Dzogchen ahimsa..from Victor

[Guest guest]

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Victor Torrico <vtorrico

Gloria

Saturday, August 26, 2000 6:38 AM

What happened?

 

 

Hi all,

 

Gee it seems strange not to be getting email from HS and NS. Do you

happen to know what happened to www.? Wonder if they are

having technical difficulties or are simply out of business?

 

Hope you are doing well at your place.

 

Here's something I was going to post.

 

Love,

 

Victor

 

------

 

Hello everyone,

 

Here is an extrordinarily profound viewpoint. There are five

precepts in the Buddhist sutric teachings. One of these is do not kill.

One tradition's Dzogchen point-of-view explains this precept as stated

in the following paragraph.

 

Love,

 

Victor

 

 

the first precept - srog gÇod songwa.

 

`Tantrikas refrain from killing the efflorescence of rigpa as it

sparkles through the fabric of duality.'

 

Commentary: Tantrikas realise that to refrain from killing the

efflorescence of their enlightened nature is simultaneously possible and

impossible. It is possible, because they are enlightened from

beginninglessness; but it is impossible because they may lack confidence

in the non-dual state. Because of this ambivalence, they develop

confidence in the non-dual state through sustaining awareness of the

pain and caused by killing in all its manifestations. Their

understanding of this is always present. Tantrikas understand that it

isimpossible to disconnect from killing. They understand that it is so,

simply because they have human bodies. They recognise that to have a

body, and to exist, is to cause death. From this knowledge they

establish compassionate connections with everyone and everything

everywhere. Tantrikas recognise that to walk across fields is to kill

insects. They recognise that to light a fire to keep warm is to kill

beings, and that eating bread makes them responsible, in part, for the

death of field mice. They understand that to use medicines is to kill

organisms and bacteria. They recognise that plant life has sentience,

and that sentience may exist within phenomena in which sentience cannot

be perceived. Through this knowledge they know that is impossibleto be

'pure' or disconnected from killing. They realise that it is impossible

to `transcend' their situation as a potential killer, merely by enacting

purist physical regimes or purist dietary policies. They understand that

to live is to cause death, and that this fact cannot be avoided. They

recognise that there is no external method for disconnecting themselves

from the causes of death; and that the only possibility of practise is to

generate compassion when awareness arises of any cause of death. They

know that because it is impossible to be pure, that it is also impossible

to judge others from the standpoint of purity. They know that if they

cannot judge others according to purity and impurity then all trace of

religious bigotry is abandoned. They delight in the knowledge that the

avoidance of bigotry restores the joy of practice. Knowing they cannot

be `pure' according to the `relative purist rationale' dissolves all

boundaries with regard to compassion. The knowledge that one's physical

existence is in itself the act of killing imbues tantrikas with the

pervasive motivation to avoid harming other beings wherever possible.

This knowledge also encourages the dynamic of alleviating suffering

wherever it is found according to capacity, circumstances, and

appropriate juncture. Tantrikas extend themselves to other to the extent

of their ability, and without abuse to the continuity of their own

worthwhile existence. Tantrikas attempt to commit themselves to

experiencing bodhicitta at every opportunity, in order to create

connections with whatever they eat, drink, or wear. They commit

themselves to a non-aggressive way of life. Whether their style of

taking sustenance is carnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, or fruitarian; they

commit themselves to refraining from aggression by way of act, word, or

attitude to those who derive sustenance according to contrasting

considerations. Each style of deriving nourishment is linked with a form

of expressing chang-chub sem (byang chub sems - bodhicitta) active

compassion according to the different vehicles, and so they commit

themselves to adopting whatever style accords with the integrity of their

perception as tantrikas.

 

 

This paragraph from:

 

The five Owl precepts

The 'ug-Kyi Lab-Nga & The 'ug-Dong Khandro Nying Thig mDo

 

The five Owl Precepts originate in the gTérmas of Khyungchen Aro Lingma.

They contain the profound inner meaning of the five precepts commonly

found within the Sutras, and as such provide an extraordinary base for

approaching Dzogchen. They represent the Dzogchen view of the five

precepts, expressed as irrepressible inaction.

 

Commentary by Ngak'chang Rinpoche & Khandro Déchen

 

See http://www.aroter.org/aroteachings/5precepts.htm for the other four

precepts and their associated commentary.