Zen practitioners are people of the vow. Being so, we are always vowing.

Jukai is made up of ju, “receiving/granting,” and kai, “precepts.” At a deeper level, ju means to open a space within the core of our being to what is natural and true. It is, perhaps, more like “making” a space in which the precepts can manifest as what is natural. So in this sense, jukai opens to what is. (https://www.lionsroar.com/what-is-jukai/).

This Saturday (11/16/19) at noon, two members of the Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha (FSZS) will do so. Friends and family will join-in and we will celebrate with hugs, smiles. photographs, and lunch-sharing Oneness. Please join us in person and/or through your kind thoughts.

What are the vows/precepts we take in Jukai?

I take refuge in Buddha the fully enlightened one

I take refuge in Dharma the compassionate teaching

I take refuge in Sangha the harmonious community

I will not create evil- Do no harm

I will practice good- Do only good

I will purify intentions- Do Good for others

I will Affirm life– Do not kill

I will Be giving– Do not take what is not freely given

I will Honor the body– Do not engage in sexual misconduct

I will Manifest truth – Do not speak falsely

I will Proceed clearly- Do not cloud the mind with intoxicants

Matsuoka-Roshi, in The Kyosaku (p.335), acknowledges our vows are altruism..." that each human life is One with others." As Soto Zen Buddhist we vow and act, just as we breathe... How can it be otherwise?

108Bows