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# Daily Practice

## The Five Precepts (Pañcasila)

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[see Appendix A3 for Pali]

These are the words of the Buddha from the Dhammapada:

> Whoever destroys living beings,
> speaks false words, who in the world
> takes that which is not given to him,
> or goes too with another's wife,
> or takes distilled, fermented drinks --
> whatever man indulges thus
> extirpates the roots of himself
> even here in this very world.

> > -- Dhp. 246-7

So these actions are to be avoided if one wishes to be not only human in body but also to have a human mind. And birth as a human being depends to a great extent upon the practice of the Five Precepts which are also called "the Dhamma for human beings" (manussa-dhamma). The practice of these precepts makes this human world bearable, but when such practice declines then it becomes a place of suffering and distress.[1]

Therefore, it is a practice among Buddhists to bring to mind every day the Five Precepts while sitting with hands in anjali in front of the shrine. At that time one should resolve as strongly as possible to practice them and not to depart from them. They may be recited in translation as follows:

> I undertake the rule of training to refrain
> from killing living creatures.
> I undertake the rule of training to refrain
> from taking what is not given.
> I undertake the rule of training to refrain
> from wrong conduct in sexual pleasures.
> I undertake the rule of training to refrain
> from false speech.
> I undertake the rule of training to refrain
> from distilled and fermented intoxicants, which are the occasion for carelessness.

These precepts are the basic and minimal observance of moral conduct by a Buddhist. They are designed to restrain him from making bad kamma in speech and body and to serve as the basis for further growth in the Dhamma. If a Buddhist wishes to meditate, for instance, he must be trying to practice the Five Precepts. Meditation trains the mind away from unwholesome states but how could this be done if body and speech were uncontrolled? In connection with precepts and meditation, it may be said again that all kinds of drugs should be given up before trying meditation. They confuse the mind, or merely alter it temporarily -- and so fall under the fifth precept -- while meditation is the step by step purification of it.

Now that the Going-for-Refuge and the Five precepts have been recited, it is time to recollect the virtues of the three things most precious to a Buddhist in the world.

### Note

1. See "The Five Precepts," Wheel 55, BPS, Kandy, for the precepts explained, also the excellent article, "Sila in Modern Life" in "The Buddhist Outlook" by Francis Story, BPS. [Go back]

Revised: Thu 17 May 2001