Five Moral Precepts

The Five Moral Precepts are prohibitions against 1) killing, 2) stealing, 3) sexual misconduct, 4) false speech, and 5) taking intoxicants.

"The Five Precepts prohibit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants. Why should one keep the Five Precepts? In order to:

Do no evil, yet
Reverently practice good deeds.

Do not kill; do not steal; do not commit sexual misconduct; do not engage in false speech; do not take intoxicants. If you observe the Five precepts, you do not do these five kinds of evil deeds and you instead practice good acts.

1. No Killing - Be Vegetarian where possible.

"Why should one refrain from killing? It is because all living beings have a life; they love their life and do not wish to die. Even one of the smallest creatures, the mosquito, when it approaches to bite you, will fly away if you make the slightest motion. Why does it fly away? Because it fears death. It figures that if it drinks your blood you will take its life. From this you can see that all living beings love life and do not wish to die. Especially people. Everyone wants to live and no one wants to die. Although people sometimes commit suicide, ordinarily people do not seek death. Suicide is a special exception to the principle. That is why we should nurture compassionate thought. Since we wish to live, we should not kill any other living beings. That explains the precept against killing.

pāṇātipātā veramaṇī: 'abstaining from the killing of living beings', is the first of the 5 moral rules binding upon all Buddhists; s. sikkhāpada.  (Source: Mahathera, 2007)

2. No Stealing - Do not take that which is not given.

"Stealing. If you don't steal, no one will steal from you. Many of you have heard this verse I wrote:

If in this life you don't cage birds,
in future lives you will not sit in jail.
If in this life you do not fish,
in future lives you will not beg for food.
If in this life you do not kill,
in future lives you'll suffer no disasters.
If in this life you do not steal,
in future lives you won't be robbed.
If in this life you commit no sexual misconduct,
in future lives you will not be divorced.
If in this life you do not lie,
in future lives you will not be deceived.
If in this life you do not take intoxicants, in future lives you will not go insane . . . .

"Some people say, 'Of the Five Precepts, the four which prohibit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying are very important. But taking intoxicants is a very commonplace thing. Why prohibit that?' When you consume intoxicants, it becomes very easy to break the other precepts. Thus, we ban such things as drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and taking any kind of intoxicating drugs.

5. No Alcohol - No drug, no cigarettes

"Some people say, 'The Five Precepts don't specifically prohibit smoking tobacco or taking drugs. Doing those things is not in violation of the precepts.' Those people are wrong. The precept against intoxicants also prohibits smoking tobacco, taking drugs, and using all intoxicating substances -- including marijuana and opium." (BRF 59-60)

"Someone may say, however, 'I understand why one should not kill. After all, all living beings have the Buddha-nature, all can become Buddhas, and so every living being's life should be spared. I also understand why stealing is not good and that it is important to refrain from indulging in sexual misconduct and lying, but why are intoxicants included within the Five Precepts? I always enjoyed drinking and smoking. Everybody drinks. Everybody smokes. What's wrong with it? In fact I'm seriously considering dropping my study of the Buddhadharma just because of this prohibition against intoxicants.'

"You should stop and think about it, instead of just following the crowd. Others enjoy smoking, and so you join them; others enjoy drinking , and so you drink too. You get caught up in such company and do the things they do until eventually you get the habit as well. Most people don't have grave illnesses, rather merely slight sicknesses and little problems. But just on account of those slight problems you would consider cutting short your study of the Buddhadharma. How stupid that would be! Do you want to know why there is a prohibition against alcohol? I'll tell you a true story which should clarify this point.

"There once was a man who liked to drink. He took the Five Precepts, but afterwards he didn't keep them . . . . One day he thought, 'Perhaps I'll have a little drink of wine' He took out a bottle and had a few swallows. He was accustomed to having something to eat with his drink, so he set the bottle down and went outside to look for something to eat. He noticed that his neighbor's chicken had strayed over into his yard. 'Good,' he thought, 'it will make a good chaser,' and he snatched up the pullet. At that point he broke the precept against stealing. Once he'd stolen it, he had to kill it before he could eat it, and so he broke the precept against killing. Once the chicken was cooked, he used it to chase down his wine, and soon he was roaring drunk, thus braking once again the precept against the use of intoxicants. About that time there was a knock at his door. It was the neighbor lady in search of her chicken. 'I haven't seen it, he blurted out, thereby breaking the precept against lying.

A second glance at the neighbor lady revealed her beauty to him and, aroused by an overpowering sexual desire, he raped her.

Afterwards he was met with litigation. All that came about because he wanted to drink. Just because he had a few drinks, he broke the other four precepts and got into a lot of trouble. Intoxicants cause one to become confused and scattered, and so they re the object of one of the Buddhist prohibitions. A person who is drunk lacks self-control.

With no forewarning he can find himself suddenly in the heavens, suddenly on earth. He mounts the clouds and drives the fog--he'll do anything . . . .

"The Five Precepts are extremely important. Strict adherence to them will insure rebirth in the realm of humans. If you cultivate the Five Precepts, you won't lose the opportunity to be born a person.

"If you receive the Five Precepts and do not violate them, then you are protected by good Dharma-protecting spirits, who are connected with each precept. If you break the precepts, the good spirits leave and no longer protect you. That is why receiving the precepts is extremely important in Buddhism." (SS I 46-47)

1) Chinese Mandarin: wu jye , 2) Sanskrit: panca-sila; 3) Pali: panca-sila, sikkhapada; Alternate Translations: Five Items of Good Behavior.

See also: moral precepts, Five School of Buddhism (Vinaya), Ten Wholesome Deeds, Samaya of Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 83 - 85)

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: BRF 59-61; DFS II 211; DFS V 902-3; S42 75-76 (precepts); TT 58; SV 14-29; BNS I 73-97; FAS Ch26(2) 4, 10,17,20, 25-26, 28.

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)