Rules, Precepts and Principles

Members of the Western Buddhist Order observe ten ethical precepts (see list below). Tejananda believes that these make more radical demands than many traditional lists.

Questions of ethics have long been debated in the West. Perhaps the most radically opposed views being, on the one hand, St. Augustine’s God’s thundering commands are to be obeyed not questioned and, on the other, Alastair Crowley’s o what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

The Buddhist approach — true to the principle of the Middle Way — avoids such extremes. Particular actions are neither ‘right’ nor ‘wrong’ in themselves; what matters is whether the underlying motivation is ‘skilful’ or ‘unskilful’ — whether or not they spring from craving, aversion, or delusion.

This means that, for Buddhists, there can be no question of ethical action being a matter of following to the letter a list of rules or commandments, to be applied like a sort of moral bludgeon. In practice, though, committed Buddhists do undertake to practise sets of precepts. Members of the Western Buddhist Order (WBO), practise one of the oldest — and arguably most thoroughgoing — sets in the Buddhist tradition: the Ten kusala-dharmas (or simply, the Ten Precepts).

Precepts of this kind — unlike commandments — essentially point beyond themselves. Their function is to assist the development of an awareness of underlying ethical principles. Precepts provide an immediately practicable way to develop an active awareness of the skilfulness, or unskilfulness, of one’s motivations.

Life is highly complex, and the world is always changing. This is why general ethical principles, rather than specific rules, must serve as the basis for ethical action. Fixed rules, however immediately relevant, do ultimately tend — if they are not allowed to change with circumstances — to become hindrances in themselves. This is largely why members of the WBO adopt the Ten Precepts as their principal means of ethical training, rather than the 227 or 250 rules of the Bhikkshu Vinaya.

The Vinaya is the Rule of Life of the Buddhist ‘monk’ passed down unchanged since the early centuries of Buddhism. Whilst it contains pratimoksha rules embodying most of the ethical principles embodied by the Ten Precepts, the bhikkshu rules have little or no ethical significance at all, dealing as they do with lifestyle — how many robes a monk may own, and so forth. A danger to which any system of this sort is liable is that it tends to award the ‘letter’ more importance than the ‘spirit’. Thus the strict observance of the bhikshu lifestyle can loom far more prominently than awareness and practice of ethical principles. It thus becomes ‘permissible’ for a monk to do something unskilful (e.g. to watch trash on television), without technically breaking any rules. Sometimes it may even mean his not doing something skilful because it goes against the rules.

Nothing is absolute proof against such literal-mindedness, but the nature of the Ten Precepts makes it far less likely to arise. The precepts systematically apply the principle of the elimination of craving, aversion, and delusion to all possible areas of human action: action of body, of speech, and of mind. So, a thorough practice of the precepts is both more demanding and more far reaching than that of any fixed rule. Life itself constantly presents us with practical ethical challenges. Facing up to those challenges skilfully is the primary way in which a person who goes for Refuge expresses his or her commitment to attaining Enlightenment.

It is precisely in ‘real-life situations’ that rigid ethical views, or large numbers of rules — even 250 of them — are of little practical value. To be aware of a situation in the light of the Ten Precepts, however, is to be aware of the principles involved. To go for Refuge (practise the Buddha’s teaching), effectively, a person must be trying to develop such awareness all the time.

Issues are as varied as life itself. There are the implications of one’s whole lifestyle: issues such as money, work, food, sex, relating to others, one’s living situation and so on. These areas involve us in many decisions: should one eat meat, work in advertising, take the Pill, drink, or smoke? How far does one get into the consumer society — or the ecology movement, or CND? There are also those difficult issues which may arise occasionally: is it all right to fiddle a tax return that no one can check; or to ’fall into bed’ with someone else’s sexual partner; or to ’solve’ an unwanted pregnancy with an abortion?

Much could be said about each of these issues, but the point is to see how the Ten Precepts aid awareness of the ethical principles involved in any situation. A committed Buddhist will try to make all areas of his or her lifestyle as conducive to skilful action as possible. For example, a member of the WBO could hardly countenance running a pub or a betting shop as livelihood. Both provide facilities for others to act unskilfully — even to harm themselves severely — which, apart from anything else, goes against the principle of non-violence embodied in the first precept.

Such issues are relatively clear-cut; but many may not be so straightforward. What if someone lives with a partner who is unsympathetic to their efforts to practise Buddhism? Is the relationship more important than finding a more helpful situation? Maybe not — but then, what if children come into the picture? Such a situation demands rigorous honesty and clarity, without fixed preconceptions such as that it is always more skilful to maintain the integrity of the family, or that it is unquestionably better to move to a more spiritually challenging situation straight away.

Other issues may not be so clear cut: for example, the question of involvement in the ‘consumer society.’ Given the nature of modern Western society, it is almost impossible not to ‘consume’ at all. But the principle involved is that of the eighth precept: non-covetousness. Applying this, one must ask, is my approach one of craving — is it compulsive, or appropriate? Do I want this just for the sake of having something? ‘Consumerism’ is very much a matter of degree and attitude.

Issues which provide the greatest challenges may not be testing because they are particularly ‘difficult’ but because they are so easy to slip into. You are able to falsify a tax return, or copy an expensive piece of computer software; no one will know; it’s just between you and your conscience. Yet these are examples of breaking the second precept: taking the not-given. Is something any less ‘not-given’ because it is easy to take?

Again, we might, with relative ease, contemplate a sexual involvement with somebody else’s partner. The immediate power of sexual passion easily swamps considerations of what might be skilful or unskilful. And yet, along with rape and abduction, adultery is traditionally regarded as one of the most serious kinds of sexual misconduct. Much restraint, and a little forethought, should enable one to realize what painful and distressing consequences invariably arise from such a situation, for all concerned.

As a final example, abortion is now an everyday occurrence; and yet it can be seen as a highly unskilful act — the deliberate taking of human life. This is an extremely complex issue, and opinions vary, but broadly speaking, Buddhists view an embryo as ‘human’ from the moment of conception. Therefore, abortion — especially as a means of enjoying sex without consequences — is no less out of the question than is taking a child’s life after birth.

Clearly, to put into practice the principles of skilful action demands awareness and integrity, courage, and determination. What is skilful may not necessarilybe either socially acceptable, or what one instinctively desires to do! Yet there is no way to Enlightenment except through skilful action. As such, the Ten Precepts — as a complete embodiment of the principles of skilful action — are the indispensable foundation of practice for all committed Buddhists, members of the WBO and otherwise.

The ten precepts

I undertake to abstain from taking life.
I undertake to abstain from taking the not-given.
I undertake to abstain from sexual misconduct.
I undertake to abstain from false speech.
I undertake to abstain from harsh speech.
I undertake to abstain from useless speech.
I undertake to abstain from slanderous speech.
I undertake to abstain from covetousness.
I undertake to abstain from animosity.
I undertake to abstain from false views.