Edict number 133 issued by the Meiji government in 1872 decreed that all Buddhist monks in Japan should be free to “eat meat, take wives, and shave their heads” as they chose.
American Zen is primarily modified Japanese Zen. The bulk of American Zen’s founders were Japanese who presented Zen through a Japanese ethos. Many beginners are unaware of this. Many assume that all American Zen priests take monastic precepts, one of which is celibacy. This is not true with regard to a Zen tradition from Japan. A Zen priest can do just about anything, in other words, including having sex and getting drunk. In fact, one of the closely guarded secrets in American Zen circles is the frequency of sex between Zen priests and their students.
So what kinds of precepts or rules do these American Zen priests generally take? It is the Bodhisattva precepts rather than the traditional Hinayana precepts, the latter of which have definite prohibitions against sex; the violation of which can lead to expulsion from the Sangha.
By comparison, the Bodhisattva precepts almost amount to lay persons precepts but, more importantly, Bodhisattva precepts are for Bodhisattvas—a fact overlooked by almost everyone. Zen priests are not, as a rule, Bodhisattvas. It is even safe to say that they are not first stage Bodhisattvas who have not even attained Bodhicitta which is a rather rare accomplishment. To appreciate the sense of this, Bodhicitta is the initial awaking of Mind in which one stands for the first time, so to speak, directly in the presence of pure Mind.
The most important aspect of the Bodhisattva precept is the commitment to magnify the initial awakening (bodhi) of Mind (citta), i.e., Bodhicitta. Such precepts, therefore, are for the subsequent unfolding of pure Mind; leading eventually to Buddhahood. This idea is embraced, for example, in the vow to bring all of the spirit (sattva) to maturity by skillful means. Such a vow, it needs to be stressed, has nothing to do with the rescue of humanity—it has everything to do with completely spiritualizing oneself and becoming a Buddha. Indeed, “no one who is himself in bondage can release the bonds of others” according to the Vimalakirti-nirdesha Sutra.
The only serious transgression for a Bodhisattva lies in doing things out of hatred and ignorance whereby they are in jeopardy of losing the Bodhicitta. In this light, desire is not a serious transgression. Even if one his having sexual intercourse, as long as Bodhicitta is maintained during coitus, and the spirit of the other is sensed during intercourse, there is fundamentally no wrong being committed. Indeed, there is no harming of the other during sex. Harm, however, is always the case when ignorance and hatred dominate us.
On the other hand, not to having sex because of hatred towards it or hatred towards those who strongly arouse it in us, breaks the Bodhisattva’s vow if we have Bodhicitta. This is to say that from the angle of Mahayana Buddhism it is a grave offense. But even worse than hatred towards sex is to have sex out of ignorance since it binds us directly to the flesh blaspheming any chance of coming into communion with spirit or sattva.
Another point worth mentioning about the Bodhisattva’s precepts, the true Pratimoksa has nothing whatsoever to do with one’s obedience to certain rules or regulations. This term actually pertains to the spirit as having (pra) the highest (ati) deliverance or moksha. In the commentaries to the Pali canon it says:
It is the Patimokkha since it is the fallen that it frees (mokkheti) from the suffering of samsara. For it is due to the release (vimokkhena) of the mind (cittassa) that a being is spoken of as ‘liberated’” (UdA 223—224).
Taken altogether, there is no great spiritual crime in Edict number 133. The great spiritual crime is to hate spirit (sattva) or willingly remain ignorant of it, even confusing sexual passion with spirit, which is often the case these days.
thank you
Posted by: a | November 30, 2007 at 01:12 AM