How have the precepts come alive?

[Andrea Russell]

hello everyone

hope you all had a lovely holiday time and a smooth entry into 2013.  for many people the end of the year into the new year is a busy time often spent others.  relationships, whether they be with family, friends, co-workers or acquaintances, are rich with opportunities to live the precepts.  please take a moment to share on the google group an instance in the past month where you worked with one of the precepts in thought, speech or action. 

best wishes,
andrea

[Douglas Reid]

Christmas and its associated festivities don't present me with much of a struggle because my proximate family is small and there are few rituals and routines that we're obliged to follow.  

That said, recognizing that I was tired, and still trying to catch up on work over the holiday period, I gave considerable attention to ahimsa and satya, in combination.  In the past I am sure that unskillful speech has caused suffering, because I have used speech in service of my ego - to signal boredom, lack of patience, or a desire to be elsewhere or doing something else.  All of these feelings seemed authentic at the time, though I am convinced today that their origins lay in the desire to create and cling to mentally stimulating activity.  Not all conversations from previous Christmases fit that bill, apparently.

I resolved not to permit my own wants to create discomfort for others as a consequence of unskillful speech.  This meant I had to be focused on conversation, and slow down, and think about what I said, so that my intent could be expressed positively, respectfully, and in keeping with the context.  Still, I wanted to preserve satya so I resolved also not to lie.  That meant I had to avoid disagreement, and be aware of the needs of others (here the flowchart for speech was very helpful.)

It may not sound like much of a triumph, given the magnitude of what I was undertaking, but I did manage to navigate a small number of social events, with a similarly small number of others in attendance, without leaving any verbal bruises.

As I reflect on this small thing, I realize that in the past, non-mindful engagement with others prevented me from being appropriately considerate of their needs.  By removing outside distractions, focusing on a single thing, and by hesitating even a second before I contributed to a conversation, I was able to think through my choice of words in a way that I never have in the past.  In so doing I managed to apply the precepts in my life in a way that I have worked to include in my practice. 

Thanks, Doug