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Revisiting Buddhist Precepts
An ongoing interest of mine has been reviewing aspects of traditional Buddhist concepts and practices to determine
their relevance to contemporary life. The Buddha was not setting out to establish a religion; rather, he was focused on
understanding dukkha, the causes of dukkha, the alleviation of dukkha and the ways and means for achieving these
insights and outcomes.
Before the time of the Buddha, the concept of virtue was derived from the vedic traditions, and primarily involved
adherence to the developing caste system. A person belonging to the Kshatriya clan, such as Siddhattha, the future
Buddha, was morally obligated to follow the traditions of the clan. In this case, the tradition included leadership, both
political and military. When Siddhattha left his family to become an ascetic, his actions were considered to be immoral.
Upon experiencing the radical transformation we now term awakening, Siddhattha was termed the Buddha,
translated as “one who is awake”. When he later encountered his fellow travelers, there was no consideration given to
morality or ethics, because his insightful transformation didn’t include such considerations. However, when his small
community began to develop, some consideration to ethics was in order, to promote social harmony and lay a
foundation for further developing the process of awakening.
According to the traditions, the vinaya, the rules of conduct representing ethical considerations, developed
throughout the course of the life of the Buddha and his nascent community of monks, nuns, and devout lay
practitioners. In the three pitakas, or baskets, of Buddhist tradition, the vinaya holds an important place. The three
baskets are the sutta pitaka, vinaya pitaka and abhidhamma pitaka. The suttas are the teachings provided by the
Buddha and his chief disciples, the vinaya represents the ethical code, and the abhidhamma represents the higher
learning of the teachings, which would include psychological categories, cosmological concepts, and so on.
Modern scholarship understands that these collections are not founded upon any hard evidence. That is, it is not
likely that the suttas are literal transcriptions of the original teachings, the vinaya has been found in several differing
versions, and the same is true of abhidhamma teachings.
Of course, the fundamental core teaching associated with the process of awakening is the Dhammacakkapavattana
Sutta, translated as the discourse on the great wheel of awakening to reality. We typically understand it as the discourse
on the Four Noble Truths. The fourth noble truth is the Noble Eightfold Path, and within that conceptual structure we
find the Virtue aggregate, consisting of Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. These attributes were social
extensions of another aspect of the Eightfold Path, Wisdom, specifically Right Understanding and Right Intention. Right
Understanding emphasizes clear awareness of the outcome of behaviors, and Right Intention organizes intentions
around benevolence, that is, kindness, compassion, patience, tolerance and generosity.
The three virtuous aggregates represent a radical departure from previous notions of virtue. As mentioned above,
virtue in the vedic traditions was derived from adherence to clan rules and customs. Of course, these customs were
intended to provide social harmony and a foundation for spiritual development. The description of virtue developed by
the Buddha stepped out of the confines of clan ties, and instead applied to understanding more fundamental aspects of
human nature.
As the tradition mandates, any person wishing to develop the process of awakening must adhere to ethical
considerations as described above, without regard to that person’s class identification. This manifests at the minimum
as what are called the “five precepts”:
1: I undertake the training rule to abstain from killing.
2: I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given.
3: I undertake the training rule to avoid sexual misconduct.
4: I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech.
5: I undertake the training rule to abstain from fermented drink that causes heedlessness.
Devout Buddhists, in the classical traditions, during certain religious events, including meditation retreats, add three
more precepts to the list:
6: I undertake to abstain from eating at the wrong time (the right time is after sunrise, before noon).
7: I undertake to abstain from singing, dancing, playing music, attending entertainment performances, wearing
perfume, and using cosmetics and garlands (decorative accessories).
8: I undertake to abstain from luxurious places for sitting or sleeping, and overindulging in sleep.
Depending upon levels of commitment and the inclinations of various schools of Buddhism that developed over the
centuries following the Buddha, there are many more precepts to undertake, up into the hundreds, to be memorized,
chanted and applied rigorously. Violations of some of the precepts are considered relatively minor, while others can
result in expulsion from the monastic order. Upon his death, the Buddha told those assembled that there was no need
to adhere to the “lesser precepts”, without clarifying the difference between “lesser” and “greater” precepts, so the
various schools over the centuries kept them all!
WHAT DOES PRECEPT MEAN?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a precept as:
a commandment or direction meant as a rule of action or conduct
a rule of moral conduct; maxim
a rule or direction, as in technical matters
Law a written order; writ
origin of precept
Middle English ; from Classical Latin praeceptum ; from praecipere, to admonish, teach ; from prae-,
before (see pre-) + capere, to take
This definition is sensible, but still doesn’t convey a dynamic I find useful. I prefer the term commitment, again from
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
1. a committing or being committed
2. official consignment by court order of a person as to prison or a mental hospital
3. a pledge or promise to do something
4. dedication to a long-term course of action; engagement; involvement
5.a financial liability undertaken, as an agreement to buy or sell securities
6.the act of sending proposed legislation to a committee
Origin of commitment
late 14c., "to give in charge, entrust," from Latin committere "to unite, connect, combine;
to bring together," from com- "together" (see com-) + mittere "to put, send" (see mission). Evolution
into modern range of meanings is not entirely clear. Sense of "perpetrating" was ancient in Latin; in
English from mid-15c. The intransitive use (in place of commit oneself) first recorded 1982, probably
influenced by existentialism use (1948) of commitment to translate Sartre's engagement "emotional
and moral engagement."
In a more contemporary context, there has been significant research and thinking emerging regarding empathy and
altruistic behavior as evolutionary. There was a time in the course of human history when the ability to speak was
evolving; it took many generations for this to become commonplace among humans. As a result of this development,
the course of human history accelerated enormously.
About 2-3,000 years ago, the formation of what we call religion began to develop. Like the development of
language, it has taken many generations for this to become common in human culture. Of course, this process was
accelerated by language and the spinoff function of literature. Now we have the internet and the process of change can
accelerate again.
I believe the core of religious practice involves a sense of kindness and harmony with the natural world. In the same
way that language was evolutionary, spiritual development is accelerating the evolution of humanity. Buddhism, in
particular, enhances this process through the emphasis on meditation practice, which functions to change the structure
and function of the brain in ways that are advantageous in terms of evolution. In terms of the critical issues of ethnic
and political conflict and environmental degradation, it is imperative that the human race evolve to a level that supports
interpersonal harmony and environmental responsibility.
In that spirit, I have devised a new version of the Buddhist precepts, stated as commitments, to further this
evolutionary process that makes ethical guidance for human endeavors more practically applicable.