joe..are you lecturing me?... is there not a couple of old sayings... that point to one looking in one's own backyard before you point out wrong doing to others?... we lead by example joe.... you telling me your squeaky clean?.. merle
Merle, Having such thoughts -- of aggrandizing oneself while demeaning others -- is a breaking of that Sixth precept. One need not express the boast, nor the insult, vocally, nor in writing, as you have done before us all, here. No. It's not the expression of the thought, or the process, that counts (hurts): it's formulating it, or allowing it to form in the first place. To be able to formulate it shows, moreover, that one is not Awake, in that instance. The precepts are there (Ours...) as touchstones. They are a description of the behavior of *A BUDDHA*, a person who is Awake. We can compare our behavior to the precepts. Do we "violate" them, in a particular instance? If so, then, in that instant, we are not Awake, i.e., we are not a Buddha, just then. And so, we *practice*. --Joe > Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > yes joe.. i never said a word to the woman..for christ sake what do you take > me for?..merle
