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The Five Precepts (Pali: Pañcasīla, Sanskrit: Pañcaśīla Ch: 五戒,Cantonese: Ng Gye, Mandarin: wǔ jiè, Japanese: go kai, Sinhala: පන්සිල්, Thai: ศีลห้า) constitute the basic Buddhist code of ethics, undertaken by lay followers of the Buddha Gautama in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. The Five Precepts are commitments to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication.

The laity undertake to follow these training rules at the same time as they become Buddhists, taking refuge in the Triple Gem: In the Buddha (teacher), in the Dharma (teaching) and thirdly in the Sangha (community of monks and nuns). In Mahayana countries a lay practitioner who has undertaken the precepts is called an Upasaka. In Theravada countries any lay follower is in theory called an upasaka (or upasika, feminine), though in practice everyone is expected to take the precepts anyway.

The Buddha is said to have taught the five precepts out of compassion, and for the betterment of society. Thus they are to be undertaken voluntarily rather than as commandments from a god. The precepts are intended to help a Buddhist live free from remorse, so that they can progress more easily on the Path.

The precepts are considered differently in a Mahayana context to that of the Theravada school of thought. To Theravada they are as they appear, but Mahayana schools consider this a beginners view. The reason for this is because Theravada rejects any realisation of non-duality in favour of the Pali Canon alone. In the written form, the precepts appear to be similar to the Christian commandments. However to the Mahayana schools, the first precept for example does not mean thou shall not kill. Rather, the precept of not killing highlights with deeper understanding that one cannnot see things in these terms. That is to say one cannot find anything fixed to call a victim, nor a specific entity that one can call a killer. In fact, one can find nothing fixed at all. It is this flux that the precepts point to. By engaging these precepts, one is engaging in the effort to be awake in the non conceptual, non dualistic reality.

The following are the five precepts rendered in English and then Pali:

1. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking the life (killing) of living beings.
   Pānātipātā veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi
2. I undertake the precept to refrain from stealing. (lit. "taking what is not offered")
   Adinnādānā veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi
3. I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct (adultery, rape, exploitation, etc).
   Kāmesu micchācāra veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi
4. I undertake the precept to refrain from false speech (lying).
   Musāvāda veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi
5. I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to heedlessness. (Can include intoxicating ideas)
   Surā meraya majja pamādatthānā veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi

In the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha said that undertaking the precepts is a gift to oneself and others.^[1] He also described the rewards of following the precepts^[2] and the negative consequences of breaking the precepts.^[3] According to the Buddha, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying are never skillful.^[4] While non-dualistic philosophies assert that enlightened beings are beyond the proscriptions of conventional moral codes, in the Pali canon the Buddha's teaching maintains a clear distinction between moral and immoral behaviors, a distinction that applies as much to the arahant as to the layperson.^[5] An arahant would rather die than intentionally kill an insect.

The Chinese version as found in the Supplement to the Canon (續藏經 Xùzàng Jīng) hardly differs:

1. As the Buddha refrained from killing until the end of his life, so I too will refrain from killing until the end of my life.
   如諸佛盡壽不殺生，我某甲亦盡壽不殺生
2. As the Buddha refrained from stealing until the end of his life, so I too will refrain from stealing until the end of my life.
   如諸佛盡壽不偷盜，我某甲亦盡壽不偷盜
3. As the Buddha refrained from sexual misconduct until the end of his life, so I too will refrain from sexual misconduct until the end of my life.
   如諸佛盡壽不淫欲，我某甲亦盡壽不邪淫
4. As the Buddha refrained from false speech until the end of his life, so I too will refrain from false speech until the end of my life.
   如諸佛盡壽不妄語；我某甲亦盡壽不妄語
5. As the Buddha refrained from alcohol until the end of his life, so I too will refrain from alcohol until the end of my life.
   如諸佛盡壽不飲酒，我某甲亦盡壽不飲酒

1. ^ Anguttara Nikaya 8.39
2. ^ Anguttara Nikaya 8.39
3. ^ Anguttara Nikaya 8.40
4. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Getting the Message" article link at Access to Insight
5. ^ Bhikkhu Bodhi, Dhamma and Non-duality, 1994-95, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-11-09 from "Access to Insight" (1998) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_27.html. In referring to "philosophies of non-duality," Bodhi parenthetically identifies "particularly in Hindu and Buddhist Tantra" and subsequently alludes to the notion of "crazy wisdom" that, for instance, was popularized by Chogyam Trungpa.

• The Eight Precepts
• The Ten Precepts
• Patimokkha - 227 rules for monks (bhikkhus) and 311 for nuns (bhikkhunis)
• Dhammika Sutta

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The Five Precepts

• The Five Precepts