Harvey Roshi, Thank you for your post and your words.
It's nice to see you back on the forum..Bill! --- In [email protected], "amazing63" <amazing63@...> wrote: > > From: Harvey Hilbert > > > With palms together, > > Good Morning Sangha, > > Thank you for opening this small email and receiving its message. > > Today I will address the 6th Grave Precept: I vow not to talk about the > faults of others. > > This is a vow against gossip. It recognizes the power of words to do harm in > casual conversation. This is a challenging precept as we all seem to value > the communion we share with others through discussion regarding our friends > and family. So, on the one hand, we have the value of communion with others, > and on the other hand, the destructive power of words when we talk about the > faults of those we know and love. > > We might rationalize that it is important to share information about > another's faults. And sometimes this is true. But we must be very careful > here, and behave with deliberation and careful consideration. We might say we > are acting to protect our friends, say in the case that we discover one of > our friends has lied or acted in some other unwholesome way; still to pass > this along does damage to all concerned as we are diminishing the possibility > of that person's potential, and at the same time, we are demonstrating our > own willingness to harm. > > There are times when we should "blow the whistle" but these are rare in point > of fact and are not generally what we trhink of with regard to this precept. > This precept is about the damage caused by idle gossip about the faults of > others. > > When we speak, we should try to perceive the benefits of our words. Deepening > our relationships with others should not come at the personal cost of others. > A loving community is a communty that can trust. It is one that holds each > member to be sacred. Careless talk violates and diminishes this sacredness. > > I suggest that we each bring the power of our mindfullness to this precept in > our everyday life. How often do we speak of the faults of others? How can we > reduce or eliminate this talk? Increasing our present moment awareness of > the words that come out of our mouths is an excellent beginning. > > Be well, > > > > Rev. Harvey Sodaiho Hilbert, Ph.D. > > On the web at: > http://www.daihoji.org > > Opt out of military recruiter's getting your children's personal information: > http://www.militaryfreezone.org/ > > (This email powered by clean, renewable, solar energy.) > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
