Editing Five precepts (section)

== Principles ==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-

! Precept

! Accompanying virtues{{sfn |Gwynne |2017 |loc=The Buddhist Pancasila}}{{sfn |Cozort |2015}}

! Related to human rights{{sfn |Keown |2012 |p=33}}{{sfn |Ledgerwood |Un |2010 |pp=540–41}}
|-

|Abstention from killing [[sentient being (Buddhism)|living beings]]

|[[Maitrī|Kindness]] and [[karuṇā|compassion]]

|[[Right to life]]
|-

|Abstention from theft

|[[dana (Buddhism)|Generosity]] and [[nekkhamma|renunciation]]

|Property rights
|-

|Abstention from sexual misconduct

|Contentment and respect for faithfulness

|Right to fidelity in marriage
|-

|Abstention from speaking lies (falsehood)

|[[Sacca#Truth as an ethical practice|Being honest]] and dependable

|Right to human dignity
|-

|Abstention from intoxication

|[[mindfulness (Buddhism)|Mindfulness]] and responsibility

|Right to security and safety

|}
The five precepts can be found in many places in the Early Buddhist Texts.{{sfn |Tedesco |2004 |p=91 }} The precepts are regarded as means to building good character, or as an expression of such character. The Pāli Canon describes them as means to avoid harm to oneself and others.{{sfn|MacKenzie|2017|page=2}} It further describes them as gifts toward oneself and others.{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |page=66 }} Moreover, the texts say that people who uphold them will be confident in any gathering of people,<ref name="Goodman" />{{sfn |Tachibana |1992 |p=63}} will have wealth and a good reputation, and will die a peaceful death, reborn in heaven{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |page=67 }}{{sfn |Tachibana |1992 |p=63}} or as a [[Human beings in Buddhism|human being]]. On the other hand, living a life in violation of the precepts is believed to lead to rebirth in an [[Naraka (Buddhism)|unhappy destination]].<ref name="Goodman" /> They are understood as principles that define a person as human in body and mind.{{sfn |Wai |2002 |page=2}}

The precepts are normative rules, but are formulated and understood as "undertakings"{{sfn |Gombrich |2006 |page=66 }} rather than commandments enforced by a moral authority,{{sfn|Keown |2003 |page=268 }}{{sfn |Meadow |2006 |p=88 }} according to the voluntary and [[gradualism#Buddhism, Theravada and Yoga|gradualist]] standards of Buddhist ethics.{{sfn |Buswell |2004}} They are forms of restraint formulated in negative terms, but are also accompanied by virtues and positive behaviors,{{sfn |Gwynne |2017 |loc=The Buddhist Pancasila}}{{sfn |Wijayaratna |1990 |pages=166–67}}{{sfn |Cozort |2015}} which are cultivated through the practice of the precepts.{{sfn|Edelglass|2013|p=479}}{{Refn|This dual meaning in negative formulations is typical for an Indic language like [[Sanskrit]].{{sfn |Keown |1998 |pages=399–400}}|group=note}} The most important of these virtues is [[ahimsa|non-harming]] ([[Pāli]] and {{langx|sa|ahiṃsa|italic=yes}}),<ref name="World Religions">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bowker |first=John |article=Ahiṃsā |date=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |encyclopedia=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions |via=Encyclopedia.com |article-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/eastern-religions/hinduism/ahimsa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824071832/https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/eastern-religions/hinduism/ahimsa |archive-date=24 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Keown|2013a |page=616}} which underlies all of the five precepts.{{sfn |Cozort |2015}}{{Refn|group=note |However, anthropologist [[Melford Spiro]] argued that the fundamental virtue behind the precepts was [[mettā|loving-kindness]], not "the Hindu notion of non-violence".{{sfn |Spiro |1982 |p=45}}}} Precisely, the texts say that one should keep the precepts, adhering to the principle of comparing oneself with others:{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |pages=33, 71 }}
{{blockquote|"For a state that is not pleasant or delightful to me must be so to him also; and a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?"{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |page=33 }}}}

In other words, all living beings are alike in that they want to be happy and not suffer. Comparing oneself with others, one should therefore not hurt others as one would not want to be hurt.{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=120}} Ethicist Pinit Ratanakul argues that the compassion which motivates upholding the precepts comes from an understanding that all living beings are equal and of a nature that they are '[[anatman|not-self]]' ({{langx|pi|anattā|italic=yes}}).{{sfn |Ratanakul |2007 |page=241 }} Another aspect that is fundamental to this is the belief in karmic retribution.{{sfn |Horigan |1996 |page=276}}
In the upholding or violation of the precepts, [[cetana|intention]] is crucial.{{sfn|Mcdermott|1989|page=275}}{{sfn |Keown |1998 |page=386}} In the Pāli scriptures, an example is mentioned of a person stealing an animal only to [[life release|set it free]], which was not seen as an [[parajika|offense of theft]].{{sfn|Mcdermott|1989|page=275}} In the Pāli [[atthakatha|commentaries]], a precept is understood to be violated when the person violating it finds the object of the transgression (e.g. things to be stolen), is aware of the violation, has the intention to violate it, does actually act on that intention, and does so successfully.{{sfn |Leaman |2000 |page=139 }}

Upholding the precepts is sometimes distinguished in three levels: to uphold them without having formally undertaken them; to uphold them formally, willing to sacrifice one's own life for it; and finally, to spontaneously uphold them.{{sfn |Leaman |2000 |page=141 }} The latter refers to the ''arahant'', who is understood to be morally incapable of violating the first four precepts.{{sfn|Keown |2003 |page=1}} A layperson who upholds the precepts is described in the texts as a "jewel among laymen".{{sfn |De Silva |2016 |page=63 }} On the other hand, the most serious violations of the precepts are the [[Anantarika-karma|five actions of immediate retribution]], which are believed to lead the perpetrator to an unavoidable rebirth in [[hell (Buddhism)|hell]]. These consist of injuring a Buddha, killing an ''arahant'', killing one's father or mother, and causing the monastic community to have a schism.{{sfn |Cozort |2015}}