Eight precepts
Buddhist devotional practices |
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Devotional |
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Holidays |
Precepts |
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Other |
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In
Description
Translations of eight precepts | |
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Rōmaji: hakkansai, hassaikai) | |
Korean | 八關會 (RR: p'algwan hoe) |
Sinhala | අට සිල් (ata sil) |
Tagalog | Walong utos |
Thai | ศีลแปด (RTGS: sin paet) |
Vietnamese | Bát Quan Trai / Bát Quan Trai Giới |
Glossary of Buddhism |
The first five of the eight precepts are similar to the five precepts, that is, to refrain from killing living beings, stealing, damaging speech, and to abstain from intoxicating drink or drugs,[2] but the third precept is abstinence of all sexual activity instead of refraining from sexual offenses.[3] The final three precepts are to abstain from eating at the wrong time (after midday); to abstain from entertainment such as dancing, singing, music, watching shows, as well as to abstain from wearing garlands, perfumes, cosmetics, and personal adornments; and to abstain from luxurious seats and beds.[4][5]
To summarise, following anthropologist Barend Jan Terwiel's translation from the Pāli language used in Thai ceremonies:
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from taking life
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from taking what is not given
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from unchastity
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from false speech
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from intoxicants which cause a careless frame of mind
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from taking food at the wrong time
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from dancing, music, visiting shows, flowers, make-up, the wearing of ornaments and decorations
- I undertake [to observe] the rule of abstinence from a tall, high sleeping place.[6]
In Thailand, when the eight precepts are taken, it is believed that if one of them is broken, they are all broken.[7] In the Pāli tradition, the precepts are described in the Dhammika Sutta, part of the Sutta-Nipāta.[8] In many medieval Chinese texts, the order of the last three items is different, with numbers 6 and 8 switched.[9][10]
Purpose
In the context of uposatha practice, observing the eight precepts is described by the Buddha in the early texts as "cleansing of the sullied mind through expedient means" (
Practice
On regular observance days, Buddhist lay devotees often observe the eight precepts. In that context, the eight precepts are also called the uposatha vows (Sanskrit and Pali: upavāsa; Sanskrit: poṣadhaśīla, Pali: uposatha-sīla).[22][15] When laypeople stay in a Buddhist monastery[2] or go on a meditation retreat,[23] they also observe the eight precepts often; they are also upheld during yearly festivals such as Vesak.[24][25] Presently, the uposatha vows are mostly associated with Theravāda Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia,[2] but it was a widespread practice in China as well,[25] and is still practiced.[26] In practice, in Theravāda traditions, the precepts are mostly observed by faithful devotees above 40 years of age.[20] Since the eight precepts are often observed for one day, they are also known as the one-day precepts.[27] Sometimes a formula is recited confirming the observance for one day (and one night):
"I undertake to observe in harmony during this day and this night these eight precepts that have been designed by the wisdom of the Buddha."[6]
Observance does not need to be temporary, however: some lay devotees choose to undertake the eight precepts continuously to improve themselves in morality.
Among the eight precepts, the first precept is about not killing animals. As recorded in the
The seventh precept is sometimes also interpreted to mean not wearing colorful clothes, which has led to a tradition for people to wear plain white when observing the eight precepts.[20][35] This does not necessarily mean, however, that a Buddhist devotee dressed in white is observing the eight precepts all the time.[36] As for the eighth precept, not sitting or sleeping on luxurious seats or beds, this usually comes down to sleeping on a mat on the floor. Though not specified in the precepts themselves, in Thailand and China, people observing the precepts usually stay in the temple overnight. This is to prevent temptations at home to break the eight precepts, and helps foster the community effort in upholding the precepts.[37]
History
According to ethicist
Religion scholar J. H. Bateson and Pāli scholar Shundō Tachibana have argued that the eight precepts may be partly based on pre-Buddhist
Early Buddhist texts relate that the Buddhist uposatha originated as a response to other contemporary mendicant sects. Specifically, in the Pāli texts of
In 6th-century Korea, the eight precepts came to be associated with worship of Maitreya, due to the work of Hyeryang, a Korean monk that wrote a tract about these matters.[9] In 7th–10th-century China, government officials would often observe the eight precepts for one or more months a year, during which they often invited monks to teach them at home. On the same months that were designated for such religious observance, called the chai, the government also refrained from executing death penalties.[1]
Modern history
In the late 19th century in Sri Lanka, there was a renewed interest in the tradition of observing the eight precepts, during the time of the
See also
- Anagarika
- Buddhist ethics
- Four Noble Truths
- Noble Eightfold Path
- Poya (Sri Lanka)
- Thilashin (Myanmar)
- Uposatha
- Five Precepts (Taoism)
Citations
- ^ a b Watson 1988, p. 13.
- ^ a b c "Religions – Buddhism: Theravada Buddhism". BBC. 2 October 2002. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Archivedfrom the original on 4 December 2018.
- ^ Keown 2004, p. 22.
- ^ a b Getz 2004, p. 673.
- ^ a b Terwiel 2012, p. 191.
- ^ Terwiel 2012, p. 201.
- ^ a b Tachibana 1992, p. 65.
- ^ a b McBride 2014, Buddhist Rituals.
- ^ Teiser 2003, p. 150, n.40.
- ^ Schonthal 2006, p. 55.
- ^ Witanachchi 2003, p. 555.
- ^ Tachibana 1992, p. 67.
- ^ Schonthal 2006, p. 54.
- ^ a b Buswell & Lopez 2013, Aṣṭāṅgasamanvāgataṃ upavāsaṃ.
- ^ Tachibana 1992, p. 66.
- ^ Whitaker & Smith 2018, Ethics (sīla).
- ^ Terwiel 2012, p. 192.
- ^ Gombrich 1995, p. 78.
- ^ a b c d Harvey 2000, p. 87.
- ^ Gombrich 1995, pp. 314, 329.
- ^ Keown 2004, Uposatha.
- ^ Surinrut, Auamnoy & Sangwatanaroj 2017, p. 650.
- ^ Vithararta 1990, pp. 230–31.
- ^ a b Buswell & Lopez 2013, Baguan zhai.
- ^ Harvey 2000, p. 88.
- ^ Buswell & Lopez 2013, Upavāsa.
- ^ Gosling 1984, p. 62.
- Thomson Gale. 2005. Archivedfrom the original on 1 December 2018 – via Encyclopedia.com.
- Gale Group. 2004. Archivedfrom the original on 1 December 2018 – via Encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Przyluski 1936, p. 387.
- ^ Terwiel 2012, pp. 201–02.
- ^ Hung, Kuo & Chen 2002.
- ^ Watson 1988, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Buswell & Lopez 2013, Ugraparipṛcchā.
- ^ Terwiel 2012, p. 187, n.16.
- ^ See Terwiel (2012, p. 203) and Harvey (2000, p. 87). Only Harvey mentions China, and the sitting.
- ^ Keown 2016, pp. 28–31.
- ^ Bateson 1912, p. 836.
- ^ See Haskett (2011, lead; note 3; Some problems with the upavasatha -> posaha / uposatha theory; posaha->upavasatha?) and Schonthal (2006, pp. 56–7). Schonthal discusses Jain customs, whereas Haskett discusses other sects. For the theory of Babylonian influence, see Przyluski (1936, pp. 388–390).
- ^ Schonthal 2006, p. 56.
- ^ Przyluski 1936, p. 386.
- ^ Schonthal 2006, pp. 57, 60.
- ^ Harvey 2013, pp. 378–79.
- ^ Bloss 1987, p. 8.
- ^ Keyes 1989, pp. 319–20.
- ^ Fuengfusakul 1993, p. 157.
- ^ Walters 2010, p. 131.
- ^ Gomes 2004, p. 49.
References
- Bateson, J.H. (1912), "Festivals and Fasts (Buddhist)" (PDF), in T. & T. Clark, pp. 836–38
- Bloss, L.W. (1987), "The Female Renunciates of Sri Lanka: the Dasasilamattawa", Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 10 (1): 7–31
- Buswell, Robert E. Jr.; ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3
- Fuengfusakul, Apinya (1 January 1993), "Empire of Crystal and Utopian Commune: Two Types of Contemporary Theravada Reform in Thailand", JSTOR 41035731
- Getz, D.A. (2004), "Precepts", in ISBN 978-0-02-865720-2
- ISBN 978-0-7103-0444-5
- Gomes, Jacquetta (2004), "The Development and Use of the Eight Precepts for Lay Practitioners, Upāsakas and Upāsikās in Theravāda Buddhism in the West", Contemporary Buddhism, 5 (1): 47–63, S2CID 145757479
- Gosling, David L. (1984), "Buddhism for Peace", Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 12 (1): 59–70, JSTOR 24490858
- Harvey, Peter (2000), An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues (PDF), ISBN 978-0-511-07584-1, archived from the original(PDF) on 2019-04-12, retrieved 2018-12-02
- Harvey, Peter (2013), An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.), ISBN 978-0-521-85942-4
- Haskett, C. (2011), "Uposatha and Posaha in the Early Histories of Jainism and Buddhism", Śramana, Parshwanath Vidyapeeth Jain Research Institute, Benares Hindu University
- Hung, Ming-jung; Kuo, Cheng-deng; Chen, Gau-yang (July 2002), "Fó jiào de guò wǔ bù shí" 佛教的「過午不食」 [No-food-after-midday precept [ from the original on 4 December 2018
- ISBN 978-0-19-157917-2
- ISBN 978-1-349-22092-2
- Keyes, C.F. (1989), "Buddhist Politics and Their Revolutionary Origins in Thailand", S2CID 145572706
- McBride, R.D. (31 August 2014), "Imagining Ritual and Cultic Practice in Koguryŏ Buddhism", International Journal of Korean History, 19 (2): 169–211, from the original on 4 December 2018
- Przyluski, J. (September 1936), "Uposatha" (PDF), Indian Historical Quarterly, 12: 383–90
- Schonthal, B. (2006), "Untangling Uposatha: Indology, Etymologic, History in Buddhist Studies" (PDF), Sagar, 10, University of Texas: 51–65
- Surinrut, Piyawan; Auamnoy, Titinun; Sangwatanaroj, Somkiat (11 January 2017), "Enhanced Happiness and Stress Alleviation upon Insight Meditation Retreat: Mindfulness, a Part of Traditional Buddhist Meditation", S2CID 152177044
- Tachibana, S. (1992), The Ethics of Buddhism, ISBN 978-0-7007-0230-5
- Teiser, Stephen F. (2003), The Scripture on the Ten Kings: And the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, ISBN 978-0-8248-2776-2
- Terwiel, Barend Jan (2012), Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand, ISBN 978-8776941017
- Vithararta, V. (1990), "Festivals", in ]
- Walters, Jonathan (2010), "God's Play and the Buddha's Way", in Raj, Selva J.; Dempsey, Corinne G. (eds.), Sacred Play: Ritual Levity and Humor in South Asian Religions, ISBN 978-1-4384-2981-6
- Watson, Burton (1988), "Buddhism in the Poetry of Po Chü-i", The Eastern Buddhist, 21 (1): 1–22, JSTOR 44361818
- Whitaker, J.S.; Smith, D. (2018), "Ethics, Meditation and Wisdom", in Cozort, Daniel; Shields, James Mark (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics, ISBN 978-0-19-106317-6
- Witanachchi, C. (2003), "Rites and Ceremonies", in OCLC 2863845613
External links
- The 8 precepts, by the Dhammadāna.org website, archived from the original on 29 November 2018
- The Eight Precepts, by the Sri Lankan Mahamevnawa Monastery, archived from the original on 4 December 2018
- Ceremony for taking upon oneself the eight precepts, by Dhammatalks.org, archived from the original on 4 December 2018