Steve, Cheers, will do.
Mike ________________________________ From: SteveW <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 30 March, 2011 11:58:44 Subject: Re: [Zen] An Opinion of Thich Nhat Hanh --- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote: > > Steve, > > I think there are a couple of ways at looking at the precepts and how they >apply > > to our practice. First of all, they were developed for the followers of > Buddha > and his immediate sangha i.e monks. Anyone on a retreat or sesshin can attest >to > > the fact that the precepts are easier to follow in such a setting. Of course, > they weren't posited because they are easy to follow, but because any course > of > > intensive meditation requires a mind not stirred up by the things the > precepts > 'prohibits'. For example, killing a mosquito or gossiping about someone on a > sesshin causes so much mental energy that prolonged, intensive  meditation > is difficult (mental dissonance). A second point is that following the >precepts > > (whether by monks or laypeople) can create such a psychological (some would > say > > spiritual) ambience that an awakening is much more possible. My own feeling > about the precepts is that they in fact describe the life lived after > awakening.rather than before. > > Mike > > Hey Mike. If interested, look up the Sudden Enlightenment and Gradual >Cultivation paradigm of Chinul. Steve > >
