The secret of observing precepts is to practice Zen. Because if you practice Zen, the dualistic idea of to observe or not to observe takes place within your mind. You have no one to blame, and there is no one who is violating precepts. When you make an effort to observe precepts, even though it is not complete, that effort is Buddha-Mind’s effort. If you yourself are outside of the precepts or Buddha-Mind, there is no time to observe completely. But if your activity is involved in Buddha’s big activity, whatever you do is Buddha’s effort. Then even though it is not perfect, you are manifesting Buddha’s mercy and activity.
—cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 65-12-11-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. These posts are also on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. We are continually working on improving the quality of transcriptions of Suzuki's lectures. After a new "verbatim transcript" is made, we create a minimally edited version which is more readable. See the most recently completed transcripts at shunryusuzuki.com/n.
