Middle Way

This episode is the second part of chapter five of my book-in-process, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners. In the last episode, I described the central role of Precepts in Zen and covered the Three Refuges, Three Pure Precepts, and two of the Grave Precepts. In this episode, I talk about the Grave (serious, or weighty) Precepts three through eight. In the next episode, I’ll discuss Grave Precepts nine and ten, and talk more about how we work with Precepts.

In a time of political divisiveness, many of us look to the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for solace, strength, and guidance. I offer a few Dharma teachings I have found useful for practicing in tumultuous times.

People with extra physical challenges - disabilities, chronic illnesses, or advanced age - often find it impossible to participate fully in Zen practice without special accommodations. Seated meditation (zazen) can be painful, and the demands of silent meditation retreats (sesshin) can be prohibitive. However, an important part of Zen practice - especially sesshin - is how everyone follows the forms together, doing the same things at the same times. The whole idea is to minimize the need to exercise personal choice, and to use a certain amount of physical discomfort to bring us up against the existential matter of our lives. How can Sanghas support the Zen practice of people with physical challenges while preserving what is supportive to those without them?

When should Buddhist communities take public stands on issues that could be seen as political? If politics is about how we make decisions in groups (local communities, towns, cities, states, nations), are Sanghas really be free from politics when they are embedded in these larger groups? Silence can function as tacit approval, so is maintaining neutrality in keeping with our Buddhist values? On the other hand, there are many good reasons for Sanghas to avoid bringing discussions of politics in their places of practice, and I discuss them.