Examining the Precepts, Part 2: Manifest Truth, Respect Clarity, Honor Silence

The Precepts are guiding principles that serve to direct our behavior and reorient our thinking so that we can realize our potential to Wake Up! Once we see through to our true nature we can use these as barometers to guage that we are still awake. Remember: each of us is capable of living a life of true freedom and joy beyond comprehension. Nirvana is right here!

This is the second episode in a four part series examining the 11 precepts as taught in Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen. Manifest Truth. Respect Clarity. Honor Silence.

Transcript

In this episode,

We are going to continue examining the 11 precepts of the hollow bones Zen order.

The first three,

Which we covered in part one of this series,

Were to affirm life,

Act generously,

And be loving.

The next three,

Which we will cover in this episode,

Are to manifest truth,

Respect clarity,

And honor silence.

Let's begin with manifesting truth.

So when we say that we manifest truth,

It means that I honor honesty and truth.

I speak with integrity from the depth of my heart.

This is a little bit different than the traditionally presented no lying,

In that manifesting truth also means that we don't look to deceive through omission or other fancy plays of language.

So we must have integrity,

And that's the key part here,

Integrity coming from the depth of our heart with honoring honesty and truth.

There are times that we accept truth can take different forms.

There's only one truth,

And you have to get it out,

But you can deliver it skillfully.

And as long as you are working with integrity from the depths of your heart,

You can manifest this truth,

And it doesn't necessarily have to be something brash or painful or rude.

So remember that manifesting truth is a lot more than simply not lying,

It's also acting with integrity in all of our speech and not presenting information in a way that is deceiving,

Even though it isn't directly a lie.

The next one is to respect clarity.

Acting clarity formally is to act at all times with mindfulness and clarity,

Not to abuse my body or my mind with misuse of intoxicants.

So in this it's something that we want to look at a little bit deeply as well because there are levels of intoxication,

Right?

So traditionally this is phrased as not to misuse intoxicants or not to abuse intoxicants,

And that can mean anything that changes our biochemistry in a way that affects our clarity of mind.

You could take it to an extreme and say any substance that changes our biochemistry like caffeine or nicotine or all of those things are to be completely avoided.

Part of this practice is the middle way.

So complete abstinence from all intoxicating substances sometimes,

Especially culturally,

Can be very challenging.

It's just really important that we understand that line of abuse and understand what these substances are doing to our bodies so that when we are ingesting them we're doing so mindfully and that we're able to stay clear-headed and present in this moment.

We're not going to spend all this time practicing about how to be here,

How to be living right now,

And then go consume a bunch of intoxicants that completely remove our ability to be here.

That's just a fundamental contradiction.

So for example,

Provided you're not dealing with any sort of addiction or alcoholism,

Which is a form of addiction,

Right?

Drinking a beer.

So one beer for most of us is not going to affect our clarity of mind,

Especially if it's consumed slowly and responsibly.

In which case,

Go ahead and enjoy your beer.

But be very cognizant.

Is that beer changing how you're responding to people?

Is it changing your ability to stay present?

Would a second beer do so?

If so,

Then no.

You don't want to do that.

In the same vein,

These alcoholic beverages,

Nicotine,

Tobacco,

Caffeine,

Can have adverse effects on our physical health.

And part of respecting clarity is the conscious embodiment of this practice.

We must have conscious embodiment because the only way that wisdom and compassion can manifest themselves in this world is through our physical form.

So as we're taking care of our body,

We also want to make sure that what we're ingesting in terms of intoxicants is not something that's going to destroy our body and degrade our quality of life.

How can we embody wisdom and compassion if we can't even get out of bed because we've so misused our body?

So this respect to clarity does have more of a connotation than just don't get blitzed all the time and constantly be high,

Right?

And it also doesn't mean that you have to abstain.

It means that you're going to make mindful choices and understand the consequences of those choices and make choices consistent with this practice of conscious embodiment of compassion and wisdom.

The third one that we're going to talk about today is honoring silence.

We'll read this formally first.

It says,

I remember the preciousness of silence.

I see the perfection in others and refrain from gossip and frivolous conversation.

I remain thoughtful and mindful of the effects of my speech.

There's lots of other idioms throughout the world that say the same thing.

You know,

Silence is golden.

Wise men don't have loose tongues.

I don't know if that's a real one,

But I'm pretty sure it is.

You can fact check me there.

The idea is that we don't gossip.

We don't slander others.

We don't speak out of turn.

We're very conscientious of our speech because our speech lays the groundwork for our actions and for the actions of others.

Words hurt,

Right?

The childhood phrase,

Sticks and stones may make my bones,

But words will never hurt me.

Yeah,

Okay.

Come on.

Silence is a great thing to tell ourselves,

But that's just denial and suppression.

So it's not exactly the best teaching to live our lives by.

It also doesn't teach us to be mindful of our speech and to consider deeply what we're saying and how it can affect people.

Also,

Oftentimes silence reveals truth.

Silence reveals what we need to know.

Silence gives us a chance to contemplate the situation and to be present.

If we're constantly jibber jabbing and speaking out of turn and interrupting people,

We're not deeply listening.

Not just deeply listening to what other people are saying,

But deeply listening to what this moment is telling us.

So through silence,

We can attain a better relationship to our environment and to ourselves and to the wisdom we hold inside of ourselves.

There was one more thing that I wanted to say about this,

And that is the part here where it says,

I see the perfection of others and refrain from gossip and frivolous conversation.

I see the perfection in others.

This phrase is critical.

We are all this light.

You can check my other podcast for OtoDibo.

Everyone is this light,

Provided they do not have a biological or psychological function that directly inhibits them from acting rationally.

Everyone is fully capable of becoming a bodhisattva,

An awakened one who lives by the four vacant vows and who is a contributor to society.

Everyone has that potential.

And through our right speech,

Through the manifesting of truth,

Through the respect of clarity,

Through honoring silence,

We can help bring forth those seeds in others.

And we see their innate perfection.

We see their innate ability to become better people.

And I think that that's really important when we're about to go gossip about somebody.

It's tempting to vent our frustrations through words to others about others.

In doing so,

You create a psychological cycle of negativity.

You create a hurtful environment.

You develop conditioning that contributes to negative behaviors.

And this is psychologically founded in science as well,

Where the neurons that we engage on a regular basis become more active.

So if you complain more about your coworkers,

If you complain more about your job,

If you're gossiping,

If you are constantly speaking about somebody in a negative manner,

You will create this image of the world that is more negative.

And your brain will rewire itself to support this viewpoint.

So through taking a moment to honor silence,

We can take a moment to step back from that cycle,

To break that cycle,

And choose to respond from wisdom and compassion,

And choose to say nice things,

And choose to say good things.

That doesn't mean that we ignore things.

That doesn't mean that we let things slide,

Because we also have to have integrity in our speech.

We have to manifest truth.

So this combination of manifesting truth,

Being clear-headed,

Clear-minded,

And clearly embodying this consciousness,

Along with silence,

Gives us an opportunity to build up this world,

To build up others,

To turn a negative thought into a positive one.

And by watering these seeds in our mind,

We are creating new neurological pathways,

A new neurological conditioning that will allow us to lead a more positive and happy life.

So there you go.

Those are the three precepts that we're covering today.

We already had a firm life,

Act generously,

Be loving.

Now we have manifest truth,

Respect clarity,

And honor silence.

We can see here that we have a fantastic foundation for right living,

For right action,

For right speech,

For right thought.

These are elements of the Eightfold Path,

And these elements of the Eightfold Path are what allow us to understand that our lives can be beautiful.

They don't have to be full of strife and stress and anxiety and suffering.

Our lives,

Through our actions,

Can be built up into whatever we want them to be.

Junpo Roshi,

The head of the Hollow Bones Zed Order,

Has a saying that goes something like,

If you don't like the way your play is going,

Fire your scriptwriter.

Write or hire a new one.

Okay?

And that's what these precepts can allow us to do.

So sit,

Practice,

Consider these,

Think about how you can manifest them in your life,

And you'll find that beautiful changes start to happen.

Reviews

Great reminders, thank you.

Love the way you explain these precepts and am very thankful for this teaching . Blessings

So wise. Great voice. Thanks for that.

Another enlightening and affirming talk! 🙏🏻💕

Thank you for this lesson!

Good to bookmark and listen to over and over again. 🙏🏾

Great talk! Thank you 🙏🏼

Great insight. Thank you!

Just as good as podcast #1 of this series. 🙏🙏

Thank you for these talks!

Indeed thank you

Thought provoking, much to ponder 🙏🏻

Lovely talk, thank you for divine wisdom

I absolutely loved this & its exactly how i try strive & put my everything into living this way...

I was told for years... 'no one likes you.. you have no friends.. you're going no where' by someone i loved & thought loved me....

But it was simple from my perspective... i can't bare drama.... gossip..... talking negatively....

Im far from perfect... but id rather be alone.... than be involved in these kinds of things. Or be around others who are so negative... and two faced...
Or gossip.... its like their lives are some episode from some ridiculous drama on tv....

I also have never ever been interested in soaps...

They are so ridiculous.. & i see ... in people who do waste their time getting so engrossed in a tv drama.... also... live their lives extremely similarly....

Yet... they perceive 'me' as im strange for meditating.... loving it thoroughly & want to live & teach my children to live in a mindful way..... be respectful of others and especially respect & love themselves... & to try to do the right thing(regardless of presence of others)

Thankyou for this talk. ... it made me feel happy...

..namaste

Love these talks. Inspiring! Thank you!