"DO YOU 'CEPT THE LAWRD AND HIS YOUNG'N JESUS?" "ARE YOU READY TO BE DUNKED IN THE NAME OF THE LAWRD?" **Insert heavy southern accent**

"Yes sir..."

That is right Kyle is going to be Baptized... well kinda. I have made the choice to undertake Jukai. This is kinda like a Zen Buddhist baptism. I would become an official Buddhist, and to top it all off I would get a nifty Buddhist name! Now I say official but if one wishes to get technical I am already a Buddhist only because I am trying to stick to the precepts (codes of conduct) and I do recite the four vows (which will be listed below along with the precepts). More or less during Jukai, there will be lots and lots of Zazen and I will 'officially' take the Buddhist precepts and try to live in accordance with them. Oh and the kicker is I am required to sew. Now, if you are reading this and you happen to be a friend, you should know that I have no sewing talent what so ever. Even though I do not even have a slight ability in the use of thread and needles I will attempt to sew a Rakusu... which is a garment for Zen practitioners who have undergone Jukai. Kinda looks like a giant bib. It is a symbol of the buddhist robe, without having the troublesome robe. So I will be giving updates about this sewing endeavor and I hope to finish by the end of July... (HA! wishful thinking).

Four Vows:

To save all sentient beings, though beings numberless.

To transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustible.

To perceive reality, though reality is boundless.

To attain the enlightened way, a way non attainable.

(Below is what I will be adhering to when I take Jukai)

(Three Treasures)

1. Taking refuge in the Buddha
2. Taking refuge in the Dharma
3. Taking refuge in the Sangha

(Three Pure Precepts)

1. Not Creating Evil
2. Practicing Good
3. Actualizing Good For Others

(Ten Grave Precepts)

1. Affirm life; Do not kill
2. Be giving; Do not steal
3. Honor the body; Do not misuse sexuality
4. Manifest truth; Do not lie
5. Proceed clearly; Do not cloud the mind
6. See the perfection; Do not speak of others errors and faults
7. Realize self and other as one; Do not elevate the self and blame others
8. Give generously; Do not be withholding
9. Actualize harmony; Do not be angry
10. Experience the intimacy of things; Do not defile the Three Treasures

Well that is all for now.

Night.