Sīla-pāramī: Perfection Of Morality

There are ten perfections or ten inner qualities of the mind to develop in the practice of Buddhism.
In an ongoing series about all parami, MC Brigitte Schrottenbacher covers the sila parami in today's talk.

Transcript

Good morning.

Welcome to our talk on sila parami today.

A talk on etic principles in Buddhism.

So,

Yeah,

It's the second of the parami.

Last week,

Last time I talked about the first parami,

Dana parami.

The virtue of generosity is always the base of everything.

And on that sila parami builds up.

Sila parami or etic principles is very,

Very important in our practice.

A sila means habit,

Any kinds of habits in a positive or in a negative way,

Good or bad habits.

And it means also we try to use our body,

Our speech and our mind to do wholesome and to avoid unwholesome.

Do skillful deeds and avoid unskillful deeds.

And yeah,

That's very important.

In the Dhammapada,

A very good book to look into,

The Buddha often gives teachings,

Especially also on etic principles.

And one of the most famous saying he said is,

We should try to do good,

Try to avoid,

To do wrong and purify the mind.

These three principles.

It's the heart teaching of every Buddha in the past and also in the future.

Every Buddha taught that.

Skillful or kusala atma,

Everything that is skillful leads to skillful results.

So if we do skillful deeds,

We will have skillful results,

Good results.

Unskillful deeds,

Akusala leads to unskillful results or to suffering.

So in Buddhism,

This sila,

These etic principles do,

It means that we go after this law of cause and effect.

And it's a natural law.

It's not a law like we have in every country.

You have certain laws,

But the laws in a country that usually they are defined by what a lot of people think is correct.

So if many people think this is OK,

A good principle or is a good thing,

Then they see that as one of the laws.

But in Buddhism,

It's a little bit different.

It's really a natural law.

So whatever is wholesome or is not causing any suffering for all sentient beings is what we call skillful deeds.

And unskillful is what is causing suffering for any other being or ourselves.

So it's a natural law.

Yeah,

As you hear out of that,

Important is not to do any harm.

So even in the eightfold path,

This path that leads to enlightenment,

You see it also very important.

You have it building up.

It's building up on sila,

Samadhi and banya.

Sila,

Morality,

Samadhi,

Concentration,

Banya,

Wisdom.

So you have three parts of the eightfold path which go in this direction.

That's right speech,

Keeping your speech clean.

Right action,

Not doing anything that is causing harm.

And right livelihood,

Earning your livelihood in a way that doesn't create suffering for yourself or others.

So why are we doing this?

Well,

If you're on the path,

You try to meditate,

You try to practice.

Not keeping these moral principles will make your meditation difficult.

So one thing we cannot use,

It's not useful in our meditation if we have regrets or you feel guilty about things you have done.

That makes your mind cloudy,

It makes it sticky,

It makes it restless.

So it's not possible to gain peace of mind.

That's why this is really important,

Keeping these moral principles.

If they are pure,

Then there is no guilt,

No regret.

And therefore,

It's easy for the mind to become still.

If you look in your life,

You know,

If you want to have a healthy body,

You need to do three things.

A healthy body needs good food,

Nice food,

Good food,

Healthy food.

Then it needs exercise and it needs enough rest.

If these three things come together,

Then the body will be pretty healthy.

For the mind,

It would be also three things.

To keep your mind healthy,

You need morality,

Sila,

You need your meditation practice,

Samadhi,

Calmness of mind,

And wisdom.

That guides you on your way.

So what are the five precepts that a normal lay person has to keep?

I go through these five because they are important for you as well.

You must know that the Buddha never said you have to do this.

He never said that.

He only gives a kind of advice or he recommended that.

So these silas are a recommendation.

He recommends if you can keep these eight principles,

You are on the path to enlightenment.

Or even if you don't think so far of being enlightened,

But just having a living a good life,

A wholesome life,

Then this is the base of it.

Morality is the eight principles.

Sila is always going two ways.

One way you say you refrain.

You have to refrain from certain things to have these five silas.

And in a positive way is to practice certain things.

So first sila is refraining from taking lives of sentient beings,

Any life,

Trying not to kill,

But also not to harm,

Do any physical harm for any sentient being.

It's normal because all beings want to live.

They love their lives.

So we try to avoid to take their lives.

So that's the first principle.

In a positive way,

That means I try to protect others' lives,

Trying to protect lives.

In Thailand,

For example,

The people have the habit that sometimes,

Especially on their birthdays,

They go to the market and buy living fish,

Living turtles or frogs,

Whatever living beings are sold on the market.

And they free them.

They buy them and then they free them in a pond or in the river.

If it's at the seaside,

They have sea fish or whatever,

Then they liberate them there.

So they give back life.

That's one way,

In a positive way,

How we can support this.

They take principle.

Then the second sila is refraining from taking things without asking.

So if I need something,

I ask for it,

But I'm not stealing it,

Trying not to steal things.

And in a positive way,

That would mean that we protect others' property if we can,

And also trying to give,

Being generous.

It's also the positive side of the second precept.

Well,

It's also clear that we try to avoid to steal things because we ourselves don't want to be separated from the things we owe.

We love our belongings or we don't want them to be stolen.

So naturally,

We should not do that with others.

The third precept would be not having any sexual misconduct.

So it means trying to avoid to have any sexual conduct which leads to suffering.

Of course,

If someone is married or has already a partner or if someone is too young,

Like in the Buddha time,

They would have said someone who is still under the guidance of the parents,

A young person or so.

So we should try to avoid a sexual relationship like that.

In a positive way,

Having restraint in what is up to sexual relationships and being faithful towards one's own partner is,

Of course,

Supportive.

But this third principle or third precept goes much deeper,

Especially for people who are practicing.

If you are a meditator,

You're practicing,

Then this goes even deeper.

You would say trying to be too attached to any kind of central context as it's not just sexual pleasure,

But also central pleasure.

That means we try to be mindful and whenever contacts arise,

For example,

Our eye sees a form and then they're seeing consciousness arising,

Then what usually happens in all of us is always a feeling follows.

We see something,

Then it's a feeling following.

A pleasant feeling,

If this is something nice you see,

Something beautiful,

Whatever,

Pleasant feeling arises and then we react.

The pleasant things,

Usually we want them because we are attached to this feeling of pleasant pleasure.

So we want them,

Desire arises.

If it's an unpleasant thing,

An unpleasant feeling arising,

So it's for us this object is unpleasant.

So we want to get rid of it.

We don't want to see it anymore or be close to it.

So we try to get rid of it or destroy it.

Hatred,

Anger arises.

So that's a deeper meaning of this precept that we try to be mindful and watch our sense stars,

Not to be too extreme in following central pleasures.

It doesn't say you can't enjoy things.

Of course you can.

But be aware,

Be mindful so that these central pleasures do not end in suffering,

Which often happens.

We can't have that thing anymore.

We can't get that thing.

Then it leads to disappointment and suffering for ourselves.

That's why,

As it is,

We should be aware here.

That's a deeper meaning of that precept.

Then the fourth precept would be refraining from wrong speech.

Of course,

Not lying anyway,

Clear,

Not to try not to lie.

And it goes further.

We try to have a friendly,

Gentle speech.

We try to have unifying speech.

We try to have truthful speech.

That's the positive side of that.

Practicing truthful speech,

Supportive speech,

Right speech,

Unifying speech.

The negative side would be,

Of course,

Telling lies,

Having separating speech,

Like you speak in a way that you separate people.

They can't talk to each other anymore.

They can't meet each other anymore because of that.

Or having very harsh speech.

We should try to avoid that.

It's clear.

Then the fifth precept would be refraining from ingesting any substances that lead to an unclear mind that clouds the mind.

So that would be drinking alcohol,

Taking drugs that make the mind not being mindful.

That's also very important.

There's a nice story to that,

Which explains why we should try to avoid it.

First,

I have to say,

The first four precepts,

They are just really a universal law.

You do something wrong if you do not do that.

You don't keep them.

You do something that is harmful and hurtful.

With the fifth,

Like not drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

It's not the drinking of the alcohol or the taking of the drug that is the problem.

But what results out of that?

That the mind is not clear anymore or not so clear so that many other trouble can arise.

This story tells an example.

They say there was a Buddhist monk or it was a Tibetan monk a long time ago.

He also kept the Mahayana precept of not eating meat.

Of course,

Chastity,

That is one of the rules of all monks and nuns.

So if you are staying in a temple,

You would have to keep that too.

For the time you stay in a temple,

Do a retreat,

You have chastity,

No sexual relationship.

And then a fierce,

Wrathful dakini came and she told him,

I will kill you instantly if you don't do one of these three things.

Either you eat meat now or you sleep with a woman now or you drink this bottle of alcohol.

And the monk,

Oh,

I don't want to die.

What should I do?

So he thought,

OK,

Eating meat now.

Living being was killed for that.

So I would not do that.

Sleeping with a woman.

No,

No way.

Not at all.

I keep the rule of chastity.

I don't do that.

Drinking alcohol.

That seems to be the one that is the least harmful.

So he took the bottle and drank all the alcohol.

And then he got really drunk and he got,

He became so hungry.

So he ate the whole piece of meat and then he really was overwhelmed by lust.

And he also slept with the woman.

So you can see the result of having too much of such substances like alcohol or drugs.

They changed the mind.

Things we would normally not do because it's just clear to us.

I don't do that.

I don't harm this or that way.

You would be able to do that if you,

If you are under the influence of such substances.

So that's why we try to avoid that.

Yeah.

So these are the five precepts.

So if you stay in a temple,

Then these precepts,

They go up to eight.

Like you try to keep eight precepts.

And that is because this would be very supportive for your meditation practice.

If you want to go deeper into your concentration and also develop more mindfulness,

Then eight precepts will be very supportive.

So the first is the same,

Not killing,

Of course.

The second is the same.

You don't take anything without asking.

The third changes to chastity.

Like you try not to have any sexual relationship or any.

Yeah.

In the in the time when you are at the temple.

The fourth,

Also the same,

Not telling lies or having harsh or separating speech.

But often it is like that.

There are silent retreats and then you really try not to talk to anyone except if you have questions about your meditation with your teacher,

Then that is okay.

But you don't have any speech or speaking with others.

Then you can't break that precept.

That is the easiest way not to break it.

And the fifth,

Of course,

No alcohol or drugs at all.

That time we drink coffee,

Though.

That's okay.

Then the sixth would be not having any meals after lunch.

So in the temple,

We have two meals,

Breakfast and then lunch.

And it's also clear because if you have any meals in the evening,

It's very hard to go on with your meditation practice.

You get tired.

Your digester needs a lot of energy.

And then it's not too easy to sit longer in the evening because you are tired.

You know that if you have a meal and then after you want to sit,

Digestion needs too much energy.

So you go to sleep.

That's why we don't need that.

Of course,

In the Buddha time,

It was like that monks and nuns only went out for alms round once a day.

They got their food in their bowl and they sat down in the tree or whatever.

They ate it,

They washed their bowl and that's it for today.

So that was it.

And they couldn't go out twice or three times a day to get alms food just once a day.

And you couldn't keep the food because India is very hot.

So no fridge in 2006,

600 years ago.

So it was also normal.

Then the seventh pre-accept would be no entertainments,

No watching movies,

Listening to music,

Dancing,

Singing.

But also no cosmetics like any kind of beautifying with colors or whatever.

And also no jewelry and other adornments.

So we try to let go of that for the time we are in the temple.

And the eighth pre-accept,

The last one,

Is not sleeping too much.

That means it's not sleeping on a high,

Luxurious,

Soft bed because that encourages you to sleep very long.

And in a retreat,

It is much easier to develop concentration to a higher level and also mindfulness if you don't sleep too much.

So we recommend usually six hours of sleep only.

And that's what a day in the temple is.

You start at four in the morning and it ends anywhere nine to ten in the night.

So you don't have too much time to sleep.

That is really supportive for your practice.

So you see these extra precepts is not because it's bad to watch a movie or listen to music or having sex or whatever.

But in the time when you have a retreat,

It's not supportive.

So we try to avoid it.

For monks,

Full ordained monks and nuns,

They have even more precepts.

The monks have 227 rules to attend to and the nuns even 311.

So there's a lot more.

Actually,

It's said that if a monk and nun can keep these precepts well,

Then that is already the path to enlightenment.

But it is,

It is,

Of course,

Not an easy thing.

You have to really be very mindful at all times not to transgress and break one of these walls.

Of course,

There are some rules that are really very important for monks and nuns.

There are four rules.

If they break one of them,

They are no more monk and nun.

And they cannot re-ordain in that life.

So they are really strict ones.

Then there are some medium strict rules.

If they are broken,

They can still be,

Let's say,

Like,

Yeah,

They can.

You get a kind of a probation.

The Sangha comes together.

They have to speak about it and decide for a certain kind of or less punishment.

You are on a probation.

If you don't break that again,

Then you are fully established in being monk and nun again.

And then there are minor rules which are broken quite often because it's very,

Very hard to do that at all times.

So it's different levels of rules.

But I think it's right now not so important for you as you are not monks and nuns.

Yeah,

One more thing I wanted to say is that there are five blessings.

The Buddha was asked what kind of blessing does it give to us to keep this precept,

This rules?

And the Buddha said there are five blessings for a righteous person through the practice of virtue.

The first is a great increase of wealth through diligence.

Really,

Your wealth will increase.

Then the second is you have a favorable reputation.

People will love you,

Like you wherever you go.

Then the third is your confidence,

More confident.

Yeah,

Confidence.

Wherever you are,

You will be much more confident in whichever environment you are.

The fourth is you have a serene death.

There is no problem when you're dying.

It will be peaceful and serene.

And the fifth is after your death,

After the breaking up of your body,

You will be reborn in a happy state or in a heavenly world.

So that's what the Buddha said himself to the benefits of keeping these five precepts.

But even if we don't speak about what will happen in another life,

But it's just for your meditation.

As I said before,

Keeping this moral ethic principles will help your meditation.

It will make your mind peaceful and you will be developing concentration and mindfulness much easier.

You can see that if you're trying to meditate and there was something went wrong that day or just before and you did something that was not correct,

It just pops up in your meditation and then you get restless and yeah,

There's guilt or whatever.

And it's really something that is not useful in our practice.

That's why we should try to avoid that.

Then one more thing I wanted to tell you what is a good exercise we can do with the Silaparama is like every evening before you go to bed,

For example.

When you go to bed,

You can contemplate in your mind,

Okay,

What has happened today?

What kind of mental inventory or so?

And you can recall,

Did you do any harm?

Anything that was harmful today?

Also recall,

Was there any positive like,

Did you did,

Like you helped someone or negative wishes arose or desires or whatever or anger and you tried to control it.

You were able to let that go and not follow that wish.

And so you were mindful enough to let it go.

Just make an inventory like that every day.

That will help you because on one hand it shows you,

Okay,

That wasn't too good.

I try to do better.

Not to have guilt.

Guilt is something that's not useful at all,

But trying to see it and then trying to make a wish.

Okay,

I try to do better next time.

And also it cheers you up to see,

I have done wholesome things.

I brought happiness to others and myself with that.

So that also becomes a new habit in your mind.

And also seeing how skillful your meditation is or your way of dealing with everyday things.

When you see,

I could let go before I did anything helpful.

So this is a very good exercise we can do every day.

Not to increase guilt,

But to have more,

A more wholesome mind.

So that was a short kind of going through all the things about sila.

There's of course much more.

And I encourage you to read other things or listen to other things.

But it was a basic thing about sila.

And so we got today the second of the barami.

And in the next few weeks we will go on with the ten barami.

So next time would be nekama barami,

The perfection of renunciation.

Hope you enjoyed that.

Have a nice day and stay healthy.

And see you again soon.

Bye.

Reviews

It was a pleasure listening to you, I have heard some of these precepts before of non-harming, right livelihood, etc. I have a question… Why are there more rules for nuns than monks? Thank you.

Thank you.🙏

Very interesting! Thank you!

Gratitude