The Precept Preface, and the First Five Grave Precepts

All you disciples of the Buddha — join your palms, and listen with your whole heart. I wish now to speak the preface to the great precepts of all buddhas. Let the assembly gather in silence and listen. Whoever knows their own fault should now confess it; confession itself brings peace, while an unconfessed fault only grows deeper. Whoever is without fault should remain silent — and by that silence, know the assembly to be pure. Elders, laymen, and laywomen — listen closely. After the Buddha's final passing, in the age of the semblance dharma, you should honor the prātimokṣa above all else. The prātimokṣa is nothing other than this very precept. To hold this precept is like meeting light after darkness, like a poor man finding treasure, like the sick recovering, like a prisoner released from bondage, like a traveler far from home finally returning. Know that this precept is your own great teacher, no different than if the Buddha himself still dwelled in the world. A fearful mind is hard to rouse, and a wholesome mind is hard to bring forth. And so the sūtra says: do not treat a small fault lightly, thinking it brings no harm — a single drop of water, however small, will in time fill a great vessel. A single instant's wrongdoing can bring one down into the hell without interval; and once a human body is lost, ten thousand kalpas will not bring it back. The bloom of youth does not linger — it runs like a startled horse. A human life is more uncertain than a mountain stream; though you are alive today, tomorrow is hard to promise. Each of you, with a single mind, should practise diligently — take care not to grow lax, lazy, drowsy, or indulgent. At night, gather in your mind and hold the Three Jewels always in thought. Do not let this life pass by in vain, only to labor uselessly and regret it bitterly in a life to come. Each of you, with a single mind, should carefully rely upon this precept, and practise according to the dharma — this you should learn.

At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha said: "From my first manifestation in the Lotus Treasury World, I came from the east into the palace of the heavenly king, and having finished teaching the Sūtra on Converting Demons, I descended to be born in the country of Kapilavastu in the southern continent of Jambudvīpa. My mother was named Māyā, my father Śuddhodana, and I myself was named Siddhārtha. At seven I left home, and at thirty I attained the path, taking the name Śākyamuni Buddha. Seated at the site of stillness and extinction upon the throne of the adamantine flower-light king, I taught, in sequence, at all ten dwelling-places up through the palace of King Maheśvara. At that time the Buddha, contemplating the bannered net of the great Brahma kings, spoke of this: countless worlds are just like the holes of that net — each single world different from every other, distinct without limit, and the Buddha's own teaching gateways are exactly the same. I have now come to this world eight thousand times. For the sake of this sahā world, I sat upon the throne of the adamantine flower-light king, all the way through the palace of King Maheśvara, and for the great assembly there, briefly opened the chapter on the dharma-gate of the Mind Ground. Now, descending from that heavenly king's palace, down to beneath the bodhi tree in Jambudvīpa, for the sake of every being on this ground — every ordinary being, every being still in the darkness of delusion — I speak the one radiant precept I have always recited from my first arousal of mind, within Vairocana Buddha's own Mind Ground: this luminous, vajra-like, precious precept is the very source of every Buddha and the very source of every bodhisattva — the seed of buddha-nature itself. Every being without exception has buddha-nature; every form of consciousness, whether sentient or merely mental, enters into this same precept of buddha-nature. And because there is always, constantly, a cause here, there is always, constantly, an abiding dharma-body. These ten prātimokṣa have thus come forth into the world. This dharma-precept is upheld and carried on the crown of every being across the three times. I shall now, for the sake of this great assembly, speak again the chapter of the ten inexhaustible treasury precepts — the very source of every being's precept, pure in its own nature."

At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha, having just sat beneath the bodhi tree and attained unsurpassed awakening, first established the bodhisattva prātimokṣa: filial devotion to one's parents, teachers, monastics, and the Three Jewels. Filial devotion is itself the dharma of the highest path — this filial devotion is what is called precept, and is also called restraint. The Buddha then released boundless light from his own mouth. At that time a great assembly of a million million bodhisattvas, the eighteen Brahma heavens, the six heavens of desire, and sixteen great kings, joined their palms and listened with their whole hearts as the Buddha recited the great vehicle precepts of all buddhas. The Buddha told the bodhisattvas: "I myself now recite the dharma-precepts of all buddhas twice each month. You — every bodhisattva who has set out on the path — should recite them too, all the way through the bodhisattvas of the Ten Minds of Development, the Ten Minds of Long Nurturing, the Ten Vajra Minds, and the Ten Grounds. And so this radiance of the precept comes forth from my very mouth — for it arises from real cause, not from nothing. This light is not blue, yellow, red, white, or black; it is neither form nor mind; neither existent nor nonexistent; not a dharma of cause and effect at all. It is the very source of every buddha, the very root of every bodhisattva, the very root of every one of you, disciples of the Buddha in this great assembly. And so this whole assembly, every disciple of the Buddha, should uphold it, recite it, and study it well. Disciples of the Buddha, listen closely: whoever receives this precept — a king, a prince, a minister of state, a monk, a nun, one of the eighteen Brahma heavens or six heavens of desire, a commoner, one born without full faculties, a man or woman given to lust, a manservant or maidservant, one of the eight kinds of spirit, a vajra spirit, an animal, or even a being manifested by transformation — so long as they understand the words of their teacher, every one of them fully receives the precept, and every one is called foremost in purity." The Buddha told the disciples of the Buddha: "There are ten grave prātimokṣa. Whoever receives the bodhisattva precepts and does not recite these precepts is no bodhisattva, and no seed of buddhahood at all. I too recite them in just this way. Every bodhisattva has already studied them; every bodhisattva will study them; every bodhisattva is studying them now. I have now briefly described the features of the bodhisattva prātimokṣa — this you should study, and uphold with a reverent mind."

The Buddha said: "Disciples of the Buddha — if you kill with your own hand, direct another to kill, kill by some indirect means, praise killing, take pleasure in seeing a killing take place, or kill through incantation; if you engage in the cause of killing, the condition of killing, the method of killing, or the very act of killing — this extends to every living being without exception: none may be killed with intent. A bodhisattva should instead give rise to an enduring mind of compassion and filial devotion, using every skillful means to save and protect every being. But if, on the contrary, a bodhisattva indulges their own mind and takes pleasure in killing a living being, this is a bodhisattva's pārājika offense."

"Disciples of the Buddha — if you steal with your own hand, direct another to steal, or steal by some indirect means; if you engage in the cause of stealing, the condition of stealing, the method of stealing, the very act of stealing, or steal through incantation — this extends even to the property of spirits, to what belongs to another, or to property already stolen by a thief: not a single needle, not a single blade of grass may be taken with intent to steal. A bodhisattva should instead give rise to the buddha-nature mind of filial devotion and compassion, constantly helping every person toward well-being and joy. But if, on the contrary, a bodhisattva steals another's wealth or possessions, this is a bodhisattva's pārājika offense."

"Disciples of the Buddha — if you engage in lustful conduct with your own body, or direct another to engage in lustful conduct — this extends to every woman without exception: none may be violated with intent. If you engage in the cause of lustful conduct, the condition of lustful conduct, the method of lustful conduct, or the very act of lustful conduct — this extends even to a female animal, or a female spirit or celestial being, or to conduct through means entirely improper. A bodhisattva should instead give rise to a mind of filial devotion, saving and freeing every being, and offering the pure dharma to others. But if, on the contrary, a bodhisattva indulges in lustful conduct with anyone at all — making no distinction even of an animal, or a mother, daughter, sister, or other close relative — with no mind of compassion whatsoever, this is a bodhisattva's pārājika offense."

"Disciples of the Buddha — if you speak falsely with your own mouth, direct another to speak falsely, or speak falsely by some indirect means; if you engage in the cause of false speech, the condition of false speech, the method of false speech, or the very act of false speech — this extends even to saying you have seen what you have not seen, or saying you have not seen what you have seen, whether the falsehood is spoken through the body or held only in the mind. A bodhisattva should instead constantly give rise to right speech and right view, and lead every being to right speech and right view as well. But if, on the contrary, a bodhisattva leads any being into wrong speech, wrong view, or wrong action, this is a bodhisattva's pārājika offense."

"Disciples of the Buddha — if you sell intoxicating drink with your own hand, or direct another to sell it; if you engage in the cause of selling drink, the condition of selling drink, the method of selling drink, or the very act of selling drink — no intoxicating drink of any kind may be sold, for drink itself is the very cause and condition of wrongdoing. A bodhisattva should instead give rise to clear and penetrating wisdom in every being. But if, on the contrary, a bodhisattva gives rise to a confused and inverted mind in any being, this is a bodhisattva's pārājika offense."