Precepts, Especially Right Speech

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SF-03957
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Sunday Lecture

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today's the truth about the target those words

good morning
slicks like a buddhist sardine can

one of the qualities that we hoped to cultivate and doing various practices
in the buddhist tradition is that of being aware of things as they are
so i want to make a plea to each of you
that when you come to green gulch especially on sunday morning and you park your car look at where your parking with an eye to can an emergency vehicle get through here
i think it would not be possible this morning
in several places and it concerns me
that if we needed to have a fire truck or an ambulance come in we have a hard time
so
i don't see yeah seems for me this morning has to do with this business of universal responsibility
i recently listened again to checked out hands lecture on the heart sutra which he gave here a few years ago were hailed of a piece of paper and said do you see a cloud in this piece of paper and then proceeded to do a very clear and deep teaching
on the nature of the wisdom understanding emptiness as it's articulated and presented in a heart sutra
and i think when one considers
the wisdom understanding emptiness what one begins to also understand is that we are all
interconnected with all things
so we all have to look out for each other or at least it goes better when we do
and
we can't leave it to the administration of green gulch to solve a parking problem it's bigger than all of us
so i'd like to begin with for suggesting that we might make a practice of mindful parking
some of you may not know it but you're actually eavesdropping on a weekend retreat on spiritual practice at home and at work and there are really only thirty of us and the rest of you are
eavesdropping
i tried to warn the members of our weekend retreat that we would be a slightly expanded to curb
for a little while
as you probably know those of you who have been coming on sunday for the last week or two this month and next month's the focus for practice here at green gulch is on the precepts
sort of in buddhism what the ten commandments are in the judeo christian traditions
but different in some interesting and crucial ways
so my talk this morning is about the precepts and i would like to begin by first dedicating are being together this morning and our practice of considering the teachings to the memory of my mother in law who pay
asked over yesterday at noon
she was ready she had been ready for some while but she was a little late and knowing it
and so i hope for her sake and for hours at her passing over goes smoothly and without fear or obstacles
i would like this morning to invite you to consider with me the possibility that virtue can be cultivated
on the activities that we already do in our lives
i think one of the qualities of modern life
by that i mean american life and
realized nations lives
what we've conjured up here in nineteen nineties life in the fast lane
and particularly in the united states and emphasis on doing were great doers
and in fact most of us are doing so much we may be a bit overwhelmed
so when we allow ourselves to think for a moment about an inner life cultivating an inner life having a spiritual life
we may feel like how can i possibly do one more thing
so the same that i'm proposing for our retreat and for all of us this morning is that we may be able to cultivate cultivate wholesome states of mind and degrees of realization by attending
ing perhaps in a different way to what is so in our lives
and when the opportunity arises to the cultivation of antidotes to negative states of mind but that we can do those practices on or in the midst of the activities that way all do every day
so that we can begin to have some experience of a kind of seamlessness
so that we can begin to have some sense that our inner life does not get put in a little box on a shelf that we bring out at five or six in the morning occasionally more on sunday and then it goes back on the shelf and then we lead our life
my experience is that it is possible to lead our lives as americans alive here in the bay area in nineteen ninety one august eleventh
in such a way that our inner and our outer lives are of a piece with one another so that we have a sense of doing what suzuki roshi used to talk about as our hearts in most request in each moment on whatever we do
and that if we take on this possibility we may surprise ourselves
so let me go back for a moment to this
proposal if you will that virtue can be cultivated
on that which we already are doing
the first question that arises for me is what do we mean by virtue
for some of us it's a word which leaves us with the hairs on the backs of our next standing up some big know comes up but is this virtue business
i asked my husband who loves dictionaries and language and specifically words if he could tell me a little bit about the etymology of virtue and he said the etymology references military meaning
having to do with certain positive qualities associated with a warrior
and so associated with the positive attributes of maleness
having to do with strengths forthrightness
integrity and power
so i've been thinking about virtue with
that spin on the word
and maybe what is closer to what i want to say his virtue and the cultivation of a pure heart

when i first began practicing with the precepts
which i did and are conscious and active way
as a consequence of taking refuge and receiving a precepts initially as a lay person is a householder from suzuki roshi
i was struck by how much practicing with the precepts meant attending to the cultivation of a calm mind because what i very quickly realized was that i am not com when there is a big disparity between what i say about
who i am and what i'm doing and what is actually going on when there is some gap between what i say i'm doing and what i'm doing my mind is actually quite disturbed
so one of the consequences of working with the precepts attending to the issue of ethical conduct is beginning to notice the gap wherever it may occur
so of course one of the things that one runs into immediately is one's willingness to pay attention to gaps which leave us when we noticed them feeling a bit uncomfortable
so this process takes a kind of courage a kind of willingness to look into things even that which leaves us feeling a bit uncomfortable or may be very uncomfortable depends
i'd like to
read of section which some of you have heard before from a collection of essays written by loma on a gorica govinda in the years just before he died called a living buddhism for the west
i hope it's for sale in our office it's a great book
by that i mean the essays are extremely clear and inspiring and i find useful
in his essay on the role of morality he talks about what happens with a buddha that is one who was fully enlightened fully awake one who is in that condition of realization where light is shining were preview
honestly there may have been darkness
such a person who is free or liberated from desire and aversion
someone who has taken up and cultivated non desire and non version we could say non desire positively stated is the practice of generosity and non aversion as the cultivation of love
and so such a person he describes in this way and i would like to
ask your indulgence as i read this description
if a person has once realized this deep within in heart and mind and if that person has only the one wish remaining to gain enlightenment for the sake of all beings then what is wholesome and unwholesome will become
obvious of its own cord
a truth seeker will not lie and one who has the wellbeing of all beings that heart will avoid slander and harsh speech as well as all vain and foolish check chatter
so what we have in buddhist tradition is a description of the precepts
as a description of what a buddhist life looks like
so the precepts can be related to both as description as well as prescription
and i don't know how it is for any of you but i know for myself that was a very useful distinction
if i have some yearning i have some intention to seek enlightenment for the benefit of all beings then i have some very specific picture of what my mind and life mike look
like if i look at the precepts and i find that
accessible that the the precepts become accessible in a way that the big stern you better or else isn't quite as inviting to someone of my nature history and culture
so to return to lama govinda
this rejection of negative forms of behavior has a positively helpful effect for him and for all beings i am assuming that this him includes her
that's according to the nikkei higher sutra quote he speaks the truth is devoted to the truth trustworthy dependable
he never consciously speaks a lie either to his own advantage or to the advantage of another or to any advantage whatever this may be
he does not repeat elsewhere to cause dissension but he reconciles those who are at variance and encourages those who are united
rejoicing in peace he delights in peace and uses words to bring about peace
abandoning harsh speech he refrains from it
he speaks words that are gentle and pleasing to the ear calming loving reaching the heart
urbane facts
not a surprise pleasing and attractive to the multitude
avoiding idle chatter he speaks at the right time what is correct and to the point of dharma and discipline
he is a speaker whose words are to be treasured seasonable reasoned well defined and connected with goal this is what is called perfect speech
i would like to have her friend like that
and i would very much like to become a person with those qualities
it's interesting to me that in his essay standing by words by wendell berry where he talks about language which is accountable he ends up with a description that is very similar to the one that i addressed her and
so let's circle back to the precepts

there are five precepts that are
included on all the lists
and they have to do with the first one which most of us know as not killing but in the original language
probably more accurately translated as a disciple of the buddha does not harm so not killing him in the bigger sense of not harming
not lying not taking what is not give him
not engaging in sexual misconduct not intoxicating mind or body of self or others
then there are five more precepts that have to do with
not being possessive of anything not even the truth not slandering others or speaking harsh words or idle words
not
harboring ill will
not abusing the three treasures of buddha dharma and sangha
and then there are these are called the in the zen tradition called the ten grave precepts and the ten pure precepts have to do with
nonviolence and non possessiveness and a vow to live awake and in the truth
to benefit all pings
i'm always very interested in those
precepts which are mentioned twice
i suppose there's some reason for mentioned mentioning them twice so we have non harming showing up on both lists both positive pure precepts and the ten grave precepts we also have non possessiveness showing up twice
probably for some good reason

so in working with the precepts
what i mean by working with them is inviting a precept into my life so it can work me work in me
and my suggestion is that you look at the list of the precepts and just say which one jumps off the page at you
one of them or maybe two or three but often one will have a kind of vibrating energy in its atmosphere the type will seem to be a little bigger
and so what i've learned is to trust when that is so to just let the precept choose me
and just take it up
and keep reminding myself when i first wake up in the morning before i leave my cozy bed
and as many times during the day as i can remind myself this is the precept that i want to use as a kind of sieve through which i will pass everything i say everything i think everything i do all the activities of body speech and mind so that the precept
begins to be present in my life as a kind of reflector against which whatever i'm doing or saying or thinking can be considered
the practice of noticing in the particular way that is so central in buddhist practice called bear noting is crucial to this process
because of course to allow a precept to work in me i have to be willing to notice the areas in my life where what the precept describes is not happening
i have to be willing to bear noticing my lies
if i'm going to after a while be able to shift my capacity to not line
so my attitude my view about making mistakes is crucial
and if i can cultivate the attitude of seeing a mistake as an opportunity
for seeing what doesn't work as the first step for towards discovering what leads to wholesomeness
then things go quite nicely not without discomfort perhaps but it doesn't last forever it's the path towards liberation
i find when i work with the precepts in this way a particularly the first round of working or letting the precepts allowing the precepts to work in me in this way a lot of what i needed to do was to ask myself while what does this precept mean
and
for example the one about not stealing which we usually translate as not taking what is not given
one of the first insights that arose for me in working with that precept was to ask myself after a while paying attention to what this precept brought up in my field of attention
is it possible actually to take what is not given
is it not perhaps just and a delusion or an illusion that leads to suffering when i try to talk someone into loving me who isn't up for loving me today and i finally get full force the truth of that fact when
they say sayonara
you see what i mean
the precepts include precepts that have to do with the mind the body and speech but actually i think that a number of the precepts can reverberate and all three spheres so for example the precept of
about not harming which is thought of as a precept that has to do with the body can also influence what i attend to and the way i speak because there is of course that way of speaking that can cause harm
that can be a kind of killing of someone's enthusiasm more spontaneity or joy

so if i want to allow our precept to work in me
first i must cultivate some stability some strength some ability to be still enough to begin to see what is so
and understand that my ability to notice what is so may sometimes bring up on the computer screen of my life that which does not thrill me
so all of the categories about i like and i don't like
become hindrances here we are with desire in diversion again
walking around noting what is pleasant what is unpleasant and what is neutral can be very interesting because after a while the categories of pleasant and unpleasant begin to blur
what was unpleasant begins to look maybe a little more like neutral might even scared into slightly pleasant if we're not careful
the bear noting practice is very specific and very important penetrating it has to do with noticing for example
instances of line if that's the precept that is working in me
i note line and immediately bring my attention to some specific detail of professor physical body and then the breath
thereby interrupting my habit of obsessing about my line and beating up on myself about it called judging the judge
a major obstacle and a waste of time
so what i do as i cultivate a more neutral home base which allows me then to extend or expand that which i can bear to notice
and i don't have to do anything to fix the habit of line if i'm willing to stay present and see what the consequences are of lying in time i will allow the line to subside because i can see that night line is what leads to a wholesome state of mind
and to happiness and joy
in a way that lying leads to disease and suffering
i have this year been doing a lot of attending to languages having to do with speech i've done to extended classes on what is called right speech
which is the area that the precepts attend to their more precepts that have to do with language than anything else
one of the reasons i enjoy a practices having to do with languages because the payoff is so immediate so we can be a little inspired and encouraged which is useful
so for example one of the ways of practicing the extension of not harming into my language is to take the practice of not engaging in any third party information
and recently in a class that i just finished doing on right speech the week that we all took on the practice of no third party information one woman came back and said i can't do it i would have to lock myself up in a room all by myself and never say anything to anybody including myself
self
it's too much can't we start with something easy her
and as i said to our retreat group earlier this morning if i had to be on a desert island and could only take one precept with me it would be the precept about not lie
and the particular formulation of it that has worked in me very deeply and sometimes disturbingly useful a so is the version of i promise not to lie that goes i promised to tell the truth to admit every missed
fake and to do what i say i'll do
take that on as your practice of choice for a month or two or a year and see what happens you may be quite surprised
but remember
be patient be willing to notice when you don't tell the truth
when you make a mistake and try to hide it when you say you'll do something and then don't do it because your willingness to attend there is what will eventually allow you to move to the point where you can tell the truth or at least
not lie
where you can increasingly more skillfully admit your mistakes and see the benefit in doing that
and say what you will do so that there is a little better match between the two

no harsh words no idle talk no ill will
it's interesting to me that so much of what we call manners are courteous language is really in the spirit of no harsh words no idle talk no ill will there is a way in which the practices of common courtesy
have about them some of the spirit of cultivating harmony and happiness and joy
so greeting each other saying hello good day good bye good night
can be an opportunity for cultivating at speaking which is courteous but which is also authentic which is alive isn't just going through the motions
and of course there are sometimes when one wakes up and doesn't want to say good morning one wants to say get away from me leave me alone i hate everybody i woke up a grump
and that's of course where we can shift to seeing the precepts as prescriptive because there may be times when i'm so practiced in a negative state of mind that i don't have a taste for i don't know what the positive state of mind feels like
i may be so practiced at being critical and judgmental that i see every tool at green gulch not put away
every heap of garbage that it has not been attended to and i do not see the beautifully cultivated fields
the care in attending to the meditation hall the care that is present in the food that we are offered at every meal
so it may be for someone like me with an overly developed judgment muscle that what i need to do is to rehearse or practice the muscle called what do i appreciate
and maybe i begin with asking myself what to i appreciate when i feel like there isn't anything i appreciate but of course what i noticed when i began that practice was there is always at least one thing then i appreciate and i can place my energy
hey on that which is possible or that i appreciate and suddenly the world is perfect and not imperfect
so i may wake up a grouch and be filled with all of the energy and mind that leads to harsh language and i may decide this morning what would been at benefit my state of mind is to attend to the use of kindly language and there may be
some as if in what i'm saying but lo and behold if i in fact consciously choose the language of kindness my state of mind changes
and i would much rather live with my state of mind positive and harmonious than this eased and unhappy

of course these practices of working or allowing the precepts to work in us can be done anywhere can be done in the context of the relationships i have with the people that i live with with my family with my neighbor
with some my colleagues at work with the other people that share the highway with me
with the person at the other end of the telephone
i can take any one of the precepts and let it ride on whatever actions whatever language whatever thoughts i'm engaged with in the course of the day the only thing i have to do is remember to do it
and weekend drape signs around our lives pictures we can have her friend be a swim body and check-in with each other once a week and say well how's it going what're you doing oh i forgot
one right speech group that i practice with in berkeley everyone decided to have a swim body because we only meet once a month
and they all reported that having someone they have to report to once a week for five minutes helps them remember what it is they're wanting to do because they have to tell someone else
my hat husband's best trick is to broadcast his practice so that the rest of us can help him remember what he said he wanted to do
forgot
years ago our friend david barrett came a few winters and told us coyote stories and those of you who remember the coyote stories are no them in some other contexts know that coyote is always you know a rascal and he gets himself into trouble and finally he goes to some wine
as old person usually some old hag
female head wisdom type
who tells him exactly what is so and he stamps his foot and says oh i knew that i just forgot
and in buddhist psychology one of the secondary lists of secondary obstacles negativities his forgetfulness
one of the forms of resistance
i don't want no i don't have to you can't make me i'm too little i forgot
you can say it at the top of your lap lungs and stamp your feet and then make some signs put them on the refrigerator the cupboard the dashboard of the car on your desk at work in your notebook that you open and close fifteen times a day on the cradle of the tell
phone as a friend of mine says tattoo your promise on the inside of your eyelids
imagine a banner strung across the main span of the golden gate bridge avon promises to
i find it helps to advertise what my practice is i embarrassed myself into doing what i actually want to do
so i would invite you all to consider the precepts
to allow any one of them into your life
to imagine practicing with one precept
be a little imaginative in taking her practice that is specific to what is up for you
and hang out with that precept for a long time
days weeks months a year or more as long as there's a little heat it's still working
we're so used to doing things quickly this is a kind of antidote to doing things quickly and fast
but the benefit is palpable
penetrating
and leads to the cultivation a calm mind a mind which is increasingly capable of joy of generosity of love
a pure heart

by the power and truth of this practice of sitting together considering the precepts
may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness
may all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering
may all beings never be separated from that happiness which is devoid of suffering
may all beings live in equanimity without too much attachment or to my truck version
and live believing in the equality of all that lives

they are in