Wanting Enlightenment Is a Big Mistake by Hyon Gak

Author:Hyon Gak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Abortion

SOMEONE ASKED Zen Master Seung Sahn in Warsaw, “Nowadays in Poland, there is much fighting over the issue of abortion. Many people say that a woman and her doctor should go to jail if they commit an abortion. Other people say that nothing should happen to them, because it is a woman’s right to have this done, it is her conscience. I don’t understand. As a Zen student, what is correct?”

Zen Master Seung Sahn replied, “Buddhism’s first moral precept is a very strong one: do not take any life. And at the same time, Zen Buddhism also guides us to the absolute insight that any action is fundamentally not good, not bad. So for many people, this can seem confusing. But actually it is very simple.

“The most important thing to consider when doing any action is, why do you do something? Only for you, or for all beings? Why do you eat every day—only for your body, for your tongue’s pleasure? If your direction is clear, then any action is clear. If your direction is not clear, even doing ‘good’ actions every day is not always clear. Correct direction means your actions are already beyond good and bad, and not based on the false notion of ‘I.’ So what kind of direction do you have? Why would you abort this baby? Determining that clearly in your mind is most important.”

The student persisted. “But soon there will be a referendum on this issue. If it becomes a law, then you can go to jail for having an abortion.”

Dae Soen Sa Nim replied, “Whether or not you go to jail is not the way to decide this. The only thing that must be clear is why or why not you would have this abortion. Why does this doctor help? If the direction of this act is clear, everything is clear. If your direction is not clear, everything is not clear. Buddhism is not only about human beings. It is a teaching pointing to the substance of all beings. Even one blade of grass is valuable: remember, the first precept is don’t kill any life. Of course this baby is a human being. Yet if necessary, killing the Buddha, eminent teachers, and Zen masters is no problem. They are also living beings. That is Buddhism.

“We have five precepts: don’t kill life, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t misuse intoxicants, and don’t misuse sexual relations. In the mountains, a man is collecting firewood. A rabbit runs by, and runs to the left. A few minutes later, a hunter runs by, carrying a gun, and asks, ‘Which way did the rabbit go?’ If the man makes correct speech, and doesn’t lie, the hunter will find the rabbit and kill it. If the man strictly keeps the precept of not lying—simply for the sake of keeping precepts, to be a ‘good’ Buddhist who does no wrong—the rabbit will suffer, and the hunter will suffer, too. For by the law of cause and effect, the hunter will have to reap some effect from his actions, in this life or the next.

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