Bodhisattva Precepts

Our sangha’s guiding teacher Kanko offers Bodhisattva precent study as a part of training for different Zen rites of passage.

Based on Kanko’s experience with study of precepts with Roshi Joan Hoeberichts of Heart Circle Sangha, our sangha offers to study each paramita and precept from the Hinayana, Mahayana and Buddhayana perspectives.

This study takes anywhere between an year to two years for someone to get through the Paramitas and the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts. Essentially the program is one of studying the self. We start with patience and begin to identify moments of impatience in our lives. Ideally the student slowly begins to see the self get activated and how that manifests in their bodies and minds. There’s no judgement, just noticing. We stay with that until they have somatically understood patience vs impatience. We move through generosity, morality, effort, concentration, wisdom. Each time we meet we may return to the earlier paramitas and how they are playing out in their life.

Then we move onto the 16 Precepts which we consider from the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Buddhayana views. Each time practitioner is asked where they have broken that precept in their own life. Precepts are not idealized rules or commandments. They offer a moral compass throughout our lives that helps us identify where we are stuck to the notion of perfection and which areas of life we can offer harm reduction.

Our sangha also recommends that practitioners design their own mindfulness practices after reading fourteen mindfulness trainings from the Order of Interbeing and creating their own Eightfold path in these times of climate crisis and extreme social inequities.

The Six Paramitas
Patience (kṣānti)
Generosity (dāna)
Morality (śīla)
Energy/vigor (vīrya)
Concentration (dhyāna)
Wisdom (prajñā).

The Three Treasures
Being one with the Buddha
Being one with the Dharma
Being one with the Sangha

The Three Pure Precepts
Not creating evil: I vow to refrain from all evil.
Practicing good: I vow to make every effort to live in enlightenment.
Actualizing good for others: I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings.

The Ten Grave Precepts

1. I recognize that I am not separate from all that is. This is the practice of Non-killing. I will not lead a harmful life, nor encourage others to do so. I will live in harmony with all life and the environment that sustains it.

2. I will be satisfied with what I have. This is the practice of Non-stealing. I will freely give, ask for, and accept what is needed.

3. I will encounter all creations with respect and dignity. This is the practice of Chaste Conduct. I will give and accept love and friendship without clinging.

4. I will speak the truth and deceive no one. This is the practice of Non-lying. I will speak from the heart. I will see and act in accordance with what is.

5. I will cultivate a mind that sees clearly. This is the practice of Not Being Deluded. I will not encourage others to be deluded. I will embrace all experience directly.

6. I will unconditionally accept what each moment has to offer. This is the practice of Not Talking About Others Errors and Faults. I will acknowledge responsibility for everything in my life.

7. I will speak what I perceive to be the truth without guilt or blame. This is the practice of Not Elevating Myself and Blaming Others. I will give my best effort and accept the results.

8. I will use all of the ingredients of my life. This is the practice of Not Being Stingy. I will not foster a mind of poverty in myself or others.

9. I will transform suffering into wisdom. This is the practice of Not Being Angry. I will not harbor resentment, rage, or revenge. I will roll all negative experience into my practice.

10. I will honor my life as an instrument of peacemaking. This is the practice of Not Thinking Ill of the Three Treasures. I will recognize myself and others as manifestations of Oneness, Diversity and Harmony.

This study takes anywhere between an year to two years for someone to get through the Paramitas and the 16 Boddhisattva Precepts. Essentially the program is one of studying the self. We start with patience and begin to identify moments of impatience in our lives. Ideally the student slowly begins to see the self get activated and how that manifests in their bodies and minds. There’s no judgement, just noticing. We stay with that until they have somatically understood patience vs impatience. We move through generosity, morality, effort, concentration, wisdom. Each time we meet we may return to the earlier paramitas and how they are playing out in their life.