The Five Precepts

No one can be civilized by merely taking the three Refuges. So we need to observe precepts, at least five. What are they ?

1. Refraining from killing any living being.
2. Refraining from taking what is not given.
3. Refraining from sexual misconduct.
4. Refraining from wrong speech.
5. Refraining from taking drinks and drugs which fuddle the mind and reduce mindfulness.

Some Buddhist may think, "We have to observe these five precepts because we are Buddhists." In fact, it is not so. Whoever wants to be a humane person, to civilise oneself and to get a happy life, really needs to practise these precepts.

A Basic Sense of Humanity

Sila or morality is not a set of commandments handed down by the Buddha, and it need not be confined to Buddhist teachings. It actually derives from a basic sense of humanity. For example, suppose we have a spurt of anger and want to harm another being. If we put ourselves in that other being's place, and honestly contemplate the action we have been planning, we will quickly answer 'No, I wouldn't want that done to me. That could be cruel and unjust.' If we feel this way about some action we plan, we can be quite sure that the action is unwholesome. So we should refrain from breaking precepts. We should think before we do something.