Rev. RAY INNEN PARCHELO

is a novice Tendai priest and founder of the Red Maple Sangha, the first lay Buddhist community in Eastern Ontario.

Firstly, Buddhist morality does not use the distinction of purity/sin, so any contrast of righteous or sinful are not part of our conversation.

As noted here before, Buddhists consider any and all human action that is performed with intention to be subject to the processes of karma, the principle of moral momentum. Simply put, whatever we intend prompts us to do more of the same.

Let’s take the question to point to people who are exemplars of preferred behaviour, and those whose actions we want to avoid. For Buddhists, Buddhas and Buddhas-to-be are our first models, but our primary human exemplars are the countless sages and teachers of our tradition. These are individuals whose clarity of purpose, determination and compassion inspire us.

This is not to say we cannot be inspired beyond our tradition, for we can find inspiration in non-Buddhist lives, too. From these people we can witness their responses to crises similar to those which face us. We can see faith-in-action, concrete and easily understood expressions to guide our own.

On the other side, we can also observe those we do not wish to emulate. This is what, in literature, we call tragedy — the rise and fall of great people, resulting from their ignorance, pride and anger. Recent politics has furnished ample exemplars for such falls.

I would offer that even more important than what we learn is that we learn from the lives of others. Our lives and our faiths present us with endless predicaments of choice and commitment. It is the lives of others which show us where choices will lead; they provide precious lessons which, if attended to, can keep us on what we call the narrow path between the river of fire and the ocean of storms.