Recently I became aware that the Third Pure Precept,¹ “Do Good for Others,” has another expression in the ancient scriptures: “Purify Your Own Heart.” This really hit home with me in light of my actions of thought and speech during the recent election cycle. Like many people, it seems, of whatever political persuasion, I hardened my heart against those with different points of view. In effect, I polluted my heart with self-righteous ideas and opinions and denied the ideas of others. I refused to consider their intentions and point of view, even if I disagreed with their approach. In effect, I denied them their Buddha Nature.

A wonderful aspect of pure meditation (even if sometimes painful) is that if we practice sincerely and with an open heart, it shows us the suffering we’re causing ourselves and others and the need to change our ways. In this case, although it took some time, eventually my meditation showed me quite powerfully the pain that my hard-hearted opinionation was causing myself and others. This shock of recognition inspired my deep regret, and also made me recognize that my hardened heart was similar to those with whom I had a problem. The resulting sange² prompted me to apologize to those upon whom I had inflicted my opinions. Letting go of my hard-hearted attitude felt like a load of rocks dropped from my back, and my relief was great. As Dogen says in the Shushogi:³

This experience truly roused my conviction to refrain from making this mistake. Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett points out a direct connection between the First Pure Precept, Cease from Evil, and the Third, Purify Your Own Heart: “Know that to purify the heart is, indeed, to have the intention and practice of refraining from all evil whatsoever.”⁴

My own experience with this situation has inspired me to remind the various meditation groups I visit how vitally important it is to be ever mindful of our thought and speech. Keeping our thought and speech pure helps keep our Heart open and maintain generosity of spirit for others and ourselves. This is not easy, I know, because there are things and people that push our buttons and cause us to want to close down and harden our hearts against them. But as we are taught in our very first meditation instruction, when we simply let these thoughts and emotions naturally arise, observe them, then let them go they will be washed and purified by the compassion of the Eternal. Saying this seems simple enough, but actually putting it into practicecan be challenging even after years of training. It is difficult because we are trying to convert deeply habituated forces of negative habit energy that we have generated in this life and inherited from past lives. This can blind us to the suffering we’re creating.

Rev. Master Jiyu said about the Third Pure Precept:

And in her commentary on this Precept in the Kyojukaimon, where it is expressed as “Do Good For Others,” she makes clear that doing good for others first requires ceasing from evil: “Do not set up a chain of causation that will cause others to do wrong; do not do that which will cause another to grieve; do not do that which will result in your creating karma for another being; do not accidentally set the wheel of karma in motion.”⁶ Elsewhere in this regard she said:

This is an important reminder that first we must do something about ourselves: purify our hearts by training in pure meditation and mindful application of the Precepts, which is to “refrain from evil.” If we try to willfully “do good for others” we most often step on toes and make a bit of a mess. Of course, we do need to take action at times, and our training helps us to respond to people and situations from a place of centered stillness, a place of compassion, sympathy, and empathy. And that is truly doing good for others.

In talking about this recently to the meditation groups, I mentioned that if anyone had anything to add to this article they were welcome to contribute. The following are one trainee’s observations.

In closing, it must be recognized that at any point in our training there will people and situations that “push our buttons” and cause our hearts to harden and for our training to go off the rails. I speak from recent experience, when my reactions to a situation made me realize that I needed to do extra meditation, be more still, and let the Eternal wash and cleanse my thoughts and emotions. This proved to me yet again that our first, last, and best recourse in difficult times is to ask for the help of the Eternal through pure meditation and to let our actions of body, speech, and mind be guided by the Precepts. When we do these things, we purify our heart and are truly good for all.

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NEWS OF THE TEMPLES