1 June 2003: Five Precepts for Good Living this season

The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives

Buddhist Hour Broadcast
For Sunday 1 June 2003

This script is entitled: Five Precepts for Good Living this season

We think in terms of four seasons.

Today Sunday 1 June 2003 marks the beginning of the Winter season in Australia.

Each season, we ought to renew our practice.

A student of John D. Hughes founded a Buddhist Discussion Centre at Traralgon, Victoria.

Last Tuesday 27 May 2003 three of our Members visited Gippsland Buddhist Discussion Group. Members who attended were long-standing Member Ms Julie O'Donnell, our President Mr Julian Bamford and our Secretary Ms Pennie White.

On behalf of our Centre Our Members offered a Buddha image, a stupa from Thailand, Copies of our Flagship Journal the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, Buddhist Hour radio scripts, brochures, business cards and chanting sheets.

Our President Mr Julian Bamford explained some of the benefits of chanting. He then led chanting of the Vandana for Buddha, Five Precepts and the Triple Gem by our Members. This is the chanting we do at the beginning of our weekly Buddhist Hour broadcasts.

Ms Julie O'Donnell explained about the five precepts and answered questions about them.

The five precepts are:

To abstain from killing.
To abstain from stealing.
To abstain from sexual misconduct.
To abstain from lying.
To abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.

She said, "The Buddha taught the cause of suffering can be attributed to not keeping these five precepts. The 227 rules kept by a monk come from these five as a foundation".

Julian Bamford explained how if one of the five precepts is overlooked then all other practices eventually all fall down like dominoes.

Julie said in Buddha Dhamma you want to clarify the mind and drinking clouds the mind, it doesn't work to your benefit.

Julian gave a brief history of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

In 1978 John Hughes founded the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. as an Australian Company from a concept he had in 1955. The organization is incorporated and has financial Members.

We have five websites.

Our library collection consists of over 10,000 items.

It is an environment for learning Buddha Dhamma.

Ms Julie O'Donnell said, "Years ago John D. Hughes remembered his practice of Buddha Dhamma. He wanted to help Australia have Buddhism".

Master John D. Hughes teaches Buddha Dhamma then students say what they have learned. It is a structured teaching, along Socratic method.

He would sit for hours just to teach one thing until it is understood in finer detail.

For our weekly Tuesday classes, we use a text by Dr Mehm Tin Mon and read a paper on a part of that text.

Once you learn something it ought to be put it into action to consolidate learning.

Julian Bamford said: "Put in more than you take out. Chop wood and carry water every day".

The radio is a teaching. It is uploaded on the Internet. It can be read; many skills are learned from it. It is a reference and a resource for many persons who want to know how to practice.

John D. Hughes is a recognised Teacher.

Bob Faulkner explained how the Gippsland group came to be.

Bob Faulkner visited John D. Hughes over many years.

Recently he came to John D. Hughes for some guidance and John advised him to start this group. Over the past few months Bob Faulkner has done that.

The Gippsland Buddhist Discussion Group is not a company. They gather fortnightly. They have set up the beginnings of a library and Buddha images.

The evening concluded with a ten minute silent vipassana meditation led by Julie O'Donnell.

We thank Bob and Donna Faulkner for inviting us to the Gippsland Buddhist Discussion Group. May they be well and happy. May their organization and members prosper.

Our Teacher, John D. Hughes, is now in a general ward at the Maroondah hospital and is recovering well. He is to be moved to rehabilitation soon.

What does it mean to take the five precepts?

The five precepts recommended by the Buddha for lay persons are fundamental to practice.

Bodhisara Stephen Gerber in the preface to Precepts: The Guardians of the World, writes:

"The Five Precepts: we know them, we have taken umpteen times, they are the basis of our spiritual life".

"The precepts are not something we fulfil by merely reciting them every now and then. The moral precepts have degrees in depth of fulfilment. The precept holder of moral integrity is the fully enlightened person, the Arahant, and everybody below this attainment is still on the way to moral perfection."

The Dhammapada says:

To avoid doing evil,
To do good,
To purify the heart;
That is the teaching of all the Buddhas.

These three things are the basis for the morality teachings.

An early Chinese Zen Master said to a great Confucian scholar who objected to the simplicity of the above verse, "Though a little child may know this verse by heart, yet even a man of eighty fails to live up to it".

The Dhammapada reads:

By oneself is evil done,
By oneself is
One made impure.
By oneself is evil undone,
By oneself is one made pure.
Each one is responsible for purity and impurity.
No one can cleanse another.

The way to stay out of trouble and to take care of yourself is to begin and stay with morality. The five
precepts are what is recommended by the Buddha.

You cannot claim to be a practitioner without them.

The five precepts are:

To abstain from killing.
To abstain from stealing.
To abstain from sexual misconduct.
To abstain from lying.
To abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.

Maintaining the five precepts does not consist in the mere not-committing of evil action, but is in each instance the clearly conscious and intentional restraint from the bad actions in question and corresponds to the simultaneously arising volition.

Chanting five precepts brings persons some merit. Keeping five precepts brings a practitioner much more merit. Five Precepts is enough to become a stream enterer.

Five precepts in Pali language is called the panca-sila they are the primary ethical code cultivated by Buddha Dhamma practitioners.

We now will discuss in some detail each of the five precepts.

It is not Buddha Dhamma Practice to kill living beings.

The first precept is the abstinence from killing any living being, man or animal.

The first precept in the panca sila, spoken in the Pali language is panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami.

There are many products designed to kill flies or ants. Do not use them.

The precept to abstain from killing includes flies, mosquitoes and ants.

To take this precept you can recite:

I am determined not to kill or injure, not to let others do so, and not to support any act of physical or mental harm.

The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw writes that there are five conditions that must be fulfilled or the precept has not been transgressed.

(1) The object must be a living being.
(2) There must be the awareness of it being a living being.
(3) The doer must have the intent to kill.
(4) There must be the effort to kill or to cause death such as striking, cutting, etc.
(5) This effort must result in the destruction of life. If any one of these factors is lacking, it cannot be strictly called an act of killing.

Volition (in Pali cetana) has a great influence on the kammic return of our actions.

The second of the panca sila precepts is directed towards the preservation of the sanctity of rightful ownership. The formula, addinadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami, enjoins a Buddha Dhamma practitioner to abstain from appropriating anything not willingly given to him or her. It may be mentioned here that Buddha Dhamma does not decry the possession of wealth, it only condemns stolen wealth.

The precept of no stealing means to abstain from taking what is not freely given.

If you see a five dollar note lying in the street it has not been given to you. It does not matter if you think an object has an owner or not. You ought to take it to the police station.

The precept of not stealing is broader than not taking others belongings; it also includes making sure that you return borrowed items.

We take great care to observe the copyright laws.

To take this precept you can recite:

I will practice honesty and generosity by sharing my wealth, time, energy, empathy, encouragement and other resources, especially the gift of Truth, with those in need.

The third precept, kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami, enjoins a Buddha Dhamma practitioner to abstain from wrongful sexual indulgence. There are twenty parts to this precept.
The precept of abstaining from sexual misconduct includes respecting other people and their bodies. To practice this precept we refrain from exploiting or hurting others.

To take this precept you can recite:

I will respect the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

I will not mindlessly indulge my senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and/or thought in the sense pleasures (eg. shows, music, food, sex etc.) such that I am distracted from the path towards self-improvement.

The fourth precept, musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami, expects an individual to refrain from uttering falsehood. Since one's speech is of vital importance in the transmission of cultural traditions, and the maintenance of a social equilibrium, it is very necessary that one's speech should be a source of well being and solace to society and not lies. Abstinence from lying generates harmony in social living by not only accepting the value of truthful speech, but also extending a sense of trust and confidence in it. Gentle and truthful speech is a great blessing to all alike, and a highly desired boon to treasure.
To take this precept you can recite:

I will speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I am determined not to spread news, criticise or condemn on that which I do not know for certain. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord in family or community. I will make the effort to reconcile and resolve conflicts big and small.

The fifth and the last precept in the panca sila code, surameraya majjapamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami, abstinence from taking intoxicating drinks, ensures a healthy, balanced and unperturbed mental state in the individual, so very necessary for living a harmonious life. An unbalanced and ill-functioning mind, manifesting itself with the ill-effects caused by the consuming of alcoholic drinks, prevents a person from conducting himself as a normal mentally healthy being, preventing him from being able to distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, virtue and vice, and making him behave in a most ludicrous manner in society, destroying his sanity and balance almost completely. The purpose of practicing Buddha Dhamma is to get a clear mind so this is not going to be possible while taking intoxicants.

An intoxicant is anything that intoxicates.

To take this precept you can recite:

I will ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being and joy in body and Mind, and the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicant, so as to cultivate greater awareness, attention and clarity of Mind. I am aware that to damage my body or my Mind with these poisons is to let down my family and society. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by balancing a physical and mental diet. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for positive self and society transformation and advancement in mental development.

So, to find the teachings with an intoxicated mind gives you little hope of cognating them.
You do not know for how many lifetimes you have used intoxicants.

But you can be sure that whenever you did, you missed out on the way to wisdom and the way out of suffering.

Precepts are kept with the body, speech and mind so really if you take five precepts you take five times three equalling fifteen precepts.
No reasonable person can find fault with requesting persons to observe these Precepts. For those of us who observe these Precepts there will be loving kindness, as well as peace and harmony.

Senior Dharma Teacher Neil Bartholomew writes:

"The precepts are all interrelated. Most behaviours that break one of the precepts break at least one of the other precepts, because what it all comes down to is intention. If your intention is a genuine response to the situation, then you're probably keeping the precepts. If it is not genuine, at the very least you're lying, and you're probably doing something else."

The Buddha's Verse on the Five Precepts and Their Karmic Rewards From Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom translated by Bhikshu Dharmamitra reads:

One does not kill and does not steal,
Nor does one engage in sexual misconduct.
One maintains true speech and does not drink alcohol.
One upholds right livelihood and thereby purifies his mind.

If there is one who is able to carry this out,
In the two periods of time, worry and fear will be gotten rid of.
The merit of the precepts will constantly follow along with him.
And he will always be together with gods and men.

In the six-seasoned flower of the worldly existence,
Glory and physical form bloom together.
One can find that this single flower of years,
Is contained in one day in the heavens.

The heavenly trees spontaneously produce
Flower garlands and necklaces.
The red flowers there are luminous like a lamp.
The many colours are interspersed among each other.

"…If one upholds the precepts and constantly restrains the mind,
One succeeds in being born in a land where one may indulge in happiness.
There are no tasks to be done and there are no difficulties.
And one always fulfils aspirations to enjoy one's pleasuresÉÓ

Zen Master Wu Bong teaches:

"In practicing the precepts, we will break them many times. It is important not to give up. Breaking the precepts is like falling down when you're walking. The thing to do is to get up and start walking again, and if you fall again, get up again, keep on trying.

The precepts are to help us cut off our attachments, and when that is done, then all the precepts are kept naturally."

Some human beings are capable of manipulating both their physical and mental health. Some of us have an inherent mental power, including will-power. Some can apply positive mental energy to gain both mental and physical health. Through this process we can also enjoy the inner harmony, peace and happiness we make for ourselves. The most effective method embraces analytical and reflective self-awareness.

The merits of today's Buddhist Hour radio script and broadcast are dedicated to the long-life and health increasing of John D. Hughes.

May you have long life, good health, harmony and observe the five precepts.

May you be well and happy.

This script was written and edited by John D. Hughes, Pennie White and Leanne Eames.

References

Bartholomew, Neil, Senior Dharma Teacher (1996) Taking The Five Precepts: What Does It Mean?, Kwan Um School of Zen available at URL http://www.kwanumzen.com/primarypoint/v14n1-1996-spring-NeilBartholomew-TakingFivePrecepts.html accessed 30 May 2003.

Bodhisara Stephen Gerber cited in the Preface of Eastoak, S., Quinn, J. and Sivaraksa, S. (1998) Precepts: The Guardians of the World, Inward Path Publisher, Penang, Malaysia.

Dharmamitra, Bhikshu (Translator) (2001) The Buddha's Verse on the Five Precepts and Their Karmic Rewards, From Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, available at URL http://www.kalavinka.org/jewels/nagajuna/mppu/websila/5precvrs.htm accessed 30 May 2003.

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (1999) Lamp. E-book, Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery Singapore, available at http://asp.thedailyenlightenment.com/ specials/lamp/precepts.asp accessed 30 May 2003.

Myokyo-ni, Venerable (1988) Gentling the Bull, The Zen Centre, London, pp 74-75.

Nyanatiloka (1970) Buddhist Dictionary Ð Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, 1970, The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, p170.

Sayadaw, Venerable Mahasi, [Discourse on the] SALLEKHA SUTTA available at www.mahasi.org.mm/pdf/E22pdf.pdf accessed 30 May 2003.

Wu Bong, Zen Master (1976) On the Five Precepts,
Providence Zen Center available at URL http://www.kwanumzen.com/pzc/oldnewsletter/v04n10-1976-october-WBZM-OnTheFivePrecepts.html accessed on 30 May 2003.

Counts

Words: 2564
Characters: 12455
Paragraphs: 147 Sentences: 172

Averages Sentences per paragraph: 1.4
Words per Sentence: 13.9
Characters per word: 4.7
Readability Statistics

Passive Sentences: 8%
Flesch Reading Ease score: 61.0
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: 8.1

Readability Statistics

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Accordingly, we accept no liability to any user or subsequent third party, either expressed or implied, whether or not caused by error or omission on either our part, or a member, employee or other person associated with the Chan Academy Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)

This Radio Script is for Free Distribution. It contains Buddha Dhamma material and is provided for the purpose of research and study. Permission is given to make printouts of this publication for FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY. Please keep it in a clean place. "The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts".

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