Lay Buddhists undertake five training rules. They are not commandments handed down for judgement, but promises we make to ourselves and renew as often as we break them.
The five
- To refrain from harming living beings
- To refrain from taking what is not given
- To refrain from sexual misconduct
- To refrain from false speech
- To refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind
Training rules, not commandments
The Pali word sikkhapada means a step of training. When a precept is broken, no one is standing by to punish; the harm itself is the consequence, and the response is simply to take up the training again. This is why the precepts are recited regularly rather than sworn once.
Why they help meditation
A mind with nothing to hide settles quickly. Much of the restlessness we meet in meditation is unfinished business from how we have spoken and acted during the day. Keeping the precepts is not preparation for practice — it is practice.
Starting where you are
Rather than taking on all five at once, many people work with one for a week at a time. Speech is a good place to start: for seven days, say nothing untrue, and notice how often the wish to exaggerate arises. That noticing is the whole training in miniature.
