The five precepts in Buddhism are more like recommendations which is also to say they are not compulsory as if breaking them was sinful. There is no “thou shall not.” The five precepts are as follows:
1. I undertake the training rule to abstain from the destruction of the vital principle (prana).
2. I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given.
3. I undertake the training rule to abstain from unrestrained sensuality.
4. I undertake the training rule to abstain from falsehood.
5. I undertake the training rule to abstain from intoxicants.
Although recommendations, this does not mean we can do as we please as practitioners. What is clear from these precepts is that we are the ones who must enforce, more or less, the precepts upon ourself—not anyone else. If we are serious practitioners we try to enforce the precepts more strictly than, say, the average person who is not a practitioner.
For serious practitioners there is a payoff, it is learning to restrain their raw natures. Practitioners are learning impulse control, you could say. They are learning to resist various kinds of temptation. In the end, this will be of great benefit to the practitioner and to others.
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