On to Jukai...

So, here it is less than two weeks to Jukai and I thought I might write a little each day about The Ten Precepts and how I have thought about them the past year. I knew last April that I would attend Jukai this year, so I took time every so many weeks to examine one of The Ten Precepts and really think about it. Of course, even a year is much too short to completely get a feel for each one...but it is always interesting to see how they are so interrelated to one another. Today I'll start with the first in the list:

Do not kill

This seems easy at first, but there are so many different facets. Of course, simply not killing another creature is right. Why would I willingly take the life of another? Since all things are interdependent, it makes absolutely no sense. And again, it is important to look at the positive side, which is: how can I help prevent killing or preserve life. Often it is easy to turn away and let killing continue.

Then one day during the year, I realized when I became angry with someone that I had "killed" the good mood they were feeling and had caused suffering for them and of course for myself in doing that. There are endless ways to kill, not just the body of another.

Breaking myself off from the Unity of all life, is killing. Breaking others off from the Unity of all life is killing. I will refrain from killing...