The second step is Right Thought.
Right Thought requires us to become aware of our motivations. Always we must inquire why we want to have something or
why we want to do something, and we must be ruthless in our
inquiry. If a friend wanted to purchase something he couldn't afford
or to do something that was bad for him, we would give him sound
advice, cautioning him, helping him to see the likely outcome of his
foolish desires. Can we not be that kind of friend to ourselves? Can
we not apply ordinary common sense to our own desires?
Careful investigation will illuminate our situation:
The Warlord T'ien Chi and the King of Ch'i enjoyed the
sport of horse racing. Regularly they met to race their horses.
Now, each had three classes of horses. The third class was
the draft horse. These are the horses that pull wagons. They are big
and strong but very slow.
The second class was the cavalry horse, these are the
horses upon which lancers, archers, and swordsmen are mounted.
These horses are strong and reasonably fast; but they are older
because they require years of training.
The first class of horse was the young thoroughbred upon
which noblemen and high officers would be mounted. This class of
horse was light and very fast.
So, whenever the King and the Warlord held a racing contest, they would race all their 3rd classes horses against each other,
then they'd race their second class horses, and last, they'd race their
first class thoroughbreds.
Now, the King was very rich and possessed much better
horses than the warlord. So naturally he won all the races.
In his frustration, Warlord T'ien Chi appealed to Sun
Ping, a wise descendant of Sun Tzu - Sun Tzu wrote the famous
"Art of War". T'ien Chi asked Sun Pin, "Please advise me. How can
I win against the King?"
The wise man thought for a moment. Then he said, "Sir, I
suggest that when the King sends his third class horses into competition, you send in your second class horses to race against them.
When the King sends in his second class horses, you send in your
first class horses; and when the King sends in his first class horses,
you send in your third class. You will win two out of three races."
The answer was simple, but why couldn't the warlord figure it out for himself? Because his ego had gotten him too emotionally involved in the competition. He didn't step back from his
situation and look at it objectively. He didn't apply Right Thought.
Dear Friends, be ruthless in your examination of your
desires. Apply to yourself the same common sense you would use
to counsel a friend.
The third step is Right Speech.
How often do we impress words into the ego's service. To
gain some advantage, we gossip, or we exaggerate, or we neglect to
tell the whole story, or we insinuate the probable guilt of others
while protesting our own inviolable innocence. Sometimes, just to
be the center of attention, many of us will tell sordid tales or smutty
jokes.
We think that words are not deeds, that they have little
power and a short life, that somehow words just evaporate with the
breath that speaks them. But words do have power and they can live
forever; and, furthermore, they can heal as well as harm.
Just as Right Speech discourages us from uttering falsehoods, insults, accusations, or from bragging about our own accomplishments, it also encourages us to speak words of comfort, to utter
words of forgiveness, to express acknowledgment and appreciation
for the accomplishments of others.
Never underestimate the power of words. Let me tell you
an old story which illustrates their power:
It was a beautiful day in Spring and many people had
come to the park to see the green grass and the flowering trees and
plants. Among the people who came were two blind beggars.
The first beggar had a sign that read, "I am blind." Most
people just walked past him and kept on admiring the view.
The second beggar did much better. Nearly everyone who
passed him put a coin in his cup. Some people who had walked past
him without giving actually turned around to go back and give him
a coin.
His sign read, "It is May - and I am Blind!"
Dear Friends, when deciding to speak or not to speak,
think about that blind man who saw how much difference one little
phrase can make!
The fourth step is Right Action.
Right action contains the Precepts.
1. The Buddhist vows to be nonviolent. This does not
mean that he cannot defend his life or the lives of those persons
who are in his care but that he cannot initiate hostile actions against
others.
But what about himself? He, also, is one of the people
against whom he may take no hostile action.
Peace is not merely the absence of war. Anxiety is not an
aggressive state, but it isn't peaceful, either. The fellow who's in a
coma is not at war, but he's not at peace, either. Peace is a state that
is deliberately achieved and maintained.
It is not enough merely to be nonviolent; we must also act
to promote harmony, well-being, and good health.
Smoking, for example, is inimical not only to the
smoker's health but to the health of all around him. On both counts,
then, smoking is forbidden by the precept against violence.
Whenever possible, a Buddhist should abstain from eating
meat. I say `whenever possible' because this rule is not absolute.
Many people, for example, live in arctic regions where they have no
choice but to eat fish and other marine creatures. They cannot grow
gardens in the tundra; and we cannot deny the Dharma to human
beings because their environment does not conduce to vegetarian
diets. But where vegetables are plentiful, there is no reason to eat
meat.
On the positive side, a vegetarian diet promotes good
health and for this reason, also, it should be followed.
Exercise, particularly Tai Ji Quan or Qi Gong, releases
aggression and anger and also has a salubrious effect on the body.
Yoga is also very beneficial.
2. The Buddhist vows to be truthful, not only in his social
life, but in his business life as well. All forms of cheating and chicanery are included in this Precept. Whenever we sacrifice truth in
order to gain some imagined advantage, we enter a tangled, convoluted world:
In Tokyo there were two merchants who after years of
competitive conniving and deceit thoroughly distrusted each other.
One day they met at the railroad station. The first merchant asked, "Where are you going?"
The second merchant thought for a moment and
answered, "To Kobe."
The first merchant gasped, "You liar! You tell me you are
going to Kobe because you want me to think you are going to
Osaka; but I have made inquiries, and I know you ARE going to
Kobe!"
Dear Friends, this is the destination of even the smallest
deceit. Our reputations are like the label on a shipping box. Once
we are known as liars and cheaters, we consign our intentions, no
matter how innocent, to the place of doubt and mistrust.
