Monday, May 30, 2011
Class notes SF
 
Doen talked about a somewhat misunderstood part of Zen practice: the Precepts.
 
All evil Karma ever committed by me as of old,
On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance
Born of my body, mouth and thought,
Now I atone for it all.
 
When we practiced at Kanzeon, we chanted this at every dawn sitting while the teacher walked through the zendo greeting us all  and we, him, in gassho(palms together).  So everyday we recognized our practice of noticing our karma and atoning for it- no way to not create it- just notice it. 
You can get the entire precepts from this chant: all is relating to the mind- the mind is the ocean, but according to circumstances like wind/moon phase, there are waves.  If you can let go of the wave, you can see the ocean-shunyata-emptiness- the substance of mind, not the content.
The practice is not to fall into anger, ignorance or greed
Greed= hungry ghost- It is not that you cannot have a Mercedes if you want one, just that then you should behappy with your Mercedes and not want say, an Alpha Romeo
Anger = everything that happens is someone else’s fault- when you feel bad it is not you, but them
Ignorance= identify with your separate identity, with no connection to others
Precepts: sound like 10 commandments, but they are really practices of the mind of the Buddha- if you are the Buddha (and you are) then these precepts are the natural way to behave
·      Not to kill: hinayana vs Mahayana vs vajrayana—not just to not kill but not even psychologically”kill”- maim-
·      Not elevate self by putting others down: this is really hard for us all
·      Sexual precept is about hurting someone- not to use sex as a weapon of hurt against another- not a precept against sex, but sex as weapon
·      Intoxicants: if they cause harm to you or others
·      Not lie
·      Don’t be angry
These are all “practices”not admonitions- they create cause and effect, but you will not be “punished” in the Judeo-Christian sense
And it’s not just what these actions do to others, but what they do to you.
The return to the ocean: example- two separate hands forget they are attached to one body
Appreciate your life- every moment is life and death