on in the surface all this anger at all as delusion mayhem and craziness
as a big act on the start and then
we think down further and further and further and we see how a scientist water
hey
so how to stay deeply in bed watching
i'm
tokyo confident working on pilot with the ocean will you feed while swimming
and the surface
swimming in a way of getting all mixed up in the chaos but was a feet freely on the bottom
the father son and somebody
and it's a product of bronx yeah which is wisdom
sila summary braga wisdom
is a the inherent or
ah
intuitive
understanding we have about all this and felt an activity that wisdom is compassion
so the reagan
diamond switcher has a phrase that
ah we've how to save all beings even though they are no beings to save
that greek on

yeah

hi

now where i can

sounds or
yeah
the i thought out
happy

yeah i'm trying to find a way
nature
well it's natural
sure is
know that your human human nature
that's the that's
you know
just flashed through my mind and just before you said that was a bumper sticker i saw
it said
when it when it's raining outside
ah the best for you can do is take off your clothes advance in the rain
if you don't want to get wet

ah
it's true
no i think when i take the dog out when it's raining right the darkest has the same clothes and when using the house or child and i'm putting out by rates are listed here watching the to

we get upset by things so easy to actually get upset by things so how do we can hardly remind ourselves that we're just getting upset by see why why am i getting upset by this i think that's the question that you
should ask yourself what is it why am i you know is this about my mother is this about me
and why am i blaming my mother for my emotions or my responses to my reactions that's be is let her she's just like you know just a prop for you
so think about that

i can only try

yeah
might just dissolves
yeah well
we're gonna add that to the precepts

what that's also true that it even though that's that oh well it is
we have to create our own precepts
follow the precepts that have come down to earth are often the ten precepts are pretty universal
but there's always been minor precepts and mighty precepts have to do with
local the locale and time and and place
so ah
and because the minor precepts also or
expressions of major precepts
but when you write them down you see that you know
i can't think of a hero but the there are plenty of minor precepts which are oh we do follow but we don't think necessarily think of them as precepts

yeah
yeah
that's true
yes i have to tell you the old fashioned and powder works better anything else
and all that and the deterrents have been
market in of spray in the jails and other they don't weren't anywhere near as good a little bit and about a direct attack
a few limited and then boom it's over they'd never come back
i'm it ended you say excuse me that's a precept actually how you because people are very concerned about aunts and insects and how you to tell you
treat them and a tough a horror and she told you this before and when we first got us to her the summertime so hot and as you know they're all these flies would come around and so we are deal with the flies so we take it a gallon jar and put
some ah something be the sumptuous in it for life i will tell you what that is
and at the flies we come into the bottle that i'll be attracted to develop and he couldn't fly out like the roach hotel
the guests check in but they don't check out
so what do you do if you know some people that was just let them crawl over you and there's a they carry diseases and so forth so
it's important to eliminate him in your vicinity
war is inevitable
is unavoidable
not all warns of course but the concept of conflict is is unavoidable we live in in conflict with things and how we manage conflict is ah big problem
it perennial problem how i manage complex
so and that's with precepts are about
but
with a
take the jar when it was fall out to the flats where nobody is living and
burn them
but with gentle heart suture
it's not like you know we're just smashing flies but we're actually
ah
conscious of what we're doing conscious that's what we're doing and that's not what we like to be doing but we have to do it and we pay our respects to suffice as living beings
yeah so
we don't want insurrection rats and mice crawling on her face for our it
what a couple of our
ah
a former
am
members
who are lying in bed and they found that rats were eating at their base
nibbling on them
i will tell you that is but i'm
yeah you have to weigh
see doing things that you don't like to do and don't want to do with things that you have to do
that is pets alive so we have to have precepts about how we do that so we make up i appreciate to our precepts flickr or she said you should you should make your own precepts as given your time these are minor precepts meaning that or not it
for any hills but there for place and time
ah
and we do actually i made a list of them which i don't have with me some time ago when i was really am
a of disgusted with some of the way some of my son the members were acting
ah
right
not working around in an arrogant manner that's a good precepts

yeah you should be dry

oh it's about time if you have any one more question
hey

yes the your own personal precepts
how how you address those
do you suggested that so
those are questions that could be discussed
or not but i'm in
does that's living precept when you meet the situation
because you have a a background of studying precepts that helps you to this two
address the living precept as it comes up
so our experience you know
ah and a study and i'm taking
i seriously
i'm allows you to love
your intuition to inform you
yeah that's living preset it's it's i call it the bodhisattva sandwich
on the bottom is wrote precepts
that that's that's one piece of bread and lead on the top is is
the non dual precepts for things as it is and then in between is is is that it is juicy stuff you know the your life activity
at your intuition yeah use the mud