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Discipline & Self-Discipline 
Discipline is the means by which 
we restrain (the 
manifesting of) unwholesome 
actions and speech. 
When one is new to discipline, the 
mind is usually 
still reluctant. Many thoughts will 
go through the 
mind to protest at the 
inconvenience of behaving 
in a disciplined way. Such 
thoughts do not 
constitutea breach of discipline 
because they are not 
manifest. Apart from protecting 
the practitioner 
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from degradation of behaviour into 
any of the Four 
Defilements of Action 
[kammakilesa], discipline 
will gradually channel the mind 
into the development 
of "self-discipline". Self-discipline 
is the attainment 
of restraint of unwholesome 
thought as 
well as unwholesome action and 
speech. At this 
point there is no further reluctance 
in the mind any 
more. One has managed to be "a 
teacher to oneself' 
sufficiently well to be able to 
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police one's body, 
speech and mind without the need 
for any further 
rules or regulations to force such 
behaviours. 
B.4 Different Types of Discipline 
There are different sets of codes of 
conduct which 
can be used for training in 
discipline. Some are suitable 
for laypeople. Others are suitable 
for monks. 
They work on the principle of the 
"principle of limitation" 
because as Kierkegaard wrote in 
Either/Or: 
A Fragment of Life: Part One 
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(1843): 
"The more a person limits 
themselves,the more 
resourceful he becomes" 
(p.289-91) 
In Buddhism, it is not by arbitrary 
rules that we 
limit ourselves — we choose rules 
that also ensure 
protection of the human dignity of 
ourselves, others 
and society — but it is true that the 
more intensive 
the level of practice, the more rules 
of training 
we tend to keep. 
B.4.1 Discipline for Householders 
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B.4.1.1 Five Precepts 
The Five Precepts [parica-stla] are 
the basic set of 
discipline advocated for every 
Buddhist. The Five 
Precepts are much older than 
Buddhism, but were 
adopted by Buddhism amongst 
many other religions 
as the core practice for moral 
conduct. Elements 
of the same principles are found in 
the Ten 
Commandments, Islamic Law and 
even Hindu 
practices. This is because the Five 
Precepts protect 
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against a person taking advantage 
of the weaknesses 
of himself and others. There is 
nothing that 
people love more than their own 
life, their possessions, 
their spouse and trust. There is 
nothing that 
disables people more than the loss 
of their own clear 
conscience. These five weaknesses 
in human relationships 
are guarded by the Five Precepts. 
Such 
weaknesses are not exclusive to 
Buddhists, but apply 
for all people in the world, 
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therefore the Five 
Precepts are the fundemental 
bedrock of all morality. 
The Precepts themselves consist of 
five rules of 
training: 
1. Not to kill living beings 
2. Not to steal 
3. Not to commit adultery 
4. Not to tell lies 
5. Not knowingly to drink alcohol 
or consume intoxicants. 
By keeping the Five Precepts 
people can ensure 
harmony for society and also 
prevent many of the 
roots of suffering. The Precepts 
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bring coolness to 
the mind and body — there is no 
burning caused 
by suffering in body and mind as 
the result. 
122 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
The Five Precepts share the same 
Pali word "paricasEla" 
as the five principles upon which 
Sukarno 
founded the Indonesian 
Constitution — but don't 
go thinking that Indonesian Law is 
founded on 
Buddhist Principles because on 
closer examination, 
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the five basic principles of the 
Indonesian Constitution 
turn out to be something else 
completely. 
The Five Precepts are intended to 
be kept by Buddhist 
householders on a daily basis. 
B.4.1.2 Eight Precepts 
The Eight Precepts are a set of 
rules of training 
which expand on the Five Precepts 
with adjustment 
of the third and fifth precepts and 
addition of the 
sixth, seventh and eighth. The 
Precepts themselves 
consist of eight rules of training: 
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1. Not to kill living beings 
2. Not to steal 
3. Not to be uncelibate 
4. Not to tell lies 
5. Not to drink alcohol or consume 
intoxicants 
6. Not to take meals between 
midday and dawn 
7. Not to indulge in romantic 
entertainment or immodesty 
8. Not to be indulgent in one's 
sleeping habits 
They are intended to be kept by 
Buddhist householders 
during times of intensified 
training, especially 
on meditation retreats or for 
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self-purification 
on a periodic basis, such as one or 
twice a week. 
Eight precepts is sometimes called 
`uposatha-sEla' 
where the Eight Precepts are kept 
for three days 
before, during and after one of the 
quarter moon 
days. The only real difference is 
the length of time 
one expects to keep them. The 
content is the same 
but for uposatha-sEla, usually, one 
will only keep 
them on the full moon days with 
the possibility of 
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one day before for preparation and 
one day after 
for debriefing. For Eight Precepts 
the length of time 
the precepts are kept has no special 
duration. 
B.4.2 Discipline for Monastics 
B.4.2.1 Ten Precepts 
The Ten Precepts are a set of rules 
of training which 
expand on the Eight Precepts with 
adjustment of 
the seventh precept and addition of 
the tenth. The 
Precepts themselves consist of ten 
rules of training: 
1. Not to kill living beings 
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2. Not to steal 
3. Not to be uncelibate 
4. Not to tell lies 
5. Not to drink alcohol or consume 
intoxicants 
6. Not to take meals between 
midday and dawn 
7. Not to indulge in romantic 
entertainment 
8. Not to indulge in immodesty 
9. Not to be indulgent in one's 
sleeping habits 
10. Not to handle gold or silver 
They are intended to be kept by 
Buddhist novices 
on a daily basis 
B.4.2.2 Two Hundred & 
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Twenty-Seven Precepts 
As Buddhists train themselves as 
laypeopleand as 
monks, Buddhist spiritual 
discipline can be divided 
into two parts accordingly: 
discipline for the homeless 
[anagAriyavinaya] and discipline 
for the 
householder [agAriyavinaya]. The 
monks have special 
discipline in keeping with their 
aim to reach an 
end of defilements within the 
shortest possible time. 
For the monastic community, 
eradication of defilements 
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in the mind is intensive, so the 
self-discipline 
of monastics is intensive 
accordingly. The 227 Precepts 
are a set of rules of training which 
expand on 
the Ten Precepts. They are 
intended to be kept by 
fully-ordained Buddhist monks on 
a daily basis. 
C. DISCIPLINE: PRACTICAL 
CONSIDERATIONS 
C.1 Components of Five Precepts 
In the keeping of Five Precepts, 
householders often 
feel guilty when they mistakenly 
do unwholesome 
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things — they don't know whether 
it means 
they have broken their Precepts. 
Some people accidentally 
run over a stray dog while they are 
driving 
because they happen to be in a 
hurry and wonder 
whether it breaks the Precepts. 
Some women 
know that they have never taken 
the possession of 
others without asking (i.e. they 
have never stolen) 
but they wonder if taking money 
from their husband 
without asking is breaking the 
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Precepts. The 
Components of Five Precepts 
explained below are 
an attempt to answer this genre of 
questions.Below 
you will find descriptions of the 
factors involved 
Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 
123 
in breaking each of the Precepts. 
All factors must 
be present in order for the Precept 
to be broken.: 
C.1.1 First Precept: Not Killing 
In order to break the Precept of not 
killing, your 
action has to consist of five 
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components: 
1. The victim must really he alive: 
Suppose there is a 
certain dog we have hated for a 
long time. Every 
time we see it it has barked us, 
chased us and 
bitten us. We think that the dog is 
alive, but in 
fact it has already died. Someone 
else had just 
shot the dog dead that very 
morning. It is lying 
dead in the road, but we were not 
to know that. 
Seeing it lying in the road we think 
to ourselves, 
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"This time we can get our own 
back on the dog," 
and we reverse the car over the 
dog. In this case 
we have not managed to break the 
Precepts because 
it had already died long ago of 
other 
causes. 
2. We are aware that the victim is 
alive: Sometimes 
we misunderstand that an animal is 
already 
dead, so you think that a cremation 
is in order. 
You throw the body of the animal 
into the flames 
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— but it is not really dead. 
However we were 
not to know that. This time the 
animal does really 
die! Again, such an action does not 
break 
the Precepts. 
3. We have the intention to kill the 
victim: Supposing 
you run over an animal killing it 
accidentally, 
because there is no intention to kill 
(you could 
not avoid it), again the Precepts are 
not broken. 
4. We put in the effort to kill the 
victim: You have to 
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