Discussing the 2nd Grave Bodhisattva Precept With My Demons

I'm not a person who posts my altars super often, but I will on this post because it's basically all of us hanging out. Beelzebub is on the left, Astaroth in the center, the cuneiform mug is Lucifer's, and on the right is Belial.

Tonight I didn't want to go to the zendo I'm newly a member of (🥳) for service and precepts class because it's been a big week. So Lucifer and I decided to stay home, I did 30 minutes of zazen, and he reminded me that I picked up wine earlier so I served him and the other three. I also lit frankincense on Belial's shrine.

Then we discussed the second of the Grave precepts, which my zendo translated as, "Do not steal -- honor the gift not yet given." The San Francisco Zen Center translated the same precept as, "I vow not to take what is not given."

Beelzebub went first: It is wrong to take from the community, and damage relationships, with what might come later while working together is larger prosperity.

Me: So you see this precept as protecting the sangha (community; one of the Three Treasures)?

Beelzebub: Yes, mainly, for without the others surrounding you, you will not get far. The object you stole will be temporary, what's destroyed in the process goes much longer.

Astaroth: I don't see the precepts as individual. They build upon each other and work with one another. [Mostly in regards to an incident Feebz had 3 months ago] I think it's fine to be upset that you're stolen from, you just shouldn't create unnecessary strife and conflict in response to it per the other precepts. Especially when it's something replaceable and not worth fighting so hard for return.

Belial: There's no need to steal if you already feel like you have everything you need, which you can often find within yourself. Stealing to feed yourself or your family is not stealing. Stealing is when you take something out of greed that isn't meant to be with you.

'Mind' is not an exact translation from the Sanskrit word. Ask for what it actually means, which is something like a larger perception or existence. It's saying that you are already with whatever it is you covet because you're in the same universe.

Me: I think unlike the other precepts, this precept is more material-based. Zen as a tradition is very minimalist so I wonder if this speaks to its traditions very differently than other Buddhist schools and Mahayana traditions.

Belial: Even when its material-based, stealing is from a source of feeling lack. If you fulfill the feeling of lack, stealing is unnecessary.

Lucifer suggests: if someone takes something of yours you're allowed to go and take it back. That is not stealing.

Me: is that a message because that sounds kind of specific and foreboding?

Lucifer: >:)