Precepts

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Introduction

The practice of taking and keeping the eight Mahayana precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with bodhichitta motivation.  The essence of the practice is to take eight precepts and to keep them purely for a period of twenty-four hours.  By doing this practice again and again, we acquaint ourself with the practice of moral discipline and thereby make our human life meaningful.  

We receive many great benefits from practising moral discipline in this way.  It helps us to solve the problems of this life by avoiding the causes of suffering; and it creates the cause for us to take fortunate rebirths in future lives and thereby protects us from the sufferings of lower rebirth.  In particular, because it is performed with bodhichitta motivation, this practice is very powerful for purifying negative karma.  It accumulates a vast collection of merit and creates the cause for us to attain the unsurpassed happiness of enlightenment.  

We first need to receive these precepts from a qualified Preceptor, and then we can take them on our own as often as we wish.  Instructions on both these methods are included in the sadhana (prayer booklet) "A Pure Life" which can bought at the weekly "Drop-In" classes or at www.tharpa.com.  If we wish to take the essence of this precious human life, we should strive to engage in this practice as often as we can. 

An Explanation of the Practice

When we take the eight Mahayana precepts, we explicitly promise to abstain for twenty-four hours from eight actions: (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual activity, (4) lying, (5) taking intoxicants, (6) eating after lunch, (7) sitting on high or luxurious thrones or seats, and (8) wearing ornaments, perfumes, etc, and signing and dancing, and so forth.  These eight, however, are merely symbolic, for in reality we promise to abstain from all non-virtuous actions for twenty-four hours.  

Taking and keeping these precepts is a special purification practice.  Buddha realised that all living beings' suffering comes from their previous negative karma, and so he taught special practices to purify it.  To purify our negative karma we must practice the four opponent powers: the power of regret, the power of reliance, the power of opponent force, and the power of promise.  These are fully explained in Joyful Path of Good Fortune.  Within these four, we are emphasizing the power of promise - promising to not to repeat non-virtuous actions.  There are many levels on which we can make this promise.  We can promise not to commit non-virtuous for the rest of our life, for a year, for a month, for a week, or, in this case, for a day.  If we manage to keep our actions of body, speech and mind pure for one day, we can then extend it to two days, then to three days, and so on, until eventually we can keep pure moral discipline all the time.  

If we reach the point when we can keep our actions of body, speech and mind completely pure all the time, we shall have accomplished the Pure Land.  With a pure body and a pure mind, there is no basis for experiencing suffering; instead we shall experience only unceasing happiness from within.  We all want to happy - living in a pure environment with pure friends, pure enjoyments, and so on - but this is unattainable for as long as we have negative karma in our minds.  Therefore, we need to rely upon Buddha's skilful method for purifying our negative karma.  This practice is very simple, and it lasts for only a day at a time; but it leads to very great results.  

It is easy to see why we should promise to abstain from killing, stealing, and lying; but why should we promise to abstain from other actions mentioned in the precepts, such as sexual activity, eating after lunch, or wearing jewellery?  The reason is that in the past we have committed many non-virtuous actions for the sake of such objects of enjoyment; and by abstaining from these objects now we purify that negative karma.  Attachment to objects of desire is the source of much of our negative karma, and our negative karma is the source of our suffering.  Therefore, by abstaining from these objects for a day, we are creating the cause to avoid in the future sufferings such as sickness, hunger, conflict, and loneliness.  Besides these temporary results, because we are keeping pure moral discipline with bodhichitta motivation we are also creating the cause ultimately to attain enlightenment so that we can protect all living beings from suffering.  

Because we are so attached to samsara's enjoyments, we find it difficult to reduce delusions such as attachment, anger, jealousy, and ignorance; and because these minds are so strong, we find it difficult to keep pure moral discipline.  Therefore, sometimes we need to set aside a special day when we emphasize the practice of moral discipline by taking and keeping these precepts purely.  Of course, we should try to practice pure moral discipline every day, but we also need days on which we give it extra emphasis.  For example, we eat food every day, but occasionally we have a special day on which we have a special meal.  

 On the day that we take the precepts, we must be particularly mindful to avoid negative actions of body, speech, and mind.  We need to be careful in our physical activity not to use our body to commit non-virtue.  Similarly, we should guard our speech.  If we talk a lot, or if we talk about meaningless things, there is a great danger that we will commit non-virtuous actions with our speech.  Therefore, on this day we should not talk much; and, when we do talk, we should talk only about meaningful things.  It is also important to protect our mind from distractions.  If our mind is distracted it naturally goes to non-virtuous objects; therefore we need to be especially mindful.  We should try to concentrate only on spiritual activities - studying Dharma books, contemplating their meaning, improving our concentration in meditation, reciting Dharma texts, or just keeping a pure mind of faith. 

If we can practise in this way for one day, gradually we shall be able to extend our practice unit we can keep pure moral discipline all the time  This is a supreme method for accomplishing Buddhahood.  If we become a Buddha, we shall be able to fulfil our bodhichitta wish - to be able to free all mother sentient beings from suffering.  This is the real meaning of our precious human life.