Editing Five precepts (section)

== Role in Buddhist doctrine ==
[[File:Dharmachakra, withprint (en).svg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Noble Eightfold Path]], of which the five precepts are part.|alt=Wheel with eight spokes, with the different aspects of the Buddhist eight-fold written on them]]
Buddhist scriptures explain the five precepts as the minimal standard of Buddhist morality.{{sfn |Gowans |2013 |page=440}} It is the most important system of morality in Buddhism, together with the [[Patimokkha|monastic rules]].<ref name="Goodman">{{cite encyclopedia | last1=Goodman | first1=Charles | date=February 1, 2017 | orig-year=2010 | article=Ethics in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism | article-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/ethics-indian-buddhism/ | editor-last1=Zalta | editor-first1=Edward N. | editor-last2=Nodelman | editor-first2=Uri | encyclopedia=[[The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] | publication-place=California | publisher=Stanford University | issn=1095-5054}}</ref> ''[[Śīla]]'' (Sanskrit; {{langx|pi|sīla|italic=yes}}) is used to refer to Buddhist precepts,{{sfn|Edelglass|2013|p=479}} including the five.{{sfn |Getz |2004 |page=673}} But the word also refers to the virtue and morality which lies at the foundation of the spiritual path to [[enlightenment (Buddhism)|enlightenment]], which is the first of the [[Three Trainings|three forms of training]] on the path. Thus, the precepts are rules or guidelines to develop mind and character to make progress on the path to [[enlightenment (Buddhism)|enlightenment]].{{sfn |Getz |2004 |page=673}} The five precepts are part of the right speech, action and livelihood aspects of the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], the core teaching of Buddhism.{{sfn |Getz |2004 |page=673}}{{sfn|Powers |2013 |loc=āryāṣtāṅga-mārga }}{{Refn|group=note |The fifth precept has also been connected with [[right mindfulness]].{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=77}}}} Moreover, the practice of the five precepts and other parts of ''śīla'' are described as forms of [[merit-making]], means to create good [[karma (Buddhism)|karma]].{{sfn |Osto |2015}}{{sfn |McFarlane |1997}} The five precepts have been described as [[value (ethics)|social values]] that bring harmony to society,{{sfn |Wijayaratna |1990 |pages=166–57}}{{sfn |De Silva |2016 |page=79 }} and breaches of the precepts described as antithetical to a harmonious society.{{sfn |Keown |2012 |page=31}} On a similar note, in Buddhist texts, the ideal, righteous society is one in which people keep the five precepts.{{sfn |Tambiah |1992 |page=121}}

Comparing different parts of Buddhist doctrine, the five precepts form the basis of the [[eight precepts]], which are lay precepts stricter than the five precepts, similar to monastic precepts.{{sfn |Getz |2004 |page=673}}{{sfn |Cozort |2015}} Secondly, the five precepts form the first half of the [[bodhisattva Precepts|ten or eleven precepts]] for a [[bodhisattva|person aiming to become a Buddha]] (''bodhisattva''), as mentioned in the ''[[Brahmajala Sutra (Mahayana)|Brahmajala Sūtra]]'' of the Mahāyāna tradition.{{sfn |Getz |2004 |page=673}}{{sfn|Cozort |Shields |2018 |loc=Dōgen, The Bodhisattva Path according to the ''Ugra'' }}{{sfn |Funayama |2004 |page=98}} Contrasting these precepts with the five precepts, the latter were commonly referred to by Mahāyānists as the ''[[śrāvakayāna]]'' precepts, or the precepts of those aiming to become [[arhat|enlightened disciples]] ({{langx|sa|arhat|link=no|italic=yes}}; {{langx|pi|arahant|link=no|italic=yes}}) of a Buddha, but not [[Buddha (title)|Buddhas]] themselves. The ten–eleven ''bodhisattva'' precepts presuppose the five precepts, and are partly based on them.{{sfn |Funayama|2004 |page=105}} The five precepts are also partly found in the teaching called the ten good courses of action, referred to in [[Theravāda]] ({{langx|pi|dasa-kusala-kammapatha|italic=yes}}) and [[Tibetan Buddhism]] ({{langx |sa|daśa-kuśala-karmapatha |italic=yes }}; {{bo|w=dge ba bcu|italic=yes}}).<ref name="Goodman" />{{sfn |Keown |2005 |loc=Precepts}} Finally, the first four of the five precepts are very similar to the [[parajika|most fundamental rules of monastic discipline]] ({{langx|pi|pārajika|italic=yes|link=no}}), and may have influenced their development.{{sfn |Kohn |1994 |page=173}}

In conclusion, the five precepts lie at the foundation of all Buddhist practice, and in that respect, can be compared with the [[Ten Commandments]] in Christianity and Judaism{{sfn |Keown |2013b |page=638}}{{sfn |Wai |2002 |p=4}} or the [[li (Confucianism)|ethical codes]] of [[Confucianism]].{{sfn |Funayama |2004 |page=98}}