So I didn't invade my ex's wedding leading an army of sword-wielding shakespearean actors. That means I have my anger issues in check. Which brings me to today's topic: The Buddhist Precepts. If there is one thing I've learned while "studying" Buddhism, it is that there are about ten thousand versions of how it should be taught. Lots of guys with names I can't pronounce think that they know how you should go about meditating, thinking, and acting. And they each have their own take on the precepts. A list of about ten (or thousands, in some sects), it looks an awful lot like another list of ten that we are all way to familiar with. Anyway, here they are (as I understand them):
1. Don't kill. People, of course. But take it a step further. Unless you are going to eat it, don't kill it.
2. Don't steal. Ever since the advent of mp3s, this has been a tough one. My take is this: my downloading a Rolling Stones album illegally does actually have an adverse effect on the universe. I haven't figure out what it is yet, but I believe that it does. Have to work on this one...
3. Don't desire too much. This is the sex one. But it goes further than that. Sex isn't the only pleasure whose desire can cause problems. Food, drugs, new clothes, Rolling Stones albums. Desire leads us too far into the future, and away from the happiness that is here and now.
4. Don't lie. Huh. Easy enough, right? So why is lying bad? You tell a bum that you're sorry, but you don't have a quarter, even though you can both hear the change jingling in your pocket. Its not about the quarter (but you should give it to him), its about the relationship between you and the bum, you and yourself, you and the universe.
5. Don't cloud your mind with intoxicants. This one has always been confusing. So many people seek a sort of enlightenment using drugs, and if enlightenment is also the goal of Buddhists, then the two should go hand in hand, right? No way, Jose. You might think that to be wasted or stoned or on a crazy trip is to be enlightened, but it is a cheap, quick, and unearned enlightenment (and therefore not enlightenment at all.) Ain't nothin' thats worth nothin' if it didn't take good, hard work to achieve. And poppin' a tablet or lighting a bong ain't hard work.
6. Don't criticize others. Be gentle and friendly and honest. But remember that any pain you cause with your words and actions is actually pain you are inflicting upon yourself.
7. Don't be too proud of yourself, and don't be an ass to others. You are everything, and everything is nothing. If that isn't humbling, I don't kow what is.
8. Don't covet. Don't be stuck in the past or the future. Goes hand in hand with #3.
9. Don't give way to anger. This one is tough. I remember one day when I was driving downtown with my girlfriend. (My ex, now.) We were going to buy paintbrushes. Peaceful enough, right? I couldn't find the art store. It was hot out. I was getting frustrated. I got cut-off. I yelled an obscenity and punched my horn. For a moment, my girlfriend saw me purely angry. She called me out on it, and my anger grew. By the time we got to the store, we weren't speaking. By the time we got home, I had ruined both of our days. My anger from being minorly inconvienenced on the road had grown into a beastly thing that had certainly affected my universe, and my girlfriend's as well. It might have even had a hand in our eventual break-up. Ok, so we've all felt that kind of anger before. How can you possibly control it? The key is to understand that it is ok to think the anger, but you have to let it go before it become a true emotion, before you begin to actually feel it. Try it next time you get cut off in traffic. There is a moment, just after the incident occurs, when you actually get to decide which path to take. Anger will do everything it can to pull you down its dark, sharp, ugly path. But it is your choice. Make the right one, and the universe will instantly become a better place.
10. We are all the same. You, me, President Bush, Mick Jagger, Osama bin Laden, Billy Graham, Bono, Tom Cruise, your Aunt Peggy, and everyong else you can think of. There is nothing that makes any of us special, and at the same time we are all magnificent and irreplaceable. The bum you didn't give a quarter to is as close to you as your lover.
Whew. Longer than I thought it would be. If you made it this far, thats awesome. If you are interested, thats even better. If not, thats ok, too. But I wanted to make one more point: there is no such thing as sinning in Buddhism. If you break a precept, thats ok. Try harder next time. They aren't easy (if they were, the world would be a much different place.) It is much easier, more pleasureable, and in the short, sort term, it feels more rewarding to break the precepts. But just try, for one day, to follow them all. See what happens. Sit down and think about it for twenty minutes at the end of the day. I absolutely guarantee that you will feel wonderful.
