The Five Ethical Precepts

1 To Respect and Protect Life

2 To Respect and Protect the Property of Others

3 To Respect and Protect Sexual Boundaries

4 To Respect and Protect the Truth

5 To Respect and Protect One's Body and Mind

Nonviolence

Nonviolence is not blind faith in fantasy solutions. Nonviolence is a considered and thoughtful effort guided by a concern to pluck nonviolent contributions out of the complexities of the swirling and transient array of human social existence.

Love

Ecce Homo

Love

Love

[King Pasenadi of Kosala addressed the Buddha.]

"Teacher Gautama, there are people who say you advise people not to love. They say you have said that the more a person loves, the more he sill suffer and despair. I can see some truth in that statement, but I am unable to find peace with it. Without love, life would seem empty of meaning. Please help me resolve this."

The Buddha looked at the king warmly. "Your majesty, your question is a very good one, and many people can benefit from it. there are many kinds of love. We should examine closely the nature of each kind of love.Life has a great need of the presence of love, but not the sort of love that is based on lust, passion, attachment, discrimination, and prejudice. Majesty, there is another kind of love, sorely needed, which consists of loving kindness and compassion, or maitri and karuna.

"Usually when people speak of love they are referring only to the love that exists between parents and children, husbands and wives, family members, or the members of one's caste or country. Because the nature of such love depends on the concepts of 'me' and 'mine', it remains entangled in attachment and discrimination. people want only to love their parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, their own relatives and countrymen. because they are caught in attachment, they worry about accidents that could befall their loved ones even before such things actually take place. When such accidents do occur, they suffer prejudice. People become indifferent or even hostile to those outside their own circle of love. Attachment and discrimination are sources of suffering for ourselves and others. Majesty, the love for which all beings truly hunger is loving kindness and compassion. Maitri is the love that has the capacity to bring happiness to another. Karuna is the love which has the capacity to remove another's suffering. Maitri and karuna do not demand anything in return. Loving kindness and compassion are not limited to one's parents, spouse, children, relatives, caste members, and countrymen. They extend to all people and all beings. In maitri and karuna there is no discrimination, there is no attachment. Maitri and karuna bring happiness and ease suffering. They do not cause suffering and despair. Without them, life would be empty of meaning, as you said. With loving kindness and compassion, life is filled with peace, joy, and contentment. Majesty, you are the ruler of an entire country. All your people would benefit by your practice of loving kindness and compassion."

---Old Path White Clouds, by Thich Naht Hanh---

Osho

His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Helping Others

Principles of Training

To live is to act, and our actions can have either harmful or beneficial consequences for ourselves and others. Buddhist ethics are concerned with the principles and practices that help one to act in ways that help rather than harm. The core ethical code is known as the Five Precepts. These are not rules or commandments, but 'principles of training', which are undertaken freely and put into practice with intelligence and sensitivity.

Buddhism acknowledges that life is complex and throws up many difficulties, and it does not suggest that there is a single course of action that will be right in all circumstances. Indeed, rather than speaking of actions being right or wrong, Buddhism speaks of them as being skillful or unskillful.

1...Refraining from killing or causing harm to other living beings.

This is the fundamental ethical principle for Buddhism, and all the other precepts are elaborations of this. The precept implies acting non-violently wherever possible, and many Buddhists are vegetarian for this reason. The positive counterpart of this precept is help, compassion, loving-kindness.

2...Not taking what is not freely given.

Stealing is an obvious way in which one can harm others. One can also take advantage of people, exploit them or manipulate them - all these can be seen as ways of taking the not-given. The positive counterpart of this precept is generosity.

3...Avoiding sexual misconduct.

This precept has been interpreted in many ways over time, but essentially it means not causing harm to oneself or others in the area of sexual activity. It means not to base a sexual relationship on coercion. The positive counterpart of this precept is contentment.

4...Avoiding false and harsh speech.

Speech is the crucial element in our relations with others, and yet language is a slippery medium, and we often deceive ourselves or others without even realizing that this is what we are doing. Truthfulness, the positive counterpart of this precept, is therefore essential in an ethical life. But truthfulness is not enough; our speech should be kindly, helpful, and harmonious.

5...Abstaining from drink and drugs that may cloud the mind.

The positive counterpart of this precept is mindfulness, or awareness. Mindfulness is a fundamental quality to be developed along the Buddha's path. Experience shows that taking intoxicating drink or drugs tends to run directly counter to this.

Many Buddhists around the world recite the five precepts every day, and try to put them into practice in their lives.

Loving-Kindness

Loving kindness (maitri in Sanskrit, metta in Pali) is the intention and capacity to bring joy and happiness to another person or living being.

---Thich Nhat Hanh---