The Five Buddhist Precepts

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Buddhist precepts and Mindfulness Trainings have been circulated by a Sri Lankan Catholic named Kingsley Abraham who is currently studying the Buddhist Teachings.

May he realize the Noble Dhamma and become free of all suffering as soon as possible.

With Metta,
Mahinda

From Kingsley Abraham:

The five precepts (pansil) are a condensed form of Buddhist ethical practice.

They are often compared with the ten commandments of Christianity. However, the precepts are different in two respects:

First, they are to be taken as recommendations, not commandments. This means the individual is encouraged to use his/her own intelligence to apply these rules in the best possible way.

Second, it is the spirit of the precepts -not the text- that counts, hence, the guidelines for ethical conduct must be seen in the larger context of the Eightfold Path.


Here are the five precepts:

I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from ...

1. ...harming living beings.

2. ...taking things not freely given.

3. ...sexual misconduct.

4. ...false speech.

5. ...intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness.

(The above is from the book The Word of the Buddha, authored by Nyanatolika Maha Thera, The Buddhist Publication Society, 1971)


The Five Mindfulness Trainings -

(By Thich Nhat Hanh Thero, European Institute of Applied Buddhism)

(1) First Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.

(2) Second Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am committed to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

(3) Third Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivate responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

(4) Fourth Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

(5) Fifth Training-

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practising mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I am committed to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practising a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

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UT: Dec 1 & 2 "Toru Funayama Lectures"

In case you are interested:

The University of Toronto / McMaster University Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program

Presents

Tōru Funayama (Kyoto University)

Professor Tōru Funayama has been described as a Buddhological renaissance man because of the breadth of his knowledge about Buddhism in India, Tibet, China and Japan. He has published six books and more than 50 articles or book chapters dealing with Indian philosophy, the linguistic features of texts translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, Chinese biographies of Buddhist monks, lay Buddhist practice in China, and Chinese philosophy in the fifth and sixth centuries. He has taught at various universities in Japan (including Koyasan University, Kyushu University, Otani University, Ryukoku University, University of Tokyo, and Tsukuba University) and abroad (including Harvard, Heidelberg, Leiden, and Stanford).

“Kamalaśīla's View on Yogic Perception and the Bodhisattva Path"

Thursday, December 1, 3-5 pm

University of Toronto Reading Group Session

Department for the Study of Religion (170 St George St.), Room 317

“Mahāyāna Vinaya? Aspirations for the composition of a Vinaya for bodhisattvas in India and China”

Friday, December 2, 4-6 pm

University Hall 122, McMaster University

ABSTRACT: As is clearly evident from Chinese Buddhist catalogs, medieval Chinese Buddhists accepted the view of a "Mahāyāna Vinaya" (dasheng lü). On the other hand, we know that such a vinaya never existed in the history of Indian Buddhism. Is this idea a result of Chinese misunderstanding? Naturally this question is also concerned with Sinification of Buddhism. In this talk, I will attempt to explore the origin and development of this notion with a special focus on the Scripture of Brahma's Net (Fanwang jing). By referring to internal evidence, I want to point out that this well-known apocryphal sutra played a critical role for the establishment of the term dasheng lü in China. Further, I want to verify that basically the same idea, if not entirely identical, is found in the Skt. Bodhisattvabhūmi, the most significant text for bodhisattva precepts in India, in order to claim that early Yogacarins wished to establish a Mahāyāna equivalent of the orthodox Vinaya in India and that such an intention was more emphasized by the composition of the Scripture of Brahma's Net in China.

For reading group materials and questions, please contact frances.garrett@utoronto.ca

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UT: Numata Buddhist Studies Events with Michelle Wang, Nov 10-11

In case you are interested:


The University of Toronto/McMaster University Numata Buddhist Studies Program

Presents

Michelle Wang, Georgetown University

“Reflections of the Garbhadhātu Maṇḍala at Dunhuang”



Thursday, November 10, 4-6 pm

University Hall 122

McMaster University



ABSTRACT: To date, much of the scholarship on esoteric Buddhist art at Dunhuang has privileged iconographical elements that are associated with the Vajradhātu Maṇḍala. While there are good reasons for this, what I propose to do in my paper is to consider as well iconographical elements that are associated with the Garbhadhātu Maṇḍala, in particular, those that may be observed in mural and portable paintings dating to the Tang Dynasty. One portion of the Mahāvairocana Sūtra exists from the Dunhuang manuscripts. What I propose, however, is not that there is evidence of a full Garbhadhātu Maṇḍala in Dunhuang of the type seen in Heian Japan, but rather selective assemblages of deities that represent the three families of the Garbhadhātu Maṇḍala.



“Changing Conceptions of ‘Maṇḍala’ in Tang China: Ritual and the Role of Images"

University of Toronto Reading Group Session

Friday, November 11, 3-5 pm

East Asian Studies Department, Robarts Library



For reading group materials and questions, please contact

frances.garrett@utoronto.ca or see http://buddhiststudies.chass.utoronto.ca/


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UT: Nov 4: Lecture on “Buddhism Under Pol Pot”

In case you are interested:

Date: Friday, November 4, 2011

Time: 7:00 – 9:00pm

Location: Arts & Administration Building, Room AA 112 (map)

University of Toronto Scarborough

1265 Military Trail

Scarborough, ON M1C 1A4

The Department of Humanities at the University of Toronto Scarborough, in partnership with Tung Lin Kok Yuen will host a free public lecture by Dr. Ian Harris entitled “Buddhism Under Pol Pot” as part of the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Perspectives on Buddhist Thought and Culture series.

The public lecture given by Dr. Harris will examine a modern experience of Buddhism encountering political conflict. Dr. Harris will look at the struggles of Buddhist monks in the face of a violent and repressive regime in Cambodia in the 1970s. He will consider the regional variations in the Khmer Rouge’s treatment of religion, the number of monks that perished, monastic survivors, the re-establishment of Cambodian Buddhism, and the development of Cambodia’s violent communist movement after the fall of Pol Pot.

Dr. Ian Harris is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cumbria. His current research interests focus on the modern and contemporary history of Cambodia, Buddhism and politics in Southeast Asia, Buddhist environmentalism, and landscape aesthetics. Dr. Harris has held previous visiting professor positions at the University of Oxford, the University of British Columbia, the National University of Singapore, and the Documentary Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. His most recent books are Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice and Buddhism Under Pol Pot.

Admission to the lecture is FREE. To reserve your spot, please contact Arts & Events Programming at aep-rsvp@utsc.utoronto.caor at 416 208 4769. Please note that for those travelling from downtown Toronto, a free shuttle bus will depart from Hart House Circle at 5:30pm and will return once the lecture is over at 9:00pm. To RSVP for the bus, please email aep-rsvp@utsc.utoronto.ca.

For more information on Arts & Events Programming, including a calendar with our upcoming events, please visit our website.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email.

Cheers!

The AEP Team

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