The 10th Grave Precept

[明安 Myoan]

I vow not to speak ill of the Three Treasures, but to cherish and uphold them.

Experience the intimacy of things – Do not defile the Three Treasures

A disciple of Buddha does not abuse the Three Treasures but rather cultivates and encourages awakening, the path and teaching of awakening and the community that takes refuge in awakening.

The first variant above is the version I take each morning, and I've been exploring what "cherishing and upholding" the Three Treasures actually looks like in daily life.
It isn't so clear to me as not lying or seeking anger's source.

For your everyday practice, what does upholding the 10th Grave Precept regarding the Three Treasures look like?
Thank you for your input.

[Meido]

Precepts examined from the standpoint of realization are described in Zen as Muso Shinchi Kaitai, i.e.

Muso: no-form, formless, transcendence of differentiation
Shinchi: shin = mind, chi = ground, earth, soil
Kaitai: Substance of the precepts. Kai (Skt. Sila) = precept, tai = body, substance.

Here's #10:

Fubosanbo kai: Precept of not defaming the Three Treasures.
Self nature is mysterious and wondrous. In the Dharma law of oneness, the concept of the separation of Buddha and sentient beings does not arise.

So there's your benchmark for everyday practice

~ Meido

[jundo cohen]

Hi,

I so much cherish the expression by Rev. Meido. Thank you. These words are sometimes attributed to Bodhidharma (although likely a spurious attribution except in our hearts) ...

Bodhidharma: Self-nature is subtle and mysterious. In the realm of the One, not holding nihilistic concepts of ordinary beings and sages is called the Precept of Not Defaming the Three Treasures.

Dogen offered his own comment: The teisho of the actual body is the harbor and the weir [a kind of dam]. This is the most important thing in the world. Its virtue finds its home in the ocean of essential nature. It is beyond explanation. We just accept it with respect and gratitude.

Of course, all the Precepts have many angles. Sometimes we think in daily, earthy terms and sometimes from many other angles, or no angles at all. This Precept brings us full circle to the Three Refuges. Daido Loori once wrote ...

Before we can appreciate [Kie, Refuge] we need to appreciate what it is we are relying upon and unreservedly throwing ourselves into—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Usually, we understand buddha to be the historical Buddha. From an inclusive perspective, we say that all beings are buddha. Also, buddha is the teacher. We see dharma as being the teachings of the Buddha, the medicine to heal the sickness, and sometimes it is the ten thousand things. We understand Sangha as the practitioners of the Buddha’s dharma, our companions along the way, and we also understand it as the whole phenomenal universe, all sentient beings.

Then, there is a much deeper way to appreciate these Three Treasures. Perhaps if we appreciate them deeply enough, we will realize what it means to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha; to vow to save all sentient beings, to put an end to desires, to master the dharmas, and to accomplish the Way. Perhaps we will understand what it means to be one with this unwavering lineage of ancestors who have handed down this dharma from generation to generation, without holding anything back. They gave their lives to it; not three months, six months, a year, five or ten years, but their whole lives. They turned themselves inside out. They renounced everything else to make the Way clear. Why? So we can have it, here and now, served to us on a platter. It is ours for the taking. All we have to do is reach out.

(Daido discusses more ways to see the Three Treasures here: http://www.mro.org/mr/archive/24-3/arti ... Daido.html )

So this "Not Defaming of the Three Treasures" is also our vow to be grateful for all that, to treasure all that, to honor all that, maintain these and not sully or defame them with our words, thoughts and acts. We care for them as we might care for our honored parent or dear child, a very concrete obligation, keeping them safe and well nurtured, not letting harm come to them or bringing harm ourselves. It is a real, practical vow to live honoring, respectful and careful of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha which make this Way possible.

Gassho, Jundo

[Matylda]

Just a few words.
The tenth is concerned with 3 treasures. and in soto tradition, there are 3 kinds of the 3 treasures. They correspond to trikaya, and the last is juji sanbo, which is represented by a teacher of the lineage.
To breake the tenth also corresponds to the teacher representing the 3 treasures... so one may insert any of the 3 kinds of the 3 t. and then the text is simply clearer... see, Harada Sogaku, Shushogi kouwa and others...

[tingdzin]

Good posts, all.

[Sara H]

It would probably be helpful to post the original source of the Precepts.

The Ten Great Precepts, and 48 Less Grave Precepts come from the Sutra of Brahma's Net.

For the Tenth Precept, it says:

TENTH PRECEPT:

On speaking ill of the Three Treasures.

"Disciples of the Buddha, should you speak ill
of, or vilify, the Three Treasures, encourage another
to do so, willfully lend yourself in any way to such
wicked speech, or participate in any way in such
behavior, you are committing a serious offense
warranting exclusion. When a Bodhisattva hears a
non-Buddhist out of ignorance or any person out of
wickedness utter only so much as a single word against
the Buddhas, this pierces his heart as though it were
stabbed three hundred times with a sword. How much
worse if, instead of cultivating faith, respect, and
dutifulness, you should let malignant words come
forth from your own mouth or make yourself the
accomplice of wicked-acting people and those with
spiritually perverted views by joining in their wicked
speech! Such a Bodhisattva is committing a serious
offense warranting exclusion."

References:

Nearman, H., Jiyu-Kennett, P. T., & MacPhillamy, D. (1998). Buddhist writings on meditation and daily practice: The serene reflection meditation tradition : including the complete scripture of Brahma's net. Mt. Shasta, CA: Shasta Abbey Press.

[Sara H]

The reason for this Precept, is because the Dharma is the path to the Cessation of Suffering.

Defaming the Three Treasures, is essentially defaming the best medicine that people have to cure them of their ignorance and suffering.

To use an analogy, lets say someone had malaria, and lets say that one medicine is extremely good at curing malaria, and excels far above all others. And you had the best medicine available to quickly cure them of it. But instead of encouraging them to use the best medicine as quickly as possible to help them, you instead spoke ill of the medicine, defaming it, speaking badly about it, talking down about it, etc.

The person would very quickly become averse to using the medicine, and seek something else, that might not work at all, or as effectively.

It would prolong the person's suffering, and discourage them from getting the very best help they need.

So too, with defaming the Three Treasures, is one seriously harming others by discouraging them from getting the best medicine for their clinging, aversion and delusion/confusion.

This is why it's a serious, and grave Precept.