Eon Zen Senior Student and Practice Leader Lisa Gakyo Schaewe shares her experience with the 7th Grave Precept along with excerpts from Nancy Mujo Baker’s book “Opening to Oneness: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts.”

Often we react to a situation by elevating ourselves or blaming others arises when we feel fearful and vulnerable. Making ourself bigger or more important is a self-preservation mechanism. With our Zen practice, we can see this tendency and how it comes from a feeling of separateness. What is happening when we blame others? Can we accept that we don’t have to defend anything?