Exercise:
1. What are some advantages of taking precepts?
Living in accordance with the precepts, one would live a life of safety and wisdom. Wise choices about daily life would
be made which would lead to better circumstances. If one chooses not to rob a bank, for example, then one doesn't need
to worry about being chased and caught by the police and subsequently doing time in prison. Better choices, better
outcomes.
It would also allow one to gain a reputation for honesty and integrity. Trustworthiness is a by-product of living the
precepts. People would feel safe and comfortable such a person who lives the precepts.
Finally, one would shed much of the causes for anguish that interfere with life. Life would become less complicated and
problematic.
2. Under any circumstance, should any of the ten precepts be taken lightly?
A silly question really. Should one take the precepts lightly, one is not following the path of Buddhism. This is how
corruption and greed sneak into life. Buddhism is about removing delusions, if you are not vigorously seeking to remove
those delusions, why would a person bother to practice?
3. "(The homeless brother) must preach to everyone, he must wake up sleeping people." What do you think this
means?
If taken literally, this is no more than an exhortation to evangelize on behalf of Buddhism. However, if taken in the
spirit of Buddhist teachings, it means that one ought not to withhold teachings from those who wish to know - don't not
teach somebody because you dislike them, for example. And of course, waking up the sleeping person is to bring them to
enlightenment, wake them from the sleep of delusion. It is as if one is asleep because they do not see the truth of the
world, only a hazy dream of it.
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