#38 PENNSYLVANIA!

 

OK well this photo of members from the wonderful Buddhist Sangha of Bucks County is from May of 2001,  celebrating Vesak Day and our outreach to a local church where we painted and cleaned in traditional white Vesak garb.  The church was at one time part of the underground railroad, and the neighborhood (yes in Yardley, PA) was African American.  

Last night I zoomed in to my old home, many of the faces have changed but the ethos is the same, a very human tangle of open exploration in a non-sectarian householder world.   I so appreciate everyone willing to lead discussion and Joy did a wonderful job; she did her homework and had a few small audio clips from Joseph Goldstein on the topic of Right Action. 

Although attempts have been made to distinguish Buddhism's 'Sila' (Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood on the Noble Eightfold Path) from let's say a Christian view of an imposed moral code,  I find that Buddhism, especially in monastic codes, is quite definitive, and after all, the definition of a vow such as 'not to kill' is more of a binding commitment than an exploration.   Also there are some beautiful Christian and Jewish explorations of morality.   I think of Martin Luther King's contemporary interpretations of why we should practice equality.   

I appreciated the points made by Joy that Right Action is subordinate to ending suffering; in other words it is helpful to ask the question in all of our actions; 'Is this action helping relieve suffering or increasing it?'.  I also appreciated the idea that "If the precepts don't make us uncomfortable, there is more to explore."  This is true of discussion itself on such topics.  Will I listen to my fellow practitioners, will I have patience with them and myself, will I hold my tongue or speak out when needed?   

Joseph Goldstein suffered in a tiny hut in India when the ceiling was covered with giant spiders, until he found a sort of connection with them.  As Joy said, we suffer from our narrative self.   Sometimes things look creepy and big and hairy, but it's usually our own mind.  

From Bhikku Bodhi: 

For those who seek to reach the higher stages of the path in this life, ethical conduct serves as the indispensable basis for developing concentration and wisdom. The ultimate task of the eightfold path is to eradicate the defilements that sustain bondage to samsara, the cycle of repeated birth and death, and thereby open the door to the deathless state, nirvana.

The defilements are the locks on the door to liberation. They are divided into three layers—transgression, obsession, and latency, each successively subtler. At the transgressive layer the defilements motivate unwholesome action; at the obsessive, they bubble up into the mind and govern our thoughts and emotions; at the latent level, they lurk quietly in the background waiting for the chance to strike.

Ethical conduct prevents the defilements from erupting in verbal and bodily actions that rattle the mind and cloud the capacity for clear cognition. This helps to weaken the obsessive stage of defilements through the development of concentration, and to cut off the latent defilements with the sword of wisdom. With the defilements cut off at the root, the door to nirvana swings wide open.