Journey Through Cancer – Chapter 42 – An Addendum to Aspirations, Commitments and Promises

Contemplating the path of Tibetan Buddhist monasticism for myself, I have read the monastic precepts in several different translations and from several different traditions. At first glance, it looks like anywhere from around 250 to more than 300 “thou shall nots,” especially to the Western eye influenced by the Judeo-Christian 10 Commandments and countless Levitical laws. However, the bulk of such prohibitions entered into the text because of someone's downfall and the potential of another falling into the same trap. Nevertheless, this can leave one in the condition of “not seeing the forest for the trees.”
When I pull back from the minutia of the individual precepts to view their whole scope, I see a great plan laid out having two sweeping effects. First, growing out of the hard experience of those who have been monks all the way back to the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, we are spared from nonvirtue and its consequent karmic results. We could easily stop there. Indeed many do, but such a view of the precepts could make them burdensome and confining like chains.
On the other hand, however, the second effect is liberating. Everyday laypeople make countless little decisions, what to wear, what to eat and when, which fragrance to use, how to fix their hair, what to do and when, and so many more. For the monastic so many of these decisions are already made by the precepts. Furthermore, many concerns that go with these choices are also removed. Monks and nuns no longer need to consider whether another likes a hairstyle or a fashion choice, because the shaved head and the robes are all the same. They no longer need to plan their day for the most part, because their practice is prescribed by their abbot or abbess or other preceptor. They no longer need to choose food, because it is whatever is provided in alms rounds or the equivalent.
O f course, in the West, some of these conditions may not exist as purely as they are written in the precepts, but the underlying principles still apply. Nevertheless, with such concerns removed and energy not being expended on the lay person's activities for them, time, energy and attention can be focused on study and practice. Instead of striving to gain a promotion in a corporation, the monastic can strive to overcome attachments. Instead of wondering what a neighbor thinks, the monastic can examine his or her thought patterns. Instead of struggling to have the financial resources to pay the mortgage and other bills and still save for the children's education, the monastic can seek the resources to advance toward enlightenment and prepare for death and its transformations.
Needless to say, this is not a complete commentary of the Vinaya, indeed hardly one at all. However, it is just the barest outline of how I see the precepts that will guide my life after I am ordained a Tibettan Buddhist monk as compared to the rules under which I have previously lived as an Orthodox Christian monk. In fact, it is just this kind of self-examination and reflection that reveals the difference between the previous flight from reality and the present radical engagement with it.
While it may be possible to attain enlightenment as a lay person and monastic ordination does not assure enlightenment, the monastic precepts are a valuable aid toward that result. Not only must one stop accumulating negative karma, but one must also accumulate merit instead. Not only must one cease nonvirtue, but one must focus all of one's energies and attention toward the path to enlightenment. Hence we gain by removing all those concerns which bind the householder and taking on the bonds of the precepts which are liberating rather than confining.
Finally, all this would come to nothing without compassion, because every step on the path is for the benefit of all sentient beings.