The Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

The last of the Buddha’s five precepts is: “I undertake the training rule to refrain from intoxicants causing heedlessness”. This is likely the Buddha’s least popular precept because we are attached to our pleasures, and we get more pleasure from becoming intoxicated, mildly or wildly, than we do from breaking the other precepts (killing, stealing, ruining our relationships, ...

We’ve come to the last of the three subsidiary instructions regarding right speech. For context, the primary precept is: “I undertake the training rule to refrain from false speech.” The other two subsidiary trainings are in harmonious (non-divisive) speech and gentle (non-harsh) speech.

“I undertake the training rule to refrain from idle chatt...

As with all of the Buddha’s instructions to laypeople, the precepts regarding speech are designed to reduce suffering for ourselves and others. Whenever we act with our bodies or words, we can adjust our actions to curb our rougher instincts and align with our intention to be a force for good instead of harm in the world.

In the last post we considered the primary f...

The Buddha’s fourth precept is: “I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech.” This guideline has three “sister” precepts:

“I undertake the training rule to refrain from divisive speech.”

“I undertake the training rule to refrain from harsh speech.”

“I undertake the training rule to refrain from useless/silly ...

A question caused me to contemplate further on the third precept: “I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual (sensual) misconduct”. It would be a rare person who never faced the temptation of letting their sexual energies drive them to misbehave in ways that cause regret. Even considering this form of misconduct can become an exciting obsession.

A re...