The Fourth Step

“From the beginning all beings are Buddha. 

Like water and ice, without water, no ice,

outside us no Buddhas.”

Right action/cause (samyak-karmanta—Sanskrit) is translated as right conduct. “Samyak” (or Samma in Pali) means either complete, perfect, or right. Karmata means conduct or action. Karma is thus understood to be the result of an action. Samyak-karmanta has a variety of possible meanings. One meaning might be a code of conduct to be followed to ensure a desirable outcome. This meaning establishes the causal connection between actions (causes) and effects—karma. An alternate meaning would be conduct that flows from what is already perfect. This understanding is the flip side of the first meaning. In the first, we are working toward a goal or payoff through our conduct, and in the second, our conduct is a reflection of attainment already.

Hakuin Zenji preferred this last meaning because he recognized that all beings are essentially Buddhas. The first line of his Song of Zazen says:

“From the beginning all beings are Buddha. 

Like water and ice, without water, no ice,

outside us no Buddhas.”

As Buddhas, there is nothing to attain. Buddhas (e.g., awakened-past tense) are not bound by karma since they are beyond cause and effect. A Buddha can’t be un-awakened. A Buddha is our unconditional well-spring—our true mind of wisdom—from which all things arise (Prajñāpāramitā). Of course, we can choose to deny this assertion and continue to suffer, trying to attain a payoff. Our lives, as well as our zazen practice, reflect either choice. We either have the payoff, or we don’t. To attain what we have already, by necessity, results in continued karma, utter frustration, and a never-ending quest. To accept our essential nature as Buddhas is to move beyond both attainment and karma.

The beginning of Hakuin’s Song of Zazen says,

How near the truth, yet how far we seek.

Like one in water crying, “I thirst!”

“Sila” in Sanskrit means morality or ethical conduct, but sila alone does not indicate on which side of attainment we exist. Many, if not most, arrangements of the Eightfold Path begin with Sila (Speech, Action, and Livelihood) move on to mental discipline (Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration), and ends with wisdom (Understanding and Thoughts). What I am now discussing is the fourth step—action, ordinarily seen as the second step. Hakuin’s interpretation turns this around to reflect his premise of “already.” The Sutras clearly state that prajna is beyond cause and effect and thus can’t result from prior actions. Likewise, prajna is the ground from which all Buddhas arise. I accept this order as the proper placement for “Right Action”—not leading to wisdom but rather flowing from wisdom.

Within Buddhism, five precepts govern conduct. They are reflected in the following refrain:

1. I observe the precept of abstaining from the destruction of life.

2. I observe the precept of abstaining from taking that which is not given.

3. I observe the precept of abstaining from sexual misconduct.

4. I observe the precept of abstaining from falsehood.

5. I observe the precept of abstaining from intoxicants that cloud the mind and cause carelessness.

Many Buddhist traditions routinely recite these precepts. The refrain “I observe the precept of abstaining from ...” which begins every precept, shows that these are not commandments. They are moral codes of conduct that lay Buddhists willingly undertake with the understanding and conviction that they are good for themselves and others.

No harm results from employing these precepts regardless of attainment. All such conduct benefits the giver and the receiver. The harm comes about when these measures are used to attain what is already attained. “They are like those who, being in the midst of water, cry out for water, feeling thirst.”