Invoking Reality by John Daido Loori

Author:John Daido Loori
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala

Photo from the National Buddhist Archive

The Ten Grave Precepts

WISDOM MIND

The precepts contain the totality of the teachings of the Buddhadharma. This is not immediately apparent, and it may take us ten to twenty years of practice before we really see it and actualize it in our lives. But it is all there. Totally engaged and thoroughly appreciated, the precepts continue to be a bottomless source of wisdom, helping us to embrace our full human potential, our Buddha nature. These precepts are the most complete and far-reaching facet of the dharma I could possibly share.

People inquire about practice. “What is lay practice?” Kai—the precepts. “What is monastic practice?” Kai—the precepts. “What is home practice?” Kai—the precepts. “What is the sacred?”—Kai. “What is the secular?”—Kai. Everything we see, everything we touch, everything we do, our way of relating, is right here in these precepts. They are the Buddha Way, the heart of the Buddha. The full spectrum of emotions, the love, the compassion, the all-embracing mind of clear wisdom, filling the whole universe—it is all here in these sixteen precepts.

The Three Pure Precepts—“not creating evil,” “practicing good,” and “actualizing good for others”—define the natural order of reality. If you eschew evil, practice good, and actualize good for others, you are in harmony with the myriad dharmas that make up this universe. Not creating evil is “the abiding place of all Buddhas.” Practicing good is “the dharma of samyak-sambodhi, the way of all beings.” Actualizing good for others is “to transcend the profane and go beyond the holy, to liberate oneself and others.” Obviously, it is straightforward to acknowledge the Three Pure Precepts, but how do we make them function in our lives? How can we practice them? How do we not create evil? How do we practice good? How do we actualize good for others?

The way to do that is shown in the Ten Grave Precepts, which reveal the precise activity of the Three Pure Precepts. Traditionally, the Grave Precepts were expressed as prohibitions. In our training we have included an affirmative expression of the precepts as well. They state both what not to do and what to do. Consequently, they balance passivity with activity, dismantling our tendencies to withdraw from the challenges, the complexities, and the turmoil of modern living.

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