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Five precepts

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Plaque with the five precepts engraved, Lumbini, Nepal

The five precepts (Skt. pañcaśīla; P. pañcasīla; T. bslab pa lnga; C. wujie 五戒) are five "rules of conduct" that form the foundation for Buddhist ethics (śīla), for both lay and monastic followers.[1][2][3]

The five precepts are:[1][4]

  1. refraining from killing living beings (prāṇātipāta virati)
  2. refraining from taking what is not given (adattādāna virati)
  3. refraining from engaging in sexual misconduct (kāmamithyācāra virati)
  4. refraining from lying (mṛṣāvāda prativirati)
  5. refraining from from intoxicants (madyapāna virati)

For lay people, the five precepts are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that lay people undertake voluntarily to facilitate practice.[5] Peter Harvey states:

Each precept is a ‘rule of training’ – as is each item of the monastic code – which is a promise or vow to oneself. They are not ‘commandments’ from without, though their difference from these, in practice, can be exaggerated. In societies where Buddhism is the dominant religion, they become broadly expected norms for people to seek to live by. Moreover, while the ‘taking’ of the precepts, by ritually chanting them, can be done by a layperson at any time, they are frequently ‘taken’ by chanting them after a monk, who fulfils the role of ‘administering’ them. In such a context, the resolve to keep the precepts has a greater psychological impact, and thus generates more karmic fruitfulness.[6]

The role of precepts

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion (Vol 4) states:

Buddhists accept that human life has a deeper purpose than sensual enjoyments, wealth, power, social status, and praise gained in this life, and that a fortunate rebirth, liberation, and awakening are valuable in the long term. Since afflictions prevent us from actualizing our spiritual purpose, we want to reduce and eventually eliminate them. The various levels of ethical codes guide us to subdue our physical, verbal, and mental actions. Here “ethical code” refers to a set of precepts taken in the presence of a spiritual mentor, and “precepts” refers to the particular trainings set out in that ethical code.
The meaning of mental advancement is that untamed states of mind decrease and beneficial states increase. For obscurations to be removed from the root by the wisdom realizing emptiness, our mind must first be capable of meditating with single-pointed concentration. To subdue the subtle internal distractions that interfere with concentration, firm mindfulness and introspective awareness are necessary. To strengthen our mindfulness (smṛti, sati) and introspective awareness (saṃprajanya, sampajañña) and to gain concentration, we must first overcome the grosser external distractions by developing mindfulness and introspective awareness of our physical and verbal actions. This is done through the practice of ethical conduct.
Ethical conduct means to refrain from doing harm. It applies to both monastics and lay followers because all of us need to refrain from harming ourselves and others in order to progress on the path and to create peace in the lives of those around us. To this effect, the Buddha advised us to abandon the ten destructive paths of action. Taking and keeping the various levels of ethical codes aids us in doing this and points out even subtler nonvirtuous actions to avoid. Tibetan Buddhism contains three levels of ethical codes: prātimokṣa or individual liberation, bodhisattva, and tantric. The prātimokṣa ethical codes focus on abandoning doing harm through body and speech. The bodhisattva ethical code emphasizes abandoning self-centeredness and regulates our mental activities as well as physical and verbal activities. The tantric ethical code helps overcome subtle obscurations, another form of harmful mental activity. Because their focus is more and more subtle, the three sets of ethical precepts are taken in that order: first prātimokṣa, then bodhisattva, and finally tantric.
Whether we principally practice the Fundamental Vehicle, Pāramitāyāna, or Vajrayāna, ethical conduct is the foundation of the practice. Precepts give form and focus to ethical conduct. Although all Buddhists try to live ethically and abandon the ten nonvirtues, the taking of precepts involves special commitment and thus brings special benefit. Living in precepts makes us more aware of our physical, verbal, and mental activities. It enables us to purify destructive karma quickly because by stopping habitual negative actions, we stop their most harmful result, the tendency to do them again. It also brings a rapid and strong accumulation of merit, for every moment that we are not breaking a precept, we are actively abandoning that destructive action and thus enriching our mind with merit from acting constructively. Keeping precepts is also a wonderful contribution to world peace. Imagine if every sentient being followed the first precept, not to kill, for just one day. How different life in our world would be!
Keeping the precepts we have taken is the best sign of being a holy being. If we want to do a meditation retreat but ignore ethical conduct in our daily lives, our priorities are confused. The foundation of any practice, especially Vajrayāna, is ethical conduct. Without keeping the commitments and precepts we have taken, attaining realization is impossible. Thinking otherwise is a result of not understanding the essence of Dharma practice. We shouldn’t cheat ourselves by ignoring ethical living.
Although precepts have such benefits, a person has to feel comfortable taking them and be prepared to assume the responsibility of following them as best as possible. Some people are brave when it comes to taking precepts and commitments — thinking it is their right — but cowardly when it comes to keeping them. We should be the opposite and think well before taking precepts. Then we humbly request to receive them from our teachers and with joy keep them properly.[7]

Ceremonies for taking the precepts

Theravada tradition

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In Thailand, lay practitioners can take on the precept in a formal ceremony.

In the Theravāda tradition, precepts can be taken on in formal ceremonies, during which the precepts are recited in the Pāli language. A ceremony is typically led by a monk who leads the assembly in reciting the precepts as follows:[8]

  1. "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from onslaught on breathing beings." (Pali: Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.)
  2. "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from taking what is not given." (Pali: Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.)
  3. "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from misconduct concerning sense-pleasures." (Pali: Kāmesumicchācāra veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.)
  4. "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from false speech." (Pali: Musāvādā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.)
  5. "I undertake the training-precept to abstain from alcoholic drink or drugs that are an opportunity for heedlessness." (Pali: Surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.)

Sanskrit-based traditions

The format of the ceremony for taking the precepts occurs several times in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, in slightly different forms.[9]

One formula of the precepts can be found in the Treatise on Taking Refuge and the Precepts (simplified Chinese: 归戒要集; traditional Chinese: 歸戒要集; pinyin: Guījiè Yāojí):

  1. As all Buddhas refrained from killing until the end of their lives, so I too will refrain from killing until the end of my life.
  2. As all Buddhas refrained from stealing until the end of their lives, so I too will refrain from stealing until the end of my life.
  3. As all Buddhas refrained from sexual misconduct until the end of their lives, so I too will refrain from sexual misconduct until the end of my life.
  4. As all Buddhas refrained from false speech until the end of their lives, so I too will refrain from false speech until the end of my life.
  5. As all Buddhas refrained from alcohol until the end of their lives, so I too will refrain from alcohol until the end of my life.[10]

Similarly, in the Mūla-Sarvāstivāda texts used in Tibetan Buddhism, the precepts are formulated such that one takes the precepts upon oneself for one's entire lifespan, following the examples of the enlightened disciples of the Buddha (arahant).[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. pañcaśīla.
  2. ↑ Access to Insight glosses these precepts as "training rules" (Five Precepts); Buswell uses "codes of conduct" (Buswell (2014), pañcaśīla)
  3. ↑ In Pali and Sanskrit, "five precepts" is more literally translated as pañca-sikkhāpada and pañca-sikśāpada, respectively. Thus, for instance, Harvey (2007, p. 199) translates pañca-sīla as "five virtues."
  4. ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. List of lists, "five precepts".
  5. ↑ Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, page 187.
  6. ↑ Harvey 2007, p. 269.
  7. ↑ Dalai Lama & Thubten Chodron 2019, Chapter 4.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Harvey 2000, p. 67.
  9. ↑ "CBETA T18 No. 916". Cbeta.org. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. "CBETA T24 No. 1488". Cbeta.org. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Shih, Heng-ching (1994). The Sutra on Upāsaka Precepts (PDF). Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 978-0-9625618-5-6. "CBETA 電子佛典集成 卍續藏 (X) 第 60 冊 No.1129". Cbeta.org. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. 
  10. ↑ "X60n1129_002 歸戒要集 第2卷". CBETA 電子佛典集成. Cbeta.org. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. 

Sources

External links

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