Bodhidharma's Precepts

[@MikeGayette]

Brad's advice to content creators: Got stuck while writing? Go make a video. Not sure what video to make? Go write until you're stuck.

[@HardcoreZen]

That's it!

[@AmericanLabInScotland]

Thanks for this Brad, I was skirting round the edges of Buddhism, dipping in and out of Secular Buddhism/Mindfulness practice, was something I’d pick up for a bit and drop again, had no idea if I was doing it right or if it was doing anything at all. I’d saw your book, “Don't Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan's Greatest Zen Master”, didn’t get it at first scared me off, seemed pretty heavy stuff, but eventually picked it up thanks to the cover, as well as a few other books of yours. I’m sure you are sick of people saying things are life changing but it really was, the books clarified loads of questions I had, made me stop wondering if I was doing it right, and just do it. Plus I enjoy your writing style over someone like Stephen Batchelor, who while I’ve read, never quite hit the spot the same way your books did. The way you explain and present concepts really resonates with me, it shone a new light on concepts I just wasn't getting and brought a totally new understand. So once again thanks for point me in the Zen direction, had it not been for the crazy book cover I might never have picked it up and found myself here!

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you!

[@ErinWi]

Fwiw, I think it's a very fascinating topic and would view/read more about it with great interest. I don't know why, but I've been familiar with these for years, but today was the first time I've really thought about the sixth precept "not to speak of past mistakes" in a more than cursory way and man it's a beautiful one.

[@EvanBerry.]

Hi, Brad -- I definitely find this material interesting. No matter how many times I hear or read the precepts, I am always humbled to discover, despite my best intentions and aspirations, how often I do not live up to the very standard against which I measure my own behavior. In rethinking my words and actions as recently as a few hours ago, I realize that I let myself down. Maybe the best aspiration is the resolution to never get up in spite of the seemingly countless daily reminders that there is always more work to be done. Thanks for inspiring me to be better -- to be myself.

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks!

[@aryayarpezeshkan7961]

Interesting; please keep the videos coming. Thank you.

[@franksijbenga3724]

Good stuff. Would like to hear more.

[@andrewkryzak84]

You are a Great teacher to me. Thank you.

[@Surfwatcher1835]

Great intro to the subject. Just finished Emily Islami's podcast " On Shaky Ground".

[@HardcoreZen]

Emily is good!

[@Surfwatcher1835]

Hardcore Zen going to listen to more of her stuff. Understandable and down to earth approach. Thinking if you use kindness as a litmus test you can ace many of these precepts.

[@jonkomatsu8192]

Yes, do more. Mahalo!

[@DynamicGoatSlayer]

Brad, would you consider at some point doing a video on Buddha rule about eating at improper times? From what I understand, it initially was among his major rules for monks (and later in his 10 rules for laypeople in training) to only eat between dawn & noon (fasting the rest of the day). It seems he wasn't really concerned about what was eaten, but when it was eaten was important. Considering all of the modern science suggesting fasting can help treat or eliminate many diseases & conditions including cancer, this seems to be a pretty important rule that tends to be mostly ignored today. I don't know if this topic is something you have interest in but if so, would love to hear any thoughts you had on it.

[@HardcoreZen]

In Japan, they don't follow that rule. Some temples cheat and call the evening meal "medicine." My teacher just called it a meal. Either way, monks still eat in the evening. Also, I've met a few overweight monks who practice in orders that don't eat after noon. That made me wonder. I really don't have any opinions or experience of this custom myself.

[@DavidFerguson62]

Very good.

Huh. Coming from the 5 mindfulness trainings of TNH I'd like to hear more about this version of a moral compass.

[@davidazoulay5591]

Hi Brad ! I am off topic, but i was wondering if you have good suggestion for traduction of the mumonkan and the blue cliff record ! Thank !

[@HardcoreZen]

Those two books are used mainly in the Rinzai Zen tradition, which I haven't practiced. I don't really know which versions are best.

[@davidazoulay5591]

@@HardcoreZen kk Really like your channel by the way ! Keep it up !

[@yeda1126]

Kwong-Roshi probably got it from Kobun Chino as he spent 5 years studying the transmission ceremony with him before completing transmission with Hoitsu Suzuki.

[@HardcoreZen]

OH! Thank you! Please do!

[@yeda1126]

@@HardcoreZen I asked him but he couldn't remember, he said he may have gotten it from Kobun Chino, sorry.

[@HardcoreZen]

@@yeda1126 Thank you!

[@edgepixel8467]

I'm still curious to hear why is Zen better. I read a bit of the Pali Canon, and is much more comprehensible than the Zen texts I (keep) struggling with.

[@gra6649]

Zen is not better, or worse that anything else. Whatever works for you. That is, whatever helps you find a clearer view of self is where you should be. Be careful about accepting other peoples interpretation of the teachings. Listen be respectful, but question. Buddha said something about not accepting, or believing anything until one has examined it thoroughly and found it to be true, and benefits all. Then, and only then accept it. Until then question, question everything.

[@osip7315]

allpoetry.com/poems/read_by/Taigu%20Ryokan?order=&page=8 i like joshu his "song of the twelve hours of the day" www.reddit.com/r/zen/comments/832uh0/song_of_the_twelve_hours_of_the_day/ terebess.hu/zen/Chao-chouHoffman.pdf

[@gra6649]

@@osip7315 Me too, I find it encouraging, and consoling when the darkness descends.

[@lorenacharlotte8383]

Ed Gepixel : Personally, mind I’m saying just for me, Zen is the most practical, direct, useful vehicles to handle oneself mind in daily life. There is not enlightenment to chase for because slowly, slowly it unfolds by itself by just sitting down allowing Buddha Nature manifest by itself by doing nothing but just be present with whatever waves arise in the mind. While type of Tibetan Buddhism there is and endless entertainment talk creating incessantly more delusional images in the minds of the hearers. Impossible to break through separation in Buddhism on its own or be a Buddha as soon as one sits down. I was subscribed to several Tibetan channels and seriously they’re only good as a healthy entertainment. I deleted all my subscriptions yesterday though.

[@lorenacharlotte8383]

G R A : I’m not very good with words when trying to communicate myself experience while sitting. For instance when I said that “enlightenment “ comes slowly, slowly, this is only referring to the openness of mind getting sharper to see and stay with whatever raises. In reality as soon as we sit down we’re already enlightened. Enlightenment is not an object in zen but its own endless way.

[@Barbarossa19]

Brad you don't need to know where you got the Hard-Core Zen precepts. After you're gone, graduate students in Religious Studies can dig through the manuscripts and backup files you have donated to Kent State.😉 It is time for me to send you another $5 for cereal and toilet paper. Cheers

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks!

[@sea_squirt]

“Taking” precepts is for children. They’re a rough guide for staying out of trouble, but they are not some kind of badge of purity. If you eat a vegetable, you’re killing a living organism. You might think that you never take stuff which is not freely given, but is it ok to buy clothing that was made in a sweatshop, or are you going to weave your own, with wool that you sheared from your own organically raised sheep (with the sheep’s permission) just to be sure? We have laws that set limits on what is acceptable: don’t murder, steal, defraud, rape or get dangerously intoxicated. They are entirely practical rules to maintain a stable society. We don’t need to put a grandiose buddhist label on them to give them validity. Having a guidelines to work from is fine, but fetishising the list it is just another form of attachment.

[@schonlingg.wunderbar2985]

Just imagine believing precepts are for children, but putting your faith in laws...

[@sea_squirt]

@@schonlingg.wunderbar2985 Making a public show about your commitment to a set of man-made guidelines, whether you call them laws or precepts, is the equivalent of shouting “Look a me, Mama!”