Precepts Program 2024
All are welcome to participate with Appamada’s year long monthly investigation into the Buddhist precepts. We often welcome back those who have taken this class before, but please do register again.
Dogen Zenji wrote: “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study to self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.”
Hui Neng, the sixth Zen ancestor, said “It is precisely Buddhist conduct that is the Buddha.”
Buddhist teachings in the Zen tradition consistently point to what Thich Nhat Hanh has called “interbeing.”
We don’t really exist as individuals, but as ever-changing embodiments of relationality.
This means, as author Peter Hershock notes, that the real Buddhist is seen “in terms of conduct—that is, his or her lived relations with others— and not according to any individually possessed marks or states of consciousness.”
What we do with each other is critical to awakening.
For this reason, Buddhism rests on a deeply ethical foundation. The Buddha taught the principles of ethical living throughout his 45 years of teaching, to every kind of audience, from farmers to disciples to kings. Although this ethical foundation parallels the ethical teachings of every major world religion in some ways, Buddhism is unique in the way the precepts are presented. Rather than reflecting moral judgments or declarations of “what is good” and “what is bad or evil,” the Buddha taught an active process of inquiry into that which is wholesome or skillful and that which is unwholesome or unskillful in leading to an awakened, ethically balanced life.
We plan 10 monthly meetings (followed by a completion ceremony).
Program Description:
This program follows the Appamada principle of experiential work, grounded in practice, rather than following a classroom or academic model. We incorporate into each meeting some time for sitting, some writing, small experiments or exercises, some inquiry work, and discussion. The real heart of this course, however, is utterly simple: it is in the everyday work, lives, and relationships of the participants, the ground of true practice.
At the end of the year, we offer an ceremony for those who would like to commit themselves to the path of the precepts in their own lives. This step is entirely voluntary. The ceremony is a public acknowledgment of a personal commitment and dedication to the practice path.
You do not need to be experienced in Zen practice to begin the Appamada precepts program; you may just be curious about the subject. We will ask you to maintain a daily sitting practice (even a very short period of sitting each day) and commit to attending the monthly meetings to the extent that you are able to, throughout the course of the program.
Teacher(s):
The Precepts Program is organized and will be led by Entrusted Teacher Joel Barna (primarily from his home in Albuquerque, NM), with help from other teachers and Appamada's Zen Mentors.
Online Participation:
These classes will be offered via Zoom. All are welcome. If it is possible to staff in-person gatherings at the Appamada zendo (913 East 38th St., Austin, TX 78705 ) we will offer as many meetings as possible in a hybrid format.
Texts:
Diane Rizzetto, Waking Up to What You Do: A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation With Intelligence and Compassion.
In addition we will draw on the following sources:
Reb Anderson, Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts; Cedar Barstow, Right Use of Power: The Heart of Ethics; Robert Aitken, The Mind of Clover; and other material from David Loy's Money Sex War Karma and writings from Thich Nhat Hanh, Gil Fronsdal, Joan Southerland, and others.
Meeting Dates: All meetings are 1:30 PM to 3:00PM central time
March 10: Introduction: What are Precepts in Zen? Practicing with Trauma. Deciding how to track what you learn.
April 14 : Practicing with the Precepts; Guided Experiments in Mindfulness; (Hakomi); Speaking Truthfully
May 12: Emotion, Thought, and Action; The language of Internal Family Systems; Speaking of others with openness and possibility
June 16: Meeting others on equal ground; Power relationships and responsibility
July 7: Cultivating a Clear Mind; Learning record midterm
August 18: Taking Only What is Freely Given
September 8: Engaging in Sexual Intimacy with Respect
October 6: Letting go of anger; Right use of power
November 10: Supporting Life
December 15: Creating and Sustaining the Sangha: Not disparaging the Three Treasures; Reviewing the Experience of Precepts study
January 12, 2025: Precepts Ceremony