Ethics
“Hmm,” he reflected thoughtfully. “Interesting possibility.”
I was talking to the landlord and had pointed out to him that my college friends and I were part of a bona fide tax-exempt, non-profit service organization that taught meditation. Was there any possibility of getting a discount on rent?
The landlord was a Scrooge-like fellow with a name that sounded like a predatory fish. I was hoping that talking about things like service and meditation would appeal to his higher nature. He began mumbling as he made calculations in his mind, “Hmm, 10% off ... minus 7% ... plus the kickback ... allowable deductions ... Hmm.”
He ended up making an offer to me in which we would save a grand total of about ten dollars on rent while he actually made more money because I would be required to sign a hidden contract giving back money to him illegally. In other words, he would profit (through the combined kickback and tax savings) while we saved only a few dollars in rent and became co-conspirators in a criminal tax fraud. I declined to participate.
I find that most people have a feeling for ethics and most of the time have a sense for what is right or wrong without requiring deep thought. This landlord, however, was not “most people.” To him ethics were an abstraction, a social inconvenience to be discarded or manipulated as necessary in order to gain more profit.
It comes as a surprise to many, but for success in meditation, ethics and morality are essential. To put it another way, people who lie, cheat, and steal will not achieve success in their meditation. It is like trying to lose weight by walking every day to the doughnut shop and eating a dozen doughnuts. It just doesn’t work.
This is why in the past those who wanted to learn meditation were required to follow moral principles for an extended period before they were taught. Currently, the ethical principles of yoga are taught from the early stages of meditation practice.