Transgressing unknowingly .....

minimayhen88

If one were to violate a precept unknowingly ... or rather without realising it were a violation.....is it still considered a significant violation .....?

Please kindly help :-) I am aware it was ignorant, but I had no intention / realisation of the transgression, at the time, until I did a bit of research.

taiyaki

karma in a nut shell:

intention to do something. doing it. finding fulfillment in doing that act and carrying it out.

if you did something without the intention and then you do it and then you feel regret for doing it.

then the best thing to do is to vow to refrain from doing it again.

imo the karmic consequences for unintentional negative karma isn't as bad as intentional.

but its important to actively do something to counter it. say for instance if I stole something then what I would do is be generous with money, etc. Then feel happy that I actually did something to counter my negative karma.

of course one can go bat shit crazy thinking about all of this.

so just work with the immediate karmic arisings. don't make it a self help or fix project.

hope this helps.

minimayhen88

karma in a nut shell:

intention to do something. doing it. finding fulfillment in doing that act and carrying it out.

if you did something without the intention and then you do it and then you feel regret for doing it.

then the best thing to do is to vow to refrain from doing it again.

imo the karmic consequences for unintentional negative karma isn't as bad as intentional.

but its important to actively do something to counter it. say for instance if I stole something then what I would do is be generous with money, etc. Then feel happy that I actually did something to counter my negative karma.

of course one can go bat shit crazy thinking about all of this.

so just work with the immediate karmic arisings. don't make it a self help or fix project.

hope this helps.

Thank You (^.^)

federica

If one were to violate a precept unknowingly ... or rather without realising it were a violation.....is it still considered a significant violation .....?

nope.

Please kindly help :-) I am aware it was ignorant, but I had no intention / realisation of the transgression, at the time, until I did a bit of research.

You're fine. Stressing about it would be worse than the deed.... relax...

ozen

I agree with Frederica, no harm no foul.

vinlyn

Yes, and one general guideline (at least for most people) is that whether or not you KNOW something is against a Precept, you'll probably have a gut feeling about it.

minimayhen88

Yes, and one general guideline (at least for most people) is that whether or not you KNOW something is against a Precept, you'll probably have a gut feeling about it.

Thank you Vinlyn, may I just ask, when you say 'yes' are you agreeing with Frederica & ozen .... or are you saying that 'Yes' it is still a significant transgression. I would truly value your opinion, as I do those others :-)

Thank You ^.^

vinlyn

^ Sorry...I was agreeing with Federica and Ozen.

A related topic is about whether you agree with all the Precepts. I'm not talking so much about the 5 Precepts, but the further down the list of Precepts you go, the more "iffy" they seem to me. For example:

...taking untimely meals.
...dancing, singing, music and watching grotesque mime.
...use of garlands, perfumes and personal adornment.
...use of high seats.
...accepting gold or silver.

minimayhen88

Thank you all (*^_^*) and Vinlyn thank you for clarification - I was referring to precept against anger .... which is more complex than i realised !! x

Floating_Abu

This is my criticism of Chinese based organisations - it almost verges on the point of school. If we are 'good' it should only come from the heart. It should be natural, that is the approach to cultivation in our practice IMO.

Best wishes,
Abu

vinlyn

I think with anger a lot depend on how you handle the anger. Anger can be a great prod to take action.

Dakini

If one were to violate a precept unknowingly ... or rather without realising it were a violation.....is it still considered a significant violation .....?

Please kindly help :-) I am aware it was ignorant, but I had no intention / realisation of the transgression, at the time, until I did a bit of research.

It comes down to your intent in doing the action. Did you intend to hurt someone? Then you sowed the seeds of that wrongdoing to come back to you at some point. If you didn't have malicious intent, then no negative karmic seeds accrue. That's it. Pretty simple.

Anger isn't bad or good. It's what you do with it that counts. Do you use it mindfully, to help end suffering for other beings, or do you let it get out of control to the point of heedlessness, where you could do harm to self or others?

Jeffrey

I think you will still have bad karma, particularly if you hurt someone emotionally. You'll be accountable to that person. But the karma is less a heavy weight on your heart if you didn't intend harm. Intending harm is so difficult as it often happens in the heat and speed of our own wounds. That's why samsara sucks us all in. Wounded upon hurting others upon wounded upon hurting others upon confusion of how to procede and more and more and more.

It's time to break the cycle.