Eight precepts

eight precepts (S. aṣṭā-śīla / aṣṭāṅgaśīla; P. aṭṭha-sīla / aṭṭhaṅga-sīla; T. bsnyen gnas yan lag brgyad; C. ba jie 八 戒). A set of eight precepts or vows that are observed by lay devotees (upāsaka) on observance days (upoṣadha) and festivals. Also known as "eight precepts of an upāsaka", "eight one-day precepts", "eight training rules" (aṣṭā-śikṣāpada), etc.

The eight precepts are:

1. refraining from killing living beings (prāṇātipāta virati)
2. refraining from taking what is not given (adattādāna virati)
3. refraining from engaging in sexual misconduct (kāmamithyācāra virati)
4. refraining from lying (mṛṣāvāda prativirati)
5. refraining from from intoxicants (madyapāna virati)
6. not to eat at improper times [viz. after twelve noon] (vikālabhojana virati)
7. not to use perfumes, garlands, or cosmetics (gandhamālyavilepanavarṇakadhāraṇa virati) and not to sing, dance, play music, or attend entertainments (nṛtyagīta virati)
8. not to sleep on high and luxurious beds (uccaśayanamahāśayana virati)

The first five of the eight precepts correspond to the five precepts of a lay person. In comparison with the ten precepts followed by novice monastics, two of the ten precepts for novices are combined into precept #7 above, and the 10th precept for novices (not handling money) is omitted.

Taking the precepts

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion (Vol 4) states:

In ancient times, people went to their local monastery on new- and full-moon days to take these precepts and practice with the monastics. Nowadays many people receive the transmission for the one-day precepts from their teacher and subsequently take them at home before a Buddha image. Some monasteries ask monastic aspirants to reside in the monastery and take the eight precepts for a period of time (many months or a year) before receiving monastic ordination. Some lay followers take the eight precepts and live at home.

Bhikkhu Bodhi states:

There are two ways in which these precepts are observed — permanently and temporarily. Permanent observance, far the less common of the two, is undertaken generally by older people who, having completed their family duties, wish to deepen their spiritual development by devoting the later years of their life to intensified spiritual practice. Even then it is not very widespread. Temporary observance is usually undertaken by lay people either on Uposatha days or on occasions of a meditation retreat. Uposatha days are the new moon and full moon days of the lunar month, which are set aside for special religious observances, a custom absorbed into Buddhism from ancient Indian custom going back even into the pre-Buddhistic period of Indian history. On these days lay people in Buddhist countries often take the eight precepts, especially when they go to spend the Uposatha at a temple or monastery. On these occasions the undertaking of the eight precepts lasts for a day and a night. Then, secondly, on occasions of retreat lay people take the eight precepts for the duration of their retreat, which might last anywhere from several days to several months.

The formulation of two distinct ethical codes follows from the two basic purposes of the Buddhist moral discipline. One is the fundamental ethical purpose of putting a brake on immoral actions, actions which are harmful either directly or indirectly to others. This purpose falls into the province of the fivefold code of precepts, which deals with the restraint of actions that cause pain and suffering to others. In enjoining abstinence from these unwholesome actions, the five precepts also protect the individual from their undesirable repercussions on himself — some immediately visible in this present life, some coming to manifestation only in future lives when the kamma they generate bears its fruit.

The other purpose of the Buddhist training in moral discipline is not so much ethical as spiritual. It is to provide a system of self-discipline which can act as a basis for achieving higher states of realization through the practice of meditation. In serving this purpose the code functions as a kind of ascesis, a way of conduct involving self-denial and renunciation as essential to the ascent to higher levels of consciousness. This ascent, culminating in nibbana or final liberation from suffering, hinges upon the attenuation and ultimate eradication of craving, which with its multiple branches of desire is the primary force that holds us in bondage. To reduce and overcome craving it is necessary to regulate not only the deleterious types of moral transgressions but also modes of conduct which are not harmful to others but sill give vent to the craving that holds us in subjection.

The Buddhist code of discipline expounded in the eight precepts represents the transition from the first level of moral discipline to the second, that is, from sila as a purely moral undertaking to sila as a way of ascetic self-training aimed at progress along the path to liberation. The five precepts also fulfill this function to some extent, but they do so only in a limited way, not as fully as the eight precepts. With the eight precepts the ethical code takes a pronounced turn towards the control of desires which are not socially harmful and immoral. This extension of the training focuses upon desires centering around the physical body and its concerns. The change of the third precept to abstinence from incelibacy curbs the sexual urge, regarded in itself not as a moral evil but as a powerful expression of craving that has to be held in check to advance to the higher levels of meditation. The three new precepts regulate concern with food, entertainment, self-beautification, and physical comfort. Their observance nurtures the growth of qualities essential to the deeper spiritual life — contentment, fewness of wishes, modesty, austerity, renunciation. As these qualities mature the defilements are weakened, aiding the effort to reach attainment in serenity and insight.

Alternate names for these precepts

• In Sanskrit/Pali:
  • upavāsa (T. bsnyen gnas; C. jinzhu 近住). "one-day precepts"
  • upavāsa-saṃvara. ("upavāsa restraints", "fasting restraints")
  • aṣṭāṅgasamanvāgatam upavāsam (P. aṭṭhaṅgasamannāgataṃ uposathaṃ; T. yan lag brgyad pa’i gso sbyong). Literally, “fortnightly assembly with its eight constituents”, "eight-branch poṣadha vows", etc.
  • aṣṭāṅgika poṣadha ("eight poṣadha vows")
  • aṣṭāṅgaśīla (P. aṭṭhaṅga-sīla). "eight-branch precepts"
  • aṣṭā-śīla (P. aṭṭha-sīla). "eight precepts"
  • aṣṭā-śikṣāpada ("eight śikṣāpada", "eight training rules")
• In Tibetan:
  • bsnyen gnas yan lag brgyad བསྙེན་གནས་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་ ("eight upavāsa vows", "eight precepts of an upāsaka")

    བསྙེན་གནས་ = upavāsa; ཡན་ལག་ = branch/limb; བརྒྱད་=eight

  • yan lag brgyad pa’i bsnyen gnas ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པའི་བསྙེན་གནས་ ("eight upavāsa vows")
  • bsnyen gnas བསྙེན་གནས་ (literally, "upavāsa"; also translated as "one day precepts")
  • yan lag brgyad pa’i gso sbyong ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པའི་གསོ་སྦྱོང་ ("eight poṣadha vows")

    ཡན་ལག་ = branch/limb; བརྒྱད་=eight; གསོ་སྦྱོང་ = poṣadha;

  • bslab pa’i gzhi brgyad བསླབ་པའི་གཞི་བརྒྱད་ ("eight śikṣāpada", "eight fundamental precepts")

    བསླབ་པའི་གཞི་ = śikṣāpada; བརྒྱད་=eight

• In Chinese:
  • ba jie 八戒 (“eight precepts”)
  • ba jie zhai 八戒齋 (“eight-precepts fast”)
  • ba zhai jie 八齋戒
  • ba guan zhai 八關齋 (“eight-restrictions fast”)
  • ba guan zhai jie 八關齋戒
  • ba fen zhai jie (“eight-fold fasting precepts”)
  • etc.

See also

• Five precepts
• Ten precepts
• Prātimokṣa

Sources

• Bhikkhu Bodhi (1994), Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts, Access to Insight
• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Dalai Lama; Thubten Chodron (2019), Following in the Buddha's Footsteps, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, Volume 4, Wisdom Publications 

External links

• Eight precepts, Wikipedia
• Bhikkhu Kantasilo (1996), Uposatha Sila: The Eight-Precept Observance, Access to Insight
• The Eight Precepts of Restraint and Abstinence, International Buddhist Society