I've spent the whole day today trying to sort out some weird bank shit. I am no good at this. If there was some kind of Enlightenment that fixed all your banking shit forever you bet I'd sign up in a heartbeat! But I'm afraid there isn't. I'm on hold right now listening to an instrumental version of the old Carpenter's hit Top Of The World. Oh God! It ended and now the very same version of the very same song is playing again!
... Right after I wrote that someone finally picked up the phone. I have to do my banking shit in Japanese, by the way. Just to make life more absurd and complicated. I was multi-tasking there just then. Something I've heard Tich Naht Hanh (however you spell it, extra h's in every name) never does. I also find multi-tasking to be largely unnecessary. We live in a world where people will try and make you think it's something you have to do. But it's really not. So get the frickin' iPod buds out of your ears and take off that stupid hands-free cell phone thing that makes you look like a slave of the Borg Empire. I multi-task sometimes. But it just turns each of the things I'm doing at the same time into pure slop. You're always better off doing one thing at a time.And speaking of precept breaking, I was just going over this article I wrote to try and submit to one of the Buddhist rag-o-zines. It's about how the Buddhist Precepts are like koans -- you know, those absurd questions like "What's the sound of one hand clapping?". Morality is a very key part of Buddhist practice. But teachers in the Zen school don't talk about it in a lot of detail. That's because morality is very subjective. When you try and turn the precepts into a code of rules you're just back into the same sick game every religion plays. The Buddhist Precepts are vague and, when you get right down to it, absolutely impossible to follow. Yet we follow them anyhow. That's why they're like koans.
It's also absolutely un-Buddhist to point at another person and say that person is breaking the precepts. You cannot know what the precepts are to someone else. Trying to insist that others live up to your interpretation of the precepts is a recipe for misery anyway. They never will. I guess it's a good way to make yourself feel morally superior for a few seconds. But that never really lasts. Might as well give up the game.
Anyway, that was the gist of the piece. Maybe one day I'll finish it up and send it off.
Here's a quote from Nishijima's little pamphlet on the precepts. I use this in my third book (in stores Feb. 2009):
Q: If we’re afraid we won’t be able to keep the precepts what should we do? Does that mean we can’t become Buddhists?
A: To answer your question we should consider the intent or purpose of the precepts. In most religions, precepts are considered to be commandments or laws of God. They form the basis of the religion itself and they must be adhered to strictly. But in Buddhism the precepts are fundamentally different. Keeping the precepts is not the aim of Buddhist life. Perhaps this sounds strange to you but it is the fact in Buddhism. Master Dogen said that following the precepts is only the custom of Buddhists; it is not their aim. He felt that the precepts were only standards by which to judge our behavior. As such they are very useful to us, but we should be careful not to make them the aim of our life.
The precepts have been described as a fence that surrounds a very wide, beautiful meadow. We are the cows in that meadow. As long as we stay within the fence our life is safe and serene and we can play freely in the meadow. But when we step outside the fence we find ourselves on shaky ground. We have entered a dangerous situation and we should return to the pasture. When we do, our life becomes safe and manageable again.
So to return to your question, as Buddhists we realize that in our long life there will be many situations in which we will be unable to keep the precepts. This should not prevent us from receiving the precepts. We receive the precepts sincerely, recognizing their value and purpose in our life. We esteem the precepts but we don’t worry about them. This is Master Dogen’s theory. It is our way.
Q: You mentioned that the moral code of most religions is based on the word of God. What is the basis of the Buddhist moral code?
A: The basis of Buddhist morality is reality itself. It is the order of the Universe itself. It is the facts of life, which are facing us at every moment. In Buddhist theory the most important thing to see is what there is. Buddhist morality is here.
In other words, Buddhist morality has no basis other than Buddhist morality itself. To understand this point we must realize that morality is not a theoretical or intellectual problem. Morality is a practical problem — a real problem. What to do here and now is the problem and the answer is contained in the situation itself. This is the fact, and facts are the basis of Buddhist morality itself.
Q: So what is the relationship between the precepts and morality?
A: The precepts guide us in our life. They have come from the experience of the truth in the past, so we can say they are based on reality. But our lives are tremendously complex and varied. If we try to apply the precepts too strictly we may lose the freedom to act. We are living here and now so we must find rules that can be used here and now. We must find our precepts are every moment. Reality is changeable so our rules must also be changeable. True rules must work in the real world. True precepts are changeable and at the same time unchangeable. This is the nature of Buddhist precepts. They help us live correctly. They provide a framework which is exact and rather narrow. And yet we are free to act in the moment by moment situation of our life.
A Chinese priest once said, “No rule is our rule.” This statement expresses the Buddhist attitude precisely. The precepts are valuable to us. They can help us before and after we act. But in the moment of the present we cannot rely on any rule. We must make our decisions directly. At the moment of the present to be without precepts is our precept. No rule is our rule.
Q: So is it important to keep the precepts or not?
A: It is important to keep the precepts.
