Principles of Buddhism: Third principle, P3/2 - the Noble Quest

Principles of Buddhism: Third principle, P3/2 - the Noble Quest, class 14^th January

Question How will you spend your holiday time?

For me of deeper retreat, a semi solitary retreat

stopping my usual activity,

I’ll stop having online meetings

trying not to fill my time up with other things

Not switching my phone or computer on as much

Reflecting on the last year and the year ahead

Reflecting about the Dharma, tecahing the Dharma and life

Three day fast for health and spiritual discipline

More time for doing nothing

It helps to make a definite decision to do this,

and communicate this decision to others

Q How will you use these holidays?

How can you best use these holidays?

But now we are looking at the third principle to practice in everyday life

We have already looked at two principles,

the principles of awareness and truthfulness

And the questions, how to bring these two qualities more into our lives

What can we do, concretely and practically, to bring these qualities

more into being in our lives.

Our third principle is “contentment”

Why contentment and

Let’s see how we get to contentment from our point of departure.

So what is the precept for the development of contentment? The third precept.

(The third principle coincides with the third precept)

Negative variant: I freely undertake to abstain from irresponsible behaviour in the sexual sphere

Positive variant: with peacefulness, moderation and contentment I purify my body

Q How do the positive and negative versions of the precept fit together?

Lies and truth go together obviously as opposites.

But sex and contentment, do they go together as opposites?

We start then with the area of sex

This is a complicated area

1/ People who I tell I am a Buddhist often ask about the Buddha

The Buddha to be went forth from home into homelessness

The left his wife and child, family and kingdom, his wealth and social position

After his Enlightenment, he encouraged his followers to do likewise

He later explained his actions thus.

There is a noble quest and an ignoble quest, noble and ignoble striving

What is the ignoble quest, striving?

It starts with the reflection of this kind

Being subject to birth and death, being liable to birth and death,

I search for what is also subject to birth and death, I search for what is liable to birth and death.

The noble quest is when

Being subject to brith and death, being liable to birth and death,

I search for the unborn, for that which is not born,

I search for deathless, that which doesn’t die.

It raises the question

So do you have to be a monk to be a real Buddhist?

Do you have to live in a monastery?

Do you have to be celibate?

Can you have a family and be a real Buddhist?

Q What do you think?

When people ask such questions,

I think it is important to remember that practising the Dharma until Enlightenment is a long path.

Enlightenment meaning reaching the unborn, reaching the deathless,

becoming the unborn, becoming the deathless,

Buddhism also teaches rebrith.

We don’t have to do everything now in this life.

Especially if we don’t feel ready too.

It’s important to know what our next step is,

to not try to go too far, too fast.

To not build a bridge too far.