Joe, Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm familiar with the taking of the precepts. I confess my question was a little bit facetious. I eat meat and I try to do so mindfully.
But to carry the discussion in a bit more of a philosophical/ethical direction, if there is no-birth and no-death, and no discrimination between beings, yet birth and death (in the conventional realm) continue to happen at every moment around us (i.e., the entire universe is dependent on death to live), why do monastics (and some lay practitioners) defend not eating meat? They still rely on plants for their survival. I prefer to be mindful of what I eat. I accept that I must eat, which means the death of some plants and animals, but I will eat mindfully, i.e., limiting the amount of meat (because of mass production and the harm it causes the entire cosmos). Glenn --- In [email protected], "Joe" <desert_woodworker@...> wrote: > > Glenn, > > Well, there are no formal dietary regulations in Zen Buddhism for lay people. > Maybe some monastics must follow other rules. > > Even as lay people, though, we have the Ten Grave Precepts. The first of > these is "No Killing". It's up to each practitioner to interpret the > precept, and either to accept it ("take" it), or not take it, if we "take" > the precepts at all, usually in a ceremony called "Jukai", in Japanese. You > might sew a Rakusu for this ceremony, and wear it ever afterwards when you > sit zazen at home or communally. > > Some do, some don't. I did, and I do, but I came later to the Japanese > lineage; in my first teacher's tradition, a Chinese Ch'an teaching lineage, > there is no rakusu. But the rakusu first developed in CHINA, as an > abbreviated robe that monastics could wear when they climbed the four sacred > mountains of China on pilgrimage: full-length robes would cause them to trip > on the trail, otherwise. > > These shortie-robes are like "bibs" for eating lobster, and you cannot trip > on their hems, because they reach only to your belly-button, and not to your > toes. > > When I learned that the rakusu developed first in CHINA, I then gladly sewed > one from scratch over a period of a couple of months as a part of my > practice, and took Jukai in the Diamond Sangha tradition of Aitken Roshi, > with Pat Hawk Roshi as Precepts Master in Tucson, AZ, in April, 1999. > > But I first took the Precepts with Sheng Yen in Feb., 1979. No rakusu, > there. Later, we took the Precepts again in a Two-Day long ceremony > following an intensive 7-day Ch'an meditation retreat, and were given > ceremonial scarves and robes to wear and to keep. I treasure and wear these > still, and mix them up with the Rakusu, also, from time to time, for > completeness, and for love of both lineages. > > A great thing about traditions is that there is so much to choose from, from > within them. It's like "standards" in the personal- computer realm: so many > to choose from! ;-) > > With Cheers!, and wishes for strong practice, > > --Joe > > > "Glenn Rogers" <rgthiessen@> wrote: > > > > Is it okay for Zen practitioners to eat/drink bone broth? :) [snip] > ------------------------------------ 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/
