The sudden teachings of the Mahayana tradition emphasize the mind. With regard to the precepts, the question is, does the mind move when a person does something? You may never physically kill someone, but if you think about killing, that thought is an infraction of the first precept. You may never have sex with a particular person, but if in your mind you lust after him or her, then you have already broken that precept in your thoughts. On the other hand, if you physically kill someone, but there is no murder in your mind or heart, then you have not violated the precept. And, if it is possible to have sex with another person and yet be free of sexual thoughts, then you have not broken that precept.

In this stanza, Yung-chia alludes to a story from a Buddhist sutra. During Sakyamuni's lifetime, two monks were practicing in the mountains. One went to beg for food, and the other fell asleep. A woman who was collecting firewood passed by, saw the monk, and had sex with him while he slept. He woke up just as she was leaving, and grieved that he had broken a major precept.

When the other monk returned and found out what had happened, he became furious, and he chased after the woman in order to speak with her. When the woman saw the monk, she panicked and ran, but she slipped and fell from a cliff to her death. The monk was grief-stricken: "First my friend broke the precept against sexual misconduct, and now I've broken the precept against killing."

They went to Upali to seek his advice. Upali, a close disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha, was renowned for his strict adherence to the precepts. Upali judged that they had indeed broken the precepts, and told them to leave the monastery.