Resource From Cedar Rapids Zen Center

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hahn shows us how our state of mind and body can make the world a peaceful place and how we can take the very situations that pressure and antagonize us and transform them into opportunities for the practice of mindfulness.

Being Upright by Reb Anderson points directly to daily life and gives inspiration for practicing the Precepts. He shows how the precepts are not black-and-white rule, set in stone, but a way of life that transforms our practice and our lives.

Heart of Being by Robert Loori offers commentary on the precepts and discusses the ethical significance of these vows within the context of formal Zen training and as guidelines for everyday life.

Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hahn brings his gift of clarity and poetry to an explication of the basic teachings of Buddhism -- the Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eight-fold Path. These teachings are time-tested means to transforming suffering into into mindfulness, compassion, and joy.

Mind of Clover by Robert Aitken discuss the Precepts, which, Aitken points out, are "not commandments etched in stone but expressions of inspiration written in something more fluid than water." Aitken approaches these Precepts, the core of Zen ethics, from several perspectives, offering many layers of interpretation.