jukai
Receiving the Precepts
Ju means “to receive,” and kai means the Buddhist precepts, so jukai means receiving the precepts. Traditionally in Buddhism people who want to enter the Buddhist order receive the Buddhist precepts. So we can say that receiving the Buddhist precepts is a ceremony of entry into the Buddhist order, or of becoming a Buddhist. Master Dogen esteemed the value of receiving the precepts very much. Therefore in this chapter he explained the value of receiving the precepts and outlined an example of a ceremony for receiving the precepts.