First Precept Quotes

“Do not harm. This is the first precept, or obligatory rule for behavior, given to a Zen Buddhist during lay ordination, a ceremony that marks a period of sincere practice, typically a year, with a teacher and other practitioners. If the first precept was not clear to the Abbot, what had been transmitted to him from the ancient lineage of dharma teachers ?”
― Michael Downing, Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center