Question
Can someone who hunts small animals practice the Way (the philosophical practice promoted by Buddhism)?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
Hello,
Thank you for your question. Bodhidharma gave his disciples a precept that I like very much. It is called the single precept—very easy to follow because it is just one rule—or the precept of Buddha-nature. If you follow it, you accept that all living beings have Buddha-nature: this is Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching. So if all living beings have the same nature as you, if you kill them, you kill yourself; if you lie to them, you lie to yourself, and so on…
But do not worry: to practice this very simple precept, you must practice the Way, and the single precept is naturally realized.
Kosen