There is a Zen Koan “Why has Bodhidharma left for the East?” I don’t know the answer to this. But I do know what happened when he got there. When Bodhidharma took the Dharma from India to China he introduced the Dharma into an already highly developed culture. Buddhism has often had a refining effect on the arts, philosophy and culture of societies that it has encountered. In China it met an ancient culture rich with poetry and painting, rich with the philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism.
Much of what I have to say in this talk is collected from the writings and talks of my teacher Sangharakshita, the founder of the Western Buddhist Order. I thoroughly recommend his small book “The Ten Pillars of Buddhism” of which there are two copies available in the Abbey library.
I also borrow here from Dharmachari Abhaya and his excellent little booklet on the 5 precepts.
Introduction
You might think that the subject of ethics is not a very glamorous one. If you were to ask yourself what flavor ethics would be if it was an ice cream, you might say vanilla, the standard, basic flavor, we’ve all had it a million times, it’s a bit boring. It’s certainly not strawberry and pecan or something interesting like that.
You might think that ethics is not very “sexy”. It’s not exciting and esoteric like Tantra. You might say that ethics is just “Bog Standard” Buddhism. The aim of this talk is prove otherwise.
Bodhidharma
When the King of China heard about Bodhidharma and his new religion, he was fascinated and wanted to learn more about this new and exotic import. So, he summoned Bodhidharma and asked him for a summary of his great teachings. Bodhidharma could hardly refuse and so he gave the King a teaching:
“Cease to do Evil, Cultivate the Good, Purify the Mind. This is the word of the Buddha”
The King was a bit taken aback. Was this it? Was this the cream of higher Indian thought and philosophy? The King responded:
“Is that Buddhism? Even a small child could understand this without difficulty.”
“Ah yes” replied Bodhidharma, “but even the wisest of your ancient Sages will find great difficulty in putting it into practice.”
Good and Evil
So, it is clear that for Bodhidharma, ethics formed an important part of the whole spiritual path. In this translation he talks about good & evil. For many of us living in the West, this will have strong Christian overtones.
The terms in Sanskrit are Kusala and Akusala. This is often translated as Skilful and Unskillful, I like this translation. We can be skilful, like a trained craftsman or unskillful like the new trainee. It’s not loaded with notions of God or Devil. It also recognizes that like a craft, ethical action requires practice and deliberate thought or intention.
Buddhist ethics are very much an ethics of intention. It’s not so much that specific actions are in themselves inherently bad, after all a particular action may have very different ramifications in different situations. Also, different societies have different laws, rules and modes of behavior and these change over time. For Buddhism, it’s more that what we intend to achieve by a particular action may either be skilful or unskillful.
A skilful action is one that is based in positive mental states such as clarity, mindfulness and positive emotions. An unskillful action is one that is based in negative mental states such as ignorance, confusion, greed and negative emotions.
In short, skilful actions are those that are conducive to human enlightenment and unskillful actions are those that are un-conducive to human enlightenment.
Not a Basic Practice
Ethics is not a practice simply for beginners, it’s not something to be surpassed or made redundant, its’ not like a toy we put down when we get something new and more interesting.
A common description of the path is the three fold model, that of Sila (ethics), Samadhi (meditation) and Prajna (wisdom). I usually see this in my mind a pyramid. Ethics at the bottom, mediation in the middle and wisdom at the top, at the pinnacle.
Each successive layer of the pyramid builds upon the work of the last. Ethics feeds into meditation and meditation flowers into wisdom. If our meditation is not going very well, and we are not sure why, it is a good idea to take a closer look at our ethics, to see if something there may be bothering us.
There is also a feedback loop within the pyramid. Increasing wisdom and awareness will refine our ethical lives, which in turn feeds back into our meditation. It’s a complete system and all the parts are necessary.
Ethics is at the bottom of the pyramid because it comes first, because it is the foundation, not because it is least important. Ethics is not a basic practice it’s a fundamental practice.
Going for Refuge and the Precepts
Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha means to move our reliance away from the transitory and mundane, those things which cannot ultimately satisfy us and to instead place our reliance upon the “Transcendental”.
This is the search for meaning, it is the spiritual life. We take the Three Refuges formally, but that is not the end of it. Going for Refuge is an ongoing and deepening spiritual exploration.
Going for Refuge is common to all schools of Buddhism. Taking the Refuges is what formally defines us a being a “Buddhist”.
If Going for Refuge is the direction and movement of our lives, then ethical action is the expression of that aspiration in the practical everyday sense. The two cannot be separated. What would it really mean to say “I take refuge in the Buddha, but I do not intend do anything about the greed, hatred and delusion in my own life”? How can you say you are relying on something at the same time as ignoring it?
Aspirations need expression. “Coming Out” as a Buddhist is often a big deal for many of us. Letting our friends, family and colleagues know we are a Buddhist raises the stakes somehow. It makes our aspiration more real, takes it into the real world, rather than just being an idea looked up in the privacy of our own head.
The practice of the ethical precepts is the same as this. By chanting the precepts out load, accepting them, taking them on as training principles and really living them out, this takes our aspirations into the real world.
This is the action of a Bodhisattva, it is Kalyana, beautiful action, action that is grounded in Truth.
Plotinus
The Greek philosopher Plotinus gives us a wonderful image. He talks of the work of the sculptor. Starting with a rough block of stone, all sharp edges and slime. Taking his hammer and chisel, with patience and with well honed skills he slowly releases a marble sculpture of a beautiful human being.
Using the language of Ani Pema Chödrön, this is unveiling our basic goodness; this is revealing our Buddha nature, our Higher “self”.
Imitating the Buddha
We can think of our ethical lives in terms of play.
When we sit in meditation posture we can playfully think of ourselves as imitating the Buddha. Sitting in Buddha posture, without taking ourselves too seriously we act out the actions of the Buddha, upright, vital and totally engaged.
In our ethical lives we also are “playing at being Buddha”. The precepts we observe and the ethical choices we try to make in our lives are an attempt to behave as a Buddha would behave. Of course, a Buddha would act skillfully in a completely spontaneous way. For most of us it takes a little more practice.
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