Prayers & Creeds · Buddhist
Five Precepts (Pancasila)
Five voluntary training rules — against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants — undertaken by lay Buddhists.
Tagged: Daily Practice Ethical Precepts Buddhist
The Text
I undertake the training rule: (1) to refrain from taking life; (2) to refrain from taking what is not given; (3) to refrain from sexual misconduct; (4) to refrain from false speech; (5) to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs that lead to carelessness.
Historical Context
The Five Precepts (Pancasila, "five virtues") are not commandments and not a creed; they are training rules a lay Buddhist voluntarily undertakes, usually by reciting them after the refuge formula in the presence of a monk or before a shrine. Their phrasing — "I undertake the training rule" — frames them as a discipline to grow in rather than a law imposed from outside, and the same basic ethic, expanded to eight or ten precepts, governs retreats and monastic life.
Use and Practice
Lay Buddhists renew the precepts daily, at weekly observance (uposatha) gatherings, and on retreats, where additional precepts are often added. Undertaking the precepts traditionally follows immediately upon going for refuge.
References
- Oxford Bibliographies — Buddhism Subscription
Related Prayers and Creeds
- Refuge Prayer (Tisarana) — The formula of going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha — the act that makes a person a Buddhist.
- Metta Sutta — The Buddha's discourse on loving-kindness, chanted as a blessing and a protection.
Related Across the Site
- St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology Library — An open-access, multi-author theological reference with advanced articles on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
- Metta Sutta Prayer or Creed — The Buddha's discourse on loving-kindness, chanted as a blessing and a protection.
- Refuge Prayer (Tisarana) Prayer or Creed — The formula of going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha — the act that makes a person a Buddhist.
- Buddhism World View — Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from craving and ignorance; by following the Buddha's Eightfold Path, a person can awaken and be freed from rebirth.