The more attuned we are to our hearts, the clearer our ethical behavior becomes. So the more we actually become embodied, start to feel our body fully, to feel our heart, the clearer ethical conduct becomes. It’s like we become attuned to our own system in such a way that we begin to see that doing good feels good. And the kind of karmic loop, when we act out of alignment with our own deepest integrity, that feedback loop gets shorter and shorter, so we really feel it. And this clarity breeds more careful, non-harming behavior.
Sīla: The Path of Ethics
Spirit Rock’s approach to ethical practice is rooted in the guidelines of the Buddha known as sīla, the cultivation of non-harming and mutual care throughout our relationships, communities, and world. Sīla is traditionally divided into three aspects within the Buddha’s framework of practice known as the Noble Eightfold Path: wise speech, wise action, and wise livelihood. These practices are fundamental to the path, bringing together our intentions for inner and outer well-being and freedom from suffering.
At the heart of Buddhist ethical practice is the insight that our lives are deeply interdependent, unfolding in constantly changing relationships with other living beings. Through practice, we grow in compassion for the suffering of all beings, wish for all forms of life to be safe and at ease, and understand that our actions always have an impact on both ourselves and others.
The Five Precepts
The Buddha’s guidelines for wise action are summarized as the “five precepts.” These training guidelines are not commandments, and Buddhism has no deity or divine force judging human actions. Instead, the precepts serve as broad frameworks for mindfulness and inquiry based in a fundamental orientation toward non-harming (Pāli: avihiṁsa, Sanskrit: Ahiṃsā) and compassion for all of life.
We chant versions of these precepts at many of our programs and encourage practitioners to bring them into daily practice as sources of inspiration and deepening in mindfulness and lovingkindness.
We undertake the training precept to refrain from killing.
We undertake the training precept to refrain from taking that which is not offered.
We undertake the training precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.
We undertake the training precept to refrain from false speech.
We undertake the training precept to refrain from intoxicants that lead to heedlessness.
Read different versions of the five precepts used by Spirit Rock teachers (Link pending)
Explore sīla, the practice of wise action
The Buddha's guidelines for wise action include three aspects of the Eightfold Path: wise speech, wise action, and wise livelihood. Together, these provide a framework for bringing the practices of mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom to our relationships, work, and all aspects of life. Explore the practice of sīla with these talks from our Dharma Library.
Statement of Values
Amidst the political and social challenges of our times and in light of our commitment to liberation, Spirit Rock declares itself to be a spiritual sanctuary and refuge for all. We will honor and protect those who come here seeking the teachings of liberation. A climate of divisiveness and fear cannot alter our innate human goodness, and it will never change our values as an organization.
Spirit Rock proclaims our continued commitment to the Buddha’s teachings of wisdom, compassion in action, interdependence, and lovingkindness, excluding none. Consistent with these teachings, we strive to create an environment for Buddhadharma practice that is welcoming to everyone who sincerely seeks to learn and practice. During the Buddha’s 45 years of teaching, he established a vast sangha (community) of followers explicitly open to people of all clans, castes, and backgrounds. His disciples ranged from those who were from “outcaste” communities, to former royalty, to enslaved individuals. We will do everything in our power to create opportunities for dharma practice and sangha leadership that foster such inclusiveness.
"As long as a society holds regular and frequent assemblies, meeting in harmony and mutual respect, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as a society follows the long-held traditions of wisdom, and honors its elders, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as a society protects the vulnerable among them, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as a society cares for the shrines and sacred places of the natural world, they can be expected to prosper and not decline." — Jack Kornfield, based on the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16)
We reaffirm these 2,600 year-old Buddhist values in the face of cultures of violence and harm that threaten life on this planet and that differentially impact oppressed, exploited, and marginalized people be they, oppressed people and religious groups, immigrants and refugees, poor people, women, disabled and differently abled people, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ peoples.
We denounce racism, misogyny, xenophobia, transphobia- and homophobia, and all forms of oppression and the valuation of certain lives over others. We value and celebrate diversity, inclusivity, and respect for all beings and the inherent dignity of all peoples.
The Buddhist path teaches that meditation and inner freedom must develop together with a foundation of generosity, ethical behavior, and lovingkindness. We affirm that human happiness requires intentions that are free from greed, hatred and cruelty; speech that is true and helpful, not harsh, not vain, slanderous nor abusive; and actions that are free from causing harm, killing, stealing, and sexual exploitation.
"Hatred never ends through hatred,
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth"
— Dhammapada 5, tr. Gil Fronsdal
We affirm the interdependent nature of reality. When one being suffers, we all suffer. Thus, our own well-being and liberation is bound in the well-being and liberation of others. The only basis for Dharma life is virtue, respect, and mutual care. Knowing this truth, we will resist the destructive forces of hatred, discrimination, and recklessness and offer the powerful alternatives of fierce love and compassion.
Earlier in our history, Spirit Rock’s teacher body and community of practitioners recognized that we had unconsciously failed to live up to the Buddha’s model of full inclusivity, and therefore to our core spiritual beliefs. Since then, many practitioners, teachers, staff, and administrators have worked tirelessly towards the establishment of an integrated sangha that responds to the needs of people of vastly differing backgrounds, and towards a community to which all people will feel welcomed to come to hear and practice the Buddha’s liberation teachings.
These efforts included offering community-based (affinity) retreats, sittings, and classes, as well as creating policies that eliminate barriers to participation and leadership by members of marginalized groups. The work we have done has transformed our sangha, so that we can now proudly state that we have made substantial progress toward realizing the potential of our spiritual belief and practice of creating a fully welcoming community. We recognize that we still have much work to do, and we honor the efforts and skill of all of those who came before us and contributed to this invaluable shift towards a more lived embodiment of the Buddha’s teachings.
We know from our 40+ years of experience offering retreats, meditation meetings, classes and trainings, that practitioners access well-being and liberation when they are able to practice in safe, comfortable environments. We also know from our extensive experience that many vulnerable practitioners must practice with the added weight of the impact of societal suffering, Therefore, we stand upon our own spiritual truth that we can, and must, alleviate the added suffering of vulnerable practitioners by providing them a separate environment specifically designed to shield them from societal pressures.
With the Earth as a witness, the Buddha proclaimed his right to liberation and taught that all beings have the right to liberation, to be free from the oppressive forces of greed, hate, and ignorance. With the Earth as our witness, we proclaim our right to offer spiritual sanctuary for all to awaken together.
Spirit Rock will continue to be a light in our society, to respond to constantly changing conditions, and to offer practices, teachings, and refuge that nurture the internal life in support of external service. We practice not for ourselves but for the welfare, happiness, and safety of all life everywhere.
Edited 2025
Values as a Welcoming Community for All
Spirit Rock, as a spiritual sanctuary and refuge for all, values and celebrates diversity, inclusivity and respect for all beings and the inherent dignity of all beings. Our teacher community is diverse, and represents the diversity of our nation.
Our community of practitioners has also grown to not only become more diverse but to encompass the vast suffering throughout the world. We remain deeply committed to Spirit Rock being a place of welcoming and belonging for all who have a call for liberation.
Spirit Rock values all individuals regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, age, wealth, education, background, opinions, experience and other social and economic differences.
We recognize, with humility, that there is a great deal we can all learn from one another by learning, listening and hearing a multiplicity of voices, with a beginner’s mind.
As a community we are committed to the following values:
- Ongoing learning and reflection as a community and a saṅgha
- Using conflict as a source of learning and growth
- Courage to be truthful and to have difficult conversations, as a form of wise speech
- Compassion to turn toward suffering caused by unconsciousness, rather than turning away from it, as part of our commitment to non-harming
- Balanced transparency that both respects the confidentiality that protects tenderness and injury, and dispels the secrecy that shields unexamined and non-accountable power
- Skillful action through the implementation of all factors of the Eightfold Path
- Commitment to community well being
- Accountability for practicing our values and principles and for understanding and addressing negative impacts
- Clarity around roles and responsibilities, power, decision-making authority and accountability
- Responsibility for impact as well as intent
May all beings be free, and may our actions contribute wholeheartedly to that freedom
Edited 2025
