Refuges and Precepts

 

If there is one predictable question that people ask at the end of

retreats, it is: “How can I sustain the practice once the retreat is

over and I' m back in the world of violence, greed, starving children,

poor health care, and not enough parking space?” This is a

wonderful question because it requires us to pay attention to the

skillful desire to integrate our spiritual practice into our daily

lives. For spiritual life to develop, there' s no need to become a

“retreat junkie,” begrudgingly tolerating the periods when we

have to deal with family and work just so that we can gather

enough time and resources to go on retreat again. Probably more

useful than this is making a commitment to establish a basis of

moral conduct in daily life. In this light, the five precepts are

offered not as rigid commandments but as guidelines for living.

They are practical strategies to help us exist and function more

harmoniously.

 

I could suggest many ways to sustain the spirit of retreat after

you leave here, ranging from meditating daily to creating a sacred

space somewhere in your home. But the single most important

guidance I can offer is this: along with internalizing the three

refuges (as was talked about in Chapter Six) I would encourage

you to cherish the five precepts deeply. Abide by them as a devotional

practice, as a mindfulness practice, as a concentration

practice, and as a practice of conduct. All these different elements

are contained within these simple principles. Taking the

precepts is an act of arousing the intention to accord with and to

be as kind as possible to yourself and to the world around you.

When visitors go to monasteries in Theravaµda countries, it is

customary for them to take the refuges and precepts as a simple

and regular reminder. In the West, we take them at the beginning

and ending of retreats, at daylong sittings, and even before

Sangha meetings. Taking precepts is not a one-shot deal, as if

when we take them they transform us forever—not at all. They

are principles that require constant recollection, cultivation, and

exploration. Wisdom can develop only in a mind that is continually

reoriented and grounded in truth and selflessness.

Two Kinds of People

 

Two kinds of people are described in the Theravaµda scriptures:

puggalas and manussas. Being a puggala means that you have a

human body but might not be fully human—internally you

might be operating more like an animal or a hungry ghost. If you

are a manussa, you are truly human. In Buddhist cosmology the

realms of existence are divided into the heavens (devas), the jealous

gods (asuras), the animals, the hungry ghosts (petas), the

denizens of hell (niraya), and the humans. To be born in the

human division of the six realms means that you are a manussa.

A manussa is one who lives at least according to the five precepts.

That is to say, the chief characteristic of one who is truly

human is the quality of virtue, of beautiful conduct.

I find this to be a helpful reflection and one that we can test

for ourselves: when we behave in ways that are ugly, selfish,

cruel, or greedy, what does that feel like? At those times we are

less than human; we are out of harmony with life; we feel bad

about ourselves. There is an imbalance in the system. The heart

can't open in the midst of this chaos.

We can also see for ourselves what happens when we behave

in kind and skillful ways. What does that feel like? We feel good

about ourselves, and there's a sense of harmony with all things.

The heart is open and receptive to the whole panoply of life. We

still may be ignorant in many ways, and still prone to all kinds

of suffering, but to have this basic sensitivity and nobility of conduct

is synonymous with true humanity.

A Natural Law

The five precepts were not just conjured up by the Buddha. They

are part of the natural order. They aren' t imposed as a Buddhist

idea, nor are they unique to the Buddhist tradition. Every country

in the world has laws that enable human beings to function

freely and harmoniously. These laws relate to respect for human

life, to property, to the appropriate use of sexuality, and to honesty.

The Buddha pointed out that they are innate to the human

condition. If we take life, if we misappropriate things, if we take

advantage of others—through our sexuality or by living indulgently

—if we are deceitful or aggressive, harmful with our

speech, then pain intrinsically will follow. In the opening verses

of the Dhammapada it says, “If you speak or act with a corrupt

mind, then pain will follow like the wheels of the cart following

the ox that pulls it.” The Buddha referred to these precepts as

pakati-si µla—natural or genuine virtue. They are contrasted with

pan\ n\ atti-si µla—prescribed ethics—which are the product of local

customs and religions or rules peculiar to certain professions.

I like to compare the five precepts to the drivers manual in

a new car: “Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a

human life. Let me introduce you to your vehicle.” Well, perhaps

they' re not so much like a driver's manual as they are like road

signs, such as dangerous curve or do not enter wrong

way or slow. Try to understand the precepts in this way. They

are road signs for our life as human beings. They help us look and

see that “life is really this way, not that way.”

These signs protect us from danger. They warn us where the

obstacles are and help the heart stay on track. Perhaps you've

noticed that if you don' t follow the road signs, you tend to get lost,

problems start to multiply, and there is a lot of tension and frustration

involved. But when you pay attention and follow the laws and

road signs, there's flexibility, sensitivity to time and place, and we

usually get where we're going. The precepts should be understood

in exactly the same way. We pick them up and use them as helpful

guides through the areas of life where we lose our way most easily,

where there is the most emotional charge: around issues of life and

death, around property and ownership, around sexuality, around

honesty and deceit, around speech and communication.

The Fifth Precept

It' s interesting that when the Buddha describes the moral precepts,

he often doesn' t actually mention the fifth one. The

Buddha did not always label the precept against using intoxicants

as intrinsically moral. When I say this, some people perk up and

get very interested! The point, though, is that when the mind is

in a heedless state, it is much easier to fall headlong into the first

four danger zones than it is when the mind is attentive, balanced,

and undrugged. To continue the driving analogy: just consider the

number of accidents caused by people under the influence of drink

and other intoxicants. So it may be that we wouldn' t experience

the inescapable negative karmic result that we would, say, when

telling a deliberate lie, but the precept against using intoxicants is

included in the five because it' s a linchpin for all the others—when

it goes, the wheels start to wobble.

For myself, I like to encourage the understanding of the fifth

precept "“I undertake the precept to refrain from consuming intoxicating

drink and drugs which lead to carelessness ”to be a

refraining from consuming the substances at all, not just a refraining

from intoxication. It' s a favorite idea, isn' t it, to think, “Just to

have a beer now and then, or a glass of wine with dinner, that' s not

against the precepts, is it?” Quite, honestly, I' d say that it is.

To have the standard of abstinence is a great kindness to yourself

and a kindness to other people by the example that you set.

I' m not asking people to be rigid or fanatical about it, but it can

be extremely helpful for ourselves to make a clear commitment.

It is like saying, “Mindfulness is a precious and fragile commodity,

why endanger or weaken it?” So, personally, I try to encourage

a strict observance of the precepts, including that of refraining

from intoxicants. This is out of no reason other than my love for

you and all other beings. You will find it is the most helpful support

to all dimensions of Buddhist practice to respect the precepts

in this way.

Sila Is Another Word for Happiness

The five precepts are not about morality alone. They are also a

great mindfulness tool. We don' t get a signal when we start to

drift from rigpa to marigpa, from clear awareness to heedlessness,

do we? It' s not as though we have a little warning light

on the dashboard for when a defilement or some deluded state

comes into existence. It is not like when you create a document

on your computer and the machine prints the file name

and path, the date you wrote it, and so forth. “This is a greed

condition, third degree, generated at 15:41, 1-6-02.” “This is a

self-based deluded condition. . .” They are not tagged like that.

But when we give our hearts to the precepts and really

respect them, they let us know, they give a warning. As the

heart drifts unwittingly into unawareness, deluded attractions,

and aversions, there' s a warning buzz in the system. It enables

the heart to wake up before we lose sight of our innate purity,

before the negative states have been compounded, and before

we get ourselves into trouble. To go back to the driving analogy,

they are like the serrated strip at the side of the freeway that

makes the wheels vibrate when we drift too far toward the

hard shoulder: “Oops! Dozed off for a moment there. How did

that happen? Better brighten up or I' ll be in trouble and never

make it.”

After the recitation of the precepts, the person who is giving

them chants:

Sila is the source of happiness,

sila is the source of true wealth,

sila is the cause of peacefulness,

therefore, let sila be purified.

So this is all about how to be happy. We take these principles

of kindness and virtue to heart and let them guide us. The

cradle of Dharma stays with us.

It is a portable retreat.

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