Anyone, of any religion or none, can appreciate these fundamental, practical guidelines about actions & speech suggested by the Buddha. When we are mindful enough to realize that we have a choice about our actions & speech, these Precepts are there to help answer questions of,"What should I do, what should I say?"
They are practical & down to earth without requiring one to promise first to believe in anything supernatural.
Like the lane makings on the highway, they help speed one on one's journey without colliding with any other travellers or going completely off the road.
The Precepts mark the straightforward way of living that harms or hurts no one, while offering one the choice to transform one's life through growing mindfulness into prefect virtue, wisdom & compassion.
The Five Precepts
The Five Precepts form one of the essential attributes of following the Lord Buddha's Way.Undertaking these Precepts (and 'Going for Refuge') are often the first formal affirmation of a new Buddhist.This is normally done by repeating after a monk these phrases ( in Pali):
"I undertake the training precept:
1) to abstain from taking life.
2) to abstain from taking what is not given.
3) to abstain from sexual misconduct.
4) to abstain from false speech.
5) to abstain from intoxicants causing heedlessness."
The Eight Precepts
The Five can then be refined into the Eight Precepts:
"I undertake the training precept...
1) to abstain from taking life.
2) to abstain from taking what is not given.
3) to abstain from unchastity.
4) to abstain from false speech.
5) to abstain from intoxicants causing heedlessness.
6) to abstains from untimely eating.
7) to abstain from dancing, singing, music & unseemly shows, from wearing garlands, smartening with scents, and beautifying with perfumes.
8) to abstain from the use of high & large luxurious couches."
