saying
On the Practice of Precepts as Koans
The Mind of Clover
Text
Each precept is a koan, a challenge to our understanding. 'Do not kill'—what does this really mean? It does not simply mean refraining from taking life. It means cherishing all life, nurturing all life, being life itself. When you take up a precept as a koan, you find that it opens endlessly, layer after layer. The precepts are not rules imposed from outside; they are the natural expression of an awakened life. To practice them deeply is to practice Zen itself.
Attribution
By Robert Aitken
From The Mind of Clover
Sources
The Mind of Clover: On the Practice of Precepts as Koans