WikiPortalus: Five Precepts

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Translations of pañcasīlāni
English:	five precepts, five virtues
Pali:	pañcasīlāni
Sanskrit:	pañcaśīlāni
Sinhala:	පන්සිල්
Burmese:	ပဉ်စသီလ or ငါးပါးသီလ (pyì̃sa̰ θìla̰ pyinsa. thila. or ŋá bá θìla̰ nga: ba: thila.)
Chinese:	五戒 (Cantonese Jyutping: ng5 gaai3) (pinyin: wǔjiè)
Japanese:	五戒 (rōmaji: go kai)
Thai:	ศีลห้า
Buddhism Glossary view • talk •

The Five Precepts (Pali: pañca-sīla; Sanskrit: pañca-śīla)^[1] constitute the basic Buddhist code of ethics, undertaken by lay followers of the Buddha Gautama in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. The Five Precepts are commitments to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. Undertaking the five precepts is part of both lay Buddhist initiation and regular lay Buddhist devotional practices.

The Buddha is said to have taught the five precepts out of compassion, and for the betterment of society. Thus they are to be undertaken voluntarily rather than as commandments from a god. The precepts are intended to help a Buddhist live free from remorse, so that they can progress more easily on the Path.

Pali texts

Pali training rules

The following are the five precepts (pañca-sikkhāpada)^[2] or five virtues (pañca-sīla) rendered in English and Pali:

Elaboration

In the Pali Canon, the following typifies elaborations that frequently accompany these identified training rules:

According to the Buddha, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying are never skillful.^[6]

Motivation

In the Abhisandha Sutta (AN 8.39), the Buddha said that undertaking the precepts is a gift to oneself and others:

In the next canonical discourse, the Buddha described the minimal negative consequences of breaking the precepts.^[8]

Chinese texts

The Chinese version as found in the Supplement to the Canon (續藏經 Xùzàng Jīng) hardly differs from the Pali:^{citation needed}

Other precepts

Different Buddhist traditions adhere to other lists of precepts that have some overlap with the Five Precepts. The precise wording and application of any of these vows is different by tradition.

Eight Precepts

The Eight Precepts are the precepts for Buddhist lay men and women who wish to practice a bit more strictly than the usual five precepts for Buddhists. The eight precepts focus both on avoiding morally bad behaviour, and on leading a more ascetic lifestyle. The five precepts, however, focus only on avoiding morally bad behaviour.

The Buddha gave teachings on how the eight precepts are to be practiced,^[9] and on the right and wrong ways of practicing the eight precepts.^[10]

Ten Precepts

The Ten Precepts (Pali: dasasila or samanerasikkha) may refer to the precepts (training rules) for [Buddhist] samaneras (novice monks) and samaneris (novice nuns). They are used in most Buddhist schools.

Traditional praxis

The laity undertake to follow these training rules at the same time as they become Buddhists. In Mahayana countries a lay practitioner who has undertaken the precepts is called an upasaka. In Theravada countries any lay follower is in theory called an upasaka (or upasika, feminine), though in practice everyone is expected to take the precepts anyway.

Additionally, traditional Theravada lay devotional practice (puja) includes the daily taking of refuge in the Triple Gem and undertaking to observe the five precepts.

Interpretations

The precepts are considered differently in a Mahayana context to that of the Theravada school of thought.

According to Theravada, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying are never skillful^[11], but Mahayana schools consider this a beginners view.^[12] The reason for this is because Theravada rejects any realisation of non-duality in favour of the Pali Canon alone. In the written form, the precepts may appear to be similar to the Judeo-Christian commandments. However to the Mahayana schools, the first precept for example does not mean thou shall not kill. Rather, the precept of not killing highlights with deeper understanding that one cannot see things in these terms. That is to say one cannot find anything fixed to call a victim, nor a specific entity that one can call a killer. In fact, one can find nothing fixed at all. It is this flux that the precepts point to. By engaging these precepts, one is engaging in the effort to be awake in the non conceptual, non dualistic reality.

Contemporary Theravada scholar monk Bhikkhu Bodhi takes that position that, while non-dualistic philosophies assert that enlightened beings are beyond the proscriptions of conventional moral codes, in the Pali canon the Buddha's teaching maintains a clear distinction between moral and immoral behaviors, a distinction that applies as much to the arahant as to the layperson.^[13] An arahant would rather die than intentionally kill an insect.^{citation needed}

References

^ 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."
^ As indicated in the translation below, sikkhāpada is also translated as "training rule" (e.g., Gunaratana, 2007) and "rule of training" (e.g., Harvey, 2007, p. 199; and, Khantipalo, 1982/95).
^ Based on Gunaratana (2007). Gunaratana includes this translation of the Five Precepts within the context of what he refers to as the Eight Lifetime Precepts.
^ The Pali can be found, for instance, in Elgiriye Indaratana (2002), p. 2.
^ AN 10.176 (Thanissaro, 1997b).
^ Thanissaro (2006). Thanissaro, in part, references MN 9, Sammā-diṭṭhi Sutta, to support this statement.
^ AN 8.39 (Thanissaro, 1997a).
^ AN 8.40 (Thanissaro, 1997c).
^ Anguttara Nikaya 8.43
^ Anguttara Nikaya 3.70
^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Getting the Message" article link at Access to Insight
^ For instance, Aitken (1984), pp. 16 passim., refers to three frameworks used by Zen teachers:
- the Hinayana or "literal" view
- the Mahayana or "compassionate" view
- the Buddha-nature or "essential" view.
Aitken (1984, p. 16) cautions though that these terms "should not be confused in this usage with sectarian or geographic interpretatons. They refer to attitudes, not necessarily to beliefs of people living in Sri Lanka or Japan."
^ Bodhi (1994-95/98). In referring to "philosophies of non-duality," Bodhi parenthetically identifies "particularly in Hindu and Buddhist Tantra" and subsequently alludes to the notion of "crazy wisdom" that, for instance, was popularized by Chogyam Trungpa.

1.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life.	Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
2.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given.	Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
3.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual misconduct.	Kāmesu micchācāra veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
4.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech.	Musāvāda veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
5.	I undertake the training rule to abstain from drinks and drugs that cause heedlessness.^[3]	Surā-meraya-majja-pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.^[4]

Five Precepts

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