The Five Precepts
Religious Studies: KS3, topic 2.3.14
The Five Precepts
The Five Precepts are some of the Buddha's teachings. They talk about how people should live and what they should avoid.
The Five Precepts
- The Five Precepts offer guidance on violence, theft, relationships, lying, and drugs.
- The goal is to stop creating suffering.
No killing or causing harm to any living being
- Violence causes suffering to the victim and their loved ones.
- Violence damages the violent person because they may become angry or frightened.
- The Buddha teaches that people should let go of negative emotions.
Not taking what is not given
- Stealing means two struggles in the thief.
- They are jealous.
- They are overcome with desire.
- Both of these things cause a person to suffer because they focus on things that are not permanent.
- The victim also suffers, especially if it was something they needed such as money to buy food.
Avoiding sexual misconduct
- Buddhist monks and nuns do not have sex.
- But most Buddhists live family lives where they get married and have children.
- Those relationships are acts of love and do not cause others to suffer.
- Rape is harmful because it denies the other person’s freedom and choice.
- The Buddha teaches that the state of mind of someone who commits sexual misconduct is not healthy. Their minds lack control and focus on harming others.
Avoiding false speech
- We can also cause harm through our words.
- If we tell lies about someone we can harm their reputation. Some people try to hurt others by finding ways to insult them, which can cause distress.
- This is also a problem for the person who tells lies. They need to consider why they would want to say hurtful things.
- This may be because they are angry, which is a negative emotion in some cases.
Abstaining from drink and drugs
- The Buddha recognised that alcohol and drugs can be harmful.
- Alcohol and drugs cause a person to lose control of what they do.
- They cloud the mind and prevent enlightenment.
- Enlightenment can only be achieved with a mind that is calm and clear.
Karma
- Bad actions are ill-considered and unkind. They cause suffering.
- Suffering has bad consequences. It can affect how our life unfolds, and can carry those consequences into the next life.
- Bad actions damage the mind and make us see life in a negative way.
- Good actions help to make us happy and positive.