The Five (Plus) precepts of Buddhist practice; a moral guide for training.

Thus, I have heard…

The Precepts are a list of rules to live by.  In the Theravada tradition, there are five for the lay person there are 8 in Mahayana and 14 in Vajrayana.  For most ministers there are ten or so.  I will list them, but we will focus on the main 5.  There are over 200 for monks and even more for nuns!  Practicing them Improves the chances of developing merit and good karma in this life. 

They were developed for the sangha to live together harmoniously and be able to practice without affecting others or oneself in an unskillful way.

The main and basic lay precepts are: (positive aspects in parentheses)

1.      Refrain from taking a life… not just killing.   (Act with loving kindness)

2.      Refrain from taking what is not given… not just stealing (Be generous,

3.      Refrain from harmful speech… not just lying (practice calm and silence)

4.      Refrain from harmful sexual and emotional practice… (contentment and kindness)

5.      Refrain from using intoxicants that make you heedless. (practice clear headed mindfulness)

To expand to the Mahayana, we add three more.  Most though consider these more in depth and not for the general laity.

6.       Not to eat at wrong times, (after mid-day) can also mean certain kinds of foods too, garlic, onion, meat, eggs.

7.       Not to sit on high expensive beds, or animal skins.  Basically, means to overindulge in material comforts.

8.       Not to over adorn with makeup, jewelry, or perfume. Can include dancing, singing, or playing music with attachment.

For Ministers there is the addition of these two.

9.       Avoiding places of ill-repute (gambling, burlesque etc)

10.   Avoiding abuse or waste of the donations or money under one’s charge.

Vajrayana also has a whole set, which has to do with credentials, condemnation of others, failure to practice etc… It does cover the basics above but is a fair bit more complex.

So, what do you do if you break a precept?  You acknowledge it and move on trying to be mindful of that in the future and try to not do that again. This whole philosophy is a process and dynamic.  We are human and we are fallible.  If we learn from our mistakes, we become better.  Now, some of the precepts are grounds for expulsion from a sangha.  Some are just for personal practice like mentioned above, some need to be confessed to a ‘Dharma friend’ for guidance, some to he Maha-Sangha or elders for guidance.  The five or so main ones are best for contemplation and reflection.  Notice too there is no ‘thou shalt’ stuff going on here.  It is the fore thought (pre-cept) of these as a practice in daily life. If we are practicing mindful attentiveness and skillful attention and concentration, then we can see these before we do them and be able to better our own lives and the lives of everyone around us.

The Three Refuges, a commitment to learn, (Ti Sarana)

Thus, I have heard…

The recitation of the three refuges is the initial and ongoing commitment to learn and experience Buddhism as a thinking individual.  It is the first step in ‘becoming’ a Buddhist.  It is often a ceremony like a baptism, but the volition is our own and the locus of control is from us only.

Although the speaking of the three refuges occurs hundreds of times in our practice as it is a common initial chant for all Buddhists who are attending a ceremony or a workshop.  You will commonly hear it in ‘Pali’, the oldest of languages that Buddhist scripture is in.   Often the word refuge is replaced with teaching or guidance as it is more active to take guidance than refuge.  Refuge means to be safe from pursuit, danger or trouble, a shelter.  This is more of a commitment to learn.

It is not like you are promising to join a gang or team or something, it is a solemn oath to practice and really involve ourselves in this learning. We say it three times to really settle it.  In many traditions of old religion three is a powerful number and saying anything three times meant it could not have been said by accident or just jokingly.  Repetition also holds the following intentions:  request for refuge, intention to observe the refuges, acceptance of the vow to follow them.

Buddham Saranam Gatchami…I go to the Buddha for guidance/teaching/refuge

Dhammam Saranam Gatchami…I go to the Dharma for guidance/teaching/refuge

Sangham Saranam Gatchami… I go to the Sangha for guidance/teaching/refuge

Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam Gatchami…A second time, I go to the Buddha for guidance/teaching/refuge

Dutiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gatchami…A second time, I go to the Dhamma for guidance/teaching/refuge

Dutiyampi Sangham Saranam Gatchami…A second time, I go to the Sangha for guidance/teaching/refuge

Tatiyampi Buddham Saranam Gatchami…A Third time, I go to the Buddha for guidance/teaching/refuge

Tatiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gatchami…A Third time, I go to the Dhamma for guidance/teaching/refuge

Tatiyampi Sangham Saranam Gatchami…A Third time, I go to the Sangha for guidance/teaching/refuge

What am I taking refuge in?  This is called commonly the Three Jewels of Buddhism.  There are deeper levels to this ceremonial practice as well.  We can understand it a little better and deeper with this graph.   In Tibetan or Vajrayana practice there is often a fourth refuge in your guru or specific teacher, Theravada, Hinayana, and Zen do not do this.

	The Buddha	The Dhamma (Dharma)	The Sangha
Externally (outer refuge)	The teacher	The way	The guides
Internal (inner refuge)	Awakening	Experiential understanding	Making use of experience
Direct experience (secret)	Emptiness	Clarity	Unrestricted experience

When you practice and study Buddhism as a philosophy, religion or spirituality you are taking refuge, in ceremony you are taking it out loud for the whole universe to realize.  You are making a vow to wake up.    Often in the ceremony it is lead by a monk or minister and you will receive a Dharma name.  This is a reminder of your new promise to progress in this endeavor.  It is related to the Bodhisattva Vows as well as the Eight-Fold Path, among others.   The next step on the practice of Buddhism is taking the 5+ precepts…

Follow us on our website:  www.thecenteredpath.org or find us on FaceBook and Instagram.  We meet at least twice a week and have a YouTube Channel under 'The Centered Path'

The Noble Eight-Fold Path: The checklist to reduce suffering.

The Noble Eight-Fold Path: The checklist to reduce suffering.

For 2020 I have changed the format of our Sunday morning meditation intention. On the website www.thecenteredpath.org I have loaded some documents to help us study the basics of Buddhist philosophy, practice, religion and spirituality to be applied to our lives as we live them as 'householders'. We do not live like monks or ascetics. We don't have the ability to study like they do, to understand it and be so immersed in it that it becomes the very air we breathe. But we can get pretty close if we can realistically apply it all to our daily lives.

Each Sunday we sit for stillness, following the breath. Then we read a page or two to get an intent and reason to contemplate. This is a good way to apply this teaching for ourselves and to better understand it. I do this so that I can really 'own' the material. When I was in medic school (I was an EMT for over 10 years in Los Angeles) we would teach people by making sure they 'hear one, see one, do one, teach one' This way we get all parts of the learner's ability whether kinesthetic, visual or auditory learning.

I will be discussing these as well in my series on YouTube (the channel is also 'The Centered Path' Here is the second of many that we had for our class. Remember to go to the website and download the 'cheat sheet' as well as the paper we use for class. Perhaps you can follow along in spirit and intent on your own during your own practice.

You are always welcome to come by or contact me for more information. Come on by and sit with me!

Thus, I have heard…

The fourth part of the Four Noble Truths:  Known as the Path. The Buddha taught for 45 years, and this is the Buddhist guide for living a simpler life.  It was explained again and again, differently for different people and their situations. For a person to be in balance there are two qualities to develop equally; compassion (Karuna) and wisdom (Panna).   This is often viewed as the eight spokes of a wagon wheel. There is not one really above or before another, they all hold the hub and wheel together.

The ‘right’ or skillful way of. Often it is displayed as a Dharma Wheel with eight spokes relating to the path itself. There is also the insinuation that there is not one ahead or above another, and that it is all part of the cycle of practice.

Prajna/Wisdom)

1.       View, belief or understanding – Am I seeing what is there, or what I want to see?  “It is what it is”. Seeing things in their true nature, without name, judgement or label.  This is possible when the mind is free of impurity and developed through meditation. This is the process of understanding the Four Noble Truths.

2.       Intention /thought– Am I truly living compassionately and wisely? Offering thoughts of love and non-violence toward all beings with selfish detachment.  Unconditional. Making spiritual growth and having/making a good life our purpose.

Silla/Morality or virtue

3. Speech – Am I saying anything behind anyone’s back I would not say to them directly?  This includes any talk that would bring about suffering; slander, harsh, ide, useless, gossip… Sometimes the only answer is ‘noble silence’

4. Action – Do I practice what I study and preach?  Promotion of honorable, moral and peaceful conduct. Avoid taking what is not given, destroying life, harmful sex actions, speech and thought.   We realize our actions have consequences.

5. Livelihood- Have I lost sight of my calling?  Am I living my calling? Avoid a profession that harms; weapons, war, killing animals, making intoxicants or poisons, cheating…

Samadhi/ Concentration

6. Effort -Am I pushing myself too hard or not hard enough?  Prevent evil and unwholesome states of mind, get rid of those already arisen, promote and cause good to arise in the mind and action.  The action of holding onto good and avoiding bad in mind, body and spirit.

7. Mindfulness/Meditation- Am I fully aware of this moment?  Diligently aware of our minds, attentive to the body (Kaya), sensations (Vedana), mind and thoughts (Citta) and things (Dhamma).  Being aware of one’s own mind is key. This is where you really can have control of your mind and its processes.

8. Concentration- Am focusing on the right things? This leads naturally to the four stages of Dhyana or trance.  1. Passionate desires and unwholesome thoughts are discarded, and happiness is maintained, even in daily life. 2. Tranquility and one pointedness of the mind, with joy and happiness remaining from 1.  3. Joy as an active feeling also subsides and equanimity is maintained. 4. All sensation, happiness and unhappiness, joy and sorry disappear and pure awareness remains. It is a feeling that you have awakened from a dream, the dream and delusion of being (independent).

Precepts in Buddhist practice

Thus I have heard.

I have been a minister ordained in 2006 under the Southern California Sangha Council and the International Order of Buddhist Ministers of which I served as president for a number of years.  Anyone that has become a minister has taken refuge and has taken on the training precepts.

The Precepts are a list of rules to live by.  In the Theravada tradition, there are five for the lay person there are 8 in Mahayana and 14 in Vajrayana.  For most ministers there are ten or so.  I will list them, but we will focus on the main 5.  There are over 200 for monks and even more for nuns!  Practicing them Improves the chances of developing merit and good karma in this life. 

They were developed for the sangha to live together harmoniously and be able to practice without affecting others or oneself in an unskillful way.

The main and basic lay precepts are: (positive aspects in parentheses)

1.      Refrain from taking a life… not just killing.   (Act with loving kindness)

2.      Refrain from taking what is not given… not just stealing (Be generous,

3.      Refrain from harmful speech… not just lying (practice calm and silence)

4.      Refrain from harmful sexual and emotional practice… (contentment and kindness)

5.      Refrain from using intoxicants that make you heedless. (practice clear headed mindfulness)

To expand to the Mahayana, we add three more.  Most though consider these more in depth and not for the general laity.

6.       Not to eat at wrong times, (after mid-day) can also mean certain kinds of foods too, garlic, onion, meat, eggs.

7.       Not to sit on high expensive beds, or animal skins.  Basically, means to overindulge in material comforts.

8.       Not to over adorn with makeup, jewelry, or perfume. Can include dancing, singing, or playing music with attachment.

For Ministers there is the addition of these two.

9.       Avoiding places of ill-repute (gambling, burlesque etc)

10.   Avoiding abuse or waste of the donations or money under one’s charge.

Vajrayana also has a whole set, which has to do with credentials, condemnation of others, failure to practice etc… It does cover the basics above but is a fair bit more complex and far more open to interpretation.  

    Here are some examples.  

Do not disrespect the Guru

Follow the rules set down by the Buddha

Do not condemn or create problems in the Sangha

Abandon love for sentient beings (attachment)

Do not give up on practice due to difficulties of circumstances

Do not slander or libel the scriptures (specifically of Mahayana or Vajrayana)

Do not transmit teaching without the proper training (empowerment, transmission, credential)

Do not attach to the five aggregates/fetters/skandas

Do not be skeptic of the doctrine of 'Emptiness'

Do not associate with those that have bad intentions

Do not indulge in accomplishments or fan fare 

Do not fail to transmit the Dharma authentically

Do not fail in your practice of offerings and rituals (Pujas)

Do not despise or condemn women...

     

So, what do you do if you break a precept?  You acknowledge it and move on trying to be mindful of that in the future and try to not do that again. This whole philosophy is a process and dynamic.  We are human and we are fallible.  If we learn from our mistakes, we become better.  Now, some of the precepts are grounds for expulsion from a sangha.  Some are just for personal practice like mentioned above, some need to be confessed to a ‘Dharma friend’ for guidance, some to he Maha-Sangha or elders for guidance.  The five or so main ones are best for contemplation and reflection.  Notice too there is no ‘thou shalt’ stuff going on here.  It is the fore thought (pre-cept) of these as a practice in daily life. If we are practicing mindful attentiveness and skillful attention and concentration, then we can see these before we do them and be able to better our own lives and the lives of everyone around us.