The Soto Zen Precepts

Sabbapapassa akaranam, To refrain from evil,
Kusalassa upasampada, To do good,
Sacitta pariyodapanam, To purify the mind,
Etam buddhana sasanam. This is the teaching of the Buddhas

–The Dhammapada (Pali Language included)

This is another of those little reference posts I like to put up. Recently I’ve been doing some reading on Soto Zen, one of three branches of Zen in Japanese Buddhism,* and I noticed that Soto Zen uses a different set of moral precepts for both lay and priests. Here’s the list of the 16 Moral Precepts of Soto Zen, with explanation below:

The Three Treasures

The first three precepts are simply the Three Treasures:

1. I take refuge in the Buddha – The teacher
2. I take refuge in the Dharma – The Buddha’s teachings
3. I take refuge in the Sangha – The Buddhist community, past and present

Often this will be recited three times, based on an ancient Buddhist formula and tradition called the Vandana Tisarana in Sanskrit.

The Three Pure Precepts

These three precepts are general injunctions to abstain from evil and to practice good, not just for one’s self but also others:

1. Not Creating Evil
2. Practicing Good
3. Actualizing Good For Others

Note that these are also called the Root Precepts in the Brahma Net Sutra, mentioned below.

The Ten Grave Precepts

These are the actual 10 Major Precepts from the Brahma Net Sutra (see below) and not related to the 10 precepts of Shingon Buddhism:**

1. Affirm life; Do not kill
2. Be giving; Do not steal
3. Honor the body; Do not misuse sexuality
4. Manifest truth; Do not lie
5. Proceed clearly; Do not cloud the mind
6. See the perfection; Do not speak of others errors and faults
7. Realize self and other as one; Do not elevate the self and blame others
8. Give generously; Do not be withholding
9. Actualize harmony; Do not be angry
10. Experience the intimacy of things; Do not defile the Three Treasures

In any case, Zen, like many Japanese Buddhist sects, derives ultimately from the state-sanctioned Tendai sect, which intentionally did not follow the ancient Buddhist monastic code, the Vinaya. Instead, Tendai’s founder, Saichō, opted for the Bodhisattva Precepts instead.

The Bodhisattva Precepts are another set of precepts based on the Mahayana Buddhist text, the Brahma Net Sutra. Traditionally, monks would ordain under the Vinaya, but then on top of that they would take the precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra. However, in Japanese Buddhism, the lineage for the Vinaya died out despite repeated attempts to revive it. This is due to various reasons including geographic isolation, politics and sectarian issues, covered in more details in this later post.

The Bodhisattva Precepts include 10 Major Precepts and 48 Minor Precepts, but in Zen and in Jodo Shu Buddhism priests, and optionally lay followers, focus on the 10 Major Precepts only. These are broad enough to cover the more detailed Minor Precepts in any case.

In any case, Soto Zen priests and lay followers take the 10 Major Precepts as their base, but also add 6 more for a total of 16. As with all Buddhist precepts, it is a voluntary act, and usually people don’t necessarily do this right away, but after they’ve become comfortable with Buddhism and feel like committing further.

Buddhism is best practiced when there’s a healthy balance of:

• sila – Moral and ethical conduct
• samadhi – Practice
• pañña – Wisdom

Too much of one and not the other tends to lead to a dead-end, but balancing the three makes a big difference. Adhering to good conduct makes life less obstructed, allowing them to practice better, and to awaken to greater and greater wisdom. All of this is very, very long-term. One doesn’t necessarily results right away, and even if one screws up, they just “get back on the horse” so to speak. This is true with Buddhism in general, not just Soto Zen, Jodo Shu or whatever.

Namuamidabu

P.S. More on the history of the precepts in Japanese Buddhism in a later post.

* – The others being Rinzai and the lesser-known and more recent Obaku schools.

** – This particular wording of the precepts is provided by John Daido Loori in his book, Invoking Reality, kindly recommended to me by Jeannie.