Buddha spoke of the advantages of cultivation of the five virtues, which are the Five Precepts, namely: 1) Abstention from killing living beings 2) Abstention from taking what is not given 3) Abstention from sexual misconduct 4) Abstention from telling lies 5) Abstention from partaking of intoxicants. One who has these five virtues lives the home-life with complete self-confidence. • One who has these five

‘Śarana’ in Pali means ‘Refuge’ and is defined as ‘a shelter or protection from danger or trouble; a person, thing or course that provides protection’. Theravada Buddhist teachers define ‘śarana’ as follows: If one pays respect or reverence to a certain object or person, and if that act of respect or reverence amounts to a Kuśala kamma (wholesome action), which can save one from the

Precepts within Buddhism are rules and guidelines intended to properly shape the mind and its manifestations in physical and verbal behaviour so as to facilitate progress on the path to Liberation. Although the precepts appear as external prescriptions and are often couched in negative terms, their goal and the proper thrust of Buddhist morality is the natural and positive embodiment of right action, speech, and

The Prātimokṣa (Pāli, pātimokkha), presumably the oldest section of the Vinaya, contains the disciplinary code that regulates the life of the Saṅgha, the Buddhist monastic community. The etymology of the term prātimokṣa is uncertain, but it denotes the highest standard of conduct for Buddhist monastics. The prātimokṣa is recited twice a month, on the full moon and new moon days, at an observance known as

The Sanskrit and Pāli word Bodhi derives from the Indic root budh- (to awaken, to know). Those who are attentive to the more literal meaning of the Indic original tend to translate Bodhi into English as “Awakening,” and this is to be recommended. In the most general terms, Bodhi designates the attainment of that ultimate knowledge by virtue of which a being achieves full Liberation

The term Buddha, literally “awakened one,” is one of many Indian epithets applied to the founder of the Buddhist religion. A Buddha is defined, first and foremost, as one who has undergone the profoundly transformative experience known as Nirvāṇa and who, as a result, will never be subject to the cycle of birth and death again. Buddhists came to believe that other such Buddhas would

Ascetic Practices and Buddhism: Buddhism arose in India at a time when a number of non-Vedic ascetic movements were gaining adherents: Śramaṇa traditions offered a variety of psychosomatic disciplines to attain and experience states transcending those of conditioned existence. Accounts of the Buddha’s quest for awakening depict him engaging in ascetic disciplines common to many Śramaṇa groups of his time for a period of 6

The 3 poisons of mind (Sanskrit: triviṣa;) or the 3 unwholesome roots (akuśala-mūla), in Buddhism, refer to the 3 root Kleśas: 1. Moha (delusion, confusion), 2. Rāga (greed, sensual attachment), 3. Dveṣa (aversion, hate). These 3 poisons are considered to be 3 afflictions or character flaws innate in a being, the root of Taṇhā (craving), and cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness) and rebirths.

Kleśas (Sanskrit: kleśa; Pāḷi: Kilesa), in Buddhism, are mental states that cloud the mind and manifest in unwholesome actions. Kleśas include states of mind such as anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, desire, depression, etc. All Buddhist schools teach that through Tranquillity (Śamatha) meditation the Kilesas are pacified, though not eradicated, and through Insight (Vipassana) the true nature of the Kilesas and the mind itself is understood.