The "Real" Rules Of Ethics

When I first asked my teacher whether it was ok to talk about ethics and mindfulness, he laughed and said, all of mindfulness is ethics!

Fair.

And, it’s interesting to look at the five biggies, or precepts: not causing harm, not stealing, not misusing sexuality, not communicating unwisely, not using intoxicants to cloud the mind.

These can feel like big asks to me anyway, when I take a really close look. And yet aren't the lawyers the standard-bearers? Don’t folks rely on us to lift up the earth?

Transcript

Hey everyone, It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 362. Nice to see you. We're exploring the second parameter, Which is the parameter of ethics. It's also called the La Para meter. There's a very loud J outside. I don't know if you're hearing that. So I mentioned last time the perfection of ethics is based at least in its most concrete formulation and look at some less concrete formulations over the next couple of weeks. But on in a concrete way of looking at it, It's based on the 10 precepts, Which are these rules that are intended to to regulate our behavior, Regulate our thought. And five of the precepts are from mnastics. So not eating after midday, Not attending entertainment, Not wearing jewelry or perfume, Not sleeping in luxurious beds, Not handling money, So they don't apply to us. But five are for laypeople. And they are a little bit similar to legal ethics, Don't cause harm, Don't steal, Don't engage in inappropriate sexuality, Don't communicate unwisely, And don't use intoxicants to cloud the mind. To me, Those those five precepts for laypeople, They seem clear. But then digging in, There can be a lot of nuance. And you know, Always assuming we're not going with original intent, In the sense of CELA that might have applied 2600 years ago, And when the mindfulness sutas were were first being well spoken and then later written. And instead, We're exploring, You know, How how can these precepts work in our time, Right? And in our profession. So first, Not causing harm. And I've mentioned that I used to give lawyers a buy and say that because of our adversary system, You know, We should only have to aspire to do no unnecessary harm. And then a friend and longtime Zen student said, Why? You know, Why do lawyers get that by? Why should we only have to do no unnecessary harm? So we can go with no harm, See what it could even look like. But if it's do no harm in terms of our work, I think it's really tough. Because in an adversary system, How do we do no harm and someone loses and then they don't feel harmed? Right? Or, Like, How does a prosecutor put someone in jail and not harm them? Or how can a divorce be settled without causing harm to someone or a corporate matter be litigated without someone experiencing some kind of harm? So I think just looking inside of the profession, These are really tough questions. But there are other ways we can perfect CELA in terms of doing no harm. Inside of the way that we work, For example, We can not inflict physical harm, As in we can not throw any punches, Which most of us can probably sign on to at least. But we can also not inflict emotional harm. So we can stop yelling, We can stop being snarky, We can stop being derisive. We can even stop being impatient, Which is a whole parmigio that we'll talk about. And this in and of itself is not inflicting emotional harm. I just really think this could be transformative in the profession. So it's just something to think about. We can not inflict spiritual harm. And one way of keeping track of that is not demanding oppressive workloads from other people or from ourselves, So that everybody has a little time to sit in the park or drive to the beach or the mountains or the river and relax and be in nature, Or a little time for more formal spiritual practice. Because, I mean, Well, I don't know about you, But in my experience, When the workload gets too heavy or it stays heavy for a really long time, Spiritual connection, First thing to go. Or spiritual practice. So, So looking at non-harming, How about our oppression, Our own oppression, Our own bias, Our own hatred, You know, Even in their subtlest forms, You know, Maybe that's a lifetime of work, But another piece of the puzzle, I think. And then non-harming in relationship to the earth, Right? She could really use a little non-harming these days, Even taking it as far as declining to represent clients who are engaging in activities that harm the earth. What if we did that? You know, That would really be radical non-harming. So I think there are ways to engage in non-harming and still do our work and be really wonderful advocates, Teachers, And doing our jobs, The jobs of advocates, The jobs of adversaries, It may in and of itself cause some harm. So the second one, There's not stealing, Right? Sounds easy. Also, Of course, A legal ethics rule. And yet, You know, One modern interpretation of not stealing is not taking more than we need. And here I am, I'm sitting in our little place at Lake Tahoe and we have our place in Sonoma and, You know, I don't need all of this. And maybe you have more than you need. Maybe you have just enough, Maybe you have not enough. But if we have more than we need, You know, Can we at least be mindful of that and maybe look to the previous Paramita and increase our practice of dhanam, Right? Generosity. Or another way of thinking about not stealing is Thich Nhat Hanh says, Please consider this precept in terms of preventing others from enriching themselves from human suffering and the suffering of other species and the earth. So that could be a really interesting internal conversation or conversation with a client. And then here's misusing sexuality, Which is another precept that at first sounds clear. Pretty easy to keep if you're a faithful person, Don't cheat on your partner, Don't harm your partner. But what about not misusing sexuality by not taking a biased approach or an oppressive approach toward those whose gender or sexual orientation is different from yours or from what you think it should be, Right? Or what about not harassing anyone or participating in or even allowing a power imbalance among the sexes? Or what about not supporting or perpetuating the patriarchy even though it's the water we swim in, So it's almost invisible, Right? I was talking with my brother yesterday about a project and he started talking over me and telling me how to do something he knows I know how to do. And then he stopped and he asked and he was pretty sheepish. He said, Was that man explaining? And I said, Yeah, And we laughed and he also apologized, You know, And can we pay that level of attention to not misusing sexuality? No big tent question. And then not communicating unwisely number four, That's important for us, Right? And so many times I've said something in my lawyer's voice, You know, Without kindness or because I knew I was right. Maybe you can relate to that. So I'm using something new. I'm using a an acronym that I'm made up called thinking cap, Which it's really think cap when I give you the letters, But thinking cap sounds better. So when speaking, Writing and posting, So communicating outwards is what I'm saying. T true. H helpful. I interconnected. N necessary and K kind. So think or thinking and when I'm listening or taking in communication, Am I being so reading as well? Am I being C curious? A attentive and P patient. So thinking cap. And then last but not least, Not using intoxicants to cloud the mind. And I think really this is the trickiest one of all, Because sure, One way to think of it is alcohol and drugs. And for some folks, This is the hardest preset. We have terrible statistics in our profession, As we all know, But there are so many other intoxicants, Netflix, Prime, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Even the news. So many times I start scrolling to feel better, To distract myself. So for intoxication and email, I can waste serious time scrolling through email and just work in general definitely can be an intoxicant for me anyway, Even things like, You know, Exercise yoga, Even meditation. So I think with this precept of, Of not using intoxicants to cloud the mind, We can ask ourselves what's our intention, You know, And make sure that whatever we are engaging in, We're not engaging in anything as an intoxicant as a way of getting away or turning away from our lives, Or if we are that we're aware of that, And we remembered to turn back. So that's a little bit about the five precepts underlying sila paramita for the perfection of ethics. So plenty to contemplate. And let's, Let's do that. Let's sit. So finding your most supportive meditation posture, And bringing your mindfulness to this moment. So choosing intentionally. And then whatever that posture is, Or however you are in your body right now. Taking a kind and gentle approach, A non harming approach, Forward towards the body today. Locating your object of attention, Whether that's the breath or whether that's the body, Maybe a body scan is what's right for you, Maybe the sound in your environment. And again, Just working with this precept of non harming, How gentle can you be? How loving can you be towards whatever your experiences right now? Can you bring one more degree of kindness to the achy body or wandering mind? Maybe the second precept, Not stealing or not taking what is not offered or not taking more than we need, Maybe we can flip that and just consider that in this moment, Maybe Sometimes I practiced with the words, There is enough, I have enough, I am enough. What else? . And with this precept of not engaging in inappropriate sexuality, If you have a partner in your life, Can you tap into your commitment to that person? And from there, Allow that commitment and the love that sits underneath it to flow out to all beings and whatever ways their sexuality manifests, Their gender manifests, And seeing all of us as equal. . And in terms of wise communication, This precept of maybe saying what's true and helpful and interconnected and necessary and kind, Maybe listening with curiosity and attentiveness and patience. Maybe you can think of a time recently when you did do that. And use that as a template going forward. We all know how to do this. And yes, Definitely we need some distractions. We need some distractions in our very complicated world right now. Can we bring our mindfulness there so that we are aware of the times when we're engaging in something as an intoxicant, Give ourselves a break, But as a sort of primary way of being to be able to turn towards the world and be with what's here. . Thanks, Everybody, For being here on the wake-up call. It's really nice to see you. Have a good Thursday and a good Labor Day weekend. Stay safe. And I'll see you in, Well, It's already September. Happy September. I'll see you later in September. Take care.